Hey everybody. Welcome back to another edition of the Daily Bible Podcast. Hello and good morning. Yeah, what is it today? It's Friday. Friday. It's the end of the week, so congrats. You made it through another week and, good job. Hopefully you've got planes for the weekend that include church. It's also Labor Day weekend. I know my kids have Monday and Tuesday off of school because Monday wasn't enough. So they threw Tuesday out there as well. Might as well, yeah. And get a bonus. Yeah, why not? Let's just do that because it's not like we're coming off of summer or anything like that. So didn't you just tell the staff that we're getting a couple days off too? Yeah. Five days actually. Yeah. Yeah. It's about five. Yeah. Yeah. It's a seven day weekend. Great. It's actually gonna be fantastic for everybody. Yeah. Count me in. You going anywhere for Liberty? Are you doing anything? You barbecuing? No. No and no. Okay. I didn't even know it was Labor Day on Monday. Yeah, I just found out right now. So there you go. It's, Hey, it's Labor Day on Monday. Thanks for letting me know. Yeah. Yeah. Labor Day's an interesting one 'cause school has already started back up and the whole year's in front of us versus the one that's in May. What's in May, Memorial Day. Yeah. Yeah, I think so. That one is is different. That one feels a little bit different 'cause the school year's winded down. You got summer on the horizon. This one's Hey man, summer's getting, it's getting long in the tooth. It's time to move on from summer. So hopefully we'll still see people show up at church on Sunday. That'd be great. Don't take a break from church. Be at church on Sunday. As we will be continuing first Peter, if not our church. At least a church. A church, yeah. A good church. Yeah. You're traveling. Let me just clarify, make sure you're choosing a good church. Yes. Go to that church. Yeah. Speaking of a church something that was in the news tragically this week, on Wednesday, there was a shooting at a Catholic church and school up in Minnesota. And it was revealed that the shooter, was struggling with their, not struggling with, but. Had a deranged view of their own identity when it comes to gender. Had a lot of evil and wicked things to say in their manifesto, as well as other places as well. But the point I wanna bring up is people responded to that tragedy as they typically do. And said things like, we're praying for the families, we're praying for the families of the victims we're praying for the families of these other kids we're praying for the law enforcement up there that had responded. The scene we're praying and the former press secretary of the White House under Joe Biden, Jim Psaki, she came out and she said, basically, take your prayers. And keep 'em because they're not gonna do any good. Why bother praying? Prayer doesn't work? Why would you say pray? Pray You need to actually show up. It's time to start doing something, not just praying. And so all of your thoughts and prayers, why don't you just keep them to yourselves? Nobody needs them anymore. So I guess the thing I wanted to throw out there, pastor Rod is our response as Christians to that what do we do with that when the world, and it seems increasingly is vehement and even vitriolic against Christians who say, Hey, we're praying when a bad situation happens. Seems like the hostility of the world is growing. It wasn't like that. 15, 20 years ago as much, at least not as much publicly. So what do we do in response to that? And then what's the wrong thinking from the world when they're saying you need to do more than just pray. Prayer doesn't do anything. I can understand how an unbeliever would. See a response, whether by a Christian or Muslim, who knows? I know mostly Christians are the ones most likely to say something like that, to put that on public, some kind of public forum. And so I can understand for them, it feels trite. It feels like you're just putting a bandaid on a gaping wound and saying, Hey, go be at peace and go on your merry way. And James tells us that's a mistake on our part too to tell your brother if you see a brother in need and to say, Hey, go be filled, be warmed without meeting his needs. You truly don't understand what the gospel is. Effectively is what he's saying. So I can understand how someone from the outside would see that as an unkind act of callousness as opposed to what Christian intends, which is an act of love. Man, I'm praying for you. I gotta admit, man I understand it because I feel that when I put something online, if I'm gonna say, man, I'm praying for you. I'm praying for this tragedy, it doesn't feel like it says enough. It's almost like we're gonna say that 'cause it's an appropriate thing to say that feels like it. It fits. It's one of the most helpful things we think we can say. And I think what we're seeing here is that the world is saying, there's more than one thing that they're saying. Number one, I do think you're right. They do not like religion in a public forum like that because in their mind it does nothing little to nothing. Perhaps and number two, because what they understand is that most Christians or people that are speaking like that are people that are supporting a certain kind of president with certain kind of gun laws or lack thereof. And so the response is in part saying, look, if you really cared about people, you would support our saying or our stands that we restrict the use of guns and that we clamp down on that. You can't love people and still cling to your first amendment rights essentially is what they're getting at. So I think that's what's happening here. I don't think that they're as antagonistic toward their prayers as much as they're antagonistic toward what they think is a lack of real concern, which is if you really cared, you would enact gun laws. What's your take on that? Yeah. I think your read, especially in this situation is right on that. And I hear you too, when you say sometimes when rewrite, hey, praying for you, it doesn't feel like enough even. Amongst one another, we'll send texts as a staff. Something's going on and sometimes the response is Hey, praying for you. And then when you're the fourth person to get to the text thread and you're like, oh yeah, me too I'm praying for you too. It feels like it's like an add-on. And, but I think that the problem is less with prayer and more with. With our appreciation of the power of prayer and our appreciation of what prayer really does. I often quote it because it was so impactful to me when I first read it, but Ra Tory who says prayer has access to the omnipotence of God. And for a, for us, in a situation like what's taking place up in Minnesota, really all we can do is pray. Unless you're going to hop in a plane. Jump in your car, make your way up to Minnesota and be on the ground there to somehow try to counsel families or help in whatever way that you can there. And some people do that in the wake of tragedy and great, you're going and being the hands and feet and you're doing what James is talking about there too. But for the rest who may not be able to do that or have the means or schedule to be able to make that happen. Prayer is immensely powerful and for you to be able to pray, not only for. Comfort, but also that God would be glorified through making this a catalyst for salvation in the lives of some people that God would bring good out of what is otherwise a very dark and tragic situation that God would help us comprehend and understand some of these things, because even on the outside, we're not. We're not victims by any stretch of the imagination in this, but it's gonna impact us because we're gonna see things that are thrown out there pataki's come, or like somebody else that might say where was God when these kids were shot? Where was God when this took place? And that's gonna, if we're not anchored and rooted in a deep understanding of who God is, that's gonna hurt and impact us in our own faith too. So prayer is, yes it feels like I wanna do more, but that I think just reveals how. Little, we think of prayer more often than it does reveal a problem about prayer in and of itself. Yeah you're probably right, or you're probably right about that. Wouldn't deny that most Christians. Struggle under the impression that they have a prayer. If we really believed in it, we would pray more obviously. And I think for most of us, that would probably kinda hurt to, to say that. But it's true. It is absolutely true. So I agree with you there, but I also understand that for most people, and because it's so easy to say it. Especially in a forum like Twitter, Facebook, whatever it can feel like, yeah, maybe that even auto-filled for you. Yeah. Because you say that so frequently, you could just easily press one button and boom it says, oh, I'm praying for you. Sending hearts and thoughts and loves and things like that. I understand words are so cheap right now that to make them feel expensive and heavy, you have to go against the grain of. Just saying the expected thing it would be like someone saying, man, my, my heart is with you guys. And then just pressing the like button on that or the heart button and saying, yeah, me too. I get it. I get it. I don't agree with Jen. I obviously, let's just say that I do agree though that Christians have to work harder to communicate genuine warmth and affection for people in an age where words are so cheap. It used to be that you had to spend time writing a letter. You have to think about every word and every phrase. And then you couldn't use the eraser 'cause this thing was an ink. It took you a lot longer to forge a thought that meant what you felt. Today. It's so easy that words can be so cheap, and that's the problem with having a pro proliferation of devices like we have where you can write and delete and you can edit after you send it. So I feel some of that, I don't agree with Jen, but I do agree that we need to work hard to make sure that our words carry the weight that we intend. Yeah. Even at church. On Sundays right after service, you're talking with somebody standing right there and they're saying, Hey man, this week was a rough week. This is what was going on. We can be quick to say in that context, man I'll be praying for you. Yeah. And then it's I'm gonna go get my donut now 'cause I've I'm hungry. And that can feel. Empty. That can feel vacuous, that can feel like trite. Minimizing, right? Dismissing right. And it's will you? And that's where, I appreciate people that either stop and pray right there, or the person that pulls out their phone and updates their prayer list right there. 'cause I know there's more intentionality behind that. So I think there's ways that we can overcome that as a church. But yeah, you're right there, there are times that it is just the easy thing to say, the appropriate thing to say. And it's the thing that we can say that's not gonna cause us to stand out one way or the other and we can move on with what's going on. I think that's where you agree with Jen Psaki there. I think Jen is saying the same thing. If you really cared, you'd do something about it. And prayer in her mind is not doing something about it. It's just adding a bandaid to a gaping wound. And you're saying the same thing. You guys both agree that if you really care, you'll do something about it. If you're gonna, and prayer is something, right? We would agree. Prayer is something right? It's a big something. It's a meaningful something. So you just said it. If they pray with me there, they're doing something. If they write it in their phone, they're doing something. And I think that's her point. I didn't even read what I was just assuming. I'm assuming, I think what she's saying, putting my mind into the. Pans of a liberal woman. I think that's what she's getting at. What should you say? Putting your mind? Putting myself in the pans and the shoes of a liberal woman. I think that's what they're trying to say. Yeah. And to that extent, I would say yes, there is something lacking if you say the right thing, but don't have the right after response. She said prayer is not. Bad word enough. Prayer, prayers. Yeah, I heard grammar. Prayer does not end school shootings. Prayer does not make parents feel safe sending their kids to school. Prayer does not bring these kids back enough with the thoughts and prayers. Okay. So that I think I'm affirmed to my understanding of what she's saying. Yeah. Prayer is a good starting place is what she's saying. But the response has to be greater than that. I wouldn't give her the credit of saying prayer is a good starting place. Okay, let's just, fine. Yeah. And that's where her, is she Catholic? I have no idea if she's, I thought she was I know, maybe I'm wrong. Vance is, and Vance took her to task big time on Twitter. Yeah, I, that's where I take issue with what she said and with what a lot of 'em say is, stop with the prayers. Stop telling us you're praying for us. I'm saying I think I, I understand the sentiment that there needs to be more done. We may disagree in what more looks like politically speaking, so forth and so on, but I understand the sentiment from those. I don't agree with the thought that your prayers are useless. They're meaningless. Stop with the prayers. We don't need the prayers 100. Yeah, we agree. Yeah. Cool. Hey, let's get into our DBR today. We are in Ezekiel nine through 12. So chapter nine opens with these idolaters, and so you remember, we've had the scene in the vision of the temple. You had the people, as you were talking about yesterday, that are showing that their backsides to God. You've got the elders that are worshiping these creatures. You've got the women that are worshiping Tamo. You've got. All of these horrific things taking place within the temple there. All of these people worshiping false gods. You've got the image the image of jealousy that we don't exactly know what it is, but that's set up there. So we've got all of this going on, and in chapter nine, here comes the execution of justice, at least in part. And there are these these individuals that are called forward. And these six executioners are summit along with one who appears to be an angelic scribe and the executioners. We think all of these are angelic beings are told to go and bring justice to execute those that are worshiping these faults, images, these false gods, these, the sun, God, timus, all of these things go and kill them all. And yet there are some that are. With abstaining from this and they're gonna be preserved. And so it says there that in verse four, put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it. This is a callback, I think, to the Passover when the blood prevents the angel of death from attacking the Israelites families there in Egypt. I think it's a foreshadowing of the. Tribulation period, when there are gonna be those that are sealed during the tribulation period. Those saints, those that are repentant as Zachariah is gonna say. And so this is a similar situation here. There are some that are still faithful, but by and large, those that are not, this is their end, these angelic beings, including this one that is dressed in linen like a scribe who some have suggested this could even be the pre-incarnate Christ, the angel of the Lord. Here, we're not sure for on the identity of this one, per se but in chapter nine. The justice is gonna be brought against those that are committing the idolatry in the temple of God. I wanna bring to your attention the fact that with great privilege comes great responsibility. I think that's Spider-Man's uncle who said that first. Yes. But you hear, you see it here in chapter nine of Ezekiel, where he says begin at my sanctuary, begin judgment at the sanctuary. So he began with the elders who were before the house, and then he said to them, yada, yada, yada. On and on, he says, so I think it's important for you to recognize that because more, you're held responsible for. A greater a greater and more appropriate response to what God has said. And the danger with going to a church like ours, which values the word and values the exposition of what God's word says, is that we are now accountable for more. The more you know, the more accountable you are for what you know. And that's something that you see here in Ezekiel chapter nine. The original audience that heard this recognized that they were more guilty, or at least Ezekiel recognizes that they're more guilty because of what they're rejecting, which is a scary place for us to be. Yeah. In fact, Peter's gonna bring this up. He's gonna say, if judgment's gonna begin at the household of God. Then how much worse is it gonna be for those that are outside the household of God? He's talking about how sometimes we suffer because of God's discipline in our lives, because those who know much are gonna be required much in the end. But yeah, and I think that passage in, in one Peter is a callback here as well to this same concept. Chapter 10 this one in the linen suit or linen clothes, he he goes in and the glory chair is back. And so he's gonna go in and under the wheels, amongst the wheels of these angelic beings. And he's gonna take these coals and he's gonna bring the coals out. And this is a much different situation than you remember with Isaiah. Isaiah was in the presence of God, and the angel was dispatched with a coal from the altar to a tone for his sin. This is a, a, a. A symbol of judgment. So the coals that are gonna be scattered a across the city are representative of the flames of God's judgment, the burning wrath of God that's gonna depend upon descend upon the city. So this is not a, an atoning situation like it was in Isaiah. These coals that are coming from the presence of God, these are meant to represent his wrath as his wrath is gonna be poured out on the city. In chapter 10, then you get more about the glory chariot the glory of the Lord is going to go up from the threshold of the house. And the house is filled with the cloud. This is the beginning of the transition of the glory of God departing from his temple there in Jerusalem. You've got more on the angelic beings, more on their wheels, their wings. All of the things that the wheels within wheels, the eyes around the wheels. This is eScribing for us what Ezekiel saw back in Ezekiel chapter one. I mentioned that the departing of the Lord, verse 18, the glory of the Lord went out from the threshold of the house and stood over the Cher and they stood at the entrance of the east gate of the House of the Lord, and the glory of the Lord of Israel was over them. So the Lord is leaving his temple. The glory is departing and this is. Perhaps more tragic than anything else we've read at this point, because this is God removing his presence from there amongst his people, and we're not gonna find it again there in Jerusalem until Jesus walks into Jerusalem. This is this is something that is, is a blow to to the people of Israel both the exilic community and the post exilic community. And it won't be that we're gonna see the glory until we see the Glorias of the one begotten from the father in John one when he steps foot on the scene again. What do you make of the fact that Ezekiel one describes the Cher Beam different than what we see here in Ezekiel 10. Everything is the same minus the cherub. In verse 14, it says that the one of the faces was the face of a cherub, but in chapter one, verse 10, it says, an ox instead of acher. Any thoughts or ideas about that? I hadn't noticed that I, other than just the sheer magnitude and overwhelming splendor of this vision, I could probably afford Ezekiel a little bit of of grace in looking and going Okay. Did I see a chair or did see Anox? Was this a chair? Was this an ox? And I don't think something like that undermines my confidence in the inherency and infallibility of God's word. I don't know what the Hebrew words there are. I don't know if there's similarities enough to say that this could have been a scribble error that took place there. But that would be my initial take on it. Yours, yeah. I. There's, I've looked up some answers and none of them are great. Yeah. The best answer in my estimation, and you could do your own homework if you're reading through it and you've noticed that as I did is that the ox and the cherub are actually verbally related and that the ox actually in some cases represented a chair. Okay. How, why? I don't know. That, that was new to, that was new for me. In fact, I looked at this last year and I revisited it. But that's the idea. In short I noticed that there's a difference. I don't have a great answer for why it's a cher as opposed to an ox in chapter one, but maybe the ox represents the Cher and so he's saying the same thing. Yeah. When we get to heaven, we'll be able to ask him. I will say, Hey, Ezekiel, what was it? How long is that line gonna be though? I don't know that I wanna spend my first 400 years a wedding in line. Maybe it'll just be there. Maybe we'll be able to see this vision there. Maybe and be able to be like, oh look it's an ox chair, it's a chair box. That would be fun. Yeah. Alright, chapter 11. In chapter 11, we get to some of, some more of the judgment. So God has already judged the idolatrous worshipers, but now he's going to turn and judge those that are responsible for the guidance of the people. Those that had been entrusted with the direction, the wisdom the advising of the people. They're referred to as counselors in here and. Verse two, he says, son of man these are the men who devise iniquity and give wicked counsel in this city. And then there's an interesting metaphor here. We talked about this last year. I still don't know that I feel great about it one way or the other, but it says the time is near. This is what the wicked men are saying. The time is ne not near to build houses. The city is the cauldron and we are the meat. So this could be taken one way, one of two ways. First, it's possible that they're saying to the people there, Hey, it's time to prepare for war In. In that sense, the cauldron is a negative illustration. They're saying, 'cause remember, God has said, you know what's gonna go well for you? It's gonna go well for you to surrender. It's gonna go well for you to. Surrender to Nebuchadnezzar because that's what's going to happen here. Nebuchadnezzar is going to win. So it's possible that the wicked advisors are the ones arguing against God's counsel in that and saying, no, it's time to prepare for war. We need to get ready. We're the meat inside the cauldron. Let's arm up. The other potential is that this could be them saying, giving a false sense of security. They may be saying it here rather than the time is not near, but saying, Hey. Isn't it time that we should build houses? That could be how it's read there it's, isn't it time? Shouldn't we just go ahead and let's start building our houses again? We're the meat inside the cauldron in that sense. They're looking at the cauldron as we're protected from the fires. The fires are outside. We're inside and we're okay. We're not gonna have any harm or danger brought against us. Either way, they're giving bad counsel, that's clear, and God is gonna hold them accountable for that. And that's something that is, is sobering for anyone who is in a position of leadership in the church to think about the fact that as we are giving advice, giving counsel, meeting with people or discipling whatever we may be, or preaching, certainly, we are gonna be held to a standard because the things that we say are informing people's understanding of God and his will. And God is gonna hold people accountable for that. And here we see an example of that in chapter 11. Yeah, whatever it means, it's not a good thing. Verse 11, God says directly to them, this city shall not be your cadre, nor shall you be the meat in the midst of it. I will judge you at the border of Israel and you shall know that I am the Lord. So whatever it meant for them, clearly it's the opposite of what God intended for them. So that's a great take. I love the fact that we're reminding people that what we say really matters and the fact that we are held accountable for how we teach and how we tell people to obey the word of the Lord, which is why it's so important that you know your word inside and out. Ultimately, God is wanting them by his judgment, by his example to know him. That's the whole point. Look at verse 10. You shall know that I'm the Lord. Look at verse 12. You shall know that I'm the Lord. God says this over and over again. His desire is to be known, and so we are foolish to not take advantage of the opportunities that he affords us in His word, even through a difficult book like Ezekiel. And I don't know about you, bro. This is the now the umpteen time. I read through this, but every time I come back to it, I'm like, oh I know a little more now. Yeah, I know a little more. It's a little better. It's a little fresher. It takes time though. Don't be don't be hasty in the process. You cannot microwave your Christianity. It is far better as a crockpot. It takes time to let it simmer into your body and to become part of who you are. Give it the time that it deserves. Let Ezekiel do his work on you. Yeah, we were talking about that on Tuesday night at our community group about just the benefit of reading through the Bible in a year as it stacks up year over year after year. And that's one of the benefits right there is the individual. Books. The more you come back to it year after year, you're gonna have a better understanding. I've felt the same way with Ezekiel specifically this year. But then the other thing that you're gonna find is the more you read the Bible through in its entirety every year, the more you're gonna have an understanding of the meta-narrative of scripture. You're gonna understand the big picture the transcendent. Themes of the Bible that show up over and over again. So you're gonna read Ezekiel and you're gonna have an understanding that's informed, not just by your understanding of Ezekiel, but by your understanding of Ezekiel within the context of the Bible as a whole. So that's why we do the DBR, one of the reasons why we do the dbr R and why we say, Hey, join with us, and why we make it a year long program. Because it's so good for us to take the Bible in, like Ezekiel, the prophet did right? Eat the words of God. And to do that year after year is only gonna increase our understanding. The rest of chapter 11 right before right at the end of this indictment that you were just referring to, pastor Robin, verse 13, Ezekiel says, are you gonna make a full end, Lord? Is this the end completely? And that leads into the promise of the restoration. And that restoration is going to come. Yahweh's protection is gonna be there for them in exile. We find that there in verse 16, he says, yet I've been a sanctuary. To them for a while. In the countries where they have gone, God is saying, I've protected them where they are in the cities where they've gone. Why? Because he plans to bring them back. And this is one of those situations where there is the near fulfillment and the long fulfillment. There is a fulfillment that is, is short term and that is that they are going to return from exile and then there's the fulfillment. That's long term. Which is going to be in the very future in the millennial kingdom. There's new covenant language here in chapter 11. There is a reference to Revelation 21, even in chapter 11. So there's a lot going on. That's chapter 11. Chapter 12. Then as we transition in here, we get one one more. Not the last necessarily, but one more of these living parables. As Ezekiel said, Hey, I want you to pack your bags. God tells him, and you're gonna leave the city and reenter the city each night, and this is. Demonstrating in a tangible way that exile is coming. So yes, there's gonna be a future return, but before that God is clear, judgment is coming and so he's going to bring that judgment upon them. Even at the end of chapter 12, he says, it will no longer be delayed, but in your days of rebellious house, I will speak the word and perform it, declares the Lord. Judgment is coming and it's coming soon. Let's pray and then we'll be done with this episode of the Daily Bible Podcast. God, we thank you for what we were just talking about, that there is just joy in knowing that we know the book better because we've spent more time in it. We know the Bible better because we've spent more time in it. So give us a Lord, fruit of our labors towards that end, and help us to understand more and more of it as we go, and we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Keep in your Bibles, tune in again tomorrow for another edition of the Daily Bible Podcast. See you. Bye.

Well, thank you for listening to another episode of the Daily Bible Podcast, folks! We're honored to have you join us. This is a ministry of Compass Bible Church in north Texas. You can find out more information about our Church at compassntx.org. We would love for you to leave a review, to rate, or to share this podcast on whatever platform you're listening on, and we hope to see you again tomorrow for another episode of the Daily Bible Podcast. Ya'll come back now, ya hear?

Yeah. I would agree with everything that you said