The role of spiritual leaders is to teach others to discern between right and wrong, truth and lies in all aspects of life, not just the religious. How do you think American pastors are doing? The last 8 Chapters of Ezekiel gives a detailed description of life in Jerusalem during the Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ. It is for the Jewish people. The Church will be serving in a different capacity as Co-Regents with our King Jesus. It will be a time of unparalleled Beauty, Truth, and Righteousness upon the Earth.

This section of Ezekiel describes the details of the Temple and compound that will be built in Jerusalem during the 1000-year reign of Jesus Christ when He returns to set up God’s Kingdom on the earth. It’s architectural design blueprints has tremendous significance to us as we continue to learn about God.

Ezekiel 37-39 are the most popular chapters in the book of Ezekiel because of the view that Gog and Magog refer to a coalition of nations led by Russia invading Israel. This is one of those teachings in the Bible where there is great latitude for disagreement, and still ability to be in perfect harmony with fellow believers. Nowhere in the New Testament does it speak of Russia invading Israel as a sign of the End Times. There are many, many other signs of the times that are more relevant than Russia’s involvement in the Middle East. We have the word of Jesus to 'Be Ready'! If we need to look to Russia’s military movements to know we are near the rapture, then we are in big trouble. I think the Word of Jesus to 'Be Ready' is a sufficient enough reason to be ready!

Egypt was so proud in all they built. Egyptian monuments and water canals were indeed a marvel in the ancient world. For centuries, they ruled the world and were the envy of the world! But their pride was their downfall. The Lord used another wicked nation to judge that wicked nation. It happens… God uses an evil nation as His instrument of judgement on other wicked nations. It's best if we learn from this example and humble ourselves in the sight of the Almighty.

These chapters outline the fall of the ancient Phoenician city of Tyre on the coast of the Mediterranean in modern-day Lebanon. The people of Tyre were a seafaring people, and tremendous wealth was accumulated by them through sea trading routes. In Ezekiel 28, God addresses the power behind this most prosperous cities of the ancient world. God moves from the material to the spiritual power of Satan himself. This will be a fascinating discussion. Satan was a worship leader, a powerful angel, he is created, he was adorned with beauty, but fell because of his pride! Pride is the mother of all sins! It is what turned angels into devils.

We often think that our sin does not affect anyone else - but it does, it hurts God. God could think of no better way to explain what the sin of His people was doing to Him, so God explained the pain as if it was a husband's wife committing adultery, or if a couple that is in great love of each other and the wife dies. The pain can be unbearable. This is the pain God was feeling when His own people turned to sin and the lust of the flesh to worship all kinds of lusts – it tore God’s heart apart, like a spouse that dies. Our sin has far-reaching effects, let's confess our sins and turn from them.

The country was in moral and spiritual decline. It was on a fast-track to self-destruction, it was only a matter of time. God was warning the people of the impending doom because of their transgressions and sin. They continued to ignore the Lord. So, God was looking for someone to pray, to interceded, to “stand in the gap” and pray on behalf of the land so that God’s hand of judgement would be put on pause. But God found no one! May we always continue to pray for those in our life that reject the Lord, that God would have mercy upon them and they repent.

The people had consistently rebelled against God and His Word again and again for years upon years. Finally, God reaches a breaking point and says, "If sin and wickedness is what you want, then sin and wickedness is what you shall have." And then God gives them over to be destroyed by their own wickedness. God lets them drown in their own sinful filth. Sound like America?

It is human nature to “blame-shift”, to blame others for our own problems. It is not only the root paradigm of Marxist ideologies, it is part of fallen human nature to avoid personal responsibility and blame others for our misfortunes. Adam and Eve blamed the serpent and ultimately blamed God for the consequences of their poor choice. Victimhood is a part of the American culture now. But God says it is wrong, each person will be accountable not for the actions of others but are accountable and responsible for their own actions. We have to own up to the fact that we choose to obey or disobey God at any time, and free ourselves from the cycle of sin and abuse from our family and culture.

When we do not know the reasons for God’s judgment, we can be tempted to think that God is too harsh when He judges a person or people. In this section, the Lord details the vile, filthy, horrific human depravity that the people would not turn from. God exposes their debauchery and sin so that when God judges it in a strong way, all of heaven and earth will shout out loud, “God, you are Righteous!” We will all then say, ‘It's about time the wicked are stopped!”

The people in Ezekiel’s time were confused because the false prophets were saying, ‘peace, peace’ when Ezekiel was warning of judgement and destruction! The people were not devoted to the Lord because they also worshipped idols, thus they were not taking His Word seriously. When we have a divided heart, we are fooled easily!

The people were so corrupt, they had given themselves over to rebellion against God; they were living a life of sin. The Lord said, I will give you a new heart! That is what we all need, we need a new heart, a new spirit! A heart that has God’s law deeply engraved in it, so that we WANT to do His will, we WANT to obey the law of God. A heart that hates sin and loves God’s Word. It’s called “being Born-Again”!

At the time of the Babylonian invasion, God was bringing great judgement on Jerusalem because of their perversion and rebellion against God. But, there is always a remnant that are faithful in obedience to the Lord. The Lord preserved them from the destruction by putting a MARK on their foreheads! This mark was the shape of a cross! Amazing! Here is another foreshadowing of the completed work of Jesus on the cross of Calvary. He saves and preserves those who put their faith in Jesus from the coming wrath of God upon this world, both in this life and in the next!

We read so much about the minute detail of how God will discipline His people because they forsook Him and turned to other religions. It's one thing to have never know the Lord and reject Him, that’s tragic. It's quite another to have known the Lord and then to forsake Him by neglecting or no longer listen to Him, that’s devastating! That rejecting crushes God! Why? Because of Love! He loves you so supremely that any kind of avoidance or attention to other things hurts Him just as it would hurt you if someone you loved turned away from you.