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Tag Archives: Ezekiel

Stand in the Gap

22 Wednesday Jun 2016

Posted by Ron Thomas in Uncategorized

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Ezekiel, faithful, leadership, stand in the gap

“And I sought for a man among them, that should build up the wall, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none” (Ezekiel 22:30, ASV).

This does not refer to any type of clothing store, as some might understand the word “gap” to refer. It does, however, refer to men and women and their dedication to the Lord. Are you a person who will stand in the gap when called upon by the Lord to do so? No doubt you consider yourself to be of that type, yet do you know what this requires?

It requires you, potentially, to stand all alone. It requires you to stand and take all sorts of verbal abuse from those who consider your thoughts and actions out of touch with reality. It requires of you, potentially, to lose all that belongs to you, even including your family.

The Lord looked out over His people and He saw no one willing to stand in the gap; the spiritual wall of protection/defense had a hole in it that allowed the forces of evil to penetrate into the souls of the people set apart by God. Even though there may have been much resistance, it was but a matter of time before the individual saint, then the collective saints were worn down by the onslaught hurled against them.

Did not the Lord send prophets to stop the bleeding (so to speak)? He certainly did, but those in position of authority, those in position of leadership seemed not to care as much as they feigned themselves and the people they did. It was their responsibility to stop the “life-source” of God from exiting the body. But, they did not, in Ezekiel 23, the Lord spoke to how bad it actually was. Two nations loved by the Lord. One nation refused the Lord’s love and was carted off into a physical and abusive captivity (Ezekiel 23:29). The other nation saw this and learned nothing from it.

Many of the Lord’s prophets did indeed stand in the gap. It was the leaders of the nation of Israel, however, who truly failed the people. The people wanted their own way of thinking to hold “sway for the day,” and a great many kings gave it to them.

The Lord needs and wants you; be sure to do what you can, and even more, to stand in the gap. RT

EASTER 2016 (Ezekiel 36-37)

28 Monday Mar 2016

Posted by Ron Thomas in Uncategorized

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bones, Easter, Ezekiel, hopeless

     As something of a lead in to the sermon this morning, one might reflect on the despair the nation of Israel was experiencing at the time in which God’s prophet Ezekiel was preaching. The southern kingdom of Israel (Judah) was in captivity because of sinful habits; their sinful habits were not particularly the kind that people often struggle with, but was of the kind that generated rebellion.

As you are aware, the Lord was very merciful to His people, but He arrived at a point in time wherein His mercy was removed. In fact, it was so bad that He had to protect His own name! But I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came. (Ezekiel 36.21, ESV) Think about that for a moment; because God’s people refused to take into consideration the Lord high and holy name, the Lord had to protect His own. As one man said, this was the utmost in humiliation the sinners of Israel experienced because the Lord abandoned them in order to protect the honor and dignity of His character. When the Lord leaves an individual or a nation, both fail to have any real hope for a future.

Though the Lord left Israel and protected His name, it was because of His mercy that He did not abandoned Israel to a complete and utter hopeless future.

God’s prophet Ezekiel was given a message, a message of encouragement in the midst of complete despair. The despair is described as when a defeated army abandons its dead on a battlefield, a complete humiliation of the deceased. Though in this description there is desolation, in truth, the Lord conveys there is hope. How can this be? The deceased warriors left on the battlefield, in the vision, have no ounce of life within them at all, but to the Lord, there is plenty to “work with” for life (hope) to be regained.

The Lord is not hindered by any obstacle in this material realm. In fact, He is hindered by mothering in any realm! Whatever it is that man can throw up to hinder the Lord, the Lord can simply wipe it away and start afresh, or He can make use of that which man throws up in His face and still turn a despairing situation into one of great hope. In regards to the nation Israel (or Judah), it was this latter the Lord used to give hope. Judah threw one sinful obstacle after another at the Lord. Of course, the Lord made them pay a serious price for so doing, but in the price paid, the message of hope was already “prepaid” (if you will).

How about you? Have you thrown up so many obstacles in front of the Lord that you despair of any hope? Well, think all over again about that. There is nothing in your life, not one single thing, that Lord can’t overcome to give you hope and to reward you with your loving obedience. This is why Jesus came to earth and was resurrected, even when man threw an obstacle in front of God, thinking they killed the Father’s only hope for man. Jesus said, I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world (John 16:33, ESV). RT

 

It Seems Unfair

29 Friday Nov 2013

Posted by Ron Thomas in Uncategorized

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Ezekiel, morality, sin, whirlwind

It seems so unfair that the behavior of the generation before us makes me suffer today. It may be unfair, but it is the course of life. That which is sown must be reaped by those who have sown it and by those who will experience its ramifications. When abortion is sown into the wind, the whirlwind of harvest is a devaluing of life (consider euthanasia). When homosexual marriage proponents sow the wind immoral selfishness, the whirlwind reaped is the degeneracy of morality for the larger community. When political survival is sown, the whirlwind of “at all cost” is reaped. It seems so unfair when men and women who call themselves Christians vote for men and women who are politically partisan rather than for the ways of Christ. It seems so unfair—and it is. Now let us reap what we have sown.

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