2010 – August 16 – Spinning Ezekiel’s Wheel

Study from God’s Word… Ezekiel, Chapters 8 – 11 … Passage for Reflection: Ezekiel 10: 9 – 10 … NIV 9 I looked, and I saw beside the cherubim four wheels, one beside each of the cherubim; the wheels sparkled like chrysolite. 10 As for their appearance, the four of them looked alike; each was like a wheel intersecting a wheel.

My Journal for Today: Today my devotional shepherd, Dr. LaGard Smith, had me reading from the enigmatic sections of Chapters 8 – 11 of the Book of Ezekiel in his edited The Bible in Chronological Order; and I must admit that it is mysterious language to me. But then again, it must have been difficult – if not impossible – for Ezekiel to find words to represent what God led him to see as The Lord let the Prophet see Him lifting His glory from the Temple in Jerusalem because of how His own CHOSEN people had abandoned Him. God obviously wanted His Prophet, Ezekiel, to be the witness to God moving His glory from the Temple built for Him by Solomon. And we know that the glory of God would not visit that Temple again until Jesus, Himself, was brought into the Temple by Joseph and Mary to be circumcised and blessed by the Priest, which we read about in Luke 2. And there we read of God’s blessing of New Testament Prophet, Simeon and Anna, who recognized that God had entered back into the life of the Temple and had fulfilled His covenant in the life of this baby, Jesus.

The scenes and imagery Ezekiel uses to describe what God allowed the prophet to witness are difficult for this limited mind to interpret, especially visages like the famous word picture of “Ezekiel’s wheel” in our passage highlighted by Dr. Smith in his devotional entry for today. As Dr. Smith reports, many different interpretations have been offered up as to the meaning of what Ezekiel wrote about in this passage; and whatever it was, it had to have been incredible to be a mental witness to God moving out of His Temple as part of the judgment for the rebellion and disobedience of His people.

If any reader of my devotional here will allow me the license of a very limited mind, not having the gift of prophesy or of any great Spirit-driven discernment, it is of great concern to me to read what I’ve been reading from the inspired writings of Prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and now, Ezekiel, to see how God will – at least for a season – visit His wrath of abandonment on a collection of His chosen people who turn their backs, as a nation, on the God Who had a covenant with those people. And … though we are not God’s original chosen people, I do believe that it was God’s hand which led Christians to America. And I believe that it was God’s protection and leading which brought about the incredible founding and freedom to worship the one, true God which brought America through the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and the World Wars … so that the USA could be a witness for God, much like the ancient Hebrew nation. But also like we are reading about from these OT prophets, God may be incredibly patient, as He was with Israel and Judah; but His patience has limits; and He will only visit His protection on a nation so long when they are turning their backs on Him.

And as I’ve been reading in the times of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, God can – and will – lift His Spirit-imposed hand of protection to let His people experience His “wrath of abandonment,” which is a term I heard some time ago in a sermon by Dr. John MacArthur, who was reflecting on that incredible passage in Romans 1: 18 – 32 [linked for your study]; and this, to me, is one scary passage when one considers what is going on in our country and culture these days. Yes, I know that God’s promise is true (see Hebrews 4: 12, which quotes Deut. 31: 6) never to forsake those who believe in and have a deep/abiding relationship with God through Christ; but God does not promise to stay with individuals, or collectively with a nation of people, who turn their backs on Him or His ways. And that is my concern for what we may be seeing happening in America today.

Yes, it may be a far cry to go from “Ezekiel’s wheel” to seeing God move out of America and allow us to be turned over to reprobate forces of evil; but I pray that God has mercy on His remnant of believers, of whom I count myself as one, just as He promised He would for those in Israel and Judah who were willing to ride out the tide of captivity and enforced evil in Ezekiel’s day.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, I know You’ll stay with us during these times of evil. Amen

2010 – July 8 – Pledging Undivided Allegiance

Study from God’s Word… 2nd Kings, Chapters 17 - 18 … Passage for Reflection: 2nd Kings 17: 32-33, 41 … NIV 32 They [the foreign inhabitants in God’s promised lands when Israel taken captive by Assyria] worshiped the LORD, but they also appointed all sorts of their own people to officiate for them as priests in the shrines at the high places. 33 They worshiped the LORD, but they also served their own gods in accordance with the customs of the nations from which they had been brought. … 41 Even while these people were worshiping the LORD, they were serving their idols. To this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their fathers did.

My Journal for Today: When I read Dr. Smith’s explanation and devotional entry today about how the alien inhabitants of Israel’s lands practiced religion when they were taken captive by Assyria, I couldn’t help but think about how America has become, since its founding as a “Christian Nation,” a land of hybrid faiths. And many countries in Europe, which 100 years ago would have been seen historically and demographically labeled as predominantly Christian nations have knuckled under to the cries of “tolerance,” becoming bastardized into many forms of religions; … or they are being consumed slowly by Islamic beliefs where there is NO tolerance of other faith practices.

Today the hyper-tolerance movement is sweeping the USA; and those advocating “tolerance” of faith have become tolerant of all religions, … save one, … Christianity. And there is also the spread of hybrid religious beliefs and practices, being perpetrated by new age gurus like the famous – or infamous – Oprah. And even among faith practices which are labeled as “christian,” the infusion of new ageism as well as practices from far-Eastern faiths is reshaping the face of Christianity. And the “tolerance movement” is also pressuring so-called “christian” denominations to accept sinful social practices such as homosexuality; and we see what used to be mainline Christian groups, such as the Church of England or the Presbyterian Church in the USA denomination discussing the Ordination of declared gay church leaders as well as pushing to include “gay marriage” in their sacraments.

And when one reads what the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 1: 18 – 32 [linked here], one can’t help but feel that God must be on the edge of allowing America to reap the same fate as did Israel in the times of Prophets like Isaiah. My dear friends, we cannot allow or tolerate idolatry or totally non-Christian religious practices to infuse our Church culture in the name of “tolerance;” because if we do, God’s wrath of abandonment is most surely to be the result as it was in the days of God’s people, which is documented where I’m reading now in 2nd Kings. Oh how we need to pray for God’s mercy [see 2nd Chron. 7: 14] and for His protection over the remnant of believers here in American, … those who stand firm in belief and worship strongly the one true God and His Son, Jesus Christ.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, spare those of us who stand for You. Protect us from Your own abandonment if our prayers are not enough to shield our country from Your wrath. We know that You will never forsake us; but we’ve seen that You can or will turn us – as a people – over to Your enemies to show a culture or people just how serious You are about obedience to Your covenant. Help us, Lord. Amen