Ezekiel 36:22-25 - I will show the holiness of my great name

36:22,23

“It is not for your sake ... but for the sake of my holy Name”. The Lord will defend and proclaim His Name among the nations. He will demonstrate the holiness of His name. In today’s world God’s name is often profaned, we should expect God to act at some point to demonstrate His Holiness among the nations. God’s timing is very different from ours, but at some point He will act. So we should remain faithful to Him. One day the nations will know that He is the Lord.

36:24,25

So what is God going to do? First He is going to take Israel out of the nations and bring them back to their land. In spiritual terms this is parallel to God taking us out of the kingdom of the world and bringing us into His kingdom (Col 1:13). We are brought out of one dominion and one way of living, and brought into His dominion and His way of living. “I will sprinkle clean water on you”. “I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols”. God’s salvation involves changing us. We need to have the old stuff stripped out of us, we need to take off the old self (Rom 6:6; Eph 4:22; Col 3:9).

Revelation 2:20 - By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality

2:20

We now come to the “I have this against you ...” This time it involves “that woman Jezebel”. It seems that Jezebel was part of the church, and the implication is that she should be thrown out. Now the “Jezebel spirit “ concept is often misused or overused in the church, especially in the charismatic church. However, the “Jezebel” thing is mentioned in the Bible and can be a serious problem and must not be tolerated. The particular issue is sexual immorality and eating food offered to idols. We will look at the latter aspect first. The New Testament seems to take a varying approach to food offered to idols. Here it is a definite no-no, yet in 1 Cor 8 Paul takes what seems to be a much more lax approach. So what is going on? Well we need to consider two things. The first is that food offered to idols was ubiquitous in the society of the day. If food was bought in a market there was a very good chance that it had been offered to idols at some point. It is to this scenario that 1 Cor 8 is directed. Here Ecclesiastes injunction to not try to be over righteous applies (Eccl 7:16-18). If you want to find something wrong you can find it. The other scenario is that it is directly involved in idol worship, this is the situation where it is an absolute no-no. We also need to appreciate the economic system. There were trade guilds, and trades tended to have their own idols, a bit like a patron saint. In order to carry out one’s trade you needed to be in a guild, and if you refused to eat food offered to idols you would not be able to. So the temptation to compromise would be very great. Today we can face a similar situation with regard to LGBTQ issues, with some work places demanding a very “woke” attitude from staff. And there are those within the church who advocate a very affirming approach. We should be very clear that what these people are doing is advocating a sin-affirming approach. 

Ezekiel 36:16-21 - I had concern for my holy Name

36:16-21

So we have just heard that the enemies of Israel will be defeated and will trouble Israel no more. But they were only part of the problem, indeed they were a symptom of the problem, rather than being the problem itself. The real problem was the sin of Israel. When they lived in the land of Israel they defiled it (v17). The attacks of other nations and the dispersal of Israel to various nations was an act of the wrath of God, His judgement upon their sinfulness. They even profaned the name of the Lord in the nations they were dispersed to. The lands they went to knew that they had been cast out of Israel. “I had concern for my name ...” Now we will read that the things that God is going to do are being done for the sake of His Name. We might jar at this, thinking it is rather presumptuous of God, rather egotistical of Him. But such a reaction demonstrates the corruption in our own hearts. God is worthy of praise, and not to praise Him is a hideous thing. God is first in all things. He is the creator, we are the created. We really need to get a hold of this crucial distinction.

Revelation 2:18,19 - To the angel of the church in Thyatira

2:18

We now come to Thyatira. This city was the least important of the seven, but gets the longest letter. The city was a trading city with trade guilds playing a big part in life there. The Lord is introduced as the “Son of God”, the only time this title is used in Revelation. Then there is reference to His eyes and feet, harking back to Rev 1:14,15. This could be relevant to the situation if we take the reference to eyes as indicating that He sees all that goes on, including deeds done in darkness, and the feet as either/or chasing down sinners and trampling them underfoot.

2:19

Like Ephesus, we have “I know your deeds”. Love (unlike Ephesus) and faith signified the church, as did service and perseverance, and their progress. “You are now doing more than you did at first”. This could be indicative of general progress, or could indicate that they were not actually doing that well as all before and needed to get their act together.

Ezekiel 36:8-15 - They will soon come home!

36:8-12

While the surrounding lands would become desolate wastelands, the mountains of Israel would become fruitful. There is a link between the godliness of the people and the health of the environment. In fact, the most useful thing that the world could do to help the environment is to repent and turn to the Lord! God is concerned for the land, and that it should be fruitful and dwelt on by many people. There are a number of key differences here with the teachings of some environmentalists (these are inevitably generalisations). Humanistic environmentalism often sees man as the problem, and has periodically taught that there are too many people. God sees man as the problem, but only because we have rebelled against Him! The world was created to be inhabited by people! So God will increase the number of people. When man lives in harmony with God, he will also live in harmony with nature, and nature will live in harmony with man.

36:13-15

One of the consequences of the blessing of the Lord is living in peace and without fear of enemies. This is what will ultimately happen to Israel. There will come a time when she is no longer threatened, when she is no longer the taunt of nations. Clearly this day has not arrived yet, and will only arrive when she turns to the Lord, recognising Jesus for who He is.

Revelation 2:16,17 - Repent therefore!

2:16

“Repent therefore!” When rebuked by the Lord we can argue or we can repent. The former option is useless, the latter is the only sensible course to take. Yet we find it so hard. Sin will lead us only to death. Repentance leads us to life. We are told that Jesus is merciful and kind, and indeed He is, if we are humble and contrite. If we are stubborn and stiff necked then we are liable to find another side of Jesus which the Bible is quite happy to speak of, but the church can all too reluctant to speak about.

2:17

The letter closes in the usual manner, beginning with the call to hear. We need to listen all the more closely to God, as Hebrews 2:1 says. The promise here to those who overcome is that they will receive some of the “hidden manna” and be given a “white stone with a new name on it”. The reference to “hidden manna” may be related to the food offered to idols, and is saying that those who remain faithful will receive something far better than that. There are numerous suggestions to what the white stone signifies, none of them particularly compelling. The “new name” is perhaps a little easier to guess its meaning. The “name” represented the character of a person, it represented the entirety of who they were. I.e. it was more than just a label. The believers would be accused and denigrated from all sides, but God would give them a new name, their whole being would change at the resurrection. Today we are denigrated in society, considered to be “on the wrong side of history”. One day the fallaciousness of this will become known.  

Ezekiel 36:1-7 - Hear the word of the Sovereign Lord

36:1-3

We now move into the more hopeful passages in Ezekiel. The word is addressed to the “mountains” of Israel. They are seen as representing the nation, and the enemies of Israel had been gloating that they had conquered Israel. “Therefore say ...” The nations were wrong! Many people think the church is done for, they too are wrong. But why are they wrong? Israel was a basket case, the church is often not much better. The reason is God. He would forgive and transform Israel, He forgives and transforms the church. When man forgets God he gets things badly wrong.

36:4-7

Both the nations and Israel herself needed to hear the word of God. The desolate areas needed to hear the word of God. We all need to hear the word of God. When we look at a situation, including looking at ourselves, without the light of the word of God, we will never see the truth. And note that God is fully aware of what the situation was, He knew the land was desolate and bereft. God has spoke and “with burning zeal”. In Is 9:7 it says “the zeal of the Lord will accomplish this.” The mention of Edom in 36:5 shows that chapter 35 is not a later interpolation. The nations with “glee and malice” plundered the land. We need to learn not to be intimidated when the enemies of God make a big noise about their supposed victories or power. What we need to do is to turn to the Lord and listen to Him. We see here the “jealous wrath” of the Lord. The Lord has determined that Israel will become a faithful nation, and the nations that attack Israel will suffer.

Revelation 2:14,15 - I have a few things against you

2:14

Having received the praise (and note that God does praise people, Jesus praises people) we now come to the criticisms. “I have a few things against you”. It seems that the tone is that these things are wrong and do need to be sorted out, but it is not downright condemnation. There were some who held to the teaching of Balaam. We can read about Balaam and Balak in Numbers 22-24, and Israel’s downfall in Numbers 25. It is not clear whether Balaam is just being used as a parallel in the Bible to what was happening, or whether there was some false prophet who got called Balaam. Back in Numbers Balaam had been hired to curse Israel, but always ended up blessing them! While Balaal got progressively more proud of himself. Having survived this attack, the downfall of the Israelites came in chapter 25 when they were seduced by the Moabites. Sometimes we may survive an attack from outside, but then relax and get caught by our own sin.

2:15

The Nicolaitans get mentioned again. The naming of eating food offered to idols, and sexual immorality in the previous verse provides the grounds for assuming that the Nicolaitans encouraged, even approved, of these practices. There were some who held to the teachings of the Nicolaitans. We should note that throughout the New Testament, and here we have Jesus Himself speaking, a very strong line is taken against false teachers and their practices. When we take a soft line against such things in the church today we are not acting in accord with the teachings of the Lord.

Ezekiel 35:5-15 - You boasted against me

35:5-9

“Because you harboured an ancient hostility”. Edom had long been an enemy of Israel. Esau and Jacob had been enemies, though there was some reconciliation later, and one can hardly blame Esau for a bad attitude towards Jacob! Neither Esau nor Jacob merited God’s favour! However, God promises to bring judgement upon Edom. There are two warnings we can take from this. The first is that nations that harbour hostility towards Israel need to beware and should change their attitude. Is Israel perfect? Far from it. She is one of the most atheistic nations on earth, and the Bible makes abundantly clear that God is fully aware of the sins of Israel. But God will save Israel because of His grace. Then there is a more general lesson. We should beware of holding grudges against anyone, whether an individual or a group of people. God does not look favourably upon this approach. 

35:10-15

Edom would receive the judgement she deserved. She thought she could take possession of the two nations. She saw the Babylonian situation as an opportunity. “Even though I the Lord was there”. Israel and Judah, the two nations, belonged to God. God was judging them as they deserved, but He had not abandoned them. We should beware of gloating over others, for we do not know what God’s long term plans for them are. “I have heard all the contemptible things ...” God knows all that we say, think and do, nothing is hidden from Him. They also spoke against God Himself.

Revelation 2:12,13 - To the angel of the church in Pergamum

2:12

Pergamum was the largest city and was a centre of emperor worship. This time the Lord is introduced as having a sharp double-edged sword. The Roman empire seemed to have great power. Today the “woke” elite that seems to dominate so much of media, culture and education can seem to be so powerful. Jesus is the one whose word is a double-edged sword. We so often emphasise the gentleness of Christ, and we are right to do so, for Jesus himself said He was gentle (Matt 11:29). However, we also need to remind ourselves that He is all powerful. He has been given authority over everything (Matt 28:18). If we are to serve Him aright in difficult days we need to know His power.

2:13

Pergamum was the centre of emperor worship, hence it being called “where Satan has his throne”. Note that Revelation is not afraid to refer to things as being Satanic. This is not mumbo-jumbo. Satan does operate through power structures in society. “Yet you remain true to my name”. This was even true when Antipas was killed. Antipas was martyred. Indeed, legend has it that he was killed by being slowly roasted to death. However he was killed, the church remained faithful, despite the fear this would induce. “Where Satan lives”. This does not mean Satan literally lived there, but that his influence was so great. Next we will find that Jesus has some severe criticisms to make of the church. It is quite possible for an individual or a church to be excellent in some regards, and in need of severe correction in others. We should all be aware of this. 

Ezekiel 35:1-4 - I am against you, Mount Seir

35:1-4

This chapter is concerned with Edom, although it never actually mentions Edom, but only Mount Seir. This was where the Edomites lived. In some ways this chapter looks somewhat anomalous here. There was earlier mention of Edom (Ezek 25:12-14) in the passages of judgement upon the nations. The previous chapter dealt with Good Shepherd and the following chapters will talk about restoration and new hearts. So why this chapter against Edom? Some have suggested it is a later interpolation. We should reject that as there is no evidence for it, and it doesn’t address the problem anyway. Let’s remind ourselves first of all about who Edom was. Edom was the nation that sprang out of Esau, Jacob’s twin brother. Edom had been a frequent bugbear to Israel, and she is condemned for supporting attacks on Judah. 

Revelation 2:10,11 - Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer

2:10

“Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer”. Note that there is no promise of not suffering, instead the encouragement is that they do not need to be afraid of the greater difficulties that lie ahead. Some would be put into prison, by the devil. Of course, it would be human agents who carried out the imprisoning, but the devil would be behind it. “You will suffer persecution for ten days”. The “ten days” may not be a literal ten days, but could just be a significant but finite length of time. They are commanded to be faithful “even to the point of death”. Their reward would be the crown of life. One of the lessons of Revelation is that we should be prepared to be faithful even if it costs us our life. We need to be prepared to pay a price. 

2:11

As usual, there is the exhortation to hear what the Spirit says to the churches. And the promise is that the one who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death. There is something far worse than death in this life to fear. It is whether we will receive eternal life or be condemned to hell.

Ezekiel 34:25-31 - You are my sheep

34:25,26

“I will make a covenant of peace with them ...” Throughout the Bible we find God being abundantly clear about the sin of Israel in particular, and mankind in general, but always behind this, and then to the fore, is God’s plan of salvation. God’s purpose is to save men from their sins. So God will shepherd His people, and “rid the land of savage beasts”, “so that they may dwell safely”. God will make His people and the places around Jerusalem a blessing. God’s purpose is to transform curse into blessing. He changes us and changes our circumstances.

34:27-31

The ground itself will become fruitful, and the people will be secure. How will they know that God is the Lord? When He breaks the bars of oppression over them. So no longer would they be plundered by other nations. “You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the sovereign Lord”. This is the truth and the people if Israel need to live according to this truth, then they will enjoy the blessings spoken of in these verses. It is also a truth that we all need to get a hold of.

Revelation 2:8,9 - To the angel of the church in Smyrna

2:8

The next letter is to Smyrna, and Smyrna is one of two churches that is not criticised. Smyrna was a major city, Izmir is the modern version. It vied with Ephesus and Pergamum to be the most important city in the region, but generally unsuccessfully. It was a major centre of emperor worship. It also had a significant Jewish population, and the church was subject to persecution from both these directions. Judaism was a recognised religion, Christianity was not. 

The Lord introduces Himself as “the First and the Last”, and the one who died and came to life again. The forces that opposed the church were as nothing compared to Christ. And Christ has conquered death, and we will be raised with Him. We need to have both these truths etched in our brains if we are to be able to stand up to times of tribulation.

2:9

“I know your afflictions and your poverty”. “Afflictions” is actually “tribulations”. The church was going through a very hard time. There would be direct persecution, and they would also be excluded from various commercial aspects of life, hence the poverty. “Yet you are rich!” Peter, James and Paul all urge us to rejoice in trials of various sorts. The Christians at Smyrna were rich for they were in Christ. And the afflictions were achieving an eternal glory. We are always on the winning side, and God works through all things for the good of those who love Him. A lot of the persecution came from the Jews. In the course of history there have been many times when “those who say they are Christians and are not” have exercised terrible persecution against the Jews. All ethnic groups, all races (though really there is only one race, the human race), are made up of sinners and are equally capable of sin. There are some proponents of Critical Race Theory (CRT) who seem to think that blacks cannot be racist. This is nonsense. We are all sinners, regardless of our skin colour. At any one time and place one group may be particularly guilty of sin, with the power structures being a contributory factor, enabling that persecution to take place. But at heart we are all the same, we all need Christ. 

Ezekiel 34:17-24 - I will save my flock

34:17-19

Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats is another one that alludes to these words.  “I will judge”. A fundamental feature of the Bible from beginning to end is that God will judge all mankind, including you and me. Now look at man’s attitude. So often it is based on the premise that we are the judges! This is demonstrated most obviously in matters relating to sexual morality. Arguments against the Bible come down to saying we don’t like God’s rules. I have news for us, we are not the ultimate judges! The leaders of Ezekiel’s time did not merely make sure that they got their own pickings, they then made it difficult for the sheep to get anything. We can perhaps see an example of this today in organisations like BLM. There have been stories of some of their leaders  buying mansions, while their policies, such as defund the police, actually make life worse for black people. Or in the UK there have long been examples of socialists who campaigned against selective schools but then sent their own children to private schools. These are two left wing examples, but the right wing are no better. Rich people exploiting poor people is a part of the human condition, but God does not like the poor being exploited. So whether you are right or left wing, we need to watch out if we exploit the poor.

 

34:20-24

So what is God’s response? He will judge between the “fat and lean sheep”. The leaders should have cared for the flock, instead they shoved them out of the way. So God will intervene to stop the plundering. He will place a good shepherd over them, one like David. This is, of course, pointing forward to Jesus, the ultimate Good Shepherd. This is all part of the Lord being our God.

Revelation 2:6,7 - I will give the right to eat from the tree of life

2:6

Having chastised them, the Lord does have something favourable to say about them. They hated the practices of the Nicolaitans. We actually know very little about the Nicolaitans, apart from what we have in Revelation Chapter 2. It is likely that they allowed, or even advocated, fornication. As well as noting the severe criticism that Jesus had for the church, we should also note the aspects that He praised them for, and in relation to the Nicolaitans Jesus also hated their practices. Today there is a terrible habit in the church to go soft on sexual sins, particularly sex before marriage, and homosexual practices. There are some who positively affirm these things. Such people and churches are sin-affirming, and should seriously consider that one day they will have to answer to Jesus for what they have encouraged. At the softer end of things, we should also consider our approach in the light of what Jesus thinks.

2:7

At the end of each of the letters we are urged to “hear what the Spirit says to the churches”. While the letters are directed at specific churches, there are general lessons and principles that are relevant for all churches at all times.

Along with the urge to listen, is a reward for the one who overcomes (or “the one who is victorious” (NIV)), with a specific reward for each church. For Ephesus the reward is the “right to eat from the tree of life, which is the paradise of God”. 

Ezekiel 34:7-16 - I will rescue my flock

34:7-10

When a flock is not shepherd well it becomes prey to many predators. The same applies with the church. It is the duty of leaders to care properly for the flock. This involves both being caring in a pastoral sense, and in giving sound teaching. We are also to be ready to seek out the lost. So God declares Himself against the bad shepherds, and that He will hold them accountable. God will remove the bad shepherds, for instead of providing for the flock, they were feeding off them. So God will rescue the flock.

34:11-16

“I myself will search for my sheep and look after them.” This is what God did in Christ, and again there are obvious parallels with the parable of the lost sheep. So God will rescue the scattered sheep from the nations, and bring them back to the land where they belong. So the sheep would lie down in good grazing land, and be well fed. Verse 15 stresses again that God Himself will do this, and there are echoes of Psalm 23 in this verse. “The sleek and the strong I will destroy”. This refers to those who were meant to be the shepherds of the flock. They would pay a price for their sins.

Revelation 2:4,5 - Yet I hold this against you

2:4

Now comes the criticism. They had forsaken their first love. Now it is not clear whether this means love for Christ, love for fellow Christians, or love for unbelievers. I suspect that it includes all three, though love for Christ and fellow believers would be uppermost. How does this happen? It is so easy to get absorbed in a ministry, whether it be teaching, evangelism, helping the poor or whatever. These are good in themselves, but we will so easily make an idol out of them. The ministry becomes the reason that we live! Jesus has to be the reason that we love, and closely related to this is love for one another. Jesus said the world will know we His disciples by our love for one another.

2:5

“Consider how far you have fallen!” Sometimes we have a sudden catastrophic fall, and it is obvious that something has gone seriously wrong, but at other times it is a gradual sliding away from the right path. We need to look back and to compare where we are now with where we were. Then we can assess how much progress we have made, or how far we have drifted from the truth.

There is an answer to this, and that is to repent. Repentance is one of the most powerful spiritual weapons that we have! Otherwise, Jesus would come and remove them from their place in His kingdom. 

Ezekiel 34:1-6 - My sheep wandered

34:1-6

We now come to one of the several shepherd passages found in the prophets, and these passages form the backdrop to Jesus’ frequent use of the shepherd analogy, and to His declaring himself to be the Good Shepherd (John 10:11). Isaiah makes occasional use of the shepherd analogy, but Ezekiel and Jeremiah are the prophets with the main shepherd passages (Jer 23 and here). There are two key elements to the teaching. The first is the condemnation of bad shepherds, and the second is that God Himself will shepherd the flock. God’s word to Ezekiel starts out by condemning Israel’s shepherds. The primary criticism is that the shepherds focused more on taking care of themselves than taking care of the sheep. The good shepherd is supposed to strengthen the weak and heal the injured. They are supposed to go and look for the lost sheep, which immediately brings to mind the parable of the lost sheep (Luke 15:1-7).  Instead they exploited the sheep, taking the meat and the wool. Instead of caring for the sheep, they “ruled them harshly and brutally”. So the sheep were scattered and were subject to all kinds of dangers.

The lessons from this chapter can be rightly applied to Christian leaders today, in how we are supposed to function. The primary lesson is that God has appointed us as shepherds, and our task is to care for the sheep. We can fail in this duty for two board reasons. The one highlighted here is self-interest. Greed causes someone to do things to benefit themselves, with no concern for others. We all appreciate that this is wrong, and for most this is not the main danger, though of course there are numerous times in churches when self-interested shepherds do arise. The second reason is why we might fail is fear. Being a good shepherd is a dangerous and costly business. We can fear that we are not up to the task, or be concerned about our own safety. This is a more common danger, one that more people are susceptible to. There are two antidotes, and we need both doses! The first is that we are accountable to God. We are appointed by God and are answerable to Him. The second is to know that God cares for us as a good shepherd. We are secure in Christ. Learning these lessons is something that goes on throughout our lives.

Revelation 2:2,3 - I know your deeds

2:2

Jesus starts off by praising the church. He is fully aware of their hard work and perseverance. They had an intolerance for wickedness. Notice that it says “wicked people”. They were also discerning, testing those who claimed to be apostles but were not. These are areas where the church is very weak today. We are far too tolerant of evil and wicked people. And parts of the charismatic church are far too ready to attribute the title “apostle” to people, and to not test teachers, leaders and apostles. Now there does need to be balance in all things, and some of the so-called discernment ministries are anything but discerning. But the correct approach is to be properly balanced. We should be discerning, but that is not all we should be. Indeed a specific ministry geared at “discernment”, or any single aspect of Christian ministry (eg a “prophetic ministry”) is probably a bad idea. God’s building blocks are the churches, not “ministries”. Churches should be discerning, prophetic, evangelistic, teaching etc.

2:3

“You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name and have not grown weary”. In the west we have forgotten that persevering and enduring hardships are an essential part of the Christian life, and characteristics that please Jesus! The whole ethos is society regards these things as things to be avoided. We need the Holy Spirit to teach us how to persevere and endure. Notice the end of the sentence, “and have not grown weary”. This means that it is possible to go through these things without growing weary. This does not mean we never find things difficult, but that we can maintain our spiritual fervour.

Ezekiel 33:27-33 - They will know that a prophet has been among them

33:27-29

Verse 27 makes it pretty clear that no one will escape, it is only the ones who have come out of Jerusalem as exiles who will live.  When God decides that a land will become desolate then desolate it will become. Everything is subject to the Lord. “Then they will know that I am the Lord ..” I have mentioned this before, but what this means is that people will realise that everything is dependent upon God for its existence. We think we can control things, that by applying enough financial or military power, or by enough scientific endeavour we will become masters of the situation. This is simply not true.

33:30-33

God now speaks personally to Ezekiel. The people seemed to want to know what Ezekiel had to say. They would go to him and listen to him, but they would not put into practice what they heard. Their hearts were full of greed for unjust gain. Ezekiel was just like a musician who sang beautiful love songs. He was there for entertainment only, for after hearing Ezekiel the people went on living their lives as they had always done. The events that would be fulfilled would make the people realise that a prophet had been among them, and they should have treated his words more seriously. Many a preacher will recognise this picture. People may thank you for a good sermon. This is all very nice and welcome, but what a Godly preacher truly wants is for people’s lives to be changed.

Revelation 2:1 - To the angel of the church in Ephesus

2:1

We now get the first of the letters to the seven churches. Some have seen these letters as a pure literary device to facilitate teaching. Some even see them as representing seven ages of the church. This latter view really is a rather silly approach. For one thing it would render most of the letters as of limited significance for much of church history, and we have no idea when the final end times will be. Jesus may return in our lifetime, it could be another million years! No, I cannot imagine how it could be a million years either, but the limits of our imagination are not a good guide to interpreting the Bible! It is far more sensible to take the letters as letters directed at the churches named, but with lessons for all the churches, both then, and at all points in history.

Ephesus was the major city in the region. Pergamum was the official capital, but Ephesus was the greatest city. It was a centre of idol worship, with Artemis being the primary focus of worship.

The letters all follow a similar pattern. The letter is addressed to the angel of the relevant city, then a title is attributed to Jesus. Next there is something said about the church (“I know your deeds ...”) In most cases there is a warning, and a commendation. Finally, an exhortation and a promise. The first and last churches receive the most severe warnings. Numbers 2 and 6 are doing rather well, and the middle three are, well, middling, with some good and some bad.

To Ephesus Christ introduces Himself as the one who holds the seven stars in His right hand, and walks among the churches. Rome was not the real power, Christ is the head of the church.

Ezekiel 33:21-26 - Should you then possess the land?

33:21,22

While it says someone who had escaped from Jerusalem, it is quite likely that it is someone who was brought out in exile. An “escapee” would be unlikely to run to Babylon. He is referred to as having escaped from Jerusalem as it means he did not die in Jerusalem. He told Ezekiel that “the city is smitten”. So the prophesied fall of Jerusalem had indeed taken place. The Lord had opened Ezekiel’s mouth the evening before, so Ezekiel was now much freer to speak.

33:23-26

God spoke to Ezekiel. The inhabitants of what were now the wastelands of Judah still seem bewildered as to why God should strip them of the land, for surely the Lord had given the land to Abraham and he was just one man, now they were many. We have a similar phenomena today when people are so surprised that God should not be pleased with us and should even consider telling us how to live. The people were eating meat with the blood in it and worshipping idols. These two things were linked together. They trusted in the sword rather than God, there was sexual immorality, and other detestable things. “Should you then possess the land?” Sinful man is utterly blind to the reality of his situation.

Revelation 1:19,20 - Write what you have seen

1:19

John is instructed to write down what he has seen, and this includes all that we will see in the rest of the book. Why is he to do this? Because Christ is Lord, He is the first and last. If we want to know what is going on and how things work then we need to look to Christ, and to know Christ. “What is now and what will take place later”. A pattern in Scripture is that with prophecy there is an immediate fulfillment (or at least near term fulfillment) and then a greater fulfillment. The near term fulfillment validates and illuminates the longer term fulfillment. So Revelation was relevant to the immediate situation, and to the end of time, and all times in between. This should give us a word of caution in over-interpreting the visions. Terrible events did happen, but there were not cosmic events. This isn’t to say cosmic events never happen, just that we should exercise a degree of caution.

1:20

We are now told explicitly that the seven stars represent angels, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. People can put too much emphasis on angels, and Paul warns against this in Colossians, but angels are real and are part of God’s economy, part of His way of working.

Ezekiel 33:12-20 - I will judge each of you

33:12-16

God then gives an explanation of how things work. There is always the possibility of change, either for good or bad. If a good person turns away from God then his former good ways will not save him. Conversely, if an evil person turns from his evil ways, then his sins will be forgotten. “They have done what is just and right; they will surely live.”

33:17-20

As is often the case, the people were accusing God of not being just. The truth is that it is we who are not just. We are the ones who need to change. God judges us according to our ways.

Revelation 1:17,18 - I was dead and now I am alive

1:17

John fell down in response to seeing the Lord, completely overcome by the vision. Because of sin we live in fear of God. God is seen as an enemy, and deep down we know we are sinful and deserving of punishment, so to meet God is a terrible thing. But this is not the way things were meant to be. We were created in the image of God, we were created to live in fellowship with God. This is a truly amazing thing, but true nevertheless, and sin destroyed it. But Jesus came to restore things, to fulfil and complete God’s plans. God’s purposes have never changed, and He sent His Son to restore the relationship. So the Lord placed His right hand on John and told him not to be afraid. “I am the first and the last”. Christ is everything. All sorts of things, terrible things, go on in the world, but Christ is Lord. 

1:18

“I am the Living One”. John had seen Jesus die on the cross, and he was a witness to the resurrection. Jesus reminds him that He is alive forever and ever. Death is the great weapon that the enemy wields, and one used by some of the persecutors. In Christ it is a defeated enemy. Death is not the end. Christ holds the keys of death and Hades. Hades was the world of the dead. Today the world is in the grip of fear because of Covid. This is largely a fear of death, resulting in governments the world over making irrational decisions, and people going along with them. Covid is a serious virus, but the world has gone through much, much worse situations, without closing everything down. We live in a world gripped by fear, in Christ we do not need to fear anything. 

Ezekiel 33:1-11 - I have made you a watchman

33:1-9

We are entering a new phase in Ezekiel, in many ways a much cheerier one than that of the preceding chapters, but it begins with a repeat of Ezekiel’s call as a watchman. It is very similar to the call in Ezek 3:16-27.  First, Ezekiel is reminded that he has been appointed by God as a watchman over the people. Specifically he is to warn the people of their sinfulness, and the need to repent. Israel’s biggest problem was not whichever large nation was currently threatening her, but her sinfulness. Sin is the biggest enemy that we face. We need to know that part of the role of the church is to warn people about sin. We also need to know that if we fail in that responsibility then we will be held accountable by God for our failing. The sinner is still responsible for their own sin, whether we warn them or not, but if we do not warn them then we will have to answer to God for our failure.

33;10,11

The Israelites appear to be realising that they are sinful, that their “offences and sins” were weighing them down, and that they were wasting away because of it. Sin is boastful and proud, and our natural inclination is to be most reluctant to tell anyone the truth about sin. But the effects of sin in their lives are utterly harmful, and while they may put on a front of being OK, in reality they are not. They may be at a loss of what to do. They may fear the judgement of God, and if we persist in sinning then we will indeed face judgement. But God does not take delight in “the death of the wicked”, so if the wicked person turns from his ways and turns to God, then God will gladly forgive and welcome that person. There is no reason for anyone to die in their sins.

Revelation 1:14-16 - His face was like the sun shining in brilliance

1:14,15

In Dan 7:9 the hair of the Ancient of Days is described as being white like wool and His throne flaming with fire. In Ezekiel 43:2 the voice of God is described as being like that of rushing waters. They exact identity of the alloy named bronze here is not known. The overall picture here is that the one like a son of man is also divine.

1:16

The son of man holds the seven stars in his right hand, 1:20 tells us that these are the angels of the seven churches. The fact that He holds these in His right hand signifies His protection of them. We should note that some of the seven churches come in for severe chastisement. We should remember that God chastises those whom He loves.  Out of His mouth comes a sharp, double-edged sword, and His face was like the sun in its brilliance. We should remember who Christ is, and that the church is His church. Sometimes when we say “Christ is on His throne” we say it in a resigned way when evil seems to be triumphing in the world. We should say it in a victorious way! This is not to belittle or deny the suffering that the church (including you and me) might have to endure (and Revelation certainly won’t let us do this (unless you insist on taking a stupid pre-tribulation rapture view :-))), but we are the church that belongs to the victorious king.

Ezekiel 32:22-32 - You too, Pharaoh, will be broken

32:22-27

The once great, but now fallen, Assyria is down in the grave. Her supposed greatness was no protection for her. She was there along with all the people she had slain, and Assyria was a very violent nation. Various peoples are then named as being down in the grave. Elam was a warlike nation to the east of Babylon. She had slain many, and would herself now be slain.

32:28-32

So in v32 we come to the crux of the matter. Pharaoh himself would find himself in the grave with the uncircumcised. He “and all his hordes” will go down to the grave along with those that they despised, the uncircumcised.

Many nations have been mentioned in these chapters, with Tyre and Egypt receiving the greatest attention. There is one nation that has not been mentioned, and that is Babylon. Isaiah and Jeremiah do talk about the fall of Babylon, but Ezekiel does not do that here. Some think that this is because of pragmatic reasons, that it would not be wise to condemn Babylon when Ezekiel was living in Babylon! 

Revelation 1:12,13 - Someone like a son of man

1:12,13

The lampstands represent the seven churches. Lampstands appear on a few occasions in the Old Testament (1 Kings 7:49; 1 Chron 28:15; 2 Chron 4:7,20) and were a recognised Jewish symbol. “And among the lampstands was someone like a son of man ..”. This is an allusion to Daniel 7:13. The whole of Daniel chapter 7 is relevant here. For it speaks of four beasts ruling and being defeated, and war being raged against the people of God, but the ultimate victory belongs to God. This is very similar to the message of Revelation. In Daniel the one like a son of man comes upon the clouds, is given all power and authority, and his kingdom never ends. God’s people were and are going through this sort of situation. Facing great opposition, with seemingly powerful forces, but we need to know that Christ is the king of kings and lord of lords.

A commentary said the focus is not on the church (with reference to the lampstands) but to the one “like a son of man”, ie on Christ. Half of this statement is true, but half is not. It is absolutely true that the focus must be on Christ, but the church does not matter. We often say “it’s not about me, it’s all about Christ”. There is, of course, much truth in this, but it might be more accurate to say it is “all about Christ in me”. God has put man at the centre of His plans. Now this is man made in the image of God, under the authority of God. Since Eden we have put ourselves at the centre of our plans, not under the authority of God, and the results are all too obvious. Christ came and lived a perfect life under the authority of the Father, and He is the man who exercised more authority than anyone else who has ever walked on this planet. Under Christ (in Christ?) we actually are extremely important. We need to realise that Christ is among us, as He was among the seven lampstands, and we need to be live under His care and under His authority.

Ezekiel 32:11-21 - The sword will come against you

32:11-16

We have another mention of God using Babylon as His instrument to execute judgement upon Egypt. So many of Egypt’s soldiers would fall to the sword of Babylon. The pride of Egypt would be shattered. No longer would it be able to stir up the international situation. Egypt would see that they were not in charge of things, only the Lord has that power. Egypt would recite this lament themselves, they would realise what had happened.

32:17-21

The Egyptians were very keen on the world of the dead, with much mythology built around the concept. So here God talks about her “descent into the realm of the dead”. The key message is that she is just the same as all other peoples, she cannot control the “world of the dead”. We should note that God is using Egypt’s own mythology to convey a message, this section should not be taken in anyway as indicating what the world of the dead, heaven and hell are like. Egypt and hordes would be consigned to death in the same way as everyone else. “Go down and be laid among the uncircumcised”. The Jews were not the only ones who were circumcised, but peoples who were not circumcised were looked down upon. Even the leaders of Egypt would be in the world of the dead, along with everyone else.

Revelation 1:9-11 - I was in the Spirit

1:9

Like Isaiah and Ezekiel, John received a vision of the Lord. In all cases a fundamental element is the glory of the Lord. In Isaiah’s case there was also an emphasis on the cleansing from sin, signified by the burning coal. This was a key element of Isaiah’s ministry, as, in particular in chapters 40 onwards, the focus is on how a righteous God could possibly bless such an unrighteous people. In Ezekiel’s case the emphasis is more on the power and almightiness of God. Here the emphasis is on the centrality of Jesus Christ. 

John introduces himself as “your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus. Paul usually introduced himself as an apostle, as this was key to the teaching he was going to be giving. John wants to emphasise his unity with the people he is writing to. “We are all in it together” is John’s motive. Suffering, kingdom and endurance in Christ all go together. We will suffer, we do have a kingdom, and we do need to endure. 

John himself was suffering, being exiled to the island of Patmos “because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus”. John would be urging the people to keep going with Jesus, and John was an example of doing this.

1:10,11

John was “in the Spirit”. He was praying and received communication from God. You can see where the seven churches were in most books on Revelation, or by an internet search, eg https://endtimestrumpet.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/7-churches-of-revelation1.gif. The voice of God was a loud voice, like a trumpet. This was not to be a gentle word, but a loud declarative word, a powerful word intended to strengthen the church for the battle. 

John was to write down what he saw and send it to the seven churches. Just as the message was for the whole church in the area, it is for the church throughout the world.

Ezekiel 32:8-10 - On the day of your downfall

32:8-10

So there is talk of cosmic signs here (and in v7). We should note that in the Bible they are associated with judgement on the nations, and there is a string case for saying the signs are used metaphorically and do not indicate that actual cosmic signs will take place. I have some sympathy with this view, and we should certainly not go overboard on physical signs, but at the same time I do not think that we can rule out actual cosmis signs occurring completely. 

We also see that all this had a deep effect on people. It would clearly have an effect on the people of Egypt, but it would also affect people in surrounding lands. We tend to assume that things will always carry on as they always have done. So the power of a certain country is assumed to be a fixture in the landscape. When this country’s power proves not to be as great as the nation claimed, nor as we assumed it was, then this makes us feel insecure.

Revelation 1:7,8 - I am the Alpha and the Omega

1:7

To understand Revelation we need to appreciate its Old Testament roots, and we start to get this here. “Look, he is coming with the clouds”  refers back to Dan 7:13 where it speaks of one “like a son of man” coming with the clouds. This son of man was given authority, glory and power, and all nations would worship him. In Matt 28:18 Jesus said that all power and authority had been given to Him. The second half of the verse refers to Zech 12:10 which tells of Israel mourning for the one that they pierced.

“So shall it be, Amen!” is John’s response to all this. We need to know the sure direction and destination that the world is going in. 

1:8

Alpha and omega are the first and last letters in the Greek alphabet, and here the Lord is saying that He is the beginning and the end, He encompasses all things. If we reject or ignore God then we jettison all understanding (Rom 1:21). “Who is, who was and who is to come”. There is no one like our God. He created all things, without Him there would be nothing. He sustains all things, and He will come in glory. These thoughts need to be uppermost in our minds.

Ezekiel 32:1-7 - I will snuff you out

32:1,2

Following the judgement upon Egypt and Pharaoh we have a lament. The date is just after the fall of Jerusalem. It begins with a description of what Egypt was once like. It was a majestic and powerful nation, stirring things up among the nations. Pharaoh mattered, he was significant, other nations would take notice of what Egypt was doing. 

32:3-7

Egypt had influenced many nations, now many nations would come against Egypt. Verse 2 had painted a picture of her thrashing about in the water, causing mayhem. Now she would be floundering on the land. So instead of being powerful (and largely destructive), the other nations would feed off her. The picture is that of various beasts gorging off a dead body. We have a graphic description of Egypt’s downfall.

Revelation 1:6 - Has made us to be a kingdom

1:6

But He has not just forgiven us, He has also made us to be a kingdom and to be priests, to serve His God and Father. He has made us to be a kingdom. In Luke 12:32 Jesus saus “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.”. We need to realise how influential we are! It was not the Roman Empire that was all powerful, it is not the progressive society that is all powerful. But we are not just a kingdom, we are priests. We serve God, and we are here to bring other people to know God. We need to be aware of our purpose. Revelation, along with the whole of the Bible, is not afraid to face up to the reality of suffering and trials, but we need to be strengthened in them. We are to ascribe glory and power to God for ever and ever, not to any earthly power. When we live in fear of an earthly power we are ascribing glory and power to that earthly power. I do not mean we will never feel afraid, but we must not see the times of being afraid as the end of the matter. That is not what God has chosen us for.

Ezekiel 31:15-18 - You too will be brought down

31:15-17

The fall of the cedars of Lebanon is used as an analogy for the coming fall of Egypt. God held back the streams that watered the cedars, and so they withered away. Man thinks he is in control, he is the master of the universe, but in reality we are in control of so little. We cannot control the weather, we have no say in whether or not the sun shines. So Egypt would fall. But it was not just Egypt that was deluded, the surrounding nations also thought Egypt was so strong, so they too would tremble when Egypt fell. It would be seen that Egypt was just like other nations, weak and vulnerable in herself.

31:18

The final verse is an indictment of Egypt’s pride. They had seen other nations, Assyria in particular, that once were powerful but had been brought down to nothing. She thought her splendour and majesty was greater than these other nations, but she would soon find out that she was no different. All people are subject to the Lord and utterly dependent upon Him for their very existence.