victory and peace

Posted on January 7, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

20230107

Photo by mamunurpics on Pexels.com

victory and peace

Ezekiel 40:32-34 (JDV)

Ezekiel 40:32 Then he brought me to the inner court on the east side. When he measured the gate, it had the same measurements as the others.
Ezekiel 40:33 Its recesses, jambs, and portico had the same measurements as the others. Both it and its portico had windows all around. It was 50 cubits long and 25 cubits wide.
Ezekiel 40:34 Its portico faced the outer court, and its jambs were decorated with palm trees on each side. Its stairway had eight steps.

victory and peace

Palm trees adorned the temple of Solomon, and Ezekiel sees them in his temple vision as well. The palm was a recognized symbol of victory and peace. The palm “branches” (really leaves — not branches) that people waived as Jesus entered Jerusalem (John 12:13) were like flags declaring him the new king who would bring victory and peace to the city. The victory and peace that Jesus offers is eternal victory over sin and peace with God.

LORD, renew our hearts and lives. Prepare us for our permanent inheritance of victory and peace.

See Davis, John D. Illustrated Davis Dictionary of the Bible. [s. l.]: Old-time Gospel Hour Edition, 1973. p. 591-592.

Posted in peace, victory | Tagged | Leave a comment

extra step

Posted on January 6, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

20230106

Photo by JorgeArturo Andrade on Pexels.com

extra step

Ezekiel 40:28-31 (JDV)

Ezekiel 40:28 Then he brought me to the inner court through the south gate. When he measured the south gate, it had the same measurements as the others.
Ezekiel 40:29 Its recesses, jambs, and portico had the same measurements as the others. Both it and its portico had windows all around. It was 50 cubits long and 25 cubits wide.
Ezekiel 40:30 (There were porticoes all around, 25 cubits long and five cubits wide.)
Ezekiel 40:31 Its portico faced the outer court, and its jambs were decorated with palm trees. Its stairway had eight steps.

extra step

Did you catch the difference between the portico to the outer court (verses 17-27) and the portico to the inner court described here? They probably looked identical, but the portico to the outer court had seven steps. This one has eight. Why the extra step? I don’t know, but my guess is that there is always extra effort needed to renew the inner being — compared to the outer being.

If you have ever tried to diet, you know it takes discipline, commitment, and effort. If you have ever tried to rid your inner self of its horrible habits, you know that takes an extra step.

Our God is committed to changing us — inside and out. Our renewal will not be merely external.

Posted in commitment, renewal | Tagged | Leave a comment

doing windows

Posted on January 5, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

20230105

Photo by Jou00e3o Jesus on Pexels.com

doing windows

Ezekiel 40:24-27 (JDV)

Ezekiel 40:24 He brought me to the south side, and I noticed there was also a gate on the south. He measured its jambs and portico; they had the same measurements as the others.
Ezekiel 40:25 Both the gate and its portico had windows all around, like the other windows. It was 50 cubits long and 25 cubits wide.
Ezekiel 40:26 Its stairway had seven steps, and its portico was ahead of them. It had palm trees on its jambs, one on each side.
Ezekiel 40:27 The inner court had a gate on the south. He measured from gate to gate on the south; it was 100 cubits.

doing windows

Redpath points out that windows “would be unnecessary if the light fell from above.” 1

The mention of windows in the new temple vision is an important clue to its meaning. The light comes into the temple and shines out from it by means of the windows.

Jesus calls on his followers to be the light of the world. If we are the temple, prepared for the presence of God within, then we must also be prepared to manifest that presence to others. We cannot “not do windows.”

LORD, build windows into our lives through which we can shine your presence.

Redpath, Henry A. The Book of the Prophet Ezekiel: With Introd. and Notes. London: Methuen, 1907. p. 367.

Posted in evangelism, witness | Tagged | Leave a comment

removing the extraneous

Posted on January 4, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

20230104

Photo by Sarah Chai on Pexels.com

removing the extraneous

Ezekiel 40:20-23 (JDV)

Ezekiel 40:20 He measured the gate of the outer court facing north, both its length and width.
Ezekiel 40:21 Its three recesses on each side, its jambs, and its portico had the same measurements as the first gate: 50 cubits long and 25 cubits wide.
Ezekiel 40:22 Its windows, portico, and palm trees had the same measurements as those of the gate that faced east. Seven steps led up to the gate, and its portico was ahead of them.
Ezekiel 40:23 The inner court had a gate facing the north gate, like the one on the east. He measured the distance from gate to gate; it was 100 cubits.

removing the extraneous

We have been looking at the new temple as a description of God’s new people — perfect in purity because all have been redeemed by the Lamb’s sacrifice.

As we begin this new year, it is appropriate that we stop and take inventory of our lives, to see if we are filling our present courts with something that does not belong. In Ezekiel’s temple, everything had a sanctified purpose. No hint of corruption or idolatry was allowed.

LORD, remove from us any extraneous item we will not carry with us into your new age.

Posted in purity | Tagged | Leave a comment

no varying standards of holiness

Posted on January 3, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

20230103

no varying standards of holiness

Ezekiel 40:17-19 (JDV)

Ezekiel 40:17 Then he brought me into the outer court, and I noticed there were chambers and a paved surface laid out all around the court. Thirty chambers faced the pavement,
Ezekiel 40:18 which flanked the courtyard’s gates and corresponded to the length of the gates; this was the lower pavement.
Ezekiel 40:19 Then he measured the distance from the front of the lower gate to the exterior front of the inner court; it was 100 cubits. This was the east; next the north is described.

no varying standards of holiness

Fairbairn’s explanation of this section is helpful:

“The determinate things in the description are, that the compass of the outer court was exactly defined, an hundred cubits; that it was finely paved, as a place which should be trodden only by clean feet (emblem of internal purity); and that the erections belonging to it were to be a square of a hundred cubits, and consisting of thirty apartments. So that here also nothing was left to men’s caprice or corrupt fancies; as had been the case of old. While from the first there appears to have been an outer court connected with Solomon’s temple, it seems to have been left to a certain extent open to alterations, as well as the intrusion of idolatrous inventions; hence we read in 2 Chron. xx . 5, of “a new court, ” and in 2 Kings xxiii. 11, 12, of the profanation of the place, by some of the worst things of heathenish idolatry being set up there, for which, no doubt, the innovators would plead the absence of any express statutes determining what should or should not belong to it. Now, however, there should be no room for such displays of human arbitrariness and corruption; a more perfect state of things was to be brought in; and even all in the outer court was to be regulated by God’s
hand, and bear the impress of his holiness.”

God’s new people will not have varying standards of holiness. Each believer, washed clean by the blood of the Lamb, will stand pure and undefiled.

LORD, may our standards of holiness be yours.

Posted in holiness | Tagged | Leave a comment

a restored temple

Posted on January 2, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

20230102

Photo by Mati Mango on Pexels.com

a restored temple

Ezekiel 40:5-16 (JDV)

Ezekiel 40:5 I noticed there was a wall surrounding the outside of the house. The measuring reed in the man’s hand was six long cubits; each unit was a cubit and a hand-breadth.1 He measured the thickness of the wall structure; it was six cubits, and its height was the same.
Ezekiel 40:6 Then he came to the gate that faced east and climbed its steps. He measured the threshold of the gate; it was six long cubits deep – one threshold was six long cubits deep.
Ezekiel 40:7 Each recess was six long cubits long and six long cubits deep, and there was a space of five cubits between the recesses. The inner threshold of the gate on the house side next to the gate’s portico was six cubits.
Ezekiel 40:8 Next he measured the gate’s portico;
Ezekiel 40:9 it was eight cubits, and its jambs were two cubits. The gate’s portico was on the house side.
Ezekiel 40:10 There were three recesses on each side of the east gate, each with the same measurements, and the jambs on either side also had the same measurements.
Ezekiel 40:11 Then he measured the width of the gate’s entrance; it was ten cubits, while the width of the gate was thirteen cubits.
Ezekiel 40:12 There was a barrier of a cubit in front of the recesses on both sides, and the recesses on each side were six long cubits square.
Ezekiel 40:13 Then he measured the gate from the roof of one recess to the roof of the opposite one; the distance was 43 3/4 feet. The openings of the recesses faced each other.
Ezekiel 40:14 Next, he measured the porch – 105 feet.
Ezekiel 40:15 The distance from the front of the gate at the entrance to the front of the gate’s portico on the inside was 50 cubits.
Ezekiel 40:16 The recesses and their jambs had beveled windows all around the inside of the gate. The porticoes also had windows all around on the inside. Each jamb was decorated with palm trees.

a restored temple

In a previous vision, Ezekiel had seen the corruption of his people by touring the temple. Now, Ezekiel is given a tour of a new temple and only sees beauty, order, and magnificence. The restored temple represents a restored people. The presence of God can live there again. The worship of God can take place there again. Access to the LORD is restored.

LORD, restore the beauty, order, and magnificence of your temple in us.

Posted in restoration | Tagged | Leave a comment

new year, old responsibility

Posted on January 1, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

20230101

Photo by Sebastian Hietsch on Pexels.com

new year, old responsibility

Ezekiel 40:1-4 (JDV)

Ezekiel 40:1 In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month in the fourteenth year after the city had been captured, on that very day Yahveh’s hand was on me, and he brought me there.
Ezekiel 40:2 In visions of God he took me to the land of Israel and set me down on a very high mountain. On its southern slope was a structure resembling a city.
Ezekiel 40:3 He brought me there, and I noticed a man whose appearance was like bronze, with a linen cord and a measuring reed in his hand. He was standing by the city gate.
Ezekiel 40:4 He spoke to me: “Son of Adam, look with your eyes, listen with your ears, and pay attention to everything I am going to show you because you have been brought here so that I might show it to you. Report everything you see to the house of Israel.”

new year, old responsibility

A new year was beginning, but it didn’t promise any changes. For fourteen years the city of Jerusalem had been captured by a foreign power. The new normal had become captivity and shame.

Then the old prophet had a new vision. God was going to do something extraordinary. He told the old prophet to pay attention because everything he saw in the vision had to be passed on to the people.

Do we have a new vision for this new year? Wrong question. What we should be asking is how careful have we been in our responsibility to pass on the biblical truth we have already been given. If we don’t pay attention to that truth, we have no reason to expect a new vision.

LORD, forgive our neglect of your visions from heaven. We resolve to pass your word on to our generation, starting today.

Posted in renewal, responsibility | Tagged | Leave a comment

restore, regather, revive

Posted on December 31, 2022 by Jefferson Vann

20221231

Photo by Jill Wellington on Pexels.com

Ezekiel 39:25-29 (JDV)

restore, regather, revive

Ezekiel 39:25 “So this is what the Lord Yahveh says: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have compassion on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for my sacred name.
Ezekiel 39:26 They will feel remorse for their disgrace and all the unfaithfulness they committed against me when they live securely in their land with no one to frighten them.
Ezekiel 39:27 When I bring them back from the peoples and gather them from the countries of their enemies, I will demonstrate my devotion through them in the sight of many nations.
Ezekiel 39:28 They will know that I am Yahveh their God when I regather them to their own land after having exiled them among the nations. I will leave none of them behind.
Ezekiel 39:29 I will no longer hide my face from them, for I will pour out my Breath on the house of Israel.” This is the declaration of the Lord Yahveh.

restore, regather, revive

God promises to do three things for his people. He will restore their fortunes lost while in exile. He will regather them to the promised land. He will revive them by pouring out his Breath — his Holy Spirit — on them.

The sinner in exile from God today must face three questions. First, how much are you willing to lose before coming to God for his help? Second, how long are you planning on staying away from where you know you belong? Finally, how long do you plan on winging it without God’s power in your life?

Make it your new year’s resolution to repent!

LORD, we want to come back to you. Restore our lost fortunes, regather us to where we belong, and revive us again!

Posted in new birth, renewal, repentance | Tagged | Leave a comment

his history

Posted on December 30, 2022 by Jefferson Vann

20221230

Photo by jimmy teoh on Pexels.com

his history

Ezekiel 39:21-24 (JDV)

Ezekiel 39:21 “I will display my impressive appearance among the nations, and all the nations will see the judgment I have enacted and the hand I have laid on them.
Ezekiel 39:22 From that day forward the house of Israel will know that I am Yahveh their God.
Ezekiel 39:23 And the nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile on account of their violation because they dealt unfaithfully with me. Therefore, I hid my face from them and handed them over to their enemies, so that they all fell by the sword.
Ezekiel 39:24 I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and rebellions, and I hid my face from them.

his history

History is His Story — that is what the nations would learn. They would learn that the exile was not the result of Yahveh’s weakness, but an act of justice from Yahveh because his own people had dealt unfaithfully with him. The restoration would also be a historical event proving God’s impressive appearance among the nations.

As we approach the new year, we would be wise to learn that God shows himself in the events of history. Sometimes history shows the evil work of Adam’s race, and God seems to be hiding his face. But there will also be signs of God’s intervention.

LORD, may this new year be a revelation of your glory and justice.

Posted in sovereignty of God | Tagged | Leave a comment

buzzard paradise

Posted on December 29, 2022 by Jefferson Vann

20221229

Photo by Chris F on Pexels.com

buzzard paradise

Ezekiel 39:17-20 (JDV)

Ezekiel 39:17 “Son of Adam, this is what the Lord Yahveh says: Tell every kind of bird and all the wild animals, ‘Assemble and come! Gather from all around to My sacrificial feast that I am slaughtering for you, a great feast on the mountains of Israel; you will eat flesh and drink blood.
Ezekiel 39:18 You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the land’s princes: rams, lambs, male goats, and all the fattened bulls of Bashan.
Ezekiel 39:19 You will eat fat until you are satisfied and drink blood until you are drunk, at My sacrificial feast that I have prepared for you.
Ezekiel 39:20 At my table you will eat your fill of horses and riders, of mighty men and all the warriors. This is the declaration of the Lord Yahveh.’

buzzard paradise

The prophet is told to advertize a feast — for all the buzzards and other scavengers. There will be plenty of carrion and blood for everyone.

Such an announcement was designed to warn Gog of Magog that his planned invasion of Israel would not turn out as expected. It is a reminder to all of us that if we are being mistreated, God is watching. There will be justice. If we are the ones doing the mistreating — same message.

LORD, we trust in you to make right all wrongs.

Posted in justice | Tagged | Leave a comment