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You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth. Eze. 2:3-4 3 And he said [amar] unto me, Son [ben] of man [adam], I send [shalach] thee to the children [ben] of Israel [Yisra'el], to a rebellious [marad] nation [gowy] that hath rebelled [marad] against me: they and their fathers [ab] have transgressed [pasha] against me, even unto this very [etsem] day [yowm]. 4 For they are impudent [qasheh] [paniym] children [ben] and stiffhearted [chazaq] [leb]. I do send [shalach] thee unto them; and thou shalt say [amar] unto them, Thus saith [amar] the Lord [Adonay] GOD [Yahovih]. KJV-Interlinear 3 Then He said to me, 'Son of man, I am sending you to the sons of Israel, to a rebellious people who have rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day. 4 'And I am sending you to them who are stubborn and obstinate children; and you shall say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD.' NASB God restates His address of Ezekiel, 'son of man.' God is going to send Ezekiel to speak to the sons of Israel, not to the gentiles, but to the people who belong to the nations of Judah, as well as the remnant of the people who went into captivity from the Northern Kingdom, Israel. When Jacob's name was changed to Israel, his name became the name of the nation of Gods chosen people. Not all people in that nation belong to God, only believers. Likewise, not all of Gods people are Jewish, but all people (Jew and Gentile) who are believers in Christ, are members of Gods nation - Israel. This name separates Gods chosen nation of people, from all other nations which are defined by mankind on this earth. So Gods nation is called Israel and it includes all believers regardless of race. Everyone else is included in a category of nations broadly defined as gentile nations. Also, the Bible does distinguish between the nation of Israel which it the nation of Israelite descendants (sometimes called sons of Jacob, house of Jacob, or merely Jacob, which refers to unbelieving Israel and/or genetic descendants of Jacob) as opposed to all other nations who again are referred to as gentile nations, made up of non-Israelite descendants. People today often call them Jewish people, but that name, 'Jewish,' actually comes from the people who were citizens of Judah and were often referred to as Jews by the Romans. Is this all confusing? Anyway, this is often used in the scriptures for spiritual lessons as well as historic lessons. Ezekiel is told to address the citizens of Israel - the genetic descendants, his contemporaries. But for our study, this also means that this message is intended for believers. Ezekiel is not addressing unbelievers regardless of whether they are Jew or Gentile. So, the problem now is the arrogance of the people. They were once a nation and a very wealthy nation. Under Solomon, Israel was the wealthiest nation on the planet. Wealthier than all of the other nations put together. Now where are they? They are in captivity. No freedom. No national entity, except in memory. No rights to speak of. No self determination. They are under the will of their captors the Babylonians. One would think that a proud and prosperous people, now that life has fallen flat all around them, would be somewhat humbled by their situation, and that they would turn in their helplessness, toward God. God by the way, is their only way out of their predicament. But they are negative. They are rebellious. They are defiant. Anytime a person does not comply with Gods will (clearly defined in the scriptures), then that person is committing a transgression against God. Transgressions are not just committing sins like murder, or theft, or gossip, or arrogance and so forth. A person is transgressing against God when they do not comply with the mandates of their spiritual life. By default when you are not functioning in your spiritual life, then you are functioning under the guidance of your sin nature. The current people as well as their ancestors (their fathers) have been negative toward God. The current population is not under punishment because of the transgressions of their fathers, they are headed for discipline because of their own sins and negative attitude toward God. But because their fathers (previous generations) have been negative, then the pattern of that kind of attitude and life style has been handed down by their parents, and the current people have become well entrenched in their chosen attitude. This attitude goes back many generations to the Exodus generation. Each generation of people has the opportunity to change their own individual ways, but each succeeding generation, by their own choice, has chosen a path apart from God. As each generation turns negative, then those who are positive become fewer and fewer in number, until the nation finally becomes destroyed. Refer to the five cycles of discipline for nations, study notes. The only way out of ones spiritual downward spiral, is to change your attitude and turn back to God and your daily study. Your daily study is the only means by which anyone has of learning what and how they should function in life. Ezekiel's assignment was difficult. His message was to be directed to a rebellious nation of negative people. Everyone has their opinions. Just look at the news stories today. Politicians, celebrities, news people, anyone on the street, all have an opinion about life, history, and current events. But now God has an opinion, and that is how Ezekiel is to begin his message, 'Thus says the Lord God.' God is the highest authority in existence. He knows all of the facts about everything that is. He was here when history began. He was a witness to every event in history. He actually caused or guided every event in history. He invented life, designing every aspect of it. Plans and events belong to God. Duties and responsibilities belong to each one of us. God knows the truth from the lies, fact from fiction. The people were obstinate and stubborn, and rather than acknowledging Gods judgment and confessing their sins, and changing their ways, the people saw their current situation as merely a temporary setback in their own invented plans for life. And that in itself is a detachment from reality. Disasters are designed to test faith, to discipline those who need disciplining, to judge those who need judging, and otherwise bring the focus of peoples lives back to God. No disaster should be perceived as a mere inconvenience to ones ongoing life style, and/or a hurdle to be overcome by mans own ingenuity and determination. Josh. 22:17 18 that you must turn away this day from following the LORD? And it will come about if you rebel against the LORD today, that He will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel tomorrow. NASB Their stubbornness is represented as being stiff necked, hard faced, callous of soul, and that is where a people will always wind up when they disregard Gods Word in their life. Their soul callouses over and becomes a hardness of heart as in the day of Pharaoh. The soul hardens over and eventually the light of truth and reality becomes sealed out as the soul turns into a blackout state. Doom follows. 
Now is the time to post a prayer. End Of Lesson Study to show thyself approved (mature) unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (studying/discerning), the Word of truth. |
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