1 Corinthians 1: 18

PRAYER THOT: Help me Lord to focus on You and Your Holiness for my worship and praise and not the things of this world.


Ezekiel 20 vs42

And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to your fathers.

For further study - Ezekiel 20:33-44
Our key verse for today, verse 42, is written to the Jewish people and reveals how the Lord will be known among the Jewish people in the last days.

However, this verse is only part of the message from the Lord to the Jewish people in the last days.

Starting in verse 33 the Lord tells the Jews of a coming judgment upon them and as we read through to verse 44 we see that the Lord will judge and then become the Lord and Savior of the Jewish people.
Let me draw your attention to some key points in our devotional reading for today. Verse 33 tells us of the Lord God as the “mighty God of the Jewish people who will rule over His chosen people”. The Lord tells them that in a day future from when Ezekiel received this message to pass along to the Jews, “in that day future He will gather the Jews from all of the countries where they had been scattered”.
This statement focuses the prophecy's fulfillment on a time after the destruction of the Temple and the city of Jerusalem in 70AD when the Jews were scattered to the four corners of the earth. Verses 35 and 36 speak of the time when the “Jews come back into the land of their forefathers”. It talks also of how the Lord will "plead with them face to face" so they will turn to Him as their Messiah, Lord and Savior.
What I have just mentioned and what you have just read is a scenario that seems to be unfolding even as I sit writing this devotional. For the last 100 years plus, there have been Jews from over 100 nations of the world who have returned to the land of their forefathers, Israel.
They are now in the land, "the wilderness," and with all that has been happening to the Jewish people of modern-day Israel, it seems that the Lord is indeed pleading with them "face to face."
The Lord will bring the Jews to a place where they will turn to Him and no longer "pollute His holy name" but become His people. This point of turning to the Lord and the building of His Temple, verse 40, on His "holy mountain," the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, is still in the future but will happen based upon the prophecies that He has already fulfilled from this passage.
One final thing to notice, as this happens and continues to happen until all the prophecies of this passage are fulfilled, not only will the Jews know that He is the Lord, but all of mankind will recognize that , as well, if they will only pay attention to what is happening in our world today, especially in the Middle East.
We must share with others the story of Israel and God's plan for them as revealed in prophecy, prophecy that is being fulfilled, even today. That story will lift up the Lord and draw men unto Him.
PRAYER THOT: Dear Lord, keep me busy sharing with others Your work among Your people today.


Ezekiel 34 vs30 - Thus shall they know that I the LORD their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord GOD.

For further study - Ezekiel 34:11-31

As we read the extended portion of our devotional for today there is one thought that is very evident, the Lord God is going to do something as it relates to the restoration of Israel and the setting up of the Davidic Kingdom.

We know this because the Lord God tells us what He is going to do and He makes it very clear not only what He is going to do but that He is the One who is that is speaking.

Between verses 11-29 the Lord repeats one phrase 18 times. The prominent phrase is, "I will", "I will" search out my sheep, verse 11. "I will" seek out my sheep, verse 12. "I will" gather them from the countries and bring them into their own land, verse 13. And " I will" feed them in a good pasture, verse 14.

I have only given you four of the eighteen "I will's" of the Lord. These "I will's" are promises of restoring a Jewish people to a nation called Israel. I've often said, if God's Word says something one time, I believe it and that settles it for me. Once God's Word says something eighteen times we must pay attention.

From Ezekiel 1-32 God gave the Jewish prophet, Ezekiel, a "message of retribution" From Ezekiel 33-48 the prophet's message is "restoration", restoring the Kingdom people, the Jewish people; and restoring the Kingdom practices.

Speaking of the Kingdom, the Lord confirms the promise of the yet to come Kingdom, in verses 23-25. The Lord, through Ezekiel, tells the Jews that King David will be resurrected and will become a "shepherd" over the Jewish people.

The Lord tells the reader that the resurrected David will be a "prince", mainly because Jesus Christ is the "King" during the coming Kingdom Period.

The Lord says that there will a "covenant of peace" made between God and King David. David returns to be a "prince", a co-regent with Christ in the Temple that Jesus builds, Zechariah 6:12.

A spiritual application of these promises, to the Jewish people, for us as Christians, is what God does in the last days with King David. David was a flesh and blood character, a man of like passion, and yet the Lord God returns David to an important place of service during the Kingdom.

God has a plan for each of us. We must be prepared to do His will in our life once we determine what His will is for each of us.

PRAYER THOT: Thank you Lord for the opportunity to serve You. Please help me to be the servant that You want me to be, for Your glory.

Ezekiel 36 vs.22 - Therefore say unto the house of Israel, thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went.

For further study - Ezekiel 36:6-22

In Ezekiel 34:13 the Lord, through the prophet Ezekiel, tells the Jewish people that He will find them wherever they were scattered and bring them into the land that He had promised to give them in the last days.

As we approach our devotional extended reading for today, in Ezekiel 36, we see that the Lord tells the Prophet to speak, to prophesy, to the land, the land that He had promised to give to the Jews.

As we read this passage, verses 6 and 7, we see what the Lord says to the land. He tells the land that had "born the shame of the heathen", the destruction of the land that God has designated for His use and land that He will give to His chosen people, the Jewish people, forever.

The Lord tells the land, the land on the earth He created, to yield fruit to the people of Israel, His people, verse 8. The land is to be productive and allow the men who He will multiply on the land of Israel, to turn the wasteland into a very fertile piece of real estate, verses 9 and 10.

The Lord even promises the Jews that the land they return to in the last days will be better than it was in the days of their forefathers, verse 11. By doing these things, for the Jews, with His promised land, they shall know that He is the Lord and they shall turn to Him.

During the year 2008 the Jewish people will celebrate the 60th birthday of the Jewish State of Israel and the productivity of the land He has given these Jewish people. This year-long celebration of God's work in fulfilling His promises about the "land of Israel" will be a witness to the entire world.

There is additional information about the land and the Jewish people in verses 12-21. Please read these verses and rejoice with what the Lord is going to do. As you read these verses, remember, the land of Israel and the Jewish people are inseparable.

As we close our devotional reading for today, notice what the Lord reveals to the prophet Ezekiel. In verse 22 the Lord tells the Jews why they have been given this land in these days. It is not because the Jews have become obedient to God's Word or that they have done anything to honor Him and follow His will.

The reason God has given the Jews this land, at least a portion of what He has promised them, is because of "His Holy names sake", verse 22. When the Lord could swear by nothing greater He swore by His name that He would give the land to the Jewish people in the last days.

It's not because of Israel or Judah that the Lord does what He does, but for "His Holy names sake". By the way, that is why He does anything for each of us, as well, for "His Holy names sake".

PRAYER THOT: Thank you Lord for keeping Your word and promises to me even though I am unworthy. You are an awesome God.
Ezekiel 37 vs,22 - And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all.

For further study - Ezekiel 37:15-23

This passage of scripture, selected for today's reading, is a prophetic passage that many Bible prophecy students have either ignored or have not been able to understand.

It is a prophecy that seems to be saying that the "ten lost tribes" of Israel will in the last days be found and they will be reunited with the two tribes known as Judah. According to Jewish history there are no "ten lost tribes" of Israel.

The record found in Ezra speaks of "all twelve tribes" being back in the land some 2,500 years ago when Cyrus gave permission for Zerubabbel to take almost 50,000 Jews back to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple, Ezra 1.

The list in Ezra 2 mentions a number of people from tribes other than Judah and Benjamin. Two examples are verses 28-29, Bethel and Ai are in the tribe of Ephraim, verse 28; and Nebo is in the tribe of Reuven, verse 29.

This means that the families of "all twelve tribes" were in the land.

Notice Ezra 6 where it speaks of the "dedication service" of the Temple when they offered twelve "he goats" according to the number of the tribes of Israel, Ezra 6:17.

Even the fact that Ezra 6 uses the term "Israel" indicates that it's speaking of all twelve tribes back in the land at the time of the building of the Second Temple.

In Ezekiel 37:11 it states that the "bones", in the dry valley, are the "whole house of Israel". That means representatives of all twelve tribes have been coming back into the land of their forefathers, even though they are coming in unbelief, as the text states they should.

Therefore, the passage for our devotional reading for today is a prophecy of two "Jewish states" during the Tribulation Period that will become one state again at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ when He will cleanse the Jews, and they will be His people, and He their God, verse 23.

The "two sticks" represent the two Jewish states, Israel and Judah. This prophecy is also revealed in Malachi 2, Jeremiah 3:18 and Ezekiel 35:10, when it refers to "two nations". Now, that's the prophecy. (For more, see my audio series on Ezekiel, "Dry Bones and Two Sticks")

The current events that play into this scenario are many. For a number of years this prophetic concept has been discussed among the religious Jews.

The former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told US President George W Bush that Israel was on the verge of civil war, Jew against Jew.

With the disengagement of the Gaza, the Annapolis Middle East Peace Summit and pressure from the Unites States, the European Union and the United Nations, the Israeli government has called for the removal of the Jewish settlers in Judea and Samaria, several hundred thousand Jewish settlers.

This call has been met by calls for a "second" Jewish state. There is now a campaign to come up with a "flag" for the second Jewish state, and an "anthem" as well. There are very serious Jewish scholars that are now calling for this "second Jewish state", a prophecy that Ezekiel wrote about 2,500 years ago.

The stage is set and all the actors are getting into place, the curtain is about to go up on the final act in this prophetic drama for the last days. Only one thing must happen before all of these prophecies will be fulfilled, and that's the Rapture, which could happen, today. Keep looking up ... Until.

PRAYER THOT: Thank you Lord for the understanding of Bible prophecy for the last days. It helps me to recognize where I am on Your time clock. Help me to live expecting You to come today.

Ezra 1 vs. 2 - Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

For further study - Ezra 1:1-11

One hundred and fifty years before the fact, the ancient Jewish Prophet Isaiah, inspired by God, pre-wrote history by recording the prophecy of a world leader named Cyrus who would come to power and allow the Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild their Temple, Isaiah 44:28.

Cyrus was the King that God raised up as leader of the Medo-Persian Empire who defeated the Babylonian Empire. As he came to power, the command went forth from his palace to allow the Jews to return to Jerusalem to re-build their Temple, verse 2.

In fact, Cyrus even helped raise the funds to re-build the Temple, verse 4, and he provided the vessels for the Temple, vessels which Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the Temple and carried to Babylon during the Jewish captivity, verse 7 (II Chronicles 36:18).

The book of Ezra is mainly a book of history. It records the events that happened as the Jews made their way out of the Babylonian captivity, after 70 years, back to their homeland with the opportunity to not only rebuild their Temple but their nation as well.

This record of a biblical prophecy being fulfilled is a basis upon which we can conclude that all additional biblical prophecy remaining to be fulfilled will in fact be fulfilled. There are a number of prophecies to be fulfilled before the return to earth by Jesus Christ will take place.

However, there is not one prophecy that must be fulfilled before the Rapture will happen, not one. All the prophecies, written by the Jewish Prophets of the events of the last days, are the prophecies that are almost at the point of fulfillment.

All prophecies yet to be fulfilled will only begin to come to pass after the Christians leave this world at the Rapture. The Rapture is an event that can happen at any moment. What we must do is keep looking up.
Prayer Thot: With the reality that the Rapture could happen at any moment, Lord help me to live pure and productive as I await His shout for me to join Him in the air.
Ezra 2:1 

Now these are the children of the province that went up out of the captivity, of those which had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away unto Babylon, and came again unto Jerusalem and Judah, every one unto his city;

For further reading - Ezra 2:1-70

I know exactly what you are going to do for the extended reading today. You will skim quickly through the list of names of the heads of families and how many of each family will return to Jerusalem for the purpose of rebuilding the Temple.

By the way, this will be the Second Temple to be built in Jerusalem. The first was the one Solomon built around BC 1000. This Temple will be erected around 500 years before the birth of Christ by the names of the list that is our reading for today.
The first chapter of Ezra records the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy that God would raise up a Persian leader, Cyrus, who would allow a number of Jews to return to Jerusalem and build the Second Temple.
God raised up Zerubbabel to lead the almost 50,000 Jews back to the land of Israel, to Jerusalem to build the Temple. Ezra 2 records the heads of family, where they lived, and how many of their family would travel back to Jerusalem. This is a very important list that Ezra includes in his history book.
Let me answer your question not mentioned. Why read this passage? What can we learn from this information? That is a good question. Let me remind you that II Timothy 3:16 tells us that all scripture is profitable.
Let me introduce you to that which helps us see that God was allowing for all the Jewish people to return to the land. However, a smaller number than the entire Jewish population will return to build the Temple. There are included in this list peoples from all twelve tribes of Israel, meaning all twelve tribes or their representatives would travel back into the land of Israel.
These almost 50,000 Jews were not just people from the two southern tribes, Benjamin and Judah, which was known as Judah. We will see that when the Babylonians captured the Assyrians who had taken the ten northern tribes into captivity all twelve tribes would be joined together once again. Some from all twelve tribes would return to Israel at this time.
Two examples. The men of Bethel in verse 28 who were of the tribe of Ephraim. Also verse 29 speaks of the children of Nebo, which is on the eastern side of the Jordan River and was given to the tribe of Reuben. There are other tribes mentioned in this list, which helps us know that members of all twelve tribes returned to the land under the Medes and the Persians.

This proves there are no "lost tribes" and also that a prophecy of two Jewish states in the future, Ezekiel 37:15-23, could be ready for fulfillment in the near future (see my study of Ezekiel). Verse 70, "all of Israel in their cities."

The stage is set for Ezekiel's two Jewish states prophecy to be fulfilled. Today Jews have returned to the land of Israel as one people in one Jewish state. Ezekiel reveals two Jewish states in the future and the stage is set for that to happen.
Bible prophecy will be fulfilled.
PRAYER THOT: Thank you Lord for Bible Prophecy that has been fulfilled in the past, which is a basis for me to believe that all unfulfilled Bible prophecy will be fulfilled.

Ezra 6 vs15 - And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king. For further study - Ezra 6:15-22

The portion of scripture for today's devotional reading, and the extended reading is a record of the completion of the building of the Second Temple and the dedicatory service to follow. It also records the observance of the first of the seven Jewish feast days, the Passover.

This sixth chapter of Ezra is key to understanding how God fulfills prophecy and how He will fulfill prophecy.

In chapter one of Ezra we read about the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy about a leader named Cyrus who would come to power and allow the Jews to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple destroyed by the Babylonians (Isaiah 44:28 & Ezra 1:2-3).

In chapter two of this book written by the scribe, Ezra, we see the record of the families from the twelve tribes of Israel who did return to Jerusalem to rebuild that temple.

Ezra three to five records how the Jewish people did not set as a priority the building of the temple but instead looked to their own needs.

Notice Ezra 5:1 here we see that the two Jewish prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, are used by God to preach to the Jews in Judah to be about the task of building the temple (At this point in a reading through the Bible one should read both Haggai and Zechariah).

The prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah have both a short term fulfillment and a long term fulfillment. The Jewish returnees from Babylon were exhorted by these two prophets to rebuild the temple which they finally did as they had been directed.

Our key verse and the extended reading are the record of the temple being rebuilt and dedicated; however, this was done twenty-five years after the Jews returned to Jerusalem and only under pressure from Haggai and Zechariah.

This temple was the second temple that was still standing in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount in the days of Jesus Christ. In 70 AD, this temple was destroyed and another temple will be rebuilt on the Temple Mount; in fact, two more temples will stand there in Jerusalem.

Zechariah 6:12 tells us that the "Branch", another name for Jesus, will build His temple where He will rule and reign, in the Kingdom to come.

However, there will be another temple in Jerusalem before Messiah builds His Temple. Daniel 9:27, Matthew 24:15, II Thessalonians 2:4 &

Revelation 11:2 reveal there will be a Temple in the Tribulation

Period. That Temple will house the "image of the beast", Revelation 13:14-15.

All preparations have been made for the building of that temple. The Jews could start erecting that temple any day. Please remember that our reading today in Ezra 6 reveals the Temple of his day was rebuilt. These other two temples are yet future. The stage has been set for the next two temples to be built in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount.

PRAYER THOT: Thank you, Lord, for fulfilled prophecy that sets the stage for other prophecies to be fulfilled.

Ezra 7vs.10 

  For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.

For further study - Ezra 7:1-10

Ezra is the author of the book, by his name, and most likely the author of I and II Chronicles. He is a scribe and will not only record the history of Israel but will serve at the Temple in Jerusalem.

In Ezra 1-6, we see the record of the rebuilding of the second temple by almost 50,000 Jews that came back from the Babylonian captivity when the Babylonian Empire fell. Zerubbabel led these Jews back to their homeland and was the “general contractor” in the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem.
With the Temple up and operating God now calls Ezra the Scribe to journey back to Jerusalem and become the Scribe at the Temple to lead the study of the Word of God. Ezra was well studied, "a ready scribe," Ezra 7, verse 6, in the “law of Moses”, the Torah, which is the first five books of the Old Testament.
God opened the heart of the Persian king to allow Ezra to return to Jerusalem to do his “priestly duties”. Verse 6 tells us that was the case because the "hand of the Lord his God was upon him" (Ezra).
Our key verse lays out for us Ezra's approach for teaching the Word of God which is also a great pattern for us to follow. Notice that in verse 10, Ezra "prepared his heart" first. Only a "prepared heart" will seek to know the Word of the Lord. Before Ezra would preach and teach the Word, he would "do it." Ezra knew he could not teach that which he was not willing to live by for his own life.
The final step in the process was the "teaching." Many times we put the cart ahead of the horse. We want to teach without first preparing our hearts. As we, I, seek to know the Word we must be living our lives by His Word before we venture out to teach it to anyone. What great principles we can appropriate for our own lives and ministries for today from the book of Ezra.
Before we leave our reading for today, I want you to notice a portion of two verses, verses 6 and 9. Ezra, before he returned to Jerusalem to be the scribe in the newly rebuilt Temple, was living in Babylon.
Ezra 7 is a record of events over 80 years after the fall of the Babylonian Empire, Daniel 5, and the city of Babylon is still standing. Babylon the Empire fell in 539BC but Babylon the city did not fall. Babylon was a thriving city some 80 years after the downfall of the Babylonian Empire.
The significance of this information is that the prophecies of Isaiah 13 and 14, Jeremiah 50 and 51, Revelation 16 and 18 about the destruction of Babylon had not been fulfilled 80 years after the fall of the Babylonian Empire.
The destruction of Babylon foretold in Revelation 16:17-21 is a yet future event that will be fulfilled at the end of the Tribulation period. In fact, the destruction of Babylon is the last thing the Lord Jesus Christ does before he comes back to the earth, Zechariah 14:4.
By the way, Biblical Babylon is located in Iraq on the shores of the Euphrates River today. It is the place where Antichrist will rule and reign over a “one world economic, political, governmental system” in the last three and a half years of the Tribulation period. The stage is being set for these Bible prophecies to be fulfilled.