Ezekiel 44

Long one of my favorite chapters, Ezekiel 44 highlights the priesthood ministry of the Sons of Zadok. When the other priests were offering with selfish, mixed motives, the Sons of Zadok had pure hearts and motives and sought to please the Lord alone.

Ezekiel points out that they were to wear only linen garments that would not make them perspire like wool would. There’s a message here; ministry to God should not be a product of carnal energy. It should be the fruit of a clean heart that pays attention to God’s desires rather than attempting to entertain and carnally stir up the emotions of the worshipers.

If a worship leader is aiming at simply working up the emotions of the congregation, he is missing the mark. Please God rather than pleasing men.

Gal. 1:10

Ezekiel 43

Ezekiel, in his vision, was standing on the east of the temple he saw. He turned to the East and saw the Lord coming. Jesus came from the east in the Triumphal Entry (Palm Sunday). He will touch the Mount of Olives and come from the east in His millennial reign.

One of the most thrilling moments of my trip to the Holy Land was standing on the Mount of Olives and beholding the Eastern Gate of Jerusalem. Christ will walk down the hillside and enter Jerusalem through that gate. This marriage of scriptural prophecies and actually standing on the ground where they will come to pass is one of life’s greatest highlights. It was for me. I shall never forget it.

Maranatha! The Lord is COMING!

Ezekiel 41, 42

As Ezekiel perused the temple God was showing him, he noted that the priests ate only “holy food.” Holiness is being set apart to and for God. God is holy. Whatever He does is holy. We are holy ONLY when we are set apart to God and touched by His holiness. It is imparted, not achieved.

I am moving toward a more committed food consumption lifestyle. I have eaten WAY TOO MUCH rich and fattening food. I need God to help me function in a Godlier way of eating. Grace is my solution. Wow, if it was said of me, “His eating habits reflect God’s holiness,” I would reap benefits in many ways.

I should eat for Him, not me.

Ezekiel 40

The prophet saw a man who proceeded to measure every aspect of a magnificent temple in Jerusalem. The temple is where God communes with His people.

God obviously places importance upon measurements and details. He wants our lives to give Him something to dwell in, our worship and our obedience. We always come short in these disciplines. Christ NEVER came up short in anything. When we believe in Christ and yield our lives to His control, the “measuring up” becomes His gift to us through grace and our faith in Him. We thereby measure up because He did, not because of our works or strivings.

The Lord is my Shepherd, and I lack nothing. Ps. 23:1

Ezekiel 39

Although we have difficulty putting a name or historical identity upon menacing figures Ezekiel refers to in his prophecy, we gather a sense that our God sits in the Heavens and employs FULL CONTROL over the fate of His opponents. It is actually very comforting to read these Old Testament prophecies and apply the confidence we receive through them to present day challenges.

David said, “I will fear NO EVIL: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.” [Ps. 23:4b]

Our focus should be upon His greatness and protection rather than upon our enemy’s threats or raging.

Ezekiel 38

God does not need the latest drone technology or nuclear warhead to maintain battle superiority! He merely needs to call upon the earthquake, plague, bloodshed, torrential rains, hailstones, and fire and sulfur.

No one else is sitting at the cockpit of all the elements of nature. There is no nation or military machine that can out strategize God. All this … and then there is the angelic army. One angel can eliminate 180,000 men.

Nobody stands a change against God when He summons His weapons.

I am on the Lord’s side. Are you?

Ezekiel 37

Among the prevailing themes of Ezekiel 37, a prominent one is that of joining together. Bones were joined together and tribes for joined together. God loves to see his people come together. The enemy would separate but God joins.

if you sense being divided or separated from your brother or sister in Christ, it probably has the enemy’s influence at work. Recognize it for what it is and proceed to become joined with those that are part of the body of Christ.

Ez. 36, 36

We never have to worry whether God will protect his name or not. With his name his reputation is at stake.

The young shepherd boy David honored and defended the name of the Lord when he came up against Goliath.

Jesus instructed us to “take no thought how or what ye shall speak: (when we are persecuted for his name) for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. Matt. 10:19

Ez. 34

God makes a distinction between shepherds who look out for themselves and true shepherds who watch out for the sheep.

jesus, the Great Shepherd, laid his life down for his sheep.

We should get our minds off ourselves and our needs and our well-being. We need to look out for others.