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以西结书 第四十六章(英文)

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“The prince shall then be in their midst. When they go in, he shall go in; and when they go out, he shall go out.” – Ezekiel 46: 10

Intermittently highlighted throughout this chapter is the integration and interwovenness of the prince’s movements with his people. He is not exempt from the coordination of movements and activities within the temple – uses the same entry and exit routes as his people and does not make himself the exception to rules and regulations. As in Deuteronomy 17: 20, this prince is a royal whose heart is with his people, whose mind is not lifted above his brethren. This is a prince of the people, whose top priority is in living a life in sustained communion with his people.

We go about our days differently – some of us start each day looking forward to the end, some of us move through the motions, and some of us work for meaning and sense of satisfaction. Regardless of perspective and approach, how often does the thought of Jesus cross our minds? With every next step, do we remember Him? Do we trust that Jesus, the Prince of Peace, is in and within our midst, in and amongst us, His people? Regardless of the furiosity or frivolity of our lives’ issues, are we living testaments of Jesus’ unwavering, most times seemingly unassuming, abidance?

As we map out and carry out our heart’s plans everyday, weave in and out of crowds of distractions and commotion, may Jesus and His footsteps, in full view, remain.

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以西结书 第四十和四十一章(英文)

以西结书 第四十和四十一章(英文)

From Chapter 40, it marks the start of the vision shown to Ezekiel of a new temple that is to be built in Jerusalem. Did your eyes glaze over as you read the 2 chapters?   Imagine you were Ezekiel and you were told to pay close attention to everything that he was being shown and then go and tell the people everything he had seen.   4 And the man said to me, “Son of man, look with your eyes and hear with your ears, and fix your mind on everything I show you; for you were brought here so that I might show them to you. Declare to the house of Israel everything you see.”  ~ Ezekiel 40:4 ~ What follows is Ezekiel being first led to see the Eastern Gateway of the Temple, then the Outer Court, Northern and Southern Gateway to the Temple, Gateways to the Inner Courts, where the sacrifices were made, the chambers for the priests and singers.  And then, very careful recordings of the dimensions of the different parts of the temple were specified and recorded down. Why do you think this was done? Being a person who is not very detail oriented, I cannot quite understand the need for all the exact measurements to be spelled out.  What’s wrong if the measurements are out by an inch or two? Then it struck me.  God cares for His people so much that He does not want to leave any stone unturned for His people.  In our daily lives many things happen - big or small.  Some are blessings and some are trials.  Some are good things, some are bad.  God is interested in us, His People.  Even to the most minute detail! And He has given us specific instructions in His Holy Word for many areas of our life.  The question is, do our eyes glaze over the Words from the Bible.  Or do we, like Ezekiel, listen carefully and then tell it to others? Last night I had a dream and in that dream, I had a very big pain in my leg and could not figure it out.  And for some reason, a Deacon of the church was examining me as if he was a doctor.  And then after he diagnose that there was some issue with my leg (could not remember what was said), his conclusion was this… “This is why you need to get better and after that, go out and preach the Gospel!” Tears welled up as I recall this and am writing this now.   Was this a rebuke?  Areminder?  A warning?  An admonishment?  An encouragement? God through His infinite wisdom. Mercy and grace has given us all the details (truth) of Salvation. Should we not go and tell others about it so that they also know of it? And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. ~ Mark 16:15-16 ~ For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ~ Romans 1:16 ~ Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. ~ 2 Timothy 4:2 ~ May we be interested in all the little details that God reveals to us and after listening carefully to it, tell it to others as well.

以西结书 第二十一章(英文)

以西结书 第二十一章(英文)

This chapter talks about the sword of God against His people and the Ammonites, with the word “sword” being mentioned 15 times! This sword (i.e. Babylon, v19-20) is a sword of judgement that God would use to punish these two groups of people for their sins. Here are 3 things that will happen when this sword is drawn: Why both the righteous and wicked – is God being unfair? We know from the consistent message of the Bible that this is not so. God is just, and He does not indiscriminately slay the righteous with the wicked. Even for a city as depraved as Sodom and Gomorrah, God delivered Lot and his family, the only few righteous people remaining (fewer than 5!), before destroying the city (Genesis 18:23-26). Moreover, by cutting off the righteous from the land, God not only delivers them from further physical suffering including forced labour by the Babylonians, He also delivers them from further spiritual corruption by their wicked kinsmen who were steeped in idolatry. God’s promise of delivering the righteous from their troubles is a promise we must cling to (Psalm 34:19). We must also recognise that ultimately, God wants to deliver us in a spiritual sense – from the temptations of the evil one (Matthew 6:13), the corruption of the world caused by evil desires (2 Peter 1:4), and the corruption in hell (Psalm 16:10). Therefore, let us trust in the righteousness of God, knowing His will for us is not to perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). The original meaning of Israel is “prince with God”. However, now that their scepter is despised, Israel is no longer prince with God, no longer son of the King of kings. Israel is dethroned, because of the people’s wickedness. Yet, God foretells the coming of One whom God will crown because He is the rightful Ruler (v27b) – this One is none other than our Lord Jesus, whose reign and kingdom is everlasting (Luke 1:33). Just like how Esau lost his God-given birthright because of his choice to gratify a moment’s hunger, Israel lost their precious status as prince with God, children of God, because of their choice to persist in their unfaithfulness towards Him (Ezekiel 14:13). How about us: do we make personal choices that jeopardise our precious relationship with God? What does God remember? Their sins. As a result, what will God forget? His relationship with them – in other words, an utter disowning of His people. But… did God permanently forget His people? Again, we know from the consistent message of the Bible, as well as history, that this was not so. Rather, God disowns them with the purpose of cleansing them from their sins so that He can re-own them as His people – a people with a new spirit and heart of flesh that submits to God’s laws (Ezekiel 11:19-20), who will no longer stray from God (Ezekiel 14:11). As the psalmist says: “His anger is but for a moment, His favour is for life.” (Psalm 30:5) God promises that if we repent and return to Him wholeheartedly – fearing Him, meditating on His name, and serving Him (Malachi 3:16-18) – God will remember us and bless us with His favour for the rest of our life, in this age and the age to come. By always using the sword of His word to prune away sin from our hearts (Hebrews 4:12-13). Let us daily examine our thoughts and intents to see if they align with the Bible’s standards. Remember that we are naked and open to Him, secret sins and all, and one day we must give an account to God who will judge all our thoughts, words and deeds. Amen.

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我们是真耶稣教会,一间建立在耶稣与使徒们的教导上的全球性非宗派教会。藉由圣灵创立,我们的使命是把全备的救恩真理传向地极/世界尽头。

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