There has been and will continue to be much talk and speculation about G-d’s glory in these last days that we live in. Many Spirit-filled Christians believe that a great outpouring of G-d’s Spirit will take place upon this earth in these last days. I agree wholeheartedly with this statement. However, I cannot help but wonder if the saints who say they believe this actually think that it is going to happen just because it is the latter times.

To believe that we have nothing more to do than go about having church as usual and expect this great outpouring to take place may be a bit presumptuous. In my studies of the last great outpouring of G-d’s glory upon His people that took place in and around the turn of the last century, I found some very interesting facts. The outpouring caused a great revival to break out everywhere it was present.

Revival brings a deeper conviction of our sins, both to the saved and unsaved alike. As Christians, it empowers us with the true power of the Holy Ghost. It will also cause us to seek after the L-rd with a renewed desire and devotion, the likes of which most have not known since they received Christ as their Savior. As G-d builds His character in His people through this outpouring, He will display the glory of His presence in their lives.

G-d’s glory is the manifestation of His presence. Whenever G-d is acknowledged, worshipped, and obeyed, G-d’s glory will be displayed. I am concerned that the church today does not realize that this glory will never fall upon them until they repent and seek G-d with pure hearts. It is very possible that G-d’s glory has already departed from a great portion of the Church. It would be alarming to most to even consider a statement such as this, but I implore you to consider what is about to be said.

For nearly a millennium, G-d’s glory dwelt with Israel. But, there was a time when G-d withdrew His glory and departed, leaving Israel without hope against her enemies. Follow along with me as we study this time in Israel’s history.

I Chronicles 36:11-16 (KJV)

11 Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.

12 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the Lord.

13 And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the Lord God of Israel.

14 Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the Lord which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.

15 And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place:

16 But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy.

Evidently, there comes a time when G-d decides that He has done all that can be done. Israel had sinned against the L-rd and He sent the prophets to try and reason with them that they might know the error of their ways. Israel did not want anything to do with hearing what G-d had to say through His prophets. G-d tried over and over again to reason with Israel until there was no longer any use in doing so. This is when judgment comes. When we do not listen to what the    L-rd is trying to tell us, He has no alternative except to withdraw His glory. When the L-rd withdraws His glory, it means that there is no protection or guidance from Him until repentance has come.

It is important to understand that G-d does not withdraw Himself over the first mistake that is made whether by a nation or an individual. The L-rd tries over and over again to get us to listen to His requests. Not until He has exhausted every avenue of hope will He withdraw Himself. It is important to understand the balance to this, because it seems that we are out of balance in both directions when it comes to this subject.

Ezekiel was used by G-d during this time to tell Israel of the judgment that would befall them.

Ezekiel 5:1-11 (KJV)

1 And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barbers razor, and cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair.

2 Thou shalt burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled: thou shalt take a third part, and smite about it with a knife: and a third part thou shalt scatter in the wind; and I will draw out a sword after them.

3 Thou shalt also take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts.

4 Then take of them again, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; for thereof shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel.

5 Thus saith the Lord God; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her.

6 And she hath changed my judgments into wickedness more than the nations, and my statutes more than the countries that are round about her: for they have refused my judgments and my statutes, they have not walked in them.

7 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because ye multiplied more than the nations that are round about you, and have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept my judgments, neither have done according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you;

8 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I am against thee, and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the nations.

9 And I will do in thee that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all thine abominations.

10 Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments in thee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into all the winds.

11 Wherefore, as I live, saith the Lord God; Surely, because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy detestable things, and with all thine abominations, therefore will I also diminish thee, neither shall mine eye spare, neither will I have any pity.

There is no doubt that Israel would not have been better off to have hearkened unto the L-rd. The trouble with sin is that far too often we are unable to see the things G-d is trying show us because of enjoying sin so much.

Ezekiel 8:1-18 (KJV)

1 And it came to pass the sixth year, in the sixth month in the fifth day of the month as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell there upon me.

2 Then I beheld, and, lo, a likeness as the appearance off fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber.

3 And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north, where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.

4 And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain.

5 Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.

6 He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations.

7 And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall.

8 Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door.

9 And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here.

10 So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping thing and abominable beasts; and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed upon the wall round about.

11 And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand, and a thick cloud of incense went up.

12 Then said he unto me. Son of man, hast thou, seen what the ancients of the ‘house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The Lord seeth us not; the Lord hath forsaken the earth.

13 He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do.

14 Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the Lords house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.

15 Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these.

16 And he brought me into the inner court of the Lords house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.

17 Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that, they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose.

18 Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.

The L-rd took Ezekiel in the spirit and showed him the abominations that were going on in the temple. From outward appearances, church seemed to have been going on as usual. The services were being conducted in the same way they had always been conducted. No one detected anything wrong. In verse 3, Ezekiel was shown by G-d the jealousy that prevailed in the Church. Jealously is a spirit that still to this day dominates most ministers. Jealousy will cause the best of church services to go awry if tolerated in the Church.

The L-rd tore a hole in the wall for Ezekiel to be able to see the priests and the abominations that they did in secret, thinking G-d did not see their sins. The people were worshiping gods other than the  L-rd Himself. G-d has always insisted that we be holy as He is holy, and that was the case in this situation. I want to point out that in verse 4 we can see that G-d’s glory was still present in the temple during this time.

I believe that this has great prophetic insight for the Church of today. We must draw from the examples that the L-rd has given us as we move into these last days. G-d is not going to tolerate any less from this generation of Church than He did during the time described in these scriptures.

As we read chapter 9, we will see even further the ways in which the L-rd does things.

Ezekiel 9:1-11 (KJV)

1 He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.

2 And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writers inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar.

3 And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writers inkhorn by his side;

4 And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.

5 And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity:

6 Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.

7 And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city.

8 And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord God wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem?

9 Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness. For they say, The Lord hath forsaken the earth, and the Lord seeth not.

10 And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity. But, I will recompense their way upon their head.

11 And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as thou hast commanded me.

I thank G-d that He never forsakes the righteous. In these scriptures, we find that not all of the Church was spared from G-d’s judgment - even though all of them were sitting in the same building and worshiping G-d. Again, there are some heavy duty implications being made here. I believe that many are sitting in churches today that are not going to receive the seal of the mark of G-d upon their heads - the same type of seal that Ezekiel saw taking place in his generation. Church has got to become more than just going into a building and sitting down for a period of time and thinking that G-d is going to guide and protect us without seeking after Him with a whole heart.

I believe that even at this time G-d is marking those who see that things are not like they should be in the Church. The ones who are crying out to Him, “Open the eyes of our leaders, and show them the error of their ways.” These are the ones who will walk in the glory of our G-d in these last days.

In chapter 10, the glory of G-d begins to leave His house and eventually leaves all together.

Ezekiel 10:4 (KJV)

4 Then the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the Lords glory.

G-d’s glory left a little at a time; not all at once. By the glory leaving in this fashion, no one ever missed it.

Ezekiel 10:18-19 (KJV)

18 Then the glory of the Lord departed from off the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubims.

19 And the cherubims lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight: when they went out, the wheels also were beside them, and every one stood at the door of the east gate of the Lord's house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.

The less we seek after Him and His ways, the more it becomes certain that He will depart from us. I have always wondered why we, as the Church, have never been able to see that the glory of G-d was departing.

I believe that we have tried to manufacture the anointing and deceive people into believing that the anointing is present when, in reality, the glory has departed.

Ezekiel 11:22-23 (KJV)

22 Then did the cherubims lift up their wings, and the wheels beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.

23 And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city.

The L-rd does not want His glory to leave His people. But, He has for a number of generations warned that, in fact, He would do just that unless His people return to Him with a whole heart. Nobody noticed that G-d was gone during Ezekiel’s time. Church went on as usual and nothing seemed to have changed, but things had changed. Without G-d’s presence, there was not going to be His miracle-working power to destroy the yoke in the people's lives. G-d gradually and reluctantly departed. The only one who knew G-d had left was the prophet Ezekiel.

My brothers and sisters, the name of Ichabod has been spiritually placed above the doors of most of the churches on the face of the earth. The name Ichabod means, "the glory has departed.” G-d is sounding His alarm from His holy mountain and it is time for all of us to take a long, hard look at the way we worship and follow after the L-rd. I am personally convinced that there is much that we, as the Church, have missed in our attempt to follow after the L-rd. We must set aside every sin that seems to so easily beset us and seek after the L-rd with whole hearts, until He comes and rains righteousness down upon us. We must seek Him in His revelation instead of our own carnal minds, laying aside religion and every form of doctrine that is of man.

The Church will go through some very difficult changes in these last days. Changes that will divorce us from many of the ways we serve G-d today. Stay open to what G-d is saying to you and He will take you into the places He wishes you to be during this last, great outpouring of His Spirit. We are truly going to have to know His voice, if we are to follow Him into the 21st Century.

The End Time Messenger

Oct / Nov 96