The Four Beasts of Ezekiel 1

Kongsvinger Lutheran Church iconKongsvinger Lutheran Church

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Biblical teaching from July 22nd, 2023

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Alright, we are going to pray and then we're going to get started Lord Jesus as we open your word
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We're going to be taking a look at one of the difficult passages of Scripture one that is hard to understand
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We ask Lord that you would help us to rightly understand it and that that you would through your
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Holy Spirit give us the strength and the fortitude to work through the tough passages of Scripture that That we are oft
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Tempted to just overlook or skip through we ask all of this in Jesus name. Amen Alright, so for the
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Bible study for today, I've picked a odd topic You know if I'm gonna do a one -off
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Bible study What can I do it on and my my desire is to address kind of a bigger issue
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And that is is that have you noticed that we? Americans and I would note that this kind of stretches to anybody who's kind of trained in general
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Western civilization of the 21st century We are highly distracted people in fact our attention spans goldfish have better attention spans than we do and As a result of that when we approach the
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Bible and the scriptures Oftentimes our eyes will roll back in our heads.
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We will think this is ridiculous This is stupid if you don't believe me, what do you do in January?
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We said I'm gonna read the whole Bible this year Right as soon as you get to the first chapter that has a genealogy and it says that so -and -so
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Begat so -and -so begat so -and -so you think come on. What does this have to do with?
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anything, right then you get into Leviticus and Numbers and Deuteronomy and what do you do with that?
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It you're gonna know there are portions of Scripture that are ridiculously difficult to understand
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Whereas a large portion of it is super simple to kind of get it's not that hard and we like those parts that are easy and we just skip over and Forget the parts that are hard That there's a saying
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We're all familiar with and saying goes like this. The devil is in the details. I would
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I beg to differ when it comes to that particular statement and The reason why is because I would note
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Christ is in the details when it comes to Scripture Not the devil the devil may be in the details when you're working with a crime scene
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You know that where you have multiple murder victims and things like this and you're having to you know Look for DNA and fiber evidence and stuff like that.
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Surely the devil is in those details But when we look at the Scripture We oftentimes are robbing ourselves of a really deep and rich understanding of Scripture because of our limited attention span and We're going to use
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Ezekiel chapter 1 as a prime example of a text that on its face
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Would cause our eyes to roll back and for us to go what on earth did
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I just read? Yeah, and so yeah, I by the way, I I'm speaking autobiographically here as well
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Am I allowed to do that as a pastor? I don't know. I'm doing it Anyway, you know bring me up on charges for confessing that I'm a sinner and I struggle with parts portions of Scripture But I found that the more
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I apply myself to the difficult bits the more rich and Textured and amazing the
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Bible is and I would note this also Ezekiel is not a book this this especially this opening chapter that it is not possible to understand this apart from the
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New Testament and You're gonna note then that that means that every Orthodox Jew on planet
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Earth who rejects Christ as their Messiah which is ridiculous and Refuses to read the
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New Testament because of it. They are incapable of a right understanding of this text
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I'm gonna kind of put that out there right now and so a lot of there are a lot of biblical scholars who will basically say you're doing violence to the text and you'd like Doing violence to the
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Bible dude, because you know, you got to just let it each book kind of stand or fall on its own
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Really? That's not how the scriptures work because the scriptures are constantly quoting each other
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And so they're where you see similarities where you see the same vision or the same beasts or things like this you had better pay attention to it because if you're not and and you're just gonna try to figure out how to Understand this in a silo.
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That's not how the Bible works. So with that what we are going to do is we're going to I'm gonna do a little pre -work here and We're gonna talk about what is
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Ezekiel about because there's we got to get our context But once we get our context,
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I'm gonna read out Ezekiel chapter 1 and If after reading it out without any commentary your eyes are rolling back and you are confused as all get out
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That's the appropriate first response Alright, that's that's when you run across a biblical text where at the end of it you sit there and go
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I Don't understand anything. I just read Correct and So as my dad used to say when
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I couldn't figure things out when I was a kid and he'd give me a project He'd say so what are you gonna do about it? Right, you know and I think back to a very very
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Sad chapter in my son's life. We gave him a project that involved tea lights and For the life of him.
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He could not figure out how to get these tea lights to work. It's pretty simple stuff I mean, this isn't this wasn't very difficult
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And so we have always since then said that tea lights are Joshua's Bane, right?
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You know you you want to send Josh into a early grave give him tea lights okay, not the kind that are now are like LED and work off of you know, like little solar panels on the top of the things the kind you have to used to have plug in there we're on a timer and it was it was that that still stands out as a highlight of Raising my kids watching
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Josh happened to solve this problem and I knew it wasn't above him It's just that he was he
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Sometimes struggled with applying himself and his frustration levels would get to the point where it would get in the way of him solving things
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I'm not saying that I ever did anything like that ever as a child or as an adult but I would note that it is important that we that we not let our
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Frustration levels our inattention levels get in the way of applying ourself.
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So let me give you the context we worked our way through the book of Jeremiah here at Kongs of Inger and you'll remember
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Jeremiah is the last prophet that God sends before God acts in wrath and in judgment against Apostate Judah now remember when
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King David was King Israel was a United Kingdom They were a United Kingdom all twelve tribes one
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King After Solomon's reign and Solomon took a hard turn into the bazaar and idolatrous
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This is just a cautionary tale those of you desiring 700 wives. I advise strongly against it
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Especially pagan chicks that want to worship pagan deities. That's part of Solomon's problem
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And so after him God tore Israel into two pieces the Northern Kingdom and the
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Southern Kingdom Northern Kingdom ten tribes Southern Kingdom to Levites kind of interspersed between the two of them
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But what happened is the Northern Kingdom went deep into idolatry from day one
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Because the fellow who set up the Northern Kingdom whom God appointed to do so knew that if the people in the
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Northern Kingdom had to travel to Jerusalem in order to worship and offer sacrifices that their hearts would yearn for Reunification of the kingdom and so he set up a false temple complex on the top of Mount Gerizim near Beth El and And from day one they went off to the races in complete apostasy
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God sent prophet after prophet after prophet which Profited them nothing because they refused to hear the
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Word of God. So God took the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom scraped them out of the
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Promised Land and Dispersed them into the nations and we refer to them as the ten lost tribes of Israel.
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Good luck finding them Some of them may be some of our ancestors You just never know that God kind of scattered them all over the place
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And do you think Judah learned the lesson from what God did to the Northern Kingdom? Nope, they didn't learn the lesson
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So they were they were close on the heels of the Northern Kingdom They also went into deep apostasy and God finally said enough is enough
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He brings in Nebuchadnezzar 90 % of the Jews of Judah die in those multiple campaigns a remnant of them are sent off into exile in Babylon and unfortunately a few false prophets kind of got swept into the mix and the false prophets of That this time we're saying to the
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Jews in exile in Babylon. Don't even unpack your bags I've got a download from God and there's gonna be a suddenly and and suddenly we're going to be returning to Jerusalem So don't don't don't even you know, get used to it here pretend you're on vacation or whatever
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And so God in Jeremiah chapter 29 sends a letter
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Through the Prophet Jeremiah who's and it's dictated the basic says 70 years have been appointed 70 so Plant vineyards or plant crops buy homes give your sons and daughters in marriage to each other pray for the welfare of the place to which
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I am sending you and And and as for the prophets who are prophesying to you that you're gonna be returning quickly.
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Don't listen to them They're filling your head with lies. And so this is part of the story.
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So Ezekiel he is He is now commissioned by God five years into the exile
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So where Jeremiah? ends Ezekiel picks up and Ezekiel is going to prophesy
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Not quite half the time. I mean more like, you know, maybe a third, you know 27 years of the 70 and he is sent specifically for the purpose of Straightening these folks out and giving a true prophecy about what's going to happen and you'll know by about the year 2025 people are sitting there going.
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I don't think we're going home tomorrow Right, and the false prophets have lost all credibility and and then through the
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Prophet Ezekiel the work of the Prophet Ezekiel there begins to be a
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Resurgence slow at first of an understanding and a desire to know
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God's words and what God has really said but it begins with a
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Ridiculously difficult vision one that as far as I'm concerned if this isn't the hardest text in all of Scripture It's pretty darn close.
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It would it would be like a second a close second I can't think off the top of my head of a text that's more difficult than this.
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So that's our context so we are in Babylon and Ezekiel Lives near the
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Chabar Canal. Yeah, you have to say it like that Yeah, you know, we Americans don't have that that constant constant
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Involves a lot of phlegm the Germans have it. We don't right but so he's near the
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Chabar Canal and God's Christ is going to appear to him legitimate I'll kind of let a little bit of let a little bit this out
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Jesus is going to appear to him and if you read any of the esoteric Gnostics or the people in the
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New Age or if you watch Does anyone still watch the History Channel? Because I mean do they even do history on the
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History Channel anymore? I you know is an American Pickers really isn't isn't about history
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It kind of is but it's not you know, they've kind of resorted to you know, like reality TV shows
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But all that being said from time to time as you're flipping, you know looking at what's available on the History Channel They'll talk about ancient aliens and things like this
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And so the the general consensus among the George Norrie crowd is he even a thing anymore?
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You know that you know the that UFO radio program that would broadcast coast to coast.
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I'm showing my age here That was only yesterday but the general consensus among them is is that this is an actual encounter with UFOs and an alien driving a spaceship
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I'm kind of glad she's not because it's this this has nothing to do with aliens It has nothing to do with the spaceship either.
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All right, so let's let's uh with that Let's take a look at the text in the 30th year in the fourth month now
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We have to immediately pause here for a second 30th year what? Okay Jews believe that Ezekiel is talking about the fact that he was 30 years old when this vision occurred to him because we don't have any other
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Referent and there are some that the question whether or not that's the case. But one thing we know for sure
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This isn't the 30th year of the exile This is we're only a few months in you
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But you'll see what's going on in the 30th year in the fourth month on the fifth day of the month I was among the exiles by the
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Havar Canal the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God Don't lose sight of this detail
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Okay, when when John the Apostle has visions of heaven and visions of God Do any of those things make any sense to you?
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okay, so Already, we know that we're going to be in a genre of scripture that requires a little bit more of a careful
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Reading. Okay. Let me let me let me find a cross -reference here and I'm going to what do you see?
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Just do a quick Search. Here we go. Ah, yeah. All right, Jeremiah chapter 1
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Jeremiah chapter 1 so here is kind of a At least a cross -reference that we can begin to work with right and so in chapter 1 of Jeremiah God commissions
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Jeremiah touches his mouth He becomes you know commissions him as a prophet to the nations and then here's what we see
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Jeremiah 111 and the word of Yahweh came to me saying Jeremiah. What do you see?
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So he's gonna see a vision that God has given him. All right, and he said to me I see an almond branch
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And the Lord said to me you've seen well for I'm watching over my word to perform it Do you see what's going on here?
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They didn't by the way pun intended. Okay. Okay. He sees an almond branch
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I'd go it's I wouldn't even know what an almond branch looks like to be honest with you I you know,
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I'm not that skilled in identifying plants. I'd have to get an app for it You know like, you know photograph the leaf and send it to a server and they'd have to tell me what it is
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That's an almond branch, right? So and you'll note then it the almond branch
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Isn't the point? What's the point the meaning of the almond branch?
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The that's the point the meaning of the almond branch So we'll note that when we're dealing with visions visions come to profits in symbolic imagery
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All the branch equals God is watching over his word to perform it. I Would never make that connection without God's assistance, right?
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So then the word of Yahweh came to me a second time saying what do you see? I see a boiling pot facing away from the north
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How on earth do you I mean I in my own house if someone were to put the kettle on All right, put it on the stove fire it up.
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And you know, and God says, what do you see? I see a kettle and Hang on a second.
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I gotta figure out which way it's facing. Yeah North is that way you get the point but so you know in this vision
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He sees a boiling pot and he sees it facing away from the north is
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The point the boiling pot and facing away from the north. No, the point is what it represents
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Got it Okay So with that we are in Ezekiel.
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Let me come back here. Okay, the heavens were open. I saw visions of God Which means we're going to see
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Strange things Strange things, but the point isn't the strange thing the point is what the strange thing means and Like I said, there isn't a
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Jew alive who actually understands what those strange things are because in order to figure it out
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You need the book of Revelation So on the fifth day of the month it was the fifth year of the exile of Jehoiakim now a little bit of a note here the person currently reigning in Jerusalem is
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Jehoiakim's uncle he is not a rightful heir to the throne of David So is that a kaya is a fellow who's been propped up?
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He's a puppet king set up by Well by Nebuchadnezzar and so this is an important little historical detail as well
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Think of it this way if if Muslims were to hijack a you know a plane in which
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King Charles was on board and they were to take him and abscond with him and Bring him into exile in in Iraq, right?
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And then they set up a monarch instead Okay that monarch would not be viewed as the valid monarch and that time in Judah was not seen as a time when they had a valid monarch the
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Son of David rightful heir of the throne is in exile. That's a big part of all of this, right?
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So the word of Yahweh came to Ezekiel the priest the son of Buzi in the land of the Chaldeans by the
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Chabar Canal And the hand of Yahweh was upon him there and here it comes
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No commentary. I'm going to read as I looked behold a stormy wind came out of the north and a great cloud with brightness around it and fire flashing forth continually and in the midst of the fire as it were gleaming metal and From the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures
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And it was their appearance and this was their appearance They had a human likeness
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But each had four faces and each of them had four wings their legs were straight the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf's foot and they sparkled like burnished bronze
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Under their wings on their four sides They had human hands and the four had their faces and their wings
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Thus their wings touched one another each one of them went straight forward without Turning as they went as for the likeness of their faces each had a human face
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The four had the face of a lion on the right side The four had the face of an ox on the left side the four had the face of an eagle
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Such were their faces and their wings were spread out above each creature had two wings each of which touched the wing of another while two covered their bodies and Each went straight forward
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Wherever the spirit would go they went without turning as they went as for the likeness of the living creatures
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Their appearance was like burning coals of fire like the appearance of Torches moving to and fro among the living creatures and the fire was bright out of the fire went forth lightning and the living creatures darted to and fro like the appearance of a flash of lightning as I now as I looked at the living creatures
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I saw a wheel on the earth beside the living creatures one for each of the four of them and As for the appearance of the wheels and their construction their appearance was like the gleaming of barrel
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The four had the same likeness their appearance in construction being as it were a wheel within a wheel
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When they went they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went
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Their rims were tall and awesome and the rims of all four were full of eyes all around and when the living creatures went the wheels went beside them and they went the end when the living creatures rose from the earth the wheels rose
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Wherever the spirit wanted to go they went and the wheels rose Along with them the spirit of living creatures was in the wheels when those went these went and when those stood these stood and When those rose from the earth the wheels also rose along with them, but the spirit of living creature was in the wheels
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Over the heads of the living creatures. There was the likeness of an expanse
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Shining like awe Inspiring crystals spread out above their heads and under there the expanse their wings were stretched out straight one
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Toward another and each creature had two wings covering its body And when they went
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I heard the sound of their wings like the sound of many waters Like the sound of the
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Almighty a sound of tumult like the sound of an army When they stood still they let down their wings and there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads when they stood still they let down their wings and above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne in appearance like Sapphire and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance and Upward from what had the appearance of his waist?
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I saw as it were gleaming metal like the appearance of fire enclosed all around and Downward from what had the appearance of his waist?
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I saw as it were the appearance of fire And there was brightness around him like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain
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So was the appearance of the brightness all around Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Yahweh when
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I saw it I fell on my face and I heard the voice of one speaking All right, no commentary thoughts
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How clear is that The any of you have any idea what it is
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I just read four creatures human likeness
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And then you got four wheels within a wheel They're kind of like casters if you that caster wheels, right and wherever these things go
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They do not turn and they move quick as lightning and they go wherever the spirit tells them to go and then right above the four of them is a rakia and expanse
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Hmm, that's a that's a word that comes from the book of Genesis chapter 1 It gets translated in the
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King James as the firmament, right? so above the four of them, there's a rakia and expanse and the likeness of a throne
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Yeah, this is clearly not about UFOs I would know they focus in on the wheel within a wheel bit
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But there's four wheels within a wheel and they're right beside the four creature they're like caster wheels and when they raise up from the earth, they raise up with them and Yeah What on earth are we supposed to do with that?
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Now remember the point is not What he saw?
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The point is the meaning of what he saw How on earth are we supposed to unpack that right
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Y 'all I just You give me the looks I thought you would yeah This this is like the same look
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I get from you guys when I deliver a really bad pastor joke Okay Okay now
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Bruce Burns in the chat and I'm not sharing this answer yet He has given what
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I would consider to be a very good answer Okay, and Jacob also has given a good answer, but let's talk about before we get to the correct answer
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Let's figure out how we all can get there Because part of this study is not about finding the the right answer just giving it it's about the journey to get to it
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That's what it's about. So let me let me point this out and Over and again people ask me what's a good commentary?
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Okay Kretzmann project dot org This is the popular commentary of dr.
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Paul Kretzmann who's now long in his grave I think this was written over a hundred years ago. This is about as old as my house and This is keyed to the
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King James Version of the Bible and the the journey to figuring out what these mean are going to require you to be in Dialogue with those who have gone before us and those who've taken the time to work out some of this stuff
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So a good commentary like Kretzmann's commentary is a great place to start
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I also strongly recommend the Lutheran study Bible not the Lutheran self -study Bible That's what the
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NIV but the Lutheran study Bible that is keyed to the ESV That is also a great place to start to unpack all of this stuff because what they've tried to do in the
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Lutheran study Bible is take the Concordia commentary series and then
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Bring that high Biblical scholarship down to a lay level that doesn't require you to know
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Hebrew and Greek and things like this Those are great resources and when you do that work
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They're going to point you to other portions of Scripture let me show you one of the one of the portions of Scripture where they're going to point you to and That's going to be the book of Genesis.
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Let me explain Okay, so if I go here if I go to the book of Genesis and I'm going to go to Genesis chapter 2 odd place to go but listen to this section of Genesis 2 and Then we'll also take you will kind of figure out how this has to do with anything because we're dealing with a number at this point and When you have four of something in Scripture There is a it's a very rare number that shows up and we're not doing numerology here
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We're doing kind of like biblical connections There's there's a certain way in which the church has understood the number four not
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Jews, but the church So here's what says when the bush of the field was yet in the land No small plant the field had yet sprung up for Yahweh Elohim had not caused it to rain on the land
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There was no man to work the ground and a mist was going up from the land that was watering the whole face of the ground then
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Yahweh Elohim formed the man of the dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living creature and The and Yahweh Elohim planted a garden in Eden in the east and there he put the man whom he had formed
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Out of the ground Yahweh Elohim made a spring made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food the tree of life was in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil a
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River flowed out of Eden to water the garden and there it divided and became four rivers
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The name of the first is the peace shown it is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havala where there is gold and The gold of that land is good
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But Delia and onyx stone are there the name of the second river is the Gihon? And this is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush and the name of the third river is the
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Tigris which flows East of Assyria and the fourth is the Euphrates Now we read this in the book of Genesis chapter 2 and we sit there and go
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Ah, geography Right, yeah, yeah yeah, it always cracks me up when on social media, you know, somebody has a channel dedicated to going out into public spaces and interviewing people on basic geography
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I mean Americans clearly have no clue about Anything on planet
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Earth other than like their local state city region or whatever It's it's terrifying when you think about it you know, and the answers are always funny to watch but But why?
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Why are there four rivers here? for And I wouldn't know that the church fathers have a certain way of reading this text and we'll look at that in a minute
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But here we have another example of four and these are vital rivers that are providing life sustaining
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Work in the you know in in the idyllic earth before the fall but the number four when you consider its significance and how scripture uses it has a very significant meaning then that Shows that God was prefiguring something
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That finds its fulfillment in the New Testament. It was there all along Okay.
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Now, let me give you another text. I have to go now to the book of Revelation Revelation chapter 4.
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Okay and in Revelation chapter 4 We have this vision.
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So John has just been given the texts of the letters that he that he's dictate that got
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Christ is dictated to the seven churches of Asia and Now as soon as he's done with the letter dictation part it begins thus after this
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I looked and behold a door standing open in heaven and the first voice which I had heard
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Speaking to me like a trumpet said come up here. This is Jesus notice. It's in red letters
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I'll show you what must take place after this Hilarious little side note here and that is is that when you talk to pre -millennial dispensationalists and you challenge them show me one
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Passage of Scripture that Clearly teaches the rapture. This is the one that go they point to see it's right here.
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The rapture is right here. Come up here Okay No This is talking to an individual.
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This isn't the rapture so once I was in the spirit and behold a throne stood in heaven with one seated on the throne and He who sat there had the appearance of Jasper and carnelian and around the throne was a what
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Rainbow Hold on a second here Ezekiel. He saw the four creatures with the four faces and above them was a rakia an expanse of firmament and in that and above that Was something like the likeness of a throne and he described a part of it as having as being like the bow
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That's in the rain, right? Okay, and no, this does not mean that Jesus is pro -lgbtq
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XYZ LLOP. All right, that's that not it's not what this is pointing to those people have hijacked this right
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Yeah, that's it and perverted it right and I don't I legitimately do not believe that it is an unintentional perversion
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Okay the rainbow Itself is part as a major feature of the throne of Christ the demons know what they're doing
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And so the rainbow flag in and of itself is a way of soiling the throne of Christ That's the right way to look at it if you think it well
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God put the bow at the end of the flood Yes, but the more important thing is is that the rainbow and its colors appear at the throne of Christ?
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So that's that's the real target. The real target is Of the of the rainbow flag is a besmirching a soiling of the actual throne of Christ So around the throne was a rainbow had the appearance of an emerald
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Around the throne or 24 thrones 24 that's 12 times 2
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How many tribes of Israel are there? 12 how many Apostles 12 you kind of get the idea now
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You'll note that although there are 12 Apostles there's a 13th and that's the
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Apostle Paul and although there are 12 tribes of Israel There are 13 because one tribe gets chopped up into the half tribe of Manasseh and Ephraim, right?
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But that that's that's not the point here the 24 shows the totality of the Old and the
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New Testament note the numbers even have Significances and seated on the thrones were the were 24 elders clothed in white garments with golden crowns on their heads
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From the throne came flashes of lightning Rumblings peals of thunder before the throne with the burning seven torches of fire
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You'll note this is a common feature regarding around the throne of Christ did Ezekiel not see those same
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Thunderings and things like that right in the very early part of Ezekiel 1 it sounded a lot like there was you know
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That he was looking at a you know at one of these pop -up thunderstorms kind of things, right?
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and then and so There were seven burning torches of fire Which of the seven spirits of God and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass like crystal and watch this
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Around the throne on each side of the throne are four living creatures
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Full of eyes in front and behind and the first living creatures like a lion the second living creature like an ox the third living creature with the face of a man and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight and The four living creatures each of them with six wings are full of eyes all around within and day and night
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They never cease to say holy Holy holy is the
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Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come Well, there they are again
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For creatures same Animal features if you would you got a lion you got a man you've got an eagle and you got an ox
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Hmm now this begins to explain some things so if we come back to Ezekiel When I such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Yahweh and when
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I saw it I fell on my face and I heard the voice of one speaking And so what we're seeing here is
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Ezekiel is seeing the throne room of Christ He's seeing
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Christ on his throne and at some point it dawns on him what he is seeing and He does the thing that everybody is supposed to do in the presence of the glory of Christ he falls flat on his face and By the way, that's another standard feature.
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Oh for years. I've been saying when somebody says things like this. I Have had breakfast with Jesus He came into my bedroom woke me up Kindly put a put a rose on my pillow and we sat down and we had coffee together
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My immediate response is and you live to tell about this Okay Or when people see angels right
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Standard operating procedure when people encounter angels or the risen Christ is that they are like dead people on their faces that is
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Intentional and Anybody who says that they've been in the presence of a holy angel or in the presence of Christ and this wasn't their experience
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Immediately you can say that person is lying Christ intended to flatten
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Ezekiel Standard necessary procedure when dealing with sinful humanity
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Because have you noticed our proclivity to exalt ourselves and to think super highly of ourselves and to Take our sin water it down and act like it's no big deal so the humbling bit of all of this was not an
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Accidental. Oh, this is just what happens kind of thing. This was the intended result
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It left an impression on Ezekiel. So the thing we know that he's seeing then
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He's seeing the throne of Christ so revelation 4 and Ezekiel 1 work together, but like I said this number 4
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It's an odd one when we think of biblical numbers that kind of recur that have feel theological significance 7 is a big one.
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All right, 8 is also a big one by virtue of this God created the world in 6 days on the 7th day
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He rested when Jesus rose from the dead. He rose on the 8th day, which is the first day of a new week so 8th at the number 8 in Scripture oftentimes
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Legitimately represents or is used in conjunction with the idea of the new birth of the of rebirth and things like this
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Children that were male when they were born in Israel on what day were they circumcised?
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8th day, so there's some big significance. So, you know, then you got three.
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That's a big number How many members of the how many persons of the one true God three?
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How many days? On what day did Christ rise from the dead on the third day and then throughout the
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Old Testament and even into the new? You constantly get these kind of out of context statements on the third day
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Third day. I always say pay attention to that third day stuff, right? it's it's it's like a phrase that is just saying pay attention there's something really big
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Christologically happening here and the end the connection comes back to Christ. So three is big seven is big eight is also
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Significant twelve is a big number and then the next really kind of Consistently used number is the number 40 right
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Number 40 how many days and nights did it rain? 40 how many years did
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Israel wander in the wilderness? 40 how many days was Christ tempted in the wilderness?
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40 you kind of get the idea these kind of thing. These things are intended to basically not have you engage in numerology, but instead as Markers to have you reference back different portions of Scripture so that you can see how they work together but the number four
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Doesn't show up very often Genesis Ezekiel Revelation we see some examples of it here
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What's it all pointing to so we have an idea then of what it is that Ezekiel is looking at He's seeing the glory of Christ He's flat on his face the details of Revelation 4 and the details of Ezekiel all work together
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Which still then begs the question? What on earth are we looking at when it comes to these four creatures?
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And here's where we Americans have got to get a better understanding of church history
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You know, in fact, I let me see if I can pull this up real quick. Hang on a second
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I am going to go Yeah, no, no,
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I don't want that I want this okay, I'm going to open this up desktop and Let me see if I can find it.
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Yes, I can because Okay I've kept this now.
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Okay. This is how Americans think this is Charles Schulz Peanuts so Charlie Brown sisters writing an essay.
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She's used to doing it in cursive. They still teach cursive The kids even know how to use analog clocks anymore, it makes me wonder so she's writing an essay church history
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When writing about church history, we have to go back to the very beginning. Our pastor was born in 1930
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That's just this is not how this works But you're gonna know this was this was penned a long time ago by Charles Schultz But is that not exactly the same attitude that people have today?
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They legitimately you talk to your average evangelical They've never heard the
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Nicene Creed. They've never heard the Apostles Creed. They haven't heard any of those things They couldn't tell you the name of a single church father
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And those who may have at least heard that there were such a thing may be able to say the name
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Augustine Full stop that's the end
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But Jesus and this is important bit Listen to what
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Christ says in Matthew 28, we're familiar with this passage. Yeah, I second hearing it
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Matthew 28 Because this is the Great Commission passage
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Jesus said all authority in heaven on earth has been given to me go Therefore make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the
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Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you and behold. I am with you always even to the ends of the age
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Christ in another place makes it clear that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church So since Christ's death burial bodily resurrection from the grave and ascension into heaven
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Has there ever been a time on planet earth where there have not been
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Christians? No If that were the case than the gates of hell did prevail against the church
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But the gates of hell have not prevailed against the church. So that being the case
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Here's the thing It might be a good idea to familiarize yourself
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With how the ancient church wrestled with these texts
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Because that's exactly what this is really about you know,
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I pointed this out last week the story of Jacob right he talked about a lousy fellow
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I mean, he is legitimately the patriarch of note of the Old Testament because Israel is named after him.
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He gets his name from the fact that he wrestled legitimately wrestled with God and won and It's in the going.
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Why did God choose such a lousy deceitful horrible human being to for such a for such a thing?
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I sit there and go well, you're in good company, you know, you know, you fit right in with him That's kind of the point but you'll know that Jacob wrestling with God Is in some very real way an invitation for us to wrestle with him as well and if you will not engage in the wrestling match, don't worry
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God will flatten you and And he'll bring you to the point where you will be wrestling with him against your will
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It's kind of how this goes So when we come to a tough text, we've got to wrestle with it, but I would note we in our time
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Have a cheat code and At the cheat code legitimately is the writing of the
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Church Fathers We don't have a great attention span fine. Borrow the attention span of origin
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Borrow the attention span of Aaron a is borrowed their attention spans and Use that to help you get yourself into at least the same zip code as far as their
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Understanding of the scripture so that you can begin to find the deeper meaning Okay, so that being the case we at least have a general idea of what's going on But we still don't get this idea of what these four creatures are
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He's he has a vision of the throne room of God. Clearly. That's exactly what's going on. But what do we do with it?
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And so One of the one of the resources I have is a set of commentaries called the ancient
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Christian Commentary series. I have the Old Testament and the New Testament version man
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I'm constantly in this commentary series The reason why is because the last thing
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I want to do when I get up on a Sunday morning is give you some wild creative innovative interpretation of a biblical text that completely is disconnected from any
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Legitimate reality of how Christians have understood it Innovation is not a positive thing for pastors any pastor who's innovating is somebody that you need to be wary of and so Like before my sermons,
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I fact -check myself Based upon how the church has understood these texts
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So listen to what Aaron a s says and by the way, Bruce Burns got this, right? You know, he he referenced the fact that the church father saw so listen to how
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Aaron a s gets this The cherubim have four faces Their faces are images of the activity of the
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Son of God for the first living creature it says it was like a lion signifying his activity and Princely and royal character now that sounds like an interesting thing here.
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So each of these images exemplify something about Christ Okay The second was like an ox showing his sacrificial and his priestly order the third had the face of a man indicating very clearly his coming in human guise and The fourth was like a flying eagle making plain the giving of the
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Spirit who broods over the church What do you see
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I see an almond branch Right What does it mean? I'm gonna
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I watch over my word to perform it God says so here you're gonna know
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What is the ancient church done? Space aliens, you know
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No that's not what they did what they did was they basically said this requires us to ponder and think about the nature of Christ and the different aspects of the work that he has done is
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Jesus not our Prophet priest and King indeed, he is and And that being the case you're gonna note there's it is a profound
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Mystery and yet an amazing thing that God will be found in human likeness.
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And so each of the big character attributes of these animals
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Exemplify something it's a facet of who Christ is and then it goes even he goes even further
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Okay. Now the Gospels in which Christ is enthroned Listen to that phrase the
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Gospels in which Christ is enthroned. How many Gospels are there in the Bible? for Matthew Mark Luke John Christ is enthroned in the four
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Gospels and This is why Jews cannot get this because they reject this
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Okay, the Gospels in which Christ is enthroned are like these
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John expounds his princely and mighty and glorious birth from the father saying in the beginning was the
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Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God and All things were made by him and without him was nothing made therefore the
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Gospels deserving of all confidence for such indeed is his person that according to Luke has a priestly character and it
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Begins with the priest Zechariah offering incense to God for the fatted calf was already being prepared
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That was being sacrificed for the finding of the younger son Matthew proclaims his human birth saying the book of the generations of Jesus Christ son of David son of Abram the birth of Jesus was in this manner
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This gospel is manlike and so through the whole gospel Christ appears as a man of humble mind and gentle but mark takes his beginning from the prophetic spirit who comes upon people from on high saying the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ as Is written in Isaiah the
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Prophet Showing a winged image of the gospel. Therefore. He made his message concise and immediate for such is the prophetic character and Aaron a s writes this in the second century mid second century and his pedigrees amazing
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Aaron a s learned the faith from Polycarp Polycarp was baptized and discipled by the
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Apostle John in the city of Ephesus Right, and so how has the ancient church read this text?
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It's pointing to Christ each of these animals exemplify something about Jesus and then
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Jesus is enthroned on the four Gospels Could that possibly be what
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Ezekiel is getting at? Yeah, right you have your hand up Yes Okay, and let me let me show you so Hannah has pointed out that in church art
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It is a common feature to depict the Gospels using particular images.
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Let me show you This is called the book of Kells Get these images should be familiar.
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Okay Bruceford's I'll get excited. Oh, no, he's pulling out his inner kelp.
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Okay But this is an illuminated manuscript and here's how the church has understood these things
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Matthew The man Luke the lion That's sorry,
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Matt mark the lion Luke the ox and then John the eagle Christ is enthroned on the four
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Gospels he's enthroned in the four Gospels and so the ancient church took the imagery of Ezekiel and Revelation 4 and then assigned to each of the
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Gospel writers where Christ is enthroned on the four of them a different image representing not the gospel writers in and of themselves, but because these are features and characteristics of who
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Christ is and Matthew exemplifies the incarnation of Christ the most where God becomes man
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Mark is is the lion, you know, we get the kingly bits of Jesus Then we've got the priestly sacrifice of Christ in the and the beast of burden in the ox and of course the
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Holy Spirit in the in the in the work of the Spirit in the Gospel of John and I'll point this out.
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I think this is a far richer meaning than UFOs. Okay Years ago
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I traveled to Ireland not that many not that many years ago and was traveling with Kerry Ferguson who we were doing advanced work for the book that we published this year with her and And she she has deep family connections in Ireland and she insisted that we visit one of the major pewter shops in Ireland and and and she
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Absolutely insisted that she would give a gift to me and so and the gift was this pewter chalice and also this little container and And I was given a choice
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Okay, she was insisting that I was gonna have this little pewter chalice and she says which of the four
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Gospels Writers do you want on the chalice? And I said well since I'm the beast of burden of conga finger
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Lutheran Church I think the ox is the is the appropriate one So I chose the symbol for the for the gospel of Luke But I'm gonna pass these around because on this container you have all four of the images
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Right, and I want you to you know, it's a good tactile experience, you know So hang on a second here pass that on to you, but to pass that around and you know
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I know it'll take a little bit of time But Now we get then so you'll note then all the way back in the book of Genesis We have a significant number the number four showing up in those rivers.
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That's a foreshadowing of the four Gospels God God is in the details
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Christ is in the details. That's what this is all about So the idea then is is that when you on your own are trying to somehow find this
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Some prophetic significance and you're not availing yourself of what is available to help us to really truly understand these texts
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You're not richer for it. You're poor Right be in dialogue with the ancient church
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Look at how they've understood these texts wrestle in the hard bits when you get to a hard text
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And it's flying over your head and you're annoyed because you don't readily understand it Stop and Use that as you sit there and go.
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Oh Christ is here to wrestle with me and Put on your spandex leotard thing and just jump in the ring and start wrestling with him.
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Okay. Yeah sorry, I shouldn't have used that image, but All right now that that that was basically the what my the point of my admonishment is is that Christ is in the details and It's really an admonishment for you all to please please please take the time to work this stuff out
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And so now when you read Ezekiel, it's gonna go. Yep Christ is enthroned on the four Gospels each of those beasts represent a different aspect of the grace the mercy the power of Christ and I Kind of throw this in as a bonus here is that?
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Let me see if I can if I can do this Even Jerome other other other other church fathers see the same thing
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Jerome says the four -faced creatures that we meet in the apocalypse of John in the beginning of Ezekiel's Prophecy that had the face of a man the face of a calf face of a lion the face of an eagle
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Has also special significance for the text that we are considering and Matthew this human being has the face of a man and Luke And ox
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John and eagle mark the lion crying in the desert Yeah This is how the church has understood these things and now that you can see it
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You can't unsee it and now this is no longer a difficult Text and then the little bits and details about how it never turns it always stays go straight that tells you something about the about the
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Integrity of the gospel messages that we gave and then that the Spirit was in these things
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And so the Spirit was intimately involved in the writing of the four Gospels and Christ is enthroned on them.
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That's its meaning UFOs No, Jesus Yes.
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All right. That's what the scriptures are about. All right, so I'm going to that's this is where we're gonna wrap up and Unfortunately, I'm not gonna have time to get into questions today
59:13
I knew this was gonna be a little longer and more complicated lesson, but one worth considering I'm thinking about doing a whole episode of fighting for the faith just on this to you know to encourage people
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Along these lines. So if you see this coming out on fighting for the faith You guys are getting like the the the pre -production version of it, but same content, but that that's the idea
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Alright All right, we're gonna take a five -minute break and then we're gonna have a presentation
59:40
From our Sunday school leaders. Well, and while they're doing that, I'm going to be doing a loathsome thing.
59:47
I'm gonna be preparing for prophecy bingo, so But but and then once once they're done and we we get ready for for lunch and the things that we're gonna do
59:59
Then I'm gonna get out of my uniform because I don't I'm I'm not a pastor when
01:00:05
I'm doing prophecy bingo I'm you know, I'm gonna start to put on the things.
01:00:10
I'm gonna be as I'm emceeing, you know, like Karaoke and stuff like that. So Get ready for the other thing.