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The Glory of Gods Presence is Departing

Posted by appolus on March 24, 2009

THE GLORY OF GODS PRESENCE IS DEPARTING

Psa 50:12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is Mine, and the fullness of it.

What does the Lord need from us? Does He need anything at all from us? If the Lord needs nothing from us, if He does not need our sacrifices since he owns the cattle on a thousand hills, what does he want from us? He needs nothing, but what does He want? I think that it can be summed up in the beginning of Exodus 20, which lays out the commandments of God……..

Exo 20:1 And God spoke all these words, saying, I am Jehovah your God, who has brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make to yourselves any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them. For I Jehovah your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons to the third and fourth generation of those that hate me, and showing mercy to thousands of those that love Me and keep My commandments.

The early Christian community knew this well, many died because they would not indulge in Emperor worship. They would render unto Caesar what was Caesar’s and unto God what was God’s. They would bow their knee only to the one true living God and many paid dearly for this, more often that nought with their lives. So, are we modern American Christians indulging in false worship? What does it mean to worship falsely? In classic false worship in the ancient world you had the worship of Baal and of Ashteroth. These represented fertility, one male and the other female. Many of the rituals were sexual in nature in order to arouse these gods so that they would be fertile and so that the land would be fertile. This was literally a matter of life and death to the ancients because without a harvest, without crops, they would surely die. What else was worshipped? Military power was worshipped in the ancient world(Isa 31:1) Again, this could mean life or death, depending upon the strength of your military. The work of one’s hand was also worshipped….

Jer 25:6 And do not go after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no harm.
Jer 25:7 Yet you have not listened to Me, says Jehovah, so that you might provoke Me with the works of your hands, for harm to you.So where do we stand today? What does the modern American church worship? Does it worship the work of its own hand? Does it indulge in Emperor worship? Does it worship its military might? What does worship even mean in this context? It means to put ones trust in these things, any things, apart from the one true God. And if it does, can God allow such an institution to stand? And if He does not , how does he dismantle it in this modern day setting? In Ezekiel chapter four, the Prophet takes on a diet, a very limited diet even although there was plenty to eat. He is signifying the hunger and the thirst and the famine to come. He lies on one side for 390 days representing 390 years of judgment for the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and then lies on his other side for forty days, representing 40 years for Judah in the south where the temple was to be found. The greater judgment falls upon the Kingdom of Israel to the North in part because they had set up their own places of worship, one in Dan and one in Bethel where the golden idols of calves rears its ugly head again, these calves representing the idol of Baal. They would now trust in another entity, apart from God to put food on their tables, and they would mix this with worshipping the one true God, thus totally defiling themselves.

There is no doubt the church in the West is defiled. We worship other gods, we just do not call them by name because this would be offensive. We trust in the work of our own hands and we trust in military power and we trust in our leaders for our security. This Northern Kingdom represents all professing Christians, the vast majority, the ten tribes so to speak. Now Judah represents the genuine Church, the true believers and we also will be judged, for surely all judgement begins at the house of the Lord. When we refuse to serve God in the abundance of all things, then God will make us serve our enemies when we are hungry and thirsty, for a time.

Now, what is abundance to the genuine Christian? Is it not the blessing of God’s presence? So, for judgment upon God’s people will not God withdraw his conscious presence for a time? Before the church is scattered, before judgment falls, a couple of things happen. In Ezekiel chapter nine we see six “men,’ have come to judge the city. They have battle-axes in their hands, but one also has an inkhorn. With this inkhorn he marks God’s people, His remnant with a mark on their heads. These people are spared the judgment. They are spared because they groan and mourn all of the abominations that are done in the midst.

Eze 9:4 And Jehovah said to him, Go through in the midst of the city, in the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark on the foreheads of the men who are groaning and are mourning because of all the abominations that are done in her midst.

I believe that as you read this, God is separating His people from what is known as “The Church.” They are hungry and thirsty, yet this will only be for a time. After chapter nine, we see in chapter ten that the glory of the Lord leaves the Temple in stages. His presence is withdrawn before judgment falls. I believe that God’s glory has been leaving His church in stages and that now He is at the threshold, about to take His glory away for a time. It will be a time of great hunger and great thirst and for those who refused to serve Him before, they will now be given over to their true gods.

The time has come to decide who we worship, choose ye this day , so to speak. The trials that ere befalling us, and which will get worse, will surely bring to light those who truly trust God and has no other God before Him. Now is the time to “get oil,” for your lamp, now is the time to choose to serve God fully. If you are guilty of not trusting God completely, then now would be the time to repent.