NOVEMBER 3 "DO YOU HAVE THE MARK?"
IF this is not what we already knew, at least deep down in our conscience, now it has been confirmed in by Ezekiel. And what is that you ask? That God looks through our little, secret doors and chambers and sees everything we do in secret. "Then he brought me to the entrance to the court. I looked, and I saw a hole in the wall...Go in and see the wicked and detestable things they are doing here.... He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? They say, ‘The LORD does not see us..." However this only confirms what we subconsciously repress and that is....we are not getting away with nothing.
And along with the "not getting away with nothing" comes the Doom & Gloom. Yes this is quite a doomsday scripture to read today and I do mean that quite literally "Disaster! Unheard-of[a] disaster! See, it comes! 6 The end has come! The end has come! It has roused itself against you. See, it comes! Doom has come upon you..."
Well....is God a destroyer, a Judge, a killer? Yes, He can be, but in the midst of Judging, destroying and killing God always saves room to spare the penitent. This is consistent with God through out the whole Bible, Genesis to Revelation. The scary part is that God does peek into the windows and doors of our hearts and He does see us practicing things we ought not to practice. God not only judges what we do, whether it be right or wrong, but also whether or not are motives were pure. This does not leave much hope for any of us except for the fact that immediately following our reading of doom & gloom in Ezekiel we turn to read in Hebrews about the covering of the Priests for our sins...phew!!! We also know that our priest is Jesus Christ himself and if it were not for the shedding of his blood for us, as our high priest, it would be doom & gloom because surely nobody would make it to Heaven. Did God plan it out that as we read so gloomily about his judgement in Ezekiel that we would turn and then read in Hebrews about his covering for our sins, about Grace? The answer to that question is irrelevant because whether it is planned like that or not, we know that it is true. Even in Ezekiel's doom and gloom there is Grace. 5 As I listened, he said to the others, “Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion. 6 Slaughter the old men, the young men and women, the mothers and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark.
And who are the ones that had the mark? “Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it.”
This is very similar to what John writes in revelations: Revelation 9:4They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. And of course this is all reminiscent of the Passover in the book of Exodus where the Angel "The destroyer" went over every home and destroyed, killed every first born, but passed over the homes that had "The Mark" over the door post/frames of their homes. What was the mark? The Blood of The Lamb. Who had the mark? The same group that had the mark in Ezekiel's day and the same group that have the Mark in the book of Revelations....thousands of years apart but yet they are all spared God's judgment, from Old Testament to New Testament and who is the group that has the Mark, whether Old or New Testament? They are those that fear God. It is those that grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are being done".
People say that it seems like God changed somewhere between Malachi & Matthew; as if God himself got saved in between the Old & New Testament. I believe people say this in ignorance. God has always been more than willing, whether in the Old or New Testament, to have mercy, show Grace & Compassion to the penitent of heart. His judgment in the New Testament seems absent, but it is not absent it is only being held off for a "short time" and when it is unleashed it will make the Old Testament judgment, doom & gloom, seem like Disney Land. And in the New, just like the Old, those that will be spared with be those with "The Mark". Question is...do you have "The Mark?" Often when we think about "The Mark" we think about the mark of the beast, the number 666 that is put on our right hand or forehead, but remember, God is the originator of "The Mark" and the Devil is just a counterfeit of all that God does. Many people are obsessed with not having the Devil's mark, but the question is "do you have God's Mark upon your life?" When God's judgement is unleashed in the earth, will He pass over you? Yes God peeks inside our secret chambers and doors and sees all, but there is Grace & Forgiveness if we seek it. The blood of bulls and sheep He does not want, but a broken and contrite spirit He will not despise (turn away).Å
And along with the "not getting away with nothing" comes the Doom & Gloom. Yes this is quite a doomsday scripture to read today and I do mean that quite literally "Disaster! Unheard-of[a] disaster! See, it comes! 6 The end has come! The end has come! It has roused itself against you. See, it comes! Doom has come upon you..."
Well....is God a destroyer, a Judge, a killer? Yes, He can be, but in the midst of Judging, destroying and killing God always saves room to spare the penitent. This is consistent with God through out the whole Bible, Genesis to Revelation. The scary part is that God does peek into the windows and doors of our hearts and He does see us practicing things we ought not to practice. God not only judges what we do, whether it be right or wrong, but also whether or not are motives were pure. This does not leave much hope for any of us except for the fact that immediately following our reading of doom & gloom in Ezekiel we turn to read in Hebrews about the covering of the Priests for our sins...phew!!! We also know that our priest is Jesus Christ himself and if it were not for the shedding of his blood for us, as our high priest, it would be doom & gloom because surely nobody would make it to Heaven. Did God plan it out that as we read so gloomily about his judgement in Ezekiel that we would turn and then read in Hebrews about his covering for our sins, about Grace? The answer to that question is irrelevant because whether it is planned like that or not, we know that it is true. Even in Ezekiel's doom and gloom there is Grace. 5 As I listened, he said to the others, “Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion. 6 Slaughter the old men, the young men and women, the mothers and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark.
And who are the ones that had the mark? “Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it.”
This is very similar to what John writes in revelations: Revelation 9:4They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. And of course this is all reminiscent of the Passover in the book of Exodus where the Angel "The destroyer" went over every home and destroyed, killed every first born, but passed over the homes that had "The Mark" over the door post/frames of their homes. What was the mark? The Blood of The Lamb. Who had the mark? The same group that had the mark in Ezekiel's day and the same group that have the Mark in the book of Revelations....thousands of years apart but yet they are all spared God's judgment, from Old Testament to New Testament and who is the group that has the Mark, whether Old or New Testament? They are those that fear God. It is those that grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are being done".
People say that it seems like God changed somewhere between Malachi & Matthew; as if God himself got saved in between the Old & New Testament. I believe people say this in ignorance. God has always been more than willing, whether in the Old or New Testament, to have mercy, show Grace & Compassion to the penitent of heart. His judgment in the New Testament seems absent, but it is not absent it is only being held off for a "short time" and when it is unleashed it will make the Old Testament judgment, doom & gloom, seem like Disney Land. And in the New, just like the Old, those that will be spared with be those with "The Mark". Question is...do you have "The Mark?" Often when we think about "The Mark" we think about the mark of the beast, the number 666 that is put on our right hand or forehead, but remember, God is the originator of "The Mark" and the Devil is just a counterfeit of all that God does. Many people are obsessed with not having the Devil's mark, but the question is "do you have God's Mark upon your life?" When God's judgement is unleashed in the earth, will He pass over you? Yes God peeks inside our secret chambers and doors and sees all, but there is Grace & Forgiveness if we seek it. The blood of bulls and sheep He does not want, but a broken and contrite spirit He will not despise (turn away).Å
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