GAMEtime Sharing – Page 166 – 海外华人福音网

Real Wrath, Real Mercy

2020-07-02/in GAMEtime Sharing /by meiling

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Ezekiel 5:1-17. Let’s go!

On verses 1-17: Here comes another object lesson from Ezekiel, given to catch the attention of the spiritually calloused Israelites. Ezekiel senses God telling him to shave his head and beard with a sharp sword. He is to burn one third of the shavings inside the city. He is to take another third and strike it with the sword, doing this all over the city. He is also to take the last third of his hair shavings and scatter them to the wind. All of these actions were to symbolize how, as punishment for their persistent disobedience and idolatry, God would give the Israelites over to famine (possibly symbolized by the fire), military attack (symbolized by the sword), and to wild beasts and disease (symbolized by the wind). The reference in verse 10 to fathers eating their children and children eating their fathers is talking about how severe the famine would become that the Israelites would resort to cannibalism.

“How could a loving God do this to His own people?” you may ask. It is worth noting that for centuries God repeatedly and with great clarity warned the Israelites that they should expect such consequences if they continued to disobey Him and persist in rebellion and idolatry. See, for example, Deuteronomy 28 where Moses warns the people of all the problems they could expect to come upon them if they disobey.

Making An Impression

2020-07-01/in GAMEtime Sharing /by meiling

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Ezekiel 4:1-17. Let’s go!

On verses 1-17: In 2003, illusionist and endurance artist David Blaine put himself in a transparent box suspended 30 feet over the River Thames while going without food for 44 days. The city of London and millions around the world watched in curiosity. Approximately 2,600 years before this, the prophet Ezekiel would perform similar stunts in the city of Babylon, except that his stunts were not simply to test his endurance or to entertain the masses. Rather these stunts were object lessons that carried a spiritual message for the Israelites exiled in Babylon.

The first part of the object lesson seems simple enough for a child to do with Lego bricks (v1-3): make a mini-model of Jerusalem using a writing tablet (or a brick) and show how the Babylonians besieged Jerusalem.

The second part of the object lesson is much stranger (v4-8): Ezekiel is to lie for 390 days on his left side (facing north to symbolize the Northern Kingdom of Israel, some scholars say) and then for 40 days on his right side (facing south to symbolize the Southern Kingdom of Judah, some scholars say). Each day that Ezekiel lay on his side was to represent a year of the Israelites’ sin. In this way Ezekiel was to symbolically “bear their sin” (v4). He would be tied up the whole time (v8).

A Serious Responsibility

2020-06-30/in GAMEtime Sharing /by meiling

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Ezekiel 3:16-27. Let’s go!

Ezekiel 3:16-21 (NIV)
16  At the end of seven days the word of the LORD came to me:
17  “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.
18  When I say to a wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood.
19  But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved yourself.
20  “Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before him, he will die. Since you did not warn him, he will die for his sin. The righteous things he did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for his blood.
21  But if you do warn the righteous man not to sin and he does not sin, he will surely live because he took warning, and you will have saved yourself.”

On verses 16-21: No pressure there Ezekiel. When God says that He has made Ezekiel a watchman for the house of Israel, what does He mean? A watchman is a soldier who stands guard in a watch tower and watches for any danger coming on the horizon against his city and warns the people accordingly.

When Being Hard-Headed Is A Good Thing

2020-06-29/in GAMEtime Sharing /by meiling

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Ezekiel 3:1-15. Let’s go!

Ezekiel 3:1-3 (NIV)
1  And he said to me, “Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the house of Israel.”
2  So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat.
3  Then he said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.” So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.

On verses 1-3: Here are just a few lessons we can learn from these verses:

God gave Ezekiel an edible scroll containing His words for Ezekiel to eat. Likewise, Scripture is food for your soul. Jesus says, “Man shall not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4) Don’t starve yourself spiritually but eat of God’s Word every day.
Ezekiel was told to eat God’s Word before going to speak to the house of Israel (v1). Likewise, if we want to have something good to share with those around us, we need to eat God’s Word and fill ourselves with it.

Let God’s Word Move You

2020-06-28/in GAMEtime Sharing /by meiling

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Ezekiel 2:1-10. Let’s go!

Ezekiel 2:1-2 (NIV)
1 He said to me, “Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you.”
2 As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.

On verses 1-2: Sometimes God’s Word will bring us to our knees. Sometimes God’s Word will raise us to our feet. One way or the other, when your heart is humble and open to God, God’s Word will move you.

Ezekiel 2:3-7 (NIV)
3  He said: “Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their fathers have been in revolt against me to this very day.
4  The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says.’
5  And whether they listen or fail to listen–for they are a rebellious house–they will know that a prophet has been among them.
6  And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious house.

Heaven Ain’t No Boring Place (Part 2)

2020-06-26/in GAMEtime Sharing /by meiling

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Ezekiel 1:15-28. Apparently I ran a little further ahead by writing on yesterday’s passage and today’s passage in my GAME sharing for yesterday. In case you missed it, below is my GAME sharing concerning Ezekiel 1:15-28. Let’s go!

Ezekiel 1:15-21 (NIV)
15  As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its four faces.
16  This was the appearance and structure of the wheels: They sparkled like chrysolite, and all four looked alike. Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel.
17  As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the creatures faced; the wheels did not turn about as the creatures went.
18  Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around.
19  When the living creatures moved, the wheels beside them moved; and when the living creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose.
20  Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels would rise along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

Heaven Ain’t No Boring Place

2020-06-25/in GAMEtime Sharing /by meiling

Hi GAMErs,

Today we start the book of Ezekiel, a book written by the prophet Ezekiel in approximately 593 B.C. Though written approximately 700 years apart from one another, the book of Ezekiel and the book of Revelation contain some powerful and overlapping images of who God is and what heaven is like.

Today’s passage is Ezekiel 1:1-28. Let’s go!

Ezekiel 1:1-3 (NIV)
1  In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month on the fifth day, while I was among the exiles by the Kebar River, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.
2  On the fifth of the month–it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin–
3  the word of the LORD came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, by the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians. There the hand of the LORD was upon him.

On verses 1-3: Ezekiel is a priest at a time when the Jewish people have been ousted from their own land by the Babylonians and are living as exiles in Babylon. It is during this time that Ezekiel begins to hear from God in a prophetic way. Ezekiel even specifies the day, the month and the year this started happening.

What It’s Like In Heaven (Part 2)

2020-06-24/in GAMEtime Sharing /by meiling

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Revelation 22:1-21. Let’s go!

Revelation 22:1-2 (NIV)
1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
2 down the middle of the great street of the city…

On verse 1-2a: In Psalm 46:4 we read that “[t]here is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.” Here in Revelation 22, John gets to see that river. According to John’s description, heaven is such a beautiful city that there is a river of living water, clear as crystal, that flows from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the main street of heaven.

Revelation 22:2 (NIV)
2 …On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

On verse 2b: In Genesis 2:9 we first read about a tree of life in the Garden of Eden, a tree whose fruit somehow enables those who ate it to live forever (Genesis 3:22). According to John’s vision, in heaven this tree of life stands on each side of the river and bears fruit every month, 12 crops of fruit a year. Its leaves are “for the healing of the nations” (v2).

What It’s Like In Heaven (Part 1)

2020-06-23/in GAMEtime Sharing /by meiling

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Revelation 21:1-27. Let’s go!

Revelation 21:1 (NIV)
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.

On verse 1: To me Revelation 21 is one of the most beautiful passages in all the Bible. As much as I like the song “What a Wonderful World” made famous by Louis Armstrong, and as beautiful and wonderful as our world is, there is no denying that there is much brokenness and hurt that affects our world as well. Here we see God, who specializes in making all things new (v5), creating a new heaven and a new earth that are not beset by the problems we have in our world.

Revelation 21:2 (NIV)
2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

On verse 2: In the Bible and in life we see how flawed, ugly and broken we as God’s people can be. Yet here in one of the final visions of the Bible, we see God’s people, called “the Holy City” and “the new Jerusalem”, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. Radiant, flawless, and beautiful – that’s the way Jesus sees you and me in heaven.

Loved For A Thousand Years and More

2020-06-22/in GAMEtime Sharing /by meiling

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Revelation 20:1-15. Let’s go!

Revelation 20:1-3 (NIV)
1  And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain.
2  He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.
3  He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.

On verses 1-3: Previously in Revelation 9 we read of “the angel of the Abyss” (9:11) who was also called a “fallen star” and given the key to the Abyss (19:1). Many commentators believe this angel is Satan himself. Here in Revelation 20:1 John sees another angel coming down out of heaven possessing the key to the Abyss and holding a great chain. This angel seizes the red dragon Satan, throws him into the Abyss, locks and seals the Abyss, so that Satan cannot deceive the nations for 1,000 years. After the 1,000 years are over, verse 3 says that Satan “must be set free for a short time”.

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