Passage of the Day - March 8, 2013

Ezekiel 38:1

And the word of the Lord came to me saying,

And…I don’t remember what I saw in Ezekiel 38 that led me to believe it relates to what I was talking about.

Moving on from Ezekiel (still my least favorite book of the Bible) and moving on from the topic of reunification (it’s been driving me a little nuts, lately.  You too, probably).

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®,
© Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission." (http://www.lockman.org/)

Passage of the Day - March 5, 2013

Ezekiel 36:22-32

²² “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went. ²³ I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord,” declares the Lord God, “when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight. ²⁴ For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. ²⁵ Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. ²⁶ Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷ I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. ²⁸ You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God. ²⁹ Moreover, I will save you from all your uncleanness; and I will call for the grain and multiply it, and I will not bring a famine on you. ³⁰ I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you will not receive again the disgrace of famine among the nations. ³¹ Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations. ³² I am not doing this for your sake,” declares the Lord God, “let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel!”

Here God is telling His people that when He gathers them from the far reaches of the world, He will baptize them, grant them a new spirit, remove their hard hearts towards their Messiah Jesus Christ, give them the Holy Spirit to cause them to walk in His statutes and obey His ordinances, remembering their evil ways and grieving the consequences of their sin, to repent and never repeat.

Am I way off base here?

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®,
© Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission." (http://www.lockman.org/)

Passage of the Day - March 4, 2013

Ezekiel 37:24-28

²⁴ “My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and observe them. ²⁵ They will live on the land that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons and their sons’ sons, forever; and David My servant will be their prince forever. ²⁶ I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever. ²⁷ My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people. ²⁸ And the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.”’”

One thing is crystal clear in this portion of Ezekiel 37; Ezekiel is not talking about Benjamin Netanyahu.  This is clearly talking about Jesus Christ.

When this prophecy is fulfilled, won’t it be amazing?  To tangibly be involved in a unified Church with our eternal High Priest?  To tangibly be a subject in Christ’s unified kingdom?

It is late as I write this, so please forgive my style.

One last thing.  In case you didn’t know it, Ezekiel 37 is smack-dab between Ezekiel 36 and Ezekiel 38.  This will be important in future Passages of the Day.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®,
© Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission." (http://www.lockman.org/)

Passage of the Day - March 3, 2013

Ezekiel 37:15-23

¹⁵ The word of the Lord came again to me saying, ¹⁶ “And you, son of man, take for yourself one stick and write on it, ‘For Judah and for the sons of Israel, his companions’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel, his companions.’ ¹⁷ Then join them for yourself one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand. ¹⁸ When the sons of your people speak to you saying, ‘Will you not declare to us what you mean by these?’ ¹⁹ say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.”’ ²⁰ The sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes. ²¹ Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; ²² and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations and no longer be divided into two kingdoms. ²³ They will no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. And they will be My people, and I will be their God.

The key to understanding this is verse 22.  “…one king will be king for all of them” is the key phrase.  Who, other than Jesus Christ, fits this prophecy?

Now there are a few possibilities here.  This prophecy can be about the return of the ethnic Jews to Israel.  This prophecy can be about a future return of Jews to Israel in the end times.  This prophecy can be about a reunification of the Church in the nearer term and returning to Israel.  This prophecy can be about an end times reunification of the Church and returning, with the believing and Spirit-filled Jews to Israel.  Right now I am leaning towards the last option.  However, I am going to take a better look at option 3 mainly because it is interesting me lately.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®,
© Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission." (http://www.lockman.org/)

Passage of the Day - March 2, 2013

Ezekiel 37:1-14

The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones. ² He caused me to pass among them round about, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley; and lo, they were very dry. ³ He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, You know.” ⁴ Again He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.’ ⁵ Thus says the Lord God to these bones, ‘Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. ⁶ I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the Lord.’”

⁷ So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. ⁸ And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them. ⁹ Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they come to life.”’” ¹⁰ So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
¹¹ Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.’ ¹² Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. ¹³ Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people. ¹⁴ I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and done it,” declares the Lord.’”

I was recently struck with this passage.  As I said, I often pray about what passage to use next in Passage of the Day.  This time, Ezekiel 37 came to mind.  This time, though, it came with a twist.  What if this passage has a dual meaning?  We have come to understand this passage as a prophecy of the re-establishment of the nation of  Israel, as many would say has happened.  After the extermination of millions of Jews by the Nazis, the State of Israel was established and Jews from around the world returned to the Holy Land.

But, what if this reunification of the ethnic Jews wasn’t the only reunification this passage was prophesying?  What if, and it is a big if, what if this passage also is prophesying a reunification of the remnant of Israel, the remnant that made Jesus Christ their Lord, Messiah, High Priest, and King, the remnant that became known as “The Church”?

Crazy you say?  Well, I hope to expose us to some verses that will clear it up for us (sometimes, more often than not, PoD clears my head of my wacky thoughts).

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®,
© Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission." (http://www.lockman.org/)

Passage of the Day - March 1, 2013

Ephesians 6:10-20

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. ¹³ Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. ¹⁴ Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; ¹⁶ in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
¹⁸ With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, ¹⁹ and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰ for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

So, after hammering on this passage for eight days, what does this mean for me and the issues of orphan care and human/sex trafficking?

I have begun the process of adding to my list of facebook/twitter friends/likes/followings to include different churches and organizations dedicated to these causes.  I have also done the same with a few U.S. ambassadors in this regard, as well.  This way, I can learn more and more about what is going on and where God might be blazing a trail for me to finally walk down.

I am going to prayerfully consider a few options during the month of March.  Some are small and some are big.  I will inform you to them as we go along and/or they come to fruition.

Overall, I am going to begin to put on the full armor of God and make decisions based upon Spirit-given wisdom through prayer and scripture as opposed to other reasons like fear, being overwhelmed, and ignorance.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®,
© Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission." (http://www.lockman.org/)

Passage of the Day - February 28, 2013

Ephesians 6:10-20

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. ¹³ Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. ¹⁴ Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; ¹⁶ in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
¹⁸ With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, ¹⁹ and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰ for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

Verse 18 concerns prayer and petitioning.  Even the most heavily armed soldier is of little use without marching orders, coordination with fellow soldiers, and the ability to communicate back with headquarters.  This is why prayer and petitioning at all times in the Spirit is essential.  How will we know what to do if we do not ask?  How will we be properly supplied if we do not ask?  Prayer also helps us to be intrinsically involved with fellow believers doing the Lord’s work.  How can we see the trail being blazed by God if we pay little to no attention to those currently on the front lines?

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®,
© Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission." (http://www.lockman.org/)

Passage of the Day - February 27, 2013

Ephesians 6:10-20

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. ¹³ Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. ¹⁴ Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; ¹⁶ in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
¹⁸ With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, ¹⁹ and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰ for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

The sword of the Spirit, aka the Word of God, is our weapon.  Jesus used this weapon during the time of temptation in the wilderness.  When we are being strongly tempted to do something, it doesn’t take will power to resist.  Will power is fleeting and will not stand up to the barrage of attacks one can expect when doing the Lord’s work.

In addition, stumbling blocks and confusing situations will also be thrown our way.  The circumstances of a situation can also lead us to question “Is this God closing a door, or is this something to be endured and prayerfully rammed through by the power of the Holy Spirit?”  The Word of God will determine these things.  Left to our own devices and our blunt weapons, we will not be able to pierce through the veils of uncertainty.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®,
© Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission." (http://www.lockman.org/)