“They shall dwell with Confidence”...the Wayfarer 1/26/14

“They shall dwell with Confidence”
 1/26/14

“And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them; and they shall know that I am the Lord their God.”

(Ezekiel 28:26)

I return, today to the writings of that old prophet, Ezekiel, and the wisdom passed through the ages to us, as well as to his own people in the time in which he wrote.

Once more, I find the wisdom of Ecclesiastes screaming at me across the centuries that lessons given once, will be repeated until finally accepted and learned.

“The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying,

Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord God; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God;

Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee:

With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy great treasures:

By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches:

Therefore thus saith the Lord God; because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God;

Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, and the terrible of the nations; and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness.

They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas.

Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? But thou shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee.

Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.”

(Ezekiel 28:1-10)

Ezekiel was told to warn this arrogant ruler, who put himself in the place of God himself that this would not stand, and would meet with the appropriate wrath and punishment for attempting to replace God with his own human failings.

Any time that any man places his own “wisdom” above that of God, it will not go unpunished.

Far too many rely on their great education, their ability to regurgitate the teachings of their college professors, writers that that they admired in their youth, and those who brought them into the station of life they hold by whatever means it was given them.

Once they themselves attain that station, and the wealth that comes along with it, they begin to think of themselves as invincible, and omnipotent, on the same level as our Lord.

Once that station is acquired, and power given them, they use all available means to glean information about any and all who do not accept their way of thinking, or governance, seeking to know all secrets, but failing to see their own ineptitude and failures.

The very things they establish to further their own agenda, (and wealth too incidentally), are eventually used against them as they find that those to whom they seek to be a God, see their weakness, and use it against them.

They bring on themselves the “terrible of the nations”, both from within their own borders, and from without as well.

This usually results in the conquest, not only of those leaders who have placed themselves in God’s place, denying Him at every turn, but also the nations ruled by them who have accepted their claims of wisdom and understanding.

These rulers are invariably uncaring and deceitful, causing the deaths of many, before they themselves are finally brought down.

When finally faced with the results of their failures, and an uncompromising enemy, they will continue to plead with that enemy the cause and case initially pleaded, that their wisdom was for the good of that enemy and that they should be accepted as a God to that enemy.

That enemy will not see the “wisdom,” nor will they see the proffered peace and friendship given the ungodly, to gain that place of honor held and the position of power that they so admire for themselves.

It is their very arrogance, and complete lack of respect for God, His laws, and his will, that brings them to the end they so richly deserve and have earned.

“Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.

Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.

Thy heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness:

I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.

All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be anymore.”

(Ezekiel 28: 11-19)

The king, true power behind the aforementioned prince, will also face the wrath of God.

This is the one, (ones), in the shadows, who installed that prince into power, the power behind the throne, who also believe that they have progressed in their own wisdom, and understanding, beyond God himself.

They forget from whom all their wealth and power has come, and honor none but themselves. They profane and dishonor all that they are involved with.

They too will be brought from those shadows, and out of hiding to face those they have accumulated their wealth from, and those whom they have destroyed along the way to gaining their prosperity and power.

They will then be recognized for what they are… mere men total failures when faced with the power of our God, and His judgment, and an example of what to expect should any other decide to emulate them.

“Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

Set thy face against Zidon, and prophesy against it,

And say, thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Zidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of thee: and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her.

For I will send  into her pestilence, and blood into her streets; and the wounded shall be judged in the midst of her by the sword upon her on every side; and they shall know that I am Lord.

And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are round about them, that despised them; and they shall know that I am the Lord God.

Thus saith the Lord God; when I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob.

And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them; and they shall know that I am the Lord their God.”

(Ezekiel 28: 20-26)

The time came, and is coming again, when God will no longer allow the persecution of his people, and disregard of His laws.

Judgments will and must be executed!

As those judgments come, there will be much pain to be borne by all who continue to deny Him and His power.

The time rapidly approaches for those judgments to be executed, and for the return of His Son, as has been prophesied, and promised us.

I could readily and easily transition into the text of the New Testament at this point, but instead ask that you go there yourself and take the time to read the following chapters: Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21, John 5, Revelation 19, 20, 21 & 22, and the Old Testament book of, Zechariah’s 14^th chapter.

Each of these passages should aid in the enlightenment as to what that execution of those judgments consists of, and should give pause to even the most unbelieving among us, as it is they who must face those judgments.

It should also give reason to search the remainder of the scriptures that give us the means to survive that judgment, and dwell in peace and confidence, not in a land given to Jacob here on this measly ball of dirt, but in an eternity on the promised new earth where there will be no longer need for the execution of judgment, for there, the inhabitants will have God’s laws written on their hearts, and receive the rewards for having heeded the words of Christ Jesus, to

“Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

I close once more, offering only the love of my Savior, no wisdom of my own, no prophecy of my own, no promise of anything that I have any power or ability to give, because I have none, and rely instead on the ability and power of that Savior!

I am, and shall always be, nothing more than a simple sinner saved by grace through faith in that same Savior, called into His service as a lowly soldier, who though still imperfect, shall be made perfect in Christ Jesus when called before the throne of judgment as he stands beside me then as now. 

2 Timothy 1:12 King James Version (KJV)

¹² For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

 Amen and Amen
the Wayfarer