Prophecy Against the Shepherds of Israel

 Ezekiel 34:1-10

 

January 22, 2024

 

Prophecy Against the Shepherds of Israel

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord God: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness, you have ruled them.  So, they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered; they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them.

 

“Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:  As I live, declares the Lord God, surely because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep, therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:  Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them.

 

I was recently at a funeral, and I saw two signs at the building where the Church gathers to worship, both were signs that reminded me of what God is saying to Ezekiel about the shepherds.  The signs were in a prime parking place, and they said Senior Pastor Parking and Senior Pastor Wives Parking.  Now, I do not know how anyone else feels about that, but I sent them to my pastor, as a joke, and asked where his sign and his wife's signs were. A quick reply, servants do not have special parking.  In fact, at Oakwood, the staff from the senior pastor down is required to park on Sundays away from the building to give others better parking.  

 

Does God have anything to say about being a shepherd, and what are their duties? Yes, Jesus tells us in John 10:11, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”  Jesus is the head Shepherd, but what those who are called to pastor, and teach, has the Scriptures given them direction?  It does, in 1 Peter 5:1-6, “So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed:  shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.  And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.  Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

If God has called you to the role of shepherd, you are blessed, but remember your calling is not to be dictatorial or too dominant, but to preach the Word in season and out of season.  You are a guide, not the center of attention; you live a life that others will follow, and you love and forgive as Jesus has done.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Jerusalem Struck Down

                                                           Ezekiel 33:21-33

 

January 21, 2024

 

Jerusalem Struck Down

In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, a fugitive from Jerusalem came to me and said, “The city has been struck down.”  Now the hand of the Lord had been upon me the evening before the fugitive came, and he had opened my mouth by the time the man came to me in the morning, so my mouth was opened, and I was no longer mute.

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, the inhabitants of these waste places in the land of Israel keep saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he got possession of the land; but we are many; the land is surely given us to possess.’  Therefore, say to them, Thus says the Lord God: You eat flesh with the blood and lift up your eyes to your idols and shed blood; shall you then possess the land?  You rely on the sword, you commit abominations, and each of you defiles his neighbor's wife; shall you then possess the land?  Say this to them, Thus says the Lord God: As I live, surely those who are in the waste places shall fall by the sword, and whoever is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in strongholds and in caves shall die by pestilence.  And I will make the land a desolation and a waste, and her proud might shall come to an end, and the mountains of Israel shall be so desolate that none will pass through.  Then they will know that I am the Lord when I have made the land a desolation and a waste because of all their abominations that they have committed.

 “As for you, son of man, your people who talk together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, say to one another, each to his brother, ‘Come, and hear what the word is that comes from the Lord.’  And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say, but they will not do it; for with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain.  And behold, you are to them like one who sings lustful songs with a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument, for they hear what you say, but they will not do it. When this comes—and come it will!—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”

​

What happens to a people, a nation, when God shuts the mouth of His spokesman?  We have not experienced such in the USA, but we do have many who tell people what they desire to hear.  But now God has opened the mouth of Ezekiel, and the bad news is that the people were like many today; they acknowledged God with their mouths, but their hearts were far from Him.

 

Like the USA, they worship stuff and themselves, but do not obey the teaching of God.  They enjoyed listening to Ezekiel, even believing he was a prophet of God, but they, like many who heard the message today, left the building, and the words they heard had no impact on them.

On this note, I must say what it will take for the Church to awaken to its calling, to by your love they will know you are Jesus' disciples?   What will it take for the Church to love its neighbors as itself, or what will have to happen to love your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ as you and I were commanded?

 

What will have to happen in your life for you to know that God loves you and desires that you obey His teaching?  This I understand from my walk: obedience brings blessing and closeness with the Lord.

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Why Will You Die, Israel?

 Ezekiel 33:10-20

 

January 20, 2024

 

Why Will You Die, Israel?

“And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said: ‘Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we rot away because of them. How then can we live?’  Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?

“And you, son of man, say to your people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him when he transgresses, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it when he turns from his wickedness, and the righteous shall not be able to live by his righteousness when he sins.  Though I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, yet if he trusts in his righteousness and does injustice, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered, but in his injustice that he has done, he shall die.  Again, though I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ yet if he turns from his sin and does what is just and right, if the wicked restores the pledge, gives back what he has taken by robbery, and walks in the statutes of life, not doing injustice, he shall surely live; he shall not die.  None of the sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right; he shall surely live.

“Yet your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just,’ when it is their own way that is not just.  When the righteous turns from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it.  And when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he shall live by this.  Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ O house of Israel, I will judge each of you according to his ways.”

 

A verse most of us who attended Church services learned as a child was John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believed in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”  A wonderful truth, but without an understanding of the heart of our Father we will live in confusion.  In Psalm 145, we get insight into our Father in heaven’s heart, Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.  Our unsearchable God has, through His Son given us understanding of His heart for each of us.  John 3:17-20, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.  And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.  For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.”  

 

Only a purpose-driven life, centered on God, understands that it is all about God and an understanding that He is the Master, your Creator, your Redeemer. You are His servant that seeking to serve Him only, will you find the live in the full Jesus is talking about in John 10:10.

 

My pastor Ray Still, often reminds us we are all messes and need to keep our eyes on Jesus.  I am one of those big messes, and I have sins in my past that often the enemy brings to my attention, and tells me I am unworthy of God’s love.  I bet that the old serpent is doing this to others, and it is time to see the Father’s thoughts on this in Ezekiel 33, None of the sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right; he shall surely live.  And that was the heart of God under Law, but now look at Grace.  ^“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) Note: Confession is a total agreement with God.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

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

-- 

__________________________

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