Search The Scriptures -- Ezekiel

Study 16 – Ezekiel 23

1. The Four Divisions of Ezekiel 23:
   
   Verses 1-10 à The Lord refers to Samaria (Israel) and Jerusalem (Judah) as prostitutes and describes the idolatry and the dependency upon foreign gods and kings as prostitution on the part of Samaria (The prostitute Oholah).
   
   Verses 11-21àThe Lord outlines the even worse ‘prostitution’ on the part of Jerusalem (Oholibah).
   
   Verses 22-35 à The lovers of the nations of Israel and Judah will turn against them
   
   Verses 36-49 àThe judgment of God and the sentencing of the prostitutes to being turned over to the hands of an angry mob that would stone them and cut them down with swords and turn those swords on the children of the prostitutes as well. They were to be an example to the world.
   
   
2. Jerusalem should have learned from the judgment of the Lord against her sister Samaria in the north, but instead of learning from the mistakes of the northern Kingdom, Judah continued down the same path. To have seen the destruction of the north and to continue down the same road is an even worse sin.
   
   The sin of idolatry came from looking ‘outside the camp’ for help. The Church must always realize that their help comes from the Lord. The Church in our own country has many times ran the risk of, and perhaps has even engaged in, a form of spiritual ‘prostitution’ as it has looked to political figures, political parties, and the court systems of our nation to bring about protection and change rather than looking to the Lord from which cometh our help.
   
   
   

Study 17 – Ezekiel 24

1. In Ezekiel 11:3 when the leader referred to Jerusalem as a cooking pot they were prophesying a time of prosperity on the horizon. God uses the same metaphor to describe a time of destruction and uses their own arrogant illustration against them. The meat in the pot would be poured out and scattered among the nations while the pot would be left to glow in the flames with no hope of recovery.
   
   
2. In Ezekiel 24:16, Ezekiel’s wife is described as ‘the delight of your eyes.’ In this terrible incident Ezekiel’s wife represents Jerusalem and Ezekiel represent the Lord. Jerusalem was the delight of the Lord yet the Lord was not going to openly weep for her. What Ezekiel does in this moment is much like what happened on the cross when Jesus reacted to His own death by saying, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” The death of Christ and the destruction of Jerusalem served as examples and as a means of redemption and salvation for the world.

Search The Scriptures -- Ezekiel 22

Study 15 – Ezekiel 22

1.      The people of Israel had engaged in idolatry and had defiled the Holy things of the Lord. They had also become filled with all forms of greed and sexual immorality. In essence they looked a great deal like the United States of America in 2011.

2.      Verses 24-29 mention: princes, officials, false prophets, and the general population. No one escapes the pronouncement of judgment from the Lord. It was as it had been in the days of Noah with one sad exception – There was no one righteous to be found that could “stand in the gap.”

Search The Scriptures -- Ezekiel

Study 11 – Ezekiel 17

1.      The Lord rebukes Judah of turning to Pharaoh for help rather than turning toward Him.

2.      One can refuse to cooperate with the will of God and can be disobedient to the point where He withholds His promises, but rest assured He will achieve His purposes and He will never give up no matter what.  The will of the Lord will be accomplished on the earth!

Study 12 – Ezekiel 18 and 19

1.      The Lord speaks through Ezekiel that He deals with people as individuals and that He deals with each one based on righteousness.

2.      Each person is responsible before God for their own righteousness. The goal of the Lord is not to bring wrath upon the unrighteous, but for the unrighteous to come to repentance so that His wrath will be diverted. The Lord makes clear that it matters not the degree of the unrighteousness of a man prior to His repentance. Repentance truly covers a multitude of sins.

3.      The three kings referred to by Ezekiel were more than likely: Jehoahaz, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah. These kings had very short reigns in which they accomplished nothing.

Study 13 – Ezekiel 20:1-44

1.      Over and over in this passage God refers to His blessings being poured out on His people to be subsequently rejected. God restrains His wrath out of a love for His people. Our salvation depends solely upon the grace and the mercy of the Lord.

2.      The Lord will bring the people back to the land that He had promised them and He would bring them back to a place of righteousness. They will reach this place when they come to a point where they are abhorred by their own sin. It is the refusal to recognize sin that leads people into exile. Our own culture is far from leaving its place of exile because everyone does what he sees right in his own mind and the very idea of something being a sin against God is foreign to the minds of most people.

Study 14 – Ezekiel 20:45-21:32

1.      The fire is kindled by the wrath of God against the nation of Judah for their idolatry. Babylon will be the sword that is drawn, but it is ultimately the Lord Almighty that is wielding it. The Lord will use whatever means necessary in order to accomplish His will. “His ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts, as high as the heavens are above the earth, so our His ways higher than our ways.”

2.      True peace rests in one place alone – the shadow of the Almighty.

Search The Scriptures -- Ezekiel 16 and 17

Study 10 – Ezekiel 16

1.      God’s complaint against Jerusalem was that she had turned against Him and turned to foreign gods. He likened her abandonment to a wife that prostitutes herself with strangers with complete disregard toward her husband.

2.      God has no problem with treating us “as you deserve” 16:59!  Being true to His covenant not only requires Him to pour out blessing based on our obedience, but to pour out judgment when we disobey. This act of judgment, however, does not nullify the covenant. The judgment comes in order to bring us back into line with the covenant so that the provisions of its blessings may be enacted.

Study 11 – Ezekiel 17

1.      The Lord rebukes Judah of turning to Pharaoh for help rather than turning toward Him.

2.   One can refuse to cooperate with the will of God and can be disobedient to the point where He withholds His promises, but rest assured He will achieve His purposes and He will never give up no matter what.  The will of the Lord will be accomplished on the earth!

Search The Scriptures -- Ezekiel

Study 7 – Ezekiel 11

1.      God lets the leaders left in Jerusalem know that they are not the choice meat at all, but are being saved for destruction.

2.      The purpose of those sent into exile was so that they would be preserved and return to rebuild the fallen nation.

3.      At the end of chapter 11 the chariot of the Glory of God returns to the mountain east of the city. It’s return is indicated after the exiles have determined to remove idolatry from the land.

Study 8 – Ezekiel 12 and 13

1.      Jerusalem was under siege for over a year and endured severe famine while Zedekiah was king in Jerusalem. The wall was broken through and the entire army fled during the night.

2.      People of our day have the same attitude as the people of Jerusalem in the day of Ezekiel. They have heard their entire lives that the Lord is coming back at any moment. They have endured many false prophets who have written books saying that there are 88 reasons that the Lord will come back in 1988 and that the Lord was returning in the year 2000, or most recently the false prophet that said that Christ was returning a couple of months ago. Due to so many false prophecies people will not even listen to the prophetic Word of the Lord that warns us that Christ will indeed return in times that look much like those of today.

3.      The false prophets are described as jackals which are animals that prey among the ruins of the people and as whitewashing over broken walls. They give an appearance like everything is fine while at the same time taking advantage of the weakness that exists. As a result the people are living under false hopes and are certain to encounter the wrath of the Lord. The true prophets are told to prophesy against the false prophets of Judah.

Search The Scriptures -- Ezekiel

Study 4 – Ezekiel 6 and 7

1.      The Lord’s wrath is coming against Israel specifically because of the sin of idolatry. Israel had placed her faith and trust in other gods rather than the Lord. America and much of the American Church is guilty of exactly the same thing. We have openly rejected the God of the Bible in favor of doing what each one sees fit in his own eyes. We have fashioned a god of our own that has nothing at all in common with the God of scripture.

2.      Over and over in these chapters we are told that the coming judgment is deserved. It is the natural consequences of turning from the Almighty God to the gods of this world. Israel will soon see that what they have trusted in will have no power against the God that they have rejected.

3.      If we were treated every day as our sins deserve our next breathe would be our last! Yet, if we persist in our disobedience we will be judged with a vengeance.

4.      The love of money is the root of all types of evil. Our preoccupation with and never ending desire for more money leads us further into the grasp of the world and further away from the loving arms of God. If all things belong to Him, and they do, then our money is meant to be used to finance His kingdom – Not ours! When the use of the money that He passes through our hands becomes more about financing our own kingdoms than financing His then we invite the judgment of God upon our heads.

Study 5 – Ezekiel 8

1.      It is the very heart of the religious leadership of Jerusalem that is engaging in and promoting the idolatry of Judah. There was a secret society that looked much like a religious cult that was taking place under the very ‘roof’ of the Temple itself. Judah had become rotten from the core.

2.      The Lord had forsaken Judah because Judah had forsaken the Lord. By turning His back on Judah, the Lord was ultimately seeking their return to Him and their return to blessing in the land that He had given them.

Study 6 – Ezekiel 9 and 10

1.      God was going to allow a remnant to remain. Those that were in a state of repentance due to the disobedience of the house of Judah were to be marked on their foreheads. Only those people would be spared destruction. This was similar to the mark of blood upon the doorpost that spared the nation of Israel at the time of the passing of the angel of death over the land of Egypt prior to the Exodus.

2.  We are not told exactly what the burning coals were used for in this chapter, but it is quite clear from what has taken place up to this point that the coals were meant for the destruction of Judah. This is unlike the coals taken from the altar and placed upon the lips of the prophet Isaiah to purify Him for service.

Search The Scriptures -- Ezekiel

Study 1 – Ezekiel 1

1.      A VISION OF FOUR LIVING CREATURES

They all had four wings
Their legs were straight and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf's foot.
They all sparkled like burnished bronze.
Under their wings they had human hands.
Their wings touched one another

Their faces:
Human (Front Side)

Lion (Right Side)

Ox (Left Side)

Eagle (Back Side)

Their wings:

Two wings above them
Two wings touching the wings of the others

Two wings covering their bodies

When they stood still they let down their wings

Their movement: always forward and always led by the Spirit

They were as bright as fire and their movements were as random and back and forth as lightning.

There was a wheel beside each one of the creatures.
The wheel were full of eyes and were gleaming.
The wheels always followed the living creatures.
The wheels did not turn

There was a throne above them with one that had the likeness of a man seated upon it. Above his waist appeared to be gleaming metal and below his waist appeared like fire. There was brightness all around the one seated upon the throne.

2.      The glory of God moves according to the Spirit of God. He goes where He wills, when He wills. There is no planning out God’s next movements. They are as random and as powerful as lightning.

Study 2 – Ezekiel 2:1-3:21

1.      Ezekiel was sent to his own people. There was no need for language school! There was no need to be trained in cross-cultural communication! The theme of his message was to be one that called for repentance. He was to proclaim a message that people were not going to be overjoyed to hear.

2.      Ezekiel needed to be willing to take in the word of God. He was not to refuse to “eat his broccoli.” What God had for Ezekiel to proclaim was best for everyone involved. The word of God in the mouth of the prophet is always sweet.

3.      The blood of the lost and the salvation of the flock are directly tied to the men and women of God that are placed among them. The prophets of God bear a tremendous responsibility. The ministry is not a popularity contest. The man/woman of God must play to an “Audience of One!” Whether the prophet is proclaiming God’s Word to the unrighteous or the righteous makes no difference. The unrighteous may change their ways and come to Christ or they can continue down their path to destruction. The same is true for the righteous. The job of the prophet is to be faithful to the proclamation of the message. The outcome is not his/her responsibility.

Study 3 – Ezekiel 3:22 – 5:17

1.      In this passage Ezekiel:
Shut himself up inside of his house
Made a clay model that represented the siege of Jerusalem
Lay on his left side for 390 days and for 40 days on his right side
Shaved off all of his hair and weighed it on a scale to divide it up into thirds

Being tied up in his own home and the clay model represented the siege of Jerusalem.
Laying on his die and shaving off his hair represented the exile.

2.      Jerusalem was going to be under siege and its inhabitants carried away due to her idolatry. While God would use foreign armies to see this plan through He makes it very clear through Ezekiel that He is the force behind the destruction. The foreign armies are merely instruments in the hands of God to perform His perfect will.

God can no more tolerate the hypocritical ‘christian’ than He could the idolatry and hypocrisy of His ‘chosen people.’

Search The Scriptures -- Philippians

Study 1 – Philippians 1:1-11

1. Paul had been beaten in Philippi. The attitude of the church toward Paul had made up that previous beating. They were supporters of Paul whether he was in a dungeon or riding a wave of revival. The Church at Philippi was no ‘fair weather friend.’ Their commitment to him while still in prison was an assurance that they were the type of Church that would be a tremendous blessing to the Kingdom of God.
   
   
2. Paul prayed for an increase in love, knowledge, and depth of insight. He prayed for such things because in order to thrive in this world the Church would need discernment and they would need to maintain their ‘separateness’ from the world.
   The more they grew in knowledge of the Lord the more fruit they would bear.
   
   
3. Paul wants to make sure to appeal to every saint in this letter because the purpose of this letter is to collect a missionary offering. He wants to touch more than the hearts of the leaders; he needs to connect with everyone.
   
   

Study 2 – Philippians 1:12-26

1. Paul viewed his imprisonment as a way to advance the gospel to a different group of people, the Roman guard, rather than as a hindrance to his work of spreading the gospel. He realized that what the enemy may have meant for evil was indeed for the good of the advancement of the Kingdom of God. As Christians we should have the same view of adversity as the Apostle Paul. Often times the Lord uses our difficulties to place us in positions and around people that we normally would not have an opportunity to be.
   
   
2. Paul saw life as an opportunity to advance the gospel and death as a promotion. Paul’s chief concern was that, while living, he would do everything possible to advance the gospel.
   
   
3. Paul resisted the temptation to pout and to complain about his circumstances. He also resisted the temptation to be critical of others that preached the gospel out of false motives. Paul rejoiced that the gospel was preached, the motivation was immaterial for him. It is also clear from Paul’s letters, however, that the proclamation of false doctrine was something that he would not tolerate under any circumstances.
   
   

Study 3 – Philippians 1:27-2:18

1. As Christians, we should desire: to conduct ourselves in a Christ-like manner, unity, like-minded fellowship, to place others before ourselves, humility, and to be lights in the darkness of this world.
   
   We should seek to avoid: selfish ambition, conceit, complaining and arguing.
   
   
2. Humility is the best one-word definition for Christ-likeness.
   We can achieve this worthy goal because God is at work in us through the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish just that!
   
   
3. When the world looks at the Church they must see a united people and hear a united message. The only way that this can be achieved  is by the exercise of humility on the part of the individual members that make up the body of Christ. Each one must humble himself and take on the role that the Heavenly Father has designed them to fulfill. If they are faithful to that task then the goal of unity can be accomplished. Without individual humility, corporate unity is impossible.
   
   

Study 4 – Philippians 2:19-30

1. Epaphroditus was willing to place is own life at risk in order to serve the lives of others. He was obviously a man of great humility who desired to bring unity to the body of Christ through his efforts. Both Timothy and Epaphroditus exhibited the traits of unity in the godhead and the humility of Christ that Paul had just finished discussing in the previous section.
   
   
2. The constant theme of this section is that both Timothy and Epaphroditus placed others before themselves. Neither one were interested in being in the lime light. If we are going to be elevated in our position we must make sure that Christ does the elevating. Our elevation among our peers should not be the goal. The goal must be the elevation of Christ. If that is our goal then Christ will elevate us in the eyes of those around us in the same way that He has elevated the stars above to shine in the darkness.
   
   

Study 5 – Philippians 3:1-11

1. Believers are to: worship by the Spirit; glory in Christ Jesus; and put no confidence in their own abilities.
   
   
2. All of our religious and church achievements don’t amount to much. Our diplomas, certificates, ribbons, trophies, giving, and attendance records will look like a pile of trash when stacked up against the glory of Christ. We are to embrace suffering rather than chase after rewards. The ultimate reward is death because only when we have achieved death can we truly achieve life.
   
   
3. Paul wanted to experience the power of resurrection. Death via suffering was the only road that would lead to such a reward for the apostle Paul and he was more than anxious to make the journey.
   
   

Study 6 – Philippians 3:12-21

1. Christians are told to press on, not give up, they still have an even greater prize to grab hold of. While they are straining toward the prize they are to forget the past struggle and live with thanksgiving for what they have already attained. Christ should be their singular focus!
   
   
2. Christians should have an appetite for the things of God. The world, in contrast, has an appetite to feed the flesh. The feeding of the flesh will lead to destruction; the feeding of the spirit will bring everlasting life. When we feed the flesh our bodies are doomed. When we feed the spirit our bodies are destined for glorification. Focusing on Christ provides both direction and encouragement for the believer.
   
   

Study 7 – Philippians 4

1. Our relationship with the Lord should fill us with rejoicing. If we are not people who are rejoicing then it is because our thoughts are focused on all of the wrong things. It is far too easy to focus on the wrong things in life. Paul provides us with an excellent list of what we should be thinking about and there is nothing in that list that can be purchased  in a store or on the internet.
   
   
2. We need each other! The advancement of the Kingdom of God is not a one man show. The missionary is empowered by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the message and empowered by the giving of the saints to sustain himself on the field. One without the other will not advance the gospel. The work of the advancement of the gospel cannot take place in fits and starts. This is no sprint; this is a marathon. Marathons are ran at a steady pace and require continuous fueling of the body. The work of the Great Commission functions in the same way.

Search The Scriptures -- Philippians

Philippians

Study 1 – Philippians 1:1-11

1. Paul had been beaten in Philippi. The attitude of the church toward Paul had made up that previous beating. They were supporters of Paul whether he was in a dungeon or riding a wave of revival. The Church at Philippi was no ‘fair weather friend.’ Their commitment to him while still in prison was an assurance that they were the type of Church that would be a tremendous blessing to the Kingdom of God.
   
   
2. Paul prayed for an increase in love, knowledge, and depth of insight. He prayed for such things because in order to thrive in this world the Church would need discernment and they would need to maintain their ‘separateness’ from the world.
   The more they grew in knowledge of the Lord the more fruit they would bear.
   
   
3. Paul wants to make sure to appeal to every saint in this letter because the purpose of this letter is to collect a missionary offering. He wants to touch more than the hearts of the leaders; he needs to connect with everyone.

Lamentations 5

Study 5 – Lamentations 5

1. The conditions in the land are to the point where the people can see no future at all, “. . . because of these things our eyes grow dim” – 5:17. It has been the discipline of the Lord that has brought the people of Judah to turn wholeheartedly to the Lord if He will take them back. Prior to being overthrown and sent into exile, Judah thought that it was invincible and that the Lord would never turn against them. By this point in Lamentations they had experienced the full wrath of the Lord. They have arrived at the point where they take the Lord seriously. Their problem is that they are no longer sure that God will take them back. If they truly understood the Lord they would know that He is always ready take back a repentant people.
   
   
2. To prophecy coming disaster in the midst of prosperity and ease was why Jeremiah was not listened to. The fulfillment of that prophecy obviously would get the people of Judah to revisit everything that Jeremiah had previously said.

Search The Scriptures -- Lamentations

Study 1 – Lamentations 1

1. Jerusalem’s cocktail of sorrow is made up of:
   Betrayal of her allies
   Captivity
   The ease of her enemies
   The loss of her treasures
   The humility of her circumstances
   The destitution of her children
   
   

Jerusalem was in such a state due to her rebellion against a righteous God and her failure to look to the future rather than to live in the moment.

2. I do not find resentment in this chapter. The author realizes that the nation of Judah is to blame and that God is just in all of His decisions. The Lord is referred to as ‘righteous’ while Judah is referred to as ‘rebellious.’ At the same time that there is no resentment toward the Lord there is a final call in the closing verse for the destruction of the enemies that God is using to achieve His will among the nation of Judah.
   
   

Study 2 – Lamentations 2

1. The right hand of God sustains His people, protects His people, and destroys the enemies of His people. Remove that sustaining, protecting, and warring hand and disaster becomes imminent
   
   
2. The hearts of the people have began to cry out to the Lord (2:18 & 19). The longer we wait to cry out to Him the longer the time of discipline will be.
   
   

Study 3 – Lamentations 3

1. A change from ‘the minor to the major key’ is caused by the discipline of God hitting the mark. The focus when ‘the minor key’ is sung is on self. The focus when ‘the major key’ is being sung is upon God. When we think of our own plight we can easily become depressed. When we focus on the greatness of God; the light will dispel the darkness.
   
   
2. The characteristics of God mentioned in 3:22-42: Love; compassion; faithfulness; and salvation. It is foolish to murmur and complain in times of chastisement because the chastisement is the Lord’s way of bringing us to the place where we will focus upon Him and not upon ourselves. The longer we focus on the pain of the punishment the longer we will be disciplined. It is when we cease to fight the punishment and begin to acknowledge the justification behind receiving such a punishment that God begins to pour out His Spirit upon us.
   
   
3. The writer begins to pray for retribution against the enemies that the Lord used to discipline Him. If the enemies of God that He allows to discipline His chosen people remain unpunished then they will not come to realize the power of God in their own lives and will continue down a path of sin. We should want the destruction of our enemies, not so they will end up in eternity separated from God, but so that they will repent and receive the same mercy that we have.
   
   

Study 4 – Lamentations 4

1. “But it happened because of the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who shed within her the blood of righteousness.”  -- Lamentations 4:13
   
   What makes the severity of judgment stand out to me in this chapter is that the writer is careful to reveal just how blessed the nation was prior to judgment. The nation goes from being precious jewels to being litter in the streets. From being as valuable as gold to as useless as a broken pot. Death by sword was to be preferred to life because to live meant famine and captivity.
   
   
2. When we depend on the devices and plans of man for our salvation we can rest assured that destruction will come upon us. Our help is to be found in the Lord. As the prophet Zecharaiah wrote: “Not by might, not by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord.”