{"id":7565,"date":"2022-12-04T16:17:23","date_gmt":"2022-12-04T20:17:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/?p=7565"},"modified":"2022-12-04T16:17:23","modified_gmt":"2022-12-04T20:17:23","slug":"the-day-god-left-the-building","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/?p=7565","title":{"rendered":"THE DAY GOD LEFT THE BUILDING"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE DAY GOD LEFT THE BUILDING<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

Ezekiel\u00a0<\/strong><\/h1>\n

by Rev. Richard Jones<\/b><\/h2>\n

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The Call<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong>Ezekiel 2:1-5 (ESV) <\/b>
\n1 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0And he said to me, \u201cSon of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.\u201d
\n2 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0And as he spoke to me, the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.
\n3 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0And he said to me, \u201cSon of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to nations of rebels, who have rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day.
\n4 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0The descendants also are impudent and stubborn: I send you to them, and you shall say to them, \u2018Thus says the Lord GOD.\u2019
\n5 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0And whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house) they will know that a prophet has been among them.<\/span><\/h3>\n

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THE DAY GOD LEFT THE TEMPLE<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Captured by a Vision<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Ezekiel 8:1-4 (ESV) <\/b>
\n1 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, with the elders of Judah sitting before me, the hand of the Lord GOD fell upon me there.
\n2 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0Then I looked, and behold, a form that had the appearance of a man. Below what appeared to be his waist was fire, and above his waist was something like the appearance of brightness, like gleaming metal.
\n3 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0He put out the form of a hand and took me by a lock of my head, and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the gateway of the inner court that faces north, where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy.
\n4 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the valley. <\/span><\/h3>\n

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Idol in the Courtyard<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Ezekiel 8:5-6 (ESV) <\/b>
\n5 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0Then he said to me, \u201cSon of man, lift up your eyes now toward the north.\u201d So I lifted up my eyes toward the north, and behold, north of the altar gate, in the entrance, was this image of jealousy.
\n6 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0And he said to me, \u201cSon of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel are committing here, to drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see still greater abominations.\u201d<\/h3>\n

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Paintings on the Wall <\/strong><\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Ezekiel 8:7-13 (ESV)<\/strong>
\n7\u00a0 And he brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked, behold, there was a hole in the wall. 8\u00a0 Then he said to me, \u201cSon of man, dig in the wall.\u201d So I dug in the wall, and behold, there was an entrance. 9\u00a0 And he said to me, \u201cGo in, and see the vile abominations that they are committing here.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 10\u00a0 So I went in and saw. And there, engraved on the wall all around, was every form of creeping things and loathsome beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel. 11\u00a0 And before them stood seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them. Each had his censer in his hand, and the smoke of the cloud of incense went up. 12\u00a0 Then he said to me, \u201cSon of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in his room of pictures? For they say, \u2018The LORD does not see us, the LORD has forsaken the land.\u2019\u201d 13\u00a0 He said also to me, \u201cYou will see still greater abominations that they commit.\u201d<\/h3>\n

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Tears for a Fake<\/u><\/strong>
\nEzekiel 8:14-15 (ESV)<\/strong>
\n14\u00a0 Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the LORD, and behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.
\n15\u00a0 Then he said to me, \u201cHave you seen this, O son of man? You will see still greater abominations than these.\u201d<\/h3>\n

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Worshiping the Sun<\/u><\/strong>
\nEzekiel 8:16-17 (ESV)<\/strong>
\n16\u00a0 And he brought me into the inner court of the house of the LORD. And behold, at the entrance of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with their backs to the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east, worshiping the sun toward the east. 17\u00a0 Then he said to me, \u201cHave you seen this, O son of man? Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit the abominations that they commit here, that they should fill the land with violence and provoke me still further to anger? Behold, they put the branch to their nose.<\/h3>\n

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The Presence Begins to Move<\/u><\/strong>
\nEzekiel 10:18-19 (ESV)<\/strong>
\n18\u00a0 Then the glory of the LORD went out from the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim.
\n19\u00a0 And the cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth before my eyes as they went out, with the wheels beside them. And they stood at the entrance of the east gate of the house of the LORD, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them.<\/h3>\n

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The Presence Completely Leaves<\/u><\/strong>
\nEzekiel 11:22-25 (ESV)<\/strong>
\n22\u00a0 Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them. 23\u00a0 And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain that is on the east side of the city. 24\u00a0 And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me in the vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to the exiles. Then the vision that I had seen went up from me. 25\u00a0 And I told the exiles all the things that the LORD had shown me.<\/h3>\n

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THE DAY GOD VISITED THE TEMPLE<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Malachi 3:1 (ESV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0 \u201cBehold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.<\/p>\n

John 2:13-17 (ESV)<\/strong>
\n13\u00a0 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14\u00a0 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15\u00a0 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16\u00a0 And he told those who sold the pigeons, \u201cTake these things away; do not make my Father\u2019s house a house of trade.\u201d 17\u00a0 His disciples remembered that it was written, \u201cZeal for your house will consume me.\u201d<\/p>\n

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THE DAY GOD CHANGED TEMPLES<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

John 14:15-17 (ESV)<\/strong>
\n15\u00a0 \u201cIf you love me, you will keep my commandments.
\n16\u00a0 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,
\n17\u00a0 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.<\/p>\n

Acts 2:1-4 (ESV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2\u00a0 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3\u00a0 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4\u00a0 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.<\/p>\n

1 Corinthians 3:16-17 (ESV)<\/strong>
\n16\u00a0 Do you not know that you are God\u2019s temple and that God\u2019s Spirit dwells in you?
\n17\u00a0 If anyone destroys God\u2019s temple, God will destroy him. For God\u2019s temple is holy, and you are that temple.<\/p>\n

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (ESV)<\/strong>
\n19\u00a0 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
\n20\u00a0 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.<\/p>\n

Ephesians 2:19-22 (ESV)<\/strong>
\n19\u00a0 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20\u00a0 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21\u00a0 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22\u00a0 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.<\/p>\n

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THE DAY GOD LEFT THE BUILDING Ezekiel\u00a0 by Rev. Richard Jones       The Call\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-messages","category-sermons-by-rev-jones"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7565"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7565"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7565\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7571,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7565\/revisions\/7571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}