In this post you will find our 3 download or streaming audio files available to you:

Our morning AM Bible Study, Where we started a class to generally discuss and explain the first three parts of Our General Puritanical Doctrines, which you can find on our cover page of this website:  “Pt.1 Trinitarian Theology, Covenant Theological Cosmology, Reformed Soteriology”

Our Evening Message:
Where we had a liturgical sermon based on the calendar date found in Ezekiel 8:
“The image of jealousy in the dark chambers of imagery”

Our Sabbath Call to Worship, congregational prayers and readings are primarily from the KJV.

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Messages:

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P.M. Sermon: 
“The image of jealousy in the dark chambers of imagery”

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Delivered on grego. 9-22-2023

Our Call to Worship, congregational prayers and readings are primarily from the KJV.
and
Our Praise and Worship
is from
The 1650 Scottish Metrical Psalter (SMP)
What does our church’s Reformed Worship look like?

• A Call to Worship the LORD YHWH together
• Prayer guided by the direct words of Scripture
• The Singing of the Psalms and Hymns contained in God’s Words (and none other)
• Responsive and joint Scripture readings
• A convocated Reading of the Law / Torah / Pentateuch (Old Testament Lesson)
• The Hearing of the Gospel (New Testament Lesson).
• A Message from the Elder (Bible study teaching sermon)
• Confessions and creeds from the scripture directly,
• Frequent use in recital of the 10 Commandments and Lord’s Prayer
• An affirmation of the fellowship and instruction which we have through the acknowledgment and forgiveness of sin from scriptures such as 1 John and Psalm 103 which teach forgiveness of sin and fellowship with Father Son and Spirit through repentance.
• The use of the Historical Apostles Creed to confirm our commitment to the historically United Christian Gospel every mid-month service
• The use of the Historic Athanasian Creed to confirm our functional trinitarian faith and knowledge at the beginning of every month at our evening New Moon Service.
• Liturgical biblical calendar remembrances in time as recorded in scripture

In the Ohio River valley or want to travel to be with us?

Contact us and join us for worship.
RNCMinistry@gmail.com

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These Study notes below are Interactive with E-Sword! – FREE DOWN LOAD HERE

THEN: Just cut and paste into you E-Sword topic notes

Compiled by JS LOWTHER
renewedcovenantministry.com
renewedcovenantministry@gmail.com 

Eze_8:1  And it came to pass in 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.
Eze 8:2  Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of 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.
Eze 8:3  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.
Eze 8:4  And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain.
Eze 8:5  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.
Eze 8:6  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.
Eze 8:7  And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall.
Eze 8:8  Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door.
Eze 8:9  And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here.
Eze_8:10  So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the wall round about.
Eze 8:11  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.
Eze 8:12  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.
Eze 8:13  He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do.
Eze 8:14  Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD’S house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.
Eze 8:15  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.
Eze 8:16  And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD’S 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.
Eze 8:17  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.
Eze 8:18  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.

Eze 9:1  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.
Eze 9:2  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 writer’s inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar.
Eze 9:3  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 writer’s inkhorn by his side;
Eze 9:4  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.
Eze 9:5  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:
Eze 9:6  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.
Eze 9:7  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.
Eze 9:8  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?
Eze 9:9  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.
Eze 9:10  And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head.
Eze 9:11  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.

This week we are offered a liturgical remembrance from the book of Ezekiel, and this reading is as most of the prophets more of a rebuke and revealing of sin, and expression of the Lord’s anger against sin, and if you look at closely at the text in ch.9, you will also see the Mercy of the Lord placed upon those who fear him and who are in anguish for the sin which they see, it is to this point spoken of in 9:4 that I prayed in opening today, and I hope all prayed with me.

I do not think that we often time think of how much our Lord hates false worship, and in fact how much our puritan fathers and mothers of the Reformed Christian faith desired to be a people of pure worship, that is to not only be the people of the mark, but to go beyond that positively and learn what the bible says and how they should apply themselves to God’s Worship as to not be like the people the Lord showed his in the temple and in its courts and walls.

A matter of fact this is a stunning find which we see the Lord showing Ezekiel.

After God YHWH revealing to Ezekiel the glory of his countenance it is noted by many that the appearance here is similar to that which is seen in Revelation concerning the Lord Christ and it has therefore be asserted for Good cause that in fact, “the form of an hand, and took him by a lock of his head; and the spirit that lifted him up between the earth and the heaven, and brought him to see the visions of God happening in Jerusalem: the very place of God’s ordained worship.

It is important to keep in mind in our reading that this mediator speak, with a similarity of Christ is also spoken of in a pre-manifestation, and that this spiritual hand and this voice speaking is non-other than the Word of God the Lord, Jesus Christ.
This is important because, we have been so programed to believe that Jesus is a man of Love who hardly rebukes no one, nor does he care about obedience to God’s Law.

While if we rather take scripture for what it clearly says we see the whole person of Christ and we especially see his unity with the Father as God as we see and hear of his discus with the lineage of his Israelite people as they seek out vain and abominable worship while standing in the very place ordained by God for His lone and exclusive worship.

Now Ezekiel ministry was begun in captivity but not before the destruction of the temple, his ministry started according to
Eze 1:1  … in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar…
Eze 1:2  In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin’s captivity…

So here we have captives which have seen some of the beginnings of the aggression of war upon them, but not all.
This is before the total destruction recorded by Jeramiah in Lamentations, but after some of the first assaults upon the City.

Here we see the people in various places of the LORD YHWH’s house engaged in worship to deity that is beside or before in ignorance altogether of YHWH’s exclusive worship commanded in the 1- 2nd commandment.

Look at what he first is shown:
and brought him 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. 
Eze 8:4  And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain. 
Eze 8:5  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. 

Now, let us consider Jealousy which is a term used for invented worship, imagined, idolized and non-ordained.

Exo 20:5  Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

Exo 34:14  For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:

Deu_32:20 I will turn away my face from them, and will show what shall happen to them in the last days; for it is a perverse generation, sons in whom is no faith.
Deu 32:21  They have provoked me to jealousy with that which is not God, they have exasperated me with their idols; and I will provoke them to jealousy with them that are no nation, I will anger them with a nation void of understanding.
Deu 32:22  For a fire has been kindled out of my wrath, it shall burn to hell below; it shall devour the land, and the fruits of it; it shall set on fire the foundations of the mountains.

Eze_8:6  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?

God here says, this worship which could very well be an idol or a pillar as the LXX renders it the “pillar of the purchaser”, “monument of the acquirer”.G2932

And the only reason I can connect to why the concept of Jealousy is linked to purchasing and acquiring, is that here we see a struggle of wills, between God who is Jealous and the people who are jealous. In other words, men want to worship deity, but they are jealous to worship as they see fit. they will purchase worship, they will acquire worship through the works of their hands, the pillars and monuments and idols they make, or the imaginations they dream up and fall down before, because men are more than happy with paying them selves with feelings of self worth through means of works and creations and are jealous for hat feeling. And man is far happier to be devoted and filled with this spirit of Jealousy, than they are with the only true and living Jealous God YHWH.

After this in Eze 8:7-12
And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall. 
Eze 8:8  Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall:
He, says, I saw… every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the walls .
Eze 8:11  And seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan (Heard of Yah the son of concealment) , with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up. 

Eze 8:12  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. 

Here we meet with the Elders, the 70 elders of the lawful government of Israel, but we see them secretly officiating the office of a priest.
and because even wicked abominable Israel understood that government was representative, the Lord says of every man under their headship:
“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. ”

What is this chambers of imagery? Here, all manner of creatures are upon the walls, here the government lead by the son of concealment which YHWH sees despite their hiding place and all the smoke of their priest like worship- nothing can hide these iniquities which they practice .
these vain abominations, and all the idols portrayed round about.

Here we see a government that says “YHWH has forsaken the earth”, and it is for this reason those Elder’s whom God has ordained for a purpose in the Church-state, has chosen for them selves to usurp and take upon themselves the duty of the Levitical priest in a hidden part of the temple full of imagery which they have seen of God’s good earth but have made representation thereof and hidden them selves with and imagined worship jealously for them selves.

Is this not so far the pattern we see in the church where God has forsaken the earth:

• in doctrine of the anti-nomian?
• In the doctrine of the rapture theorists
• In the false cosmology of interpreting 2Co_4:4  to make “Satan the god of this world”
• In the non-post-millennial views of of where we are in this world un guided by the Lord’s prayer?

Here we have Elders, who should be governing church men, Bishops or over seers who should be do as Moses and Paul both taugt by God’s Word:

Tit 1:6  If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly. 
Tit 1:7  For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre; 
Tit 1:8  But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate; 
Tit 1:9  Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. 

Here we have open and clear godliness and living, but in the rule of the Son of concealment which Yah hears despite their hiding place and usurpation, we see rather is a government of idolatry overstepping its bounds in Chruch and in state.

This is the natural progression of idolatry.

Now let me remind you what we read in v. 16-17, which the LORD calls grater abominations than these which is the series of the progression of the text:

at the door of the gate of the LORD’S house toward the north; there sat women weeping for Tammuz. 
Eze 8:15  and greater abominations than these. 
Eze 8:16  in the inner court of the LORD’S house, 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. 

Eze 8:17  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:

Eze 8:18  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. 

it is after this pint we hear of the calling of the army of God to visit vengeance upon all who he has not marked with a mark of grace, mercy and compassion.

And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer’s inkhorn by his side;

Eze_9:4  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.

Psa_130:3  If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?