Like a chestnut tree

Does the LORD take pleasure in thousands of rams, In ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give Him my firstborn for my wrongdoings, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, mortal one, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:7-8)

In this chapter, the refugees from Jerusalem come to Ezekiel and tell him that Jerusalem has been destroyed. Then Ezekiel’s muteness finally stops.

In the book of Nehemiah and of Ezra, the Israelites confess that they have been wicked and appear to have repented of their sins. But the book of Malachi shows that their repentance was only in appearance. God was still displeased with them. Many Christians interpret that all we need is devotion, will, and efforts to keep the Law. But it is wrong. No one, even Adam and Eve, can keep God’s commands inside and out. It may appear that our salvation depends on our works, but good works are the results of the union with Christ through the Holy Spirit. The Bible teaches us that the everlasting father-son relationship exists only between the Father and the Son. And we can become the adopted children of God only through the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Son keeps the Father’s commands inside and out because He has the Spirit and is one with the Father. It is the Holy Spirit that enables us to know God, love Him, and keep His commands. And God gives the Holy Spirit whomever He wishes to according to the plans He made before the time began. Everyone is dead because of Adam’s rebellion. None of us can earn grace by works. God made the world to build His Kingdom, His chosen people. Righteousness does not come from works. Rather, the works show our righteousness that comes from God. Christ’s righteousness is the Father’s righteousness. We are clothed with such righteousness that cannot be removed. The only righteous God can make us righteous through what the Son did by the Holy Spirit. And the Son sent the Holy Spirit to us and made us believe in Him. This is not a hard teaching. God wants us to have faith in Him. Faith is a gift from God. It is a free gift. No one can earn it.

Ezekiel was made a watchman as we read Ezekiel 3:17-19. His job is not to persuade people to repent. His job is to blow the trumpet. Is it possible that God’s people refuse to become watchmen? It is impossible to refuse the task because of the Holy Spirit.

Then I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brothers and sisters who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. (Revelation 19:10)

The Holy Spirit is given to God’s elect people so that we believe in Him and are saved. In other words, we are chosen to become the kingdom of God, which God planned before creation. God is faithful and will fulfill everything He planned and spoke.

God tells Ezekiel that many people do not understand God’s words. The people consider the words of God like a sensual song and enjoy listening to them. Yet, they do not practice them. Many Christians go to church on Sundays because they feel holy in the church building. They feel satisfied with music played during worship services. Many people think music is very important. It is because it gives them a sense of holiness or assurance that they are with God. But God knows everyone’s heart. God does not care what kind of music they like because He sees everyone’s heart and judges by what is in their heart. It is better not to use music at all during a worship service. Reading the Psalms or Bible verses is sufficient. God does not care about men-made songs. If you like music more than God’s words, you are not a true Christian. Only the true elect people of God can learn the song that God composed.

And behold, you are to them like a love song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not practice them. So when it comes—as it certainly will—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.” (Ezekiel 33:32-33)

And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one was able to learn the song except the 144,000 who had been purchased from the earth. (Revelation 14:3)

On the day of God’s final judgement, those people who did not bear fruit of the Holy Spirit will have no excuse because they did not repent of their sins even though they heard the word of God through the mouths of the prophets. They are proud of their own works and want God to judge them according to their works. So God judges them according to their evil works. The Bible will be the witness because people read them but do not understand God. They do not ask for the Holy Spirit because they think they have Him. They refuse to believe that the Son did everything for them to be the adopted children of God. And they do not understand the works of the Holy Spirit. They mock and kill God’s prophets who tell them truths of God. Therefore, they will have no excuse.

‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster that lies in the midst of his canals, that has said, ‘My Nile is mine, and I myself have made it.’ (Ezekiel 29:3)

God announces judgements on two Israel nations and their neighboring countries/cities in the book of the prophets. But we must understand the prophecies are not about a nation in a certain geographical location although they appear so related to the Israel’s history in the OT. They are all enemies of God. Egypt was mentioned many times in the OT. It is a symbol of prosperity and worldly wisdom. But it is the very opposite of God’s kingdom. After the fall of Jerusalem, we read that the Israelites head to Egypt against God’s words spoken by the prophet Jeremiah (Read Jeremiah 42-44). God announced their demise in Egypt, but they still went. God freed the Israelites from the hands of the devil and made them into a great nation. But they loved to be slaves again. Christians are doing the exact same things as the Israelites did.

There are two important theological questions that I’d like to address. One is: Are saints freed from sin or the devil? The other is: Did God create the devil?

My answer to the first question is that sin and the devil are the same thing because sin and the devil is what God is not.

My answer to the second question is: Yes, God created the devil for a purpose just as God created those nations that serve idols such as Egypt, Babylon, Assyria, etc in the OT era. I know that many theologians are against this idea. They think that God is pure and righteous that He cannot have anything to do with the devil. But with that hypothesis, they make the devil exist by itself. This means that the devil is equal to God in power. God says that He is “I am Who I am (Exodus 3:14)”. The theologians make the devil be also “I am”. Their idea is evil. Many cults came out of this idea. God can create anything without compromising His righteousness. The more important questions is why God created the devil. And I’ve already explained that the devil is a necessary tool to train God’s people to make them into the everlasting kingdom of God. How God controls the devil is written in Job chapter 41. God does not compete with the devil. God was pleased to create the devil and made him everything that He is not. The devil is evil, opposite to who God is. As I go through other books of the Bible, I will answer to these questions in detail.

The books of the prophets in the OT talked about the immediate or near future at that time when they were written. And they are also telling about the end. As we read about the end of Egypt, we also understand the end of the great leviathan that appears in the Book of Revelation.

“Son of man, lament for the hordes of Egypt and bring it down, her and the daughters of the mighty nations, to the netherworld, with those who go down to the pit; ‘Whom do you surpass in beauty? Go down and make your bed with the uncircumcised.’ ‘Whom do you surpass in beauty? Go down and make your bed with the uncircumcised.’ (Ezekiel 32:18-19)

And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. (Revelation 12:9)

Concerning the two witnesses that appear in Revelation 11, the Bible says this:

When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie on the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. (Rev 11:7-8)

Our Lord was crucified in Jerusalem. But God sees that He was crucified in the city called Sodom and Egypt. Jerusalem became Sodom and Egypt. This tells us about the end of the false Christians who reject Truth. Only the elect people of God will be saved.

If the LORD of armies had not left us a few survivors, we would be like Sodom, we would be like Gomorrah. (Isaiah 1:9)

And if those days had not been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. (Matthew 24:22)

But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation; and the river burst against it and it immediately collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great. (Luke 6:49)

These three  chapters talk about the demise of Tyre and her king. There are many cities and nations mentioned in the Bible. Like I said before, God is not against a city in a certain geographical location. The demise of cities and nations in the OT symbolizes the fall of idol worshippers who deny God. A city or a nation is a symbol of a centre of idolatry. Those cities or nations that God is against share similarities with Babylon mentioned in Revelation 17-19. Although Tyre was destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in the OT (Ezekiel 26:7-14), Babylon herself is not different from Tyre. They are identical as we read Ezekiel 27:25-36 and Revelation 18:9-24. I’d advise you to read the chapters carefully instead of reading only my interpretations. God’s words give you much richer understandings given by the Holy Spirit.

Moreover, in their wailing they will take up a song of mourning for you And sing a song of mourning over you: ‘Who is like Tyre, Like her who is silent in the midst of the sea? (Ezekiel 27:32)

and were crying out as they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What city is like the great city? (Revelation 18:18)

The King of Tyre is believed to be Adam in the garden of Eden or the satan.

You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: carnelian, chrysolite and emerald, topaz, onyx and jasper, lapis lazuli, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared. (Ezekiel 28:13)

And Ezekiel 28:17 explains that pride is the beginning of rebellion:

Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings. (Ezekiel 28:17)

He was blameless (tamim, Strong 8549) but was not like God. He was not united with Christ. He did not have the Holy Spirit.

Will you then say, “I am a god,” in the presence of those who kill you? You will be but a mortal, not a god, in the hands of those who slay you. (Ezekiel 28:9)

As I’ve mentioned before, I believe Adam did not receive the Holy Spirit. Adam was created blameless. But he did not have God’s wisdom to overcome the satan’s temptation. He trusted his own wisdom and decided to believe in the satan. This happened before he ate the forbidden fruit. The fruit itself did not have the poison to kill Adam. The fruit made Adam’s sin known to God. Because of the change in his heart, Adam became spiritually dead. So did all his physical descendants. All men are dead to God. There are people chosen by grace before the time began. God saves them from death and trains His people through sufferings. God does not make His people live in material prosperity. It is because the rich in the eyes of the world are always proud.  Apostle Paul warns us that loving money is the beginning of eternal demise like Tyre and Babylon. Money will perish as the world perishes. Nothing in the world will remain at the end.

For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (1 Timothy 6:10)

I will cause you sudden terrors and you will no longer exist; though you will be sought, you will never be found again,” declares the Lord GOD. (Ezekiel 26:21)

Then a strong angel picked up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “So will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down with violence, and will never be found again. (Revelation 18:21)

I know there are many Christian leaders who lure us with material things like a huge church building, an orchestra, a musical band, nice clothes, flowers, big screens, etc. They all live in material prosperity but not in spiritual prosperity. They want to please people to gain popularity and wealth. And God says that what they build will fall with a great crash, never to rise again.

There are many good things that we are allowed to enjoy if we use them moderately. For example, we thank God for delicious food that nourish our body. But we must remember that food symbolizes the only true food, Jesus Christ. God knows our physical and spiritual needs. At the end, only God’s words will remain.

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; the one who comes to Me will not be hungry, and the one who believes in Me will never be thirsty. (John 6:35)

In regard to loving money, no one is free from worries that come from the lack of money. We need to pay for rents/mortgages. We need to buy food and clothes. We often forget that God knows our needs. That is why Christ tells us not to worry from the early days of His ministry.

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the sky, that they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather crops into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more important than they? And which of you by worrying can add a single day to his life’s span? And why are you worried about clothing? Notice how the lilies of the field grow; they do not labor nor do they spin thread for cloth, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided to you. (Matthew 6:24-34)

In this chapter, God announces judgements on Ammon, Moab, Edom, and Philistia. These neighboring nations of Israel have enmity towards Judah and their city, Jerusalem. Now they are overjoyed because Judah fell. However, their ends are coming soon.

For this is what the Lord God says: “Because you have clapped your hands and stamped your feet, and have rejoiced with all the malice in your soul against the land of Israel, therefore, behold, I have reached out with My hand against you and I will give you as plunder to the nations. And I will cut you off from the peoples and eliminate you from the lands. I will exterminate you. So you will know that I am the Lord.” (v.6-7)

Remember, LORD, against the sons of Edom The day of Jerusalem, Those who said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare To its foundation!” (Psalm 137:7)

These nations enticed the Israelites with their idols and were glad when the Israelites were punished by God. All nations that follow idols and all other religions will also perish just as written in the prophetic books in OT. Amos 1 and 2 tells us that no nation will escape God’s judgements.

The words of Amos, who was among the sheepherders from Tekoa, which he saw in visions concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. And he said,
“The Lord roars from Zion,
And from Jerusalem He utters His voice;
And the shepherds’ pasture grounds mourn,
And the summit of Carmel dries up.” (Amos 1:1-2)

Other nations did not receive God’s words like Israel did. However, they are punished by the eternal law of God, love. All people regardless of their backgrounds are to know and love God and their neighbors. The Israelites were to show the glory of God and teach others about Him and love the strangers. But they actively rebelled against God. So did and do Christians in the world. Instead of teaching strangers about God and His mercy, they became strangers to God, serving idols and denying their Master.

The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God. (Leviticus 19:34)

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, being understood by what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their reasonings, and their senseless hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible mankind, of birds, four-footed animals, and crawling creatures. (Roman 1:18-22)

The false church, Babylon, will be destroyed by other nations. But they will also be destroyed as we read Revelation 17-19.

And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and the mighty, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, great and small.” (Revelation 19:17-18)

Prophets keep proclaiming God’s words until the coming of Christ. Those without the Holy Spirit will have no excuse. No one escapes God’s judgements.

Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!” And He said, “Go, and tell this people:

‘Keep on listening, but do not understand;
And keep on looking, but do not gain knowledge.’
Make the hearts of this people insensitive,
Their ears dull,
And their eyes blind,
So that they will not see with their eyes,
Hear with their ears,
Understand with their hearts,
And return and be healed.”

Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered,

“Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant,
Houses are without people
And the land is utterly desolate,
The Lord has completely removed people,
And there are many forsaken places in the midst of the land.
Yet there will still be a tenth portion in it,
And it will again be subject to burning,
Like a terebinth or an oak
Whose stump remains when it is cut down.
The holy seed is its stump.” (Isaiah 6:8-13)

There is no hope for the visible church unless she acknowledges the good news brought by Christ. She must proclaim Sola Gratia.

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who have been sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘BLESSED IS THE ONE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!’” (Matthew 23:37-39)

Ezekiel 24 tells us that Ezekiel’s wife dies as a symbol of Jerusalem’s fall. In the past, I wrote about the coming of “the year of the great earthquake” that I heard in my dream. I do not know if this year will be the year. Earlier, I said everything is connected. Not all knowledge is revealed to us but sometimes God reveals His plans to us.

I heard the news that there was a big earthquake in Turkey and Syria after I posted the last article on the fall of Jerusalem. I read that Antioch is in rubble. Antioch is the birthplace of Christianity. This is not a coincidence (in fact, there is no such thing as coincidence from God’s point of view).

And he left for Tarsus to look for Saul; and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers of people; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. Now at this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. (Acts 11:25-27)

I googled “Antakya” and the Wikipedia says, “…Antakya is a place of pilgrimage for Christians.” and “It has a reputation in Turkey as a place for spells, fortune telling, miracles and spirits.”

And he (Manasseh) made his son pass through the fire, interpreted signs, practiced divination, and used mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger. (2 Kings 21:6)

I will make them an object of terror among all the kingdoms of the earth because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem. (Jeremiah 15:4)

God was not against Manasseh only but also all people who followed his evil practices. God is not against a city in a certain geographical location. The earthquake in Antakya is a symbol of the fall of Christianity. The year of the great earthquake will come. God is against not only Jerusalem but also other nations that serve idols as we will read in the rest of the chapters of the Book of Ezekiel.

From Abraham, the Israel nation came. From Christ, Christianity came. But God is not pleased with Christians just as He was not pleased with the Israelites in the OT. And this is what I have been telling all along. The OT tells us about our sins, the judgements, and restoration. There are many similarities between the prophetic books of the OT and the Book of Revelation. Therefore, the Book of Revelation is not a strange book as some theologians claim. The Israelites in the OT are Christians in the NT era. The Israel nation in the OT is the visible church in the NT. The twelve tribes of Israel are the seven churches in the NT. I can’t say I have all the knowledge. I am still learning. At least, I can see that everything is carefully woven by God.

I am not calling for an earthly reform. Those who are given the Holy Spirit by grace will repent and believe in God. Others will never repent. Even if they try to repent, their repentance will not be accepted. In the rubble, God will save His chosen people for His kingdom. Even though their bodies may perish, they will never die because they are bought with the price of Christ’s blood.

“Tolle lege”. Read the Bible. And study orthodox Christian doctrines. The Reformation was God’s will. But Christians left truths. They now believe in work-based salvation. God is against false Christians. It is God’s will that we know Him, repent of our sins, and believe in Him.

“I will completely remove all things
From the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.

 “I will remove human and animal life;
I will remove the birds of the sky
And the fish of the sea,
And the ruins along with the wicked;
And I will eliminate mankind from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord. (Zephaniah 1:2-3)

Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. (Matthew 25:34)

Now the word of the Lord came to me in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, saying, Son of man, write the name of the day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day. (v.1-2)

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, behold, I am about to take from you what is precious to your eyes with a fatal blow; but you shall not mourn and you shall not weep, and your tears shall not come. Groan silently; do no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban and put your sandals on your feet, and do not cover your mustache, and do not eat the bread of other people.” So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. And in the morning I did as I was commanded. (v.15-18)

So Ezekiel will be a sign to you; according to all that he has done, you will do. When it comes, then you will know that I am the Lord God. (v.24)

As for you, son of man, will it not be on the day when I take from them their stronghold, the joy of their splendor, that which is precious in their eyes and their heart’s longing, their sons and their daughters, that on that day the one who escapes will come to you with information for your ears? On that day your mouth will be opened to him who escaped, and you will speak and no longer be silenced. So you will be a sign to them, and they will know that I am the Lord. (v.25-27)

As we read the book of the prophets in the OT, we realize that God made them signs to other Israelites. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, and Ezekiel had to do the things that seemed strange to others. Those chosen by grace understood the signs. Others did not understand them, and ignored and ridiculed the prophets.

We do not know anything about Ezekiel’s wife. Many Christians interpret the Bible from a moral point of view. But there is no reason mentioned why God put her to death. God took away Ezekiel’s pride, desire and delight as Jerusalem fell. God did not want Ezekiel to rebuke people so made him mute earlier (Ezekiel 3:26). And now that the Jerusalem is destroyed, Ezekiel’s muteness stops as written in Ezekiel 33:22.

Jerusalem is the visible church. In earlier days, she was crowned with glory because her husband, God, was with her. But she went and served other gods. It was not that she completely left God. The temple was still there. People still mentioned of God. But she was no longer loyal to her husband. She broke the covenant with her husband. She brought her lovers to their house. He saw all her adulterous acts. And she was proud. That does not mean Ezekiel’s wife was the same. Ezekiel’s wife was a symbol. God killed what the Israelites considered delightful, desirable, and precious.

The fall of Jerusalem that happened in 587 BC and in 70 AD tells us that God’s Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. God’s temple is not a building that we can see.

I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. (Revelation 21:22)

There are many Christians who think they should build a temple on the earth or a Christian nation. Many ministers and theologians promote such ideas. They often focus on politics and law-making. What they really desire is political power. John Owen was a politician. Even though the Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF) explains the role of the civil governments, he and his followers did not take the WCF and wrote their own confession called the Savoy Declaration. They also wrote on the active obedience of Christ in their confession, which the king forbid them to do. Thus, he rebelled against God. Owen influenced Cromwell greatly. And what Cromwell built was not God’s kingdom. But God let them do what they were destined to do. They lured people to believe in false assurance.  People like Abraham Kuyper desired to become like John Owen. And what we now call the Reformed faith is not orthodox. It is derived from ideas of John Owen and his friends, who chose people over God. They chose political power over God. Therefore, the Protestant church (Jerusalem) we see is a harlot. God will not look kindly on those who try to go back to Egypt. God is against those who try to build an earthly kingdom.

This chapter is similar to chapter 16. Samaria is Oholah (her tent) and Jerusalem is Oholibah (My tent is in her). (v.4) Oholah has already been punished. And Oholibah is about to be punished more severely because she is more corrupt than Oholah.

Now her sister Oholibah saw this, yet she was more corrupt in her lust than she, and her obscene practices were more than the prostitution of her sister. (v.11)

That does not mean Oholah escapes judgement. They are both corrupt and treacherous.

Moreover, the Lord said to me, “Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations. For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. So they have committed adultery with their idols, and even made their sons, whom they bore to Me, pass through the fire to them as food. Again, they have done this to Me: they have defiled My sanctuary on the same day, and have profaned My Sabbaths. For when they slaughtered their children for their idols, they entered My sanctuary on the same day to profane it; and behold, this is what they did within My house. (v. 36-38)

Both the Roman Catholic church and the Protestant churches abandoned orthodox doctrines and have gone astray. They brought Greek philosophies and pagan religions into their theology. They went further and killed God’s prophets who spoke truths within their churches. Whoever sleeps with a harlot is one body with her. Samaria and Jerusalem went after Egypt, Assyria, and Babylonia.

Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” (1 Corinthians 6:16)

Therefore, the harlot in Revelation 17 is the false church. People without true faith go after the world and other religions and identify themselves with them. There is only one true Jerusalem, that is the assembly of God’s chosen people saved by grace. All others belong to the assembly of God’s enemies.

There are two common features that two adulterous sisters in Ezekiel 16 and 23 and Babylon in Revelation 17.

One is that they kill God’s people.

For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. So they have committed adultery with their idols, and even made their sons, whom they bore to Me, pass through the fire to them as food. (v. 37)

You slaughtered My children and offered them to idols by making them pass through the fire. (Ezekiel 16:21)

And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered greatly.(Revelation 17:6)

The other is that God hands them over to their lovers.

“Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Lord God says: ‘Behold I am going to incite your lovers against you, from whom you turned away in disgust, and I will bring them against you from every side: the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them; handsome young men, governors and officials all of them, officers and men of renown, all of them riding on horses. And they will come against you with weapons, chariots, and wagons, and with a contingent of peoples. They will attack you on every side with shield, buckler, and helmet; and I will commit the judgment to them, and they will judge you according to their customs. (v.22-24)

And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the prostitute and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire. For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled. The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.” (Revelation 17: 16-18)

The prophetic books of the OT mention of the fall of Babylon. God finally punishes her after the seven bowls of His wrath (Revelation 17:1) It is greatly alarming that many churches try to gain political power and build an earthly kingdom for themselves. God has set civil governments separate from churches. However, Christians want to become rulers of the world. It is only natural that ignorant people without knowledge do evil things just as they remain evil. Saints must exercise their rights as citizens and vote for the government that can help the poor and maintain civil orders. This does not mean that churches should have control over their governments. Churches are NOT built for that purpose. Churches go corrupt when they start focusing on people and the world. The Roman catholic had much political power and tried to maintain that power for many centuries. The Protestant churches came against the Roman Catholic church, but they are not different from her now. If my interpretation is right, they are worse than the Roman Catholic church as we read Ezekiel 16 and 23. Sadly, all of false Christians will go as they are destined. Since they are after worldly power, they will go down as the world goes down.

If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints. (Revelation 13:10)

And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth. (Revelation 11:18)

“Son of man, the house of Israel has become waste metal to Me; all of them are bronze, tin, iron, and lead in the smelting furnace; they are the waste metal of silver. Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: ‘Because all of you have become waste metal, therefore, behold, I am going to gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. As they gather silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin into the smelting furnace to blow fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you in My anger and in My wrath, and I will place you there and melt you. And I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you will be melted in the midst of it. As silver is melted in the furnace, so you will be melted in the midst of it; and you will know that I, the Lord, have poured out My wrath on you.’” (v.18-22)

The words of the LORD are pure words; Like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, filtered seven times. (Psalm 12:6)

God’s wrath is poured onto both the righteous and the wicked. The righteous are purified like silver is purified because all the dungs (fame, wealth, worldly knowledge, etc.) we are proud of will be burned but the knowledge of God will remain pure as Christ is pure. For the wicked, there will be nothing remaining because they are not united with Christ through the Holy Spirit. Saints are saved by God’s grace. God’s wrath is, first and foremost, against false Christians who say that they believe in God and yet, seek after idols and abominable practices.

There is a conspiracy of her prophets in her midst like a roaring lion tearing the prey. They have devoured lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in the midst of her. Her priests have done violence to My Law and have profaned My holy things; they have made no distinction between the holy and the common, and they have not taught the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they have closed their eyes from My Sabbaths, and I am defiled among them. Her leaders within her are like wolves tearing the prey, by shedding blood and destroying lives in order to make dishonest profit. And her prophets have coated with whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘This is what the Lord God says,’ when the Lord has not spoken. The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery, and they have oppressed the poor and needy, and have oppressed the stranger without justice. I searched for a man among them who would build up a wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one. (v.35-30)

This prophesy reminds me of Sodom and Gomorrah. God made His plan of destroying Sodom and Gomorrah known to Abraham. Abraham was worried that God would destroy both the righteous and the wicked together. Abraham’s cousin Lot was living there.

Far be it from You to do such a thing, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly? (Genesis 18:25)

Then he said, “Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak only this once: suppose ten are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the ten.” (Genesis 18:32)

The Book of Revelation also mentions of Sodom where the death of the two witnesses are mentioned.

And their dead bodies will lie on the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. (Revelation 11:8)

In Sodom and Gomorrah, the situations were not what Abraham hoped for. Indeed, God would not have destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah if there were ten righteous people living there. But the reality is that the evil people do not let the righteous live among them.

But they said, “Get out of the way!” They also said, “This one came in as a foreigner, and already he is acting like a judge; now we will treat you worse than them!” So they pressed hard against Lot and moved forward to break the door. (Genesis 19:9)

The only way to survive in Sodom and Gomorrah (and Egypt) is to become like the wicked. Therefore, false Christians often become worse sinners than the unbelievers because they try to save their lives by becoming like them.

Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever strives to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will keep it. (Luke 17:32)

“Now when the unclean spirit comes out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they come in and live there; and the last condition of that person becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.” (Matthew 12:43-45)

On the outside, these false Christians may appear to live a pious life and dedicate themselves to church activities and helping the poor. But they deny their Master who bought them (2 Pet 2:1). They deny Sola Gratia. They deny what the Bible truly teaches. Many Christians feel afraid of leaving their church because they think their comfortable life will end. They do not know that the adulterous church does not have God’s authority of saving people. The comfort they feel is not true comfort. Depart from the adulterous church and escape for your life. Yet, God knows that you will hesitate. God saves His chosen people by grace.

Then the two men said to Lot, “Whom else do you have here? A son-in-law and your sons and daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place; for we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the LORD that the LORD has sent us to destroy it.” So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, and said, “Up, get out of this place, for the LORD is destroying the city.” But he appeared to his sons-in-law to be joking. When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.”  But he hesitated. So the men grasped his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, because the compassion of the LORD was upon him; and they brought him out and put him outside the city. When they had brought them outside, one said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stay anywhere in the surrounding area; escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away.” (Genesis 19:12-17)

Abraham was a shadow of Christ. And Lot was saved not because of his own righteousness but because of Abraham. We are saved because of Christ. We must not forget our Lord who has saved us by grace. Denying Sola Gratia is denying our Lord.

So it came about, when God destroyed the cities of the surrounding area, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the destruction, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived. (Genesis 19:29)

Keep praying and reading the Bible so that you would not resist God when He tells you to leave your church.

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, held for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example of what is coming for the ungodly; and if He rescued righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the perverted conduct of unscrupulous people (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds), then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from a trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt passion, and despise authority. Reckless, self-centered, they speak abusively of angelic majesties without trembling, whereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a demeaning judgment against them before the Lord. But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, using abusive speech where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed, suffering wrong as the wages of doing wrong. They count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions as they feast with you, having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having hearts trained in greed, accursed children; abandoning the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the reward of unrighteousness; but he received a rebuke for his own offense, for a mute donkey, speaking with a human voice, restrained the insanity of the prophet. (2 Peter 2:4-16)

I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive any of her plagues; (Revelation 18:4)

and say to the land of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord says: “Behold, I am against you; and I will draw My sword from its sheath and cut off from you the righteous and the wicked. Because I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked, therefore My sword will go out from its sheath against humanity from south to north. So humanity will know that I, the Lord, have drawn My sword from its sheath. It will not return to its sheath again.”’ (v.3-5)

Now as for you, son of man, make two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come; both of them will go out of one land. And make a signpost; make it at the head of the way to the city.(v.19)

And it will be that the nation or the kingdom which will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the sword, with famine, and with plague,’ declares the LORD, ‘until I have eliminated it by his hand. (Jeremiah 27:8)

The Israelites trusted the kings of other nations such as Egypt and Babylon instead of their own king, God. They went after other nations and their idols. Their abominable acts are described in Ezekiel 16 and 23. Because of the prostitution of the Israelites, God handed the Northern Israel to Assyria and the kingdom Judah to Babylon. Assyria and Babylon were given the power so that the Israelites would learn the pain of slavery in foreign lands. Although they were in exile in Babylon, God was still with them (Ezekiel 11:16).

People who focus on morality when reading the Bible do not understand why God hands His people over to those who are lawless. Throughout history, God handed Christians over to non-Christians or false Christians. And we understand the reason when we read the Bible. We call ourselves Christians and yet, go after idols in our hearts. We are handed over to those that we have been after. And then we realize how stupid we have been.

People who connects Christianity and earthly prosperity/happiness fail to see the necessity of sufferings given by God. Even reborn Christians sometimes fall into temptation especially when they have earthly prosperity leading to pride. Pride always leads to idolatry and immoralities because it promotes serving and praising oneself. Only when God wakes us up from our delusions, we realize how merciful and faithful God is.

The Book of Habakkuk tells us why God handed the Israelites to Babylonians. At first, Habakkuk does not understand why God gives power to the lawless Chaldeans. God answers to him in chapter 2. And God says:

Behold, as for the impudent one,
His soul is not right within him;
But the righteous one will live by his faith. (v.2)

God teaches us that we live by faith in God. And that faith is from God. Who can teach or give counsel to God?

Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, or as His counselor has informed Him? With whom did He consult and who gave Him understanding? And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge, and informed Him of the way of understanding? (Isaiah 40:13-14)

Many Christians say to God what He should do or shouldn’t do in their prayers. They are merely speaking to their idols. It would be better to keep silent and read the Bible instead of speaking meaningless words that bring God’s wrath.

“What benefit is a carved image when its maker has carved it,
Or a cast metal image, a teacher of falsehood?
For its maker trusts in his own handiwork
When he fashions speechless idols.
Woe to him who says to a piece of wood, ‘Awake!’
To a mute stone, ‘Arise!’
That is your teacher?
Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
Yet there is no breath at all inside it.
But the Lord is in His holy temple.
Let all the earth be silent before Him.” (Habakkuk 2:18-20)

Also I gave them My Sabbaths to be a sign between Me and them, so that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. (v. 12)

Christ, the Lord of Sabbath, saved us from the life of slavery by shedding His blood on the cross. And the Passover symbolizes the saving work of Christ according to the Father’s will. God who justifies also sanctifies people. And yet, many people in the Protestant churches deny this truth. There are people, including ministers and theologians, who think they can sanctify themselves by works. I believe the Puritanism has done much harm to the Protestant churches. Because people deny God, He announces judgements on them. These people, who think they can sanctify themselves by works, are considered as evildoers because they do not have the true knowledge of God given by the Holy Spirit.

But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not walk in My statutes and they rejected My ordinances, which, if a person follows them, then he will live by them; and they greatly profaned My Sabbaths. Then I resolved to pour out My wrath on them in the wilderness, to annihilate them.(v.13)

Therefore, God will send fire on the world.

and say to the forest of the Negev, ‘Hear the word of the Lord: this is what the Lord God says: “Behold, I am going to kindle a fire in you, and it will consume every green tree in you, as well as every dry tree; the blazing flame will not go out and the entire surface from south to north will be scorched by it. And all mankind will see that I, the Lord, have kindled it; it will not go out.”’” Then I said, “Oh, Lord God! They are saying of me, ‘Is he not just speaking in riddles?’” (v. 47-49)

The first sounded, and there was hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up. (Revelation 8:7)

Revelation 8 talks about the seventh seal and the first, the second, the third, and the fourth trumpet. Sealing of the saints happens between the sixth and the seventh seal. The first trumpet talks about burning of the third of the earth. In a similar pattern, sealing of God’s people who lament over idolatrous acts done in the temple happens in Ezekiel 9:4. Ezekiel 20 talks about the burning of trees witnessed by all mankind. God describes Himself as a consuming fire. But God does not burn everything as we read Exodus 3:2.

For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. (Deuteronomy 4:24; see also Hebrews 12:29)

Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not being consumed. (Exodus 3:2)

A tree can be interpreted as a man, a church, or a nation in the Bible. There are trees that do not burn. Those trees who are united with Christ (Word) cannot be consumed by fire.

each one’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each one’s work. (1 Cor 3:13)

The words of the LORD are pure words; Like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, filtered seven times. (Psalm 12:6)

If anyone puts faith in their own works and speaks against God’s words, their works will be consumed by fire at the end. When men built the tower of Babel, they put much work into it. But God made it impossible for them to carry out their plans.

They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” (Genesis 11:3-7)

It may appear to some that God judges like men do. There is a big difference between human judges and God. That is God sees the heart of every person. The Bible says that the heart produces evil (Matthew 15:19). The works reveal what is truly in one’s heart. Only God is the true and righteous judge because He judges people by their heart. People judge only by what they see and by their traditions and laws. Church leaders act like they have divine authority to judge other Christians. But they must rely on God and must not focus on people. Anyone who does not receive the Holy Spirit will be rejected by God and be consumed by fire because God judges by one’s works that come from the heart.

While I was in a Reformed church, I came to know that the church leaders judge people by their own interpretations of the Bible. The leaders say they follow their church orders and the Confessions. But they fail to see what the real problem was. The problem was that they were merciful to people who love evil deeds and were harsh to those who want to live according to God’s words. They did not realize that they needed to repent. In a dream, even before their deeds were revealed to me, all seven elders laughed at me. One of them was on a wheelchair, which means he was spiritually disabled. They laughed at me because I tried to expel excrement. I mentioned before that I was the church in my dream. On the outside, my wounds were bad but not life-threatening. But then I realized that the wounds were bigger and deeper than I initially thought.

Christ often referred Himself as bread. He is Truth and Word of God. When Truth comes and lives with a person, the person naturally expel excrement just as we eat food and then expel stools and urine later. People know that they will die if they stop eating. But they don’t realize that they die when they stop expelling stools and urine. When we come to know God by the Holy Spirit through the words of God, we naturally repent of our sins and turn away from evil. What churches around the world do not realize is that they need repentance. They boast that they know God and yet, rely on men and seek after fame and popularity. Therefore, they cannot repent. Even if they try to repent, their prayers are not accepted because their repentance is not from God, and most importantly because they do not accept the fact that repentance is initiated and completed by God alone. If anyone claims that people can repent and earn God’s grace by their own initiatives, he/she is an idolater. When the Holy Spirit comes, one realizes his/her own foolishness and idolatrous acts. There are people who will never receive the Holy Spirit. God lets them do what they want to do – living a falsely pious life, relying on their works, and rejecting the Spirit. Yet, the entire house of true Israel, the invisible church, will be saved because Christ has bought them with a price of His own blood according to the Father’s will. And the church lives by faith in God.

“As for you, house of Israel,” this is what the Lord God says: “Go, serve, everyone of you his idols; but later you will certainly listen to Me, and My holy name you will no longer defile with your gifts and your idols. For on My holy mountain, on the high mountain of Israel,” declares the Lord God, “there the entire house of Israel, all of them, will serve Me in the land; there I will accept them and there I will demand your contributions and the choicest of your gifts, with all your holy things. As a soothing aroma I will accept you when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands where you are scattered; and I will show Myself to be holy among you in the sight of the nations. And you will know that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the land which I swore to give to your forefathers. And there you will remember your ways and all your deeds by which you have defiled yourselves; and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for all the evil things that you have done. Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I have dealt with you in behalf of My name, not according to your evil ways or according to your corrupt deeds, house of Israel,” declares the Lord God.’” (v. 39-44)

for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:20)

But false prophets also appeared among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. (2 Peter 2:1)