I Will Be Their God; They Shall Be My People

 

Ezekiel 37:15-28

 

February 2, 2024

 

I Will Be Their God; They Shall Be My People

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, take a stick and write on it, ‘For Judah, and the people of Israel associated with him’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph (the stick of Ephraim) and all the house of Israel associated with him.’  And join them one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand.  And when your people say to you, ‘Will you not tell us what you mean by these?’  say to them, Thus, says the Lord God: Behold, I am about to take the stick of Joseph (that is in the hand of Ephraim) and the tribes of Israel associated with him. And I will join with it the stick of Judah^, and make them one stick, that they may be one in my hand.  When the sticks on which you write are in your hand before their eyes, then say to them, Thus, says the Lord God: Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and bring them to their own land.  And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. And one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms.  They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But I will save them from all the backslidings in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them, and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

“My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes.  They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children's children shall dwell there forever, and David my servant shall be their prince forever.  I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore.  My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  Then the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.”

 

It might be helpful to begin with a reminder, it found in John’s gospel chapter 1:1-3,” In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.”

 

With that established, why did God use Ezekiel, and not just put a big screen in the heavens so that all could see His plan for Israel and Judah?  The answer might be found in Hebrews 11:6, “And without faith, it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”  

 

God often used word pictures, such as the two sticks joined together, to tell His people about His plan. We find word pictures all through the Bible, Psalms, Isaiah, and John, all of which Jesus used in His sermon on the Mount.  Some that were used to depict God, Jehovah is depicted as a King, a Lawmaker, a Judge, and a Warrior​—someone you should respect. He is also portrayed as a Shepherd, a Counselor, a Teacher, a Father, a Healer, and a Savior​—someone you can love. (Taken from the internet).

 

When the why, did He do that comes into my very small mind, these verses come to mind: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

The Valley of Dry Bones

 

 

Ezekiel 37:1-14

 

February 1, 2024

 

The Valley of Dry Bones

 

The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones.  And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry.  And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live? ” And I answered, 'O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.  Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.  And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

So, I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone.  And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them.  Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus, says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.”  So, I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’  Therefore, prophesy, and say to them, Thus, says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel.  And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people.  And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”

 

A valley of dry bones, turned into a mighty army by God. Question: Do you know of a dictator who can do that?  We, the Church, are a mighty army, a chosen people, a holy nation. Our Lord can take dry bones and make a mighty army, and we fear China and Russia; what is wrong with us?

 

It may be hard for you and me to grasp that taking a valley of dry bones scattered all over a valley and God telling Ezekiel to prophesy over them, and yet that is what happens when one obeys God.  Unlike you and me, Ezekiel learned to obey and do as God directed him. What if we, the Church, learned to do so? 

 

What if the Church followed orders? What if we loved others as ourselves, not choosing the ones we would love and the ones we chose not to love?  What if, as we go, we share our hope in Christ Jesus and how He has changed our lives?  What if you honor God above all others, and study the Scriptures looking for directions on living life on planet earth?

 

What if you and I obey God the first time we hear the Spirit speak to us, for anything less than that is not obedience?

 

Then, and only then, would the Church be that mighty army marching to war, living in the power of a God who can make an Army out of dry bones.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

​

Note: As a member of the Body of Christ, His Church, I had to ask myself these painful questions.  How did you do?

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

I Will Put My Spirit Within You

                                                           Ezekiel 36:22-38

 

January 31, 2024

 

I Will Put My Spirit Within You

“Therefore, say to the house of Israel, Thus, says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came.  And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.  I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land.  I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.  And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.  You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.  And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. And I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you.  I will make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant, that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations.  Then you will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominations.  It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord God; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel.

“Thus says the Lord God: On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be rebuilt.  And the land that was desolate shall be tilled, instead of being the desolation that it was in the sight of all who passed by.  And they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.’  Then the nations that are left all around you shall know that I am the Lord; I have rebuilt the ruined places and replanted that which was desolate. I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it.

“Thus says the Lord God: This also I will let the house of Israel ask me to do for them: to increase their people like a flock.  Like the flock for sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

 

It has never been about you; it has always been about God.  We live in a culture that teaches it is all about us, in sells we were taught the (WIIFM,) "What's in it For Me", and it is the way many inside the church and outside the church run their lives.  But our Creator God has never put that into your heart, for it has been clear from the beginning it is all about Him. 

 

As one reads these verses, it becomes clear that the Church, each of us who enters by the faith we were given by God, and His grace that has been poured out on us, that we have been given a new heart, a new spirit, and that the Spirit of God now indwells us.

 

What is the Church? It is not a building, nor is it a religion, nor a denomination; it is individuals who were getting their needs met outside of Christ and were drawn by God’s Spirit to a place of agreement that they needed Jesus.  And have entered into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  1 Corinthians 12:12-14,24b-27 gives us clarity on what takes place after one has entered into Christ.   ^“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.  For in one Spirit, we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 

 But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.  If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

Now you are the body of Christ and individual members of it.

Is the Church still the Church when it does not abide by what the Scripture states?  Let me address that with Scripture about the Church, both in Revelation and 2 Timothy 4:3-4, “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”  We are witnesses to that in our time on Planet Earth.  And Revelation tells us that we will see falling away, of the seven churches, two were like many in our time, they were: “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.  I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.  Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.  Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. 

“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation.

 “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot!  So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.  For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.

You may be in one of these types of churches. Ask the Lord if you are to stay and be a light to a very dark place or to leave, and find a body that follows the teaching of the Scriptures.

From the Back Porch, 

Bob Rice

Prophecy to the Mountains of Israel

                                                           Ezekiel 36:1-15

 

January 28, 2024

 

Prophecy to the Mountains of Israel

“And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord.  Thus says the Lord God: Because the enemy said of you, ‘Aha!’ and, ‘The ancient heights have become our possession,’  therefore prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God: Precisely because they made you desolate and crushed you from all sides, so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations, and you became the talk and evil gossip of the people,  therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God: Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and the hills, the ravines and the valleys, the desolate wastes and the deserted cities, which have become a prey and derision to the rest of the nations all around,  therefore thus says the Lord God: Surely I have spoken in my hot jealousy against the rest of the nations and against all Edom, who gave my land to themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and utter contempt, that they might make its pasturelands a prey.  Therefore, prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I have spoken in my jealous wrath, because you have suffered the reproach of the nations.  Therefore, thus says the Lord God: I swear that the nations that are all around you shall themselves suffer reproach.

“But you, O mountains of Israel, shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to my people Israel, for they will soon come home.  For behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown.  And I will multiply people on you, the whole house of Israel, all of it. The cities shall be inhabited and the waste places rebuilt.  And I will multiply on you, man and beast, and they shall multiply and be fruitful. And I will cause you to be inhabited as in your former times and will do more good to you than ever before. Then you will know that I am the Lord.  I will let people walk on you, even my people, Israel. And they shall possess you, and you shall be their inheritance, and you shall no longer bereave them of children.  Thus says the Lord God: Because they say to you, ‘You devour people, and you bereave your nation of children,’ therefore you shall no longer devour people and no longer bereave your nation of children, declares the Lord God.  And I will not let you hear anymore the reproach of the nations, and you shall no longer bear the disgrace of the peoples and no longer cause your nation to stumble, declares the Lord God.”

Ezekiel was taken captive with the people of Israel.​  Ezekiel was a priest who was among the Jewish captives carried away to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar in approximately 597 B.C.

 

The countries were pleased to take the best of the grazing land, the cities that were deserted, and even Edom, took joy in the fall of Israel, so they brought God’s wrath on themselves.

 

Ezekiel is prophesying about a time in the future when God will return His people to their homeland and bless them greatly.

 

It is amazing how many people are ignorant of the Scriptures, for God has spoken, He will bless those who bless Israel, and curse those who curse Israel.   Ignorant is not an out.  

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

 

Prophecy Against Mount Seir

 

Ezekiel 35:1-15

 

January 25, 2024

 

Prophecy Against Mount Seir

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it, and say to it, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir, and I will stretch out my hand against you, and I will make you a desolation and a waste.  I will lay your cities waste, and you shall become a desolation, and you shall know that I am the Lord.  Because you cherished perpetual enmity and gave over the people of Israel to the power of the sword at the time of their calamity, at the time of their final punishment, therefore, as I live, declares the Lord God, I will prepare you for blood, and blood shall pursue you; because you did not hate bloodshed, therefore blood shall pursue you.  I will make Mount Seir a waste and a desolation, and I will cut off from it all who come and go.  And I will fill its mountains with the slain. On your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines those slain with the sword shall fall.  I will make you a perpetual desolation, and your cities shall not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

“Because you said, ‘These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will take possession of them’—although the Lord was there—therefore, as I live, declares the Lord God, I will deal with you according to the anger and envy that you showed because of your hatred against them. And I will make myself known among them when I judge you.   And you shall know that I am the Lord.

“I have heard all the revilings that you uttered against the mountains of Israel, saying, ‘They are laid desolate; they are given us to devour.’  And you magnified yourselves against me with your mouth, and multiplied your words against me; I heard it.  Thus says the Lord God: While the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate.  As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, so I will deal with you; you shall be desolate, Mount Seir, and all 

Edom, all of it. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

“Got Questions” had this to say on Mount Seir: “The term Mount Seir is most often used simply as a geographical marker to explain where something happened. The primary significance of Mount Seir is that this mountainous region was the territory that God gave to Esau: “The Lord had done the same for the descendants of Esau, who lived in Seir when he destroyed the Horites from before them. They drove them out and have lived in their place to this day” (Deuteronomy 2:22). Because Seir belonged to Esau’s descendants, Israel was forbidden from invading or capturing that territory. God explains in Deuteronomy 2:5, “Do not contend with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession.”

 

“Later, when Edom became a threat to Judah, God did allow Judah to attack (2 Chronicles 25). Later still, Ezekiel records prophecies against Edom, using the name Mount Seir. The final mention of Mount Seir is a warning in Ezekiel 35:15: “Because you rejoiced when the inheritance of Israel became desolate, that is how I will treat you. You will be desolate, Mount Seir, you and all of Edom. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

 

I hope everyone has learned from the book of Ezekiel that God desires each of us to have knowledge of Him and to honor Him with our lives.  None is without excuse, for God has manifested Himself in all that He makes clear in Romans 1:18-23, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.  For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.  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.  For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.  Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.”

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

The Lord's Covenant of Peace

                                                            Ezekiel 34:25-31

 

January 24, 2024

 

The Lord's Covenant of Peace

“I will make with them a covenant of peace and banish wild beasts from the land, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods.  And I will make them and the places all around my hill a blessing, and I will send down the showers in their season; they shall be showers of blessing.  And the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be secure in their land. And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke, and deliver them from the hand of those who enslaved them.  They shall no more be a prey to the nations, nor shall the beasts of the land devour them. They shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid.  And I will provide for them renowned plantations so that they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land, and no longer suffer the reproach of the nations.  And they shall know that I am the Lord their God with them and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Lord God.  And you are my sheep, human sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Lord God.”

Have you entered into a covenant of peace as a follower of Christ?  The answer can be found in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”  Do you understand the world system gives you stuff, it rusts and gets old, it brings temporary happiness, but not lasting peace, and it often comes with a great price tag?

It matters not where you are in your relationship with Jesus, if you have by faith that God has given you, ask Jesus to forgive your sin, and you have confessed that to others, you have entered into Him, and God calls you family.  Family comes with this promise found in 1 Peter 2:9-10, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.  Once you were not God's people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.  That is your true identity in Christ; it matters not how you feel.  Colossians 3:12, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.”  

Many of us who are His followers need to do a lot of taking off, the clothes of this world, the control of fear, the desire to control, and the desire for stuff, and put on the clothes of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.  It will require you to die to all the lies and deception the world tells you need, and then and only then will you proclaim as you go, the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

 

Where does Power Come From?

 

Good morning, it began with someone calling the house at 5:50 a.m., and no answer when I awoke from a deep sleep.  It has been very windy so far, but the sun is breaking through the clouds, and I’ve been reading on page 1427 of (The Complete Works of O.C.) title Perils of Power.  This thought came to mind: the perils of power are taking place in our Congress?  Jan and I discussed this, and she thought not, because many of them are not Christian. As Oswald states, it is God who places a person in a position of honor, as he did with Pharaoh.  King Nebuchadnezzar came into my mind, and how God gave him great power till the terrible peril of pride entered his heart, and God hardened his heart, and only after seven years of eating grass did God extend grace and bring him back to rule.  It was at this point that we see a man who understood that his power was a gift, and that the God who gave the gift was more than able to remove it at His will.  

 

Chambers used this line: “The inevitable result of sin is to destroy the power of knowing it is sin.”  That quote reminded me of what Pastor Joe, the missionary, told me as a young Christian: “Sin is akin to darkness; at first it is so dark, but the longer you stay in the darkness, your eyes adjust, and before long it is not dark.”  Is that what has happened to Congress? Do they not even know that they are sinning when they lie, steal, and break the public trust with the very people who sent them to Congress to represent them?

 

Just Pondering,

 

Bob

 

If you do not have the book “The Complete Works of Oswald Chambers,” I am adding the article.

 

Perils of Power (Jeremiah 23:1-3; Luke 22:24-27)

 

Temporal power is merely the manifestation of a Divine purpose, leaving ample room for the prostitution of that power.  “But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart.”  When a man is once placed in a position of honor under God’s providence and does not maintain a right relationship to God, the very position in which God has put him will harden him away from God.  Power we must have, whether we like it or not, but power is a terrible peril unless the life is rooted in God’s grace.

 

Bear in mind the distinction between the results of sin and punishment for sin.  Verse 2 refers to the latter – “ . . . behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord.”  The inevitable results of sin are to destroy the power of knowing it is sin.  The punishment of sin is that God banishes the sinner from His presence.  What is being forgotten today is that there is any punishment –“This is simply the result of having made a mistake.”  The suffering that comes to the children of bad people is the inevitable result of sin, not its punishment; punishment is meted out here or hereafter to the parents who may never suffer in this present life.  In this case, God interfered with the punishment because they were His people.

 

“Ye have scattered My flock, and driven them away . . .” Beware of the possibility of being faced by God at some time with the lives you have been the cause of being driven out.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice