Scripture

Then the glory of the Lord moved out from the door of the Temple and hovered above the cherubim. And as I watched, the cherubim flew with their wheels to the East Gate of the Lord’s Temple and the glory of the God of Israel hovered above them.

Observation

Ezekiel has a vision of the throne of God. He sees the throne and the cherubim in the same vision as earlier in Babylon.

The Lord speaks to the man in linen clothing and tells him to take a handful of burning coals from between the wheels under the cherubim. He is to take these coals and scatter them over the city.The man does this and leaves the temple.

The cherubim move to the end to the East Gate of the Temple and the glory cloud of the Lord now hovers over them. The cherubim and the Lord’s presence leave the temple and the city.

Application

What a terrible state the temple and the city of Jerusalem have come to. The Lord’s presence has left them.This meant that there was no hope for the city because the Lord had removed his protection from it. It also meant that the temple was a God forsaken shadow of what it should have been. The entrenched sin in the nation and the corruption of the priesthood had caused the Lord to flee.

The worship continued, but it was empty ritual. A few years later the Babylonians would destroy the temple,

The picture is very similar to that of the time following Jesus’s death.The curtain of the temple was torn in two. The Lord abandoned the temple because there was a new temple, the followers of Jesus. But temple worship continued for almost 40 years until it was all destroyed by the Romans.

Listen

Lord, this passage makes me think about true worship and false worship, between Spirit led worship and empty ritual,

Keith, my temple is now in the corporate heart of my people. Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in their midst.

Even when an apostate worship seems empty and devoid of my Spirit, as long as there is at least one person there who loves me and is devoted to following me, then I am there with them.

I will never abandon my true followers. Even those who worship in an apostate gathering will know my presence and my blessing.

“Even the Catholics, one of your colleagues used to say. Yes, and even the Uniting Church and the Anglicans and so on.

I do not judge by the outward appearance or by the forms of worship. I look at the hearts of the worshipers

Scripture

Then he said to me,”The sins of the people of Israel and Judah are very, very great. The entire land is full of murder. The city is filled with injustice. They are saying ‘The Lord doesn’t see it! The Lord has abandoned the land!’”

Observation

The Lord thunders for the men appointed to punish the city. Six men appear in the temple courtyard, each carrying a deadly weapon. A seventh carrying a writer’s case appears also.

The glory of the Lord rises up. The Lord commands the man with the writer’s case to mark the foreheads of everyone who is mourning the sin of the city, The Lord tells the other men to kill everyone whose forehead is not marked. They are to start at the Temple, defiling it with the corpses of those who are not marked.

The Lord declares that the sins of Israel and Judah are very, very great, and that they will not be spared.

Application

The declaration about the sins of Israel and Judah could equally be made against Australia and many other countries in the world.

There is a quality of sin that was much less common a generation ago. It seems to me that the quantity of outrageous crimes is increasing. Terrorism, home invasions, road rage, machete attacks, these are alarming.

But there is a casual kind of sin that is concerning also. Selfishness, lack of regard for others, drug use, greed, and many others. These things seem less serious, but underline the sinfulness of all people.

While they don’t say it explicitly, people believe that God cannot see, that He has abandoned the land.

Ezekiel tells us that the Lord does see and He has an agenda to bring to justice all who fall short of His glory.

Listen

Lord, as I read this chapter, I see that it is not just about Israel and Judah. It is about Australia also,

Keith, when people turn their backs on me, it is to justify sin. When Christian civilisations abandon me, they fall apart quickly,

The elite leaders call Australia a post-Christian society. They are saying “The Lord doesn’t see it! The Lord has abandoned the land!”

I do see it, but I have not abandoned the land. Australia is still the great Southland of the Holy Spirit. I will call this people back to me. Revival is coming. The awakening will sweep over this land, and many will turn to me. My heart is for this country, and I will not abandon it to its fate.