Ezekiel Is Israel's Watchman

 Ezekiel 33:1-9

 

January 19, 2024

 

Ezekiel Is Israel's Watchman

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, speak to your people and say to them, If I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them and make him their watchman, and if he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet and warns the people, then if anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.  He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life.  But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand.

“So, you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me.  If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.  But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.

 

Grace versus Law, Ezekiel was called to be the watchman over the house of Israel.  You can read God’s requirement for a watchman. A watchman had great responsibility; souls hung in the balance over his doing the will of the Father.  

 

As a follower of Christ, are we called to be watchmen? What is God’s calling on those of us who have Christ's Spirit living in us?  Have we not been instructed to “Go and Tell, all that God has done for us?  Shall we explore the Scriptures, and see what God has called us who are in Christ, and He in us, are to do?  “And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” (Mark 5:19)  How about Mark 15:16, And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.  

Often, I seek better understanding from those with insight into the Scriptures, and “Got Questions” is a good source, this is from them.

Ezekiel has shown all Christians that we are to be obedient to God’s call on our lives. God told Ezekiel to groan with a broken heart and bitter grief for the coming judgment, and, through his dramatic book, Ezekiel tells us the same thing. Judgment is coming! It will surely take place, declares the Sovereign Lord. We, like Ezekiel, can warn others, and we can also share with them the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

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Wake up Christian Men

 Wake up, men of the Church, and it does not matter what church you are affiliated with; we have a man problem.  And guess what, The Government does not have the answer, money is not the answer, or programs, we need to show by actions that only Jesus Christ can restore a young boy who needs a dad and has no male direction in his life.  Will you step up and be that man for some young boy?

 

If your Church is fearful of being sued for any reason and has looked the other way on the single moms of your church, who have sons with no dad to be a spiritual influence, then look at big brothers and sisters as your path to help rescue these young men, and be Christ to them.  Now that should be after you have worked with the leadership of your Church to see if they are willing to invest in these moms and their sons.  If so, Big Brothers and Sisters, I’ve discovered, are willing to assist in the background checks and guidelines of the men who sign up.  This article from Grassfire will give you more information on what is needed.

 

In the aftermath of two more tragic shootings this past weekend, politicians and pundits are scrambling to point the finger of blame and push for more laws to solve the problem.

Interestingly, Oprah is closer than the politicians and pundits to the real solution for our nation...

+ + Oprah: We are missing "a core moral center."

Just the other day, Oprah offered her thoughts on what our nation needs to solve our current crisis:

“I think what people are missing is a core moral center... Churches used to do that… It was a central place you could come to, and there was a core center of values about a way of living and being in the world.... Until we can return to that, however, that is, in whatever form, we will continue to be lost.”

Oprah says churches "used to" provide the moral center. But what happened? Did churches lose their message? Or did the statists and socialists take over the debate and work to effectively purge faith from our communities? Years ago, the late author Richard John Neuhaus wrote a seminal work called The Naked Public Square that explained what happens to a society that strips God from its consciousness. Today, we are living out what Neuhaus spoke of.

So how do we regain our "moral center"? It's certainly not found in politicians or pundits who point the finger of blame and accuse the President (and by association, every conservative in our nation) of racism and hate, or capitalize on these tragedies to promote gun control. And it's not in feel-good sessions and "moments of silence" in which public leaders dare not pray. 

+ + We have a "man problem."

Practically speaking, the cause of these shootings -- and the reason seven were murdered last weekend in Chicago, and more than 300 will be killed in Baltimore this year -- is broken families. Boys simply don't do well when they are raised without both mom and dad in the home. Check the statistics -- almost all of these mass shootings and most of the violent crimes are committed by men. And most of those men grew up in broken homes.

Our homes are broken because we lost the "moral center" of the two-parent family shortly after we lost the "moral center" of faith. Now, most of our well-intentioned government welfare programs try to fix the cultural rot in our society in ways that further break our families apart and cause more children to be raised without both mom and dad. And since we've wrongly decided that Jefferson's "separation of church and state" means God and faith must be purged from our publicly funded efforts, government programs can't even legally point to the source of the "moral center" we so desperately need. We can't regain our "moral center" without acknowledging that there is a basis for a "moral center" -- a God who creates the "north pole" for our society to which we can align our life compasses. As a result, we are stuck in an ever-degrading cultural loop.

So, if we can be honest for a moment, when we look at these mass shootings or the killings in Chicago and elsewhere, what we have is a  MAN PROBLEM, caused by a FAMILY PROBLEM caused by a FAITH PROBLEM.

+ + Restoring our "moral center."

Here at Grassfire, while we remain fully committed to challenging the efforts by politicians to undermine our liberties and further expand the reach of government, we also want to call our nation back to the FAITH ANSWER and the FAMILY ANSWER so we can begin to restore the "moral center" even Oprah knows we've lost.

From our Back Porch, 

Bob Rice

The Daughters of the Nations

                                                        Ezekiel 32:16-32

 

January 18, 2024

 

This is a lamentation that shall be chanted; the daughters of the nations shall chant it; over Egypt, and over all her multitude, shall they chant it, declares the Lord God.”

In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me:  “Son of man, wail over the multitude of Egypt, and send them down, her and the daughters of majestic nations, to the world below, to those who have gone down to the pit:

Whom do you surpass in beauty? Go down and be laid to rest with the uncircumcised.’ They shall fall amid those who are slain by the sword. Egypt is delivered to the sword; drag her away, and all her multitudes. The mighty chiefs shall speak of them, with their helpers, out of the midst of Sheol: ‘They have come down, they lie still, the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.’

“Assyria is there, and all her company, its graves all around it, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, whose graves are set in the uttermost parts of the pit; and her company is all around her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who spread terror in the land of the living.

“Elam is there, and all her multitude around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised into the world below, who spread their terror in the land of the living; and they bear their shame with those who go down to the pit. They have made her a bed among the slain with all her multitude, her graves all around it, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for terror of them was spread in the land of the living, and they bear their shame with those who go down to the pit; they are placed among the slain.

“Meshech-Tubal is there, and all her multitude, her graves all around it, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for they spread their terror in the land of the living.  And they do not lie with the mighty, the fallen from among the uncircumcised, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, whose swords were laid under their heads, and whose iniquities are upon their bones; for the terror of the mighty men was in the land of the living. But as for you, you shall be broken and lie among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword.

“Edom is there, her kings and all her princes, who for all their might are laid with those who are killed by the sword; they lie with the uncircumcised, with those who go down to the pit.

“The princes of the north are there, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who have gone down in shame with the slain, for all the terror that they caused by their might; they lie uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.

“When Pharaoh sees them, he will be comforted for all his multitude, Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword, declares the Lord God.  For I spread terror in the land of the living; and he shall be laid to rest among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword, Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord God.”

The Pharaoh and the people of Egypt are not that different from you and me; they were living for themselves, and they had gods whom they trusted in, much like many of us.  Little gods, that have no authority or power when it comes to the reality that God is the same today as yesterday.

 

Do you recall the words of Jesus, in John’s gospel 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”  Jesus, the Son of God, the Son who loves His Father, who loves you and me, said not my will but yours, and took your place of punishment, as a lamb without blemish.  The pure and holy meet the requirements of the full payment of sin, and gave you the right to choose, to receive the gift of redemption or reject it. 

Do you recall these words of Jesus speaking to Thomas, His disciples: “And you know the way to where I am going.”  Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”  Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

The last word is “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Let me end this paper with this insight: The thief Jesus is warning you about is real; he is a liar and a deceiver.  He came to destroy all that is good and holy, and his desire is for you to put faith and worship in anything but the Lord Jesus Christ.  Many are doing so, putting themselves in the place of God, but God tells us: “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”   (Matthew 6:33).  What are these things: love, joy, peace, hope, and life in the full?  Not fear, not hate, but all the things listed above.   And let me end with these words from our Redeemer, Jesus Christ, found in John 16:33, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

 

No one is without excuse; Romans 1:20, ^“For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So, they are without excuse.”

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

A Lament over Pharaoh and Egypt

 

Ezekiel 32:1-15

 

January 17, 2024

 

A Lament over Pharaoh and Egypt

 In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, raise a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him: “You consider yourself a lion of the nations, but you are like a dragon in the seas; you burst forth in your rivers, trouble the waters with your feet, and foul their rivers. Thus says the Lord God:  I will throw my net over you with a host of many peoples, and they will haul you up in my dragnet.  And I will cast you on the ground; on the open field I will fling you, and will cause all the birds of the heavens to settle on you, and I will gorge the beasts of the whole earth with you.  I will strew your flesh upon the mountains and fill the valleys with your carcass.  I will drench the land even to the mountains with your flowing blood, and the ravines will be full of you.  When I blot you out, I will cover the heavens and make their stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light.  All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over you, and put darkness on your land, declares the Lord God.

“I will trouble the hearts of many peoples, when I bring your destruction among the nations, into the countries that you have not known.  I will make many peoples appalled at you, and the hair of their kings shall bristle with horror because of you when I brandish my sword before them. They shall tremble every moment, every one for his own life, on the day of your downfall.

“For thus says the Lord God: The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon you. I will cause your multitude to fall by the swords of mighty ones, all of them most ruthless of nations. “They shall bring to ruin the pride of Egypt, and all its multitude shall perish.  I will destroy all its beasts from beside many waters, and no foot of man shall trouble them any more, nor shall the hoofs of beasts trouble them.  I will make their waters clear, and cause their rivers to run like oil,
declares the Lord God. When I make the land of Egypt desolate, and when the land is desolate of all that fills it, when I strike down all who dwell in it, then they will know that I am the Lord.

The dragnet and the many people God is referring to is the Babylonian army that would come against Egypt and its people.  And can you imagine this great nation being destroyed? It brought fear to all other nations and peoples, but not to the people of Babylon.  

 

Let us bring this into our timeline. If a nation came against the USA and destroyed us, killed our leaders and people, the world would be in fear.  Are we that much different than the people of Egypt?  I thank not, they believed they were too powerful and too great a military for such a thing to happen, and so do we.

 

One problem was that they did not put God in the equation and were trusting in themselves and not God. How is that different from the United States of America?

 

From the Back Porch, 

 

Bob Rice 

Pharaoh to Be Slain

                                                          Ezekiel 31:1-18

 

November 15, 2023

 

Pharaoh to Be Slain

In the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his multitude: 'Whom are you like in your greatness?  Behold, Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches and forest shade and of towering height, its top among the clouds. The waters nourished it; the deep made it grow tall, making its rivers flow around the place of its planting, sending forth its streams to all the trees of the field.  So, it towered high above all the trees of the field; its boughs grew large and its branches long from abundant water in its shoots.  All the birds of the heavens made their nests in its boughs; under its branches all the beasts of the field gave birth to their young, and under its​ shadow lived all great nations. It was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches; for its roots went down to abundant waters.  The cedars in the garden of God could not rival it, nor the fir trees equal its boughs; neither were the plane trees like its branches; no tree in the garden of God was its equal in beauty.  I made it beautiful in the mass of its branches, and all the trees of Eden envied it, that were in the garden of God.

“Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Because it towered high and set its top among the clouds, and its heart was proud of its height, I will give it into the hand of a mighty one of the nations. He shall surely deal with it as its wickedness deserves. I have cast it out.  Foreigners, the most ruthless of nations, have cut it down and left it. On the mountains and in all the valleys its branches have fallen, and its boughs have been broken in all the ravines of the land, and all the peoples of the earth have gone away from its shadow and left it. On its fallen trunk dwell all the birds of the heavens, and on its branches are all the beasts of the field.  All this is in order that no trees by the waters may grow to towering height or set their tops among the clouds, and that no trees that drink water may reach up to them in height. For they’re all given over to death, to the world below, among the children of man, with those who go down to the pit.

“Thus says the Lord God: On the day the cedar went down to Sheol I caused mourning; I closed the deep over it, and restrained its rivers, and many waters were stopped. I clothed Lebanon in gloom for it, and all the trees of the field fainted because of it.  I made the nations quake at the sound of its fall, when I cast it down to Sheol with those who go down to the pit. And all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, were comforted in the world below.  They also went down to Sheol with it, to those who are slain by the sword; yes, those who were its arm, who lived under its shadow among the nations.

“Whom are you thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? You shall be brought down with the trees of Eden to the world below. You shall lie among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword.

“This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord God.”

The title is; Pharaoh to Be Slain, and yet God is telling Ezekiel about a great tree, and most of us wonder why?  We also must understand this had great meaning to the people of Ezekiel time, and it was about what was going to happen to Egypt and Pharaoh.  I ran across this Commentary by Paul Macisker.

“This chapter portrays the fall of the Assyrian empire, and uses it as a warning of what will one day happen to Egypt. Assyria is metaphorically portrayed as a magnificent cedar tree that ended up being cut down by foreign nations, and thrown down to the pit of Sheol. Ezekiel received this revelation in 587 BC, just 18 years after Assyria and Egypt had been defeated at the Battle of Carchemish. This continues Ezekiel's previous oracles against Egypt, as recorded in chapters 29 and 30.

The Assyrian capital, Nineveh, fell to an alliance of Babylonians, Medes and Scythians in 612 BC. The city of Harran fell in 609 BC, and the Assyrians retreated to their last remaining stronghold at Carchemish. Egypt was a vassal state of the Assyrian empire and marched to defend Assyria. Pharaoh Necho II was delayed for some time by King Josiah of Judah, who ended up being killed at the battle of Megiddo in about 609 BC. The Assyrian and Egyptian armies were decisively defeated by Nebuchadnezzar and his allies at the Battle of Carchemish in 605 BC. This marked the end of the Assyrian empire, the end of Egypt's intervention in the Near East, and the establishment of the Babylonian Empire. So, in 587 BC when Ezekiel received this revelation, the fall of Assyria was a recent and painful memory for Egypt.

Egypt was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar in 568 BC, although the extent of his conquest is not clear, as only minimal historical records of it survive. It was again conquered by the Persian king Cambyses in 525 BC. Neither conquest seems to have completely fulfilled the prophecies of Ezekiel 29 to 30 and Jeremiah 42 to 44. However, in the end times, Egypt is one of the countries that will fall to the Antichrist according to Daniel 11:42. So it is likely that this chapter in Ezekiel has an end-time fulfilment, and not just an historic one.

In verse 18, Ezekiel warns that Egypt will end up being thrown down into the pit, just like Assyria. In chapter 28.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Egypt Shall Fall to Babylon

 

Ezekiel 30:20-26

 

January 14, 2023

 

Egypt Shall Fall to Babylon

In the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me:  “Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and behold, it has not been bound up, to heal it by binding it with a bandage, so that it may become strong to wield the sword. Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt and will break his arms, both the strong arm and the one that was broken, and I will make the sword fall from his hand. I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them through the countries.  And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put my sword in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before him like a man mortally wounded.  I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh shall fall. Then they shall know that I am the Lord when I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he stretches it out against the land of Egypt.  And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

 

Have you noticed the precision of our God as He tells Ezekiel what He is about to do and how He is going to do it?  God uses the description of a broken arm to show that He has weakened Pharaoh king of Egypt. But Pharaoh, like many who believe they and their faith in wealth and power can save them, or bet on the wrong god.  And God makes Pharaoh weaker but allows the king of Babylon to grow stronger. 

 

That is the overview, but it is not the theme. The theme is that God wants you and me and everyone to know He is the Lord. The Roman Empire was like the USA in a few ways it built roads and brought structure to areas that needed, them the Greeks brought language and Education to the world, but both became very evil, and none of them have returned to the glory and power they once enjoyed and it will happen to nations and people who do not receive are know that God is the Lord.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice 

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They will know that I am the Lorde

  

Ezekiel 30:13-19

 

January 13, 2024

 

“Thus says the Lord God: 'I will destroy the idols and put an end to the images in Memphis; there shall no longer be a prince from the land of Egypt; so, I will put fear in the land of Egypt. I will make    Pathros a desolation and will set fire to Zoan and will execute judgments on Thebes.  And I will pour out my wrath on Pelusium, the stronghold of Egypt, and cut off the multitude of Thebes.  And I will set fire to Egypt; Pelusium shall be in great agony; Thebes shall be breached, and Memphis shall face enemies by day. The young men of On and of Pi-beseth shall fall by the sword, and the women shall go into captivity.  At Tehaphnehes, the day shall be dark, when I break there the yoke bars of Egypt, and her proud might shall come to an end in her; she shall be covered by a cloud, and her daughters shall go into captivity. Thus, I will execute judgments on Egypt.
Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

 

As one studies Scripture, it is wise to look up words, such as Memphis, so that is what I have done.  “Memphis was an idolatrous city, the site of many heathen temples and practices. Because of the many evils committed by Memphis, God cursed it, bringing Divine judgment on the city and its people. It was destroyed and eventually abandoned.”

 

When it comes to these cities in Egypt, we also see God’s judgment: Pathros, Zoan, and Thebes.  “Pelusium, the city at the easternmost mouth of the Nile (modern Tell el-Farama), which formed the natural entry to Egypt from the north-east, on the route upriver to *Memphis. It was near this strategic entry-point that *Cambyses defeated the Egyptians in 525 BC.” 

 

What does it take to make people listen to God and to acknowledge Him as God?  What about a nation like Egypt, which was brought low by its idolatry?  And you who go by the name of Christian, who are your idols?  And you are quick to say we have no idols imagines we worship, but God has spoken on what an idol is, anything you put before Him.  

Does your nation, those you love, have to have God say, “Now they will know that I am God”?  My mind always goes back to Jonah's hate for the sinful people of Nineveh and not wanting to share God's message with them, in fear they would repent, and they did when they heard it.

If you are a follower of Christ, you have been called to be His ambassador to your nation, tell them about God’s love for them, and call them to repent.  I believe we are in the last days, and that puts me in good fellowship with Paul, Peter, and John, and the disciples of Jesus.

The question, for each of us, is what will we do with Jesus?  He came to give your life in the full, and those idols only come to bring you pride, arrogance, and fear; they cannot give you hope, real joy, or peace, but Jesus can.  Maybe you need to encounter Jesus for the first time by faith in His written word, Romans 10:9-10, “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart, one believes and is justified, and with the mouth, one confesses and is saved.”

I encountered Jesus in a hotel room in Victoria, Texas, 55 years ago. It took a week before my mouth confessed what God had done for me.  My wife said you are different. What happened to you, and I shared what God had done for me.  I had lived for 27 years getting my needs met outside of Christ, and it has taken a long time to learn how to be His follower.  Your flesh wants to be in charge, but you must learn how to allow the Spirit of Christ that lives in you to be in charge.  He is the Master, and you and I who are in Christ, and He in us are the servants; is it not time to serve Him, and receive His blessing?  Speak out to those you come in contact with about how God has brought you peace and life in full.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice