land matters

Posted on February 16, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

20230216

Photo by Tom Fisk on Pexels.com

land matters

Ezekiel 47:15-17 (JDV)

Ezekiel 47:15 This is to be the border of the land: On the north side it will extend from the Mediterranean Sea by way of Hethlon and Lebo-hamath to Zedad,
Ezekiel 47:16 Berothah, and Sibraim (which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath), as far as Hazer-hatticon, which is on the border of Hauran.
Ezekiel 47:17 So the border will run from the sea to Hazar-enon at the border of Damascus, with the territory of Hamath to the north. This will be the northern side.

land matters

The land will be apportioned because land matters to our God. He created the land to bring him glory, and he will decide who works the land, and who is responsible for its protection and cultivation.

Our God is not a God of spirit and mind only. Land matters to him because all creation matters to him. He plans to restore the land, not discard it.

Posted in renewal | Tagged | Leave a comment

a promise to be fulfilled

Posted on February 15, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

20230215

Photo by Omar Ramadan on Pexels.com

a promise to be fulfilled

Ezekiel 47:13-14 (JDV)

Ezekiel 47:13 This is what the Lord Yahveh says: “This is the border you will use to divide the land as an inheritance for the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph will receive two shares.
Ezekiel 47:14 You will inherit it in equal portions since I swore to give it to your ancestors. So this land will fall to you as an inheritance.

a promise to be fulfilled

God’s promise will be fulfilled to his people. It does not matter who claims the land now. When it is time for God’s promise to be fulfilled, it will go to the twelve tribes of Israel.

God’s promise to us of a permanent inheritance of resurrection life will also be fulfilled when the time is right. When we hear that trumpet sound, we’re going to get up out of the ground. Ain’t no grave going to keep our body down.

bbjv - 1

Posted in resurrection | Tagged | Leave a comment

from foul to fresh

Posted on February 14, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

20230214

Photo by Ian Turnell on Pexels.com

from foul to fresh

Ezekiel 47:6b-12 (JDV)

Then he led me back to the bank of the river.
Ezekiel 47:7 When I had returned, I noticed a very large number of trees along both sides of the riverbank.
Ezekiel 47:8 He said to me, “This water flows out to the eastern region and goes down to the Arabah. When it enters the sea, the sea of foul water, the water of the sea becomes fresh.
Ezekiel 47:9 Every kind of living throat that swarms will live wherever the river flows, and there will be a huge number of fish because this water goes there. Since the water will become fresh, there will be life everywhere the river goes.
Ezekiel 47:10 Fishermen will stand beside it from En-gedi to En-eglaim. These will become places where nets are spread out to dry. Their fish will consist of many different kinds, like the fish of the Mediterranean Sea.
Ezekiel 47:11 Yet its swamps and marshes will not be healed; they will be left for salt.
Ezekiel 47:12 All kinds of trees providing food will grow along both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. Each month they will bear fresh fruit because the water comes from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be used for food and their leaves for medicine.”

from foul to fresh

The river brings life from the dead — even the Dead Sea will become fresh, and fish of many different kinds will be found there.

What kind of impact are you making on the world around you. Do the foul waters become fresh that you flow by? Our Master wants us to make an influence wherever we go.

Posted in witness | Tagged | Leave a comment

the farther, the deeper

Posted on February 13, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

20230213

Photo by Oliver Sju00f6stru00f6m on Pexels.com

the farther, the deeper

Ezekiel 47:3-6a (JDV)

Ezekiel 47:3 As the man went out east with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a third of a mile and led me through the water. It came up to my ankles.
Ezekiel 47:4 Then he measured off a third of a mile and led me through the water. It came up to my knees. He measured off another third of a mile and led me through the water. It came up to my waist.
Ezekiel 47:5 Again he measured off a third of a mile, and it was a river that I could not cross on foot. For the water had risen; it was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be crossed on foot.
Ezekiel 47:6 He asked me, “Do you see this, son of Adam?”

the farther, the deeper

As the water spread, it became deeper. That is how the Holy Spirit within us works. He changes us, but the transformation becomes even more miraculous when we move out into the world. The farther we go, the deeper the change. Welcome to the amazing world of witness.

Posted in Holy Spirit, witness | Tagged | Leave a comment

water from the temple

Posted on February 12, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

20230212

Photo by Rifqi Ramadhan on Pexels.com

water from the temple

Ezekiel 47:1-2 (JDV)

Ezekiel 47:1 Then he brought me back to the entrance of the house and I noticed water flowing from under the threshold of the house toward the east, for the house faced east. The water was coming down from under the south side of the threshold of the house, south of the altar.
Ezekiel 47:2 Next he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate that faced east; I noticed the water was trickling from the south side.

water from the temple

Water trickles out of the temple, but as it flows, it gets deeper. That water brings life and health to all it touches, salts the earth, and produces much fish, and abundant fruit. Every image of this vision is used by New Testament authors to describe the destiny that awaits the righteous. The fact that the water comes from the temple implies that all of these new earth realities flow from the presence of God. The sea represents the nations, the target of the flow. Jesus said that water will flow from the heart of believers (John 7:38). Life, abundance, and healing begin today. Its full realization will be at the coming of Christ.

LORD, may your life, love, and healing flow through us, to the nations.

Posted in sanctification, witness | Tagged | Leave a comment

four kitchens

Posted on February 11, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

20230211

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

four kitchens

Ezekiel 46:21-24 (JDV)

Ezekiel 46:21 Next he brought me into the outer court and led me past its four corners. I noticed a separate court in each of its corners.
Ezekiel 46:22 In the four corners of the outer court there were enclosed courts, forty cubits long by thirty cubits wide. All four corner areas had the same dimensions.
Ezekiel 46:23 There was a stone wall around the inside of them, around the four of them, with ovens built at the base of the walls on all sides.
Ezekiel 46:24 He said to me: “These are the kitchens where those who minister at the house will cook the people’s sacrifices.”

four kitchens

Four corner kitchens in the outer court seem to hint at an expansion of the term “people” — to include those of all the nations. It fits the attitude our Savior reflected in his teachings, that the temple was to be a house of prayer for all nations, and that the gospel should be preached to all nations.

bbjv - 1

Posted in evangelism | Tagged | Leave a comment

eating to his glory

Posted on February 10, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

20230210

Photo by julie aagaard on Pexels.com

eating to his glory

Ezekiel 46:19-20 (JDV)

Ezekiel 46:19 Then he brought me through the entrance that was at the side of the gate, into the priests’ sacred chambers, which faced north. I noticed a place there at the far western end.
Ezekiel 46:20 He said to me, “This is the place where the priests will boil the guilt offering and the failure offering, and where they will bake the grain offering so that they do not bring them into the outer court and transmit sacredness to the people.”

eating to his glory

Here is Jameson, Fawcett, and Brown’s comment on this text:

“Due regard is to be had for the sanctity of the officiating priests’ food, by cooking courts being provided close to their chambers. One set of apartments for cooking was to be at the corners of the inner court, reserved for the flesh of the sin offerings, to be eaten only by the priests whose perquisite it was (Le 6:25; 7:7), before coming forth to mingle again with the people; another set at the corners of the outer court, for cooking the flesh of the peace offerings, of which the people partook along with the priests. All this implies that no longer are the common and unclean to be confounded with the sacred and divine, but that in even the least things, as eating and drinking, the glory of God is to be the aim (1Co 10:31).”

Our everyday lives today are not to be seen as common, because we are priests to God. Everything — even how we eat — is affected by this reality.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments by Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown [1882]

Posted in holiness | Tagged | Leave a comment

inheritance rights

Posted on February 9, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

20230209

inheritance rights

Photo by Sora Shimazaki on Pexels.com

Ezekiel 46:16-18 (JDV)

Ezekiel 46:16 “This is what the Lord Yahveh says: If the prince gives a gift to each of his sons as their inheritance, it will belong to his sons. It will become their property by inheritance.
Ezekiel 46:17 But if he gives a gift from his inheritance to one of his servants, it will belong to that servant until the year of freedom, when it will revert to the prince. His inheritance belongs only to his sons; it is theirs.
Ezekiel 46:18 The prince must not take any of the people’s inheritance, evicting them from their property. He is to provide an inheritance for his sons from his own property so that none of my people will be displaced from his own property.”

inheritance rights

These rules ensured that people who expected to inherit would actually do so, a servant who pleased his master would not take the inheritance of the prince’s sons. Commoners would not lose their inheritance because of the prince’s greed.

They are reminders to us that we should be considerate of what people expect, and not try to cheat them. God is watching, and what we do is important to him.

Posted in consideration of others | Tagged | Leave a comment

every morning

Posted on February 8, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

20230208

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

every morning

Ezekiel 46:13-15 (JDV)

Ezekiel 46:13 “You are to offer an unblemished year-old male lamb as a daily burnt offering to Yahveh; you will offer it every morning.
Ezekiel 46:14 You are also to prepare a grain offering every morning along with it: three quarts, with one-third of a hin of oil to moisten the fine flour– a grain offering to Yahveh. This is a permanent statute to be observed regularly.
Ezekiel 46:15 They will offer the lamb, the grain offering, and the oil every morning as a regular burnt offering.

every morning

This phrase appears in each of the three verses in today’s text. There is consistency here. The worshiper seeks God and brings an offering every morning. It takes commitment, but it is a constant reminder that God is real, and he cannot be overlooked or taken for granted.

Posted in commitment | Tagged | Leave a comment

and whatever he wants to give

Posted on February 7, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

20230207

Photo by Any Lane on Pexels.com

and whatever he wants to give

Ezekiel 46:11-12 (JDV)

Ezekiel 46:11 At the festivals and appointed times, the grain offering will be an ephah with the bull, an ephah with the ram, and whatever he wants to give with the lambs, along with a hin of oil for every ephah.
Ezekiel 46:12 “When the prince makes a freewill offering, whether a burnt offering or a fellowship offering as a freewill offering to Yahveh, the gate that faces east is to be opened for him. He is to offer his burnt offering or fellowship offering just as he does on the Sabbath day. Then he will go out, and the gate is to be shut after he leaves.

and whatever he wants to give

I love this liitle phrase. It reminds me of the fact that worship is a choice. It is not constrained by rules and regulations entirely. There is a volitional element to it, because it is an interaction of a human being with his or her creator.

Thank you, God for letting me worship you the way I want to.

Posted in worship | Tagged | Leave a comment