Fri.’s Devo - The Presence of the Lord Leaves Jerusalem

Read: Ezekiel 10:1-11:25; Hebrews 6:1-20: Psalm 105:16-36; Proverbs 27:1-2 Ezekiel was in Babylon when he had his visions. The Spirit of God would take him back to Jerusalem to show him what was happening there. He would give his messages to the people in Jerusalem and the people in Babylon. Today, Ezekiel met the four cherubim and followed them on their path out of Jerusalem. They started at the south end of the Temple where they met the man in linen again. He entered the Temple at the south end and the inner courtyard was filled with God’s glory. He then walked to the entrance of the Temple where he was told to take some coals from between the wheels of the cherubim. He took the coals and went out. The cherubim flew to the east gate of the Lord’s Temple and showed Ezekiel what was going on there. Twenty-five of the prominent men of the city were plotting evil wicked counsel to the city. Two of these men mentioned by name were Jaazaniah and Pelatiah. They were telling the people to build houses because the city was like an iron pot. They were as safe as meat in the pot. God told Ezekiel to prophesy against these words. The city was like an iron pot but the meat were all the victims of their injustice. They would soon be drug from the pot and the sword they so greatly feared would drive them out of Jerusalem and hand them over to foreigners who would carry out God’s judgments against them. They would be killed by the sword. While Ezekiel was telling them this, Pelatiah suddenly died. Pelatiah means “God’s way of escape”. Dying would be their only way of escape from the Babylonians. Ezekiel fell on the ground praying for the people in Israel. He asked God if he was going to kill everyone in Israel. God explained that the people in Jerusalem were saying that the people that had been taken to exile were the ones who were far from the Lord, and God had given them the city. They had it completely upside down. God told Ezekiel to tell the ones in exile in Babylon that they were the ones that God would bless and bring them back to the city one day. They would have a new heart to worship him and they would rid the land of all the detestable idols that were now in Jerusalem. The glory of the Lord then lifted and left the city and stoped above the mount to the east which was the Mount of Olives. It then carried Ezekiel back to Babylon. The Mount of Olives was where Jesus stood and wept over Jerusalem. He took his disciples here to pray the night he was arrested and from this mountain, he ascended back into heaven. It was definitely a portal to heaven. In Hebrews God wants us to go beyond salvation in our understanding of who he is and his ways. He wants us to understand that it is impossible to bring someone back to repentance if they have once known and experienced the goodness of the Lord, and then chosen to turn away from Him. That man’s heart is the soil that brings forth thorns and thistles. The ground that soaks up God’s rain and bears a good crop is the one who received God’s blessing and his Word and continued in it. The writer doesn’t believe that thorns is what we are destined for. His desire for us is that we keep on loving others and endure in our faith. God’s promise to us is that he would bless us and multiply our descendants. God has bound his goodness to us with a promise and his oath. He is our high Priest who leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. Thank you Lord, that you don’t deny your presence from us but invite us into your inner sanctuary and allow us to join us to work with you in the world. May we bring honor to your name.