In the Word

Pastor Mike Warren: We are quickly coming to the end of that section, and I am glad we are. Because from chapter 12 to chapter 24, as it were, it is God giving reasons why he has to discipline his people. So he's making his case, as it were. Not that he needs to do that, but what we can glean from these chapters is the fact that God does not want to have to discipline his people.

What he wants is that his people would turn at his reproof. Again, before we pray and dive into this, I want to remind you that the problem here that God has with his people is not sin or transgression. When he set up the Levitical priesthood—the spiritual oversight for the nation of Israel—he presupposed that we're going to have a difficulty with sin and transgression. In the law, he made provision for that in the Old Testament through the sacrifices and in the New Testament through Jesus Christ.

That's not the issue God's having with his people; it's idolatry. I was having a conversation with Jerry before the service about what idolatry would look like in the time we're living in: worshipping worship instead of worshipping the Lord. Making worship about your entertainment and how it pleases you, instead of being concerned about how it pleases him. From the pulpit, from this aspect, it would be being more concerned about what people think than what God thinks. Watering down his word and compromising his word to please people is idolatry.

There are so many things that we can do, and the idea is this: anything that takes the place on your heart—the throne of your heart—that takes the place of God is idolatry. That's the issue here. He knows his people are going to struggle in this life. Again, we read in Philippians last week as we closed out the book that when Jesus comes for his church, he's going to change our vile bodies and give us a body fashioned like his.

He knows that we have this flesh, and although we're born again and filled with the Spirit, we struggle with these things. That's not the problem he has. The Lord never condemned struggling sinners who have a passion to serve him. It was religious people that made religion an idol that he didn't have too many good things to say about. So that's kind of the context. Let's pray and we'll dive in, just backing up a couple of verses to get a run at it.

Father, we thank you tonight for your word. Again, just remind us, Father, as we go through this section, remind us number one that you don't want to discipline. In fact, we're going to get to that verse shortly that says, "Turn ye, turn ye, why will you perish?" saith the Lord of hosts. "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked should turn from their wicked way." Lord, we hear your heart.

The second thing we need to realize is that idolatry in the life of the believer breaks the heart of the Father. It breaks your heart. To you, Lord, it is as though we as your people are committing spiritual adultery. It breaks your heart. You're a jealous God. You have feelings. We know that because you put those things in us. Help us to understand that we should live a life, Father, that's pleasing to you. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

As we ended our study last week in verse 44, if you have a Hebrew Bible—and we've had some people from time to time that have come to our church that actually speak Hebrew and have brought a Hebrew Bible. We had a lady for a while who moved away who spoke Greek and brought a Greek Bible. One of the greatest compliments she paid me was she said, "When you pronounce Greek words, you pronounce them correctly." I had to tell her that I cheat. I have an app that tells me how to pronounce them because I think they're important.

I understand Greek, and I took a Greek course in college, but I want to pronounce the words right if I am going to pronounce a Greek word. Hebrew, I just forget it. I just say, "In the Hebrew it says this," because it's like you're coughing up a lung when you speak Hebrew. I just can't do it. Greek, okay. Anyway, my brain's working good. This is why I said that: when we came to verse 44 in the Hebrew Bible, that's the end of chapter 20. In the Hebrew Bible, chapter 21 begins in verse 45, and you'll see why in a few moments.

Let's back up to the conclusion of chapter 20 because he makes an interesting statement. This statement's important to us because it speaks to the nature and the character of God. I had a conversation with a pastor just yesterday. They call me and ask questions all the time, but I forgot to call one of them back today. He called me and I told him I'd call him back in 15 minutes, and I didn't call him back. If you're watching, I'm sorry. I'll get ahold of you tomorrow.

We had a conversation yesterday with a pastor about the faithfulness of God and to what degree does his grace deal with sin. It was a long conversation. What I want you to see tonight in the middle of this is that God reminds us that his people, at the end of his discipline, will serve him. God doesn't give up on us. He'll do what is necessary and he'll do what it takes to get us where we need to be, but he never gives up on us.

Let's just back up to the end of this chapter as we get a run for chapter 21. It says this: "And you shall know that I am the Lord." He's been making his case to why he needs to discipline his children, but he says at the end of this, "Listen, you are going to know that I am the Lord when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for which I lifted up my hand"—and that's the idea of making an oath—"which I lifted up my hand to give to your fathers."

"I promised your fathers. I entered into a covenant relationship with your fathers to give them a land that flowed with milk and honey. You were to be the possessors of that. As you've come into this land and I have blessed you, you have forgotten me. Just like I warned you, when you go into the land and you eat from vineyards you did not plant, and you drink from wells you did not dig, and you live in houses that you did not build, beware lest you forget the Lord your God."

"Well, you forgot me, but I have not forgotten you." Listen, the principle in the New Testament is that when we're unfaithful, God remains faithful. He's faithful to his covenant. He's not a man that he can lie, nor the son of man that what he has promised, he will perform. How he performs it when his people go astray in a form of idolatry and leave the true and living God to serve other gods—gods that are fashioned after what they want—then God will discipline his people to get them back on the right path.

As he's going through this section from chapter 12 to chapter 21, reminding us that he doesn't want to discipline his people but it's necessary, he reminds us as he closes out chapter 20. He says, "Listen, one day after the discipline is over, you're going to know me. You're going to serve me. I'm going to bring you back into the land because you're going to be exiled for 70 years into Babylon, but I am going to bring you back. I want to leave you with hope."

"The temple will be rebuilt that's going to be destroyed just in a few years of the writing of this chapter." The third time, as we're going to see in the text, Nebuchadnezzar will go back to Jerusalem, and this time he's going to level the place. He's going to burn it to the ground. Jeremiah has been warning them up in Israel: "Submit, submit to the discipline of the Lord. Turn from your wicked ways. Repent and listen, it will go well for you."

If you continue to resist, God's just going to have to amp it up. In 605 BC, when Nebuchadnezzar is coming back from the Battle of Carchemish where he defeated Pharaoh Necho, he besieged Jerusalem under the direction of the Lord because the Lord calls Nebuchadnezzar his servant to discipline his people. Well, they didn't submit. He had to go back in 597 BC, and this time he sacks the temple, takes the priests captive, and takes them to Babylon. That's how Ezekiel got there.

But they're still not listening. So he'll go in 586 BC and he'll burn it to the ground. We're going to see tonight that from that moment on, there will be no scepter in Israel. It's not that the line of David is broken forever, but it'll be broken until the Messiah comes. As we read this tragic story, what we find out from this point on is that God's people will be under the bondage of the Babylonians, then the Medo-Persians, then the Greeks, then the Romans.

The Romans will burn down the temple again, and they will be dispersed among the nations. They'll be brought back in the last days—and they're there today. 1948, back in Israel. 1967, possessing the ancient city of Jerusalem. But there's still no scepter, there's no king. There's a form of government, but there's no king. There won't be a king from this point on because of their sin until the King of kings comes into the city. That's what he's going to talk about.

He's going to tell Ezekiel to weep for that. "That's not what I wanted. I wanted Israel to be a light to the nations. I wanted them to be an example of what it looks like for God's people to serve their God. How they would be blessed among the other nations around them; how they would be a special people. But you've become worse than the heathen around you." We're going to see tonight that he's going to destroy the Ammonites.

Many people ask, "Well, why is he destroying the Ammonites?" Because the Ammonites, given to idolatry, were one of those -ites that were in the land and influenced Israel into idolatry. Not only is God going to deal with his people's idolatry, but he's going to remove any influence. That's what he does in our lives. Not only does he deal with the sin in our life, but he's going to remove those influences. So that's contained in the text tonight.

"And you shall remember your ways." When he's done disciplining, he said there's a time coming when there's going to be restoration, and you're going to remember your ways and all of your doings in which you have done and have been defiled by. "And you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all of the evils that you have committed." There's going to be not only restoration, but there's going to be brokenness. There's going to be repentance.

How many are broken over some of the failures you've had in your life? You're just broken over those things. They bother you. You've repented and you've been restored. That's all God's after. He said, "I want to remind you that although this time of discipline is difficult, I don't want to do it. I have to do it, but the end result of it will be there's going to come a time when there's going to be restoration. I'm promising you that."

"There'll be a time when you're back in the land and the covenant I made with your fathers will be in place again, and you will be broken and you will repent. And you will loathe the fact that you ever sought other gods to serve." Then verse 44 says, "And you shall know that I am the Lord when I have wrought with you for my name's sake, not according—I didn't deal with you according—to the corrupt doings, oh house of Israel."

"I didn't deal with you according to your wicked ways because if I would have dealt with you according to your wicked ways, I would have wiped you out. But I will be gracious and I will be merciful. All I'm looking for is brokenness, contriteness, and repentance." Listen, this has been the heart of the Father through the Old Testament all the way into the New Testament. That's all he's looking for.

Now we pick up again in verse 45, and there is like a parable that he's saying here. He's going back into again reminding them of what this destruction the third time is going to look like. He says in verse 45, "Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me saying, Son of man," he's speaking to Ezekiel, "set your face toward the south." He's going to mention the south three times.

He's going to use a different word each time, and it's going to go from the broad perspective to the more pointed perspective, and really what he's zeroing in on is Jerusalem. Now, that's an important point because he says it three times, and it's important because the righteous and the wicked are going to suffer both. The righteous and the wicked are going to suffer because God's going to destroy Jerusalem.

The righteous and the wicked are going to be displaced. Because of the wicked that brought the judgment upon Jerusalem and the sacking of the temple, as it were, the righteous still suffer. Listen, as God is judging this nation here, God will maintain us. He promises to maintain the righteous. He's going to take care of us, but it's not that we're not suffering. When we look at what's going on in our country—those of us that have been raised in a time—I'm saddened because my grandchildren will never experience what I experienced when I was growing up.

This country is changing. It's changing quickly. It's changing drastically. There's a paradigm shift that took place at the beginning of the 19th century that has moved on in for these last 150 years that is changing this nation. Back in the '60s, there was a major paradigm shift, and it saddens me to see it. We're suffering now because of God's judgment with the gas prices and the inflation and all of these things because God is judging this nation.

So there's some aspects that we're going to suffer along with the wicked, but God will take care of us. This is what he's going to say. Listen carefully. He says, "Now you set your face toward the south and drop thy word." This is interesting. The King James says "drop thy word," but really what it's saying in the Hebrew is "spit against them" because in those days if there was something that was unclean, to keep that unclean thing from coming on you, you'd spit on the person.

If a person walked in here that was sick and coughing and we were all Hebraic, we'd spit on them to try to keep that thing off of you. I'm glad we're not Hebraic; we're Gentiles that are saved. But he said to spit against the forest of the south fields. Again, we're going to see this evening that the forest is going to represent Jerusalem, and the trees—the green trees and the dry trees—are going to represent the people in Jerusalem.

So he says this: "And say to the forest of the south, hear the word of the Lord, thus saith the Lord, behold, I am kindling a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree, and it's also going to devour every dry tree, the righteous and the unrighteous." When God judges a place, unfortunately, everyone who lives in that place to some degree is going to be affected.

We're being affected, and I know I hear your prayers. "God, we need righteous leaders." I get that. I know that it's hard to see, it's hard to live, but we're going to be somewhat affected even as the righteous in a time when God judges a place. God is judging America. God is judging America, as we're going to see as we get to our study, for the same things that he says here as he lists the reasons why he's judging are in place in America today.

Unfortunately, we as the righteous have to watch it. We have to endure the economy as God pulls his hand of blessing back from it, but he's still going to take care of us. That's the promise. Just like he did when God judged Egypt in the land of Goshen; he still took care of his people. But he's saying there's going to be an effect on the green trees and on the dry trees.

"The flaming fire shall not be quenched, and all the faces from the south even to the north shall be burned therein. And all the flesh shall see that I am the Lord that kindled it. I've done this; this is my hand at work." Listen, they were rebutting Jeremiah up in Jerusalem saying, "There's no way." The false prophets are coming up and saying, "Jeremiah is a whack, he's a hack. Listen, Jehoiachin is going to come back, God's going to destroy the Babylonians, the temple priests are going to come back, all the instruments of worship, everything's going to be fine."

And God is saying, "No, it's not going to be fine. I am going to start a fire of judgment that won't be quenched. It shall not be quenched." Then said Ezekiel, "Ah, Lord! They say of me, does he not speak in parables?" They don't understand what you're saying. Trees, green, dry, burn—what? And so now God speaks plainly as we come into chapter 21. Chapter 21 is an interesting chapter; it's known as the Chapter of the Sword because 19 times God is going to mention the sword of discipline, the sword of correction coming against his people.

It's "The Song of the Sword," some have laid it out. Listen carefully: "The word of the Lord came unto me saying, Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem." Now he's speaking plainly. "What I'm talking about is Jerusalem." This is an important point: it's a place. He's going to judge a place. It's his city. It's where he placed his name, it's where he placed his tabernacle, later his temple. It's where his presence resided.

Because they have committed adultery against him—in fact, earlier Jeremiah said that they saw the Shekinah glory, the anointing, the presence of God lift up off of the mercy seat, off of the ark of the covenant, go to the doorway, outside of the doorway, out of the city. It was in the mountains, and they said for months they could look up there and they could see the glory of the Lord because Ichabod was written across the temple. The glory of the Lord had left. God has already left this city because of idolatry.

He's left. I believe one of these days very soon, he's going to leave again with his church. Then he's going to bring judgment on a Christ-rejecting, wicked world. Jeremiah is warning them, "Don't you see what's going on?" And so the Lord says to Ezekiel, "Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem. This is what I'm talking about, this place. And spit as a curse against the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel."

"And say to the land of Israel, thus saith the Lord, behold, I am against thee, and I will draw forth my sword out of his sheath." Notice the play on words: "my sword out of his sheath." Who's the sword? It's Nebuchadnezzar. God's already said Nebuchadnezzar's my servant. I'm going to use him to discipline my people. You didn't listen the first time in 605 BC when I sent him. You didn't listen the second time in 597 BC when I sent him.

"And I'm going to send him a third time, and the third time he's going to sack the city. He's going to burn it to the ground. I am pulling, as it were, my sword out of his sheath. I'm going to use Nebuchadnezzar to bring about this discipline. And I will cut off thee, the righteous and the wicked." Not cut them off to destroy them, but cut them off from the city. The temple will be sacked. The righteous and the unrighteous will be led out of the city into captivity into Babylon.

While they're in Babylon—like Daniel, his three companions, Ezekiel—they're blessed. They're protected. Even when things like making the decree when the Medo-Persians were there and he got thrown into the lions' den, they became furry pillows. God knows how to protect his people even when he's disciplining a place, a country, a city.

He's saying, "Unfortunately, when I set my discipline against Jerusalem, it's going to affect the righteous and it's going to affect the unrighteous. But as the righteous are led into Babylon, they're going to find places to flourish there, like Daniel and his three companions, like Ezekiel." He says you'll be cut off from the city. The idea is not cut off from God's presence, but cut off from the city.

"I'm judging Jerusalem. Even the righteous and the wicked will be taken out of that city. Seeing then I will cut off them from thee, the righteous and the wicked, cut off from Jerusalem, therefore shall my sword go forth out of its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north. That all flesh may know that I the Lord have drawn forth my sword out of his sheath"—which is Nebuchadnezzar—"it shall not return any more."

Now he's going to build this case as he moves through. When he's saying "not return anymore," Jerusalem will not be the center of worship ever again. There will not be a king or a scepter in Jerusalem again until the Messiah comes. That's why it's so important as we're looking today to see that God's people have come home, because he promised they would. They're back in the land that he swore to the fathers.

They are now—1967 was one of the most incredible fulfillments of prophecy when Moshe Dayan stood at the Wailing Wall on June the 7th, 1967, and declared for the first time in 2,000 years, "We are now in possession of the ancient city of Jerusalem." God has been faithful to bring his people back. As we get into the later chapters, we're going to find out that God's going to raise them up—these dry bones—and they'll be standing an exceeding great army, but there'll be no spirit in them.

That's what we're seeing today in Israel. But he said the second part of that prophecy: he's going to blow upon them the breath of God and put life in them. What would cause that? Do you think Psalm 83 may cause that? When it looks like they're going to be destroyed and God himself shows up in a way that's like Old Testament intervention?

This is a sad moment for the nation of Israel. That which was to be the light of the nations, their scepter is going to be set aside. He's telling them here that the sword will not go back into the sheath. It will not return anymore. Then he says to them, "Sigh." The idea is to bend over and just grab your stomach as though you're in pain and sigh because this is going to be devastating to my people.

The place of prominence that I had ordained them to stand in, they have rejected. So there will be no scepter in Jerusalem, no king reigning until the Messiah comes. "Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of thy loins." Have you ever been like in such pain? I've been there a couple of times; kidney stones will do it for you. You're sighing, you're bent over, you can barely breathe.

I was so glad that I went to Kyle's classes with her with Lamaze whenever I got kidney stones. Man, I was—I thought I was dying. I came into the hospital at three o'clock in the morning and thought, "This is it, this is how you die." And the nurses knew right away. It feels like you're having a child, doesn't it? This is not funny.

So he said, "Bend over with the sighing and the breaking of the loins, with bitterness, sigh before their eyes. Show them how broken God's heart is for what he's got to do because he's going to remove the scepter. He's going to remove the throne of David and the lineage of David. When Zedekiah, which is not a legitimate king, when that prince is removed, there will be no prince in Israel, there will be no king in Israel until the Prince of Peace comes and the King of kings shows up."

God is broken over that because that's not what he wanted for his people. He said, "And it shall be when they say unto thee, wherefore sighest thou? Why are you bent over in pain? Then answer: for the tidings, for the news because it cometh, because I understand what is coming. And every heart shall melt, and all the hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all the knees shall be weak as water. Behold, it cometh, and it shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord."

God is going to remove the scepter. You were to be a nation that was to rule over the nations. To you was entrusted God's word; to you and from your people was the Messiah to be born. You possess the city where my presence was; to you was entrusted the priesthood. To you was the light, and you were to be the light of all nations. And now you're going to be stripped of it.

It won't come back to you again until the Messiah comes. Again, the word of the Lord, verse eight, came unto me saying, "Son of man, prophesy and say, thus saith the Lord, say a sword, a sword is sharpened and it is furbished." The idea is the sword is being prepared for battle and it's being polished. In those days, when they would go to battle and you would hear the cry, they would raise their swords in the air.

They would polish them so they would, as we're going to see in a few moments, put off a glitter, a shine in the sun so they could see how many weapons were coming against them. God is saying judgment is being prepared. "I'm going to tell you: the application for us is judgment for this nation is being prepared. Make no mistake about it."

What we ought to be praying for is revival. What we ought to be praying is for another outpouring of his Holy Spirit, like it was in the Jesus Movement not so many years ago, that God would save as many as he can to bring them into the church and take them out before his judgment comes. But America? It's over. You cannot abort 63 million babies and be innocent.

You cannot shake your fist in the face of God and say, "You did not make male and female. And oh, by the way, a man can marry or a woman can marry anything they want to marry. They can marry their dog." And that's been happening. You cannot do that for a long period of time and not demand the judgment of God. Listen, there's nothing honest in Washington, D.C.

If you haven't figured it out, Republican or Democrat, left-wing, right-wing, same bird. They're corrupt to the core. They're bought and paid for. They're compromised. They're for power, they're not for the people. The Constitution they're wrecking, the economy they're wrecking to move us toward a one-world government. God is judging this nation, guys.

Aren't you glad you're on the right side of this thing? Aren't you glad he's going to take you out and take you home? Are you ready to go home? Are you tired of turning on the news and thinking, "It can't get any worse," and then just turn on the news the next day and find out it can? It just did. Are you kidding me? Really? Seriously?

It's insane because it's not a mental or physical thing; it is a spiritual thing. When God seeks to judge a nation, he gives them wicked leaders. And I think we got them. Do you? But man, is God going to take care of us? You bet. Hey, there's a dinner being prepared and it won't be keto, either. Amen.

So listen to what he's saying here. This is important. It's being sharpened; the idea is judgment is being prepared. It's ready, it's coming. Can you sense it here? We know the wrath of God is coming. We know in chapter 6 of Revelation, all the kings of the earth cry out for the rocks to fall and hide them because the great day of his wrath is come, and who can stand?

We know the church is in heaven in chapter 4. We know that we're singing the song of the redeemed in chapter 5, and judgment comes in chapter 6. We won't be here. That's how God's going to protect us. But unfortunately, like the righteous in Ezekiel's day and in Daniel's day and in Jeremiah's day, they had to witness it.

Can you imagine the breaking of their heart because they love their Lord their God? They knew that the ark of the covenant was a representation of his presence. To watch that city and that temple to be destroyed—can you imagine the heartbreak of the righteous? I think you can because you're seeing America and you're seeing the church for the most part being destroyed.

And it's heartbreaking. When the foundations are removed, what will the righteous do? We look up because our redemption draws near. That's what we do. We pray for revival. We pray for another outpouring of the Spirit that God would draw as many as he can in before he takes the church home. Amen? That should be our prayers.

And so he says this in verse 10: "It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter." The terminology "sore slaughter" is what you would see when the sacrifices were stacking up at the temple: the slaughtering of animals. Can you imagine in those days when people were bringing those sacrifices for sin and transgression when you've got about three million people camped around the tabernacle—what a mess that would have been?

He said, "That's what this is going to look like." He said, "It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter. It is furbished. It is polished that it may glitter in the sun so when they raise their weapons with a war cry, it will strike fear because all of these weapons will be shining in the sun." Listen: "Should we then make mirth?"

See, back up in Jerusalem, they're telling Jeremiah, "Oh, this is not going to happen. Jeremiah, you're whacked." I have a lot of pastor friends say, "You know, you have too much doom and gloom in your teachings." No, I'm warning the people. Jesus is coming! You better get ready. He's going to judge this nation. "Oh, you shouldn't be saying that. It freaks people out." It should freak you out!

It should wake you up. We're not long for here. We're going home. Amen? We're going to be found working, but Jesus is coming. Maranatha! The Lord comes and he's coming quickly. We need to do the things that are important, which is save as many souls as we can. We need to be praying for, again, like I said—I don't want to sound like a broken record, but I will—pray for an outpouring of his Spirit.

He said, "Listen, should we then make mirth? Should we make merry? Should we just compromise, settle down in apathy and not be concerned?" Are you kidding? Listen, the alarm is being sounded. We're living in the final moments. Wake up, church! Lay aside every weight and distraction and every sin, and run what is left of the race that has been entrusted to us with endurance.

Keep your eyes on Jesus, who's the author and the completer of your faith because we're not long for here. Don't get sidelined or distracted. Don't fall into idolatry where you're worshipping your bank account, your house, your life, and the things of this life. Don't get caught up in a church that will tell you what you want to hear instead of what you need to hear.

Worship the true and living God, not a god of your making. Make worship about him. Make his word the priority in your life because the only thing that'll matter one nanosecond after the rapture is that those things were in place. And so he's warning them: "Should we make merry?"

And then he says an interesting thing: "It despiseth the scepter of my son." That's the phraseology. It's a little difficult in the old King James: "Should we make merry? Then contempteth the rod of my son as every tree." What he's saying there is you have despised the scepter in your idolatry. You have despised the scepter of my son.

My son was the root and offspring of David. He was to come and rule as the Messiah, but you have so despised it, you've so defiled it that now I have to remove the scepter from you and your place of prestige and position in this world. And he has given it to be furbished that it may be handled.

"This sword is sharpened, it is furbished, to give into the hand of the slayer. Cry and howl, son of man, for it shall be upon my people. It shall be upon the princes of Israel." Zedekiah is not going to escape this, and he doesn't even call Zedekiah a king. Zedekiah is a wicked person who came into prominence and power, and he wasn't of the lineage of David. He just calls him a prince.

"But when I remove that wicked king, there'll be not another king in Israel until the King of kings shows up." And God is broken over that because that's not what he wanted for his people. He said, "And it shall be when they say unto thee, wherefore sighest thou? Why are you bent over in pain? Then answer: for the tidings, for the news because it cometh, because I understand what is coming. And every heart shall melt, and all the hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all the knees shall be weak as water. Behold, it cometh, and it shall be brought to pass," saith the Lord.

God is going to remove the scepter. You were to be a nation that was to rule over the nations. To you was entrusted God's word; to you and from your people was the Messiah to be born. You possess the city where my presence was; to you was entrusted the priesthood. To you was the light and you were to be the light of all nations. And now you're going to be stripped of it, and it won't come back to you again until the Messiah comes.

Again the word of the Lord, verse 8, came unto me saying, "Son of man, prophesy and say, thus saith the Lord, say a sword, a sword is sharpened and it is furbished." The idea is the sword is being prepared for battle and it's being polished. Now, in those days when they would go to battle and you would hear the cry, they would raise their swords in the air.

They would polish them so they would, as we're going to see in a few moments, put off a glitter, a shine in the sun so they could see how many weapons were coming against them. God is saying judgment is being prepared. I'm going to tell you: the application for us is judgment for this nation is being prepared. Make no mistake about it. What we ought to be praying for is revival.

What we ought to be praying is for another outpouring of his Holy Spirit, like it was in the Jesus Movement not so many years ago, that most of us are a product of, that God would save as many as he can to bring them into the church and take them out before his judgment comes. But America? It's over. You cannot abort 63 million babies and be innocent.

You cannot shake your fist in the face of God and say, "You did not make male and female, and oh, by the way, a man can marry or a woman can marry anything they want to marry. They can marry their dog." And that's been happening. You cannot do that for a long period of time and not demand the judgment of God.

Listen, there's nothing honest in Washington, D.C. If you haven't figured it out, Republican or Democrat, left-wing, right-wing, same bird. They're corrupt to the core. They're bought and paid for. They're compromised. They're for power, they're not for the people. The Constitution they're wrecking, the economy they're wrecking to move us toward a one-world government. God is judging this nation, guys.

Aren't you glad you're on the right side of this thing? Aren't you glad he's going to take you out and take you home? Are you ready to go home? Are you tired of turning on the news and thinking, "It can't get any worse," and then just turn on the news the next day and find out it can? It just did. Are you kidding me? Really? Seriously? It's insane because it's not a mental or physical thing; it is a spiritual thing.

When God seeks to judge a nation, he gives them wicked leaders. And I think we got them. Do you? But man, is God going to take care of us? You bet. Hey, there's a dinner being prepared, and it won't be keto, either. Amen. So listen to what he's saying here. This is important. It's being sharpened; the idea is judgment is being prepared. It's ready, it's coming. Can you sense it here?

We know the wrath of God is coming, and we know that in chapter 6 of Revelation, all the kings of the earth cry out for the rocks to fall and hide them because the great day of his wrath is come, and who can stand? Well, we know the church is in heaven in chapter 4, we know that we're singing the song of the redeemed in chapter 5, and judgment comes in chapter 6. We won't be here.

That's how God's going to protect us. But unfortunately, like the righteous in Ezekiel's day and in Daniel's day and in Jeremiah's day, they had to witness—can you imagine the breaking of their heart because they love their Lord their God? They knew that the ark of the covenant was a representation of his presence. To watch that city and that temple to be destroyed? Can you imagine the heartbreak of the righteous?

I think you can because you're seeing America and you're seeing the church for the most part being destroyed. And it's heartbreaking. When the foundations are removed, what will the righteous do? We look up because our redemption draws near. That's what we do. We pray for revival. We pray for another outpouring of the Spirit that God would draw as many as he can in before he takes the church home. Amen? That should be our prayers.

And so he says this in verse 10: "It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter." The terminology "sore slaughter" is what you would see when the sacrifices were stacking up at the temple: the slaughtering of animals. Can you imagine in those days when people were bringing those sacrifices for sin and transgression when you've got about three million people camped around the tabernacle—what a mess that would have been?

He said, "That's what this is going to look like." He said, "It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter. It is furbished. It is polished that it may glitter in the sun so when they raise their weapons with a war cry, it will strike fear because all of these weapons will be shining in the sun." Listen: "Should we then make mirth?"

See, back up in Jerusalem, they're telling Jeremiah, "Oh, this is not going to happen. Jeremiah, you're whacked." I have a lot of pastor friends say, "You know, you have too much doom and gloom in your teachings." No, I'm warning the people. Jesus is coming! You better get ready. He's going to judge this nation. "Oh, you shouldn't be saying that. It freaks people out." It should freak you out! It should wake you up.

We're not long for here. We're going home. Amen? We're going to be found working, but Jesus is coming. Maranatha! The Lord comes and he's coming quickly. We need to do the things that are important, which is save as many souls as we can. We need to be praying for, again like I said—I don't want to sound like a broken record, but I will—pray for an outpouring of his Spirit.

He said, "Listen, should we then make mirth? Should we make merry? Should we just compromise, settle down in apathy and not be concerned?" Are you kidding? Listen, the alarm is being sounded. We're living in the final moments. Wake up, church! Lay aside every weight and distraction and every sin, and run what is left of the race that has been entrusted to us with endurance. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who's the author and the completer of your faith because we're not long for here.

Don't get sidelined or distracted. Don't fall into idolatry where you're worshipping your bank account, your house, your life, and the things of this life. Don't get caught up in a church that will tell you what you want to hear instead of what you need to hear. Worship the true and living God, not a god of your making. Make worship about him. Make his word the priority in your life because the only thing that'll matter one nanosecond after the rapture is that those things were in place.

And so he's warning them: "Should we make merry?" And then he says an interesting thing: "It despiseth the scepter of my son." That's the phraseology. It's a little difficult in the old King James: "Should we make merry? Then contempteth the rod of my son as every tree." What he's saying there is you have despised the scepter. In your idolatry, you have despised the scepter of my son.

My son was the root and offspring of David. He was to come and rule as the Messiah, but you have so despised it, you've so defiled it that now I have to remove the scepter from you and your place of prestige and position in this world. And he has given it to be furbished that it may be handled. This sword is sharpened, it is furbished to give into the hand of the slayer.

"Cry and howl, son of man, for it shall be upon my people. It shall be upon the princes of Israel." Zedekiah is not going to escape this, and he doesn't even call Zedekiah a king. Zedekiah is a wicked person who came into prominence and power, and he wasn't of the lineage of David. He just calls him a prince. "But when I remove that wicked king, there'll be not another king in Israel until the King of kings shows up."

And God is broken over that because that's not what he wanted for his people. He said, "And it shall be when they say unto thee, wherefore sighest thou? Why are you bent over in pain? Then answer: for the tidings, for the news because it cometh, because I understand what is coming. And every heart shall melt, and all the hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all the knees shall be weak as water. Behold, it cometh, and it shall be brought to pass," saith the Lord.

God is going to remove the scepter. You were to be a nation that was to rule over the nations. To you was entrusted God's word; to you and from your people was the Messiah to be born. You possess the city where my presence was; to you was entrusted the priesthood. To you was the light, and you were to be the light of all nations. And now you're going to be stripped of it, and it won't come back to you again until the Messiah comes.

Again, the word of the Lord, verse 14, says, "Prophesy and smite thy hands together and let the sword be doubled the third time." Most scholars believe, and I think it's accurate because we're going to see in a few moments, he's going to say that I'm going to overthrow, overthrow, overthrow. He is prophesying the third time Nebuchadnezzar's going up to Jerusalem, and this time there's not going to be anything left.

If you go to Israel today—and I wish we could have gone down through the older parts of the city because they're excavating them. They got it blocked off so when we were in Israel, we couldn't see it. But when you go down there, you'll see that there's where they're excavating in the old city, there are two blackened dark lines in the soil in the excavation.

The first one is from Nebuchadnezzar when he burned the city to the ground, and just below that are all these idols. The second one is when Titus Vespasian came in in 70 AD and sacked the temple again and burned it to the ground. And those are testimonies to God's discipline of his people because of idolatry. And so he says this is what's going to happen, and it's going to happen the third time.

605 was the first, 597 was the second, 586. And they're just a few years away from this. He said, "Let the sword be doubled. This time it's going to be more severe than it was the first two times. Let it be doubled this time, this third time, the sword of the slain. And it is the sword of a great men that are slain which enter into the private chambers." You're not going to hide from this sword. You're not going to escape from it this time.

Some could escape the first time, but this is going to be different. This third time, no one is escaping. "I have set the point of the sword against all their gates that their hearts may faint and their ruins may be multiplied. Ah, it is made bright, it is wrapped for slaughter. Go the one way and the other to the right hand and on the left whosoever thy face is set."

He said it doesn't matter which way they run; whichever way you're wielding the sword, it's going to bring destruction. "I will also smite my hands together and I will cause my fury to rest. I the Lord have said it. I'm going to do it." And it's all because all of the time for 100 years, Isaiah was warning them. Then came Jeremiah, the weeping prophet.

Look what God had to use Jeremiah to do: to build a city and then destroy it; to lay on his side, one side for so many days and the other side so many days representing so many years; and constantly warning the people. Then Ezekiel. Then you read through the minor prophets, Amos and Hosea. I mean, how much warning does God have to give this people?

And finally, because he says, "You have firmed up your face, you have stiffened up your neck, you have hardened your heart, now I have to discipline you." And again, chapter 12 to chapter 24 is God giving reasons. Well, let's read verse 17: "And I will smite the hands together and I will cause my fury to rest. I am the Lord, I've said it, I'm going to perform it."

Verse 18. This is interesting. Verse 18 on down to verse 23. This is interesting, and I've read this to some: "Well, we really don't understand why that's in there." Well, because now we have Nebuchadnezzar trying to determine on the third time, "Do I go to Ammon and wipe out the Ammonites, or do I go to Jerusalem and wipe out those in Jerusalem?"

And he's going to use, as it were, sorcery and divination. He's going to throw arrows in the air, he's going to roll the dice, he's going to do all these things to try to determine the will of the gods. And it will fall on Jerusalem. The point that needs to be made here is that Nebuchadnezzar and sorcery is not in control. God is forcing Nebuchadnezzar to do his will.

What's the point we can get? Hey, the kings and the presidents and the prime ministers of this world are not in control. They only think they are. There's a God in heaven who rules in the affairs of men, and his will will be done. That's what we have to rest in. There is a God in heaven that's actively involved in the affairs of men, and his will will be done.

He puts up kings, he puts down kings. Biden is in office because God willed it. And he willed it to use that man to destroy the economy of this nation, and I think he's doing a pretty good job. He had Obama in office to be divisive and to pit us against one another. He has Pelosi in there because there's got to be some witch or demon in every story.

They'll edit that from the tape. I hope they don't before it goes on the radio. What we're seeing is God's judgment, but we're going to be protected in all of it. So let's read on a little further. We can go a little further tonight. We want to get out of this judgment section, man. I want to get into the prophecies that talk about good things that are coming.

And so he says in verse 19, he's trying to make this mind up, but he doesn't understand. God's in control. He doesn't understand yet. I think we're going to see Nebuchadnezzar in heaven. After seven years with claws and feathers and wandering around like a crazy man and God restores—you know, it's interesting. Old Nebuchadnezzar—I like him! I can't wait to see him in heaven.

Because he says, "Listen, you know, I'm not my dad, Nabopolassar. This is Nebuchadnezzar now. You wise men, I've had a dream. You tell me what the dream is and the interpretation." "Well, tell us the dream." "Well, no, no, no, you're not deceiving me. In fact, if you don't, I'm going to cut you into pieces and make your house a dunghill." That's the motivation.

When he gets saved, you know what he says? "If you don't serve the true and living God, I'm going to cut you into pieces and make your house a dunghill." I think that guy got saved. I think we'll see old Nebby in heaven. But right now, he thinks he's in control. He's going to roll the dice, he's going to throw the arrows in the air, he's going to do all this stuff. So the point as we read through the next verses, and we'll just read through them, is that God is in control.

And so he says, "Also, son of man, appoint thee two ways. Now bring Nebuchadnezzar, and he's got a choice, two ways." He thinks he has the choice, but I'm going to bring him against Jerusalem. "Appoint two ways that the sword of the king of Babylon"—that's Nebuchadnezzar—"may come. Both twain shall come forth out of one land. And choose thou a place, choose it in the heads of the ways of the city. Appoint the way the sword that they may come to Rabbath to the Amorites or to Judah or Jerusalem."

"Listen, put him in the valley of decision, and there are two ways he can go: he can go to Ammon and destroy them first, or he can come over to Jerusalem." He thinks he's making the choice when God is directing him. Listen, God is in control of every president, every prime minister, every cabinet, every leader, every dictator. Make no mistake about that.

There's a God in heaven who rules in the affairs of men. And so we read in verse 21: "For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the ways, at the head of the two ways, to use divination." He's going to seek the gods of this world. "Divination. He made his arrows bright." The idea is he throws them in the air, and wherever they land and point, that's the way we're going to go.

"And he consulted the images, he looked to the liver." They would take a goat's liver and cut it open to see the veins. "Okay, is the main vein going to the left, or is the main vein where we split it going to the right? This is how we're going to determine: do we go to the left, do we go to the right?" Do you think God couldn't have made veins in that goat that they slaughtered when he opened up the goat the right way?

How in control is our God? And so he's doing all this stuff—waste of time. You should just go to Jerusalem; that's where you're supposed to be. And so he's consulting them by all of these things. And then he says, verse 22: "At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to appoint captains to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint the battering rams against the gates, to cast a mount and to build the fort."

God directed him. He thought it was divination toward Jerusalem. And verse 23 says: "And it shall be unto them as a false divination in their sight, to them that have sworn oaths, but it will call to remembrance the iniquity that they may be taken." That's a false divination. They think that their gods have told them to go to Jerusalem, but I'm in control.

The Bible says, "I turn the heart of the king the way I want it to go," saith the Lord. If I don't know that we're going to know and completely understand until we get to heaven just how in control God was of our lives. You know, we read those verses where it says the steps of a righteous man are ordered of the Lord. Are you saying the bad and the good? Yes, God does not tempt any man with sin, but he'll use your failures.

You know, we listened to Charlie's testimony how he lost his legs because he was stubborn, because he was refusing to hear the Lord, and through a chain of events, God put him in a position and a place where through frostbite he lost his legs. But God taught him how to walk in the Spirit. Will God use those things? Yes. What the devil means for evil, God will use for good.

He'll use your failures to break you, to teach you that it ain't about you. He'll use your failures to get the religiosity out of you and get a relationship in you. God uses it. And just like he's using here, Nebuchadnezzar thinks through divination he's found the mind of the gods when it's really God directing him all along.

So verse 24 says, "Therefore thus saith the Lord God"—we'll get through verse 27 and we'll end. That's where I wanted to get to. "Therefore thus saith the Lord God, because you have made your iniquity"—now again, as he's closing out reminding them the judgment's going to come, he again reminds them: this is why it's happening.

You know, so many people want to blame God. "Well, God, why is this happening? Why these tragedies?" Because of your decisions. Because you didn't listen. You know, we sometimes as people want to do what we want to do and we think there's no consequence to it, that there will be no discipline about it. Listen to what he says as we close out this section tonight:

"Therefore thus saith the Lord God, because you have made your iniquity to be remembered." The idea is because I kept trying to turn you and turn you and turn you, and because you wouldn't turn, you put it such in my face that I couldn't ignore it. This is what he's saying. Because you wouldn't turn, you kept throwing it into my face to the point where I can't ignore it any longer.

There is an end to my longsuffering. I won't always strive with the spirit of man. There's going to—and you just—I warned you and you just keep throwing it back in my face to the point where now in your transgression, they are discovered. I didn't want to discover them. It's like us in—listen, God never wants to expose our sin. He wants us to turn from it. He's not trying to embarrass us. He doesn't even want to have to discipline us. He wants us to turn at the correction of the Holy Spirit.

He said, "Because you kept throwing it in my face and you wouldn't, your transgressions are discovered so that in all your doings your sins do appear. They're in my face. You've done this because I say that you are come to remembrance, you shall be taken with the hand. I'm going to have to use a heavy hand. You kept putting it in my face."

And so then he says this: "And thou profane and wicked prince," he's speaking of Zedekiah, "of Israel, whose days is come when the iniquity shall be at an end. Thus saith the Lord God, remove the diadem." The diadem is the royal crown. He's saying take that royal crown of the king of Israel from off his head. He does not have the right to wear it.

He's not from the lineage of David and he's not my king. He's a wicked prince. You take the diadem from off the crown. "This shall not be the same. Exalt him that is low and abase him that is high." God's saying you're going to be broken, and if you will humble yourself, then I will exalt you. If you exalt yourself, then I will humble you.

And then he ends in verse 27 this section of the prophecy by saying this: "I will overturn, I will overturn, I will overturn. I went the first time in 605, sacked the city, set up a vassal king. You rebelled against my discipline. I sent my servant Nebuchadnezzar the second time. He pulled my sword out of his sheath in 597. He sacked the temple, he took all the instruments of worship, he took the priests, he took the next king in line in the Davidic line, Jehoiachin, into captivity, and you still didn't repent. The third time, they're going to destroy the city, they're going to destroy the temple, they're going to level the place."

In fact, when Nehemiah gets there and they've already rebuilt the temple under Joshua and Zerubbabel and Ezra, he says the city laid in a heap of ruins. And then he says this, listen carefully: "And it shall be no more." The place of prominence that Jerusalem once held with the throne of David there and the succession of the kings, it will be no more until—see, God always leaves hope.

There's always restoration. "It will be no more until he comes whose right it is, and I will give it to him." He came. We got to go down the path that he walked into Jerusalem when we were there, and they crucified him. He came as the Lamb, and they rejected him. Oh, I thank God every day that they did, because we were grafted in.

But he will come another time, and no one will reject him. Because the next time he's going to come is not as the Lamb, but as the Lion of the tribe of Judah. And the Bible says that those wearing white robes mounted on horses are going to come with him. Guess who that is? The next time he comes to Jerusalem, we will be with him.

And no one will reject him. And he will establish his Millennial reign on the throne of David, ruling with a rod of iron. The scepter will return for a thousand years, and we rule and reign with him. Amen? There's a restoration coming. The church and the time of the church is almost over. God is about to turn his attention again to Israel and fulfill his promise that the Messiah will come of the root and offspring of David, who will be the rightful ruler of Israel and the rightful king of Jerusalem.

He will come as a king, he will come as a priest, and he will come as a prophet. And we're going to come with him. And man, what is it going to be like for that thousand years? You can travel at the speed of thought! You'll own a mansion that you didn't pay for. Grocery store? River of life, trees on either side. Go pick them. I mean, are you not ready for that? Your apartment? 75 acres square according to Dr. Morris, who figured it all out.

75—oh, and by the way, there's no ceiling. There's no gravity. Floor, floor, floor, floor, floor. You can occupy all of it because gravity won't have an effect on you. Listen, no—you are going to have a body fashioned like his. We're living at a time when what Ezekiel spoke of—wrap your heads around this—is about to be fulfilled. The scepter is about to return to Jerusalem and it will be in the hand of the King of kings and the Lord of lords, and he will rule and reign forever. And righteousness will be the order of the day.

Oh, he's not going to drain the swamp; he's going to remove it. And every vessel and every possession we own, just to remind us not to get materialistic, will have inscribed upon it, "Holiness unto the Lord." Amen? Are you ready? Ready or not, who used to play that game? Ready or not, here he comes. Let's stand.

Father, thank you that even, even when you have to remind us that when we stray—and we're not talking about sin that is repented of quickly, that grieves us, that we don't want to be involved in; we're talking about straying from a relationship with you into idolatry—you will always turn us back. You remain faithful.

I just heard this week something that delighted my heart: that one of my pastor friends a number of years ago divorced his wife, left the ministry, married another girl, but now is broken, repentant, and is in the process of being restored back to ministry by another Calvary pastor.

Father, the story of our lives is never over. The last period will never be on any of our lives who have been truly born again until there's restoration. You are a God that finishes what you start. And Lord, we trust you. We thank you. Thank you, Lord, even though we're laboring through these chapters where you're reminding us over and over that you have to do this. We thank you because we see your heart in this: that you don't want to. It's nothing you delight in, but sometimes it's something that is necessary. But Lord, always there's hope, always at the end there's restoration. We thank you for that. And we thank you for it in Jesus' name.