Ezekiel 41:4
“…And he said to me, “This is the Most Holy Place.”
The deepest chamber within the temple housed the Ark of God and the the Mercy Seat. It was here, the high priest would enter only once a year to bring the blood of the sacrifice, and intercede on behalf of the Nation. It was here, God had originally explained to Moses, they could meet with the Lord and talk to Him about anything.
Exodus 25:22 “And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel.”
I think it is worth noting, this chamber is called the Holiest Place. It is only in holiness that we can meet with God. That is particularly concerning when we realize we are not holy. The prophet made it abundantly clear, even our best attempts at doing good, lack true holiness in the sight of God.
Isaiah 64:6 “But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind! Have taken us away.”
If God is holy, the meeting place between God and man is holy. We, at our best, are not holy; we are in need of help. That is where the cross comes in. Under the old covenant, this was solved through sacrifice on the altar. The priest would confess his sins and that of the people, and would enter the holiest place. Now under the new covenant, this is solved by Christ. His sacrifice provides atonement for all our sins. We, like the priest, must accept the sacrifice, by accepting Christ and confessing our sin. When we do, we are forgiven, made holy, and have access to God.
If you have received Christ, there is nothing keeping you from the holy meeting place. You may attend there regularly, bringing yourself, your life and your needs before the Lord.
Pastor Jim
The tribulation years will be the most difficult time period the earth has ever known. Any hardship we have ever experienced, will pale by comparison, to say the least of the trials during those few years. It is prudent that we each do everything we can to avoid being left here when these events begin to transpire. The way out is to trust in, and surrender to, Christ as Lord and Savior. If you have not yet made the decision to receive Christ, stop reading and pray. Invite Him to forgive your sins and be your Lord.
This is one of the greatest and most anticipated prophecies in all Scripture. Going back to the time of Moses, Joshua heard a report that two men had the Spirit fall upon them and they began to prophecy, although they had not come to the Tabernacle to do so. In concern for the people, Joshua exhorted Moses to forbid them. Moses responded,
Ezekiel lived in Babylon as a prisoner of war. The nation of Judah had rebelled against Babylonian occupation and this rebellion cost them dearly. In 587 B.C. the city of Jerusalem and the Temple of God were burned to the ground. What had once been a glorious structure representing the majesty of God, was now nothing more than a pile of rubble.
Keep in mind as you read through Revelation, John is seeing the events on earth from a heavenly vantage point. Instead of the glamour of wealth and power, John sees what God sees, a hideous beast filled with blaspheme, violence and hatred. It seems as though the entire world is enamored with this ruler. Like Haman of old, in the book of Esther, the world has found a common scapegoat in the believers, and their hatred streams forth in persecution. As a means of both coercion and identification, the beast requires a mark to be given to every person. Without this mark, survival will be difficult, and persecution guaranteed. This mark is later identified as being a series of numbers.
Ezekiel takes us on a fast and furious ride into the future. He describes a time when a coalition of nations will come against Israel in a final attempt to wipe them off the face of the planet. The players in this coalition will come from the far north, perhaps modern Russia, and will include Iran and North Africa. Ezekiel explains that although Israel is greatly outnumbered and ill prepared for such an onslaught, God will intervene, protect them, and bring about a devastating defeat on their enemies. This prophecy is remarkable for a number of reasons.
Ezekiel was taken in the Spirit to a valley full of skeletons. I am sure the sight itself was quite shocking, but what happened next must have been truly overwhelming. The angel asked Ezekiel if these bones could live. The obvious answer is no. When a person has been under water too long and their heartbeat has stopped there remains a slight chance of resuscitation. When a person has been dead so long that all that remains is a pile of bones, they are way past ‘mostly dead’, and no hope remains of them coming back to life. I am sure my answer would have been “No Way!” Ezekiel, however, had seen God do some pretty amazing things, so he did not discount even the possibility of these bones coming back to life. Sure enough, as he stood by, the bones came together; muscle, organs, skin and finally life was added. What had been a graveyard was now a valley filled with life.
The book of Revelation is filled with symbolism. Some of the symbols are easy to understand because they are explained in the text, itself. For instance, in Chapter 1 we see Jesus in the midst of the lamp stands, then we are told the lamp stands represent the churches. Here in Chapter 12, the imagery is a bit harder to deduce. We are told of a woman clothed with the sun, who gives birth to a male child. Next, a red dragon, with seven heads, who draws a third of the stars from heaven, and awaits the birth of the child, that he might devour him. If we take a few minutes to unwrap the text, we will find that most of the imagery is, in fact, explained for us. Verse nine reveals the dragon is Satan, which makes the stars he drags, a reference to his angels. Verse five disclosess the male Child would rule the nations, making this a clear reference to Jesus. We are told He ascended to the throne of heaven. In verse 17, Satan makes war with the remnant of her seed. It would seem then, this reference represents Israel and the further offspring of the woman, and the Gentiles, who come to faith during the tribulation.
Often, when someone is attempting to convince us to do something we are not sure we want to do, a little voice softly speaks in the back of our mind asking simply, “What’s in it for me?” We want to know if we make a commitment, what we will get in return. If you are struggling to make a decision to commit to Christ, perhaps it would help if you took a few minutes to consider what you will get out of the deal. Ezekiel promises three benefits that will not be found anywhere else.
The inhabitants of Mount Sier, a nation south and east of ancient Israel, were about to face the consequences of continually rejecting the grace of God. Ezekiel points out, they would be held accountable for the words they had continually spoken against God. Perhaps the idea is that they had brought accusation after accusation against God, without ever taking the time to examine their own lives. This seems to be very common today. How often have we heard someone accuse God of wrong? Perhaps they are facing some level of personal difficulty, or maybe they are simply reacting to the evils of the world and they cry out, “How can God let this happen?” The statements may vary, but the indictment is the same. They are essentially accusing God of wrongdoing.
