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June 27 Daily Reading- Read the Bible in 1 Year
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If you would like to download my FREE calendar for keeping track of your commitment to read the Bible every day, you can find that on my site, here: https://www.inthefamilywaycoaching.com/pages/read-the-bible-in-1-year
Monthly memberships to support this event can be purchased on my site, here: https://www.inthefamilywaycoaching.com/offering_packages
Today's reading will cover Ezekiel Chapters 8-10.
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Transcript
Introduction to Bible Reading Series
00:00:04
Speaker
good day, everybody. Today is June 27th. Thank you so much for joining me as we read through the Bible this year using the Day by Day Kids Bible written by Karen Henley.
00:00:15
Speaker
I'm so glad you're here, whether you're joining me with your podcast or whether you're watching on video. There are many options available. We have this ah series available on Apple Music, YouTube, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Spotify, Podbean.
00:00:33
Speaker
ah pod bean Podcast, Overcast, iHeartRadio, Pandora, and you can even head over to my site to click on either the audio or video options, however you prefer to watch or listen.
Resources and Support Options
00:00:47
Speaker
My site is www.inthefamily.com. the family www.waycoaching.com And if you click on the tab for Read the Bible in One Year, on that particular tab, I have a free downloadable calendar for you to keep track of your daily commitment.
00:01:07
Speaker
and And underneath that tab, I have the audio and video versions available for each month. So if you are interested in keeping track of your commitment to listen to the Bible each day, then head over to the site and check out that calendar.
00:01:25
Speaker
You don't have to ah download, ah you don't have to enter your email address or subscribe to anything. It's just available as a free download. So if you are keeping track with that calendar, go ahead and get that out and your sticker or however you like to mark that off because you're about to hear the Bible today.
00:01:46
Speaker
There is also an option on the site to support the event, and you can find that under the tab of part of the family. Then if you choose to support the event in any way, I will actually send you a copy of the calendar as a little thank you, along with those little gold foil cross stickers that you see me using on my calendar each day.
00:02:06
Speaker
And that's just my little thank you for giving back to you.
Ezekiel's Visions and Spiritual Insights
00:02:11
Speaker
So we are going to be picking up in the book of Ezekiel today. And it is very exciting. I was so excited. We are seeing images of ah heavenly things going on in the book of Ezekiel.
00:02:30
Speaker
We are told that we are not fighting a battle that is with flesh and blood, but it is a spiritual battle. And there are so many things that we have not been given the eyes to see or the ears to hear.
00:02:43
Speaker
God has angels and we cannot see them. I have heard accounts ah from listening to Jamie Winship where he has been given an opportunity to view angels who were guarding him and ah a group of people he was with when they were on ah mission trips into ah very dangerous war areas.
00:03:07
Speaker
And when he expressed concern about safety, God opened his eyes and showed him a sentry, a guard posted. And another time when he was ah with a group of people and they were going into a dangerous, very dangerous situation, they could not see the guard that was with them, but the people who were with them could.
00:03:33
Speaker
And it was amazing. they Neither one of them knew that the that Jamie and his group could not see them. And so it was just amazing to hear these accounts that God sometimes opens our eyes and at other times he doesn't let us see most of what is going on around us.
00:03:52
Speaker
And so today, Ezekiel's eyes will be opened to see heavenly things that God is going to be appointing angels to do.
Fantasy vs. God's Reality
00:04:03
Speaker
So are you ready for this exciting exciting reading? Another thing I wanted to mention is that we have a lot of books available to us today about fantasy things.
00:04:14
Speaker
And they're very exciting to read. And and we like to watch movies about fantasy with exciting imaginary creatures and and things like that.
00:04:25
Speaker
But the fact is, that God has a real world like that. We just can't see it. And when we get to heaven, things are going to be just amazing. And I am just...
00:04:38
Speaker
um I can't wait to see that beauty. Not that I want to end my missions trips here prematurely, but just that I look forward to the day when I get to see all the amazing and beautiful and wonderful things that God has created. And I am so thankful for God showing some of these things to people like Ezekiel,
00:05:04
Speaker
and Daniel and John when he wrote the book of Revelation and the accounts match one another. They they corroborate one another, which means to confirm what each has seen. They they see the same things.
00:05:22
Speaker
And so it's just amazing. ah Some things are new, but some things are the same that they see. And so it tells us that these things are true.
00:05:33
Speaker
They are real. The Bible is a true book. It is not a book of fantasy that is just nice to read about and it can be exciting at times.
00:05:45
Speaker
This is real life. And these things exist, even though we cannot see them in the spiritual realm. Another thing I wanted to mention, that I got sidetracked yesterday and we were talking about Ezekiel being given a very important responsibility to be sent by
Ezekiel's Responsibility and Intercession
00:06:05
Speaker
God. And God warned him that if he did not speak to the people that he was told to speak to, and those people did not correct their sins to change the ways that they were doing things, that God would hold him personally accountable.
00:06:22
Speaker
And we were talking about things that God gives us to do with our good works and that we never know ah the impact. I wanted to make sure that I mentioned that we don't know that that the things that we are meant to say to people are not meant to be intervening for them, like an intercessing, intercessory type of a thing where we go between.
00:06:48
Speaker
And we've talked about having intercessors for prayer and that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us. He goes to god on our behalf ah through Jesus.
00:06:58
Speaker
And we don't know that when God gives us the works that he gives us to do, we we just don't know the the the full extent of the um of the benefit that we are having for God's kingdom or the detriment by failing to do it.
00:07:19
Speaker
So while we do have free will and free choice to do or to not do, I don't want us to think about the fact that there could be, well, I do want us to think about it, but I i mean that it is important that when we make our choice, that we look at the big picture, like Esther, that we are brought to these times for such a time as this.
00:07:43
Speaker
And so in the same way that Esther, if she had not spoken up, it would have been disastrous for the people. We don't want to be part of the cause of disaster for people because we did not share things that God put us to do, that God gave us to say or God put on our heart to do.
00:08:04
Speaker
And so it's it's just very important for us to think about them and the big picture when we are making our choice to follow and obey the purposes that God has given to us.
Interpretation of Ezekiel 8-10
00:08:15
Speaker
And so here we are going to see God's angels in responding and obeying God and doing what he tells them to do.
00:08:26
Speaker
Even though it is not necessarily a pleasant thing to do.
00:08:31
Speaker
So today's reading goes through Ezekiel 8, 9, and 10. And our first section for chapter 8 is entitled Pictures on the Walls.
00:08:44
Speaker
We had been in Babylon for six years. I sat in my house and the leaders of Judah sat there with me. God came to me there. I looked and I saw someone who looked like a man.
00:09:01
Speaker
The bottom half of him looked like fire. The top half looked like shiny metal. He held out something that looked like a hand. He took hold of my hair.
00:09:14
Speaker
Then the Spirit picked me up and he held me between the earth and the sky. He put pictures of Jerusalem in my mind. Then I saw God's greatness.
00:09:29
Speaker
It was the same as what I had seen before. The Spirit said, look north. So I looked and I saw an idol.
00:09:44
Speaker
Do you see the terrible things they are doing? He asked. You will see things that are even more terrible.
00:09:54
Speaker
He showed me where people go into the yard around the worship house. I saw a hole in the wall. Dig into the wall, he said.
00:10:07
Speaker
So I dug into the wall, and there I saw a door. go in. He said, look at the bad things they are doing.
00:10:20
Speaker
So I went in and looked. Pictures were drawn all over the walls. They were pictures of crawling animals and idols. Seventy leaders of Israel stood in front of the pictures.
00:10:35
Speaker
They were worshiping the animals and idols. See what the leaders are doing in the dark. he said. See that they say I don't see them.
00:10:48
Speaker
They say I have left their land. You will see things even more terrible than this.
00:10:57
Speaker
Then he took me to the north gate of the worship house. I saw some women sitting there. They were crying for an idol. See this, he said.
00:11:11
Speaker
You will see things even more terrible than this.
00:11:15
Speaker
Then he took me inside the yard. At the door of the worship house, 25 men were worshiping the sun. See this, he said.
00:11:29
Speaker
Is this a small thing? They also do things that are hateful and mean. They are making me angry, so I won't feel sorry for them.
00:11:41
Speaker
I won't save them. I won't listen even if they shout in my ears.
00:11:48
Speaker
The man with the writing kit. Then I heard the spirit call loudly. Bring the city guards, bring them with their swords. I saw six men coming.
00:12:02
Speaker
There was another man with them and he wore linen clothes. He carried a writing kit. They came in and they stood by the altar.
00:12:14
Speaker
Then God's greatness moved to the door of the worship house. God called to the man with the writing kit. God said, go through Jerusalem.
00:12:26
Speaker
Find people who are sad about Jerusalem's sins. Make a mark on their heads. God talked to the other men. Follow him, said God.
00:12:40
Speaker
Don't touch people who have the mark on their heads, but kill everyone else. Do not feel sorry for them. Start at the worship house.
00:12:52
Speaker
So they started with the leaders at the worship house. I was left alone, and I fell down on my face. I cried, God, are you going to get rid of all the people?
00:13:07
Speaker
My people have many sins, said God. I will pay them back for what they have done.
00:13:15
Speaker
Then the man with the writing kit came back. I did what you told me to do, he said.
00:13:24
Speaker
Turning Wheels, Chapter 10. Then I saw what looked like a king's chair. The throne was made of beautiful blue stone.
00:13:35
Speaker
It was above the living beings' heads. God talked to the man with the writing kit. Go under the beings where the wheels are.
00:13:48
Speaker
Pick up burning coals. Throw the coals here and there over the city.
00:13:56
Speaker
I watched and the man went to where the living beings were. He stood beside a wheel. One being put his hand in the fire that was there and he put some fire into the man's hands.
00:14:11
Speaker
The man took it and went out.
00:14:15
Speaker
Then I saw four shiny wheels by the beings. One wheel was by each being and each wheel went through another wheel. The wheels went where the beings went.
00:14:28
Speaker
The beings went where they were looking. Their whole bodies were covered with eyes, even their backs and and wings had eyes.
00:14:40
Speaker
I heard that the wheels were called turning wheels.
00:14:46
Speaker
The beings held out their wings and went up. The wheels stayed beside them and went up too. God's greatness left the front of the worship house and it stopped above the beings.
00:15:04
Speaker
That is the end of our reading today.
00:15:09
Speaker
Aren't those incredible and wonderful and amazing things that Ezekiel saw?
00:15:16
Speaker
I kind of wish I could see some things like that too, but I think they would probably scare me to death.
00:15:23
Speaker
We're going to look at the big version of our story today because it contains some additional details that I think are very purposeful.
00:15:37
Speaker
First of all, when God took Ezekiel, to look at the worship house. All of these people were worshiping idols within the boundary of the worship tent, God's worship tent.
00:15:57
Speaker
And God tells us in the big version, he says that the idol, he says, he brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the gate of the inner court facing north,
00:16:14
Speaker
where the idol that provokes furious jealousy was. God tells us that we are His. God made us.
00:16:25
Speaker
We were made to be in His image and we are His children. God tells us that He is a jealous God. These things that they are worshiping are not even real.
00:16:36
Speaker
They don't deserve any worship, any praise. They are not doing anything. God himself has done everything. It would be like if you made something and somebody else came along and said, man, I did a great job.
00:16:52
Speaker
Everybody should congratulate me and and tell me what a great job I did on this and then taking credit. They're trying to give credit for what God did to something that doesn't even exist.
00:17:06
Speaker
And this makes God very angry and jealous. God tells us he is a jealous God because he alone is the one who deserves rightfully all of our praise and worship and love.
00:17:21
Speaker
And they are loving something that's not even real.
Judgment, Mercy, and Salvation in Ezekiel
00:17:25
Speaker
God wants us to love him and him alone because he is the only God. He says he is the great I am.
00:17:33
Speaker
He always was. He always is. There is no other like him. That doesn't mean that there are lesser of him and that there are more things like him.
00:17:45
Speaker
God tells us there is nothing else like him. So there is nothing else that should ever be worshipped. no image. We have things today of a Buddha image.
00:17:57
Speaker
We have Hindu gods with pictures of people with many arms. And these are idols. These are things that people are worshiping instead of worshiping our holy God.
00:18:11
Speaker
And this makes him furious, it says, and jealous.
00:18:20
Speaker
And they were these things were happening. It says in verse six, he says, son of man, which is another way of saying human or child. Do you see what they are doing?
00:18:33
Speaker
The great abominations that the house of Israel is committing here that drives me far off from my own sanctuary? But you will see even greater abominations.
00:18:48
Speaker
Our version calls them terrible things. In the Big Bible, they use the word abominations. And God is telling us that these things are driving him far away from his very own sanctuary.
00:19:02
Speaker
This was the place where God's presence would settle for the people of Israel. His place, not to be shared with things that were not real for false worshiping.
00:19:15
Speaker
And the leaders were doing so. They had secret rooms where they had drawings of animals that they were worshiping and burning incense to. We have a cave that is very famous right now and in France where there are pictures of animals.
00:19:33
Speaker
And we like to ooh and ah over these animal pictures that people made so long ago. But this gives us a lot of light on that. The people were potentially worshiping these animals.
00:19:48
Speaker
They were not simply pictures on the wall done just for art. There's a great possibility based upon what we are reading here in Ezekiel, that the pictures we see in France on the caves were really pictures of the people worshiping the animals, just like we see here in Ezekiel.
00:20:12
Speaker
It says here in verse 10, that he went into that room and he saw every detestable image and creeping things and beasts and all the idols of the house of Israel engraved on the surrounding walls.
00:20:26
Speaker
And standing there before them were 70 men of the elders of the house of Israel. Each man with his censer in his hand and a thick cloud of incense went up Then he said to me in verse 12, Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark?
00:20:45
Speaker
Every man in his chamber of his carved idol? For they say the Lord does not see us. The Lord has forsaken the land.
00:20:57
Speaker
God is showing us here that even though they thought that they were doing things in secret, God sees everything. We can do nothing in secret. God knows our hearts.
00:21:09
Speaker
He knows our thoughts and he will tell us so in tomorrow's reading in chapter 11 that he knows our thoughts. So there is no doubt about it. God sees and knows everything.
00:21:22
Speaker
There are not things that we can do. We may be able to hide things that we are doing that are evil or naughty or bad from other people. but God knows our hearts and he knows the the things that we are doing.
00:21:40
Speaker
And aside from that, he says,
00:21:45
Speaker
And verse 17, after he has shown him all of these ah terrible things going on in his own temple area, he says, have you seen this son of man in verse 17?
00:21:58
Speaker
Is it too light a thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations they practice here? That they must also fill the land with violence and provoke me still more?
00:22:13
Speaker
God says it's bad enough that they were worshiping idols, but they were also acting in violence. God does not want us to be violent, fighting and hating.
00:22:25
Speaker
Our version of the Bible says they do things that are hateful and mean. We need to make sure that we are not being hateful and mean, filled with violence.
00:22:37
Speaker
And Jesus tells us that even if we are thinking about these things, we have already committed them in our mind. And it starts in the mind before we act out.
00:22:50
Speaker
And that's why we have a law that says with the like first degree is when we have thought about something ahead of time. So if somebody commits murder in the first degree, it means that they thought about it ahead of time.
00:23:04
Speaker
And things don't just happen immediately. on purpose without thinking about them first, which is different from and ah an unintentional murder, which would be murder in the second degree, I believe, which means that you killed somebody, but it was an accident and it didn't mean to happen.
00:23:23
Speaker
We're talking about deliberate people thinking about things and then doing them. So we need to be very mindful, again, of our thoughts,
00:23:35
Speaker
Because God hears our thoughts. He knows our hearts. He sees what we do, even if we think that we're getting away with something. God knows. And we need to be sure that we are not entertaining these thoughts.
00:23:50
Speaker
And we've talked about that it grieves the Holy Spirit. God's Spirit is within us, so it hurts him. Even though at this time the people had not been given the Holy Spirit to live were not but within all of them, it still hurt God.
00:24:07
Speaker
How much more so would it hurt God but now that his Holy Spirit is within us?
00:24:16
Speaker
We want to take care not to hurt the one who is all love and cares about us and is taking care of us. It is very important.
00:24:27
Speaker
I wanted to notate in chapter nine that is when he it calls the the city guards. In our version, it calls them the city guards.
00:24:40
Speaker
But in chapter nine, verse one, Then he called into my ears in a loud voice saying, bring near the executioners of the city, each with his weapon of destruction by his hand.
00:24:58
Speaker
ah God called them executioners. In our version, they called it the city guards, and that's that's a ah really weak translation. It's probably it bordering on inaccurate because they were not guarding the city.
00:25:11
Speaker
They were there to bring judgment to the city. God has executioners, and the only people saved were those whom he put a mark on.
00:25:23
Speaker
And we know in Revelation that there will also be another mark on the foreheads of 144,000, which we are told will be 12,000 from each of the tribes, which in um i heard recently in ah the Messianic Jewish congregation that it is interpreted as being Jewish people who have come to Jesus and have become believers.
00:25:51
Speaker
complete Jews and so that but that they will not become believers until after the time of the great rapture so they are sealed at some point but God has the the point is not who is being sealed but just the fact that God treats his people differently It is not punishment and consequence for just no reason and only on everybody without distinguishing, just distinguishment.
00:26:22
Speaker
God distinguishes between those who are his and those who are not. God tells us that at the end, he is separating the sheep from the goats, that the weeds are allowed to grow up among the good fields.
00:26:36
Speaker
And that at the end, then that when the, He's gathering, then the weeds will be separated out. But they are allowed to grow with us now so that uprooting them does not kill off the people who are still growing, whom God has planted.
00:26:57
Speaker
God is so caring. He looks out for those who belong to him. And even here in a city destined for destruction, he is caring for those who have a heart for him.
00:27:11
Speaker
And God will protect those who belong to him. And in the same way, those of us who are written in the his the Lamb's book of life, we will be saved.
Seeking God's Purpose and Sharing His Word
00:27:22
Speaker
And we don't need to fear for that because Jesus has paid for our sins and we have accepted his great gift today. And so that is a wonderful thing to be thankful for, that God sets his people apart.
00:27:37
Speaker
But he does want all people, as he keeps warning over and over again, to come to him, to be saved, to repent, and to change their ways, to stop worshiping idols, to stop doing mean and hateful things full of violence,
00:27:55
Speaker
So this is a good thing that we can tell others about that God wants to save everybody. They just need to accept his free gift of salvation from Jesus.
00:28:07
Speaker
And then they too will be able to be set apart and learn their purpose and do the good works that God has set apart for them to do. lot from that he planned from a while ago.
00:28:19
Speaker
because God knows us even before we are born, even before we are formed in our mama's tummies. God knew us. He has plans for us.
00:28:30
Speaker
And as we've read recently, God knows the plans that he has for us, plans for hope and a future. So these are good things to know about. We wanna be sure that everybody has the opportunity to hear these things.
00:28:44
Speaker
So if God calls you, to speak to somebody like Ezekiel, he like he spoke to Ezekiel. Let us be sure we fulfill the the calling that God has given us so that we can help more people to be saved because God doesn't want anybody to not be saved.
00:29:03
Speaker
But there will be those who choose not to be saved and then they will have the consequence. Just like in Israel where God sent out the executioners for those who were not marked.
00:29:18
Speaker
So it's a very heavy reading today, but I hope that you are encouraged and feel that God has lit your light and set you on fire for him so that you will be motivated to ask God, what work do you have for me to do today?
00:29:35
Speaker
And then we might go out and do that work. Everywhere. God brings people into our paths every day. he brings things for us to do. And I love asking God, what do you have for me to do?
00:29:48
Speaker
Where will you take me today? What are your plans for me today? So I hope that you are asking God what plans he has for you today, because no matter how little or how old you are, God has purpose for you.
00:30:02
Speaker
So thank you for joining me today. And I ah would ask that you please click that light button and share this event with somebody if you have the opportunity to share it with somebody to talk about it.
00:30:14
Speaker
And so we can spread the word about reading God's word because God's word is truth and the truth will set us free. Thank you for being here with me today and I will be here for everyone again tomorrow.