The 19th chapter of the book of Ezekiel, we find our message there today. It is entitled Lion Hunting, which is an unusual subject perhaps for a Sunday morning sermon, but that's exactly what's going on in the 19th chapter of the book of Ezekiel. They're having a lion hunt, and so we better take a good look at it. Would you bow your head for a silent word of prayer before we open the scriptures together this morning? Father, open up your word to us in historical and yet in a practical way this morning. speak to us and teach us things for ourselves and for our country. We pray these things in Christ's precious name, amen. This, of course, is the 1976 bicentennial year. We're looking forward to the fact that July 4th comes on Sunday this year. What a great opportunity that'll be to remember all of the things that God has done for us and some of the things that God tells us is our responsibility as Christians toward the country in which we live. We're planning to have a picnic on that Sunday afternoon at one of the local parks, we're not sure which one, and then have a service in the park and invite all the people in the park to come and have church with us that night. Don't you think that would be kind of nice? To have an outdoor church service in the park on July 4th. So we're praying about that and looking forward to that. You know, when I was a boy, I went to the old-fashioned kind of zoo before they got these new-fangled zoos that they have today, and that was Flyshacker Zoo in San Francisco, which was just one great big road that was in a circle, and as you went around this circle, you saw all the animals in the cages on either side, and you could get right up next to the cages. In fact, it was just a barrier about this wide, and even once in a while Somebody got a little too close and the lion grabbed their arm, or a monkey bit them on the finger, or something of that kind happened. One time my mother, a goat, ate the back of her dress, the hem of her dress, while we were standing close to one of the cages. And all sorts of interesting things happened. But then they built the new zoo. And in the new zoo, I wasn't quite so impressed, because they had the animals in these lovely, beautiful places, but they were all way across the moat, way off in the back. behind some kind of a thing and I never really got to see the animals like we used to in the old zoo where there was just one cage with a lion and a tiger and an elephant. You saw them all. But one of the animals that always caught my fancy and attention as a young boy were the lions. There was something about a lion that just appeals to a young boy. It put terror and joy into my heart at the same time. There's one thing that I would always notice about a lion, and I can remember many times as a young boy. It used to irritate me that the lion was so unimpressed with me. As I said, the cages were very close by and I remember we could go up and those lions would be lying there in that cage and they'd be looking with their eyes right off into space and try as I would. I could never get them to even acknowledge that I existed. I remember I would, with the friends we had, we'd go up to that lion cage and we'd make all kinds of noises. But the lion is the king of the beast and he has no time to even admit that we were even there. With the chimpanzees it was different, of course, and the monkeys. They were just so happy to see us and glad to respond in any way to get a peanut, but the lion could care less. He just majestically sat there like the king of the beast and looked off into the distance and never even noticed. I used to wonder, I wonder what would happen if I could get into the cage. Perhaps it would have been a change in attitude. at that moment. The land of Palestine used to be filled with lions. We know this because as we study through the word of God, we find several occasions where lions jumped out unexpectedly and where some of the people whose stories are recorded in the Bible met them and conquered them. Yes, there are several lion hunt stories in the Bible. David met a lion in the land of Palestine while he was out taking care of his father's sheep, and David, with the help of God, killed the lion. David didn't take credit for it. Remember when he told Saul about it, he said, The Lord helped me to kill the lion. Samson was on his way to see his girlfriend, and a lion jumped out in the path in front of Samson. And Samson got that lion and took care of him. dealt with him in such a way that that lion was no more. In fact, the carcass later on became a honeycomb in which some honey came, and Samson went up and brought it home to his parents, doing something that he shouldn't have, breaking his Nazarite vow, his vow never to go close to a dead body. But anyway, that's another story. But those are two lion hunts that you find in the word of God where the lion was unsuccessful and the hunter got the best of the deal and came home the victor. Now we find in the book of Ezekiel here today that Ezekiel begins a lamentation in verse 1, a lamentation for the princes of Israel. The king who is on the throne at the present time is Zedekiah, and Ezekiel is giving to us a lamentation that came to his heart from God, and I think he's speaking to Zedekiah and he's saying, Zedekiah, we need help. Zedekiah, we're over here in Babylon. We're captive. We need someone to do something right so that God will give us back our country and give us back our land. Zedekiah, we don't like it over here. Would you please think about it? He said there were two lions, Zedekiah, that didn't walk with God, and look what happened to them. They were captured by the hunters. We have here in these first ten verses a story of two successful lion hunts, and each time the hunter came home with the lion. What is the lion in the Word of God? Well, the lion in the word of God is used to symbolize nations of greatness and power. The lion is used in the book of Daniel as a symbol for the great empire of Babylon. And as we look way back into the Old Testament, we find that the lion was also used as a symbol of the nation of Israel and of the tribe of Judah. Turn, if you will, back to Genesis chapter 49 and verse 9. What is it seen before us here in Genesis 49? In Genesis 49, Jacob is dying. And as he dies, he is called his family to gather before him. And as the family gathers before him, he prophetically pronounces a blessing upon them and prophesies concerning their future, not only as individuals, but their future as a tribe. And in the ninth verse, he arrives at Judah. And he says this to Judah, Judah is a lion's whelp. from the prey. My son, thou art gone up. He stooped down, he crouched as a lion, as an old lion. Who shall rouse him? And then he makes a singular promise to Judah. He says, Judah, the scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come unto him shall be the gathering of the people be. And so he says, Judah, he said, you're going to be a lion. And he said, Judah, out of you is going to come the king and the dynasty that will remain in effect until Messiah comes or Shiloh comes. And so this is a tremendous prophecy that was given to Judah here. He said, Judah, the Messiah is going to come through you. And Judah, the lion of Judah, That great dynasty of kings will come through you as a tribe. We go on a few hundred years later, and we follow the line of the nation of Israel, and we find that they are now a nation back in the land of Palestine, and they are enjoying the blessing of God. They've gone through a period of ups and downs. When they've been up, they have followed the leading of God through great men, great judges that have been raised up, that have led them in righteousness. And then they have periodically turned their back on God, and they've gone down into the depths of idolatry, and God has allowed them to be sold into slavery to other nations. And one by one, God has raised up great men, men like Gideon, Barak, women like Deborah, men like Othniel, Ehud, And some of these great judges, Jephthah of the Old Testament times. And now we have arrived at a time when one of the greatest of all of the judges and the last is living, a great man, a godly man, a man by the name of Samuel. But the people are not satisfied. They don't feel that they are flourishing as a country should. Their country is enjoying peace. Their country is enjoying the blessing of God. They're having a great time in the land. They're having all of the blessings that you want in the land without any of the taxes even. It's a great system. God is judging the land and ruling the land through his emissary, Samuel. But the people aren't satisfied, and they say, we want a king to rule over us. We want to be like all the other nations around us. They said, we're embarrassed. Why, when we go to war and have problems with other nations? Why, they all have a king to lead them, and we don't have any king. We want a king. And Samuel said, you don't need a king. He said, if you do get a king, why, he said, he'll take your young men and he'll put them into the armed forces. He said, if you get a king, he'll take your young women and he'll make them servants in his palace. And he said, if you do get a king, he'll charge you taxes. You're going to be in for some problems. You're going to have trouble. Government costs money. They said, well, that's all right. We want a king. And so they got a king. King Saul was his name. But wait a minute. He's not of the tribe of Judah. He's a Benjamite. And God had said that when the king comes, and when the Messiah comes, and God had said the dynasty and the scepter will belong to Judah. But you know the story. Saul didn't walk with God. He didn't follow after God. And Saul died in battle. And his sons died in battle. And the rain, and the household, and the fall of the house of Saul came to a quick and abrupt end, didn't it? And God then began a new dynasty, and the new dynasty began with a man by the name of David. And David was a member of the tribe of Judah. He was of the family of Jesse, but he was a member of the tribe of Judah. And now we go to 2 Samuel chapter 7. And we find that David, this great man of God, this marvelous, this tremendous king of the Old Testament, was a man that God loved in a special way. The Bible tells us that David was a man after God's heart. And when David came to the end of his life, this is what God said. Chapter 7 of 2 Samuel, verse 12. When by day he shall be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thine own body, and I will establish his kingdom." He was talking here of Solomon, who was to come. And Solomon shall build a house for my name. And Solomon did build a house, that great temple that was built under the name of the Lord. And then he said, David, I want you to know that I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. Now forever is a long time, isn't it? You know, there aren't too many things you can find in this world that are forever. You buy a new car and the warranty's for 12,000 miles. You get a new refrigerator down at Sears Roebuck and the warranty's for one year. But you know, when God gives a warranty, it's forever. That's a pretty good warranty that he gives him here, isn't it? David, this dynasty that has begun with you is a dynasty that is going to continue forever. I like that word. You know, God has given to us a few forevers, too, hasn't he? One of the great forevers of the New Testament is this, that whosoever believeth on Jesus Christ has everlasting, forever life. Isn't that great? And this same God that has promised to us forever and eternal life, this same God has said to David, David, the dynasty of your family will remain in existence forever. He goes on and enlarges upon that. He said, I will be his father and he will be my son. Now, if he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the stripes of the children of men. But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. Notice what he says, David, thy house and thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee. Thy throne shall be established forever. About a thousand years have gone by, more or less, maybe not quite that many, let's say 500 years now have gone by. A thousand years have gone by since Jacob spoke to his son Judah. Then David came along about 500 years later, and now 500 years more have gone by, and Zedekiah is on the throne. Ezekiel talks to us now about two of the kings that preceded Zedekiah. They were of the tribe of Judah. They were of the family of David. The dynasty was being maintained. but they were unfaithful kings. You know the great mistake that Israel made, and the great mistake that many nations make, is that they thought continually that their salvation and their hope could be found in a man. America today, we hear in our magazines and we listen as we hear in this political year, and one of the great cries is this, that America needs a leader. And there are many men and women today who are looking for the person, the right person to come along who can lead America out of its troubles and out of its problems. The Bible tells us that this is the inclination of man. Man continually seeks to believe that he's going to find his salvation within himself. And so much does man believe this that the book of Revelation reveals to us that in the last days, in the tribulation time, there's going to come a great political leader on the scene who will rule over the Western world and the people of the world are going to have such confidence and belief in this man that they're going to be willing to even sell their very lives and souls to follow him. The Bible says that so complete will be his rule and his reign that he will compel everyone under his realm to have his mark in their hand or on their forehead in order to buy or sell or to carry on business. And the Bible indicates to us that the world will willingly go after this man because they will believe that here is a man who can give to them what he has promised and his message will be, I have come to bring you peace. I have come to solve the problems. I am the man who can set the world right. We have a lot of problems today, just as Israel had a lot of problems in their day. But Israel continually made the mistake of feeling that the solution to their problems could be found in a man. And the solution to the problems of the world will never be met by men. The solution to the problems of the world can only be found in God. God can use men. to lead nations. But nations have to be willing to look to God rather than men. That's the direction in which to look. But the Israelites were looking to men. And so Josiah died. And after Josiah died, his son, Jehoahaz, was put upon the throne. And the people thought, here is the man to lead us, Jehoahaz. This is a man that has everything that we need. He must have been a very striking-looking man. He probably was a man who had a good ability to speak and perhaps move in the minds of people. And you know, Jeremiah tells us, and the Book of Kings and 2 Chronicles tell us, that Jehoahaz was put on the throne following the death of Josiah, and he only ruled for three months, and then he was carted off to Egypt by Pharaoh Necho. Jeremiah tells us that all of the time that he was there in the land of Egypt that the people of Israel back home were moaning and bewailing his departure and were saying in their minds, oh, maybe perhaps he'll come back again if we could just get Jehoahaz back. our problems would be solved. But the Bible tells us that Jehovah Haz was a man who obeyed not God, a man who followed not in the things of God. He was a man who was rebellious in his heart. in the things of God. Notice his description here in the first verses. It says, What is thy mother a lioness? The lioness represents Israel. She lay down among the lions. She nourished her whelps among the young lions. She brought up one of her whelps. He became a young lion, and he learned to catch the prey, but he devoured men. Jehoahaz was a self-seeking leader. He was not leading for God. He was leading for Jehoahaz. The only kind of a leader that a nation can be blessed by is a leader who leads the nation for God. And only a man who knows Jesus Christ as his Savior has any possibility of leading a nation, I believe, unselfishly. Notice what it says here. The nations also heard of him, and he was taken in their pit, and they brought him with chains unto the land of Egypt. And so way down in the land of Egypt, the word came back, the Israelites have a new king. His name is Jehoahaz. He looks like he's going to be a promising person, but he's not a man who obeyed God. And so God didn't give him the strength and God didn't give him the help. And Pharaoh came up and said, well, we'll just take that lion home and put him in our zoo. And so up came the Egyptians. And they captured this lion by the name of Jehoahaz, and they took him back in chains to Egypt, and he spent the rest of his life down there in Pharaoh's zoo until he died. He didn't die immediately, but he remained alive in Egypt for a number of years, and the Israelites were constantly bemoaning His departure. Jehoiakim was put on the throne in his stead, and he ruled for eleven years. But at the end of the eleven years, Jehoiakim died, and his son Jehoiakim came on the throne. And Jehoiakim was a man of great wickedness and great rebellion against God. And he is represented by the next line here. Verse 5, it says, When the nation saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost, then she took another of her whelps. And she made him into a young lion. And so the people, instead of turning from their idolatry, instead of turning from their sin, instead of turning to God, they turned again to a man. They said, Jehoiachin didn't, Kim didn't do it, but his son Jehoiachin, he's the man. He's the one who will give us back our freedom. Oh, what a wonderful story it would have been if Israel had turned from her sin and her wickedness and her idolatry and had turned in repentance to God. God would have brought this nation out just like that. And this is what Ezekiel is seeking to get across to Zedekiah. Zedekiah, God is going to deal with you as he dealt with these other two lions if you don't change. By the way, it's interesting to note. It's interesting to note. But not once in the book does Ezekiel ever even recognize Zedekiah with the title of king. You might take note of that. Okay. Now, notice what happened. This young lion came up, Jehoiakim. The book of Kings and Chronicles tells us that he was a young man who gave no regard for God. He was a young man who again turned his back on God, led the nation in idolatry. And so God says, all right. He knew their desolate palaces. In verse 7, He made waste their cities, and the land was desolate in its fullness by the noise of His roaring. Then the nations, when they heard about Jehoiachin, again Babylon this time, they came down on every side from the provinces, and they spread their net over him, and he was taken in their pit. How long did Jehoiachin last? Three months. Nebuchadnezzar and the people from Babylon came down and they took this young king and they carried him off to Babylon and for over 30 years he remained a captive in the land of Babylon. He was finally freed of his captivity and of his imprisonment by the Persians after they had overtaken the Babylonians later on. But he never returned back to the land to take up the throne. Notice what it says. It says they put him in a cage in chains. And they brought him to the king of Babylon. They brought him into the strongholds, that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel. You know, that's more literal, perhaps, than we might think. We might say, well, that's kind of an allegory, isn't it? It means they didn't actually put Jehoiachin in a cage, did they? Yes, this is exactly what they sometimes did. I can't prove that it's literal here, but you know, it's interesting that as you read in history, one of the records of one of the Assyrian leaders, he wrote in the history, he said, I came, we went down to Arabia, and he told of capturing one of the kings of Arabia, and he said, we put a hook in his nose, and we tied a chain to that hook, And he said, we put him in a cage and he carted him back to Assyria and he tied him up by the hook in his nose along with the dogs and the jackals to help guard the gate of the city. This is the way they treated prisoners of war in those days. And so it's very possible that Jehoiachin literally had a hook put in his nose and literally was taken back to Babylon in a cage to there become a battle trophy of King Nebuchadnezzar. Well, why did God do this? Why did God do this? You know, in chapter 20, verse 1, we read that it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that some of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord, and they sat before me. And so some of the elders of Israel came down to Ezekiel, and they had heard about what he had been saying, they had heard about these two lion captures, and of course they knew the history that had already taken place. And they came to see Ezekiel on this occasion, and their chief purpose for coming to see Ezekiel was this. Ezekiel, we want to ask you why God is doing this. And so Ezekiel said, as soon as they came and asked me why, he said, God immediately gave me an answer. And he said, here's the answer. The word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, speak unto the elders of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord. Are you come to inquire of me? As I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be inquired of you. Let me ask you this question. Have you ever asked God why? Have you? I don't think we need to, do you? You know, that's what these folks were doing. They came and they said, God, why? God says, I don't have to tell you why. God is sovereign. God is just. God is holy. God is love. And whatever God does, We know he does it because he loves. We know he does it because he's just. And God is not required to give us a reason. And also, many times we know the answer before we ask. And such was the case with these folks here. And that's why God says, I'll not be inquired of you. He said, you know the answer if you just stop and think. If you just stop a minute and look at what's going on, how could you be so presumptuous as to come to me and say, why? He said, Wilt thou judge them, son of man? Wilt thou judge them? Cause them to know the abominations of their father, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God. And then he goes on, he says, I'll tell you why the lions were captured. And I want you to realize now, that with the capture of Jehoiachin and then with the final capture of Zedekiah, that was the last king of the line of David that ruled on the throne of Israel until today. And there still isn't one of David on the throne today. And so for almost 2,500 years, the dynasty that God promised to David has gone unclaimed and Unused and we're going to come back to that before we close it this morning because it's actually been intact all these this time And we're going to see that When we come to the end of our sermon this morning But he reviews quickly he said I'll tell you why I've done this because he said the Lion of Israel has been a rebellious lion all its life and God says, tell them to remember when they were down in Egypt. How did they get down in Egypt in the first place? Why, they went down into Egypt because they didn't believe that God could take care of them in the land of Canaan, as he said he would. And Jacob, because he was afraid of starving, didn't have the faith to believe that God could preserve him in the land, and so down to Egypt they went. You say, well, wait a minute. Didn't God make provision by having Joseph there? Oh, certainly. We have, I believe, the permissive will of God there. God allowed them to go. But listen, dear friends, when they went down to Egypt, they did more than just not have faith that God could take care of them in the land. Verse 7 of this chapter reveals that when they went down to Egypt, that they went into the idolatry of Egypt full force and full scale. Notice what it says in verse 7. Then said I unto them when they were down there in the land of Egypt, verse 6, Cast away, every man, the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourself with the idols of Egypt. I am Jehovah your God. Sometimes people ask, Pastor, why did God let the children of Israel suffer in slavery for so many years down in the land of Egypt? Because for hundreds of years in the land of Egypt, the children of Israel were rebelling against God and participating in the wickedness and idolatry of that nation. And God has never promised to bless a nation that will turn its back on God. But God has promised to rebuke and to punish a nation that turns its back on God. Notice what it says in verse 8. They rebelled against me in Egypt. Where did they rebel? They rebelled against God down in Egypt. And they didn't listen to me. And not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I said, all right, I'll just let them die here. God said, I'll pour out my fury on them, and this will be the end of Israel here in the land of Egypt." But God said no. He said, I wrought for my name's sake, in verse 9, that it should not be polluted before the nations, among whom they were, in whose sight I made myself known unto them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt. Folks, there's one little phrase in this chapter of 20 that you ought to underline in your Bible. I'm not going to take the time to point them all out to you here. But in this chapter, we find several times a little phrase, for God's name's sake. You know, there's one thing that God is very sensitive about, and that is God is sensitive about His name. And God said, for the glory of my name, for the testimony of my name, I'm going to bring them back so that the nations will know that I am God. You know, that's one of the things that marks a child of God. who's walking in fellowship with God. Listen, when you are truly born again and when you are walking in fellowship with God, you are sensitive about the name of Jesus Christ and the name of God. Did you know that? A carnal Christian is insensitive about the name of God. God is sensitive about his name. When God gave the commandments to the children of Israel, he said, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. The man who doesn't know God very blasphemously and very flippantly and very lightly will grind the name of God and of Jesus Christ under his feet. He will turn the name of God and of his son Jesus Christ into a byword which he will use as an everyday expression. But when a man has been truly born again, and when he is walking in yieldedness and dedication to the God of heaven, the name of God and the name of Jesus Christ is going to be precious to that person. God is very concerned about his name. This is why he was very concerned that his people would revere and honor his name. Yea, though I walk in the paths lowereth my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in paths. He leadeth me beside the still waters, he restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness, what? For his name's sake. For his name's sake. And oh, dear Christian, God wants you to live a righteous life. God wants you to live in victory over the world today. God wants you to live forth His righteousness in order that His name might be glorified and lifted up in the earth through your testimony. In the name of Jesus Christ, in the name of God, it ought to be very important and precious to you. God says, I took them into the land of Egypt, but God says, even though they didn't deserve it, God says, I brought in a man to lead them forth. I gave them a leader. God called Moses there in the land of Midian, and God revealed himself to Moses in a way that Moses couldn't help but be shaken by for Moses was out there in the desert and suddenly of God spoke to him out of the burning bush and God said Moses here I am the eternal God take off your shoes for even the ground that you're walking on is holy ground and he said Moses do you believe and Moses believed and then Moses said who shall I tell him sent me and you say he said Moses tell him that God the I am sent you the eternal one And Moses went back to the nation of Israel, and because of the fact that Moses had seen God and bore testimony to the name of God, the hearts and minds of the people were stirred, and a revival broke out in Israel in the land of Egypt. Say, Pastor Graves, I never read about that revival in the book of Exodus. You didn't? Well, here in the book of Ezekiel, you read about the rebellion and the idolatry, didn't you? In the book of Exodus you will find that on the night when God went through the land of Egypt, for the death angel was God himself, when God went through the land of Egypt on that night and took the firstborn of every home in the land of Egypt, the only homes that were spared were those homes that had applied the blood. Dear friends, the only people that applied the blood were those who had repented of their sin and who had believed and who had changed from their idolatry to the worship of God, to the leadership of God's man Moses. There had been a revival in Egypt, and the blood had been applied to hundreds of homes, thousands of homes. Praise God for such a revival. God gave them revival through the leadership of a man who had been with God. And Moses brought them out. But God says, what happened in verse 10? He said, I caused them to go out and I brought them into the wilderness. And he said, then I met with them there at Mount Sinai. And he said, I gave a revelation of my glory and of my power and my might to the whole nation. He said, they saw the smoke, they heard the thunder, they heard the rumbling of my voice. They saw Moses go up into the mountain and they saw him come back. And he brought the tables of stone and he brought the law of God. God says in verse 11, I gave them a revelation of my statutes, my righteousness, my goodness. He said, I gave them a revelation. He said, I gave them a covenant sign, the Sabbath. The Sabbath was given right there. That's where it was inaugurated. That's where that's where it started. And it ended with the completion of the law. That's why we don't worship on the Sabbath today, because the Sabbath was a sign of the covenant that God made with Israel there at Mount Sinai. If we had time, we could develop that for you in Isaiah 56 and Nehemiah 9, verse 14, and other passages that tell us that the Sabbath was given as a sign between God and Israel that a covenant had been made. God said, I gave them a sign. But God says, what did they do? God says, I overcame the armies of Israel. I gave them manna. I gave them quail. I gave them water. I gave them everything that they needed. But God says in verse 13, but they rebelled against me in the wilderness. They rebelled against me. God says, I'll tell you why I've judged the lions of Israel, because they have rebelled against me. They haven't walked with me. They haven't followed me, but they have followed in their own way. And God says in verse 14, then I said, I'll pour out, verse 13, I'll pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness. I'll consume them right here. But God says, no, I wrought for my namesake. God says before my namesake as a testimony to my glory, that I might keep my promises to Judah. God says, I brought them through the wilderness. And in verse 22, God says, verse 28, God says, and I eventually brought them into the land of Canaan. And that's what he did. He brought them back to the land of Canaan. But even as he brought them into the land, the house of Israel was already rebelling. And so great was the conflict that even on the day that they arrived in the land that Joshua saw the people beginning to go out and to accept the idolatry of the land of Canaan. And Joshua called them together and he challenged them. He said, listen, He said, repent, turn from the world. He said, our salvation as a nation is in God. He said, I say this to you, that the example of our household is this, that as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. He said, the rest of you this day choose you whom you will serve. What were the choices? It was either to worship God or idolatry. And what did the nation do? Verse 28 tells us, no sooner were they back in the land, Then they began to go up to the hill and the thick trees and they offered their sacrifices. They weren't sacrifices for God. The sacrifices for God were not offered in the hills and the high places. These were offered to the gods of Canaan, these wicked pagan gods with all of their wicked practices. The sacrifices of God were offered in the tabernacle, not in the high places. What is the high place to which you go? God says, I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you. God says, you ask me why? God says, just look around you. Just look back. Just look at what's going on in Israel today. Dear friends, if there's one lesson that's practical out of this for us today as Americans, it's this. That we as Americans cannot expect that we can turn our back on God as a nation and upon the light that we've had and expect God to overlook it. We as Christians need to be concerned that there be a great spiritual revival that will turn America from its sin and from its wickedness. America is a nation that is fast turning its back on God in every way, both morally and theologically and every term that you can use. We find a backward trend taking place in our nation today. And that's why the lions were captured, and that's why for 2,500 years the people of Israel went without a country, without a place to call their own. But God says in verse 33, as I live, saith the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out will I rule over you. God says one of these days, he said in verse 34, I'm going to bring you out of the peoples. and will gather you out of the countries in which you were scattered with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm and with fury poured out. And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face." God says, one of these days, He said, Ezekiel, tell them that I'm going to gather them back out of the nations. I'm going to bring them back into the land. They're not going to come back in belief, for He tells us in the next verse. He said, I will, in verse 38, he said, I will, he said, when I bring you back, I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant, and I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me, and I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourned, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel, and ye shall know that I am the Lord. And you know, it's kind of thrilling to be alive today, because just following World War II, for the first time in almost 2,500 years, The children of Israel once again had a land that they could call their own. For the last twenty-five years they have been going about the business of possessing that land. They have not gone back in belief. Oh, there are Christians in the land of Israel today, but they are in a small minority. The vast majority of the Jewish people in Israel today still do not know and believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and their Messiah. But God said, I'm going to gather them back. And then God said, when I gather them back, he said, one of these days the king is going to come. And he said, when the king comes, he's going to judge the nation of Israel. And those that believe and receive him as their Messiah, he's going to take them with him into that kingdom. And those that have not believed and those that have rejected him will go out into outer darkness. This is what Ezekiel said here in verse 38. And this is what Jesus said in Matthew 25 as he spoke of that coming judgment of the Jews. And he typified it with the virgins, the wise and the foolish. And the ones that believed and were ready for the Messiah, when he came, they went with him into the kingdom. And those who were not ready, and those that didn't believe, when he came, the door unto them was shut, and they went out into judgment." You know, it's a great thing to realize that Jesus Christ is coming. He's coming for the church. as his bride, but he's coming also to Israel as their king. We sing the song, the king is coming. Jesus Christ is not coming to us as our king. He's coming to us as our bridegroom. And we as bride. And we're going to be caught up together to meet him in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. And then as his bride, and as one with him, as part of his body, with him as the head, we're going to come back together with him as king to rule and reign over the tribe of Israel. Why? Because you see Jesus, Jesus is the heir apparent to the throne of David. This message has been brought to you by the Santa Rosa Bible Church. Our mission is to see the lost reached and believers transformed by Jesus. You can find out more information about us at our website at srbible.org. Or you can visit us in person at 4575 Badger Road in Santa Rosa, California. You can also reach us by phone at 707-538-2385.