Prince and Priests - Ezekiel 45

Ezekiel 45:17 "And it shall be the prince's part to give burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and drink offerings, in the feasts, and in the new moons, and in the sabbaths, in all solemnitles of the house of Israel: he shall prepare the sin offering, and the meat offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings, to make reconciliation for the house of Israel."

Upon my first reading, I did not notice that it is now the prince that is preparing the offerings. We can go on down to verse 19 and the priests come in.

v19 "And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering, and put it upon the posts of the house, and upon the four corners of the settle of the altar, and upon the posts of the gate of the inner court."

My reference Bible takes me to I Peter 2:24 "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness; by whose stripes ye were healed."

When Jesus was being accused and Pilate reasoned with the priests the priests made a profound statement: Matthew 27:25 "Then answered all the people and said, His blood be on us, and on our children."

I know they meant that they would take the blame but the statement was prophetic in a way. Jesus blood is the way to eternal life and those who come to him are cleansed by the blood.

Jesus has become prince and priest to us.

When Jesus was condemned for sins he did not commit, he was being condemned for the sins we did commit. The priest, unknowingly, prepared a sin offering, a peace offering and those other offerings, when they beat and crucified Jesus. He was the lamb of God, offered for our sins. Can you see as they beat Him and his blood was sprinkled round about.

Chapter 45 tells us many details of how the land was to be divided with a portion set aside for the priest and the holy place. It also sets the measurement, just measurements, as well as the offerings.

One final note: v18 "Thus saith the Lord God; In the first month, in the first day of the month, thou shalt take a young bullock without blemish, and cleanse the sanctuary."

v21 "In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall have the passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten."

Luke 22:7-8 "Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the passover must be killed, And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat."

So, as we study through the Bible, the Old Old Story, can you see that the blood of the lamb on the door posts to save the first born, the sacrifices in the tabernacle and temple were all pointing to the cross of Calvary where redemption was purchased for mankind by the blood of the Lamb of God. There can be no other explanation.

Sour Grapes - Ezekiel 18

Ezekiel 18:2 "What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?"

There were some bad expressions on the faces in the land. No doubt, anyone going through could see the attitude of the people by their expression and the proverb used to describe them.

The Lord goes on to explain that if the people do right, they will not be punished and will have no reason for long faces.

v4 "Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.

v5 But if a man be just, and do that which is lawful and right, ... he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord God."

The chapter reviews the elements of the law that was given to the people. The final word is that every person bears his own sin and it is not passed up or down in the family.

v20 "The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shalt the father bear the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him."

It tells us that we shall stand before God individually. I think it also tells us that our family ties are not the issue but rather how we conduct ourselves.

The plea is for Israel to turn from their wickedness. It has not changed that the wages of sin is death. Romans 6:23.

It is so obvious that we need a Savior. Man is of sinful nature and cannot pull himself up. Much of what we learn in the Old Testament shows us the need for the New. We need someone who was pure enough to take our place. It was and is Jesus.

v32 "For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God; wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye."

How Shall I Pardon Thee? -Jeremiah 5

Jeremiah 5:1 "Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it."

This reminds us of Sodom and Abraham's plea that God spare it and they went through the numbers and could not find sufficient righteous to justify God sparing the city. In this chapter, God says to search for just one and he will stop his judgment.

v2 "O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction; the have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return."

Often this is the difference in a child, as well, when they are corrected. Some will accept that they have done wrong and endeavor to do right while others will harden their heart against correction and persist to do wrong.

In verse 5, he goest to the the great men of the city seeking someone who will do right but even there he finds none.

Remember the armies are coming and the spies are already around.

v7 "How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods; when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses."

In this question, we touch on the many characters of God which I am not knowledgeable enough to explain. I do understand that God will not go against his character. God hates sin and sin must be judged. He is also love and that love is everlasting. So in this chapter he seeks just one person that will justify him stopping judgment on the land.

It also goes to the question that people often ask: "How can God let this happen?" It is not that God wants things to happen. It is that people bring the penalty of sin upon themselves for sin must be judged.

v9 "Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?"

The answer to the why is found in the following verse.

v19 "And it shall come to pass when ye shall say, Wherefore doeth the LORD our God all these things unto us? then shalt thou answer them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours."

The punishment reflects the transgression.

He goes on to say that they have eyes but do not see and ears but do not hear. verse 21. They have a revolting and rebellious heart. verse 23.

In verse 25 we can see the love of God and the consequence of sin: "Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withheld good things from you."

The bad part is that the leaders are teaching the people falsely and the people like it.

v31 "The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means, and my people love to have it so; and what will ye do in the end thereof?"

The captivity is coming and some will learn not to like falsehood.

Redemmer - Isaiah 53:4

Isaiah 53:4 "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted."

I cannot do this chapter justice. It is a prophecy of Christ's suffering and his nature. He would come, not as a mighty king but, as a lowly citizen of Israel yielding to the sorrows and grief of man. Yet, He was God manifested in the flesh. It is a difficult concept if you are not a Christian. Even then, it requires that we reach deep within our hearts to try to understand this kind of love.

v2 "For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him."

I believe this speaks of Jesus being formed in the womb and his birth as the shepherds saw him. He would be conceived of God 'made of a woman'. It was indeed a miracle but not hard for God. He did after all take clay and form man then made woman from a rib of man. Without belief there will be no acceptance of such miracles.

Doesn't this sound like the life of Jesus? v3"He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief : and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not."

In the previous chapter, we were told to Hearken, Awake, sit up straight and learn that a redeemer is coming and Zion will shine again. Jesus was the vehicle of this recovery.

His suffering: v5"But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."

We have long concluded that man cannot save himself from his rebellion against God. Better known as sin against God. It is like a man caught in quicksand, beyond the reach of a limb or a vine. He is sinking without hope of help from man or himself. Then God reaches down with a way to reconcile man to God. He provides a hand to reach out to and it is a strong hand that can pull him out of his situation if man will but reach up and take it.

He could say the hand is not there and die but that would not be the sensible thing to do.

v9 "And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth." Matt.27:57 also.

What follows is the 'mystery' of the will of God and the character of God. I cannot fully understand nor explain it but this is how I see it.

God is righteous and cannot stand nor will he tolerate sin. He is like the judge who has a law that he must go by. This is the crime and this is the required punishment. But God is also full of love and compassion for man. So how does he reconcile his demand for not sinning with his love. He sends His son to pay the penalty for man's sin. He came as a man but lived a perfect life so that he would be a pure sacrifice acceptable to God. See the epistles. Hebrews would help.

v10 "Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; (I believe because it was a way to redeem man, not because he found pleasure in 'bruising' his son.) he hath put him to grief; when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. (speaking of the resurrection - that Jesus would suffer but when the price was paid he would live to see the results of his sacrifice - many children.)

v12 "Therefore (because Jesus was willing and able to reconcile God with man and was obedient to the Father's will) will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death; and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." See Phil 2:9, Col. 2:15

There lies the story of Jesus as told by Isaiah. We now know the conclusion of the matter. It is up to the individual to reach up and accept the hand that paid such a great price for redemption.

Job continues Job 13

Job 13: 1-3 "Lo, mine eye hath seen all this, mine ear hath heard and understood it, What ye know, the same do I know also: I am not inferior unto you. Surely I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God."

Job is still talking to his friends. He is not saying that he knows what God knows. He is still talking to his friends but he says he would like to talk with God and reason with him.

I guess we would all like to know 'why' sometimes.

Now he tells his friends he is tired of listening to them.

v5 "O that ye would altogether hold your peace! and it should be your wisdom."

Sounds to me like our phrase 'The smartest thing you could do is not talk."

Later in the chapter we have one of the most famous verses in the Bible: v15 "Though he slay me, yet will I thrust in him:" The rest of the verse is lesser known: "but I will maintain mine own ways before him." At first, I thought that was a stubborn statement but I thing he was saying that he would continue to be himself before God and not pretend to be something he was not.

Then he says if he does not speak he will die. As in, I just got to talk about it. v19 "Who is he that will plead with me? for now, if I hold my tongue, I shall give up the ghost."

So Job wants to talk to God but he asked two things, sort of the conditions of meeting together. We have read how Job understands the awesomeness of God and the feebleness of man but he still wants to talk to God. Remember when Moses talked to God on the mount and it was in a dark cloud and the mountain smoked.

The two things were that God would not withdraw his hand far from him and that he would not make him afraid while they talked.

v20-21 "Only do not two things unto me: then will I not hide myself from thee. Withdraw thine hand far from me; and let not thy dread make me afraid."

I think here of Jesus becoming flesh and making it easy for man to approach. He often said 'Be not afraid'.

v22 "Then call thou, and I will answer: or let me speak, and answer thou me."

Much of this reasoning is to prepare Job for the conversation he had with God at the end of the book of Job.

Psalm 25:7 "Remember, O LORD, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses; for thy have been ever of old. v7 Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness' sake, O LORD."

Job continues.

Previous post.

Levites Recount Israel's Rebellion Nehemiah 9

Nehemiah 9:1 "Now in the twenty and fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackclothes, and earth upon them."

They have now heard the law read and explained to them. The children of Israel faced their own sin head on. They humbled themselves before the Lord.

They separated themselves from the strangers of the land v2 "And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers."

Then some stood up to recount some of the history of the people. It was a sad story of the sin of the people and the wonderful mercy of God.

v13 "Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments:"

Here they confirm that what God told them to do and the guidelines he set down were the right way for them to go. It is quite different in our time where, it seems, every thing that God told us to do is questioned. Why did God tell us to do this or that? Why does God let this or that happen? It is hard for people to accept the truth when it condemns the way they live. It is also difficult for man to admit that there is a power higher and more honorable than they.

v16 "But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments,"

Even while the rebellion was going on, the LORD sustained the people and multiplied them as the stars.

v21 "Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing, their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not. v23 Their children also multipliedst thou as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into the land, concerning which thou hadst promised to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it."

In this recount of the events concerning Israel, we can see that God kept his promises and did not falter in his care for his chosen people. It was Israel that sinned and brought the captivity upon themselves. God was faithful even though they were not.

v31 "Nevertheless for thy great mercies' sake thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for thou art a gracious and merciful God."

v33 "Howbeit thou are just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly;"

So they now make a covenant with God and put their signatures to the document. The next chapter continues the subject.

In Acts chapter 7 of the New Testament, Stephen recounts a brief history of Israel when he was before the council before he was stoned. It is a good read and goes along with this prayer in Nehemiah. Stephen continues the rebellious acts to the death of Jesus Christ.

Acts 7:51-52 "Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart, and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted; and they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:"

As generations come and go, Israel has rebelled, but in our study the remnant are as one coming to terms with their sin and the rightness of the law for them.

Isaiah 33:5 "The LORD is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness."

Accepting the law as right and confessing sin in Jerusalem.

Law read and explained

Confession Ezra 9

Ezra 9:8 "And now for a little space grace hath been showed from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage."

Just a note. A nail was a very important object in these times. It was used, of course, to hold things together like wood. But even in my child hood, a nail was important to hang things on. We did not have fancy clothes racks and such, we'd drive in some nails in a row and hang our clothes there. Sure they got wrinkled but the cows, pigs and chickens didn't care.

The most important part of this verse to me, is 'a little space, grace' . Without grace we would all be in trouble.

v3 "And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down astonished."

Ezra has made the journey to Jerusalem but now has found out that the people had married people of the land which was expressly forbidden under the law. His word astonished, is a good description of how he felt. He then confesses the sin to God and wonders how God can show grace and mercy to such a people.

v6 "And said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens."

There is a time, for a Christian, when we come face to face with our sin. It is when we are under, what is called, conviction. The Holy Spirit of God reveals to us our lost state. We know then that nothing we can do will bring us into reconciliation with God. We are altogether sinful. That is when we realize that Jesus is the only answer. He made the ultimate sacrifice for sin and was himself sinless, so he could represent, take our place, in the debt we owed for sin. That is why Ezra mentions 'grace' (unmerited favor). He realized it was not anything good they had done that they were brought back to Jerusalem but wholly because of God's grace.

The state of Jerusalem represented the spiritual state of Israel.

Nehemiah 2:17 "Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire; come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach."

Ezra 9:15 "O LORD God of Israel, thou are righteous: for we remain yet escaped, as it is this day: behold, we are before thee in our trespasses; for we cannot stand before thee because of this."

Thank God for Grace. Refer to New Testament: Romans, Hebrews and others.

Ezra acknowledges the sin of the people.

2008 Ending

We are fast approaching the end of 2008. It has been a year like no other. Things have changed so fast in so many areas that it has been hard to keep up. Some of us have lost family members. Some have lost jobs. Some have lost homes. The very face of the world seems to have changed. We have gone from financial stability to the edge of ruin. The weather even seems to be attacking us. Needless to say, these are tough times. We have been shaken from our comfort zones. It is not a time to despair. That is easier to say than to do. Despair is an enemy that we must all fight against. Little ones are looking to us older folks for hope. We may have been battered by life and be looking for a place to 'park it' but these little ones have their life ahead of them. It is our responsibility to seek strength from the LORD so that we can guide them. That strength lies in his word where we find his promises. One I like is where he said 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.'

The journey of this Bible Study started back in 2006. It has been hard at times to turn to the next chapter and search for a truth that might help someone. Consistent throughout the scripture is the fact that when God says something will happen, it will happen. We started in Genesis where Adam and Eve sinned against the LORD and he had to shed innocent blood to provide a covering for them. A promise of redemption was made, a nation was born. A great king named David became ruler of that kingdom and through him the promise for redemption continues. I have said that this nation is like a pregnant lady carrying the promise down through the ages. Efforts continue in our studies to destroy that nation but the LORD is faithful. We know from further reading that a remnant did survive and was there when Christ was born of the tribe of David and the promise of redemption was fulfilled. God's promises are reliable.

So another year comes. We must lift up our heads and find strength to point our children to the LORD. His word is stable in times of turmoil. He is faithful.