Skip to content Transcending Time: Ezekiel's Glimpse into God's Eternal Realm - Ezekiel 8-9 Mar 25 · 15 min ...more
Transcending Time: Ezekiel's Glimpse into God's Eternal Realm - Ezekiel 8-9
March 25, 2025 · 15 min
Dive into Ezekiel's visions of spiritual crisis, finding solace in God's care for those dismayed by the nation's abominations.
Series Stand on the Word - Video On Demand March 25, 2025 · 15 min · Stand on the Word - Video On Demand
Dive into Ezekiel's visions of spiritual crisis, finding solace in God's care for those dismayed by the nation's abominations. ...more Show the full description Show less Dive into Ezekiel's visions of spiritual crisis, finding solace in God's care for those dismayed by the nation's abominations.
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Ezekiel's Vision and the Spiritual State of Judah 0:10 Good morning. Welcome to Stand on the Word. Thanks for joining me this morning as we look at Ezekiel chapters 8 and 9 verse 4 of chapter 9. And the Lord said to him, pass through the city through Jerusalem and put0:22 a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over the abominations that are committed in it. Now beginning in chapter 8 all the way through chapter 11, Ezekiel, at this point, is a0:34 year and 2 months into his call to be a prophet, as a as a watchman. And here, he's given a prophetic vision that reveals the spiritual depravity of Judah, and he's transported, into the temple.0:58 Prophecy And then the lord then shows him the judgment that was coming as a result of the spiritual idolatry. But but even once again, even in the midst of the judgment,1:10 we see god's mercy and his care for those whose hearts are toward him. Now there are differing views on what is happening here with Ezekiel. Was he physically transported1:22 back to Jerusalem? Was it just a vision? Well, look at, verse 3 of chapter 8. He put out the form of a hand and took me by a lock of my head, and the spirit lifted me up between earth and1:34 heaven and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the gateway of the inner court that faces north, where was the seat of the1:46 image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy. Now based upon what we read, he saw their sin and kind of a a nonlinear vision. And1:58 in chapter 9, he sees into the spiritual dimension, which gives him an understanding of the judgment behind the destruction of Jerusalem that was yet to take place. I think this is very fascinating and and2:10 and revealing, in this passage of scripture. I would say this is very similar to to to Paul when he was caught up in the third heaven. I mean, I think there is a the Lord in2:22 scripture has given individuals the opportunity to see in in really the spiritual realm outside of time and and space. I think that may have been what it was. We don't know. I guess we'll find out2:33 later when we get to heaven. Alright. So let's focus, though, on what Ezekiel did see. The idolatry was all encompassing. Right? They weren't dabbling in it.2:45 They were headlong into it. The first was the image of jealousy at the entrance. Verse 5. Then he said to me, son of man, lift up your eyes now toward the north. So I lifted up my eyes toward the north, and behold, north2:57 of the altar gate in the entrance was the image of jealousy. Now it's uncertain exactly what he's making reference to. May go back to the time of Manasseh where they were setting up3:09 these idols, Baal, Asherah, the gods of the the previous inhabitants of the land. God gave the Israelites precise instructions when3:20 they moved into the to the land of promise about idol worship that they were not to do it. Alright? In fact, in Exodus let me read Exodus 34 13. You shall tear down their altars and break their3:32 pillars and cut down their Asherom, for you shall worship no other god, for the lord whose name is Jealous is a jealous god. Even3:44 more was revealed to Ezekiel. The inner chamber was filled with 70 of the nation's leaders, elders, worshiping a pantheon of spirits3:56 and idols like the land of Egypt from which they were delivered, worshiping everything, ants, alligators. You name it. They were worshiping it. Verse 10. So I went in and saw, and there engraved on the4:07 wall all around was every form of creeping thing and loathsome beast and all the idols of the house of Israel. And before them stood 70 men of the elders of the house of Israel4:19 with Jehazaniah, the son of Shaphan, standing among them. Each had his censer in his hand, and the smoke of the cloud of incense went up.4:32 Now Jahazaniah was the son of Shaphan, who had been a key leader in Shaphan, his father, had been a key leader in Josiah's reforms,4:44 which I think is very interesting as it pointed out because our relationship with the Lord is not caught by our kids. It has to be taught. So you see how 1 generation was a part of the reform. The next is,4:56 headlong into secret demonic worship. Verse 14. Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the Lord, and, behold, there set women weeping for5:08 Tamaz. Now Tamaz, according to scholars, was the husband of Ishtar, and after his death became the god of the underworld associated with fall and spring, dying in the5:20 fall, rising in the spring. This was essentially the worship of nature. Alright? But also a part of the worship of Tamaz was sexual immorality as we see with most of the the5:31 gods, the demons associated with the earth's fertility. But wait. There's more. Verse 15. Then he said to me, have you seen this, oh son of man? You will5:43 see still greater abominations than these. Really? I mean, what else can we see? Verse 16. And he brought me into the inner court of the house of the Lord, and behold, at the entrance of the temple of the5:55 Lord between the porch and the altar where they were actually called to weep when they sinned. They were to go there, and the the leaders were to weep toward the Lord and call for repentance,6:07 but that's not what they were doing. There were about 25 men with their backs to the temple of the Lord. They weren't facing the temple. They were their backs were against toward the temple and their6:19 faces toward the east worshiping the sun toward the east. So they turned their faces toward the east, worship the sun, but their backs toward the presence of the lord in the holy place where they were instructed6:31 by god to turn in repentance if they wanted to experience forgiveness. And by the way, this was the spiritual leadership of the nation, the priest. When the spiritual leadership is6:42 compromised, the country cannot help but be corrupt. Alright. Why was all this happening? Why was it happening? What was at the root of verse 12? Then he said to me, son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house6:54 of Israel are doing in the dark, each in his room of pictures? For they say, the Lord does not see us. The Lord has forsaken the land. What they're saying is essentially God is dead. Now7:06 let me ask you a question. Do do do you see a progression here? I think this is very, very similar to what Paul wrote in Romans chapter 1 beginning in verse 21. He says, for although they7:18 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 the7:29 immortal god for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore, god gave them up to the lust of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves because7:40 they exchanged the truth of god for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator who was blessed forevermore. You see? So how does this happen? Well,7:52 first, a nation departs from god and his ways. Then this void, and there is no you've heard me say this before. There's no deep spiritualized zone, and you can't be there's no neutrality.8:04 Jesus said that. Either for me or against me. So this void is then filled with the gods of this age that in allow us or call upon us to the creation of our own mind to indulge our8:16 natural or carnal desires. And that's what idols are. Idols just feed our fallen nature. They don't call us to holiness. God calls us to holiness. They give us what we want or at least what8:28 we think we want, but it never satisfies what we really have need of. This enables these masquerading principalities and powers, these rulers of darkness of this age to lead people deeper into8:40 depravity to the point where you don't know what a male and a female is. Right? Now understand this. Alright? You gotta understand this. This is very important even when we talk about public8:51 policy. Okay? Immorality never stands still. It is never satisfied. Proverbs tells us this. It's never satisfied. Therefore, we can never compromise with9:03 or find common ground with the forces of darkness. You you can't do it. Alright. This all of this is the backdrop to the judgment that we read about in9:15 chapter 9. Verse 1. Then he cried in my ears with a loud voice saying, bring near the executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand. And behold, 6 men, 6 men came from the direction9:27 of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his weapon for slaughter in his hand. And with them was a man clothed in linen, with a writing case at his waist. And they went in and stood beside the bronze9:38 altar. Now remember, he's seeing this before the city had actually been destroyed. The lord is actually showing Ezekiel how this will unfold in the spiritual realm.9:50 These executioners were the angels that had watched over the city, but now God called upon them to execute justice for the sin of the city. Verse 3. Now the glory of the Lord of10:02 Israel had gone up from the cherubim on which it rested to the threshold of the house, and he called to the men clothed in linen who were who had the writing case at the waist. And the Lord said to him, pass through the10:13 city through Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it. And to the others, he said in my hearing, pass10:25 through the city after him and strike. Right? Pass through the city after him and strike. Your eyes shall not spare, and you shall show no pity. Kill old10:37 men outright, young men and maidens, little children and women, but touch no 1 on whom is the mark, and begin at my sanctuary. So they began with the elders10:49 who were before the house. So I I want you to see something. A couple of things as we wrap this up. Look at the standard. Ezekiel 9 9. Did the lord said to me, the guilt of the11:00 house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of blood and the city full of injustice, for they say the lord has forsaken the land and the lord does not see. As for me, my eye will not spare nor will I11:12 have pity. I will bring their deeds upon their head. See, the standard is God's righteousness, and he is going to take our deeds, the deeds of man, and bring them back on their heads. You know, you hear all11:24 this time about karma. Not karma. It's God's justice. The sanctification. Alright. Let's look at that. Verse 4, we read of this, and god and the lord said to him, pass through the city through Jerusalem and put11:36 a mark on the foreheads of men who sigh and groan over the abominations that are committed in it. You see, there's that's the sanctification, the set apart. Those who sighed and cried over the abominations that were11:47 taking place received the mark on their foreheads because they were grieved over the sin of their of their nation, of their society, of their city. Let me ask you a11:59 question, and and I put this out here to myself. Would would you have the mark? Would would I have the mark? Are are we grieving? Are you grieving? Are you lamenting, crying out in prayer for12:11 the state of our nation, for the culture in which we live? I know we see some positive things happening right now. But is there really the the spiritual return to the lord that12:23 we so desperately need? Look. Their sorrow was not those that had the mark, their sorrow was not because they had been wronged or12:35 their standards offended, but because of what was happening was offensive to god. You know, you and I, we don't need to get all worked up and be angry because someone offended us.12:48 We we should be grieving because what is happening around us offends god and his standard. The callous and even the the celebrated sacrifice of the unborn, the devaluing of human life, the12:59 violence, the opulence, and the idolization of sex in our culture, which is evidenced by the fact that people are now defined by their sexual preference or perversions, all that runs counter13:11 to the word of God, and it should grieve us. We should carry the mark, the mark of crying out to God because we're grieved at the13:22 violations of his truth and his word. Father, we thank you for your word and this warning. And I pray father that, lord, our hearts would be burdened to cry out13:35 for our nation, for our states, for our communities, for our families. That father that it's not about us being being offended. Rather,13:47 it's about us offending you. So, father, I pray that you we we thank you for the good things that are happening, the reforms, just like we saw we read of in Josiah's day, reforms, political reforms. Lord, we13:59 need spiritual revival. All of us, lord. I I pray, lord, begin right here. Turn our hearts back to you wholeheartedly. May we grieve, lord,14:11 over what we see happening and and the effects of that upon the lives of people and so many innocent people, children. Lord, please, have mercy upon us. Turn our hearts back to you.14:23 In Jesus' name, amen. Wow. A, a really powerful passage of scripture this morning, and I hope you spend a little bit of time meditating upon it throughout the course of the day.14:35 Until next time, keep standing on the word.14:40 Today's study comes from the stand on the word bible reading plan available for free at frc dot org slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day, you14:52 can read through the entire Bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at frc dot org slash bible.In this video 0:00 Ezekiel's Vision and the Spiritual State of Judah
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