Where does God live? (Wk 12 Ezekiel)

The book of Ezekiel begins with a vision from God in the Babylonian plains. It ends with a vision from God returning in his glory to dwell with his people.

Our last class Wednesday night paralleled the symbols in Ezekiel with the symbols in Revelation. Scrolls, creatures, rainbows, seals, numbers, Gog and Magog, New Jerusalem, river of life…

What do they mean?

I’m not exactly sure. I am sure, though, that no one else fully knows either. Not now anyway. Some contemporaries of Ezekiel and John surely understood. But us? Not so much.

So what’s the point? Why read something we can’t understand?

• Because it’s in the Bible for a reason
• Because we can understand part of it
• Because we learn about the wretchedness of man in it
• Because we learn about the holiness of God in it

And because it’s worth reading to get to the last verse:
The circumference of the city shall be 18,000 cubits. And the name of the city from that time on shall be, The LORD Is There.
Ezekiel 48:35

If there’s anything I learned from Ezekiel, it’s that God goes to great lengths to be with his people. He’ll purify us at all costs so that his holiness can dwell among us.

He is with us.

And he cares.
He cares when someone makes fun of us, and he cares when we make fun of someone.
He cares about how we honor his name, and he cares about the ways we degrade it.

He is with us (Matthew 1:23). In all his holiness and justice and compassion and wrath.

With us in the new temple? Literally, no. Spiritually, yes. Now and later. The perfect new temple that Ezekiel was shown has never been built with human hands.

It’s not in Israel. It’s not in Jerusalem. It’s in “The LORD-Is-There.”

Here. With us.

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Can these bones live? (Wk 11 Ezekiel)

In Wednesday’s class, Robert pointed us to five restorations found in the last few chapters of Ezekiel.

1. Restoration of the land (Eze 36:1-15)
2. Restoration of the people (Eze 37:1-14)
3. Restoration of the nation of Israel (Eze 37:15-28)
4. Restoration of the temple (Eze 40-48)
5. Restoration of priesthood as inherited leadership (Eze 44)

I’ve continued to think throughout the week about our own restoration. And I’m continually amazed at how God does all the work, yet we gain the benefits. 

In the vision of the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37 (one of my favorite spooky stories of the Bible), the bones were very dry, very dead. Totally helpless. Useless. Undeserving. The only way they were coming to life was if the Lord did a miracle.

We’re no different.

Just as the bones didn’t work to gain life again, neither did we. Christ did all the work. Yet we reap the rewards. A miracle indeed.

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners,
Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8 

Just as he breathed life into the bones in that valley (Eze 37:10), he breathes his spirit into us in our valleys (Eze 37:14). It’s something we receive, not something we earn or deserve.

We’re restored back into his presence, into life, because he breathes out and lets us breathe him in.

When I’m at my sickest, I can do the least to help myself.
At my weakest, I need someone else’s strength.
If I’m dead, I can’t bring myself back to life.

But he can. He did. God as all-giver. Us as all-taker. That’s grace. Reconciliation begins with God and is accomplished by him (2 Cor 5:18).

The dry bones story of Ezekiel 37 is the gospel. God breathes life into death. It’s the good news. The greatest news! . . . know that He is the LORD (Eze 37:6).

* * *

IN 2 WEEKS: Week 12, Ezekiel and John’s Revelation  
         

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Bad Shepherd, Good Shepherd (Wk 10 Ezekiel)

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Psalm 23:1

Ezekiel 34 
God told Ezekiel to prophesy against the bad shepherds. They were feeding themselves instead of the sheep.

Drinking their milk; making clothes from their wool; roasting the lambs. 

The sheep were left unprotected, hungry, scattered. Sheep without a shepherd (Mark 6:34), in need of a Savior.

Therefore, watch out, shepherds!
Don’t mess with God’s sheep. He won’t put up with it.

That’s great news for us. Instead of being at the mercy of fellow human shepherds to build up the weak, heal the sick, and look after the lost, we have been sent the ultimate Shepherd: Jesus Christ.

He’s looking for his sheep, and once he has them, he’s not letting go.

He’s set up a covenant of peace with us. We live safely in the wilderness and are showered with blessings.

We know, beyond doubting, that he, the LORD our God, is with us. And that we are his people, his sheep, the sheep of his pasture (Ezekiel 34:31). 

I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me.
John 10:14

* * *

NEXT: Week 11, Restoration 
          Ezekiel 36-37

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This hurts me more than it hurts you (Wk 9 Ezekiel)

A holy people
Ezekiel 24 is full of symbols of purification. God is clean; pure; holy.

And he wants his people to be holy, too. He’ll do whatever is necessary to get them that way, including painful things not just to them, but to him.

All parents are obliged to say at some point in their parenting careers: “This is gonna hurt me more than it hurts you.” To which all kids, in their wonderful juvenile logic, reply, “Then don’t do it!”

But the parents are wiser and know that the refining process, while painful, yields beautiful results.

So when God set out to purge the impurities from among his people, it was painful to everybody. But the result would be worth it. At least for the survivors and those to follow (which is . . . us!). And definitely to God.

The fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonians in this third and final siege would be a cleansing like Jerusalem had never experienced before.

Here’s the story
On January 15, 588 BC, God gave this story to Ezekiel to pass along to his fellow exiles in Babylon:

Put on the cooking pot (Jerusalem). Pour in water, and fill it with the best chunks of meat and choice bones (corrupt Jewish leaders). Pile the wood (siege) high under the pot.

And bring it to a boil.

But the filthy scum (sin) on this pot can’t be cleaned just with water. So empty the pot (death or exile of the people), piece by piece. Put the empty pot on coals so hot that it melts.

I’m cleaning this mess up.

Then you will know that I am the Lord GOD (Ezekiel 24:24).

No mourning for the dead
As Jerusalem burned, Mrs. Ezekiel died. Another symbol. A costly one.

She was the delight of Ezekiel’s eyes. Jerusalem was the delight of the people’s eyes. God’s people were the delight of His eyes.

Ezekiel was to mourn his wife in quietness, demonstrating how the exiles were to mourn the loss of Jerusalem. And as God would mourn his people in kind. Forego normal rituals. The destruction of such filthiness surpassed all traditional expressions of grief.

The purification was tough. But the alternative would have been tougher. The unholy can never make themselves holy on their own. Only God can clean the pot.

And we should be thankful that he cares enough to do it. It really is for our own good.

. . . He disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.
For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant,
but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness
to those who have been trained by it.
Hebrews 12:10-11

[Jesus Christ] gave himself for us to redeem us
from all lawlessness and to purify for himself
a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
Titus 2:14

* * *

NEXT: Week 10, Ezekiel and the Messiah  
          Ezekiel 1-3; 34

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God has left the building (Wk 8 Ezekiel)

[This week’s lesson by Robert was based on Ezekiel 8 - 11]

There are many places I don’t want to be right now:
•    in a tribal area of Afghanistan
•    caught in a snowstorm in the Rockies
•    in a boat with pirates off the coast of Somalia

But the # 1 place I don’t want to be: wherever God is NOT.

The other places would be difficult, frightening, even deadly. But even in those places, God would be with me (Psalm 139:7-10).

In Ezekiel 10, a very spooky thing happens: God packs up and departs the once-holy, now-desecrated temple. The idolatry had grown too detestable.

In chapter 8, Ezekiel tells how the Spirit lifted him up to show him the horrid scene. “Look, Son of man. You think this is bad? Wait until you see what’s next…” (Eze 8:6)

One sight after another. Idols in the temple; idolatry scribbled on the walls; elders of the house of Israel worshiping at the pagan shrines; women mourning over the Babylonian fertility god Tammuz; men turning opposite the temple in nature worship.

These were no trivial matters (Eze 8:17). 

As sometimes happens, those people nearest the heart of religious activity (in this case the Jews in the temple at Jerusalem) can be the most repugnant to the Lord. Who are we more repelled by? The chronic alcoholic who drinks one more night? Or the pious televangelist having affairs as he preaches about faithfulness to one wife? 

Sin is sin. It’s all bad. But spitting in the face of God seems particularly vile. And those in Ezekiel’s times were doing just that.

So God left the building. As Robert phrased it for us, the temple was about to be hell because God was no longer in it. You don’t want to be where God is not. There is no protection there. No goodness. No love.

Separated. From God. It’s the most dangerous place to be.

But thankfully, we don’t have to be. Ezekiel related God’s promised return of Israel (Ezekiel 11). God would gather the scattered exiles and put a new spirit in them, replacing hearts of stones with hearts of flesh (Ezekiel 11:19). They would be his people, and he would be their God (v 20).

Man’s sin had separated, as it always does. Sin drives God away. Separation is painful. But God can clean it up.

Now, with Jesus as the cornerstone of God’s new spiritual house (1 Peter 2:4-6), he has chosen to live in believers as his temple. This temple is also holy because God’s Spirit dwells in it (1 Cor 3:16-17).

We serve as holy priests in his temple. There is no greater honor.

God may have left the building, but he returned in our hearts. That’s where I want him to stay. Because wherever he is, is the best place to be.

* * *

Or do you not know that your body is a temple
of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?
You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.
So glorify God in your body.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (ESV)

(The Message) 
. . . God is building a home. He's using us all--irrespective of how
we got here--in what he is building. 
He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation.
Now he's using you, fitting you in brick by brick,
stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone
that holds all the parts together.
We see it taking shape day after day--
a holy temple built by God, 
all of us built into it,
a temple in which God is quite at home.
Ephesians 2:19-22 (The Message)

* * *

NEXT: Week 9, Purification
          Ezekiel 24

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Choose life – God does (Wk 7 Ezekiel)

(Special thanks to David for substitute teaching for Robert last Wednesday)

This week’s lesson was based on Ezekiel 18 and 34.

Pro-Life
God loves life. He creates it with his own breath (Gen 2:7). He goes to utmost lengths to ensure we have it in abundance (John 10:10-11). He provides sustenance for it for every person and every creature (Gen 1:30; Psalm 145:15-16).

So why does God sometimes get a bad rep for enjoying death, punishment? It’s wrong.

He doesn’t enjoy death. He enjoys life. He delights in love (Jeremiah 9:24).

But death
Yet Ezekiel, through God’s prodding, had to predict heavy doses of God’s wrath. If you’re looking for gloom-and-doom language, you’ll find it in this book.

But it wasn’t God’s pleasure to do so. It was his last resort for a wicked people who were literally hell-bent on death anyway. It’s not how the Lord wanted it.

For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone,
declares the Lord GOD;
so turn, and live.
Ezekiel 18:32

He desires all to live. But he declares that the wicked will die. Each man will die for his own sins. “The soul who sins is the one who will die” (Ezekiel 18:20).

You choose
It’s our personal responsibility to choose. Him or me? Life or death? 

But the help and information and love we have in choosing is phenomenal. In Ezekiel 34, we listen to statement after statement about their harsh and brutal shepherds, who led the willing into sin. So God promises that He himself will be the shepherd to his sheep (Ezekiel 34:15).

We have him. The perfect Shepherd is Jesus (John 10:11-16). He came to give us full life. Now and forever.

Like always, he gives us a choice (Deuteronomy 30:19).

We can choose life.

Or we can choose death.

Choose life. Choose Jesus. 

* * *

NEXT: Week 8, Separation
Ezekiel 8-11

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Who is the watchman? (Wk 6 Ezekiel)

(Special thanks to Loren for substitute teaching for Robert this week)

Ezekiel as watchman
Ezekiel was called to be a watchman.

Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me.
Ezekiel 3:17

But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand.
Ezekiel 33:6

If you warn them and they don’t listen, don’t worry about it. You’ve done  your part.
But if you don’t warn them at all, you’ll fall, too. 

It seems like a no-brainer then. Warn the people!

Am I a watchman?
But is it always that simple? Not for me.

Ezekiel was specifically called to be a watchman. God said it; he heard it; that’s that. But am I also called to be a watchman?

We talked in class Wednesday about scriptures like these:

Matthew 18:15-17
Jesus sets up a pattern for dealing with personal offenses: first, talk one-on-one with the offender. If he listens, great! If he doesn’t, try again with a couple of witnesses. Still not listening? Tell it to the church. Still not? Treat him as an outsider.

Galatians 6:1
Paul says to restore someone caught in sin. But do it with humility, lest you also fall.

James 5:19-20
James says we are to bring back those who wander from the truth.

But . . .
But what if I warn, and I’m accusing of being judgmental? What if I warn, and it turns out I was wrong? What if I warn, and then end up committing the same sin myself? Do I love somebody enough to take those risks?

Am I really supposed to be my brother’s keeper? (Genesis 4:9-11) How far is this love stuff supposed to go?

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.
John 15:12-14

It’s supposed to go all the way. Whatever it takes. From life to death to life.

Who is the watchman?
My call isn’t exactly like Ezekiel’s. But I obviously have a call as well. “Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace” (2 Corinthians 13:11). “If God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:11).

And like Ezekiel, I’m not responsible for the outcome. I can love enough to give the warning and pray for restoration, but I can’t make repentance happen. 

Who is the watchman?
I am the watchman.
I pray for strength and wisdom to blow the trumpet when needed if you become a straying brother or sister.

Who is the watchman?
You are the watchman.
And I pray for you to be a strong and wise watchman to blow the trumpet to awaken me from my sin when I need it.

Not only for my sake, but also for yours. It’ll keep blood off both our hands. And love in both our hearts. 

* * *

NEXT WEEK: Personal Responsibility, Ezekiel 18, 34

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Don’t even think it (Wk 5 Ezekiel)

Two things:
1. Don’t think Grandma’s religion will save you. It won’t.
2. Don’t think you don’t need a savior. You do.

Ezekiel 14 – Judgment is inevitable

The people of God were so corrupt during the time of Ezekiel, that even if Job, Noah, and Daniel were their daddies, they still couldn’t be saved (Ezekiel 14:14).

Job
We all know Job was faithful to God despite incredible hardships. He even sought to protect his children by sacrificing burnt offerings on their behalf in case they had sinned and cursed God in their hearts (Job 1:5). His children were all killed at the beginning of the saga of Job, but by the end of the book, he had ten children again, and lived to see his children to the fourth generation (Job 42:13,16).

But not if he had lived during the time of Ezekiel.

Noah
During Noah’s time, man’s wickedness had grown so great that the Lord wiped them all out. Except Noah. And Noah’s wife, three sons, and their wives (Genesis 7:13). Because Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord, his family also was spared.

But not if he had lived during the time of Ezekiel.

Daniel
This is probably not the Daniel we know (the Hebrew spelling is different and the Daniel we’re familiar with was a contemporary of Ezekiel). But regardless, this Daniel was also a very righteous man. Perhaps enough that the Lord would have spared his children for his sake during a time of trouble.

But not if he had lived during the time of Ezekiel.

No matter how righteous these men were, their righteousness would not have been enough to save either son or daughter during the the incredible wickedness that abounded at this time (Ezekiel 14:20).

Ezekiel 28, 31 – Condemnation against Tyre and Egypt

The King of Tyre had it all. So much that he declared himself a god (Ezekiel 28:2). Not a good idea. God would reveal to him that he was nothing more than a man, and a condemned one at that. The Pharaoh of Egypt was also known for his great majesty, but because he grew too proud, he was destined for doom as well. What the Lord said he would do, he did.

Moral of the story
Pride in your wickedness will bring you down. Every time. No matter who you are or where you’re from. You will come to know that the LORD is God.

Instead, humble yourself before the Lord. Every time. No matter who you are or where you’re from. You will come to know that the LORD is God. And with this route, you will be blessed in the knowing.

* * *

NEXT WEEK: Ezekiel, The Watchman

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Know that He is Lord (Wk 4 Ezekiel)

What I learned from Robert’s class this week on Ezekiel 13 

* * *

In the end, this is all that matters –

Do you KNOW that he is the LORD?

Not just know about him, but know him?

“Know that I am the LORD” is used over 60 times in the book of Ezekiel. Obviously God was telling them something important.

And not saying something else. Here’s what you won’t hear him saying over 60 times in Ezekiel, “Then they will know that you are my people.” His people were not representing him well, to put it mildly. They listened to false prophets who claimed to speak for the Lord, but whose false visions and lies predicted peace where there was no peace (Ezekiel 13:6 ff).

What about us?
Are we also too easily drawn to preachers of peace? Do we skip over the hard parts (denial of self; submission to God; submission to others) in our eagerness for a pleasant  “everybody is okay” theology? Do messages of positive thinking gain our attention more readily than messages of truth?

Do we whitewash our walls to conceal major holes? Those weak walls won’t hold up to torrents of rain, and storms of hailstones, and the sweeping in of hurricanes (Ezekiel 13:10-14). Then, as the walls collapse, we will surely know that the LORD is God.

I’d rather know it now.

How?  Robert gave us three passages to note.

(1) Psalm 46
When I know that the Lord is God, I know he is my safe hiding place. Even in earthquakes and trembling mountains and roaring oceans, he will protect me.

But I need to be still to know him (Psalm 46:10). I need to stop my distracting activity to understand how God is exalted above all.

(2) 1 Kings 19:9-18
Elijah needed to know. So the Lord took him to a mountain and passed by. But God wasn’t in the great wind, nor the earthquake, nor the fire. He was in the quiet whisper. And Elijah knew him. Then continued doing God’s will.

(3) Habakkuk 2:18-20
Where can we know God? Not in sculpted gods of metal images by teachers of lies. Not in human words of deceived minds by spinners of fairy tales. But in listening; disabling the noise; eliminating the distractions. There we find him in his holy temple. “Quiet everyone--a holy silence. Listen!” (Habakkuk 2:20, The Message).

Who will know?
Eventually, everyone (Philippians 2:9-11).
Know now, or know later.
I want to know now.

* * *

NEXT WEEK: Babylon, Calling the Righteous

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Things I learned in Ezekiel – Week 3

Lest you ever think you have it hard, read Ezekiel. Ever lain on your right side for 390 days, then your left for 40? Had your spouse die and been forbidden to mourn about it? Called to speak horrible prophecies to entire nations?

Yet Ezekiel’s discomfort is not mentioned in the book. Why? Because it’s not relevant.

God didn’t call Ezekiel to a “be happy” task, but to a “be obedient” one. And Ezekiel did it. God strengthened him for what he called him for. He does no less for us.

Other things I learned in class this week:

1. Get a notebook
I’m collecting some great handouts each week. My Bible is spilling over with folded sheets of paper crammed in between its pages.

2. How the book is structured
There are five basic parts. I’ve copied a portion of a poem to help explain each section, from The Bible in Verse by Alvy E. Ford.

        A. Chapters 1-3: Ezekiel’s call

Voice of all voices Ezekiel hears, 
Telling the prophet to preach without fears.
He, to a house of rebellion, is sent,
Told to exhort, and to never relent.

       B. Chapters 4-24: Judgment against Jerusalem
Ezekiel relays a message to the Jewish exiles with him in Babylon about God’s coming judgment against Jerusalem. Through special stories and actions, Ezekiel demonstrates what God is about to do.

Takes up a tile, and builds a mock town; 
Sets up an army to batter it down;
Lies on his left side, and then on his right;
Cooking with dung; doing all in plain sight.

        C. Chapters 25-32: Judgment against surrounding nations
What are the sins of the other nations? For one thing, they are either too happy about Jerusalem’s fall or they are exploitive of it. God doesn’t take well to anyone mocking his people, especially while he himself is punishing those people.

Prophesies now of the Ammonites fate,
Moab and Edom, because of their hate.
Seir and Philistia get their reward.
All must encounter the hand of the Lord.

        D. Chapters 33-39: Promise of restoration
Why? For the sake of HIS name. God promises them a true Shepherd who will bring the flock back to good pasture. He will show his greatness and holiness and make himself known as LORD in the sight of many nations.

Mountains of Israel now are addressed;
They shall be seeded and builded and blessed.
She had gone down in idolatrous shame;
God will redeem her, to honor His name.

        E. Chapters 40-48: Vision of the future Jerusalem
The book ends with a glorious vision: God’s glory inhabiting a new temple. 

Each tribe is mentioned, and given his lot,
Temple of God in the midst of the plot.
City is measured, and found to be square.
Name of the city, THE LORD HE IS THERE.

3. Thematic tools
God uses a variety of thematic tools in Ezekiel: visions, parables, symbolic signs, and laments. As Robert points out, God’s thumbprints are all over it – through repeating symbols (vines, the Garden of Eden), through contrasts (condemns/blesses), and through repeated phrases (“word of the LORD came to me”,“son of man”).

Through it all, the recurring theme remains: Know that God is LORD.

* * *

NEXT WEEK 4: The Repeating Message: “They will know that I am the LORD”

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Leading up to Ezekiel

It helps to know the backstory.

Especially when things are complicated. The times of Ezekiel were definitely complicated.

Here’s the short version:
The Jews had been working God’s last nerve. For many centuries. The united Israel split in 931 BC, and God used Assyria to destroy the wicked ten northern tribes of Israel in 722 BC.

Now it was time to deal with the sins of Judah, the two southern tribes whose capital was in Jerusalem. By refusing to give up idolatry (and every other imaginable wickedness), their tragic stage was set.

1st Siege by Babylon, 605 BC
In a 3-stage process, God had King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon first take away some of the prominent citizens of Jerusalem for resettlement in Babylon in 605 BC. This included 15-yr-old Daniel (of the lions’ den fame) and also Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego (of the fiery furnace fame). 

The 18-yr-old Ezekiel was left behind in Jerusalem. Perhaps he still maintained a dream of becoming a priest when he turned 30, despite hearing the warning words of the prophet Jeremiah of impending doom if the Jews looked to Egypt for help instead of God.

2nd Siege by Babylon, 597 BC
Ezekiel’s dreams were dashed in 597 BC, when Nebuchadnezzar sacked Jerusalem a 2nd time, extinguishing any foolish notions of King Jehoiachin of Judah thinking an alignment with Necho of Egypt would spare them.

Ezekiel, along with 10,000 fellow Jews, began a new life in Babylon. But Ezekiel’s life would take a drastic and horrific turn from the normal exile when he turned 30 yrs old (593 BC). God chose to use Ezekiel (literally, “God strengthens”), as a prophet instead of a priest, and he began speaking his own words through Ezekiel for the next 20 years.

3rd Siege by Babylon, 586 BC
“Jerusalem will fall.” Over and over, Ezekiel spoke out and lived out this message, often in quite bizarre ways, from 593-586 BC. The final siege of Jerusalem began in 588 BC, during the reign of Judah’s King Zedekiah, and ended with the city’s total destruction in 586 BC and the departure of God’s glory from there.

Ezekiel continued to prophecy of God’s wrath, this time against seven other nations. 

The book of Ezekiel ends with a glorious vision of Israel’s restoration, the new temple, and the return of the Lord’s glory, Jehovah-Shammah, “The Lord is there” (Ezekiel 48:35).

Moral of the story:
Know that God is the Lord. Trust only in him. Not in armies or rulers or circumstances or idols. They can’t protect you. Only the Lord. Only the Lord.

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Why study Ezekiel?

I ask myself.

One reason:
I’ve read this book of prophecy a few times, but never studied it before. (Why do you climb the mountain? Because it’s there...)

Another reason:
Per Robert, the teacher, it’s a gorgeous book. (Albeit a painful one.)

Thirdly:
It’s part of the Bible. That’s reason enough. In this book, as in the other books of the Bible, God is. And where God is, love is.

Love might look a little strange in Ezekiel. That’s okay. It’s part of the bigness of God. The Creator can never fully be understood by his creation. Sometimes the best we can do when we see the glory of God is what Ezekiel did in Ezekiel 1:28 and 3:23: fall to our knees with our face to the ground.

I suppose that’s really why I’m studying Ezekiel…so I can see God in new ways and fall at his feet in worship. That’s what he made me to do.

Our small homework assignment for this first week (after taking the Final Exam on night 1, which I failed miserably) is to read the BOOK of Ezekiel before next Wednesday night. The book, not a chapter. Um, there are 48 chapters.

Why? So when we come together in class, we’ll have a basic foundation to work from. I appreciate teachers who require something from their students. I want to rise to the challenge, but I better get busy.

The way a rainbow springs out of the sky on a rainy day--that's what it was like. It turned out to be the Glory of GOD! When I saw all this, I fell to my knees, my face to the ground. 
Ezekiel 1:28

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