EZEKIEL 10-11 THE GLORY OF THE LORD DEPARTS2010 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Ezekiel 10-11 The Glory Of The Lord Departs

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2010.

We're in Ezekiel chapter 10. We'll be looking at chapters 10 and 11 this evening and finishing up really the full thought that is going on here started in chapter 8, which we looked at a couple of weeks ago. And in chapter 8, Ezekiel is taken by God to the city of Jerusalem. He's a captive in Babylon as a result of the Babylonian

of the nation of Judah. Babylon conquered Jerusalem twice already and Ezekiel was one of those who was taken captives. But they didn't wipe out Jerusalem at this point. And so there was still the city of Jerusalem

There was still the king Zedekiah there on the throne and he was in rebellion against Babylon and so Babylon was coming for the third time to conquer Jerusalem. And during that time, of course, the people in Jerusalem are continuing to rebel against God. They're continuing to insist that they can live in sin and that they won't experience the consequences of it, that they can worship these other gods and that it's not going to matter that they are going to be safe.

And God is using Ezekiel to speak to the rest of those who are in captivity and to tell them, to share with them the truth that the judgment is going to happen, that Jerusalem is going to be conquered and that they need to get right with God. And so in chapter 8, God takes Ezekiel by a vision to the city of Jerusalem. And if you remember, if you were with us,

he has them dig into a wall and he sees the secret chambers and those who are worshipping the false gods within the temple and within the secret chambers there of the temple. He takes them out to the front of the temple where there are those who are worshipping the sun and he takes them over to where the ladies are weeping as a part of idolatry and worship of a false god. And so God is showing him

The wickedness that is going on, the idolatry that is taking place within the city of Jerusalem, right there even within the temple courtyard. And then in chapter 9, we see God preparing the way his glory is going to depart from

from the temple. If you remember, the glory of God would dwell there in the Holy of Holies above the Ark of the Covenant between the wings of the cherubim. That's where God said, I will meet with you there. That's where His presence would dwell. And that's why the high priest alone was allowed to go into the Holy of Holies

And he could only go in once a year with the proper sacrifices because that's where the presence of God was. That's where his holiness dwelt. And so there was strict regulations about when the high priest could come and what had to take place in order for him to approach. And on the Day of Atonement, he would go sprinkle blood on the mercy seat and the sins of the people would be forgiven.

Well, in chapter 9, we see the glory of God moving from the Holy of Holies and it's being prepared to move out of the temple completely. And that's what we see taking place in chapters 10 and 11 this evening, that the glory of God is being removed. God is removing his presence in preparation for the judgment that is going to take place on the city of Jerusalem because of the rebellion against God.

And so here we are in chapter 10. Let's start out here, pick it up in verses 1 and 2. It says this,

And I looked, and there in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubim, there appeared something like a sapphire stone, having the appearance of the likeness of a throne. Then he spoke to the man clothed with linen and said, Go in among the wheels, under the cherub, fill your hands with coals of fire from among the cherubim, and scatter them over the city. And he went in as I watched."

Here as we pick it up in chapter 10, Ezekiel is seeing a vision here around the temple. He's there at the temple. God is showing him what has been happening. And now he is showing him what God is doing behind the scenes. The people of Jerusalem don't see what's going on, but his eyes have been opened to the spiritual realm, to what is taking place.

And so he sees this vision. Now we've talked about this vision of the glory of God. Back in chapter 1 of Ezekiel, Ezekiel describes this vision of these four living creatures. They're called cherubim or angels.

And these four living creatures are there and there's these wheels that go alongside of them. He's going to describe it again here in chapter 10. And Ezekiel is seeing this, the presence of God, the glory of God, the living creatures that go along with that, the wheels that go along with that. And as he's seeing this scene, he sees a throne appear above these living creatures, above the cherubim. And God now speaks to Ezekiel.

the man that's clothed with linen. Now this is the guy, if you go back to chapter 9, that God sends throughout the city to put a mark on the heads of those who are faithful to God, to those who weep and who sigh over the idolatry that is taking place. And so he's marking out those who are faithful by sending this guy in the linen. He's wearing the attire of a scribe and

And he goes out and he marks the faithful for God to take care of. And then when judgment comes, those who have that mark, they won't be affected. They won't be put to death. But they will survive the judgment that is coming on Jerusalem. And so this guy goes, he marks those who are faithful to God. He comes back. And now God gives him instruction to go amongst the cherubim and to grab the coals from the

that are in the center of them, in the midst of them, and then to go and spread them over the city. The coals here are a representation or speaking of the judgment that God is going to bring. There's going to be fire, the coals that come. Now it's interesting, we also see coals

related to the presence of God in the book of Isaiah. If you remember when Isaiah gets caught up into heaven and he sees the Lord and there's the angels crying, holy, holy, holy. And he says, oh, woe is me. I'm undone. I'm a man of unclean lips. They take a coal from the fire and they touch it to his lips and God says, your sin is purged and you are cleansed.

And so here as we see these coals are being spread throughout the city of Jerusalem, we understand that what God is doing is he's bringing judgment, but it's the judgment so that the city can be cleansed. He's cleansing the city. He's ridding the city of the idolatry. He's ridding it of the wickedness and taking care of the sin that is being committed there.

And so there's this man that's clothed with linen, which is an angelic being. He goes and he grabs these coals and now he's going to spread them throughout the city. Verse 3,

Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the temple when the man went in and the cloud filled the inner court. Then the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub and paused over the threshold of the temple and the house was filled with the cloud and the court was full of the brightness of the Lord's glory and the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard even in the outer court like the voice of Almighty God when he speaks.

And so as we go on now, as Ezekiel is describing this vision, you just imagine this incredible brightness, this glory of God, the presence of God moves above the temple, the temple threshold or the entrance to the temple area. And the house is filled with the glory of God. The courtyard is just bright shining as the presence of God is there. And it sounds glorious and it sounds beautiful. And we can picture it as such.

But what we need to understand here is although it sounds beautiful, and I'm sure it was, it's actually tragic. It's terrible because what's happening here is the glory of God is departing. As I shared, the glory of God, you know, the presence of God dwelt in the Holy of Holies. And it's

He's on his way out. He's now above the threshold of the temple. He's removing himself. And so the glory of God is being removed from the temple of God. Verse 6.

Then it happened when he commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, Take fire from among the wheels, from among the cherubim, that he went in and stood beside the wheels. And the cherub stretched out his hand from among the cherubim to the fire that was among the cherubim, and took some of it and put it into the hands of the man clothed with linen, who took it and went out.

The cherubim appeared to have the form of a man's hand under their wings. And so here we see being fulfilled the command that God gave to this man in the linen. He goes to the cherubim and the cherub reach into the coals and they fill the man's hands with coals and then he's able to go out into the city to spread the coals over the city as God commanded him.

Now Ezekiel in this chapter is really struggling with the vocabulary. He's really having a hard time because he's seeing this spiritual vision which really goes beyond what words can express. It's going beyond the vocabulary that he possesses. And so he's struggling with it. He says in verse 8, the cherubim appeared to have the form of a man's hand under their wings. And so he's describing their wings as

and they have wings, but then there's also a hand under their wings, and he's trying to help us visualize what he is seeing, but it's not quite clear, even as we go farther into this chapter, like we saw in chapter 1. It's really difficult to imagine some of these things that Ezekiel is describing, because what he's seeing is...

supernatural. You know, it's like trying to describe technology to someone who has never been out of the jungle. Trying to describe how a television works or cable TV works or an airplane works or something like that. It would just be very difficult for someone who's not acquainted with technology, with any type of mechanics, that kind of thing. It would be very difficult to describe

how those things work or what they are or what they do. In the same way, for us, it's very difficult for us to understand what's happening in the spiritual realm.

We have to have revelation from God in order to understand even that there is a spiritual realm because we're so oblivious to it. And so Ezekiel has this revelation, but it's just, it's so not what he's used to. It's not what his vocabulary is built for. And so as we go on, you'll see how he's struggling to describe and it's difficult even for us to picture the things that he is talking about. Verse 9.

It says,

When they went, they went toward any of their four directions. They did not turn aside when they went, but followed in the direction the head was facing. They did not turn aside when they went. And their whole body, with their back, their hands, their wings, and the wheels that the four had, were full of eyes all around. As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing, wheel.

Each one had four faces. The first face was the face of a cherub. The second face, the face of a man. The third, the face of a lion. And the fourth, the face of an eagle.

And so here as Ezekiel goes on, he's describing or attempting to describe for us what the cherubim look like. And so he talks about there's these four living creatures and there's a wheel that's connected with each of the four creatures. So there's four living creatures, there's four wheels.

And what do these wheels look like? Well, he says they're like a wheel within a wheel. And here we begin to try to imagine and think and picture what in the world is Ezekiel seeing? What is he trying to describe? And it's really difficult to pinpoint and even visualize what he is talking about. Here's something we can know for sure. He's not talking about something technological. He's talking about something that's spiritual.

And so he's using his limited understanding and describing to the best of his ability, but it's not a helicopter, it's not some type of automobile or airplane or anything like that that he's describing. He's talking about a spiritual being and this is a supernatural vision that he is seeing. And so there's these cherubim.

Cherub is singular, cherubim is plural, but cherubim means that there's more than one cherub or angelic being. And so there's these four cherubim. And he describes them as they go, that they don't turn aside.

Now you can picture it this way, they had four faces and so a face for each direction and so they don't turn their head or they don't turn and go that direction. If they're going to change directions, they just go that direction. So then they go forward, they go backwards, they go right, they go left, you get the picture. They don't turn around like this, they just go in the direction wherever they're called to go.

And so he describes them as cherubim, that they don't turn aside, but that they go straight in the direction that they're going. He describes them as being full of eyes. The living creatures, the wheels, within the wheels, they're full of eyes. And again, we...

try to visualize that. That's hard to picture, hard to understand. It doesn't even, in our mind, as we visualize it, you know, it's not like a strikingly, like, oh, how beautiful type of thing. It's like, that's weird, you know. I don't understand what that's about. But again, he's describing something that's spiritual and he's doing the best that he can to give us a visual of it. And so...

We just try the best we can and receive what he said, but understand that we don't grasp the fullness of what is taking place here. Now there's four faces for each of the four living creatures. And we discussed this back in chapter 1 as he described this same arrangement of these four living creatures.

One face was that of a cherub. Now it's a little bit different than chapter 1. In chapter 1 he described it, instead of a cherub, he described it as the face of an ox. And so, again, he's doing the best he can with what he's got, with the vocabulary he's got. And so what a cherub looks like...

I don't know. Maybe it looks like an ox and maybe they're the same thing. It's just interchangeable. Then he has also, each one has the face of a man and then each one has the face of a lion and then each one has the face of an eagle.

And if you want to dig into this a little bit more and spend some time on this, again, you can look back at chapter 1 and reference that. Look at the vision that's described there. But you can also jump back to Revelation chapter 4. As John is caught up into the presence of God, he sees the four living creatures and he describes them in much the same way of having the faces, the face of a cherub and a man and a lion and an eagle. And so there's...

about this that we're going to get to find out. That's the cool thing, right? We get to try to visualize it and it looks weird in our head and then we're going to get to eternity. We're going to go before the presence of God one day and we're going to go, Oh! That's what you're talking about, Ezekiel. Why didn't you say so? You know, one day it's going to make sense for us. But until then, we just have to use our imaginations and do the best that we can understand and know that this was an incredible supernatural vision that is taking place that Ezekiel is seeing.

Verse 18, actually verse 15. And the cherubim were lifted up. This was the living creature I saw by the river Chabar. He's referring back to chapter 1 of Ezekiel. Verse 16. When the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them. And when the cherubim lifted their wings to mount up from the earth, the same wheels also did not turn from beside them. When the cherubim stood still, the wheels stood still. And when one was lifted up, the other lifted itself up.

for the spirit of the living creatures was in them. And so Ezekiel here is describing again the living creatures, the wheel that's in relationship to them. And wherever they go, the wheel goes where if they're lifted up, the wheels lifted up. If they come down, the wheels brought down. And so this wheel is alongside of each of the living creatures the whole time. Verse 18. Then the glory of the Lord departed from the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim.

And the cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth in my sight. When they went out, the wheels were beside them, and they stood at the door of the east gate of the Lord's house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them. Here again we see the presence of God, the glory of the Lord, departing from the temple.

from within the Holy of Holies to the threshold, now to the east gate, above these cherubim, above where the throne appeared on top of them. And so here's the presence of God now above them, the glory of the Lord above these four living creatures as they move out, moving away from the temple, being removed...

from the city of Jerusalem. And it says that the glory of the God of Israel was above them. He also says that they are lifted up. And so the presence of God here is ascending before Ezekiel. He's watching the presence of God leave the temple. Verse 20.

Verse 1.

And so again, he's calling us back to Ezekiel chapter 1. He says it's the same vision, same four living creatures, the presence of God there. It's the same thing that's happening here. And so he's recalling this vision that God gave him earlier as he sees this incredible vision of the glory of God.

Now the interesting thing about this, or the important thing I think for you and I to take note of, is as the glory of God is departing from the temple, we need to understand what was going on in the hearts of the people.

The people of Jerusalem, as we saw throughout Jeremiah, and even as we've seen in Ezekiel as well, the hearts of the people were way off. They were fully corrupt. They were worshipping all kinds of false gods. But they held on to this vain hope.

They counted on the fact that we have the temple of God here among us. This is the place where God has chosen to put His name. And so they thought that they could live however they wanted to live

And it really wouldn't matter that they wouldn't experience ultimate judgment that Babylon would not be successful because after all, they had the temple there. They had the presence of God there. They were God's people. They had the word of God. And so they were counting on all of these things to save them from the judgment that was coming.

But what we see happening here is God is removing His presence from them. He's removing His protection from them. He's removing Himself from them because of their rebellion against Him.

You know, it's so important for us to understand that we cannot take the grace of God for granted. We cannot just assume that because we're Americans that things are going to be okay. We cannot just assume that because we go to church...

We can live any kind of lifestyle that we want to live as long as we make it to church on Sundays and maybe occasional Wednesdays. We can't just assume that because we read the Bible, we can live however we want to live and God will protect us.

We need to understand and learn the lesson from what is going on here, that God removes His presence, the glory of God departs from the temple, because they are insisting on living a life of rebellion. They're living a lifestyle that's contrary to what God has called them to live. And He makes that clear in chapter 11. And so, let's jump into chapter 11 and look at verses 1 through 4.

Verse 1 says,

And he said to me, Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity and give wicked counsel in the city, who say the time is not near to build houses. This city is the cauldron and we are the meat. Therefore prophesy against them. Prophesy, O son of man. Here in chapter 11, God is giving Ezekiel a prophecy against some of the leaders of the city of Jerusalem.

He takes him to the east gate and there he sees 25 men. He points out two guys that he knew by name, two specific guys. He says they're princes of the people. These are rulers. They have authority. They're people with responsibility. They're leaders among the people. And as he points out these leaders, God says...

This is what they're saying. This is what they're thinking. Ezekiel, I want you to rebuke them because their thoughts are wrong. They are incorrect. Their hearts are in the wrong place. So he says, prophesy against them. Prophesy, O son of man. Now what's going on in the hearts of these men that God would send Ezekiel or desire for Ezekiel to prophesy against them? Well, he says, they give wicked counsel.

Here they are at the gate of the temple and God says they give wicked counsel. I think that's an important point to take note of. Not everyone who is at the Lord's house gives good counsel. Just because someone at church has encouraged you or told you something, understand that it doesn't mean that that's exactly what God wants you to do.

And so we need to take note and pay attention to what the Word of God has to say and to hear from the Lord the confirmation as we seek counsel, as we seek to move forward in the things that God is calling us to do. Because not everybody, here are these guys, these leaders, they're among the people at the Lord's house. You would expect them to give you good counsel, but he says that they give wicked counsel.

to the people. And their wicked counsel is based upon what's going on in their heart. And what do they say? The time is not near.

Now, as the translation goes, it can be a little bit confusing. In fact, there should be a break there, I believe. That the time is not near, referring to the time of judgment. That they are not going to experience the judgment that Babylon is bringing. And so, the time is not near. They're not going to experience the judgment. They're actually encouraging the people to build houses in Jerusalem.

And the reason why, they described the city as a cauldron and we are the meat.

Now, when you look at that picture, when you look at that visualization in your mind of the cauldron and meat inside the cauldron, you know, you think that's not a good thing, right? They're going to be boiled alive kind of idea. But actually what they're saying, the city being the cauldron and them being the meat, is that they are going to be protected and sheltered.

And so what they're saying is they're not going to experience this judgment of Babylon, but they're going to survive it. And so build houses. The time of judgment is not near. That's what they're saying. Now, how do I know that? Well, when you look at what God responds to them, he makes it very clear. This is what was going on in their hearts. And so these people are giving wicked counsel because they're thinking we're not going to be judged.

We're going to be safe, so build houses. And they're disregarding the word of God, and so they're giving wicked counsel. And that's why not all counsel we receive at the house of the Lord from people is good, because not everyone who is here, not everyone who comes to the house of the Lord is actually believing God and obeying his word. And so we want to receive counsel from those who take heed to the word of God and live it out.

And so take note of those who walk according to the word of God and walk in obedience to God and make sure that you receive counsel from them. But still verify it with the word of God. Verify it and let God confirm it in your heart. Well, let's look at the prophecy that God gives to Ezekiel for them in verse 5.

Then the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me and said to me, Speak, thus says the Lord. Thus you have said, O house of Israel, for I know the things that come into your mind. You have multiplied your slain in this city, and you have filled its streets with the slain. Therefore, thus says the Lord God, Your slain, whom you have laid in its midst, they are the meat, and this city is the cauldron. But I shall bring you out of the midst of it.

You have feared the sword and I will bring a sword upon you, says the Lord God. And I will bring you out of its midst and deliver you into the hands of strangers and execute judgments on you. You shall fall by the sword. I will judge you at the border of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.

The city shall not be your cauldron, nor shall you be the meat in its midst. I will judge you at the border of Israel, and you shall know that I am the Lord. For you have not walked in my statutes, nor executed my judgments, but have done according to the customs of the Gentiles, which are all around you. Here God rebukes these leaders among the people.

He rebukes them and says, you think that this city is the cauldron and you are the meat. You think that you're going to be protected and you're going to be established and you're not going to experience judgment. You feared the sword, God says, but here's what's going to happen. I'm going to take you out of this city.

And I'm going to judge you on the borders of Israel. This city is not going to protect you. You're not going to be safe in this judgment. You are going to experience the judgment that I have brought upon you. He says, I will execute judgments on you. It's going to happen. Thus says the Lord, he tells those through Ezekiel. They're saying, hey, we're going to be protected. We're going to be safe. It's not going to happen to us. It's not going to come to us.

God says, you're not listening. You're not paying attention. I'm going to lead you out of this city and you will receive the judgment that I have laid out for you. It's interesting to look here as God tells them that they will fall by the sword as he's pronouncing this judgment upon them. That even in the judgment, we see that God is reaching out to his people.

Even the judgment is an opportunity for them to know God. He says there in verse 10, The objective and the purpose, what God is working in them, is that they would know that He is the Lord.

We talked about this a couple of weeks ago. What's it going to take for you to know that He is the Lord? We can make Him Lord of our lives right now. We can choose to give Him all authority. We can choose to surrender and submit to Him. Or we can resist His will. We can ignore what He has said. We can turn a deaf ear to what He is speaking to us. And He will make sure that we know that He is the Lord. If it has to be the hard way, well, so be it. Even if it's not the hard way,

Either way, we will know that He is the Lord. Whether forcibly or willingly, we will know that He is the Lord. And that's what's happening here. They would not repent as God was sending messengers to them. They would not repent even as Ezekiel is bringing forth this prophecy. And so, God will bring them to the point through judgment that they would know that He is the Lord.

Now God tells them the reason that he's bringing this judgment upon them there in verse 12. He says, Here's the issue that God has with them. They are not walking in obedience.

They're not walking according to the Word of God. Instead, they're walking according to the customs of the people around them. That is, God told them to worship the Lord God and to worship Him only. The people around them worshipped all these other gods. And they picked up those practices. And they walked according to the Gentiles. They walked according to the people around them. I think this is an important point for us as the people of God. Are we walking according to the Word of God?

Are we walking according to God's statutes, to what God has for us, both through the scriptures, but also the things that He has put upon our hearts personally? Are we being obedient and faithful to what God is speaking to us? Or are we walking according to the world around us? Do we just practice the same things that the world around us practices, because it's easy, because it's convenient, because everybody's doing it? Or are we being faithful?

to what God is speaking to us through His Word, through the Holy Spirit upon our hearts, through those convictions that He's given to us. They are receiving the judgment of God because they refuse to walk according to the Word of God, because they refuse to be obedient to God, because they choose instead to walk according to the world around them. We need to be careful.

Again, not to just assume that because we go to church or because we pray to prayer, because we name the name Christian, that we'll be okay living however we want to live or living according to the world around us and think that we won't experience any type of consequences or judgment. We need to understand that was the mentality of the people then.

And they experienced the judgment of God. They weren't protected by rituals or religion. They were still offering sacrifices that the law prescribed. They were still going to the temple, just like there are those who continue to go to church. But they live in sin. They disregard the word of God.

Thinking, hey, I'm religious. Hey, I went to church. Hey, I read my Bible. Hey, I did these things. And so I'm protected. I'm okay. This makes up for the rest of the wrong that I do. But it doesn't work that way. God wants us to live in obedience to Him. And for those who are of Christ, for those who belong to God, He helps us to be obedient to Him. We'll get to that in just a minute. But let's pick it up in verse 13. Verse 13.

Now it happened while I was prophesying that Pelletiah, the son of Benaiah, died. And I fell on my face and cried with a loud voice and said, Ah, Lord God, will you make a complete end of the remnant of Israel?

Again, the word of the Lord came to me saying, Son of man, your brethren, your relatives, your countrymen, and all the house of Israel in its entirety are those about whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Get far away from the Lord. This land has been given to us as a possession.

Ezekiel is bringing forth this prophecy as God has told him. He's pronouncing this judgment upon these leaders that God has sent him to. And as he does, one of them falls over dead.

And Ezekiel is heartbroken. He begins to freak out. He's being obedient to speak forth what God has called him to speak forth. And that's what you got to understand about a prophet. It's not an easy job. This is difficult. He didn't take joy in this. But as he's bringing forth this message of judgment, one of the guys dies right there on the spot.

And Ezekiel, he gets a little bit freaked out. His heart begins to break. He says, Oh Lord, are you going to destroy the whole remnant? Are you going to wipe out the whole remnant? Ezekiel here is a little bit confused as he's bringing forth this judgment. Ezekiel's thought, his mindset, is that those who were left in Jerusalem are the remnant that God has. God promises there will always be a remnant of His people, those who are faithful to Him, those that He will preserve and protect.

And throughout history, there has been that remnant. There's never been a time where there's not a remnant, not those who are faithful to God. Well, Ezekiel, he's there captive in Babylon with a bunch of other Jews who were led away captive by the Babylonians.

He's thinking the people who are left in Jerusalem are the remnant. Those are the ones who are left. Those are the ones that God is protecting. And this is what the people of Jerusalem thought too. Hey, we're the remnant. God's going to take care of us. This judgment's not going to happen. And so when the guy falls down dead, Ezekiel gets scared. The remnant's dying off. But what God goes on to explain to him is,

is that the remnant is actually those who are in captivity. The people who are in Jerusalem, they're not the remnant. They're going to be destroyed. They're going to be judged. They're going to experience the battle of Babylon as they conquer the city and level it. But God says, those who I've scattered around, those who I've brought out of the city, they're the remnant. And I will be a little sanctuary among them. It won't be the temple that they go to, but I'll be in their midst. I will be with them.

And so God is promising to be with them as they're scattered abroad. He says that He's going to be their sanctuary in the countries where they have gone. And although they've been cast far off, God's not limited to that location, that He's going to be their sanctuary wherever they are. And so they didn't have to go back to Jerusalem to be faithful to God. But there, wherever they were, in the countries where they had gone,

They could be faithful to God and God would be there in their midst. Verse 17, Therefore say, thus says the Lord God, I will gather you from the peoples, assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. And they will go there and they will take away all its detestable things and all its abominations from there. Then I will give them one heart.

And I will put a new spirit within them and take away the stony hearts out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh that they may walk in my statutes and keep my judgments and do them. And they shall be my people and I will be their God. But as for those whose hearts follow the desire for their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their deeds on their own heads, says the Lord God."

again we see that it comes down to how we live our life, the activities that we involve ourselves in, the actions that we take. God says His remnant, those who are His, as they're faithful to Him wherever they've been scattered, He says, I'm going to regather them. I'm going to do a new work. Yeah, they may have been scattered for a time, but I'm going to bring them back into the land. And this was partially fulfilled today.

70 years of captivity took place in Babylon, but then they were set free to go back to build the temple of God, to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. They were back established in the land. And so it's partially fulfilled. They were regathered into the land. It's also been partially fulfilled in more modern times. In 1948, Israel became a nation again. And even now, there continues to be a stream of the Jewish people who are going back

to their land. They were scattered through the different wars and oppression and things throughout the last 2,000 years of history. They were scattered all over the place. There's Jewish populations all over the world. Even in... Where did we go on our cruise, babe?

The second stop? Yeah. Not the next one. Mazatlan. In Mazatlan, the cab driver, as he was giving us a tour, he was describing there, there was a big Jewish population there in Mazatlan that were driven there because of the wars and they sought refuge there. They were safe there. And so, there's...

Jews all over the world, populations all around in different nations, and they're moving back, they're being brought back, and so we're seeing it again partially fulfilled. We will see the ultimate fulfillment, of course, as we look towards the end of days, towards the millennial kingdom, that God will bring the Jewish nation back. He'll bring His people back and establish them fully, and we'll see the full fulfillment of these things.

But he gives some special promises here along with the regathering of the people back to the land. He says that he will give them one heart.

He'll put a new spirit within them. He'll take out the stony heart and He'll give them a heart of flesh. Now, not flesh in the negative connotation that we might think, you know, a sinful heart, but a heart that's soft, that's moldable, that's pliable. That's the idea. Not a hard heart, but a soft heart. A heart that is repentant or penitent. And He says the objective, the purpose of this is that they would walk in His statutes and keep His judgments. And He says,

And so God is saying, look, I'm going to do a new work. I'm going to bring them back. I'm going to help them. I'm going to give them a new heart. They're going to be able to walk with me and enjoy relationship with me.

And so again, we've seen it partially fulfilled, but the ultimate fulfillment will come during that millennial kingdom as God will gather them back. But the amazing thing we see for us as believers today is that this is fulfilled completely within us. This is part of the new covenant, the new heart that God gives. In 2 Corinthians 5, chapter 5, verse 17, he tells us that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

That God removes our old heart, the heart of stone, the hard heart, and He replaces it with a heart that is soft. He replaces it with a heart that has His Word inscribed upon it, His commands, His statutes. He gives us His Holy Spirit that we're able to walk in obedience, that we're able to walk with Him. You see, the real issue here is how we walk.

It's not about how much religion we have or how religious we are or what types of rituals we practice. It's about how do we walk? How do we live our lives? That was the issue with the people. He says in verse 21, for those whose hearts follow the desire of their detestable things and their abominations, He says, well, I'm going to recompense upon them their deeds on their own heads. The way that they live their life, I'm going to pay them back accordingly, God is saying.

Now those who receive the work of God, receive the new heart, receive the Holy Spirit and walk in obedience to God, they will be blessed. They will enjoy relationship with God. But those who practice and follow after the detestable things of the heart, those who practice and follow after the things that are not of God, they will experience the consequences for their rebellion. Their deeds will be recompensed upon their own heads. Verse 22 says,

So the cherubim lifted up their wings with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the Lord of Israel was high above them. And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain, which is on the east side of the city. Then the Spirit took me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea to those in captivity. And the vision that I had seen went up from me. So I spoke to those in captivity of all the things the Lord had shown me.

And so here we find the conclusion. Back in chapter 8, he was there with the people in Babylon. He's taken by vision to God, to Jerusalem. He sees all of these incredible things, all of these astonishing things as far as the wickedness of the people were concerned. And now he concludes the vision. The glory of God departs from the temple and rests on the mountain east of the city. That would be the Mount of Olives.

east of the temple. And so God is removed from the temple. What they were counting on, what they were hoping in, that structure, they figured, you know, God won't allow it to be destroyed. It's too precious to Him. So we're safe. We can live however we want to live and just stay near the temple and we'll be fine. But God has removed His presence from the temple.

in preparation for the judgment that is to come, for Babylon to come in and to knock it down, to level it and to bring the judgment that he has promised. And now that vision has ended, he's brought back by vision back to where he was and he now shares the vision with those who are around him, his own people there that are also captive in Babylon. And so the people thought that the glory could not depart.

They figured, we've got the temple, we're safe. It reminded me of Samson. You know, he thought that the glory of God could not depart from his life. He thought that his strength could not depart. And that's why he disregarded what God said. And that's why he ate the honey out of the carcass of the lion. That's why he flirted with Delilah and played around with and finally told her of what was going on and how if she shaved his head, he would lose his strength.

He thought, my strength won't fail. It won't depart from me. The glory of God will not leave me. And so I can do this. I can live this way. I can continue on in this activity. But we're mistaken if we think that way. If we think, hey, we're safe. This is the cauldron and I'm the meat. And I'm safe. I'm protected. So I'll just live however I want to live. God says, look, you can't get around the judgment of God.

by being clever and religious. You can receive what God has for you. Receive the new heart and the Spirit of God. And He'll help you walk according to His Word. You can't do it without His help. And so it requires that we surrender to Him. But in doing so, we experience the abundant life that He promised. Now, if we insist on our own way, He says He'll recompense our deeds upon our own heads. We'll receive the consequences for that.

But if we'll surrender, if we'll know right now that He is the Lord, that He reigns on high, then we will receive the help that we need to be able to walk with Him. The glory of God departs when His people turn away from Him, when His people live in disobedience. Let's not take the grace of God for granted. Just because He doesn't strike us down the moment we sin doesn't mean He approves or that we can just continue on and it really doesn't matter. The glory of God departs

When His people walk in disobedience.

It's hard to imagine, even for us, you know. Movements of God that have taken place, revivals that have happened throughout history that have just been incredible. As people are turned back to God and you would think if you were there in the midst of it, wow, this will never end. This work is too incredible. This work of God is too glorious. It's not going to stop. But the glory of God departs as His people begin to walk again in disobedience.

And great revivals and movements of the past that people thought, hey, this is just going to go on for forever until Jesus comes. This is amazing. They couldn't think. It was unimaginable that the glory would depart from that work of God. But as the people, as the people disobeyed, in the same way this nation, right? Going back to the beginning, oh, it would be hard to imagine. They're holding prayer meetings within the Capitol, within the White House, right?

Hard to imagine the glory departing from this nation at one time. But we've seen it. It's moved from the Holy of Holies perhaps to the threshold or maybe even on the way to the mountain east of us because the people have chosen to walk in disobedience. We must not take the grace of God for granted and that we just continue to live in sin and continue to disregard what God is speaking to us.

We must turn to Him. Receive the new heart that He has for us. Receive the Holy Spirit that we would be able to walk in obedience, to keep His statutes, His ordinances, those things which He's speaking to our heart. The worship team is going to come up and lead us in a song. And as they do, I would encourage you to allow God to search your heart. They received judgment because they walked according to the customs of the Gentiles. Are we walking according to the world around us

and not paying attention to what God is speaking to us. Let's not think that we are immune from God's glory departing from us. And so let's take this time to let God search our hearts. Are you walking in His statutes? Or are you walking according to the world? Let's worship the Lord together.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.