Slow to Leave; Quick to Return

Ezekiel 10:4, 18, 19, 23, 24; Acts 2:2

The glory of the Lord rested on the mercy seat, between the two cherubims, on the top of the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark itself sat in the back of the temple, in the most Holy Place, and was visited only once per year by the High Priest. This glory was often characterized by a cloud, and all of Israel knew that this was the very Spirit of the Lord.

Ezekiel saw a vision of the final moments of the presence of the Spirit of the Lord in Jerusalem. Having shown Ezekiel the debauchery that was taking place in the temple; idolatry, prostitution and blasphemy (Ezekiel 8), God is now ready to depart from the temple, emptying it of His presence, making room for the enemy to ransack and destroy it. In light of how bad things have gotten, you would think that God would run out as fast as possible, but His slow movements speak of someone who does not want to leave, but would rather stay as long as He can, speaking just a bit longer.

He starts in Ezekiel 10:4, “over the threshold of the house”, which is the doorway into the temple. Then He proceeds outward, “Then the glory of the Lord departed from off the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubims” (Ezekiel 10:18). Now outside of the main room of the temple, the Spirit is hovering near the cherubims that were present at the event, who now fly out the east gate of the temple, with the glory “over them above” (verse 19).

Next we find God’s glory over the heart of Jerusalem, “And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city” (Ezekiel 11:23). Still slow to leave, the Spirit takes one more look at Jerusalem before going up from the mountain, back into heaven (verse 24).

Just over 600 years later, after the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus, the Holy Spirit makes His triumphant return to Jerusalem. The book of Acts records the way that He arrives as, “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting” (Acts 2:2). He comes in a hurry! There is no slow arrival. Some say that He had to be begged in by the prayers of the 120, but that is not true. He waited until, “the day of Pentecost was fully come” (Acts 2:1), so that He could arrive on time.

Some say that if you are not very careful you will run the Holy Spirit off. I have heard it said that any foolishness in a service, even down to someone chewing gum will run the presence of the Lord out of the house. I say that if chewing gum ran the power out of a service, then there wasn’t much to begin with! The Holy Spirit was slow to go and quick to return. Don’t be deceived into believing that He is quick to leave you now. In fact, He will not leave you, nor forsake you. He will stay with you through all things because He is your comforter, and He is always pointing you to Jesus.

Go in the assurance that the Holy Spirit is in you as a child of God. He is not looking for some excuse to leave you high and dry, but rather, He is looking for another excuse to bless you. Take the abundant grace and dwell in it.

No Sweat

Ezekiel 44:18

God spoke to Ezekiel concerning the functions of the temple that should be enforced when Israel returned from their scattering. These instructions were to be followed by the Lord’s priests and they were inter-mingled with prophecies of the future millennial reign of our Lord Jesus.

The garments of the priesthood are given in vivid detail in Exodus 28 and this passage in Ezekiel gives us a greater insight into the specific fabric for the garments. When the priest entered into the gates of the inner court of the temple, they were to be wearing linen garments. This garment covered them from neck to toe, including the length of their arms. The linen was a representation of the righteousness of God, and it is also the garment that the soldiers did not tear at the cross when they gambled for Jesus’ clothes. By leaving it untorn, they were unwittingly leaving the priestly garment for Jesus to wear symbolically, for Caiaphas had just torn his the night before, leaving the office of High Priest vacant (Matthew 26:65). Jesus filled that office for us, becoming our High Priest (Hebrews 4:14).

No wool was to be on the body of the priests because it does not breathe well, and it tends to cause the body to sweat. Sweat was a part of the curse that God put upon man in the Garden when He told Adam, “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground” (Genesis 3:19). Adam had chosen to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and by this disobedience; sin had entered into the family of man. Sweat was a result of the work that man had to do to survive, thus a symbol of his fallen state.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus sweat as it were great drops of blood (Luke 22:44) as He prayed about His upcoming death at the cross. His precious blood mingled with the sweat of man’s curse, thus paying for that curse to be lifted. Because of the work of Jesus in one Garden, the failure of man in the first Garden has been done away! We are free from working to survive as Jesus has finished the work on our behalf.

Jesus is our bread of heaven, and He requires no work on our part to receive that bread. Adam, which characterizes every man in a fallen, sinful state, had to eat his bread by his own sweat and efforts. You and I, as New Covenant believers, eat the bread of heaven with no effort of our own. We have the daily manna of Jesus and His finished work and we can partake of it freely.

You do not live by your efforts in the kingdom of God. You are no more righteous or holy at this moment by your religious activity than you were the moment that you said “Yes” to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. The finished work of Jesus has freed you from stressing about your job, your income, your children or your future. He bore the labor, so you can have the fruit. You have asked for a fish (blessing), do you think your heavenly Father will give you a serpent (curse)?

Valley of Dry Bones

Ezekiel 37:1-14

The dry bones that Ezekiel saw in his vision represented Israel in a spiritually deadened state. God had been ministering through Ezekiel about holiness, but Israel seemed powerless to change their ways. God even spoke to Ezekiel concerning the New Covenant in the previous chapter to show a time when He would change the heart of man (Ezekiel 36:26, 27).

How could Ezekiel expect dead bones to rise up when he preached to them about holiness? Of course he shouldn’t have expected much, and we should expect no more today. When holiness messages are delivered to people who are unsaved they are wasted; but they are just as useless on people who are saved, but are attempting to be justified by works. Paul said, “For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died…For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me” (Romans 7:9, 11). When we urge people to keep the commandments without showing them the mighty power of the New Covenant we are actually strengthening sin inside of them for they are helpless using their own works.

When you serve God under the Old Covenant, though you are a born-again believer, you are still “dead”. You are powerless to please God through your own righteousness, having passed on the righteousness offered by Christ’s finished work.

When Ezekiel spoke to the bones, he was ministering New Covenant to them; where they would be given form and substance based upon no work of their own. After this initial experience the valley was full of bodies that held no life or “no breath in them” (Ezekiel 37:8). This is just like many saints who hear of the New Covenant of God’s goodness and grace but they are far from living the abundant life.

Ezekiel then speaks to the wind (Ezekiel 37:9), telling it to blow into these slain that they may live. As soon as he does this, the wind blows the breath of life into them and they stand on their feet, “an exceeding great army” (verse 10). By speaking to the wind, Ezekiel is calling on the breath of God to do what has been promised that it will do. He is speaking to the wind, but more importantly, he is speaking of God’s covenant. What God promises that He is going to do, He is most definitely going to do, however you and I need to know it, and believe it!

God’s promise in the valley of dry bones is not limited to Israel, for verse 14 says, “And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it…” (Ezekiel 37:14). The word here for “your own land” is ‘solid ground; a place of firmness that is unshakeable’. God is promising that the blessings of the New Covenant will place you on unshakeable ground!

Later in the chapter, God confirms the covenant with the former dry bones by saying, “I will make a covenant of peace with them” (Ezekiel 37:26). Paul introduced us to the God of peace in Romans (5:1), and we know that Jesus is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). Aren’t you excited to see yet another New Covenant promises nestled secretly into the Old Testament. Wow, how our God loves us!

A New Heart & A New Spirit

Ezekiel 36:25-27

This three verse passage in Ezekiel is an answer to a three verse passage found earlier in the same book. God ordered Israel to change their ways earlier, only to promise to change them from the inside out in this passage. The first is a clear type of Old Covenant philosophy, were man works to change himself by a system of laws and rules, while the second is a picture of the New Covenant, where God does the work and man reaps the benefits.

Look at a sampling of the things that Israel is to do in Ezekiel 18:30-32, “Repent, turn yourselves away from all your transgressions…Cast away from you all your transgressions…make you a new heart, and a new spirit…turn yourselves, and live”. Everything in this passage is the responsibility of the individual. They are to make themselves a “new heart and a new spirit”. How can a man possibly do this? Is God being unfair? Actually, God is showing man that there is no way that he can change himself, thus he will see his need for a redeemer.

Now, take the same type of sampling from our key text, Ezekiel 36:25-27, “I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness…A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you…I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes”. In this passage, God is the one doing all of the work, while we get all of the benefits. Any reference to us doing anything is preceded by “cause”, meaning that whatever we do under the New Covenant we do it because He is working in us.

Paul said, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). God is working in us, so whatever comes out of us is because He has done it first inside of us. We are the beneficiaries of a perfect work; which Christ accomplished for us at the cross.

Before you disqualify the preceding verses in Ezekiel from applying to you because they were written of Israel, remember that Jesus has fulfilled all promises in the Bible and given them to you. Paul wrote, “For all the promises of God in him are yes, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us” (2 Corinthians 1:20). All promises have been fulfilled in the finished work of Jesus, so they are available to the believer. Do you want these promises? Say, “Amen”!

Do not worry about how you will walk once you accept the perfect love and forgiveness of Jesus. God’s grace causes you to walk better than your works ever will. He will “cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them” (Ezekiel 36:27). He does not mention a daily repetition of those statutes, for that would denote a need to memorize them and apply them on the part of the believer. Whether you know of them or not, the Holy Spirit in you will bring out the fruit of righteousness as you accept His perfect love for you.

You have a new heart and new spirit because Jesus has paid for them, and God has implanted them. You are not who you used to be because of the finished work of Christ on the cross. Rejoice that the promises of God are yours and you belong to Him!

Sour Grapes

Ezekiel 18:2-4
In a previous devotion, we dealt with what Paul called “old wives’ fables”. We briefly covered this passage from Ezekiel, dealing with the fathers eating sour grapes and then the children’s teeth being set on edge. I want to look at it with a bit more detail, to show you something great that Jesus accomplished for us.

First, the theme for this proverb begins at Mt. Sinai while God is giving the law to Moses, and he tells him, “I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me” (Exodus 20:5). This promise from God was to those who walked in sin, with the guarantee that He would send down punishment upon the children for what the father’s had done. Some in the church call these “generational curses”.

The parable first surfaces in Jeremiah 31:29, 30, where we see the fathers having “eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth are set on edge”. By the time Ezekiel tells of the proverb, they have eaten “grapes”, denoting more than one. Sin always increases, both in scope and in size.

In Jeremiah, God says that “they shall say no more” regarding this proverb and Ezekiel says, “ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel”. Something is going to transpire that will cause the principle of the fathers partaking in sin and the children reaping the punishment to change.

Jeremiah goes on to say that the time when this saying will be used no more will also feature the LORD putting His law, “in their inward parts” and writing it, “in their hearts” (Jeremiah 31:33). He also promises that He will “forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sins no more” (verse 34). Fortunately for us, we know when this time period is, as the author of Hebrews quotes this passage when he tells us that Jesus Christ took away the first covenant, “that he may establish the second” (Hebrews 10:9-18). We are living in that New Covenant now, so the father’s eating the sour grapes and the children paying the price for it can no longer apply!

It is not enough to say that this time period is simply over with. What caused this parable to be rendered obsolete? To find the answer, we must take a look at Christ on the cross. John tells us that, “Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, ‘I thirst’” (John 19:28). Jesus has done everything up to this point that He needs to do in order to redeem mankind, but there remains one thing left to be done. When He says that He is thirsty, they fill a sponge full of vinegar and lift it up to Jesus’ mouth, which he drinks.

The word ‘vinegar’ is the Greek word “oxos” and it means ‘sour wine’. Jesus had to receive the sour wine willingly, which verse 30 tells us that He did. When He drank it, He was drinking all of our sour wine or the “sour grapes” of our sins. He took the sour wine so that our teeth would never be set on edge. Because He bore the iniquity, we have no repercussions. Hallelujah!

There is no generational curse hanging over you dearly beloved. Jesus took all things at the cross so that you would not have to. After drinking the sour wine, He declared, “It is finished” (John 19:30). Thank God, it truly is.

Slow to Leave; Quick to Return

Ezekiel 10:4, 18, 19, 23, 24; Acts 2:2

The glory of the Lord rested on the mercy seat, between the two cherubims, on the top of the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark itself sat in the back of the temple, in the most Holy Place, and was visited only once per year by the High Priest. This glory was often characterized by a cloud, and all of Israel knew that this was the very Spirit of the Lord.

Ezekiel saw a vision of the final moments of the presence of the Spirit of the Lord in Jerusalem. Having shown Ezekiel the debauchery that was taking place in the temple; idolatry, prostitution and blasphemy (Ezekiel 8), God is now ready to depart from the temple, emptying it of His presence, making room for the enemy to ransack and destroy it. In light of how bad things have gotten, you would think that God would run out as fast as possible, but His slow movements speak of someone who does not want to leave, but would rather stay as long as He can, speaking just a bit longer.

He starts in Ezekiel 10:4, “over the threshold of the house”, which is the doorway into the temple. Then He proceeds outward, “Then the glory of the Lord departed from off the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubims” (Ezekiel 10:18). Now outside of the main room of the temple, the Spirit is hovering near the cherubims that were present at the event, who now fly out the east gate of the temple, with the glory “over them above” (verse 19).

Next we find God’s glory over the heart of Jerusalem, “And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city” (Ezekiel 11:23). Still slow to leave, the Spirit takes one more look at Jerusalem before going up from the mountain, back into heaven (verse 24).

Just over 600 years later, after the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus, the Holy Spirit makes His triumphant return to Jerusalem. The book of Acts records the way that He arrives as, “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting” (Acts 2:2). He comes in a hurry! There is no slow arrival. Some say that He had to be begged in by the prayers of the 120, but that is not true. He waited until, “the day of Pentecost was fully come” (Acts 2:1), so that He could arrive on time.

Some say that if you are not very careful you will run the Holy Spirit off. I have heard it said that any foolishness in a service, even down to someone chewing gum will run the presence of the Lord out of the house. I say that if chewing gum ran the power out of a service, then there wasn’t much to begin with! The Holy Spirit was slow to go and quick to return. Don’t be deceived into believing that He is quick to leave you now. In fact, He will not leave you, nor forsake you. He will stay with you through all things because He is your comforter, and He is always pointing you to Jesus.

Go in the assurance that the Holy Spirit is in you as a child of God. He is not looking for some excuse to leave you high and dry, but rather, He is looking for another excuse to bless you. Take the abundant grace and dwell in it.

No Sweat

Ezekiel 44:18

God spoke to Ezekiel concerning the functions of the temple that should be enforced when Israel returned from their scattering. These instructions were to be followed by the Lord’s priests and they were inter-mingled with prophecies of the future millennial reign of our Lord Jesus.

The garments of the priesthood are given in vivid detail in Exodus 28 and this passage in Ezekiel gives us a greater insight into the specific fabric for the garments. When the priest entered into the gates of the inner court of the temple, they were to be wearing linen garments. This garment covered them from neck to toe, including the length of their arms. The linen was a representation of the righteousness of God, and it is also the garment that the soldiers did not tear at the cross when they gambled for Jesus’ clothes. By leaving it untorn, they were unwittingly leaving the priestly garment for Jesus to wear symbolically, for Caiaphas had just torn his the night before, leaving the office of High Priest vacant (Matthew 26:65). Jesus filled that office for us, becoming our High Priest (Hebrews 4:14).

No wool was to be on the body of the priests because it does not breathe well, and it tends to cause the body to sweat. Sweat was a part of the curse that God put upon man in the Garden when He told Adam, “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground” (Genesis 3:19). Adam had chosen to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and by this disobedience; sin had entered into the family of man. Sweat was a result of the work that man had to do to survive, thus a symbol of his fallen state.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus sweat as it were great drops of blood (Luke 22:44) as He prayed about His upcoming death at the cross. His precious blood mingled with the sweat of man’s curse, thus paying for that curse to be lifted. Because of the work of Jesus in one Garden, the failure of man in the first Garden has been done away! We are free from working to survive as Jesus has finished the work on our behalf.

Jesus is our bread of heaven, and He requires no work on our part to receive that bread. Adam, which characterizes every man in a fallen, sinful state, had to eat his bread by his own sweat and efforts. You and I, as New Covenant believers, eat the bread of heaven with no effort of our own. We have the daily manna of Jesus and His finished work and we can partake of it freely.

You do not live by your efforts in the kingdom of God. You are no more righteous or holy at this moment by your religious activity than you were the moment that you said “Yes” to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. The finished work of Jesus has freed you from stressing about your job, your income, your children or your future. He bore the labor, so you can have the fruit. You have asked for a fish (blessing), do you think your heavenly Father will give you a serpent (curse)?

Valley of Dry Bones

Ezekiel 37:1-14

The dry bones that Ezekiel saw in his vision represented Israel in a spiritually deadened state. God had been ministering through Ezekiel about holiness, but Israel seemed powerless to change their ways. God even spoke to Ezekiel concerning the New Covenant in the previous chapter to show a time when He would change the heart of man (Ezekiel 36:26, 27).

How could Ezekiel expect dead bones to rise up when he preached to them about holiness? Of course he shouldn’t have expected much, and we should expect no more today. When holiness messages are delivered to people who are unsaved they are wasted; but they are just as useless on people who are saved, but are attempting to be justified by works. Paul said, “For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died…For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me” (Romans 7:9, 11). When we urge people to keep the commandments without showing them the mighty power of the New Covenant we are actually strengthening sin inside of them for they are helpless using their own works.

When you serve God under the Old Covenant, though you are a born-again believer, you are still “dead”. You are powerless to please God through your own righteousness, having passed on the righteousness offered by Christ’s finished work.

When Ezekiel spoke to the bones, he was ministering New Covenant to them; where they would be given form and substance based upon no work of their own. After this initial experience the valley was full of bodies that held no life or “no breath in them” (Ezekiel 37:8). This is just like many saints who hear of the New Covenant of God’s goodness and grace but they are far from living the abundant life.

Ezekiel then speaks to the wind (Ezekiel 37:9), telling it to blow into these slain that they may live. As soon as he does this, the wind blows the breath of life into them and they stand on their feet, “an exceeding great army” (verse 10). By speaking to the wind, Ezekiel is calling on the breath of God to do what has been promised that it will do. He is speaking to the wind, but more importantly, he is speaking of God’s covenant. What God promises that He is going to do, He is most definitely going to do, however you and I need to know it, and believe it!

God’s promise in the valley of dry bones is not limited to Israel, for verse 14 says, “And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it…” (Ezekiel 37:14). The word here for “your own land” is ‘solid ground; a place of firmness that is unshakeable’. God is promising that the blessings of the New Covenant will place you on unshakeable ground!

Later in the chapter, God confirms the covenant with the former dry bones by saying, “I will make a covenant of peace with them” (Ezekiel 37:26). Paul introduced us to the God of peace in Romans (5:1), and we know that Jesus is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). Aren’t you excited to see yet another New Covenant promises nestled secretly into the Old Testament. Wow, how our God loves us!

A New Heart & a New Spirit

Ezekiel 36:25-27

This three verse passage in Ezekiel is an answer to a three verse passage found earlier in the same book. God ordered Israel to change their ways earlier, only to promise to change them from the inside out in this passage. The first is a clear type of Old Covenant philosophy, were man works to change himself by a system of laws and rules, while the second is a picture of the New Covenant, where God does the work and man reaps the benefits.

Look at a sampling of the things that Israel is to do in Ezekiel 18:30-32, “Repent, turn yourselves away from all your transgressions…Cast away from you all your transgressions…make you a new heart, and a new spirit…turn yourselves, and live”. Everything in this passage is the responsibility of the individual. They are to make themselves a “new heart and a new spirit”. How can a man possibly do this? Is God being unfair? Actually, God is showing man that there is no way that he can change himself, thus he will see his need for a redeemer.

Now, take the same type of sampling from our key text, Ezekiel 36:25-27, “I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness…A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you…I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes”. In this passage, God is the one doing all of the work, while we get all of the benefits. Any reference to us doing anything is preceded by “cause”, meaning that whatever we do under the New Covenant we do it because He is working in us.

Paul said, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). God is working in us, so whatever comes out of us is because He has done it first inside of us. We are the beneficiaries of a perfect work; which Christ accomplished for us at the cross.

Before you disqualify the preceding verses in Ezekiel from applying to you because they were written of Israel, remember that Jesus has fulfilled all promises in the Bible and given them to you. Paul wrote, “For all the promises of God in him are yes, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us” (2 Corinthians 1:20). All promises have been fulfilled in the finished work of Jesus, so they are available to the believer. Do you want these promises? Say, “Amen”!

Do not worry about how you will walk once you accept the perfect love and forgiveness of Jesus. God’s grace causes you to walk better than your works ever will. He will “cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them” (Ezekiel 36:27). He does not mention a daily repetition of those statutes, for that would denote a need to memorize them and apply them on the part of the believer. Whether you know of them or not, the Holy Spirit in you will bring out the fruit of righteousness as you accept His perfect love for you.

You have a new heart and new spirit because Jesus has paid for them, and God has implanted them. You are not who you used to be because of the finished work of Christ on the cross. Rejoice that the promises of God are yours and you belong to Him!

Sour Grapes

Ezekiel 18:2-4

In a previous devotion, we dealt with what Paul called “old wives’ fables”. We briefly covered this passage from Ezekiel, dealing with the fathers eating sour grapes and then the children’s teeth being set on edge. I want to look at it with a bit more detail, to show you something great that Jesus accomplished for us.

First, the theme for this proverb begins at Mt. Sinai while God is giving the law to Moses, and he tells him, “I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me” (Exodus 20:5). This promise from God was to those who walked in sin, with the guarantee that He would send down punishment upon the children for what the father’s had done. Some in the church call these “generational curses”.

The parable first surfaces in Jeremiah 31:29, 30, where we see the fathers having “eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth are set on edge”. By the time Ezekiel tells of the proverb, they have eaten “grapes”, denoting more than one. Sin always increases, both in scope and in size.

In Jeremiah, God says that “they shall say no more” regarding this proverb and Ezekiel says, “ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel”. Something is going to transpire that will cause the principle of the fathers partaking in sin and the children reaping the punishment to change.

Jeremiah goes on to say that the time when this saying will be used no more will also feature the LORD putting His law, “in their inward parts” and writing it, “in their hearts” (Jeremiah 31:33). He also promises that He will “forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sins no more” (verse 34). Fortunately for us, we know when this time period is, as the author of Hebrews quotes this passage when he tells us that Jesus Christ took away the first covenant, “that he may establish the second” (Hebrews 10:9-18). We are living in that New Covenant now, so the father’s eating the sour grapes and the children paying the price for it can no longer apply!

It is not enough to say that this time period is simply over with. What caused this parable to be rendered obsolete? To find the answer, we must take a look at Christ on the cross. John tells us that, “Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, ‘I thirst’” (John 19:28). Jesus has done everything up to this point that He needs to do in order to redeem mankind, but there remains one thing left to be done. When He says that He is thirsty, they fill a sponge full of vinegar and lift it up to Jesus’ mouth, which he drinks.

The word ‘vinegar’ is the Greek word “oxos” and it means ‘sour wine’. Jesus had to receive the sour wine willingly, which verse 30 tells us that He did. When He drank it, He was drinking all of our sour wine or the “sour grapes” of our sins. He took the sour wine so that our teeth would never be set on edge. Because He bore the iniquity, we have no repercussions. Hallelujah!
There is no generational curse hanging over you dearly beloved. Jesus took all things at the cross so that you would not have to. After drinking the sour wine, He declared, “It is finished” (John 19:30). Thank God, it truly is.

Slow to Leave; Quick to Return

Ezekiel 10:4, 18, 19, 23, 24; Acts 2:2

The glory of the Lord rested on the mercy seat, between the two cherubims, on the top of the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark itself sat in the back of the temple, in the most Holy Place, and was visited only once per year by the High Priest. This glory was often characterized by a cloud, and all of Israel knew that this was the very Spirit of the Lord.

Ezekiel saw a vision of the final moments of the presence of the Spirit of the Lord in Jerusalem. Having shown Ezekiel the debauchery that was taking place in the temple; idolatry, prostitution and blasphemy (Ezekiel 8), God is now ready to depart from the temple, emptying it of His presence, making room for the enemy to ransack and destroy it. In light of how bad things have gotten, you would think that God would run out as fast as possible, but His slow movements speak of someone who does not want to leave, but would rather stay as long as possible, speaking just a bit longer.

He starts in Ezekiel 10:4, “over the threshold of the house”, which is the doorway into the temple. Then He proceeds outward, “Then the glory of the Lord departed from off the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubims” (Ezekiel 10:18). Now outside of the main room of the temple, the Spirit is hovering near the cherubims that were present at the event, who now fly out the east gate of the temple, with the glory “over them above” (verse 19).

Next we find God’s glory over the heart of Jerusalem, “And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city” (Ezekiel 11:23). Still slow to leave, the Spirit takes one more look at Jerusalem before going up from the mountain, back into heaven (verse 24).

Just over 600 years later, after the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus, the Holy Spirit makes His triumphant return to Jerusalem. The book of Acts records the way that He arrives as, “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting” (Acts 2:2). He comes in a hurry! There is no slow arrival. Some say that He had to be begged in by the prayers of the 120, but that is not true. He waited until, “the day of Pentecost was fully come” (Acts 2:1), so that He could arrive on time.

Some say that if you are not very careful you will run the Holy Spirit off. I have heard it said that any foolishness in a service, even down to someone chewing gum will run the presence of the Lord out of the house. I say that if chewing gum ran the power out of a service, then there wasn’t much to begin with. The Holy Spirit was slow to go and quick to return. Don’t be deceived into believing that He is quick to leave you now. In fact, He will not leave you, nor forsake you. He will stay with you through all things because He is your comforter, and He is always pointing you to Jesus.

Go in the assurance that the Holy Spirit is in you as a child of God. He is not looking for some excuse to leave you high and dry, but rather, He is looking for another excuse to bless you. Take the abundant grace and dwell in it.