Today’s Reading:  Ezek 19:1–20:49, Rev 9:1–21, Job 34:31–37

Today’s Theme: Planted by God

Today’s theme looks at the planting of God. God plants us in the body of Christ (literally in the church community), to be fruitful and flourish. God has planted the restored national Israel. He has done this with salvation in Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah in mind for the Jewish people.

God strategically plants His people for the sake of His name and glory.

Ezekiel 19:1–20:49

Abundant Water

Your mother was like a vine in a vineyard planted by the water, fruitful and full of branches by reason of abundant water.(Ezekiel 19:10, ESV)

We can be fruitful if there is an abundance of the water of God’s word and Holy Spirit.

Where are you planted?

Now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land.(Ezekiel 19:13, ESV)

Lord, in Your grace, please keep us planted with the abundance of water. Jesus has planted us where He wills in the earth and in the church in particular, so that we are in the right environment to bare much fruit.

Don’t uproot yourself in ignorance and pride, humbly submit to God’s planting which is designed for your fruitfulness and flourishing.

The best land in the world

On that day I swore to them that I would bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands.(Ezekiel 20:6, ESV)

This is a bold statement from God that Israel is the best land in the World. Also note that God wants the best for His people.

Detestable things

And I said to them, Cast away the detestable things your eyes feast on, every one of you, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.(Ezekiel 20:7, ESV)

What are the detestable things our eyes feast on, these things are connected to idolatry and must be cast down. In today’s culture, it can be things like vanity, pornography etc.

The Sabbaths

Moreover, I gave them my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them.(Ezekiel 20:12, ESV)

The plural Sabbaths points to Jewish feasts.

God, uppermost in His own affections

But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out.(Ezekiel 20:14, ESV)

God is rightly uppermost in His own affections.

A heart problem

because they rejected my rules and did not walk in my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths; for their heart went after their idols.(Ezekiel 20:16, ESV)

Sin and idolatry is a heart problem.

God’s motivation

But I withheld my hand and acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out.(Ezekiel 20:22, ESV)

God’s greatest and purest motivation is for the sake of His own name and for the sake of His glory.

Gift’s and commands

Moreover, I gave them statutes that were not good and rules by which they could not have life, and I defiled them through their very gifts in their offering up all their firstborn, that I might devastate them. I did it that they might know that I am the Lord.(Ezekiel 20:25–26, ESV)

God can send judgement through our very gifts and His commands. Lord, keep us in your love.

God knows your mind

“What is in your mind shall never happen—the thought, ‘Let us be like the nations, like the tribes of the countries, and worship wood and stone.’(Ezekiel 20:32, ESV)

God knows our very thoughts and remains in sovereign control.

The great narrative

“As I live, declares the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out I will be king over you.(Ezekiel 20:33, ESV)

This is one of the great narratives of the bible, God’s desire and fight to be recognised as the true King.

Restored for salvation

And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the country that I swore to give to your fathers.(Ezekiel 20:42, ESV)

One of God’s purposes in restoring the Jews to the land is evangelical.

The burden of leadership

Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! They are saying of me, ‘Is he not a maker of parables?’ ”(Ezekiel 20:49, ESV)

Seems like Ezekiel was beginning to get weary under the Lord’s mandate and the peoples scorn. With this in mind, pray for those that God has called to lead.

Revelation 9:1–21

Sovereign over death

And in those days people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them.(Revelation 9:6, ESV)

Nobody can die before God’s appointed time for them.

A fallen angel

They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.(Revelation 9:11, ESV)

A great demonic fallen angel, proving there is some level of structure in the devil’s ranks.

We need regeneration

The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.(Revelation 9:20–21, ESV)

This shows that without the regeneration of the Holy Spirit, no amount of judgement alone can lead man to repentance.

Job 34:31–37

Speaking without knowledge

‘Job speaks without knowledge; his words are without insight.’(Job 34:35, ESV)

This was in fact true, Job had no idea about the wager between God and Satan in the divine council.

Most of the above post is a copy of the original notes from the same date in 2014.

Additional resources

The Gospel Coalition on Revelation 9

Today’s Reading:  Ezek 17:1–18:32, Rev 7:9–8:13, Job 34:16–30

Today’s Theme: God’s Full Knowledge

Today’s theme is God’s Full Knowledge. God really does know everything, noting is hidden from His sight, He knows everything, down to the smallest details. God knows everything presently, He doesn’t learn anything. God knows everything at all times and has never not known all that He knows now.

Based on God’s knowledge, He teaches with parables, calls man to repentance, warns man of judgement, makes declarations which He will (without doubt) back up and judges with complete authority. God’s knowledge also informs His love, mercy, patience and means God is not indifferent to man’s suffering.

Because God’s knowledge is full, we can trust Him and put our faith in Him.

Ezekiel 17:1–18:32

The wisdom of parables

“Say now to the rebellious house, Do you not know what these things mean? Tell them, behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took her king and her princes and brought them to him to Babylon.(Ezekiel 17:12, ESV)

God and Jesus both used parables and riddles.

Don’t break agreements

But he rebelled against him by sending his ambassadors to Egypt, that they might give him horses and a large army. Will he thrive? Can one escape who does such things? Can he break the covenant and yet escape?(Ezekiel 17:15, ESV)

God takes the breaking of agreements seriously, as Jesus teaches us that we should make our communication a simple yes or no.

Have faith in God

 thus says the Lord God: As I live, surely it is my oath that he despised, and my covenant that he broke. I will return it upon his head.(Ezekiel 17:19, ESV)

Very often our breaking of agreements is a sign of our lack of faith in God.

God backs His talk

And all the trees of the field shall know that I am the Lord; I bring low the high tree, and make high the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree flourish. I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it.”(Ezekiel 17:24, ESV)

God has the unique ability to back up anything He says, the figurative use of trees and twigs speak of the remnant of Israel that would be saved and of the nations.

The owner of souls

Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die.(Ezekiel 18:4, ESV)

This is a bold declaration that only God can make, all souls ultimately belong to Him and the decree is that, the soul that sins shall die.

Personal responsibility

lends at interest, and takes profit; shall he then live? He shall not live. He has done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon himself.(Ezekiel 18:13, ESV)

My sins are on me and my children’s sins are on them, each man has personal responsibility before God.

The curse is broken

withholds his hand from iniquity, takes no interest or profit, obeys my rules, and walks in my statutes; he shall not die for his father’s iniquity; he shall surely live.(Ezekiel 18:17, ESV)

In and through Jesus, we live right before God, there is no hereditary curse on us.

No excuses

The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.(Ezekiel 18:20, ESV)

This is God Himself destroying the bad teaching of hereditary sins and curses on the personal level. Every man is responsible before God for his own life… no excuses.

No fatalism

“But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die.(Ezekiel 18:21, ESV)

With the Lord, there is room for repentance for the wicked man, here ends all ideas of fatalism.

God’s desire

Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?(Ezekiel 18:23, ESV)

God wants all men to repent and takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. To understand this we need to understand the difference between the decreed and commanded will of God.

Righteousness and responsibility NOW

But when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice and does the same abominations that the wicked person does, shall he live? None of the righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered; for the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed, for them he shall die.(Ezekiel 18:24, ESV)

We cannot live on the glory of our past righteousness, our responsibility before God is always in the NOW. Also we must note that this is speaking of righteousness in the OT sense and not of regeneration, although the same principle still applies and would be evidence of apostasy and false conversion.

God is not unfair

“Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way not just? Is it not your ways that are not just?(Ezekiel 18:25, ESV)

This is a common notion today that God is somehow unfair.

God is gracious

“Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord God. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin.(Ezekiel 18:30, ESV)

God is gracious to all people in even allowing us the option to repent at all and the promise that with genuine repentance, He will forgive and respond.

Make a new heart

Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel?(Ezekiel 18:31, ESV)

It is our responsibility to make a new heart for ourselves. We do this by making God our treasure.

Repent!

For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live.”(Ezekiel 18:32, ESV)

God’s cry to Israel and to all mankind, Repent! When we repent we bring God pleasure and there is rejoicing in heaven.

Revelation 7:9–8:13

The redeemed in Heaven

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,(Revelation 7:9, ESV)

These are the redeemed. The Jehovah Witnesses do not like this verse as it proves that all believers will be before the throne of God.

Also note the distinctions made are nations, tribes, people and languages. At no point is colour of skin mentioned.

Our song

and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”(Revelation 7:10, ESV)

The great song of the redeemed, we know that God saved us.

Sanctification, your responsibility

I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.(Revelation 7:14, ESV)

Notice our personal responsibility in sanctification.

We will serve

“Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.(Revelation 7:15, ESV)

We will serve the Lord in heaven, not laze around.

Our Shepherd

For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”(Revelation 7:17, ESV)

Jesus will remain our shepherd in heaven and God will wipe away all tears from our eyes. What kind of tears will these be? Possibly regret for missed opportunities.

Jesus and the Holy Spirit, our intermediaries

Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.(Revelation 8:5, ESV)

This 8th Angel is not a common intermediary for our everyday prayers. This was a specific moment in time, seen in a vision by John, pointing to a specific moment in the future, where this ceremony will take place.

The Holy Spirit of God and Jesus are our only intermediary and transport for our prayers, before God.

The imagery seems to suggest that the following plagues are the answer to the prayers of the saints.

Majestic heavenly animals

Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!”(Revelation 8:13, ESV)

You can see where Lewis and Tolkien get some of their talking and majestic animal ideas from.

Job 34:16–30

God calls it as it is

who says to a king, ‘Worthless one,’ and to nobles, ‘Wicked man,’(Job 34:18, ESV)

God is no respecter of people and can boldly call a king worthless and nobles wicked

God’s full knowledge

“For his eyes are on the ways of a man, and he sees all his steps.(Job 34:21, ESV)

God sees everything, nothing can hide from Him, no action, word or thought is hidden from God’s sight and full knowledge. This is a large part of what we mean when we say God is omniscient.

The Judge

For God has no need to consider a man further, that he should go before God in judgment.(Job 34:23, ESV)

When God judges, He does not have to weigh things up and take time to consider like human judges, which are just a pale image of Him, God knows and therefore judges.

God is not indifferent

so that they caused the cry of the poor to come to him, and he heard the cry of the afflicted—(Job 34:28, ESV)

God is not indifferent to the suffering of the poor, He judges wicked rulers.

Most of the above post is a copy of the original notes from the same date in 2014.

Additional resources

The Gospel Coalition on Revelation 7 and Revelation 8

Today’s Reading:  Ezek 16:1–63, Rev 6:1–7:8, Job 34:1–15

Today’s Theme: Brazen Whores, Redeemed

With today’s theme, we look at the vivid picture that God paints of Israel as an unfaithful wife, who has become a brazen whore, and we see a parallel application for our lives personally and collectively, as the Bride of Christ.

We did not become the Bride of Christ because we were the most beautiful or faithful, we were in sin and darkness, the same as the lowest whore. Yet God in His grace and love, redeemed us and faithfully works with us through the power of the Gospel and His Holy Spirit, to bring reform and transformation to our lives.

It is amazing the way God’s grace has taken the lowest people like us, with lives disfigured and marked by the fall and sin, and makes us royalty, a bride without spot or blemish.

Ezekiel 16:1–63

The hated, redeemed

“And when I passed by you and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’(Ezekiel 16:6, ESV)

God caused hated Israel to live, God does the same for us in salvation.

The covenant of love

“When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love, and I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord God, and you became mine.(Ezekiel 16:8, ESV)

Another beautiful picture of God’s love and commitment to His people. We belong to Him like a wife does to her husband.

Don’t be a whore

“But you trusted in your beauty and played the whore because of your renown and lavished your whorings on any passerby; your beauty became his.(Ezekiel 16:15, ESV)

The treachery of the human heart, God has made us beautiful and gifted us, we must not whore ourselves out spiritually. We must faithfully serve the Lord.

The curse of faithlessness

You also played the whore with the Egyptians, your lustful neighbours, multiplying your whoring, to provoke me to anger.(Ezekiel 16:26, ESV)

God sees our faithlessness as a wife who was picked up off the scrap heap and made royalty by a loving husband, but then becomes the lowest of whores.

Brazen whore vs faithful wife

“How sick is your heart, declares the Lord God, because you did all these things, the deeds of a brazen prostitute,(Ezekiel 16:30, ESV)

We are like a brazen prostitute when we give way to compromise and temptation. Lord, help us to be like the image of a faithful wife (Saint), to a loving husband (God).

The price of sin

So you were different from other women in your whorings. No one solicited you to play the whore, and you gave payment, while no payment was given to you; therefore you were different.(Ezekiel 16:34, ESV)

We pay sin, sin pays us nothing but death in our spiritual adultery.

Judged through sin

therefore, behold, I will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved and all those you hated. I will gather them against you from every side and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness.(Ezekiel 16:37, ESV)

The very things we compromise with, sin with and idolise in faithlessness, become the very tools of our judgement and destruction.

Stop playing the whore

And they shall burn your houses and execute judgments upon you in the sight of many women. I will make you stop playing the whore, and you shall also give payment no more.(Ezekiel 16:41, ESV)

God’s purpose in Judgement.

Soul corruption

Not only did you walk in their ways and do according to their abominations; within a very little time you were more corrupt than they in all your ways.(Ezekiel 16:47, ESV)

A Christian in compromise and sin will become worse than those in the world. This also gives an indication to how badly Israel had fallen in sin.

God’s love and grace

yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish for you an everlasting covenant.(Ezekiel 16:60, ESV)

Without God’s love and grace, Israel and the church would be lost.

God has atoned

that you may remember and be confounded, and never open your mouth again because of your shame, when I atone for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord God.”(Ezekiel 16:63, ESV)

Jesus did this for us.

Revelation 6:1–7:8

Judgement on man’s spiritual whoredom

And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.(Revelation 6:8, ESV)

Only because of today’s earlier reading in Ezekiel, do these four types of judgement start to make sense.

Lord avenge us

They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”(Revelation 6:10, ESV)

This is a really different way to pray for the suffering church. Like the psalms, we can seek God to avenge us.

Asteroids fall

and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale.(Revelation 6:13, ESV)

This does not mean a galactic star, the word can mean any glorious heavenly being, like an asteroid.

*a luminous body (other than the sun) visible in the sky, star, single star, planet

(Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.)

The angry Lamb

calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb,(Revelation 6:16, ESV)

Vivid imagery as lambs do not make you think of anger, this displays both sides of God’s nature.

Actual Israelites

And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:(Revelation 7:4, ESV)

These are real Israelites, not selected Russellites (Jehovah Witnesses were originally called Russellites, after their founder and false prophet Charles Taze Russell).

Job 34:1–15

Test words, listen carefully

for the ear tests words as the palate tastes food.(Job 34:3, ESV)

Lord, please help our ears to test words well.

You reap what you sow

For according to the work of a man he will repay him, and according to his ways he will make it befall him.(Job 34:11, ESV)

This is true, we do reap what we sow, but Grace also has an effect on all of this too.

God’s dependants

If he should set his heart to it and gather to himself his spirit and his breath,(Job 34:14, ESV)

All life is dependent on God.

Most of the above post is a copy of the original notes from the same date in 2014.

Additional resources

The Gospel Coalition on Revelation 6

Today’s Reading:  Ezek 14:1–15:8, Rev 5:1–14, Job 33:29–33

Today’s Theme: Every Nation, Tribe and Tongue

Today’s theme is the worship of Jesus, the worthy Lamb and the Lion of the tribe of Judah, as opposed to the worship of worthless idols. He has redeemed us from every nation, tribe and tongue.

The bible describes mankind by three categories, these are nations, tribes and tongues. Notice none of these is colour. God’s groupings for mankind show the dignity with which we should see all men. The disrespectful generalisation of people by the colour of their skin, is a human invention.

Ezekiel 14:1–15:8

Idolatry, a heart problem

“Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their hearts, and set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces. Should I indeed let myself be consulted by them?(Ezekiel 14:3, ESV)

This is the inevitable result of idolatry, we end up taking the false god into our hearts and become devoted to the thing. Lord, today we ask that you break the power of every idol in our lives.

Idolatry separates us from God

that I may lay hold of the hearts of the house of Israel, who are all estranged from me through their idols.(Ezekiel 14:5, ESV)

Idolatry brings estrangement to our relationship with God.

Don’t go astray

that the house of Israel may no more go astray from me, nor defile themselves anymore with all their transgressions, but that they may be my people and I may be their God, declares the Lord God.”(Ezekiel 14:11, ESV)

The reason God judges the false prophet and the hypocrite is so that His people will no longer go astray, but will be His people in truth.

The judgement of the city

even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness, declares the Lord God.(Ezekiel 14:14, ESV)

Us living in London does not mean it will be spared Judgement. Let us pray for our city.

Our Children need to know God

even if these three men were in it, as I live, declares the Lord God, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters. They alone would be delivered, but the land would be desolate.(Ezekiel 14:16, ESV)

Our children need to know the Lord for themselves.

God’s tools of judgement

“For thus says the Lord God: How much more when I send upon Jerusalem my four disastrous acts of judgment, sword, famine, wild beasts, and pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast!(Ezekiel 14:21, ESV)

God’s chosen tools of Judgement (not the devil or man).

God’s purpose in judgement

They will console you, when you see their ways and their deeds, and you shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, declares the Lord God.”(Ezekiel 14:23, ESV)

God has a purpose in Judgement. God has a purpose in everything He does.

God’s reason for judgement

And I will make the land desolate, because they have acted faithlessly, declares the Lord God.”(Ezekiel 15:8, ESV)

The reason for the judgement is clearly seen here. God does nothing without a reason, even if the reason is not known to us.

Revelation 5:1–14

The Lion of the tribe of Judah

And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”(Revelation 5:5, ESV)

Jesus became a man and conquered sin and death in a way that we could not. This seal is in some way connected to mankind and the earth.

These are wonderful titles for Jesus.

Jesus, The Slain Lamb

And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.(Revelation 5:6, ESV)

This is another image of Jesus which stands in sharp contrast to the image of Jesus as the Lion of the tribe of Judah.

Jesus is God

And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.(Revelation 5:8, ESV)

This verse shows clearly that Jesus is God and He is to be worshipped.

Every nation, tribe and tongue

And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,(Revelation 5:9, ESV)

This is where the idea of ‘finish the mission’ comes from, every people group must hear the Gospel, as though God wants a sample from every nation.

Also this is where we get the understanding of the fact that people should be defined by nation, tribe and language, not by the colour of their skin.

We will reign in the earth

and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”(Revelation 5:10, ESV)

We will reign in the new earth.

Worthy is the Lamb

saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing!”(Revelation 5:12, ESV)

AMEN! Worthy are you Lord Jesus.

Praise God, The Father and The Son

And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honour and glory and might forever and ever!”(Revelation 5:13, ESV)

The Worship due to both the Father and the Son.

Job 33:29–33

God’s mission

to bring back his soul from the pit, that he may be lighted with the light of life.(Job 33:30, ESV)

God’s great mission to save the souls of men

Speak with power

If not, listen to me; be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”(Job 33:33, ESV)

Job did remain silent, a sign of the power with which this young man spoke.

Most of the above post is a copy of the original notes from the same date in 2014.

Additional resources

The Gospel Coalition on Revelation 5

Today’s Reading: Ezek 12:1–13:23, Rev 3:14–4:11, Job 33:19–28

Today’s Theme: Created by God’s will

Today’s theme is, created by God’s will. We see God as sovereign in creation and over creation. In Revelation, we explore a verse which describes Jesus as the beginning of God’s creation and see that it points to Him as the eternal, uncreated Creator.

Ezekiel 12:1–13:23

Don’t walk in rebellion

“Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, who have eyes to see, but see not, who have ears to hear, but hear not, for they are a rebellious house.(Ezekiel 12:2, ESV)

We will remain spiritually blind and deaf as long as we walk in rebellion.

Visual aids

As for you, son of man, prepare for yourself an exile’s baggage, and go into exile by day in their sight. You shall go like an exile from your place to another place in their sight. Perhaps they will understand, though they are a rebellious house.(Ezekiel 12:3, ESV)

God uses visual representations to help His people understand.

God disperses and gathers in

And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them among the countries.(Ezekiel 12:15, ESV)

God is known in the dispersal as well as the ingathering.

God acts on His word… So pray the word

They have seen false visions and lying divinations. They say, ‘Declares the Lord,’ when the Lord has not sent them, and yet they expect him to fulfil their word.(Ezekiel 13:6, ESV)

We must not “Decree and Declare” what God has not expressly told us and expect Him to act on our words, He will act on His own words.

Revelation 3:14–4:11

Jesus, The beginning of God’s Creation?

“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.(Revelation 3:14, ESV)

Cults like the Watchtower Society use verses like this to say that Jesus is only a created being and is therefore just a highly exalted angel like Michael, and not God.

However, faithful exposition of this phrase, the wider passage and the full discourse of scripture, will give us true context. There are at least three senses that Jesus is pointing to here.

1. Jesus is one who began God’s creation, as mentioned in John 1:1-3.
2. The statement signifies Jesus’ rule over all creation, in the context that the firstborn was the one who would inherit everything.
3. Jesus had inaugurated the new creation with His resurrection from the dead.

A promise for overcomers

The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.(Revelation 3:21, ESV)

A great promise for overcoming.

No democracy in heaven

 once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne.(Revelation 4:2, ESV)

God alone is seated on the throne, heaven is not a democracy. God reigns as King.

The world, created by God’s will

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”(Revelation 4:11, ESV)

Heaven is a place of Worship, where God is worshipped in His glory.

The world was not created by evolution, but by the will of God.

Job 33:19–28

Jesus our mediator

If there be for him an angel, a mediator, one of the thousand, to declare to man what is right for him,(Job 33:23, ESV)

Thank God that Jesus is our mediator.

Most of the above post is a copy of the original notes from the same date in 2014.

Additional resources

The Gospel Coalition on Revelation 3 and Revelation 4