Talk of JESUS .com

Tag: Lord

Ezekiel An Unbelievable Scene
Ezekiel 1:

the word of Jehovah came expressly unto Ezekiel
Ezekiel 1:3a Darby translation
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Context: TIME ~570 years Before Christ; PLACE - Tel-Abib in Babylonia, [later Persia, then Seleucid Empire (Greek) in 21st c. Iraq; PROPHET - yᵊḥezqē'l, captive priest and prophet of Israel taken to Babylon while in his 30's along with his wife and family, the prophets Daniel and Jeremiah (who are in their 50's) and some 10,000 jews.
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Yechezkel (Ezekiel) 1 :: Westminster Leningrad Codex (WLC)

וַיְהִי בִּשְׁלֹשִׁים שָׁנָה בָּרְבִיעִי בַּחֲמִשָּׁה לַחֹדֶשׁ וַאֲנִי בְתֹוךְ־הַגֹּולָה עַל־נְהַר־כְּבָר נִפְתְּחוּ הַשָּׁמַיִם וָאֶרְאֶה מַרְאֹות אֱלֹהִים׃

Yechezkel (Ezekiel) 1 :: Septuagint (LXX)

καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ τριακοστῷ ἔτει ἐν τῷ τετάρτῳ μηνὶ πέμπτῃ τοῦ μηνὸς καὶ ἐγὼ ἤμην ἐν μέσῳ τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας ἐπὶ τοῦ ποταμοῦ τοῦ Χοβαρ καὶ ἠνοίχθησαν οἱ οὐρανοί καὶ εἶδον ὁράσεις θεοῦ

Do you believe this?

Take a look at this scene Ezekiel describes:

CLICK to read NASB20 Translation of Ezekiel 1: OR LISTEN to Ezekiel 1 ESV [4’19”]
- a high wind .. a great cloud with fire flashing intermittently and a bright light around it,
- in the midst of the fire something like gleaming metal
- And within it there were figures resembling four living beings.
  - they had human form.
  - Each .. had four faces
    their faces did not turn when they moved, each went straight forward.
    each had a human face;
    the four of them had
    the face of a lion on the right
    the face of a bull on the left,
    and.. the face of an eagle.
  - and four wings.
    their wings touched one another
    were spread out above; each had two touching another being,
    and two covering their bodies.
  - Under their wings on their four sides were human hands.
  - Their legs were straight
  - and their feet were like a calf’s hoof, and they sparkled like polished bronze.
And each went straight forward; wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go, without turning as they went.
Ezekiel 1:12 NASB20

In the midst of the living beings there was something that looked like burning coals of fire, like torches moving among the living beings. The fire was bright, and lightning was flashing from the fire.
Ezekiel 1:13 NASB

This is Ezekiel’s description of just the glorious creatures!

Do you believe it?

IF you are a Christian or a Jew — perhaps.

But IF you are like most other twenty-first century human beings, you probably DO NOT believe such fantastic scenes from the Bible.

And their actions are even more fantastic!

14 [ESV] And the living creatures darted to and fro, like the appearance of a flash of lightning.

15 Now as I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them. As for the appearance of the wheels and their construction: their appearance was like the gleaming of beryl.

And the four had the same likeness, their appearance and construction being as it were a wheel within a wheel. When they went, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went. 18 And their rims were tall and awesome, and the rims of all four were full of eyes all around.

19 And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose.

20 Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went, and the wheels rose along with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

21 When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those rose from the earth, the wheels rose along with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

22 Over the heads of the living creatures there was the likeness of an expanse, shining like awe-inspiring crystal, spread out above their heads. And under the expanse their wings were stretched out straight, one toward another. And each creature had two wings covering its body.

24 And when they went, I heard the sound of their wings like the sound of many waters, like the sound of the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the sound of an army. When they stood still, they let down their wings.

But wait, there’s more; you sceptical (believer?) of the Bible!
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(MORE Scripture to read in the LINK below.)
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Ezekiel’s Vision of Divine Glory

And a voice came from above the expanse that was over their heads; whenever they stood still, they let down their wings.
Ezekiel 1:25 NASB20

.. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD.
And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking.
Ezekiel 1:28b NASB

Tell the truth (in your comment to this post)
- Suppose you gave this fantastic detailed description of events to just ten (10) of your closest friends or family?
- OR imagine that you read the scroll of Ezekiel 1 to a gathering of one hundred (100) citizens of your town?
- HOW MANY WOULD BELIEVE YOU?
One, perhaps?

Even if some cannot believe this Scripture a few may believe you because of your own integrity.

THAT is the burden of the Prophet — his Word from God will be difficult to receive.

a caution to Pastors & Prophets

IF you speak any word NOT from God, claiming that God spoke it, no one with ears to hear should believe what you preach.

Do you swerve from Scripture to substitute your own visionary words? Good luck convincing your viewers that Ezekiel spoke the very word of the LORD.

Are you quite selective in how much of the HOLY BIBLE you preach? By all means, let us know how your church responds when you preach that this experience of Ezekiel really happened.

And IF you are a Pastor unwilling to confirm that all Scripture is ‘God-breathed,’ your gathering will never have ears to hear Ezekiel or even Christ, who revealed a similar vision to the Apostle John.

The Prediction and Predicament of the Prophet

“SO WHAT?” say the rulers of this world.

What IF I do not preach the WORD OF THE LORD as GOD has said it?

Place Ezekiel into the year of our Lord 2022, or the Lord Christ Jesus into our contemporary ‘evangelical christian‘ church and you will encounter the same predicament.

God has chosen a faithful remnant to receive his testimony with eyes to see and ears to hear. The others of the multitudes have heard the Word of the LORD through you AND rejected it.

Ezekiel 2:

Then He said to me,

“Son of man, I am sending you to the sons of Israel, to a rebellious people who have rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have revolted against Me to this very day. So I am sending you to those who are impudent and obstinate children, and you shall say to them, ‘This is what the LORD [YHWH] GOD says:

As for them, whether they hear or whether they refuse—for they are a rebellious house—yet they will know that a prophet has been among them.
Ezekiel 2:5 NKJV

7 “But you shall speak My words to them whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious.

Ezekiel 3:

NLT 3:10b

“Son of man, let all my words sink deep into your own heart first. Listen to them carefully for yourself. Then go to your people in exile and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says!’ Do this whether they listen to you or not.”

3:12

Then the Spirit lifted me up, and as the glory of the LORD rose from its place, I heard a loud rumbling sound behind me.

It was the sound of the wings of the living beings as they brushed against each other and the rumbling of their wheels beneath them.
Ezekiel 3:13 New Living Translation

But will Your Hearers have ‘ears to hear?’

— Ears to hear Scripture spoken by the LORD — ears to hear the Word of the Lord Christ Jesus — eyes to see the same glory of Heaven revealed by Jesus Christ to the Apostle John — ears to hear the scene of heaven as the LORD showed and spoke to the prophet Ezekiel?
July 7, 2022
Gardener, Shepherd and Hunter: 7 Scenes Unseen by Man

ACT 2 – Scene 1 – in an unseen place

Where am I?

I have brought you to a place unseen by man.

You showed me a scene I had never seen of the death of Abel.. and Eve mourning the loss of her son murdered by her other son… and about sin in Eden. Was this story of Moses true?

I have shown you scenes revealed to Moses from near the beginning of time. His story was true, though Moses was not there.

Tell me, why did Moses leave Egypt?

By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter..
[Click here to read NASB in context]
Hebrews 11:24

By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he persevered, as though seeing Him who is unseen.
Hebrews 11:27 NASB

Moses was sort of a shepherd then, wasn’t he?

Yes, in a sense.. But a later shepherd led his followers to the right answer from Scripture to your question. Do you recall what David said?

מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד יְהוָה רֹעִי לֹא אֶחְסָֽר׃

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Moses followed the unseen Shepherd as he led the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt.

So is this place like when you showed me what happened east of Eden?

These scenes take place in the unseen places above the heavens — or beneath the earth — places connected to the timeline of man yet separate from the mortal life of any one man or woman.

I don’t think I understand, I thought as my Guide explained unseen places where He has evidently led me.

Allow me to show you one such unseen scene from around the time of Moses. The actions here impact a righteous man who lived in a different land. But this scene does not take place there.

Unseen in Uz

One day the angels [sons of God] came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan [the adversary] also came with them.

The LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”

Satan answered the LORD, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”

Job 1:6-7 NIV

Do you know this story?

Yes. It’s about Job, who suffers all kinds of evil without knowing why.

Is Job part of this conversation with the LORD in the unseen place? So who is the main character in this story of Job?

I knew the obvious answer. Job was clueless about God allowing him to suffer severely for some time.

Satan.. And didn’t you also say that Moses called him the Serpent?

You yourself recognized the Serpent as the hunter. And what prey does he hunt?

Souls! The soul of Cain.. the soul of Eve.. the soul of Adam..

So too is Satan hissing at God when he calls for evil to tempt Job’s soul toward the pit of darkness.

So the Serpent’s name is really Satan.

שָׂטָן

śāṭān – noun

superhuman adversary, הַשּׂ׳ :
a. of Job, one of בְּנֵי אֱלֹהִים Job 1:6, 7 (twice in verse); Job 1:8, 9, 12 (twice in verse); Job 2:1, 2(twice in verse); Job 2:3, 4 (twice in verse); Job 2:6, 7.
b. of high priest of Israel before י׳, Zechariah 3:1, 2(twice in verse); Greek Version of the LXX. ὁ διάβολος.
c. as proper name שׂ׳ Satan 1 Chronicles 21:1 (interpret 2 Samuel 24:1), Greek Version of the LXX διάβολος (Greek Version of the LXX σατάν 1 Kings 11:14, 23; Σατανᾶς Matthew 4:10; Mark 1:13; Luke 10:18 + 33 times NT).

Source- [Lexicon :: Strong’s H7854 – śāṭān

And as Moses said, this Tempter is cunning; and as a spirit shepherding evil in the unseen places he has many names, sometimes even appearing as a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

שָׂטַן

śāṭan – verb

Outline of Biblical Usage
(Qal) to be or act as an adversary, resist, oppose

Strong’s Definitions
שָׂטַן sâṭan, saw-tan’; a primitive root; to attack, (figuratively) accuse:—(be an) adversary, resist.

Strong’s Number H7853 matches the Hebrew שָׂטַן (śāṭan), which occurs 6 times in 6 verses in the WLC Hebrew.

Job seemed helpless; not able to do anything about the evil.

Satan requested permission from God to contend with him on earth.

My thoughts and countenance were really quite dejected by now..

Remember what David said about the valley of the shadow of death? .. It is the place of evil.

I recalled briefly the Lord’s words to Cain before he murdered Abel.. The LORD cautioned Able BEFORE he turned against his brother and against the LORD who was with him and leading him along the valley of the shadow…

So how can any man resist evil from these unseen places and remain faithful to the LORD?

Do you know how David petitioned the LORD when God was angry at him for his sin?

Just like Moses, I thought, David had murdered a man. He had blood on his hands.. NO LESS THAN CAIN!

A psalm of David. A petition. NIV

LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath.
Psalm 38:1 NIV

Some prayers are praises to God who we cannot see, while others are petitions from our place near the valley of the shadow to the unseen place — a place above time and circumstance where the Lord sits on the Throne of justice and the Mercy Seat of redemption.

Psalm 38 NASB, KJ21, OJB, WLC

Yᵊhōvâ

Hashem, rebuke me not in Thy wrath; neither chasten me in Thy hot displeasure.

2 (3) For Thine khitzim (arrows) pierce me, Thy hand presseth me sorely.

3 There is no soundness in my flesh, because of Thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones, because of my sin.

4 For mine iniquities have gone over mine head; as a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.

5 My wounds are foul and corrupt because of my foolishness.

6 (7) I am bent down; I am brought low

I go in mourning all day long.
7 For my sides are filled with burning,
And there is no healthy part in my flesh.

8 I am feeble and sorely broken; I have groaned because of the disquiet of my heart.

David pleads for mercy, confessing his guilty deeds by which he deserves the WRATH OF GOD.. He then bows down to God acknowledging:

Lord, all my desire is before You;
And my sighing is not hidden from You.

I know now after seeing these unseen places that I have NO right to expect anything from God…

David is quiet before the LORD, then pleaing:

Yes, I am like a person who does not hear,
And in whose mouth are no arguments.
¹⁵For I wait for You, Lord;
You will answer, Lord my God.

AND listen to David’s plea to the Judge of all men. Read it:

(WLC 38:21) וּמְשַׁלְּמֵי רָעָה תַּחַת טוֹבָה יִשְׂטְנוּנִי תַּחַת רדופי־ טֽוֹב׃

They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is.
Psalm 38:20 KJV

Eve encountered an adversary opposed to God! As did the first adam and the sons of adam.. Job.. and David.. And yes, so have you. And WHY? David tells us.

Because those who follow God and do what is good suffer evil by the hand of the adversary of the LORD God lurking in the unseen places. For Satan is an enemy of all Light which overcomes the darkness.

21 Do not abandon me, Lord;
My God, do not be far from me!
22 Hurry to help me,
Lord, my salvation!

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Gospel of John 1:5 NIV

To be continued…

May 14, 2022
The Testimony of Christ by Stephen
“But be on your guard; for they will hand you over to the [Sanhedrin; or Council] courts, and you will be flogged in the synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them.
Gospel of Mark 13:9 – Reply of Jesus to Peter, James, John and Andrew about signs of the beginning of the last days.

μαρτύριον – Testimony
- martyrion – From a presumed derivative of μάρτυς (G3144)
WE know it by sometimes sworn oath:
- Sworn testimony is evidence given by a witness who has made a commitment to tell the truth. If the witness is later found to have lied whilst bound by the commitment, they can often be charged with the crime of perjury. The types of commitment can include oaths, affirmations and promises.. – Source: Wikipedia
- 第七十条凡知悉案件的单位和个人，应当承担出庭作证的义务。有关单位负责人应当支持证人作证。证人确难以出庭的，经人民法院同意，可以提交书面证言。任何不能适当表达意愿的人不得作证。
  - Note: Talk of JESUS .com will occasionally include a testimony of Christ in other languages for our readers in other countries. Above: from Chinese law
Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later
Hebrews 3:3 NASB20

Stephen’s Testimony of their Hebrew Ancestors

God will raise up for you a prophet

Our fathers had the tabernacle of the Testimony with them in the wilderness. It was constructed exactly as God had directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen. – Acts 7:44

We have reached the point in his trial where Stephen’s testimony will quickly move on from Moses to David.

Acts 7: continued

7:45 Years later, when Joshua led our ancestors in battle against the nations that God drove out of this land, the Tabernacle was taken with them into their new territory. And it stayed there until the time of King David.
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Timeline: Moses *uncertain *(~15th or 13th c. B.C.); (Precise timeline of Joshua & the Judges of Israel uncertain.):
David *~1000 B.C. (dates differ between various sources); Solomon ~900's B.C. - First Temple of the United Kingdom of Israel (Judah in the south & Israel in the north) ended in 931 B.C. at Solomon's death.

Stephen's testimony before Jerusalem's leaders takes place about ten centuries (1000 years) after David, 
but just two years after these judges of Herod's temple reject their Messiah Jesus.
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First Temple

Herod’s temple

46 David found favor in God’s sight, and asked that he might find a dwelling place for the house of Jacob. But it was Solomon who built a house for Him..

Herod’s temple

Stephen then Testifies for the LORD from Scripture:
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Bereishit (Genesis) 14:22  וַיֹּאמֶר אַבְרָם אֶל־מֶלֶךְ סְדֹם הֲרִימֹתִי יָדִי אֶל־יְהוָה אֵל עֶלְיוֹן קֹנֵה שָׁמַיִם וָאָֽרֶץ׃
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But it was Solomon who actually built it. However, the Most High doesn’t live in temples made by human hands. As the prophet says,
Acts 7:47-48 NLT

‘Heaven is My throne,
And the earth is the footstool of My feet;
What kind of house will you build for Me?’ says the Lord,
Acts of the Apostles 7:49a NASB

‘Or what place is there for My rest?
Was it not My hand that made all these things?’
Acts of the Apostles 7:49b NASB

Another Rare Vision

29:18 בְּאֵין חָזוֹן יִפָּרַֽע עָם וְשֹׁמֵר תּוֹרָה אַשְׁרֵֽהוּ׃
Proverbs 29:18 WLC, ESV Where there is no prophetic vision [חָזוֹן]. the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.

The Lord God has kept silent for centuries between the Prophets and John the Baptist.

These Judges of Jerusalem’s Sanhedrin have witnessed rare wonders and signs which have prompted the faithful to ask if certain men have been sent to them from the Lord God.

Peter, John and the Apostles have healed many in Jerusalem for two years now.

And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all.

Before that, for three years Jesus, whom they called Son of David, performed many signs and proofs throughout Judah, Samaria and Galilee. Some had speculated that their Messiah from Nazareth could have been John the Baptist resurrected from the dead.

(Others even claim to have seen Jesus after His crucifixion on a Cross and burial in a nearby tomb!)

And many Jews, leaders of the Sanhedrin and even Herod had marveled at the preaching of John the Baptist.

John the Baptist
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from the Good News of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John (who had stood with Peter during his sign at the temple):
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This was John’s testimony when the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you? ”
He didn’t deny it but confessed: “I am not the Messiah.”
“What then? ” they asked him. “Are you Elijah? ”
“I am not,” he said.
“Are you the Prophet? ”
“No,” he answered.
“Who are you, then? ” they asked. “We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What can you tell us about yourself? ”
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He said, “I am a voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord — just as Isaiah the prophet said.”
Gospel of John 1:23 NASB20 – John the Baptist speaking of the Lord Jesus

Jerusalem’s elders held a distant fear of the Lord, as when the Hebrew elders had asked Moses NOT to look upon the Face of the LORD. Isaiah and the Prophets of old had had visions like no earthly corporate vision of a gathering at the temple or in synagogues. So they had to be certain that men like John the baptizer and Jesus and Peter and now, Stephen (addressing them with the face of an angel) would not strike them down for their turning from God.

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Hebrews 10:[28-]31

Stephen’s Testimony Echoes Isaiah
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Israel's ruling council, now judging Stephen, would have been well familiar with these prophesies of Isaiah, 
*whose name means “The LORD is salvation,” and is similar to the names Joshua, Elisha, and Jesus; and ministered in and around Jerusalem as a prophet to Judah during the reigns of 4 kings of Judah, c. 739–686 B.C. - *Source
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Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of armies…

And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.

Recall now from the testimony of Acts 6: 'All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel,' also used of Moses after having received the Law from the LORD and Isaiah's own testimony of having seen the Lord and heard Him speak.

Isaiah – חֲזוֹן יְשַֽׁעְיָהוּ
The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz concerning Judah and Jerusalem, which he saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

Listen, heavens, and hear, earth;
For the LORD has spoken:
“Sons I have raised and brought up,
But they have revolted against Me.

“An ox knows its owner,
And a donkey its master’s manger,
But Israel does not know,
My people do not understand.”

Oh, sinful nation,
People weighed down with guilt,
Offspring of evildoers,
Sons who act corruptly!
They have abandoned the LORD,
They have despised the Holy One of Israel,
They have turned away from Him.
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2:12 For the Lord of armies will have a day of reckoning
Against everyone who is arrogant and haughty,
And against everyone who is lifted up,
That he may be brought low.

3:14 The Lord enters into judgment with the elders and leaders of His people,
“It is you who have devoured the vineyard;
The goods stolen from the poor are in your houses.
15 What do you mean by crushing My people
And [m]oppressing the face of the poor?”
Declares the Lord God of armies.
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- 6:1 .. I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.
- .. And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.
- .. Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying,
“Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?”
- .. “Send me.”
- Then I said, “Lord, how long?”
- And He answered, “Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, Houses are without people, And the land is utterly desolate..
- 7:13 Then he said, “Listen now, house of David! Is it too trivial a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God as well?
“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and she will name Him Immanuel…
“The LORD will bring on you, on your people, and on your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim separated from Judah—the days of the king of Assyria.”
Isaiah 7:14,17 NASB20

Indictment

66:2 וְאֶת־כָּל־אֵלֶּה יָדִי עָשָׂתָה וַיִּהְיוּ כָל־אֵלֶּה נְאֻם־יְהוָה וְאֶל־זֶה אַבִּיט אֶל־ עָנִי וּנְכֵה־רוּחַ וְחָרֵד עַל־דְּבָרִֽי׃
Isaiah 66:2 – quoted by Stephen

For My hand made all these things,
So all these things came into being,” declares the Lord.
“But I will look to this one,
At one who is humble and contrite in spirit, and who trembles at My word.
Isaiah 66:2 NASB

NEXT: Stephen’s closing argument and Sentence of the Sanhedrin

使徒行传 7: To be continued…
January 18, 2022