Signs

For Signs of the End Times please read the 

Gospels of Jesus Christ; Matthew chapt. 24 and Mark chapt 13.

Many discuss, even debate over when Jesus is going to take us home if we happen alive when "the catching away" of true Christians" happen. That discussion is usually in relation to the time-table of the "Great Tribulation".

Whenever that is we need to be ready to suffer persecution for Jesus sake as well as to be faithful when things are too easy! God looks for faithfulness.

And of course do not believe "date-setters" because Jesus in the Bible told us no one knows the day or hour of His return. Only our Heavenly Father knows!

We can look at the signs Jesus talked about in what Matthew and Mark wrote and know that perhaps we are close to it.

Ezekiel chapter 15

Note:
I know I have skipped quite a few chapters. 
The reason is because I am going through Ezekiel for Bible readings for some of my Yahoo groups  and I felt to make a comment on Ezekiel chapter 15.


I hope to go back to where I left off in this Bible study series soon.


The comment in this blog is true of many of the warnings of God through Ezekiel! 


Second Note:
I have made comments of practical application after the reading.


Old Testament Reading:
Ezekiel chapter 15



1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

2 Son of man, what is the vine tree more than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest?

3 Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work? or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon?

4 Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire devoureth both the ends of it, and the midst of it is burned. Is it meet for any work?

5 Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less shall it be meet yet for any work, when the fire hath devoured it, and it is burned?

6 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

7 And I will set my face against them; they shall go out from one fire, and another fire shall devour them; and ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I set my face against them.

8 And I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass, saith the Lord GOD.

King James Version (KJV)
Public Domain

Audio Version:

Ezekiel chapter 15

http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/audio/flash_play.php?aid=25&book=33&chapte\r=15

-------------------------


My comments:

I hope America is not yet at the point of Ezekiel chapter 15.
God does judge nations but perhaps if Americans repent and all Christians seek God's face and interceed for America, perhaps God will pour out his mercy and give us one more revival.



I am not talking about an Evnagelist visiting for a few days and emotions stirred up.


I am talking about a revival of holiness amongst Christians that cause others to notice and turn to God.


I am talking about a revival where God's people have their faiths stirred up so that not only the ministers but the "regular" Christians see miracles and healings as they pray for others.


When all that happens there will be emotional excitement but it will be rooted in God's work, in love for God and spiritual growth and not in an empty religious frenzy!

Like when Jonah preached to Nineveh that God was going to destroy them for their wickedness and God spared judgement because the whole city from the king to the peasant repented; the wealthy and those in rags repented; the oldest to the youngest (the youngest that could understand) all repented.



The Result? 
God showed mercy on Nineveh and spared them.


Let us hope enough Christians in America will pray for revival that God's coming judgement on America will be spared or at least softened!




Sincerely in Christ,
internet Pastor Bill

Dove's Love

Dove's Love


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End Times Bible Reading

There are many prophecies of Jesus Christ as well as of the End times,  throughout the Bible. Some have been fulfilled. Some are being fulfilled NOW and some of the Bible prophecies will be fulfilled in the future, however soon that might be.

Though much of the Bible deals with End Times Prophecy, there are three books of the Bible that are key to Biblical End Times Prophecies. In no specific order, they are:

Ezekiel,

Daniel & 

Revelation

For many these 3 books have things difficult to understand but yet if you read through them anyway, their are certain sections in each of these Bible books simple enough that the Holy Spirit will be able to speak to you through them. Also, for those with reading disabilities, you can listen to the Bible on tape, on CD, and even online.

I often listen to while reading the Bible online at BibleGateway.

Then for more understanding as you read through Ezekiel, Daniel and Revelation a second time begin to look up Cross References in each of those Bible books. 

If your Bible does not have any study helps/cross-references many Bible bookstores have such Bibles available even some dollar stores sell Bibles (and usually they have a few cross-references on each page).

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you can keep up with my

PastorBill3rd Twitter page

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I mostly Tweet Bible verses and about Christian living.

SOON... Possibly New Posts!

Recently I was able to purchase with a friends help;
a refurbished computer which is like new.
Now that I have a faster computer (old one was slow & locked up a lot) I hope to be posting more.
I hope to be able to post more in this blog, my other blogs and in my Yahoo groups.

Ezekiel 37 Bible Watch Ministries

Our main website Ezekiel 37 Bible Watch Ministries
was offline for a few days due to a billing oversight on my part.
Now it is back online, so if you have not visited yet,
please check our website out.

Sincerely in Christ,
internet Pastor Bill

Ezekiel 37 Bible Watch Ministries
www.ezekiel37biblewatch.faithweb.com

Food for thought.- The Price to be a Prophet!

Happy New Year everyone!

Food for thought:

Many want to be a prophet, many even claim to be a prophet but just in the first few chapters of the book of Ezekiel, look at what has happened to Ezekiel.

Yes the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, yes he had wonderful visions of the Lord but at the same time he was taken into captivity and remained there his whole life.
I have noticed that many modern day Christians quote Romans 8:28 as if in the end all the bad circumstances go away and everything is better then before.

If you study the context it is not about the circumstances being better.....
it is about God making you better....
making you more Christ-like and sometimes you will not even know the good God worked it out for until you get to Heaven.
Kind of like Ezekiel.
Also do not forget before he even started God told Ezekiel that when he warned the people they would not listen but God still held Ezekiel accountable.

Are you ready to be in life-long captivity?
To go where you least desire?
To have a ministry in which it feels like nobody wants you?
Even though you do your best to share God's warnings and his love?
If your answer is: "YES" to all of those questions then maybe you are ready to go through more intense refining fires then most Christians.

Become a student of Ezekiel, Jeremiah, the Apostle Paul and most of all become a student of Jesus Christ and follow Him.
Then maybe in a few decades you will be ready to be a "PROPHET" who will go beyond your local church, to have influence beyond most Pastors and most Evangelists. It might be less then a few decades depending on the intensity of your trials and your willingness.
But remember there is a big price to pay.
Sometimes for years.
Moses had formal training in the Pharaoah's best schools for 40 years, Then he had training from God that included patience, solitude and humility in the wilderness for another 40 years.
Finally at age 80 God had Moses ready for the last third of Moses life, the last 40 years as the people's leader and God's mouthpiece.
Are you willing to go through intense fires and yet be unnoticed until God says it is time.?
This is the price of a prophet!


Dear Heavenly Father,
Have your way and your will in each of our lifes.
Whatever you are calling myself and each reader to become by your Holy Spirit make us willing, help us to be willing to pay the price of whatever your will is for our life.
We ask this in the Name of Jesus.
Amen!

Ezekiel Reveiw Lessons 1 to 7, Ezekiel 1:1 - 3:4

Since to review you can read through the previous lessons;
I decided not to post my summarized review here.

If you really want to read my summarized review it is at my
archived Back Issues in the following edition:
August 2007 Pastor Bill's Newsletter,

Click the above high-lighted hypertext
then go down to section 3
for that review of our Ezekiel Lessons.

Until next time,
keep seeking more of God.
Get a vision of Jesus Christ in ALL of His GLORY
and live accordingly!

Sincerely in Christ,
internet Pastor Bill

Lesson 7

Note:
This cartoon is used
with permission from
The Back Pew.




Ezekiel
Chapter 2:8 - 3:4


8 But thou, son of man,hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee.
9 And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein;
10 And he spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.
3:1 Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel.
2 So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll.
3 And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.
4 And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them.


Lesson 7 Ezekiel 2:8 - 3:4

To review all of the lessons;
you might want to read
and study the earlier lessons,
starting with this blog's first post.

As was stated in previous lessons;
The Holy Spirit entered Ezekiel to give him the strength to
stand in God's awesome, mighty, Holy Presence.
The Holy Spirit will be helping Ezekiel to live up to his name
"strength of God". Even in Ezekiel's initial calling which
begins here in Ezekiel chapter 2 and continues into chapter 3.
Rebellious is a theme in verses 2 through 8 of how the people
of Israel are at this time and yet that is Ezekiel's commission
to go preach to them anyway.

Now on to this lesson, Lesson #7
God tells Ezekiel to eat the scroll, the book that is filled with mournings and woe. John in Revelation (10:9-11) also ate a scroll given from God. It is one thing to speak about God and about His Word, it is another thing to proclaim the anointed Holy Word of God, popular or not! To proclaim an anointed Word that God has put on your heart is even more powerful then sharing a little from our head knowledge of God's Word.
That is what Ezekiel and John both had to do.
Proclaim the Word of God that became a part of them.
No wonder Jeremiah, said he could not be quiet because
God's Word burned within his soul.
When you have an anointed Word from God, it will burn in your Spirit until you have to share what God is saying. If not behind the pulpit then in Sunday school, if not that then at a church supper, if now within church then share with your family, your co-workers, your neighbors as God leads, or even perhaps sahring through blogs and/or internet groups. Often times an anointed prophetic message needs to be shared again and again because it is a message for many in your church, in the church world.
Often, it is a message for many in your neighborhood, your town, your state or province even for many in your nation.
God still needs anointed prophets to speak out to the nations and the world as well as to the church world.
Too many (thank God not all) have laid aside the porophetic ministry that are messages for the l;eaders of the church world and for leaders in their own towns, states and nations.
Why? because often times many realize like Ezekiel in this chapter and Jeremiah weeping through his whole ministry, they might not be popular.

God's message through Ezekiel and many of His prophecies are going to be those of fire and brimstone, of repent or else and this to a rebellious people that most likely will mock Him for it. Yet Ezekiel is to eat all of it and then proclaim those warnings of God. Even in Revelation for John, it hints at this.
For both Ezekiel and John the scroll was sweet as honey.
God's Word is sweet to believers and messengers of God.
However sometimes to proclaim the mournings and woes of judgement are "bitter to our stomach" because our human nature does not want to be rejected and because if we, the messenger of God, the prophet of God, have the heart oif God then we will weep over the people's rebellion like Jesus wept over Jerusalem for rejecting Him.

Notice:
that He is to eat all of this scroll/book
and notice that there

"was written within and
without mournings and woes."

Two things:

1. We cannot heed and preach only part of God's Word BUT we need to take in, obey all and preach all of God's Word to be effective servants of God, especially in these Last Days.

2. The scroll/book was written within and without. There is no space to add our own ideas.
No space to add our own words and/or traditions. If we try to add our own traditions and ideas to God's message then we end up "denying the power of God" and end up with only a powerless form (imitation of godliness).


The Holy Spirit strengthens and enables us to go beyond our abilities and even beyond our natural courage.
The Apostle Peter denied our Lord Jesus 3 times yet after Peter was filled with the Holy Ghost he, Peter preached boldly to thousands.

I fear for America.
Not an ungodly fear but a godly fear and concern for America!
Some American Christians think of the rapture (the catching away of the saints) as an escape from the worst of the Last Days as an escape from persecution.
But if America does not repent as a people and as a nation,
America is headed for judgements worse then 9-11 and Hurricane Katrina combined.
Here in America, Canada and Europe: murder of unborn children is rampant, killing of the elderly is gaining (usually under the guise of a nurse or doctor accidentally(?) overdosing, sometimes more blatantly claiming it is merciful. There was nothing merciful about the way Terri Schiavo was starved and dehydrated to death for 2 weeks. If our suppoosedly civilized courts think that is justice.... then God have mercy on us ALL!
God's judgement is overdue!
Then on top of that sinful perversions are so accepted that many public schools are teaching children as young as kindergarten that homosexuality/lesbianism, cross-dressing etc. are normal.

In fact there is legislation in progress in Washington DC that would make it a hate crime to believe or speak against homosexuality. If it passes, and I wrote a Newsletter or article like this one I could go to jail for saying homsexuality is sinful.
Possibly in America there will be a wave of persecution before we are caught away in the air to be with Jesus. Possibly before the Great Tribulation starts.
Jesus said blessed are you when you are persecuted for my righteousness sake.
Those of us in the Western world have not yet seen real persecution like those who have been under Nazi rule, Communists regimes, ungodly dictatorships or under Muslim rule.
Judgement is coming to America unless more Christians interceed for our nation. And when that judgement comes physical persecution with arrests and torture will come to the Christians from; by then, a clearly ungodly government.

The good news is if most Christians would start interceeding for America and for all Christian churches, if all Christians realized they are also ministers for Jesus Christ and received the boldness of God' s Holy Ghost to witness the hope of salvation which Christ offers to those who repent, to witness boldness to speak of the power of God to deliver from all sin including God's power to deliver from the bondage of all sexual sins, from drugs and alcohol THEN it would be possible to see a powerful Last Days Revival poured out by God's Holy Spirit.
We need many intercessors for this.
Every historical revival started with believers praying and interceeding.


Dear Heavenly Father,

I pray that every reader of this lesson will heed to your word, eat (absorb) your Word into their Spirit and boldly proclaim your Word to those around them.

Lord, God,
I ask that by your Holy Spirit you inspire those who read this lesson to proclaim this message boldly,
to also copy and forward this lesson to many of their family and friends.

God,
we pray for America, we pray that your anointing will come upon preachers teachers, and all Christians; that as we live for you we will be bolder through the power of the Holy Spirit to proclaim ALL of God's Word around us.
God, please stir many up to be intercessors and proclaim what they hear from God before it is too late for us.
Heavenly Father, we thank you that there is still hope and that you will answer us as we ask these things in faith, trusting anhd believing in you.
We pray all of this in Jesus Name.
AMEN!

Lesson 6

Their have 5 previous lessons but previously I was labeling them only as
"Ezekiel OverView,"
or "Part 2 of Chapter 1",
or " More Comments on Chapter 1" etc.
I now realize to keep track of where we are it is best if I also number the Lessons,
starting with this Lesson so this Lesson on Ezekiel is Lesson 6.


Lesson 6
Part 2 of Chapter 2
Originally from
Pastor Bill's Newsletter
and retrieved from our
Back Issues Newsletter archives.

Ezekiel Chapter 2:3-10
3 And he said unto me,
Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel,
to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very day.
4 For they are impudent children and stiffhearted.
I do send thee unto them;
and thou shalt say unto them,
Thus saith the Lord GOD.
5 And they, whether they will hear,
or whether they will forbear,
(for they are a rebellious house,)
yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them.
6 And thou, son of man,
be not afraid of them,
neither be afraid of their words,
though briers and thorns be with thee,
and thou dost dwell among scorpions:
be not afraid of their words,
nor be dismayed at their looks,
though they be a rebellious house.
7 And thou shalt speak my words unto them,
whether they will hear,
or whether they will forbear:
for they are most rebellious.
8 But thou, son of man,
hear what I say unto thee;
Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house:
open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee.

To review you might want to read our earlier posts.

As was stated in previous lessons;
The Holy Spirit entered Ezekiel to give him the strength to stand in God's awesome, mighty, Holy Presence.

The Holy Spirit will be helping Ezekiel to live up to his name "strength of God". Even in Ezekiel's initial calling which begins here in Ezekiel chapter 2 and continues into chapter 3.

Rebellious is a theme in verses 2 through 8 of how the people of Israel are at this time and yet that is Ezekiel's commission to go preach to them anyway.

Rebellious nation, rebelled, transgressed, impudent children, stiffhearted, most rebellious, rebellious house are God's description of Israel at that time.
WOW! Most of us would be tempted to say to God;
"but why go because they will not listen and receive anything spiritual?".
Yet this is Ezekiel's commission to go to rebellious Israel and preach and prophesy.

When God calls us, and HE calls every believer to be a witness, God is not asking us to decide if they are too rebellious and closed to hear the Gospel of the Cross of Jesus Christ that is the message of Jesus death for all sin for forgiveness and of His Resurrection.
God is just asking us to live a witness, walk a witness and be ready to speak our witness to all who we possibly can. To be open to those opportunities of sharing about Jesus.
If you and I do that then those around us will know a follower of Jesus, a CHRISTian, a Christ-like person has been in their presence.

That is like what God said to Ezekiel in verse 5,
whether they listen or not;
"yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them".
Now you can see why Ezekiel needs the strength of God from the Holy Spirit!


Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you that there are records of Holy men who lived for you in difficult times. Please help us to be bold through the power of your Holy Spirit to be a witness for our Saviour, your son, Jesus Christ.
Help us to live so others will know that their was a woman of God or a man of God among them!
If some feel they are not there yet, I know sometimes I feel that way, help them and all of us to humbly grow into a life in which we find our fulfilment through you and that others will see Jesus Christ in us because of the working of the Holy Ghost in and through our lifes.
Father, we thank you for hearing our prayer.
We ask all of this In the Name of Jesus
AMEN!

Lesson 5

Ezekiel Chapter 2 Part 1

By
Pastor Bill Mazzulla III

Ezekiel Chapter 2:1-2
1 And he said unto me,
Son of man, stand upon thy feet,
and I will speak unto thee.
2 And the spirit entered into me
when he spake unto me,
and set me upon my feet,
that I heard him that spake unto me.

A little review is beneficial.
Ezekiel's name means "God strengthens" or "strengthened by God".
In the sense that all who are followers of Jesus Christ and are filled by God's Holy Spirit, we are "ezekiels".

In chapter one Ezekiel had a glorious vision of heavenly creatures and God's throne.
In conclusion of our last devotion about Ezekiel we mentioned that
"In 1:28 when Ezekiel saw the Lord and His glory, He fell on His face"

This where chapter 2 picks up.
Ezekiel is on his face worshipping God and so over-awed at God's majesty and power that he is too weak to stand up in God's presence.
As Christians, servants of God, as His voice and body in action on this Earth, we need to know when it is time to pray, praise and worship God and when it is time to stand up to receive instructions, orders from our loving master and Saviour.

God tells Ezekiel, that he should stand up and then he will speak to him, then Ezekiel will receive his orders, his commission as a prophet.
Since in verse 2 Ezekiel was too weak to stand up, God's Spirit, the Holy Spirit entered into Ezekiel and set Ezekiel upon His feet.
Anything God instructs us to do, God will enable us, give us the strength to fulffill what He, God, has asked of us.

Phillippians Chapter 4
11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned,
in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound:
every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry,
both to abound and to suffer need.
13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Phillipians 4:13 is not talking about a person having every skill in the world.
For example I do not think there is a person in the world who could both build a safely working motorcycle from scratch and also make a wedding gown from scratch with the quality of a professional seamstress. If there is such a person that could do both well, that person is very rare.
So obviously it is not talking about natural skills but Phillipians 4:13 if you study the context of the chapter, this verse is talking about the ability to be able to be blessed tremendously and to suffer tremendously and still be spiritually faithful to Jesus Christ. That only comes from strength from God.
As Ezekiel's name "God strengthens".

In our New Testament age God's Holy Spirit gives every believer the ability to serve Jesus and be God's light, God's representative here on earth.
If you do not feel that way then you need to seek more of God, more of Jesus in your life and more of His Holy Spirit. This something that is always beneficial for all of us to do anyways.

I know I have previously mentioned about Ezekiel meaning God strengthens and how that relates to the Holy Spirit. The reason is this is a very important lesson for us all.
It probably will come up again in this series so please understand, I am not forgetting that I already discussed it, just that it is important to remember.

Luke chapter 11
9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you;
seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth;
and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father,
will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish,
will he for a fish give him a serpent?
12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children:
how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

For the full text of this promise read Luke 11:1-13.

Our Heavenly Father who has greater love then any human and is more perfectly loving then even the best earthly fathers will not hold back any good thing from His children (us believers) so do not be afraid to ask for more of His Holy Spirit in your life and
do not be afraid to ask for more of His presence and power in your life.
God will give every good gift we ask for.
So ask God for wisdom, for more of His Holy Spirit, and He will give liberally.
You will be glad you did.

Philippians 3:1
Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord.

4:4 REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS AND AGAIN I SAY REJOICE.

Lesson 4

More Comments on Chapter One

This post is final comments on our study of Ezekiel Chapter One.
Then we will go on to study Chapter 2.

Now on to this week's study.
A little review is beneficial.
In conclusion of the last devotion we mentioned that
"In Verse 28 when Ezekiel saw the Lord and His glory,
He fell on His face"
I also mentioned how
"in past years, great men of God sought God on rough floors on their face".
That is a heritage that needs to be restored!

Now for some further thoughts.
I have read that in the midst of winter,
one man of God dropped on his knees,
outdoors in the winter and had a time of prayer.
It was told by witnesses that though it was freezing out
that he prayed so intently that the snow melted all
around him for a large space.

Another man of God said something to the effect that;
"after praying for lost souls
if you do not feel like you just did 8 hours of intense labor
then you were not praying hard enough."

I am doing these quotes from memory.
It might have been more then 8 hours.

Most of the church world has quite a ways to go to get back to that.

But WOW!
Compared to these 2 people of faith in Church history
(sorry I don't remember their names)
I have a long ways to go.
No, maybe we do not need to pray in the snow and maybe not all of us even
when praying intently will feel like we have done hard labor for many hours
but they are good examples to us.

In fact Jesus prayed many times all night to the next morning.
Instead of being tired and weak the next morning, this empowered Him.
Also, in the garden of Gethsemane' Jesus prayed till he sweat drops of blood.
That is a rare medical condition where a person is under so much pressure
that the smallest blood vessels near the skin break
and bleed out through the skin pores with the sweat.

So Jesus our example did get very intense in both
His praying and His obeying His Heavenly Father.

So much the more we should strive to be obedient
and not only have a good prayer life
but go into intercession for the hurting and lost.

Let us all strive towards Jesus's example!
Amen!

Lesson 3

Ezekiel Chapter 1 Part 2
Ezekiel 1:10-28

This is Ezekiel Chapter One part 2 of our study on the book of Ezekiel and then in the next post I will add final comments for Chapter One..

I would recommend that you read all of Ezekiel Chapter One, if you have not yet done that recently. Even if you do not understand all of Ezekiel Chapter One, it is a powerful vision Ezekiel had. If you have read Ezekiel Chapter One sometime in the recent month the please reread Ezekiel 1:10-28.

Now on to this week's study.

10 As for the likeness of their faces,
they four had the face of a man,
and the face of a lion, on the right side:
and they four had the face of an ox on the left side;
they four also had the face of an eagle.

The commentators can not agree if this corresponds
to the 4 Living Creatures in Revelation
and to the four Gospels
or if it is just a coincidental siimilarity.
Here are the verses frome Revelation Chazpter 4:


6 And before the throne there was
a sea of glass like unto crystal:
and in the midst of the throne,
and round about the throne,
were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.
7 And the first beast was like a lion,
and the second beast like a calf,
and the third beast had a face as a man,
and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.

The only face that is different is the ox in Ezekiel
and a calf in Revelation
except that a calf is a baby ox
so they are still both oxen.
Also, in Revelation it said that
these Heavenly Beings had 6 wings
and Ezekiel only mentions 4.
If they are the same heavenly creatures that both
Ezekiel saw and John saw in the Revelation,
then maybe Ezekiel was just emphasizing what stood out to him.

Also, in the 4 Gospels,
these are accepted among most scholars;
Matthew
portrays Jesus as the Lion of the Tribe
of Judah for the Jews.
Mark
portrays Jesus as the burden bearer (the ox/calf).
Luke
portrayed Jesus humaness, the man's face
and also as the compassiontae healer.
John
portrayed Jesus divineness the Eagle
symbolizing Heavenly heights.

Now you all decide.
Is Ezekiel's Heavenly Creatures
the same as the ones in Revelation?
Does Ezekiel's vision of the Heavenly Creatures,
perhaps in a prophetic way,
correspond with the 4 Gospels?

Please post what you think.
Since Bible scholars a lot smarter then me can not agree about this,
it will not upset me if there are various and contrary opinions
in the answer to this question.
In fact I might learn something from all of you.

Now to the last verses of this chapter .
If you have not yet read all of Ezekiel Chapter One,
please at least at this point read verses 22-28.

In a sense these glorious Heveanly Creatures are only God's footstool
because Ezekiel tells us that a firmament was over their heads
and over the firmament was the likeness of a throne.
I do not have time to go over all of this
but if you read verses 22-28 in Ezekiel Chapter One;
you will see a wonderful and powerful description
as to how God's throne appeared to Ezekiel.

As I mentioned these angelic heavenly creatures had their wings up.
Their wings were up I believe for worship as well as moving about
since their other sets of wings were covering their bodies
in modesty and humility.


25 And there was a voice from the firmament
that was over their heads, when they stood,
and had let down their wings.

Though these heavenly beings already
were covering their bodies in humility with one set of wings,
they lowered their other set of wings in even deeper humility.

We should learn to take God's voice as serious,
God's voice through His Word, the Holy Bible,
His voice through the worship
when we gather with other saints,
His voice through the sermons
and teachings we hear and read.
His voice during prayer times,
both with others and alone with God.
Jesus said that "my sheep know my voice".


In Verse 28 when Ezekiel saw the Lord and His glory,
He fell on His face.
In past years, great men of God sought God on rough floors on their face.
This is a heritage that needs to be restored but to get to that place takes much devotion and dedication, working up to hours in concentrated prayer.
I know I am not there yet.

Lesson 2

Chapter 1
Part 1
Ezekiel 1:1-14

I wrote so much on Ezekiel Chapter One that I decided I needed to divide it into 2 parts.
So Ezekiel Chapter 1, Part 2 will be next time and then after that I will have closing comments on the study for this chapter, in another seperate post.

Now on to this post's study.

I would recommend that you read all of Ezekiel Chapter One.
Even if you do not understand it all, it is a powerful vision Ezekiel had.
Ezekiel had many visions, many commentators liken his writing style and visions as a precursor to John's book of Revelation.
In fact many of them recommend the study of Ezekiel and of course Daniel
to better understand the Revelation John had.
I knew that many of the things Daniel saw and wrote corresponded with John's Revelation
but I never thought that about the whole book of Ezekiel before being important for understanding the book of Revelation but now it is like my eyes are opened because I can see how that would be!
As we already mentioned Ezekiel was in captivity in Babylon and with the exceptions of Daniel
and Jonah most of the prophets ministries were in the lands of Israel, Judea and Samaria,
all parts of the Promise land.

Most of the other prophets were concerned with the land and the temple; trying to reform the people, reform the leadership that is kings and priests; hoping to see in their lifetime a pure people with pure leadership in true worship within the temple system of worship.
The temple is no where to be found and it looks like Ezekiel
and the others are to be in Babylon for a lifetime.
Maybe even for generations as far as they know.
So much for temple worship!
So much for the land of Israel and Judea.

This is the condition Ezekiel and the Jewish people were in as captives,
captive slaves in Babylon when by the river Chebar
"the word of the LORD came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest"
".... and the hand of the LORD was there upon him."
(Verse 3)

OH, that we would be open to hear and receive the Word of the Lord!
OH, to be so pliable on Jeremiah's spiritual potter wheel that God's Hand a
nd Spirit could be upon us anytime when He wants to use us
and speak through us and even speak through our lifes.

4 And I looked, and, behold,
a whirlwind came out of the north,
a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself,
and a brightness was about it,
and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber,
out of the midst of the fire.
14 And the living creatures ran
and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.

Ezekiel's vision is sudden and awesome.
God is an awesome God and that goes way beyond an exciting song.
To be in God's presence of power and might and holiness would
be enough to make any man, wonam or child collapse to their
knees or even fall to their face, trembling in the presence of
the God who is the Holiest of ALL!
One preacher preached a sermon "In the hands of an angry God!" or something to that affect. He actaully read it because he was near blind but he had fasted for many days.
It is said that as he read that sermon listeners were holding to the supporting poles of the structure screaming out to God to please not let them be swallowed up by Hell.
It was the beginning of one of the historic revivals in the USA!
That is the fearful awesomeness of God for those with unrepented sin.

Even Isaiah who saw God's throne in a less dramatic fashion then Ezekiel;
declared of himself:
"Woe is me! for I am undone;
because I am a man of unclean lips,
and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips:
for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts."
Isaiah 6:5

Isaiah was a prophet hearing from God for 6 chapters of which he recorded
and when he saw God in His glory on His Throne;
it caused Isaiah to go into a deeper repentance.

Back to Ezekiel Chapter One
9 Their wings were joined one to another;
they turned not when they went;
they went every one straight forward.
11 ..... and their wings were stretched upward;
two wings of every one were joined one to another,
and two covered their bodies.

Verse 9 and 11 tell us of these heavenly creatures wings.
They had their wings two each spread
and touching one another's wings and traveling in unison.
This to me is obvious of the unity of God's creation in Heaven
and when we pray "your will on Earth as in Heaven",
it is also God's Will for His people to be in unity, here on Earth..
Their other two wings cover their body this would be
representative of modesty and humilty in God's presence.

Should we not take a lesson from the angels
and be modest in our clothing,
as well as in our speech and actions?

Comments welcomed.

Though scripture tells us because of Jesus propitiation (mecy seat sacrificial offering) for our sins that we can go boldly to the throne of grace with our prayer requests,
We need to remember that God is till our Creator and the Almighty
and as King of Kings He deserves respect.

Let us be respectful when we are in times of seeking God
whether by ourselves or as a group.

Amen!

Lesson One

Introduction to Ezekiel Study

The Ezekiel studies authored by myself will always be exclusively published in our Newsletter and our archives, Back Issues Newsletter group, first before being posted here or anywhere else.
From Pastor Bill's Newsletter & found in our archives and discussion group for our Newsletter which is Back Issues Newsletter group.


Ezekiel Overview

Introduction to Ezekiel Study:
By Pastor Bill

Since the name of our Internet ministry is Ezekiel 37 Bible Watch Ministries
and our original web-site is Ezekiel 37 Bible Watch,
I have decided it is time for me to tackle posting a study on Ezekiel chapter 37.

However as I thought about this, I felt it would be most beneficial if we would do a brief overview of Ezekiel like one or two chapters at a time. And then once we are done studying the chapters, we will go back to Ezekiel chapter 37 and study it verse by verse.

For starters on our web-page called
"The Reason For The Name Ezekiel 37 Bible Watch For This Web-site!"
tells a little about my perspective on Ezekiel chapter 37.

From that webpage:
"To put it simply Ezekiel's vision of the 'Valley Of Dry Bones' is prophecy of Israel being restored to the promised land in Palestine in these Last Days going all the way up to the Millennium Jesus Christ's 1000 years of ruling the Earth which is when Israel will finally have true peace. Ezekiel 37 and Ezekiel's vision of the Valley of Dry Bones secondary meaning is about National Revival, Church Revival and Personal Revival."

To read more about why we used the name
Ezekiel 37 Bible Watch
for our web-site and ministry name click here.


As far covering Ezekiel 37 in detail I will do that after we are done covering each chapter briefly.

Now on to the introduction of the prophet Ezekiel:
Ezekiel was born a priest from a priestly lineage.
He was called to be a prophet though God knew the people were rebellious and would not listen.
See Ezekiel 2:4-6.
Even when no one listens, if God sent you then obey for you do not know how many seeds are planted and you have spared yourself of having their blood on your hands.
Also, God said in Ezekiel 2:5 that whether they listened or not, whether they obeyed or not that the people would know that a prophet (Ezekiel) was among them.
Do the people around you know that a Christian, a Jesus follower,
a Holy Ghost filled believer is among them?
If not, we should examine ourselves and pray to God about this.

Ezekiel's ministry and prophecies were during the early years of the 70 year of captivity.
Daniel and Ezekiel are unique in that they are the only prophets that preached from foreign soil and not Israel, Judah or Samaria.
Jonah also preached on foreign soil but he was not residing in Nineveh and he was a reluctant prophet disobeying God at first whereas Daniel and Ezekiel were living in Babylon as captives and obedient to God even though they were in captivity not for their sins but for the sin of the nation of Judah.
This shows us that sometimes the innocent and Godly do suffer when God pours out His judgment upon a disobedient nation. This is one more reason for Christians to pray for America!

Some scholars believe that since Jeremiah was older that Ezekiel may have sat under Jeremiah's ministry and teachings when Ezekiel was younger, before Ezekiel was taken to Babylon. Jeremiah and Ezekiel preached many of the same things, Jeremiah in Jerusalem and Ezekiel in exile in Babylon but that would be a separate in depth study.

Scholars also believe that since Daniel was in captivity in the Palace and Ezekiel was in exile in the country that since both were in Babylon, they could have met each other and encouraged each other in the Lord frequently.
We as Christians should like David encourage ourselves in the Lord and then encourager one another.

Ezekiel's name means
"God strengthens" or "strengthened by God".
Ezekiel 3:8-9

Now notice both Daniel and Ezekiel though in captivity, though circumstances are against them, they stand strong for God. In Ezekiel's case we see that God is faithful to bless Ezekiel that his name is not just a religious saying but God truly strengthened him!
Jesus promised that He would never leave nor forsake us.
Jesus also promised us that we would receive His Holy Spirit and power to be His witnesses. Acts 1:8
Are you believing, walking in and receiving the strength
and power of God through His Holy Spirit?

This brings me to the theme of the book of Ezekiel and his prophecies.
The theme is the Word of the Lord, the Power of the Holy Spirit and visions of God's Glory along with God's Holiness which judges sin, including not only other nations but also God's people. God is so good though because God's promises of restoration to God's people, that is Israel are the ending chapter of Ezekiel.
In fact the last words are that the name of His City will be:
"The LORD is there".


How wonderful!
To be in God's presence forever!
Truly to be in God's presence forever makes it worth it to be another Ezekiel if that is required of us.
Just that thought should strengthen us to serve God through the rest of our life into eternity.
Then on top of that our ezekiel that is our strength from God comes from God's Holy Word, from Jesus our Saviour and from the Holy Spirit our teacher, our advocate and comforter. WOW!
If only all that could be fully realized in our Spirit we would be running through troops and leaping over walls!

So be an Ezekiel today!
AMEN.

Introduction to this Blog

I have a Newsletter called Pastor Bill's Newsletter with a devotional and sometimes with web info. It usually is sent out by e-mail twice per month.

I have started doing a Bible Study on the book of Ezekiel.
Every one of the posts made at this site are written by
myself, Pastor Bill Mazzulla,unless otherwise stated,

I hope to do at least one study per month for Pastor Bill's Newsletter
but sometimes it might be less.
Anyway, I plan on posting the lessons about the book of Ezekiel that are already done here on this blog and then post the new lessons here in this blog, sometime after they are sent out in Pastor Bill's Newsletter.


After posting the lessons here on this blog;
I will probably announce the post in

Ezekiel 37 Bible Watch Prayer Warriors chat group,

the Online Bible Church,

and the God and Disasters forum.



Sincerely in Christ,
internet Pastor,
Pastor Bill