Word for Life in Love— Scripture Meditations By Stephen Brown
Ezekiel 34:30 (NASB)
Then they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are My people,” declares the Lord GOD.
They will know and the world will know. The labor pains of the earth will cease. The Lord will assume His throne on Mt Zion and His kingdom will have no end.
Ezekiel 34:28-29 (NASB)
28 They will no longer be a prey to the nations, and the beasts of the earth will not devour them; but they will live securely, and no one will make them afraid. 29 I will establish for them a renowned planting place, and they will not again be victims of famine in the land, and they will not endure the insults of the nations anymore.
The beasts of the earth gather around Israel with the menace and hate of that great beast which is the dragon of Revelation. This is happening now with a maniacal and increasing intensity. We are seeing a replay of a defiant Cain with a rock in his hand and intent on killing his brother.
Israel has taken a land reduced to sand and rocks and transformed it into a garden whose bounty is the envy of her neighbors. They are being restored to Garden of Eden, even as their dry bones as a nation have been given life. They will know that He is God.
Ezekiel 33:10-11 (ESV)
10 “And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said: ‘Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we rot away because of them. How then can we live?’ 11 Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the dealth of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?
“How then can we live?“ The Lord said to turn from your ways.
In the New Testament book of Acts, those who heard Peter’s message asked, “What must we do?” Jesus said to repent.
The message is the same because He does not change.
John 1:32-34 (ESV)
32 And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”
Jesus is the firstfruits of the Spirit descending on a man to remain. He baptizes all who follow Him with His Holy Spirit who bears witness to our spirits that we are sons of God. We become His harvest from the earth of mankind.
We have seen and bear witness that He is the Son of God and we are His brothers, reborn and adopted into the house of our Father.
Revelation 2:7 (ESV)
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’
The one who conquers is the one who keeps faith in Christ Jesus and bears the fruit of His Spirit unto the end. Paul describes it as finishing the race before us. This is overcoming the world of self.
There are many trees in the paradise of God whose fruit is good for eating, other than the tree of life. Man as a natural living creature is part of a creation that is pleasing to God. He is wonderfully and fearfully made. (Psalm 139:14) It is the choice of all mankind to eat from any tree and be right with God.
But there is one tree of life whose fruit man may choose to enter the life of God. Its fruit is available to all, but few will pick its fruit for various reasons. There is a single tree whose fruit is not good for eating, though many will. It is the wide road that leads to destruction.
We are each born in a time and place that is not of our choosing. Our lives are shaped by our surroundings as we experience it on a personal and collective basis that is our unique witness to the creation of God.
We can choose to be reborn wherever we are. Our lives are then shaped by the life and presence of the Lord within us. It is on a personal and collective basis that we give witness to the the new creation of God, which is mankind made in His image. This would be the body of Christ.
1 John 5:4-5 (ESV)
4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
Who is it that overcomes the world but the one who holds on to his faith in the Lord to the end, believing that Jesus is the Son of God.
Jesus told the church in Philadelphia to hold on and He would “keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world,”. (Rev 3:10) “Because you have kept my word.”
I hope to leave when He gives the word.
We are told in the creation account that temptation entered the world through the form of a snake and he is revealed in Revelation as the dragon of the abyss who opposes all things of God.
The snake now slithers on his belly in the dust of the earth from which Adam was taken. This is the dust of mankind.
The dragon was thrown from heaven to the dust of the earth where he rages against God and His people. All of mankind suffers from his rage.
They are one and the same.
1 John 4:21 (ESV)
And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
A brother is different from our neighbor. A brother is someone in the body of Christ. A neighbor is anyone in the world around us. The love of God for the world is different from His love for His only Son. Anyone who is in the body of Christ shares in His love as a son.
To not love those in the body of Christ who are alive in His Spirit is the same as rejecting the love of God.
The world’s woes and troubles are designed to make the great “reset” seem more palatable, but its bread will be the bitter food of a one world empire.
The great “reset” is preparation for the Antichrist.
Ezekiel 28:25-26 (ESV)
Israel Gathered in Security
25 “Thus says the Lord GOD: When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and manifest my holiness in them in the sight of the nations, then they shall dwell in their own land that I gave to my servant Jacob. 26 And they shall dwell securely in it, and they shall build houses and plant vineyards. They shall dwell securely, when I execute judgments upon all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the LORD their God.”
There are many who think that God is done with Israel. There will come a time when they will believe the word of the Lord, for it endures forever.
There is a peace beyond understanding. There are times when we might become unsettled at the things we don’t understand, but this does not have any bearing on our peace with God. He has promised and He is faithful. We are the children of that promise. Our spirits know this even when our flesh begins to doubt.
1 John 4:11-12 (ESV)
11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
“No one has ever seen God.” But we have seen Christ who is God in the image of man. The Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary and Christ was born from above in the flesh of man. The Holy Spirit overshadows those who come to Him and brother of Christ is reborn from above. We begin in the mortal flesh of man to assume the image of God that is Christ. Christ came from heaven to assume the image of man to become the man Jesus.
If He abides in us, then when we look at each other we see the Father, just as those who looked at Jesus were seeing the Father. The Father abides with the Son, and the Son abides in us. We are united as one in the Holy Spirit. We have joined the Triune God as His adopted sons. Heaven and earth are thus united into the new creation.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Jesus became the beginning and the end of man made in the image of God. We know this because in the end we will be like Him. Jesus became the first man made in the image of God.
He is the light of the world and we are the children of His light given to Him by the Father of us all.
Ignore the noise, the ceaseless clamor of the wisdom of the world and its deceptions and turn to the stillness before God which feeds and strengthens the soul of man.
Love is impossible to contain and will not respond to demands. This is why God has drawn near and invites us to be with Him.
Matthew 7:21 (ESV)
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Do not be deceived. Words alone will not get us into the kingdom of heaven. Doing the will of our Father will. The fruits of His Spirit in our lives will bear witness to the truth of the matter.
Matthew 7:15-17 (ESV)
A Tree and Its Fruit
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.
People In these verses are portrayed as trees, like the trees of the Garden of Eden. Every tree bears fruit of one sort or another, and most of the fruit is good even though it does not come from the tree of life. There are many trees in that Garden besides the tree of life in the Garden planted by the Lord, and it is good in the sight of the Lord.
Every tree will be known by its fruit, even the fruitless.
We are made in the image of God when we reborn from above and become the dwelling place for His Holy Spirit. Until then we are in His image of the flesh only, an empty tomb without the life of God. The Spirit brought the life of God to the flesh of man, first in Jesus, then to all who would come laying their life down for the Lord.
We pick it up again as we rise in His image from the waters of our baptism and begin our walk with Jesus. When He calls we will rise from the waters of mortality into our resurrected and immortal bodies.
Is it possible to love God without agreeing with everything He says? Is disagreeing with Jesus not putting one’s self above the word of God? Is it possible possible to be in the body of Christ and not agree with the head of that body?
A headless body is a vehicle to nowhere. It is a body of death and is destined for the dust of the earth.
Psalms 145:16 (ESV)
You open your hand;
you satisfy the desire of every living thing.
The Lord is the desire of every living thing, for only in Him are we complete and whole. We long for Him body and soul even when we ignore or reject Him with our minds.
He has drawn near and opened His hand to share the abundance of His life. Simply breathe in the sweetness of His Spirit and live.
James 1:22 (ESV)
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
Mental assent without action is fruitless. Pursuing God is reaching for the fruit of the Spirit, which is the mind and nature of Christ. When we are reborn, we can begin to renew our minds in the word and in the presence of the Spirit. If we ask He will answer. If we seek Him, He will be found.
Being a “doer” of the word is about acquiring and living in the image of God. It is an ongoing and intentional way of life. Jesus is the way.
I can hear the music of wind chimes outside moving with the breeze.
I can feel the music in my heart as the Spirit moves within me.
The music comforts and sustains me.
In Jesus the human and divine come together in the image of God. Those in Christ will be like Him.
John 17:24-26 (ESV)
24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
To know the name of the Father is to receive knowledge of Him, of who He is. This gives us the context in creation of who and what we are.
In Revelation we are told that those who overcome will receive His name. We will no longer just know HIs name, but take His His name for our own. (Rev 3:12). This is the intimate relationship of the bride of Christ.
Ezekiel 21:27 (ESV)
A ruin, ruin, ruin I will make it. This also shall not be, until he comes, the one to whom judgment belongs, and I will give it to him.
Jesus is the one to whom all judgment is given. All things are given to the Son of God who returns them to the Father, for they are one.
Believing God involves the mind, body, and spirit. Mentally assenting to the word by itself has little eternal significance.
Ezekiel 20:5-6 (ESV)
5 and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: On the day when I chose Israel, I swore to the offspring of the house of Jacob, making myself known to them in the land of Egypt; I swore to them, saying, I am the LORD your God. 6 On that day I swore to them that I would bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands.
Out of all the peoples of the world, the Lord chose Israel as His own. Through them He would bring His light into the world, first through the law that prepare the way for the light that would come in the flesh of man.
From that time on, man would choose the Lord to receive His light. There is a distinction between being chosen by the Lord and answering His call. It is the distinction that is in view when the people of God are described as those who have the word of God and those who have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Ezekiel 18:32 (ESV)
For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD; so turn, and live.”
The road to destruction is wide and heavily traveled. The road to life is in the other direction.
“So turn, and live.”
John 13:7-10 (ESV)
7 Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” 8 Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” 9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.”
One who has bathed in the blood of Christ have had their sins forgiven and forgotten. The past is past, but the present is now. The need for ongoing repentance and forgiveness is highlighted in the need to repeatedly wash our feet. Christ will wash our feet only if we submit to His Lordship in our lives. Being clean and staying clean should not be confused or neglected. This is working out your own salvation, of abiding in Him, of sharing in His life.
It is the context of the everyday things that the fruit of the Spirit appears and grows. This is where we live and find life.
Ezekiel 17:22-24 (ESV)
22 Thus says the Lord GOD: “I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar and will set it out. I will break off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. 23 On the mountain height of Israel will I plant it, that it may bear branches and produce fruit and become a noble cedar. And under it will dwell every kind of bird; in the shade of its branches birds of every sort will nest. 24 And all the trees of the field shall know that I am the LORD; I bring low the high tree, and make high the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree flourish. I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it.”
Jesus is the tender branch taken from the tree of His chosen people. It will take root on the high and lofty mountain of God that rises from the earth. It will grow and multiply with many branches bearing the fruit of His Spirit and life.
The people of the earth will find refuge under the branches and make a home with the new tree of life. They will all know that this comes from the Lord. The word of the Lord has been spoken and He will do it.
Ezekiel 16:15 (ESV)
“But you trusted in your beauty and played the whore because of your renown and lavished your whorings on any passerby; your beauty became his.
Lucifer also began to trust in his beauty and his pride grew until there was no room for him in heaven. The same applies to Israel. She would trust in her own beauty and her pride grew until there was no room for her in the promised land.
Enlarging our hearts with the love and life of the Lord will keep us from getting a big head that comes from the pride of self.
Ezekiel 16:5-6 (ESV)
5 No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you out of compassion for you, but you were cast out on the open field, for you were abhorred, on the day that you were born.
6 “And when I passed by you and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’
Adam was taken from the dust of the earth by the Lord and given the breath of life. Israel is taken from the dust of the earth “of the land of the Canaanites” by the Lord, cleaned and planted in the land to “flourish like a plant of the field.” Adam foreshadows the children of Israel taken from the dust of the promised land to live in His presence.
Ezekiel 15:6 (ESV)
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so have I given up the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Israel was the vine planted among the trees of the nations and peoples to bring the word of the Lord into the wilderness of the world. Like Adam in the Garden, they acted without faith in God and in disobedience to that word.
Jesus would be the true vine whose branches would bear the fruit of the Spirit, fulfilling the Adam’s charge to work the ground of the earth, to be fruitful and multiply. His word has come in the wilderness of the world and will fulfill His purpose.
Believing in Jesus will bring us eternal life. It is like saying “I do” to our wedding vows. It is only the beginning of a new identity of becoming one with in Him. We are one with Him from the beginning and are becoming one with Him as we walk in His presence.
Psalms 36:9 (ESV)
For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light do we see light.
The living waters from the throne of God flow to us through your Holy Spirit. The light of the world gives sight to those who walk in darkness. We can now see the way to go and where we are headed as we are immersed in the river of life.
Ezekiel 14:21 (ESV)
“For thus says the Lord GOD: How much more when I send upon Jerusalem my four disastrous acts of judgment, sword, famine, wild beasts, and pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast!
The seals of judgment have been broken by the Son who has overcome the world. Judgment has been decreed by the sounding of the trumpets. The bowls of the wrath of the Lord are about to be poured out on Jerusalem in particular and all earth dwellers in general.
The beast of the Antichrist will ride the white horse who will begin the great tribulation of the saints: the time of Jacob’s troubles. The three horses of sword, famine, and plague will be unleashed and the final judgment of wrath against Israel will be poured out.
Reality seems to be a subjective experience. It is personal and unique. Though we live on one planet, there are as many worlds as there are people.
This is the world a Christian is to overcome to be with Christ.
Ezekiel 12:25 (ESV)
For I am the LORD; I will speak the word that I will speak, and it will be performed. It will no longer be delayed, but in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and perform it, declares the Lord GOD.”
The word of God was fulfilled in the past. The word of God will be fulfilled in the future. We are in the last days of that future word.
Ezekiel 12:1-2 (ESV)
1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, who have eyes to see, but see not, who have ears to hear, but hear not, for they are a rebellious house.
Israel had eyes to see, for they were carrying His light into the world. They had ears to hear because they had the word of the Lord. Yet the revelation of God was of little effect, for “they are a rebellious house.”
We have seen the light of the world and hear the words of Christ, yet we often ignore them, even as the world rejects them. Mankind is a rebellious house. Let us be sensitive to His light and meditate on His word to strengthen our walk with Him and going forward in His promises.
Ezekiel 10:16-17
And when the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them. And when the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the wheels did not turn from beside them. When they stood still, these stood still, and when they mounted up, these mounted up with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in them.
The wheels may represent the children of Israel, for they would follow the Lord in the wilderness, stopping when He would stop and following when He began to move. The Spirit led them as a nation in front of the people. They did not go their own way, but would follow Him in any direction He would lead. They are the descendants of Adam who became the first man given the breath of life to be a living spirit before the Lord.
The body of Christ follows the Spirit individually from within through the wilderness of the world, yet in the unity of the Spirit.
Ezekiel 10:1-2 (ESV)
1 Then I looked, and behold, on the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim there appeared above them something like a sapphire, in appearance like a throne. 2 And he said to the man clothed in linen, “Go in among the whirling wheels underneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with burning coals from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city.”
And he went in before my eyes.
There is a great expanse between heaven and earth, from the dust of man to the throne of God. The whirling wheels are full eyes we are told elsewhere, perhaps the witness of the people He chose to bring His light into the world.
Burning coals from the altar before the throne are scattered over Jerusalem to bring the fire of His wrath into the city. It is the light of judgment at the hands of “the man clothed in linen” that brings the fire of the Holy Spirit into an unholy place.
Ezekiel 10:3-4 (ESV)
3 Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the house, when the man went in, and a cloud filled the inner court. 4 And the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub to the threshold of the house, and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the LORD.
Christ is the brightness or radiance and the glory of the Lord, His exact image.
Matthew 3:16 (ESV)
And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him;
The third time Noah released the dove it did not return to the ark. Likewise, the Holy Spirit descended from heaven and remained on Jesus.
After Jesus ascended into heaven, the Holy Spirit returned to earth and descended into the body of Christ. He will not leave the earth until the body of believers is resurrected into heaven to be with Him.
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was in the garden for the edification of man. It provides the knowledge needed for choosing to obey the Lord.
Ezekiel 7:24 (ESV)
I will bring the worst of the nations to take possession of their houses. I will put an end to the pride of the strong, and their holy places shall be profaned.
Who can deny the “worst of the nations” are about to invade the land of Israel? The Lord allows this in response to the pride and disobedience of His chosen ones. His word endures forever. “And they shall know.”
Ezekiel 7:8-9 (ESV)
8 Now I will soon pour out my wrath upon you, and spend my anger against you, and judge you according to your ways, and I will punish you for all your abominations. 9 And my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. I will punish you according to your ways, while your abominations are in your midst. Then you will know that I am the LORD, who strikes.
The pouring out of the final bowl of the wrath of God in Revelation is beginning to happen and is about to spill on Israel. Then they will finally comprehend that the Lord is the Lord. When they confess this truth, He will return to the land to sit upon the throne of David.
