Old Testament

Today we are reading from Ezekiel 40:1-4. Last time we met we learned about how we should respond to a word or vision from the Lord God:  Look, hear and Set Your Heart. You can read more in my Ezekiel Studies here and here.

Ezekiel is given a vision from the Lord God:    The bronze man with the measuring stick had work to do measuring in the city like structure that Ezekiel saw.  

5 And behold, there was a wall all around the outside of the temple area, and the length of the measuring reed in the man’s hand was six long cubits, each being a cubit and a handbreadth in length. So he measured the thickness of the wall, one reed; and the height, one reed. 6 Then he went into the gateway facing east, going up its steps, and measured the threshold of the gate, one reed deep. 7 And the
side rooms, one reed long and one reed broad; and the space between the
side rooms, five cubits; and the threshold of the gate by the vestibule
of the gate at the inner end, one reed. 8 Then he measured the vestibule of the gateway, on the inside, one reed. 9 Then he measured the vestibule of the gateway, eight cubits; and its jambs, two cubits; and the vestibule of the gate was at the inner end. 10 And there were three side rooms on either side of the east gate. The three were of the same size, and the jambs on either side were of the same size. 11 Then he measured the width of the opening of the gateway, ten cubits; and the length of the gateway, thirteen cubits. 12 There was a barrier before the side rooms, one cubit on either side. And the side rooms were six cubits on either side. 13 Then
he measured the gate from the ceiling of the one side room to the
ceiling of the other, a breadth of twenty-five cubits; the openings
faced each other. 14 He measured also the vestibule, sixty cubits. And around the vestibule of the gateway was the court. 15 From the front of the gate at the entrance to the front of the inner vestibule of the gate was fifty cubits. 16 And the gateway had windows all around, narrowing inwards toward the side rooms and toward their jambs, and likewise the vestibule had windows all around inside, and on the jambs were palm trees.
 

All these exact measurements taken, everything just so exact.  Did you notice there were no half-measures?  Each measure was full.  Complete.  A complete Integer (sorry, math is on my brain since a math program my son is using, is using the term integer incorrectly). 

But nothing is lacking here.  Everything is just as it should be.  

All this exactness.  Makes me wonder what Ezekiel thought as he saw this. Was he desperately trying to remember the numbers?  The room locations?  Where the windows where?    How was he taking in this vision so he could adequately convey to the Israelites?

How do I take in God’s word?  Ezekiel was told to Look, Hear and Set Himself in regards to what he would see and then later tell to the people.  Was he just seeing the rooms and the act of measuring?   Did he see that measuring as a sign of God’s action toward the people?

It’s hard to know at this point eh?

That’s all I see in this reading so far.  I am wondering what Ezekiel will see in the next section.   More temple/city like structure area and more measurements or something else? 
  
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Today we are reading from Ezekiel 39:1-24. Last time we met we learned about Be Mindful Gog of Magog. You can read more in my Ezekiel Studies here and here.

Behold….. Gog is still under threat!

God is not happy with Gog…he going to drive him and his people forward.  Drive them to the mountains where he will destroy them.

“And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog and say, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. 2 And I will turn you about and drive you forward, and bring you up from the uttermost parts of the north, and lead you against the mountains of Israel. 3 Then I will strike your bow from your left hand, and will make your arrows drop out of your right hand. 4 You shall fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your hordes and the peoples who are with you. I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. 5 You shall fall in the open field, for I have spoken, declares the Lord God. 6 I will send fire on Magog and on those who dwell securely in the coastlands, and they shall know that I am the Lord.

At the end this fact: 
7 “And my holy name I will make known in the midst of my people Israel, and I will not let my holy name be profaned anymore. And the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel. 8 Behold, it is coming and it will be brought about, declares the Lord God. That is the day of which I have spoken.

So much plunder will be taken from those that God will destroy…there will be enough to have fires burning for seven years.  Weapons and protective gear of all sorts.  In fact, so much will be taken that no wood will have to be cut down.      
9 “Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out and make fires of the weapons and burn them, shields and bucklers, bow and arrows, clubs and spears; and they will make fires of them for seven years, 10 so that they will not need to take wood out of the field or cut down any out of the forests, for they will make their fires of the weapons. They will seize the spoil of those who despoiled them, and plunder those who plundered them, declares the Lord God.

The way of the Valley of Travelers will be blocked by the destruction that will fall upon Gog and Magog.   He will have a burial site there.   So it will then be called the Valley of Hamon-gog, it will take seven months for all the people to be buried, in order for the land to be cleansed.
11 “On that day I will give to Gog
a place for burial in Israel, the Valley of the Travelers, east of the
sea. It will block the travelers, for there Gog and all his multitude
will be buried. It will be called the Valley of Hamon-gog. 12 For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them, in order to cleanse the land. 

I have to admit, parts of this passage are making no sense to me today…. My head is foggy with a sore throat so bear with me eh? 

When God cleanses the land…his glory will be seen among the nations.  When he destroys Gog of Magog, the birds and animals will have a big feast.  Everyone .. the nations surrounding Israel and even Israel herself will see the glory of the Lord.   They will see how Israel was put into captivity for her treacherous behaviour.  God has dealt with their sin.  Now the land will be cleansed.   Now the “house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God”.    

I’m just trying to imagine the destruction the Lord caused and the size of the army involved.  Imagine SEVEN years of fires burning and seven months of burying the dead.   Just think on that for a spell.   So many people and their stuff to get rid of so you can cleanse the land and the people.

At the end of it though… God’s name.. glorified. 

Part of me is horrified at all that bloodshed.  All those people destroyed for profaning the name of the Lord.   It’s a good reminder to me at just how seriously God takes this stuff.   Has me wondering at how God feels about all the blasphemy that goes on today in the world.  At how little people (even believers) think of God.   Ach… I don’t want to be that kind of person, the kind that God turns his face from. 

Oh.. let me be a person who GLORIFIES God, that’s what I want to be.  A God-glorifier…not one that causes God to shed the blood of another.  Christ covered my sin so this mass-scale destruction need not happen again.   Be a God-glorifier with me eh? 

 Today we are reading from Ezekiel 37:15-28. Last time we met we learned about One People, One Shepherd, One God. You can read more in my Ezekiel Studies here and here.

The Lord has a word against Gog, of the land of Magog today.   The Lord is against him. 
This is why: 
 You
will come up against my people Israel, like a cloud covering the land.
In the latter days I will bring you against my land, that the nations
may know me, when through you, O Gog, I vindicate my holiness before
their eyes.

It always strikes me as odd.   How God will use a nation against his people and then punish that nation afterwards.

Gog is living his life, with all his armies.  God will then muster Gog and his armies ” I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out”

7 “Be ready and keep ready, you and all your hosts that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them.   God warns him.

God will muster Gog and his armies and his allies so well that they will be like a storm coming over the land of Israel, expecting to find a land of unwalled villages, in order to seize spoils and plunder the land.   In fact the nations surrounding will say:  Have you come to seize spoil? Have you assembled your
hosts to carry off plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away
livestock and goods, to seize great spoil?’

And so Gog and his people will come with a heart to plunder a nation just gathered together and God will act.  He will show his holiness.   He will show his protection of his people.
 
14 “Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and say to Gog, Thus says the Lord God: On that day when my people Israel are dwelling securely, will you not know it? 15 You will come from your place out of the uttermost parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great host, a mighty army. 16 You will come up against my people Israel, like a cloud covering the land. In the latter days I will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me, when through you, O Gog, I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.

God’s method of punishment?
He will use the land against Gog and his ilk.  The very land… an earthquake will shake the land, the mountains will quake around Gog and his armies.  Hail and torrential rains will fall about them.   Fire and sulfur will cover them.   (which makes me think volcano).

18 But on that day, the day that Gog shall come against the land of Israel, declares the Lord God, my wrath will be roused in my anger. 19 For in my jealousy and in my blazing wrath I declare, On that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. 20 The
fish of the sea and the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the
field and all creeping things that creep on the ground, and all the
people who are on the face of the earth, shall quake at my presence. And the mountains shall be thrown down, and the cliffs shall fall, and every wall shall tumble to the ground. 21 I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Lord God. Every man’s sword will be against his brother. 22 With pestilence and bloodshed I will enter into judgment with him, and I will rain upon him and his hordes and the many peoples who are with him torrential rains and hailstones, fire and sulfur. 

 23So I will show my greatness and my holiness and make myself known in the eyes of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.