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  BIBLE READING: Ezekiel 46-48 “When the prince enters, he shall enter by the vestibule of the gate, and he shall go out by the same way. "When the people of the land come before the LORD at the appointed feasts, he who enters by the north gate to worship shall go out by the south gate, and he who enters by the south gate shall go out by the north gate: no one shall return by way of the gate by which he entered, but each shall go out straight ahead. When they enter, the prince shall enter with them, and when they go out, he shall go out.” -Ezekiel 46:8-10             In the vision Ezekiel received, God stressed that both the prince and common people were to leave the Temple area from a different gate than they entered. According to a traditional interpretation, God was saying that leaving through a different gate demonstrated that they had been changed by their encounter with Him. They were different than when they enter...

  BIBLE READING: Ezekiel 43-45 “When they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall wear linen garments. They shall have nothing of wool on them, while they minister at the gates of the inner court, and within. They shall have linen turbans on their heads, and linen undergarments around their waists. They shall not bind themselves with anything that causes sweat.”                                                      -Ezekiel 44:17-18                         These 2 verses point to the fact that the believer who serves the Lord faithfully, does so without sweat, meaning that the work of the Lord isn’t a burden ...

  BIBLE READING: Ezekiel 40-42                 As Ezekiel pens these chapters, Israel has already been defeated and Jerusalem lies in ruins.   However, according to God’s previous promises, He cannot leave them.   To solidify his ever-abiding presence, God shows Ezekiel a new Temple.   This temple reveals to them that this exile will not last forever, offering them hope for the future of God’s people.   The interesting thing about this Temple, is that it is not the same Temple that was rebuilt after the exile.   In fact, this is an entirely new Temple.   In describing this Temple, God is awfully specific with its measurements making it seem like something tangible and measurable.   In fact, even though it may seem that this future Temple might be physical, it in fact is symbolic of God’s kingdom in the future.   Even though its description may seem a bit symbolic,...

  BIBLE READING: Ezekiel 37-39                 In the late nineties, I was able to get my hands on a VHS tape of the comedic horror film “The Army of Darkness”.   Of course, this specific copy was one of a kind because it had been edited for language by Kippy Meyers, one of my International Bible College Professors.   The story is about an unsuspecting hardware clerk who is transported into the 1300’s where he must defeat an army of the dead to be able to return back to his own time (I know…at the time…it seemed like a good film).   Although I cannot remember very much of the film, I do recall one scene in which the lead character, Ash (Bruce Campbell), is making his way through some type of graveyard of soldiers.   Suddenly, the bones of these soldiers begin to rattle and come together to create an army of skeletons that he would have to defeat, hence an army of the dead.   Alt...

  BIBLE READING: Ezekiel 34-36                 The fairytale notion of a king is well-ingrained in our minds from a young age. Kings are handsome and married to beautiful queens. They are strong like King Arthur who slayed dragons and conquered many lands. Kings are wise, powerful and wealthy. Kings command knights and armies. Here, Ezekiel paints a very different picture of our Heavenly King. Ezekiel compares our Heavenly King to a shepherd. Shepherds were outcasts in society, doing an important but dirty job. They were simple men, who owned little more than their staff and the cloak on their backs. Ezekiel shows here that, as different as the two concepts are, the best kind of king is also a shepherd. It seems weird to us, but the picture would have been treasured by the people of Israel. Ezekiel uses the name David here, not only because the Christ would come from the line of David, but also ...

  BIBLE READING: Ezekiel 32-33                 A man got a job as a night watchman at a factory. There had been a lot of thefts by the workers on the night shift and so every morning when the night shift workers passed through his gate it was his job to check their bags and pockets to make sure that nothing was being stolen. Things were going along very well the first night on the job until a man pushing a wheelbarrow of newspapers came through his gate. Aha, he thought, that man thinks he can cover up what he is stealing with that newspaper. So he removed the paper only to find nothing. Still he felt that the man was acting strangely, so he questioned him about the paper." I get a little extra money from newspapers I recycle, so I go into the lunchroom and pick up all the ones people have thrown away." The guard let him pass but decided to keep a close eye on him. The next night it was the same, and ...

  BIBLE READING: Ezekiel 27-28                     Some say it was ice that sank the Titanic. Some say it was pride. The “unsinkable” ship went down on its first trans-Atlantic voyage in 1912 after it ignored warnings of icebergs and failed to slow down in dangerous waters. Another ship went down thousands of years earlier, and like the Titanic it sailed the seas with its own share of pride. It was the great city-state of Tyre. Ezekiel described it as a magnificent sailing ship outfitted with the strongest wood, the finest sailors, and the richest cargo. Everyone thought it was indestructible, but nothing could save the city when God pronounced judgment on it. “You are filled with heavy cargo in the heart of the sea. Your oarsmen take you out to the high seas. But the east wind will break you to pieces in the heart of the sea. Your wealth, merchandise and wares, your mariners, seamen and shi...