{"id":10153,"date":"2020-07-09T20:00:25","date_gmt":"2020-07-10T03:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=10153"},"modified":"2020-07-09T21:23:14","modified_gmt":"2020-07-10T04:23:14","slug":"ezekiel-10_1-22","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/ezekiel-10_1-22\/","title":{"rendered":"I Just Want To Be Where You Are"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"flex_column av_one_full  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-0  avia-builder-el-no-sibling  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock  '   itemprop=\"text\" ><p>Ezekiel 10:1-22 \u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Ezekiel+10%3A1-22&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-10154 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/200710.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/200710.jpg 600w, https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/200710-300x150.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/200710-450x225.jpg 450w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n<p>Today&#8217;s passage is Ezekiel 9:1-11.\u00a0 Let&#8217;s go!<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Ezekiel 10:1-2 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong><br \/>\n<sup>1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I looked, and I saw the likeness of a throne of sapphire above the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim.<br \/>\n<sup>2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The\u00a0LORD\u00a0said to the man clothed in linen, &#8220;Go in among the wheels beneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city.&#8221; And as I watched, he went in.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>On verses 1-2:\u00a0 This part of Ezekiel\u2019s vision reminds me of a scene from Isaiah 6.\u00a0 In Isaiah 6, the prophet Isaiah sees a vision of God seated on his throne in the temple.\u00a0 In his vision, Isaiah is dismayed because he realizes that he is a sinner who cannot stand in the presence of a holy God.\u00a0 All of a sudden one of the angels takes a live coal from the altar, touches Isaiah\u2019s lips with it, and tells him that his guilt is taken away and his sin atoned for.<\/p>\n<p>I believe a similar thing may be happening here in Ezekiel\u2019s vision.\u00a0 God tells a man clothed in linen (the same man whom God instructed in Ezekiel 9 to mark those who did not worship idols) to fill his hands with burning coals from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city (v2).\u00a0 What is God doing?\u00a0 Since all the idolaters in the city have been exterminated in Ezekiel 9, God is now sanctifying and purifying those who are left.<\/p>\n<p>What can we learn from this?\u00a0 For those who have placed their faith in Jesus, not only does God mark us with a seal of protection so that we escape God\u2019s wrath, but even more God sanctifies us (i.e. makes us holy and set apart like Christ) making us righteous and pure in God\u2019s eyes.\u00a0 As 1 Corinthians 6:11b says, \u201c\u2026you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Ezekiel 10:3-5 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong><br \/>\n<sup>3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the temple when the man went in, and a cloud filled the inner court.<br \/>\n<sup>4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then the glory of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0rose from above the cherubim and moved to the threshold of the temple. The cloud filled the temple, and the court was full of the radiance of the glory of the\u00a0LORD.<br \/>\n<sup>5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The sound of the wings of the cherubim could be heard as far away as the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>On verses 3-5:\u00a0 God\u2019s presence and glory are often represented in the Old Testament by a cloud.\u00a0 Notice that the cloud first fills the inner court and then moves to the threshold (or entrance) of the temple, such that the entire temple, including the outer court and entrance, is filled with God\u2019s presence.\u00a0 Here\u2019s how I apply this part to my life:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I want my life to be that way too: filled from the inside out by God\u2019s Spirit.\u00a0 I want those who get near me to feel God\u2019s loving, joyful, holy presence.<\/li>\n<li>I want my church to be that way too, with every part filled by God\u2019s Spirit. I pray that when people get near us as a church, when they get close to our parking lot or close to any person who calls Thrive their home church, they can sense that there\u2019s something different about us in a good way \u2013 a love, a joy, a passion, a purpose, a hope that the world cannot give.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In actuality, however, the presence of God was not so much filling the temple as it was making its way out of the temple.\u00a0 That is because God only goes and stays where He is wanted.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Ezekiel 10:6-7 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong><br \/>\n<sup>6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When the\u00a0LORD\u00a0commanded the man in linen, &#8220;Take fire from among the wheels, from among the cherubim,&#8221; the man went in and stood beside a wheel.<br \/>\n<sup>7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then one of the cherubim reached out his hand to the fire that was among them. He took up some of it and put it into the hands of the man in linen, who took it and went out.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>On verses 6-7: \u00a0In Ezekiel\u2019s vision one of the cherubim takes some fire and places it in the hand of the man dressed in linen.\u00a0 Following the Lord\u2019s command, the man in linen takes the fire and goes out, presumably into the city.\u00a0 The assumption some scholars make is that the man in linen would then go into the city and set it the city on fire, purging and purifying the city with fire.\u00a0 By the way, when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded Jerusalem, guess what he did to the temple in real life?\u00a0 He set the temple on fire, along with every other important building in the city (see 2 Kings 25:8-9).<\/p>\n<p>What can we learn from this?\u00a0 Part of the sanctification process that the Holy Spirit does in our lives is to purge from our lives those ways of thinking and living that do not please God.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Ezekiel 10:8-17 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong><br \/>\n<sup>8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0(Under the wings of the cherubim could be seen what looked like the hands of a man.)<br \/>\n<sup>9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I looked, and I saw beside the cherubim four wheels, one beside each of the cherubim; the wheels sparkled like chrysolite.<br \/>\n<sup>10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0As for their appearance, the four of them looked alike; each was like a wheel intersecting a wheel.<br \/>\n<sup>11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the cherubim faced; the wheels did not turn about as the cherubim went. The cherubim went in whatever direction the head faced, without turning as they went.<br \/>\n<sup>12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Their entire bodies, including their backs, their hands and their wings, were completely full of eyes, as were their four wheels.<br \/>\n<sup>13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I heard the wheels being called &#8220;the whirling wheels.&#8221;<br \/>\n<sup>14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Each of the cherubim had four faces: One face was that of a cherub, the second the face of a man, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.<br \/>\n<sup>15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then the cherubim rose upward. These were the living creatures I had seen by the Kebar River.<br \/>\n<sup>16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When the cherubim moved, the wheels beside them moved; and when the cherubim spread their wings to rise from the ground, the wheels did not leave their side.<br \/>\n<sup>17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When the cherubim stood still, they also stood still; and when the cherubim rose, they rose with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in them.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>On verses 8-17:\u00a0 The same cherubim and whirling wheels that Ezekiel saw in chapter 1 reappear in his vision here, except that:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Before Ezekiel called them \u201cliving creatures\u201d in chapter 1.\u00a0 It is not until verse 20 of this chapter that Ezekiel realizes that these living creatures are cherubim, a special order of angels.<\/li>\n<li>Before Ezekiel observed that each cherubim had the four faces of a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle (1:1).\u00a0 Here in Ezekiel\u2019s second description of the cherubim, the ox face of an ox seems to be replaced by a cherub face.\u00a0 It is unclear why, though some scholars surmise that perhaps in heaven cherubs\u2019 faces look more like oxen than human.<\/li>\n<li>This time Ezekiel points out that the living creatures, like the wheels in chapter 1 (see 1:18), the cherubim\u2019s bodies are full of eyes.<\/li>\n<li>Under each cherubim\u2019s wings appears to be what looks like the hands of a man (v21), suggesting that the cherubim are in a way being carried as they fly.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Despite these subtle differences or additional details, Ezekiel confirms that these were the same creatures he had seen in chapter 1 by the Kebar River (v15, 20).<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Ezekiel 10:18-22 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong><br \/>\n<sup>18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then the glory of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0departed from over the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim.<br \/>\n<sup>19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0While I watched, the cherubim spread their wings and rose from the ground, and as they went, the wheels went with them. They stopped at the entrance to the east gate of the\u00a0LORD&#8217;s house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them.<br \/>\n<sup>20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0These were the living creatures I had seen beneath the God of Israel by the Kebar River, and I realized that they were cherubim.<br \/>\n<sup>21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Each had four faces and four wings, and under their wings was what looked like the hands of a man.<br \/>\n<sup>22\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Their faces had the same appearance as those I had seen by the Kebar River. Each one went straight ahead.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Here in Ezekiel\u2019s vision, God\u2019s presence is finally departing the temple because of all the idolatry that the Israelites had engaged in.\u00a0 The departure of God\u2019s presence is as God had promised (8:6).\u00a0 The cherubim and the whirling wheels depart as well, going where God\u2019s presence is going.<\/p>\n<p>What can we learn from this?\u00a0 Notice how God\u2019s presence, the cherubim, and the wheels stay close together.\u00a0 On one level, God\u2019s presence keeps hovering over the cherubim.\u00a0 This teaches me that\u00a0<strong>God would prefer to let His presence dwell in living things that worship Him than in buildings and objects that don\u2019t.\u00a0 Praise God that as worshipers of Jesus, God\u2019s presence covers us wherever we go.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>At the same time, when I read this chapter, Ezekiel 1, and Revelation 4, I get the sense that it\u2019s not just God\u2019s presence that follows and hovers over the cherubim.\u00a0 It\u2019s also that the cherubim follow and gravitate toward God\u2019s presence.\u00a0 The cherubim love God\u2019s presence and don\u2019t want to be anywhere except in God\u2019s presence.\u00a0 Thus the cherubim go wherever God\u2019s presence leads them.<\/p>\n<p>In my weird imagination, I could picture this: as the cherubim are departing from the temple together with the cloud of God\u2019s presence, every single one of the eyes that covers the cherubim\u2019s bodies is wearing Don Moen glasses while the four wheels whirl out 80s style worship music and the cherubim sing:<\/p>\n<p><em>I just want to be where You are, dwelling daily in Your presence.<br \/>\nI don\u2019t want to worship from afar.\u00a0 Draw me near to where You are.<br \/>\nI want to be where You are, dwelling in Your presence, feasting at Your table, surrounded by Your glory.\u00a0 In Your presence, that\u2019s where I always want to be\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Just as the cherubim and whirling wheels follow God\u2019s presence wherever God goes, I want to follow God where He goes.\u00a0 I want to be where His presence is.\u00a0 Like the cherubim and the wheels, it is in God\u2019s presence that I come alive.\u00a0 It is God\u2019s presence that I truly live.\u00a0\u00a0<strong>Just like the cherubim,<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>may we long every day for God\u2019s presence and follow Him where He leads.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Heavenly Father, the One who saves me and sanctifies me, there is nothing like Your presence. Just like Your glory filled the entire temple, I want to be filled by Your Holy Spirit inside and out. Just like the cherubim who went where Your presence went, I want to be where Your presence is at.\u00a0 Like a whirling wheel may I follow You wherever You lead me.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div id=\"m_-5808768185449066335q_191\" aria-expanded=\"true\" aria-label=\"Hide expanded content\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n<p>Today&#8217;s passage is Ezekiel 9:1-11.\u00a0 Let&#8217;s go!<\/p>\n<p>Ezekiel 10:1-2 (NIV)\u00a0<br \/>\n1\u00a0\u00a0I looked, and I saw the likeness of a throne of sapphire above the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim.\u00a0<br \/>\n2\u00a0\u00a0The\u00a0LORD\u00a0said to the man clothed in linen, &#8220;Go in among the wheels beneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city.&#8221; And as I watched, he went in.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nOn verses 1-2:\u00a0 This part of Ezekiel\u2019s vision reminds me of a scene from Isaiah 6.\u00a0 In Isaiah 6, the prophet Isaiah sees a vision of God seated on his throne in the temple.\u00a0 In his vision, Isaiah is dismayed because he realizes that he is a sinner who cannot stand in the presence of a holy God.\u00a0 All of a sudden one of the angels takes a live coal from the altar, touches Isaiah\u2019s lips with it, and tells him that his guilt is taken away and his sin atoned for.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nI believe a similar thing may be happening here in Ezekiel\u2019s vision.\u00a0 God tells a man clothed in linen (the same man whom God instructed in Ezekiel 9 to mark those who did not worship idols) to fill his hands with burning coals from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city (v2).\u00a0 What is God doing?\u00a0 Since all the idolaters in the city have been exterminated in Ezekiel 9, God is now sanctifying and purifying those who are left.\u00a0<br \/>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10154,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10153"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10153\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10156,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10153\/revisions\/10156"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}