Modern Idolatry: Still Rotten

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.550 You'll eight and nine. I'm so I'm reading two chapters tonight. I'm Ezekiel 2 00:00:09.630 --> 00:00:31.579 eight and nine. So, as I read these, I promise you that 3 00:00:31.699 --> 00:00:35.460 if you check out at the beginning, you're not going to get anything. 4 00:00:36.929 --> 00:00:49.490 It's dense and strange and complicated in some ways. But if you if you 5 00:00:49.689 --> 00:00:56.479 strive to listen and to listen carefully, I think you will understand. I'm 6 00:00:56.520 --> 00:01:00.399 you'll be able to follow it and of course I'm will go through it as 7 00:01:00.439 --> 00:01:03.310 I preach, and I'll help along the way there. And Kids, I 8 00:01:03.469 --> 00:01:10.510 promise that you will. I'm here some very interesting things in these chapters, 9 00:01:10.709 --> 00:01:15.109 things that you will have questions about and want to know more about. So 10 00:01:15.189 --> 00:01:19.500 let's give our attention to God's word now, and Ezekiel eight and nine. 11 00:01:22.540 --> 00:01:25.700 In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of 12 00:01:25.780 --> 00:01:29.939 the month, as I sat in my house with the elders of Judah sitting 13 00:01:29.939 --> 00:01:34.010 before me, the hand of the Lord God fell upon me. There then 14 00:01:34.049 --> 00:01:38.290 I looked and behold a man that has the a form, that had the 15 00:01:38.370 --> 00:01:46.290 appearance of a man. Below what appeared to be his waist was fire and 16 00:01:46.450 --> 00:01:52.719 above his waist was something like the appearance of brightness like gleaming metal, and 17 00:01:52.840 --> 00:01:56.159 he put out the form of a hand and took me by a lock of 18 00:01:56.280 --> 00:02:00.750 my head, and the spirit lifted me up between heaven and earth and brought 19 00:02:00.829 --> 00:02:06.189 me, in visions of God, to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the 20 00:02:06.269 --> 00:02:12.030 Gateway of the inner courts that faces north, where was the seat of the 21 00:02:12.270 --> 00:02:17.060 image of Jealousy, which provokes to jealousy. And behold, the glory of 22 00:02:17.180 --> 00:02:22.539 God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the valley. 23 00:02:23.219 --> 00:02:25.979 Then he said to me, son of man, lift up your eyes 24 00:02:27.139 --> 00:02:30.569 now toward the north. So I lifted up my eyes toward the north and 25 00:02:30.689 --> 00:02:37.250 behold, north of the altar gate in the entrance was the image of jealousy. 26 00:02:38.129 --> 00:02:40.210 And he said to me, son of Man, do you see what 27 00:02:40.289 --> 00:02:46.039 they are doing, the great abominations that the House of Israel are committing here 28 00:02:46.680 --> 00:02:53.759 to drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will still see greater abominations. 29 00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:57.360 And he brought me to the entrance of the court and when I looked, 30 00:02:57.439 --> 00:03:00.789 behold there was a hole in the wall. Then he said to me, 31 00:03:00.949 --> 00:03:02.509 son of man, dig in the wall. So I dug in the 32 00:03:02.629 --> 00:03:07.990 wall and behold there was an entrance and he said to me, go in 33 00:03:07.189 --> 00:03:13.259 and see the vile abominations that they are committing there. So I went in 34 00:03:14.180 --> 00:03:20.219 and saw and there engraved on the wall all around was every form of creeping 35 00:03:20.379 --> 00:03:23.780 things and bloathes and beasts and all the idols of the House of Israel. 36 00:03:24.620 --> 00:03:30.330 And before them stood seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, 37 00:03:30.770 --> 00:03:35.729 with Jahs and IAH, the son of Shafun, standing among them. Each 38 00:03:35.930 --> 00:03:39.050 had his censer in his hand and the smoke of the cloud of incense went 39 00:03:39.090 --> 00:03:43.560 up. Then he said to me, son of man, have you seen 40 00:03:43.719 --> 00:03:46.719 what the elders of the House of Israel are doing in the dark, each 41 00:03:46.879 --> 00:03:52.680 in his room of pictures, for they say the Lord does not see us, 42 00:03:53.159 --> 00:03:58.150 the Lord has forsaken the land. He said also to me you will 43 00:03:58.150 --> 00:04:03.629 still, you will see, see still greater abominations that they commit. Then 44 00:04:03.710 --> 00:04:06.750 he brought me to the entrance of the North Gate of the House of the 45 00:04:06.870 --> 00:04:12.740 Lord, and behold there sat women weeping for Tammas. Then he said to 46 00:04:12.780 --> 00:04:15.980 me, have you seen the SOCM of men? You will see still greater 47 00:04:16.100 --> 00:04:21.500 abominations than these, and he brought me into the Inner Court of the House 48 00:04:21.620 --> 00:04:26.089 of the Lord. And behold, at the entrance of the Temple of God, 49 00:04:26.290 --> 00:04:30.730 between the Porch and the altar, there were about twenty five men with 50 00:04:30.930 --> 00:04:33.490 their backs to the temple of their Lord, of the Lord, and their 51 00:04:33.569 --> 00:04:40.360 faces toward the East, worshiping the sun toward the East. Then he said 52 00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:43.160 to me, have you seen this? O Son of man? Is it 53 00:04:43.319 --> 00:04:46.720 too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit the abominations that they 54 00:04:46.800 --> 00:04:51.160 commit here, that they should fill the land with violence and provoke me still 55 00:04:51.199 --> 00:04:57.550 further to anger? Behold, they put the branch to their nose. Therefore, 56 00:04:57.670 --> 00:05:00.350 I will act in wrath. My eye will not spare it, nor 57 00:05:00.430 --> 00:05:04.389 will I have pity, and though they cry in my ears with a loud 58 00:05:04.389 --> 00:05:09.819 voice, I will not hear them. Then he cried in my ears, 59 00:05:09.860 --> 00:05:14.019 or then he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying bring near 60 00:05:14.100 --> 00:05:18.019 the executioners of this city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand. 61 00:05:18.019 --> 00:05:23.250 And behold, six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which 62 00:05:23.329 --> 00:05:27.649 faces north, each with his weapon for his for slaughter in his hand, 63 00:05:27.649 --> 00:05:31.129 and with them was a man clothed in linen with a riding case in his 64 00:05:31.209 --> 00:05:36.399 waist and they went in and stood beside the bronze altar. Now the glory 65 00:05:36.560 --> 00:05:42.279 of the God of Israel had gone up from the Cherub on which it rested 66 00:05:42.360 --> 00:05:46.759 to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed in 67 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:50.269 linen who had the writing case at is waste, and the Lord said to 68 00:05:50.350 --> 00:05:55.029 him, pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on 69 00:05:55.149 --> 00:05:59.709 the foreheads of the men who sigh and Groan over all the abominations that are 70 00:05:59.750 --> 00:06:02.350 committed in it. And to the others, he said in my hearing, 71 00:06:02.709 --> 00:06:08.660 passed through the city after him and strike your eye shall not spare and your 72 00:06:08.860 --> 00:06:13.540 and you shall show no pity. Kill old men outright, young men and 73 00:06:13.699 --> 00:06:17.259 maidens, little children and women, but touch no one on whom is the 74 00:06:17.379 --> 00:06:23.889 mark, and begin at my sanctuary. So they began with the elders who 75 00:06:23.889 --> 00:06:29.089 were before the house. Then he said to them, defile the house and 76 00:06:29.329 --> 00:06:32.160 fill the courts with the slain. Go Out, and they went out and 77 00:06:32.279 --> 00:06:36.360 struck in the city. And while they were striking, and while they were 78 00:06:36.399 --> 00:06:42.040 striking and I was left alone, I fell upon my face and I cried 79 00:06:42.079 --> 00:06:46.560 Ah, Lord God, will you destroy all the remnants of Israel in the 80 00:06:46.639 --> 00:06:50.910 outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem. Then he said to me, the guilt 81 00:06:51.069 --> 00:06:56.949 of the House of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full 82 00:06:56.990 --> 00:07:00.310 of blood, the city full of injustice, for they say, the Lord 83 00:07:00.459 --> 00:07:04.899 is forsaken the land and the Lord does not see. As for me, 84 00:07:05.100 --> 00:07:10.699 my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. I will bring 85 00:07:11.259 --> 00:07:15.930 their deeds upon their heads. And behold the man clothed in linen, with 86 00:07:15.009 --> 00:07:19.610 the riding case to at his waist brought backwards, saying I have done one 87 00:07:20.089 --> 00:07:31.920 as you commanded me it. God bless his word to us. So, 88 00:07:32.519 --> 00:07:39.879 about fourteen months after the opening vision that Ezekiel has, he is not in 89 00:07:39.959 --> 00:07:43.480 the valley as he once was, but he is now with the elders of 90 00:07:43.639 --> 00:07:49.230 Israel at his house when he is taken into a vision. Ezekiel doesn't say 91 00:07:49.350 --> 00:07:53.310 here, the word doesn't say here, why the elders were with him at 92 00:07:53.350 --> 00:07:57.230 this point in time, but we see a couple other instances in the book, 93 00:07:58.149 --> 00:08:01.339 in Chapter Twenty in particular, it mentions that they were inquiring of the 94 00:08:01.459 --> 00:08:07.420 Lord, and that's probably what's happening here as well. The elders are coming. 95 00:08:07.579 --> 00:08:11.139 Remember, Ezekiel is in exile, these elders in exile, and and 96 00:08:11.300 --> 00:08:16.769 they are coming or during the time of the exile, and they come and 97 00:08:16.970 --> 00:08:20.329 they are perhaps hoping for a good word. But, as we know from 98 00:08:20.370 --> 00:08:26.769 Ezekiel's ministry, his prophetic ministry, so far his word has not been a 99 00:08:26.889 --> 00:08:31.040 good one in the sense of a comfortable one or a pleasure of one or 100 00:08:31.079 --> 00:08:35.279 all, or a very hopeful one. No, it is a vision that 101 00:08:35.600 --> 00:08:43.070 is hard, a vision that is full of the wrath and fury of God, 102 00:08:43.149 --> 00:08:48.149 a vision that is full of idolatry and abominations and Gil that is just 103 00:08:48.710 --> 00:08:58.059 heaped up the people God says are exceedingly guilty. You know in your life 104 00:08:58.220 --> 00:09:01.100 that there are sometimes you do things, sometimes other do other people do things 105 00:09:01.139 --> 00:09:05.059 that you kind of go that was bad, but we can overlook it, 106 00:09:05.860 --> 00:09:09.009 and the other times we go that was pretty bad. And then there are 107 00:09:09.009 --> 00:09:15.169 other times it's like as guilty as sin, as we say, right, 108 00:09:15.570 --> 00:09:20.730 it's just beyond obvious that what has been done is just over the top, 109 00:09:22.490 --> 00:09:30.120 outlandishly wrong and evil and must be punished. And it's those cases in particular 110 00:09:30.679 --> 00:09:35.440 that are not when our that are so wrong and so evil and so awful 111 00:09:35.519 --> 00:09:39.389 when in the world they go unpunished. It tends to drive people crazy. 112 00:09:41.029 --> 00:09:50.750 It makes us so angry and so upset when great evils are done. Sometimes 113 00:09:50.789 --> 00:09:54.860 they're very public and we see them in our society and our culture, and 114 00:09:54.980 --> 00:10:00.980 sometimes they're their private. Some things are known only within a family when such 115 00:10:01.059 --> 00:10:05.419 and such brother or such and such sister or a parent does something that is 116 00:10:05.580 --> 00:10:13.690 just way out there, really wrong, and everyone says this has to be 117 00:10:13.809 --> 00:10:16.850 dealt with, and dealt with now that. That's where Israel is at. 118 00:10:18.409 --> 00:10:22.320 They have been warned over and over and over again what has been gone that, 119 00:10:22.440 --> 00:10:26.279 what is going wrong. They have been called to repentance over and over 120 00:10:26.360 --> 00:10:31.799 again, and now the land is full of bloodshed and violence and idolatry, 121 00:10:31.879 --> 00:10:39.950 and the Lord says enough, the measure of sin has reached its top. 122 00:10:39.070 --> 00:10:48.549 Judgment is coming. And so as these elders come and are meeting with is 123 00:10:48.669 --> 00:10:52.580 Equel, it is at this moment when the hand of God, he says 124 00:10:52.620 --> 00:10:58.620 in Verse One, Falls Upon Him and he sees this same one whom he 125 00:10:58.700 --> 00:11:05.730 saw at the beginning. He sees this one who has the appearance of brightness 126 00:11:07.210 --> 00:11:13.690 like gleaming metal above his waist and fire bow before, when you have this 127 00:11:13.809 --> 00:11:18.049 vision of him, he the rainbow was also wrapped around him and he was 128 00:11:18.129 --> 00:11:26.159 seated upon the chair of Beam, seated upon these great wheels of Wrath and 129 00:11:26.399 --> 00:11:30.879 judgment. That same one is now speaking to him again and it marks a 130 00:11:31.080 --> 00:11:35.029 new section in the book of Chapters Eight, nine, ten and eleven. 131 00:11:35.149 --> 00:11:41.029 Word, of course, looking at the first two of those tonight. And 132 00:11:41.230 --> 00:11:45.230 this, I believe, is the Lord, the Lord, Lord who has 133 00:11:45.269 --> 00:11:48.700 commissioned Ezekiel, the Lord seeks, speaks in judgment. The Lord, that 134 00:11:48.860 --> 00:11:54.259 same Lord who is also spoken of in revelation, crowned with glory and honor, 135 00:11:54.419 --> 00:12:05.409 to whom all the angels Cheruban worship and Adore our God, who is 136 00:12:05.570 --> 00:12:11.490 now coming in judgment. He in verse three, he puts out the form 137 00:12:11.529 --> 00:12:15.960 of a hand and takes him by his hair, a lock of his head, 138 00:12:15.960 --> 00:12:22.840 and the spirit is amazing picture. The Spirit Lifts Ezekiel Up between heaven 139 00:12:22.879 --> 00:12:28.279 and earth, it says, and he is caught up in the visions of 140 00:12:28.440 --> 00:12:35.470 God to Jerusalem. So his not physically in Jerusalem, but the Lord is 141 00:12:35.629 --> 00:12:41.309 giving him visions by the spirit of God to see Jerusalem and he's going to 142 00:12:41.389 --> 00:12:48.139 take Ezekiel on a tour, but not a nice tour where he points out 143 00:12:48.220 --> 00:12:56.899 various architectural features and reminds him of interesting facts and history, but it is 144 00:12:56.220 --> 00:13:03.690 a tour of Abominations, a tour of idolatry. It is, in a 145 00:13:03.809 --> 00:13:09.490 way, the God presenting to the Prophet the evidence of why he is about 146 00:13:09.529 --> 00:13:15.120 to do what he is about to do. Lord has done this already in 147 00:13:15.200 --> 00:13:20.759 the book and he does it again here in this vision. And as he 148 00:13:20.919 --> 00:13:26.789 does, as he gives him this tour, he gets closer and closer to 149 00:13:26.830 --> 00:13:33.070 the presence of the Lord in the temple. He starts at the North Gate. 150 00:13:33.149 --> 00:13:39.190 I'm just outside of it, and we read that as he looks towards 151 00:13:39.309 --> 00:13:43.100 the north, this is in verse five, He sees, north of the 152 00:13:43.179 --> 00:13:48.179 altar gate, in the entrance, the image of Jealousy. We doesn't say 153 00:13:48.259 --> 00:13:54.059 exactly what this is, but this is you taking that language of image and 154 00:13:54.980 --> 00:14:01.970 an idol very likely standing there at the entrance, on the just outside the 155 00:14:01.009 --> 00:14:09.039 entrance to the gate, standing as a kind of guard, and this provokes 156 00:14:09.159 --> 00:14:20.879 the Lord to Jealousy. You can understand why. Imagine that let's say you're 157 00:14:20.960 --> 00:14:26.549 married and at spouse and your spouse. Before they go to bed at night, 158 00:14:26.950 --> 00:14:33.190 they take a little picture of another man or another woman and they put 159 00:14:33.190 --> 00:14:37.269 it right there by their bed and they smile at it and they they love 160 00:14:37.389 --> 00:14:41.100 it and they're just so filled with it. Would tear your heart out, 161 00:14:41.139 --> 00:14:48.340 wouldn't it, if your house was in love with this other person? Well, 162 00:14:48.460 --> 00:14:52.620 here is the temple of the Lord, the place where God has said 163 00:14:52.779 --> 00:14:56.889 his presence among his people, the place where God has said I will be 164 00:14:56.169 --> 00:15:05.250 with you and you will be with me and together we will be intimate together, 165 00:15:05.330 --> 00:15:13.639 and there is this image of another, of another God. Ezekiel is 166 00:15:13.720 --> 00:15:20.590 then taken further into the the the temple complex, and he's placed at the 167 00:15:20.629 --> 00:15:26.950 entrance of the temple courtyard, outside a wall, perhaps some kind of dirt 168 00:15:26.029 --> 00:15:30.710 or something, and he sees a hole in the wall and he's told to 169 00:15:30.789 --> 00:15:33.789 dig and he digs through. And what does he find? As he as 170 00:15:33.830 --> 00:15:37.500 he looks in, he finds a secret room. And well, we find 171 00:15:37.620 --> 00:15:41.620 is that the idolatry is not just out there in the peep among the people's 172 00:15:41.659 --> 00:15:48.980 are outside of the temple, but it's inside the temple complex. To there 173 00:15:50.049 --> 00:15:54.409 are in there. This is verse seven. And following he digs in the 174 00:15:54.529 --> 00:15:56.769 wall. He sees these vile, vilebominations. And what does he see? 175 00:15:56.889 --> 00:16:00.809 In verse ten, it says engraved on the wall he's looking in, all 176 00:16:00.929 --> 00:16:07.519 around was every form of creeping things and loathsome beasts and all the idols of 177 00:16:07.600 --> 00:16:11.679 the House of Israel on what comes to my mind they're are those pictures of 178 00:16:11.799 --> 00:16:18.990 the the the the Egyptian pyramids. Right, walls covered with idols and pictures, 179 00:16:19.110 --> 00:16:22.990 all the things that they they would worship. But notice what it says. 180 00:16:22.190 --> 00:16:29.470 These are the idols of the House of Israel. Say what Israel's Nus, 181 00:16:29.509 --> 00:16:33.019 but the House of Israel's not supposed to have idols. So unified have 182 00:16:33.139 --> 00:16:37.500 they become that these now belong to the people. They're no longer the idols 183 00:16:37.539 --> 00:16:41.539 of Canaan, they are the idols of Israel and they are there in the 184 00:16:41.659 --> 00:16:48.009 house of the Lord. And not only does he see the walls covered with 185 00:16:48.129 --> 00:16:52.049 these things and graves, somebody took the time to cut and cut and impress 186 00:16:52.169 --> 00:16:57.490 and design and create this thing. He sees in there of the seventy men, 187 00:16:59.049 --> 00:17:03.759 of the elders, but just people, but the elders, people who 188 00:17:03.759 --> 00:17:07.480 were in charge, people who are called to guard and protect, watch and 189 00:17:07.599 --> 00:17:12.240 rule, the elders of the House of Israel, offering incense, each of 190 00:17:12.359 --> 00:17:22.910 them participating in this idolatrous worship. And this not only the the the ezekiels 191 00:17:22.950 --> 00:17:26.509 told this, not only is happening here, but it is what they are 192 00:17:26.630 --> 00:17:33.420 doing in the dark, each in his own room of pictures. The elders 193 00:17:33.460 --> 00:17:37.660 of Israel are saying, and this is repeated a few times in the chapters, 194 00:17:37.700 --> 00:17:41.940 the Lord doesn't see, and I think that's meant in two senses. 195 00:17:41.059 --> 00:17:45.170 One, they feel that the Lord has rejected them, so they can do 196 00:17:45.329 --> 00:17:48.930 what they want. They also feel that they can do what they want because 197 00:17:48.930 --> 00:17:52.250 he's not watching. He's not looking, they are going to go after their 198 00:17:52.289 --> 00:17:56.890 own idols. The Lord does not see this. They say he's forsaken the 199 00:17:56.890 --> 00:18:03.759 land and so they've given themselves over to abominations. But, as we see 200 00:18:04.039 --> 00:18:11.519 in this vision, the Lord does see. The idol outside the gate is 201 00:18:11.640 --> 00:18:15.589 not protecting them from the wrath of the Lord. The idols that are there 202 00:18:15.710 --> 00:18:21.150 inside the gate and the elders worshiping these things and are not protecting them from 203 00:18:21.190 --> 00:18:30.500 danger. They are creating a very dangerous situation. This tour of abom nations 204 00:18:30.579 --> 00:18:33.619 continue in verse fourteen, where he is brought to the entrance of the North 205 00:18:33.740 --> 00:18:38.099 Gate of the House of the Lord and they're the women, are seen weeping 206 00:18:38.859 --> 00:18:48.769 for Tammas, when commentator says, weeping for Tamas was a Babylonian ritual marking 207 00:18:48.890 --> 00:18:56.839 the death and entrance into the underworld of yet another God, the idea being 208 00:18:56.960 --> 00:19:00.680 that you would go down into the underworld and then from that underworld would come 209 00:19:02.519 --> 00:19:07.400 new life and fertility and and these kind of things. The Romans and Greeks 210 00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:15.150 had similar kind of ideas. And here in the temple they are weeping and 211 00:19:15.349 --> 00:19:22.750 mourning, hoping probably to reduce somehow the the death that they are experiencing, 212 00:19:23.900 --> 00:19:33.259 but instead they are bringing death on themselves. And finally, if it weren't 213 00:19:33.299 --> 00:19:37.650 bad enough, all over this temple complex, men and women, elders, 214 00:19:37.690 --> 00:19:45.210 lay people. This is awful false worship in the very temple of God. 215 00:19:45.490 --> 00:19:48.529 He's brought then, in Verse Sixteen, into the inner into the Inner Court 216 00:19:49.089 --> 00:19:55.720 of the House of the Lord, and what does he see? He says, 217 00:19:56.000 --> 00:20:02.000 between the Porch and the altar, the porch that entered up into that 218 00:20:02.240 --> 00:20:07.869 temple and the altar that was outside of it, there were about twenty five 219 00:20:07.109 --> 00:20:18.789 men, but instead of them going into the the inner courts and going into 220 00:20:18.950 --> 00:20:22.700 worship the Lord who was in that innermost place, their backs are to him 221 00:20:25.180 --> 00:20:36.329 and they're bowing down and worshiping the sun toward the East. The most holy 222 00:20:36.650 --> 00:20:41.769 place in all the world, the place where God has set his name and 223 00:20:41.930 --> 00:20:49.519 promised to dwell with his people, has become overrun with idolatry and paganism. 224 00:20:51.559 --> 00:21:00.359 They have literally turned their backs on God, worshiping the Sun, when right 225 00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:06.309 behind them is the one who made the sun, who set it in its 226 00:21:06.430 --> 00:21:11.390 place, the ruler of the one who rules the day in the night. 227 00:21:17.670 --> 00:21:22.180 And the Lord has had enough. I will act in my wrath, he 228 00:21:22.339 --> 00:21:26.819 says. I will not spare them, I will not have pity, like 229 00:21:27.059 --> 00:21:30.660 he did with Sodom and Gomorrah, like he did in the days of Noah. 230 00:21:30.980 --> 00:21:37.049 When this full measure of sin has reached its top and overflowed, God 231 00:21:37.289 --> 00:21:45.490 says enough and he will not relent. And though they cry in my ears 232 00:21:45.609 --> 00:21:51.400 with a loud voice, I will not hear them. And then in Justine, 233 00:21:51.519 --> 00:21:55.359 then he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying bring near 234 00:21:55.920 --> 00:22:00.960 the executioners of the city and then what we see are these six men. 235 00:22:03.190 --> 00:22:11.549 These again, these are in his vision, these six, the six men 236 00:22:11.029 --> 00:22:17.500 and one clothed in linen like a priest. These six are going to pass 237 00:22:17.700 --> 00:22:25.099 through the city, much like God passed through the cities in Egypt, passing 238 00:22:25.380 --> 00:22:29.740 over those who were covered by the blood of the lamb, but passing through 239 00:22:29.900 --> 00:22:34.690 and executing judgment on all who did not have who are not marked by the 240 00:22:34.809 --> 00:22:41.849 Lord. And they will not spare they will kill and bring judgment on the 241 00:22:42.009 --> 00:22:48.119 young and the old, men and the women, adults and the children. 242 00:22:49.039 --> 00:22:53.480 Only those who are not marked by this man with the linen, by this 243 00:22:53.759 --> 00:22:59.789 priest, with the writing tablet, only they will be spared. All else 244 00:23:00.309 --> 00:23:03.509 will be given over to but your judgment, their just judgment, in their 245 00:23:04.230 --> 00:23:12.140 idolatry. This is what's coming. And at the end of all of these 246 00:23:12.180 --> 00:23:19.059 things, we see that the Lord comes through, comes out of the this 247 00:23:19.500 --> 00:23:23.619 most holy place, and he comes to the entrance of the town, entrance 248 00:23:23.700 --> 00:23:29.250 of the temple. And then what we will see next time. I'm sorry, 249 00:23:29.250 --> 00:23:30.690 let me read that. In Verse Chapter Nine, Verse Three, the 250 00:23:30.769 --> 00:23:36.130 Glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the Cherub on which it 251 00:23:36.289 --> 00:23:41.250 rested to the threshold of the house. Remember that when Solomon prayed in the 252 00:23:41.329 --> 00:23:45.160 construction of the Temple, the Lord descended on this place and a great cloud 253 00:23:45.240 --> 00:23:49.519 of smoke and much like he did on Mount Horeb when he gave the law, 254 00:23:49.799 --> 00:23:55.710 he descended on this place. But now he's moving and he's moving away. 255 00:23:56.309 --> 00:23:59.750 He moves off of the Cherub, off of that place where he is 256 00:24:00.109 --> 00:24:03.910 in the most holy place, and now the glory of the God of Israel 257 00:24:03.269 --> 00:24:07.309 moves on which it rested. He's on the move. The wheels are turning, 258 00:24:07.710 --> 00:24:12.259 the wheels of justice are turning, and now he moves to the threshold 259 00:24:12.299 --> 00:24:15.740 of the house, and what we will see in the coming chapters is that 260 00:24:15.859 --> 00:24:22.500 he's leaving. The Glory of the Lord is departing from Israel, his protection, 261 00:24:22.779 --> 00:24:27.049 his love, his place on them, his keeping his name. He's 262 00:24:27.369 --> 00:24:41.079 leaving and he will bring down his wrath upon them. Enough is enough now. 263 00:24:41.079 --> 00:24:49.279 I wish I could tell you that the Lord did this and the world 264 00:24:49.400 --> 00:24:56.990 never fell into idolatry again, that we learned our lesson, that the weed, 265 00:24:56.150 --> 00:25:00.789 gentle ailes and Jews alike, we looked at this moment in history and 266 00:25:00.829 --> 00:25:07.220 we said not doing that again. Idolatry, not for us, but of 267 00:25:07.299 --> 00:25:12.579 course you know that's not true. The idolatry and that abomination, violence and 268 00:25:12.700 --> 00:25:22.930 bloodshed, these continue to this day. All over the world and even here 269 00:25:22.250 --> 00:25:30.369 in our own city. There are many, many, many people who refuse 270 00:25:30.849 --> 00:25:37.799 to worship the Lord, who turn their backs on him every day and worship 271 00:25:37.920 --> 00:25:47.559 the creation instead of the creator. People we know, maybe someone or some 272 00:25:47.759 --> 00:25:55.309 of you here, people going after custom made spiritualities, their own paths, 273 00:25:55.430 --> 00:26:00.069 their own ways, their own ideas. People are culture praises people who are 274 00:26:00.109 --> 00:26:08.140 open to multiple paths of spirituality, multiple paths to God. Our culture makes 275 00:26:08.180 --> 00:26:15.380 it sound all very nice. It's not very nice. It's an abomination to 276 00:26:15.500 --> 00:26:26.049 the Lord and it will bring judgment the Lord returns. We have a radio 277 00:26:26.170 --> 00:26:33.160 station, maybe more than one, I don't know. It regularly plays and 278 00:26:33.359 --> 00:26:38.720 calls people to submit themselves to energies and powers of various kinds. We have 279 00:26:40.400 --> 00:26:47.079 friends and family that worship ancestors. About a block from here there's a restaurant 280 00:26:47.119 --> 00:26:49.390 with an idol in it. You can go and put fruit in front of 281 00:26:49.470 --> 00:26:55.869 it, you can go and purchase all kinds of idolatrous things. It's it's 282 00:26:55.990 --> 00:27:06.140 not hard to find. And of course there's not just images but gods of 283 00:27:06.259 --> 00:27:11.259 money, power and fame, people that will sacrifice everything and anything for these 284 00:27:11.420 --> 00:27:18.009 things, money in particular. All over people who are sack will sacrifice their 285 00:27:18.170 --> 00:27:22.329 time, their money. There are their energy, their family and their friends. 286 00:27:22.529 --> 00:27:27.769 I'll sacrifice their happiness so that they can get money. It's insane, 287 00:27:29.809 --> 00:27:40.240 but it happens all the time. What we need to know and understand from 288 00:27:40.279 --> 00:27:47.869 this vision is how dangerous this path is. The world makes it sound all 289 00:27:47.910 --> 00:27:51.230 Nice, and surely in Israel they did as well the Lord. He's not 290 00:27:51.349 --> 00:27:53.789 taking care of us. The land is suffering of all Bob Bother's, all 291 00:27:53.869 --> 00:28:00.460 this and all that. Let's be open minded, let's find different ways, 292 00:28:00.500 --> 00:28:07.059 let's not oppress people with this one singular truth of Yah way. Let's affirm 293 00:28:07.220 --> 00:28:11.740 people and in their idolatry. Let's affirm people in finding their own paths and 294 00:28:11.890 --> 00:28:18.089 their own ways. But the Lord is very, very plain and clear on 295 00:28:18.170 --> 00:28:22.289 these points. First, Corinthians ten fourteen says you cannot drink the cup of 296 00:28:22.410 --> 00:28:29.279 the Lord and the Cup of Demons. You cannot serve both God and money. 297 00:28:29.319 --> 00:28:37.720 Jesus says these things are offensive to God. We cannot downplay them. 298 00:28:37.759 --> 00:28:42.990 We cannot ignore them. The world will say it's not a big deal, 299 00:28:44.309 --> 00:28:49.869 the Lord doesn't see it doesn't matter. These excuses have been tried before and 300 00:28:51.069 --> 00:29:06.859 they have failed. In all this is equel feels very alone. He feels 301 00:29:06.900 --> 00:29:11.569 very alone and as the House of God is defiled, he falls on his 302 00:29:11.769 --> 00:29:18.609 face and he feels like he's left all alone. And sometimes we can feel 303 00:29:18.730 --> 00:29:23.559 that way as well. They can feel like God has abandoned us, like 304 00:29:23.720 --> 00:29:32.839 he's left us in a world that is so focused on its sin. Sometimes, 305 00:29:32.960 --> 00:29:42.630 refusing to fallow after the gods of this world creates uncomfortableness, persecution, 306 00:29:42.670 --> 00:29:52.420 suffering Christians find themselves and concentration camps, they find themselves without their heads, 307 00:29:53.460 --> 00:29:59.740 they find themselves and all kinds of difficult places, in jail and elsewhere. 308 00:29:59.779 --> 00:30:04.059 They find themselves separated from their family, from their wealth. These things happen 309 00:30:04.099 --> 00:30:12.490 and we feel the pressure to go along and get along. But what this 310 00:30:12.769 --> 00:30:19.210 history teaches us, what this vision about this history teaches us, is that 311 00:30:19.410 --> 00:30:27.000 God is strong, that God is just, that God does in fact see. 312 00:30:30.880 --> 00:30:33.240 It also teaches us some other things, and all close with this. 313 00:30:34.829 --> 00:30:41.990 One thing it teaches us is that God is immensely patient with us. At 314 00:30:41.069 --> 00:30:45.789 any one of these sins, he would be right to strike any one person 315 00:30:45.990 --> 00:30:52.420 dead in a moment. Totally Fair. God is perfectly holy, he is 316 00:30:52.500 --> 00:31:02.220 perfect in every way and he is so, so patient. How long would 317 00:31:02.220 --> 00:31:10.410 you wait for somebody to fill your house with all kinds of people and things 318 00:31:10.490 --> 00:31:15.369 that don't belong there? If your neighbors are just started coming over all the 319 00:31:15.529 --> 00:31:21.839 time and taking things that rightfully belong to you, including your family members, 320 00:31:22.720 --> 00:31:26.319 the people that you loved? How long would you let that go on? 321 00:31:26.960 --> 00:31:30.920 Probably not very long. And here are these people in the House of the 322 00:31:32.119 --> 00:31:37.430 Lord. Has He been forgetful? Does he not care? Why are they 323 00:31:37.509 --> 00:31:44.069 not all dead already? It's because he's very, very patient, because he's 324 00:31:44.190 --> 00:31:49.140 calling them to repentance, and the Lord is doing the same for us even 325 00:31:49.180 --> 00:31:56.539 tonight. This judgment that came, would would that is pictured here and would 326 00:31:56.539 --> 00:32:00.450 come upon God's people and is like it came upon the world in the days 327 00:32:00.490 --> 00:32:04.650 of Noah, like it came upon the people in Sodom and go mora. 328 00:32:05.089 --> 00:32:12.690 These things are just fore tastes. They're like little models of the great judgment 329 00:32:12.730 --> 00:32:16.119 that will come upon all the earth. Finally, and forever when Jesus returns. 330 00:32:17.240 --> 00:32:22.079 It's a warning. It's meant to wake us up. It's meant to 331 00:32:22.400 --> 00:32:27.599 make us see that we cannot just go on in our sin. But it's 332 00:32:27.720 --> 00:32:34.789 also meant to make us see how patient God is. So let us not 333 00:32:35.990 --> 00:32:40.509 presume on his kindness and his forbearance, but instead let us turn to him 334 00:32:40.670 --> 00:32:46.220 in repentance. It also teaches us that God is just. He does not 335 00:32:46.420 --> 00:32:52.019 leave the guilty unpunished. He's not like a king who refuses to protect his 336 00:32:52.180 --> 00:33:00.369 people. He's not like a king who refuses to uphold righteous law. He's 337 00:33:00.450 --> 00:33:05.049 not like a king who fails to protect those who are depending upon him the 338 00:33:05.170 --> 00:33:10.849 most. God is not like that. When God goes to avenge his people, 339 00:33:10.849 --> 00:33:15.640 who trust him, when God goes to uphold his law, when God 340 00:33:15.799 --> 00:33:21.920 refer, when God protects his people, God is being good. It's called 341 00:33:22.400 --> 00:33:28.390 Holy War for a reason. It's God going forth, as that great night 342 00:33:28.630 --> 00:33:31.990 that is so often pictured and our stories and myths, you know, the 343 00:33:32.109 --> 00:33:38.910 great hero going and vanquishing all forces of evil to protect those whom he loves. 344 00:33:40.230 --> 00:33:44.420 That is something we cheer on. We have hundreds, I guess, 345 00:33:44.500 --> 00:33:49.660 now, of Superhero movies about these things right. But this is the true 346 00:33:49.940 --> 00:33:55.369 superpower, the one true living God. That's what he's doing, and that 347 00:33:55.490 --> 00:34:02.650 should both bring fear to all of his enemies and great hope and safety to 348 00:34:02.809 --> 00:34:08.849 all who are protected under him. It also reminds us, loved, that, 349 00:34:09.119 --> 00:34:15.280 as the scriptures say, vengeance belongs to the Lord. Sometimes we get 350 00:34:15.320 --> 00:34:21.079 a little anxious about things not happening. Why is so and so not being 351 00:34:21.800 --> 00:34:27.389 justly prosecuted? Why are these things so unfair and nothing's being done? I'm 352 00:34:27.429 --> 00:34:29.909 going to get in there and take care of these things, and the Lord 353 00:34:29.989 --> 00:34:34.789 says, slow down, don't worry, I'll take care of business. He 354 00:34:35.030 --> 00:34:37.550 knows how to take care of things and he will do it in his proper 355 00:34:37.699 --> 00:34:44.579 time and his proper way. We don't need to take all of God's work 356 00:34:44.739 --> 00:34:49.300 into our hands. We need to trust God the he will do what it's 357 00:34:49.300 --> 00:34:52.690 right and he will do it in his right time. Our job right now 358 00:34:53.170 --> 00:34:59.289 is to turn and repentance, to turn away from our idols and turn to 359 00:34:59.409 --> 00:35:02.690 the Lord, a turn away from the idols and turn to the Lord and 360 00:35:02.929 --> 00:35:10.559 tell everybody in the world about Jesus, that there is time and a savior 361 00:35:10.679 --> 00:35:15.440 to come, that the God who is going to reign injustice and fire on 362 00:35:15.519 --> 00:35:21.239 the whole world, has already come into the world and died on a cross 363 00:35:21.909 --> 00:35:27.309 to forgive us of our idolatry, to forgive us of our grossests, adultrees 364 00:35:27.349 --> 00:35:36.099 and abominations, to mark us with the blood of the lamb, who comes 365 00:35:36.179 --> 00:35:43.739 into the world to save us from our sins. There is a little bit 366 00:35:43.780 --> 00:35:50.130 of light in this passage and it's in that writing tablet of this this priest, 367 00:35:50.409 --> 00:35:53.809 this one clothed in linen, as he goes through the city and he 368 00:35:53.969 --> 00:36:00.889 looks for the people that are mourning their lostness, mourning their sins. He 369 00:36:00.090 --> 00:36:07.639 marks them and they will be saved. Ezekiel will not be alone, he 370 00:36:07.719 --> 00:36:13.119 will not be the last one saved. Indeed, God promises to save a 371 00:36:13.440 --> 00:36:19.349 multitude of people, not only from Israel, but from all the world tongues 372 00:36:19.510 --> 00:36:25.909 and and tribes, from all the families of mankind. And though things seem 373 00:36:27.070 --> 00:36:30.909 very dark in this particular moment and in history, and though they are very 374 00:36:30.989 --> 00:36:36.820 dark at this moment, God will not fail to fulfill his promises to Abraham 375 00:36:36.860 --> 00:36:40.699 and Isaac and Jacob. He will not fail to fulfill his promise to David 376 00:36:40.900 --> 00:36:47.570 to a stablish one to reign on the throne of God forever, when Jesus 377 00:36:47.690 --> 00:36:53.170 comes into the world, to be to Tavernacle with us, to be the 378 00:36:53.329 --> 00:37:00.719 God man, to dwell with us now and forever. God fulfills those promises. 379 00:37:04.960 --> 00:37:10.159 He takes upon himself our sins so that we would not have to face 380 00:37:10.280 --> 00:37:19.389 his judgment but would be called justified through Christ. This vision is given to 381 00:37:19.510 --> 00:37:23.150 us now so that we might repent, now, so that we might stop 382 00:37:23.230 --> 00:37:30.860 saying the Lord does not see and come to realize how much he sees and 383 00:37:30.059 --> 00:37:37.059 how much he loves. The end has not come, but the end will 384 00:37:37.139 --> 00:37:39.780 come, and no one of us knows how much time we have left. 385 00:37:42.500 --> 00:37:45.929 So, beloved, let our hearts be broken and let us turn to the 386 00:37:46.090 --> 00:37:53.489 Lord with gratitude and thankfulness and repentance. Let's also go to our neighbors, 387 00:37:54.369 --> 00:38:00.039 those who are lost, those who are enslave to their idols, and speak 388 00:38:00.119 --> 00:38:05.920 to them the good news of the grace of God, as well of the 389 00:38:06.000 --> 00:38:07.000 wrath to come. Let's pray