Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee,
and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem". (Ezekiel 4:1)


When the Lord will have called us, commissioned us, and finally sent us forth, the first thing that we’ll be bringing to them will be something that will go against what they’ll have believed about themselves up to that point. You see, the Jews in Jerusalem were convinced, despite their rebellion, that the Lord was covering them and protecting them from their enemies. Ultimately, they came to the devastating realization that they were mistaken. Consequently, today’s spiritual Jews take it for granted that, because they profess to be followers of Jesus, then they have nothing to worry about. There’s something that many have ignored, however; and that’s the fact that, from the start, as with the natural Jews, He’s always required a circumspect walk. According to them, Jesus lived a sinless life so that we wouldn’t have to try to. As a matter of fact, nearly every believer holds to the same idea: namely, since we’re human, then it’s impossible for us to live sinlessly.


I want to present a concept to you that will definitely conflict with those things that are taught in the church. We constantly hear that we’re sinners saved by grace; which we are. And the portion of Scripture that we continually hear is: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9); and THAT’s also true. So I’m not disputing those things in any way whatsoever. There are, however, some things that I want to bring out which many have either overlooked or have outright rejected.

Jesus didn’t come just to be a sacrifice for us to make possible which was impossible for us. He also came as an example of what a true son of God will be. In Romans, we’re told: "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren" (Romans 8:29). That, then, means that there will be a company of believers who will come forth in the likeness of Jesus as He walked the earth. Far too many can’t believe that since, as they rightly say, Jesus was born sinless, while we weren’t. But, consider something: Jesus took upon Himself humanity and willingly refused to use His divinity, so that everything He thought and said and did were in His humanity, so that we in our humanity can do likewise. The reason He had no failure? It had to do with the fact that He depended completely upon the Holy Spirit. And though He received the Spirit without measure when He was baptized at the Jordan River, and we only have a portion, still, since He was our example, then that means that there will be a time when those who are looking for it will also receive the Spirit without measure. After all, Paul tells us:

"In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation in whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory." (Ephesians 1:13 and 14)


What I’m saying here, and many will disagree with me, is that, just as Jesus walked in full obedience to the Father by depending completely upon the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we can do the same. You may not think so, or you may have a hard time accepting that concept, but, then, consider this: Jesus walked in total obedience to the Father, and thus He walked sinlessly. So, what I’m getting at is: whenever we obey the Father, we’re walking without sin at that time. True: we all have sin indwelling us (1 John 1:8); but that doesn’t mean that we’re destined to submit to our sin nature. What it DOES mean is that we have the propensity, the inclination, the tendency, to sin.

But not the surety.

Consider the following portions of Scripture.

"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" (Romans 6:1 and 2)


"Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin." (Romans 6:6 and 7)

"Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" (Romans 6:11 to 16)

"And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." (Galatians 5:24 and 25)

"My little children, these things write I unto you, THAT YE SIN NOT. And IF any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked." (1 John 2:1, 6)


The Lord, through Paul and John, was telling us that, though we may be bearing the sin nature with which we were born, we don’t have to submit to it. We CAN master it through obedience to the Holy Spirit. Is it easy? Not even remotely. Can we do it? The Lord wouldn’t have spoken through Paul and John as He did, and He wouldn’t have walked as He did as a human, if it was impossible.


That, then, brings us again to the Lord requiring a circumspect walk from us. But, because there are far too many tares within the body who are influencing far too many believers to shirk their responsibility, just as it has always been, then, as I’ve said, judgment has been determined for the church. Yet, as I also said, this isn’t going to be judgment as we tend to think. Rather, it will be a separation of the true believers from the false, and a purifying of those who remain. This won’t be something that may or may not happen. Judgment came upon the natural Jews because of their rebellion, and the same will come upon the spiritual Jews, and for the same reasons. Again, this judgment isn’t something from which the Lord will eventually relent if His people agree to be really really good. It’s been determined from the beginning; and the reason we’ll be bringing the word He’ll send us with will be to give the people the chance to return to a circumspect walk. So, according to what I’ve seen in the prophecies of Ezekiel, we’re going to deliver this message to them.

First: Ezekiel drew a portrayal of Jerusalem on a tile, which was actually a brick. That, then, hearkens back to the account in the book of Exodus, where we read:

"And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour: And they made their lives bitter, with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour." (Exodus 1:13 and 14)


The word that we’ll bring to the people in the churches, then, is the same word that goes for many today. By reason of the new birth and having been brought into the family of the Lord through the blood of Jesus, they’ve been delivered from the bondage of the enemy. However, somewhere along the way, they’ve rebelled against the Father, and ultimately returned to that bondage. Though they’re still children of Israel, the people of God, they nonetheless have chosen to become servants of the god of this world. And though they have the desire to serve the Father, by reason of the fact that they’re incorporating the ways and the values of the world into their service, then they’ve proven that their allegiance is divided. After all, Jesus told us, in no uncertain terms:

"If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:26 and 27)


Here, I want to give you a little history so you can see where I’m going with this. Ezekiel bore the iniquity of Israel first by lying on his left side for three hundred and ninety days, a day for a year, and then on his right side for forty days, also a day for a year. That was a total of four hundred and thirty years. So, four hundred and thirty years prior to the time when Ezekiel brought the prophecy was when Solomon rejected the command of the Lord to cease from following after the gods of the other nations. The result was that the Lord took the kingdom from him and gave it to another. Though it wasn’t done in his day for the sake of David his father, it happened in the days of his son Rehoboam; and it was given to a former servant named Jeroboam. Consequently, whereas the first part of the message to them will be a kind of overview of what has gone on, the next will be an explanation of just why judgment will be coming.


You see, though there have always been multitudes of faithful believers, there have also been numerous unfaithful ones as well. And despite the continual exhortation by the various ministers to walk with the Lord faithfully, far too many have ignored the exhortations, both in the beginning and continuing until the present. Thus, because the church has been divided from the start, and many have followed after the gods of the nations (wealth, status, power, and so forth), then, again, judgment has been determined and is non-negotiable.

Also, since the length of time that Ezekiel laid on his side, first the left and then the right, came to four hundred thirty days (a day for a year), then, once again, the length of time that the children of Israel were dwelling in Egypt appears. In essence, we’re going to tell them that, whereas they had once enjoyed the liberty that came with being released from the bondage of the enemy, they instead have returned to it. They may believe that they’re walking in freedom; but the enemy is a master deceiver.

Therefore, the result of their rebellion shows up through their word. It started as truth and food for the people, but gradually changed into a mixture that fails to provide what they need. The reason for this lies in the dung. The pure Word of God is brought forth under the guidance of the Holy Spirit; but their word comes forth through their dung, and their dung comes forth from what they partake of. Consequently, had both the people and the ones whom the Lord placed over them had remained faithful, they could have prospered. Instead, because of their rebellion, they’ll “want bread and water, and [they’ll] be astonied one with another, and consume away for their iniquity” (Ezekiel 4:17).