“THIS IS WHAT THE SOVEREIGN LORD SAYS…” Trusting in God's sovereignty over all nations and peoples is the only way to achieve lasting peace in our world today. The ancient prophet Ezekiel is right on time, literally, teaching us lessons we all desperately need to learn.

Indeed, we HAVE learned a lot in the last 3 weeks from the 6th century BC prophet about the sovereignty of God over the entire world, how serious it is to break our covenant vows with Him, and the absolute futility of our human efforts apart from His guidance. As penned in the Book of Ezekiel, the term "Sovereign Lord" in Hebrew  "Yahweh Adonai” combines the personal name of God “Yahweh” with the title “Adonai”, lord or master, emphasizing God's supreme, personal authority and control over everything. In Ezekiel, we literally witness the Sovereignty of the Lord unfolding in history.

The great irony is if we had not focused on God’s timing in the midst of our man-made appointments, we would have missed this first lesson entirely. The evening of December 25 on our Gregorian calendar began the 5th day of the 10th month on God's calendar, the anniversary of the fall of the mighty city of Jerusalem. Sadly, the capital of the nation God called "the apple of His eye" became so focused on their needs in the world around them, the Sovereign Lord ended up chastising them mightily for being “greedy”. When King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon marched against Jerusalem, the once great and glorious nation of Judah, the remaining remnant of Israel, fell, and fell hard.

Their true intentions or “hearts” were motivated by greed and self-interest, and as a result, their entire nation collapsed. The Hebrew word for "greedy" is "covetousness," which reveals a lack of genuine love and obedience to God Himself—and of course, the deep-seated need for more than the Sovereign Lord provides. It took a refugee who didn’t have presents, celebrations and food on December 25th, to teach us that all we ever really needed in the first place, WE ALREADY HAVE IN JESUS! https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=909949584688609&set=a.243759214640986

The 10th day of God's appointed 10th month, the evening of December 30 to the evening of December 31, is another date we would have missed if we had been focused on the world’s timeline. On that date, the Sovereign Lord spoke these eternal words: “The people there refuse to obey me. I have a story with a message for them. Tell them, "This is what the Lord God says: 'Put the pot on the fire.' " Ezekiel 24:3

God’s people had chosen to believe His continuing benevolence meant He would always bless them as a nation in His Jerusalem “pot”. Three years earlier, folks had been totally convinced of it by the "princes of the people", governing leaders with golden rhetoric who were actually "plotting evil and giving wicked advice in this city.” So the Sovereign Lord filled His “pot” with the haughty, self-righteous “religious” folks who thought they were the best of all nations, secure in Jerusalem.

But even as God convicted and pronounced judgment on the nation of Israel, and indeed, the evil of all nations on this earth, He had a plan for restoration following the hard lessons. “Then I will put one shepherd over them, my servant David. He will feed them and be their shepherd. Then I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David will be the ruler living among them. I, the Lord, have spoken. Ezekiel 34:23-24

The tones of this Old Testament scripture ring a New Testament Messiah bell for us. “Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Luke 1:31-33

We must keep in mind the big picture of God’s restorative plan for His creation. Paul identifies those who conform to the new creation in Christ as part of the single identity of Israel: “Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.” Ephesians 2:12-16

Yes, the Sovereign Lord has a global plan for the ingathering of ALL His people, ONE HOLY NATION UNDER ONE HOLY KING, Jesus Christ, Incarnate Son of God. To that end, nations will be put through the refining fire of God’s restorative justice. https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=915638497453051&set=a.243759214640986

The 10th month, the 12th day, on God’s calendar recorded for all time in Ezekiel 28-29 began at sunset January 1 on our 2026 Gregorian calendar, yet a 3rd date we would have missed if we had focused on our own calendar. “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: When I gather the people of Israel from the nations where they have been scattered, I will show myself holy among them in the sight of the nations. Then they will live in their own land, which I gave to my servant Jacob. They will live there in safety and will build houses and plant vineyards; they will live in safety when I inflict punishment on all their neighbors who maligned them. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God." Ezekiel 28:24-26

Right this very minute, the Sovereign Lord is announcing AGAIN to His people that His Word NEVER changes. We must keep in mind the big picture of God’s restorative plan for His creation Paul identified earlier. ”For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.”

Yes, Almighty God is announcing AGAIN to His people that He is Sovereign and His Word NEVER changes. In the end, one way or another ALL nations will finally understand the true meaning of His eternal words "I AM THE LORD." https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=919386693744898&set=a.243759214640986

Ezekiel was empowered to deliver the Sovereign Lord's words of warning and judgment to His chosen people, urging them to repent and return to Him. The ancient prophet is delivering the same message right now to us 21st Christians.

“THIS IS WHAT THE SOVERIGN LORD SAYS…”