“This is what
the Sovereign Lord says:
"At that time evil thoughts
will come to your mind, and you will devise a wicked scheme. You will
say, ‘Israel is an unprotected land filled with unwalled villages!"
Ezekiel
38:10 KJV
Yet, these future
invaders will be less successful than the Nazis from W.W.II.
Why?
Because Ezekiel has also
predicted that God will supernaturally interfere by destroying the armies
that come attacking the apple of His eye.
BY
EDMUND DESOTO
"My people are destroyed
for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also
reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten
the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children."
Hosea 4:6
KJV
Knowledge
of God's Word is so important in our lives that the God of Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob tells us in His WORD that His people are destroyed for a lack
of it.
So we, God's
people, must learn to obey the commandments of our heavenly Father. We,
must learn about our God who is the Creator of everything that exists in
both the spiritual and physical realm.
We must learn
about Him, His ways and learn to receive everything that He has created
for us.
His children,
created in His image, have been given free will and can use it to make
choices in the life given to them by God. Since God created us with a free
will to choose right from wrong, He gives us the freedom to exercise that
right.
We know that
a computer can be programmed to respond at your command. We also know that
by conditioning a dog or any animal for that matter with rewards and punishments,
you can teach it to obey. Trainers do that all the time.
But every parent
knows, that children are not so easily taught. People have wills and must
choose
to submit, to follow the instructions of those who have authority
over them or not.
Without a doubt
discipline is part of this long process and it is every parent's responsibility
to teach their boys and girls that they will reap the consequences of disobedience.
Ezekiel
was a man who chose to obey God
From
the beginning of Spring of 2004, I have been reading and studying the prophet
Ezekiel. It is here that I want to use him as an example of this wonderful
gift God has given all of us, His people.
Although he was
a priest, he also served as a Jewish “street preacher” for twenty
two years in the streets of Babylon.
He would go
around telling everyone about the judgment of God but also about His mercies
goodness and His salvation.
He called everyone
that heard his voice to repent and obey. Not only did he go around speaking
as the oracles of God, Ezekiel lived what he preached.
During the
time he walked the earth, God told him to illustrate His messages with
lessons that were dramatic and severe.
Most of these
lessons used by Ezekiel to teach the people were so dramatic and drastic
that some thought of him as a mad man.
For starters,
some of these lessons were. . .
To
eat only one eight once meal a day over manure lying on his side for 390
days.
The Lord
asked him to shave his head and beard.
The Lord asked
him not to show sorrow when his wife died and Ezekiel obeyed and faithfully
proclaimed God's word.
Although God
may not ask us any of these things today, what He may ask of us could be
considered by the world's standards just as drastic and severe.
However the
question remains true today for all of us.
Would we be
willing to obey God in all He requires of us?
Because of
Ezekiel's obedience to God, he was promoted to “watchman for Israel.”
When he was
commissioned as such, Ezekiel immediately began to preach and demonstrate
God's truth.
He predicted
the approaching siege and destruction of Jerusalem. This devastation was
God's judgment for the people's idolatry.
As a man of
God, he challenged Israel to turn away from their wicked ways and obey
God. Of course from reading his book we know that Israel didn't obey the
warning given by Ezekiel and as a result they have been scattered all over
the world until this very present day.
He was also
given a vision where he saw Israel's enemies come against her to destroy
her. He preached this message, the Word of God, to the exiled Jews in the
streets of Babylon.
Yes, twenty
five hundred years before it actually happened, Ezekiel was given detailed
prophecy in the Perfect
Now by God foretelling that modern day Russia would become one
of the dominant nations helping the enemies of Israel to be destroyed.
Ezekiel has
gone as far as predicting that the allies of Russia would march with her
to the mountains of Israel to completely destroy the Jewish people from
the face of the earth.
Anyone of us
can turn to the major television news channels anywhere in the world and
confirm that this statement made by Ezekiel twenty five hundred years ago
is true today.
Israel's enemies
are bold, they have no reservations as to how they feel towards Israel.
They want her complete destruction and would go to all extremes to accomplish
what they feel is true and at the same time they have no reservations when
declare to the world the hatred they feel for her.
Yes, they want
Israel's complete destruction.
Yet, these
future invaders will be less successful than the Nazis from W.W.II.
Why?
Because Ezekiel
has also predicted that God will supernaturally interfere by destroying
the armies that come attacking Israel, the apple of His eye.
By
doing this, God will show His omnipotent power to the nations of the world
and demonstrate to Israel, His chosen people, that He still has business
to take care of with her.
Ezekiel goes on
to say that God will be quick, sure and swift in His judgment with these
invaders that dare come against His people. When they decide to attack,
God will destroy them utterly.
He goes on
to say that Israel's allies see the attack coming. Feeling helpless and
thinking that they cannot do anything to stop these angry nations, all
that her allies do is to send a delegation to Russia to kindly question
her intentions.
As of November,
2008, Russia has realigned her weapons to point towards the country of
Poland. (Intersected November 5th, 2008)
“This
is what the Sovereign Lord says:
At that
time evil thoughts will come to your mind, and you will devise a wicked
scheme.
You will
say,
‘Israel
is an unprotected land filled with unwalled villages!
I will march
against her and destroy these people who live in such confidence!
I will go
to those once-desolate cities that are again filled with people who have
returned from exile in many nations.
I will capture
vast amounts of plunder and take many slaves, for the people are rich with
cattle now, and they think the whole world revolves around them!’
But Sheba
and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish will ask,
‘Who
are you to rob them of silver and gold? Who are you to drive away their
cattle and seize their goods and make them poor?’
Ezekiel
38: 10-13 KJV
