1 Corinthians 1: 18

For further study -Exodus 20:1-26

The Ten Commandments have over the years been put in the storage closet gathering dust because we no longer even read through them ourselves, much less teach them to our children.

In fact, the government has even removed them from our public school classrooms and say it is against the "law of the land" to have our young children read these directives that are in essence a list of ten directives that express the "righteous will of God."
I am knowledgeable enough about the scriptures to realize that the "Ten Commandments" are the "law" that no one can keep, thus they are not the way to secure salvation. Do remember however, these are not "ten suggestions, but ten commandments."
The "law" is as a "mirror" that we can look into and see what we really are before God, we are sinners. We have broken and will continue to break at least one and maybe all of this, "His law".
This reality then lends to the fact that the "law" had a prophetic significance. When the Lord gave the "law" to Moses on Mt Sinai He knew that no one could keep the "law" thus He knew that the Son, Jesus Christ, would have to come to fulfill the "law" but also be the ultimate sacrifice that the "law" would require for our salvation.
But as I read through the "law" again, just now, I see a "prophetic aspect to the law" for the future. As you read the extended reading for today and think about the Kingdom to come, the government will be a theocracy with Jesus Christ on the throne as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Is that not what the "law" calls for in it's essence. Though we cannot keep the "law" today, thus our need for salvation in Jesus Christ. In the Kingdom to come, we will be in our glorified bodies and we will be perfect, the law will be written on our hearts, so that we can do each of it's articles in absolute detail.
Since I can't keep the "law" today, it is used to drive me to Jesus Christ for salvation. But in the Kingdom to come I will love to keep the "law" with my perfect body, soul and spirit.


PRAYER THOT: As I study Your "law" I see how unclean I am, Lord. Thank you for Your sacrifice for me to make me clean forever.


Exodus 23 vs17

Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the LORD God.

For further study - Exodus 23:10-19

This is a very interesting section in the book of Exodus and it may give you insight into the reasons behind some Jewish activities today. In this section of Exodus the Lord is instructing Moses so that he can tell the Jewish people how the Lord wants them to live.

In the Torah, the book of Leviticus, the Lord explains how not only the Jews are to observe the Sabbath, Saturday, the seventh day of the work week, but the Lord wants the land that He has given to the Jewish people to be rested every seventh year as well, Leviticus 25:8-24.
As Moses wrote in Exodus 23:10-11 we see a preview of the Law that God gives Moses to pass along to the Jewish people. The Lord tells the Jews that they can sow and reap a harvest from the land for six years, and then the land must be rested. No crops, thus no harvest, the land must be untouched.
This is the principle of the Sabbath that the Lord set in motion during the week of creation. The Lord worked for six days to create the heavens, the earth and all that in them is, and on the seventh day the Lord rested, Genesis 2:1-3.
It was at that time the Lord introduced the principle of "Sabbath rest". That is what Moses is discussing in this second book of the Torah, the five books of Moses. In our devotional reading, Moses writes to the Jews about the "Sabbath rest" for the land as well.
Though we don't observe the Sabbath as Christians, setting aside a day of rest makes good sense on our journey through life. Someone has said, "come apart to rest, or you will come apart."
Notice at the end of our reading, in fact the last verse, Moses records the Lord's directive that the kid, a baby goat, can not be cooked in it's mother's milk.
This is the verse that the Orthodox Jews today use to justify their "kosher eating habits". Religious Jews will not mix "meat and dairy" items in their meals. The Orthodox, observant Jews, don't mix the two, meat products with dairy products, at any meal.
Again, this practice of eating "kosher" is not something we should do to conform to a Jewish life style, but it does help our overall well being to follow the dietary laws of the Bible, especially those in the Old Testament. God made our bodies and He surly knows how to take care of them, so that we can better serve Him.
I skipped over several very interesting verses, verses 14-17, which actually are the instructions from God, setting in place the three Jewish feast days that the Jews are to appear before the Lord, early on at the Tabernacle, and then at the Temple in Jerusalem.
These three days are called the "Pilgrim Feast Days". The male Jews must make a pilgrimage to the Temple three times a year to observe three of the Jewish Feasts, Passover and Unleavened Bread, which is one, verse 15 and Pentecost and Tabernacles, verse 16.
Even today, Jewish men from around the world, and usually with their families, make their way to Jerusalem for these three Feast Days. Two of these three Feast Days will require a pilgrimage by all the Jews, during the Kingdom to come here on Earth.
These Feast Days, Passover, Ezekiel 45:21, and Tabernacles, Ezekiel 45:25 will be at least two of the Pilgrim Feast Days that the Jews must celebrate at the Temple in Jerusalem during the time of the Kingdom and into eternity future.
The Jews do celebrate these Pilgrim Feast Days, annually, a foretaste of what will happen in the future during the Kingdom Period when the Lord Jesus Christ is ruling and reigning from the Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
PRAYER THOT: Thank You Lord for Your Word that informs me of the activities in the future that will bring honor and glory to You as we serve You throughout the millennial Kingdom and into eternity future.

Exodus 23 vs.17 - Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord God.

For further study - Exodus 23:14-19

Exodus 20 records the giving of "the law" to Moses on Mt Sinai. This "law," better known as the "ten commandments," was given to the Jewish people to show them there would be no way to be good enough to have merit with God by keeping the law.

In fact the "ten" are only a small part of the "total law" that must be kept. There are over "six hundred laws" that make up the requirements for the Jewish people. Of course, the Lord knew no one could keep all of these laws so He put a "sacrificial system" in place, "the shedding of blood" to atone for man's sin.

Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy give us additional information about the requirements, the "law", for the Jewish people. Let me show you one of those over six hundred "laws" that is found in our devotional reading for today. Notice verse 19, "thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mothers milk".

This "thou shall not" is where the Jewish people get the requirement for "kosher". The Jews believe that verse 19 tells them they cannot mix meat with dairy. If meats are served in a meal they can not have dairy products with the meat and vice versa.

Now please notice verses 14-17. The Lord gives to the Jewish men the directive, the "law," that they must "appear" before the Lord for three feast days each year; the Feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles.

These three Jewish feast days are called "pilgrim feast days" which means the Jewish men must "appear", be seen, by the Lord for these three feast.

The Jews would have to travel to the tabernacle or the temple for these three feast days.

Remember, the Glory of the Lord would rest on the 'ark of the covenant" in the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle or the temple. The Jews must appear before Him for these feast days. A close look at the Gospel of John reveals that Jesus did go up to Jerusalem for each of these feast days every year.

Even today religious Jews make their way to Jerusalem for the feast days even though there is no temple in Jerusalem. When the temple is rebuilt, every year every Jew will travel to Jerusalem for these feast days. In fact, we who are saved will go up to Jerusalem at the Feast of Tabernacles every year during the 1,000 year Millennial Kingdom.

There are today many Christians that go to Jerusalem every fall for the Feast of Tabernacles in anticipation of what we will do when Jesus comes back.

PRAYER_THOT:_Thank_You_dear_Lord_for_today_giving_us_a_glimpse_of_what_we_will_be_doing_to_honor_you_in_the_future._Help_us_to_honor_you_each_and_every_day_in_the_present.'>PRAYER THOT: Thank You dear Lord for today giving us a glimpse of what we will be doing to honor you in the future. Help us to honor you each and every day in the present.

Exodus 25 vss8-9 - And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it. For further study - Exodus 25:1-40

For our extended reading today we have selected more verses than usual. However, I think you will benefit by reading all forty verses of Exodus 25. This chapter is God's instruction to Moses and the Jewish people on how to build a "dwelling place" so that he could "dwell among His people."

Exodus 26 actually gives details on the "tabernacle" itself. Chapter 25 gives the details of three pieces of furniture that will be in the Tabernacle, a "transportable worship center," and later in the "permanent worship center," the Temple.

These implements are the "ark," the "table of shewbread" and the "menorah," the golden candlestick. I hasten to remind you that each implement in the Tabernacle and/or the Temple, the sacrificial system performed at the Temple and all the activities of the Temple were all prophecies of the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ. Let me take these three implements found here in Exodus 25 and explain that indeed they did look forward to the coming Messiah.

First, the "table of shewbread", this implement was to hold the twelve loaves of bread, a special type of bread, that would be made every Sabbath and then this new bread would replace the week-old bread. By the way the priests on duty that day were allowed to eat the older bread, that week-old bread, which they said was still fresh. This "table of show bread" is a picture of Jesus who said in John 6:35 that He was the "bread of life".

The second item, the "menorah", the golden candlestick, would stand in the "Holy Place" in the Temple and give light for the priestly activities inside the "Holy Place". This seven branched candelabra was fueled by "virgin olive oil" which the priest would use to refuel the "menorah" each day. Remember Jesus said in John 8:12, 9:5, and11:9 that He was the "Light of the world".

The third implement is the most sacred of these three implements, the "ark of the covenant". It was a rectangular box made out of "shittim wood" and covered with pure gold.

It had four rings, one at each corner by which the priest would transport the "ark". Inside the "ark" would be the "tablets of the Ten Commandments," a "container of manna" and the "budding almond rod." The "ark of the covenant" was indeed the "mercy seat" where on Yom Kippur the High Priest, once a year, would pour the sacrificial blood.

The "ark" represented the person of Jesus Christ and His redemptive work, the shedding of His blood. It was a model of Him to come. By the way, when you have the "real thing" you no longer need the "model."

The Temple that Jesus Christ will build at His Second Coming, Zechariah 6:12, will no longer need any of these implements, because He is the Messiah, the one these implements foreshadowed. The Temple that will stand on the Temple Mount during the coming Tribulation Period (Daniel 9:27, Matthew 24:15, II Thessalonians 2:4 and Revelation 11:1) will have all three of these implements in it because it is a "false temple" for a "false messiah", Antichrist.

That Tribulation Temple is ready to be built, all preparations have been made for that temple. The only thing that must happen before the Tribulation Temple is erected is the Rapture of the Church, which could happen at any moment. Thus in light of the "any moment" Rapture of the Church, which includes me and you if your saved, let's keep looking up...........PRAYER THOT: Dear Lord, help me to live in light of the "any moment" Rapture of the Church, which includes me.


Ezekiel 1 vs.28 - As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.

For further study - Ezekiel 1:1-28

Ezekiel, another man of God who had the dual ministry as Priest - Prophet as was the case with Jeremiah, has the most unique experience that one can have, he was honored with an appearance of the "glory of the Lord" coming from heaven to visit him.

Ezekiel had been taken into the Babylonian captivity in 597BC and was living in a location in the area of Babylon as a captive of the Babylon Empire. It was while Ezekiel was in Babylon that the Lord would give him a very important prophecy for that day and our day as well.

The 1st chapter of Ezekiel is a record of a "throne chariot" bringing the "glory of the Lord" to Earth. This throne chariot was powered by four “cherubim”, which are described in this sometimes difficult to understand passage of scripture. In fact, the entire book of Ezekiel has passages that take time to study for the proper understanding.

One such passage would be in Ezekiel 37:1-10, the prophecy of the “valley of dry bones”. In a later devotional, I will look at that passage and give an explanation. However, let me give you this much. Ezekiel was told to prophesy, or preach to the “dry bones”. That sounds like a strange directive from the Lord.

When we do study that passage more in depth we will see that the Prophet was obedient to the Lord’s directive. There is a reason that Ezekiel would obey the Lord, not only in the preaching to a valley of “dry bones”, but also be obedient to the Lord’s instruction to lay on his side in the streets, Ezekiel 4, and not mourn the death of his wife, in Ezekiel 24.

There is indeed a reason and Ezekiel 1 gives us the reason that Ezekiel was able to be obedient when told to do something that has no logic.

Our key verse, verse 28, tells us that Ezekiel saw the "glory of the Lord". When we see the "glory of the Lord" we will be obedient to His command also. You may say how can we see the glory of the Lord? That's a great question that is answered by the Psalmist.

In Psalm 19 the word says the “heavens declare the glory of the Lord”, Psalm 19:1. The passage also says “His creation declares His handiwork”.

We do not have a problem in not being able to see the “glory of the Lord” in His creative acts. The problem is that we never stop long enough to observe His handiwork. We must slow down and learn of His greatness and His glory.

PRAYER THOT: Help me to "stop and smell the roses" - as I see His glory in His handiwork.

Ezekiel 3:17 

Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.

For further study - Ezekiel 3:1-27

After Ezekiel saw the “glory of the Lord”, chapter 1, the priest-prophet, Ezekiel, is selected by the Lord to go to his own people with prophecy that will be fulfilled in the short-term.

A study of the person of Ezekiel will be of great benefit to your study of Bible prophecy. In the years I've been studying Ezekiel, almost 20 years, I have come to know a man that allowed God to use him for the Lord's own purpose without any reservation.
In Ezekiel 2 we see the record of the Lord setting the priest in the office of prophet as well, verse 5. There are only three men in scripture that were both priest and prophet. Ezekiel is one, and Jeremiah and Zechariah are the other two.
God's plan for Ezekiel would include not only having him as a "street preacher" but the prophet that He would give all the details for what is called "Messiah's Temple". This is the temple that Jesus will build and rule and reign from during the Kingdom period.
You will notice also that the Lord sends Ezekiel to a rebellious nation, Ezekiel 2:3, and a people that will reject his message and in fact, even mock the prophet, Ezekiel 2:5. In chapter 3 God does something very strange, He makes Ezekiel mute or "dumb," that is, unable to speak, Ezekiel 3:26. He then told Ezekiel he could only speak what the Lord would put in his mouth to speak, God's messages to the Jewish people, Ezekiel 3:27.
Ezekiel would be mute for over seven years, talking only when God put something in his mouth. God also made the prophet a "watchman," one who would warn the people of a coming danger, Ezekiel 3:17.
A watchman would hear the word from the Lord and warn the people. I believe God wants all of us to be watchmen, hear the prophetic word of the Lord and then, knowing the urgency of the hour, warn the people.
PRAYER THOT: Help me to study your prophetic word Lord, so that I can understand the times we live in today and warn the people, as many as possible, as soon as possible.

Ezekiel 4:3 

Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.

For further study - Ezekiel 4:1-17

The last ten words of our key verse in our devotional reading for today, "this shall be a sign to the house of Israel," expresses not only the 4th chapter, our extended reading for today, but the entire book of Ezekiel as it records the life and ministry of a unique man who God gave a unique ministry.

What God would have Ezekiel do as a "street preacher" in front of the Jewish people, Ezekiel's own people, would indeed be a "sign" to the “whole house of Israel”. Even the "tile" with Jerusalem drawn upon it and the "iron pan" that Ezekiel would use were both object lessons to the Jewish captives who had been taken into the Babylonian Captivity.
The Lord then has His prophet to lay in the street on his “left side” for 390 days and then on his “right side” for 40 days for a total of 430 days. Each day was to represent a year of judgment to come upon the Jews.
The Lord realized that His prophet would get both hungry and thirsty during his "street" ministry. The Lord made provision for Ezekiel to have about 8 ounces of meat every day, verse 10, and about one quart of water each day, verse 11.
Ezekiel would receive all the ingredients for the prophet to make his bread daily and then God gave him very strange instruction. God told Ezekiel that he was to bake his bread over a fire made out of "human excrement" that was the result of a "bowel movement" done in public, verse 12.
Please excuse what may seem to you vulgarity but I am simply quoting the text. This strange method of baking the bread was for the purpose of revealing to the Jews that they would eat "defiled bread" among the Gentiles as part of their judgment.
This was an action that conveyed to the Jews the seriousness of their sin. You will notice that the Lord did ease up on the baking of the bread and told Ezekiel that he could substitute "cow dung" for "human dung".
I chose this passage to illustrate to each of us the extent, and seriousness of God's judgment upon His people, the Jewish people.
I also believe that this passage best illustrates how a man who sees the "Glory of the Lord", Ezekiel 1:28, will be obedient to the Lord no matter what He calls him to do.
You may say, "But how can we see the Glory of the Lord?" The Psalmist told us in chapter 19 that "the heavens declare the Glory of the Lord." That 19th Psalm also says that all of creation reveals the "Glory of the Lord".
Our problem is that we don't take advantage of the opportunities we have to look and see the result of His glory. We must "stop and smell the roses" and observe the "Glory of the Lord" so that we might follow His directions without hesitation.
PRAYER THOT: Help me, to recognize Your “glory”, dear Lord, in Your "handiwork" in all of creation and then to be obedient to You.

Ezekiel 8 vs12 

Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, the LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth.

For further study - Ezekiel 8:1-18

The key verse, verse 12, in our extended reading for today is the Lord telling Ezekiel that the "house of Israel" had committed sin both privately, "every man in the chamber of his imagery", and also publicly.

The children of Israel were acting as if the Lord had forsaken the earth and He had no way to see them. As we read the entire eighteen verses we can see what made the Lord say these things to Ezekiel.
In fact, the Lord would actually bring Ezekiel, physically, to Jerusalem from where he was in Babylon. The Lord, "took me by a lock of my head", verse 3, and He brought the Prophet into Jerusalem and into the Temple.
In the front of the Temple was "the seat of the image of jealousy", verse 3. This was an idolatrous statue of some kind, most likely a "vulgar obelisk" that desecrated the Temple complex.
Inside the sanctuary there were all types of idolatrous portraits on the walls of the Temple, verses 6-10. Ezekiel was shown the "abomination" that the Sanhedrin, the "seventy men of the ancients", verse 11, had done.
Verse 14 reveals the women that sat there in the Temple, weeping over Tammuz. I'll come back to that in a moment.
The Lord told Ezekiel that he would see a "greater abomination" than he had already seen. The Lord pointed out to the Prophet the twenty-five men between the porch of the Temple and the altar.
These men had their backs to the Holy of Holies where the "Glory of the Lord" hovered over the "Ark of the Covenant", verses 15-16. This passage reveals that these men, most likely priest that served in the Temple, these priests were worshiping the "sun".
Verses 17-18 contain words, which expresses the anger of the Lord over these abominations at the Temple. Notice the words of the Lord in verse 18. He said, "He would deal with these Jews, His eyes would not look upon them, to have pity". He said, "Even if they cry out to me, even in a loud voice, I will not hear them."
The "spiritual application" of this passage for the Christian today is that many of our places of worship, the Churches, have become an "idolatrous" gathering place. More and more the "world" is creeping into our present-day worship centers.
The focus of the worshipers has been diverted from the "Holy God" and "His Holiness" to the "imagery of the world," the "image of jealousy" before the Lord. God cannot hear the "very loud" shouts of so-called "praise and worship" if there is no “holiness”.
Please go back to verse 14 where it speaks of "Tammuz." This is the son of the "mother-son cult" that was started in Babylon, 4,500 years ago. This “mother-son cult” will be a part of the "one world religion" revealed in Revelation 17 that will be headquartered in the city of Rome, Italy, during the first half of the seven year Tribulation Period.
The Lord did deal with these issues, in "His fury", verse 18, at that time in history. However, the Lord will not only deal with some of these same issues of the Jewish people in the future, as He did in the past, but He will deal with these issues, in the Church, when He comes to call us up to be with Him in theheavenlies at the Rapture of the Church.