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2Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure

sound doctrine; but after their own lusts

shall they heap to themselves

teachers, having itching ears;

Jeremiah 9:6 Your habitation is in the midst of deceit;

through deceit they refuse to know me, says the LORD.

"IN THE AGE OF UNIVERSAL DECEIT,

TELLING THE TRUTH IS A REVOLUTIONARY ACT"

Ezekiel 34:1-2

The cruelty to the flock,

negligence and unfaithfulness of the shepherds is exposed,

Ezekiel 34:2 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel,

Prophesy, and say unto them, Thus says the Lord GOD unto the shepherds;

Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves!

should not the shepherds feed the flocks?

Ezekiel 34:3-6 The reasons why the shepherds are threatened

to be deprived of their office,

Ezekiel 34:3-6 You eat the fat, and you clothe you with the wool,

you kill them that are fed: but you feed not the flock.

4 The diseased have you not strengthened,

neither have you healed that which was sick,

neither have you bound up that which was broken,

neither have you brought again that which was driven away,

neither have you sought that which was lost;

but with force and with cruelty have you ruled them.

5 And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd:

and they became meat to all the beasts of the field,

when they were scattered.

6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill:

yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth,

and none did search or seek after them.

Ezekiel 34:3-6 Gill Notes with other related inserts:

Verse 3. You eat the fat, &c.] The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin,

and Arabic versions, render it, "the milk";

the words for fat and milk differ only in the points; and this was not unlawful,

for who feeds a flock, and eats not of the milk of the flock?

(1Corinthians 9:7 ……. who plants a vineyard, and eats not of the fruit thereof?

or who feeds a flock, and eats not of the milk of the flock?)

provided it was done with moderation, that they ate some, but not all;

but these rulers milked their subjects too much, oppressed them

with heavy taxes, and got their substance into their own hands.

The Targum (Targum is the distinctive designation

of the Aramaic translations)

is, “you eat the good; ”

They got possessed of the best of their substance; as did also their ecclesiastical rulers,

who were greedy shepherds, that could never have enough;

they looked for their gain from their quarter,

and even devoured widows’ houses,

(Isaiah 56:11 Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough,

and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way,

every one for his gain, from his quarter.)

Matthew 23:14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!

for you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer:

therefore you shall receive the greater damnation.)

Matthew 6:7 But when you pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do:

for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.)

Simple short prayers from the heart is all that is required

not dramatic public extravaganzas.

Unfortunately often that is not the case today,

but rather we have theatrical productions.

Christ and the apostles performed powerful miracles with short simple sentences.

Mark 4:39 And he (Christ) arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea,

Peace, be still.

And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

John 11:43 And when he (Christ) thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice,

Lazarus, come forth.

Acts 9:40 But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed;

and turning him to the body said,

Tabitha, arise.

And she opened her eyes: and when she saw Peter, she sat up.

you clothe you with the wool: the pure wool, as the Targum, the finest of it;

they fleeced the flock, and stripped the people of their riches;

and minded nothing but their own backs and bellies:

you kill them that are fed; or, that "are fat" {q};

the richest of the people they brought accusations and charges against

for capital crimes; and so put them to death under a colour of justice,

that they, might get their estates into their hands:

but you feed not the flock; did not govern the people well,

by doing justice and judgment among men, as became civil magistrates;

did not deliver out words of faith and sound doctrine, to feed the souls

of men with, which is the duty of those that preside in the church of God.

Ezekiel 34:7-10, and the Lord promises to take the care of the flock upon himself,

to seek out his sheep, and feed them, and do every kind office to them,

7 Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD;

8 As I live, says the Lord GOD, surely because my flock became a prey,

and my flock became meat to every beast of the field,

because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock,

but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock;

9 Therefore, O you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD;

10 Thus says the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against the shepherds;

and I will require my flock at their hand,

and cause them to cease from feeding the flock;

neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more;

for I will deliver my flock from their mouth,

that they may not be meat for them.

Ezekiel 34:7-10 Gill Notes

Ver. 7. Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord.] Or, "you governors",

as the Targum, both civil and ecclesiastical; you kings, princes,

and magistrates;

you prophets and teachers of the people,

who ought to have attended to the word of grace, to the doctrines of the Scriptures,

and fed the people with them; but, since you have not,

hear the word of threatening from the Lord,

and the just punishment that shall be inflicted on you.

Ver. 8. As I live, says the Lord, &c.] It is an oath, and which he swore in his wrath,

being provoked with the shepherds for their misadministration:

Surely, because my flock became a prey,

and my flock became meat to every beast of the field,

because there was no shepherd; a prey to all the kingdoms of the people,

being without a governor, as the Targum; or to false teachers,

there being no spiritual pastors to take care of them:

neither did my shepherds search for my flock; that was scattered,

and carried captive,

and became a prey to others; even those that were of God’s appointing,

as the kings of Israel, their priests and prophets;

for both their civil polity and ecclesiastical hierarchy were of God,

though the ends thereof were not answered,

or the persons put into office did not do their duty:

but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock.

Ezekiel 34:11-16 Gill Notes

and then the strong of the flock, that oppressed the weak,

are threatened with punishment,

Ver. 11. For thus says the Lord God, &c.] Since the shepherds

are so negligent, careless, and cruel:

behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out;

as he did the Jews,

in all countries where they were, so his elect in all places where they are:

He is the omniscient God, and knows them that are His,

and can call His own sheep by name; He knows the places where they are;

for He has fixed the bounds of their habitation,

and was delighting Himself in the habitable parts of the earth,

where He knew they would be, even before the world was;

He knows the time of finding them, which He himself has fixed,

and which is a time of love, and a time of life; and He can distinguish them,

notwithstanding the filth they have contracted by their sins and transgressions,

and from the crowd they are among:

and He is the omnipotent God,

that can take them out of what hands wherever they may be,

or in whatsoever state and condition they are; though in the hands of Satan,

in the paws of that devouring lion, and in a pit wherein is no water,

in a horrible pit, the mire and clay: He that says this is the owner and proprietor of them;

and that is the reason why He searches and seeks them out;

and which He repeats for the confirmation of it,

and to show the vehemence of his affection towards them,

and how bent He is upon it, and how eager and resolute in His pursuit after them:

He searches for His chosen people among the ruins of Adam’s fall,

in whom they fell as others; among the men of the world, where they are;

among the dust of the earth, where His lost piece of silver and those pearls lie;

among the mountains of sin or self-righteousness,

where these sheep are wandering; and He never leaves off seeking and searching till

He has found them: and what moves Him to it is not their nature,

for they are no better than others; nor their numbers, for they are few;

but His love to them, the relation He stands in to them as their Shepherd,

His interest and property in them, His covenant on their account,

and also His own glory.

Pastors Rebuked:

Jeremiah 2:8 The priests said not, Where is the LORD?

and they that handle the law knew me not:

the pastors also transgressed against me,

and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.

Jeremiah 10:21 For the pastors are become brutish,

and have not sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper,

and all their flocks shall be scattered.

Jeremiah 12:10 Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard,

they have trodden my portion under foot,

they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.

Jeremiah 22:22 The wind shall eat up all your pastors,

and your lovers shall go into captivity:

surely then shall you be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness.

Jeremiah 23:1 Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter

the sheep of my pasture! says the LORD.

2 Therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel against the pastors

that feed my people; You have scattered my flock, and driven them away,

and have not visited them: behold,

I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, says the LORD.

Prophets Rebuked:

Jeremiah 23:9 Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets;

all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man,

and like a man whom wine hath overcome,

because of the LORD, and because of the words of his holiness.

10 For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing

the land mourns; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up,

and their course is evil, and their force is not right.

11 For both prophet and priest are profane; yes,

in my house have I found their wickedness, says the LORD.

12 Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness:

they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them,

even the year of their visitation, says the LORD.

13 And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria;

they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.

14 I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing:

they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands

of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness:

they are all of them unto me as Sodom,

and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.

15 Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets;

Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink

the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem

is profaneness gone forth into all the land.

16 Thus says the LORD of hosts,

Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you:

they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart,

and not out of the mouth of the LORD.

17 They say still unto them that despise me,

The LORD hath said, You shall have peace; and they say unto every one

that walks after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.

18 For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD,

and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it?

19 Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury,

even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.

20 The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed,

and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart:

in the latter days you shall consider it perfectly.

21 I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran:

I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.

22 But if they had stood in my counsel,

and had caused my people to hear my words,

then they should have turned them from their evil way,

and from the evil of their doings.

23 Am I a God at hand, says the LORD, and not a God afar off?

24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? says the LORD.

Do not I fill heaven and earth? says the LORD.

25 I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name,

saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.

26 How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies?

yes, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart;

27 Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams

which they tell every man to his neighbour,

as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal.

28 The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream;

and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully.

What is the chaff to the wheat? says the LORD.

29 Is not my word like as a fire? says the LORD;

and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?

30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, says the LORD,

that steal my words every one from his neighbour.

31 Behold, I am against the prophets, says the LORD, that use their tongues,

and say, He says.

32 Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams,

says the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies,

and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them:

therefore they shall not profit this people at all, says the LORD.

33 ¶ And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying,

What is the burden of the LORD? you shall then say unto them,

What burden? I will even forsake you, says the LORD.

34 And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people,

that shall say, The burden of the LORD, I will even punish that man and his house.

35 Thus shall you say every one to his neighbour,

and every one to his brother,

What hath the LORD answered? and, What hath the LORD spoken?

36 And the burden of the LORD shall you mention no more:

for every man’s word shall be his burden;

for you have perverted the words of the living God,

of the LORD of hosts our God.

37 Thus shall you say to the prophet,

What has the LORD answered you? and,

What has the LORD spoken?

38 But since you say, The burden of the LORD;

therefore thus says the LORD;

Because you say this word, The burden of the LORD,

and I have sent unto you, saying, You shall not say,

The burden of the LORD;

39 Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you,

and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers,

and cast you out of my presence:

40 And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame,

which shall not be forgotten.

It is worth noting that the book of Jeremiah was actually written to all the nations of the earth

and is completely up to date and very relevant to us today

.

Jeremiah 25: 17 Then took I the cup at the LORD’S hand,

and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the LORD had sent me:

26 And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another,

and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth:

and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.

29 For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name,

and should you be utterly unpunished? You shall not be unpunished:

for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth,

says the LORD of hosts.

30 Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words,

and say unto them, The LORD shall roar from on high,

and utter his voice from his holy habitation;

He shall mightily roar upon his habitation;

He shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes,

against all the inhabitants of the earth.

31 A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth;

for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations,

He will plead with all flesh;

He will give them that are wicked to the sword, says the LORD.

32 Thus says the LORD of hosts,

Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation,

and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.

33 And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day

from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth:

they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried;

they shall be dung upon the ground.

Becoming True Disciples of Jesus Christ

is the only way out of this dilemma.

The only way out of this dilemma is Jesus Christ.

He is the only way of escape.

Praise the Lord.

Come soon Lord Jesus.

Amen.

Messages By Peter James

(Bible Explanations, Messages of Life, Hope & Encouragement)