Ezekiel Chapter 44 Vs. 24

 Rules for Levitical Priests

And in controversy they shall stand in judgment; and they shall judge it according to my judgments: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all mine assemblies; and they shall hallow my sabbaths. Eze 44:24

in controversy they... Controversy, in the verse above, means contest or pleading.

they shall judge... The High Priest is to judge his people, and keep them straight.

shall hallow my... The priests and the High Priest are to keep the people holy.

The priests will serve as judges, and will follow God’s regulations regarding the feasts and Sabbaths.

Jude Chapter 1 Vs. 21

 

A Call to Persevere

Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. Jude 1:21

Keep yourselves in... (Acts 13:43). This imperative establishes the believer’s responsibility to be obedient and faithful by living out his salvation (Phil. 2:12), while God works out His will (Phil. 2:13).

looking for the... It means to remain in the place of obedience where God’s love is poured out on His children, as opposed to being disobedient and incurring His chastening (1Cor. 11: 27-31; Heb. 12:5-11).

This refers to the perseverance of the saints, the counterbalance to God’s sovereign preservation of believers in Christ (verse 1). This is accomplished by:

(1) Building one’s self up in the Word of God (verse 20);

(2) Praying in the Holy Spirit (verse 20); and

(3) Looking for the finalization of eternal life (verse 21).

Looking or waiting. An eager anticipation of Christ’s second coming to provide eternal life in its ultimate, resurrection form (Tit. 2:13; 1Jhn. 3:1-3), which is the supreme expression of God’s mercy; on one to whom Christ’s righteousness has undeservedly been imputed (verse 2). Paul called this “loved His appearing” (2 Tim. 4:8), and John wrote that such a steady anticipation was purifying (1Jhn. 3:3).

Here Jude stresses our role in being kept. In (verse 1), he has already used a form of the same word, preserved, most likely to denote God’s own role and ability in “keeping” His children in His grasp. Jude expects a literal return of Jesus.

Jesus said “If you love me, keep my commandments”. The very best way to stay in the love of God is to stay in the will of God. God inhabits the praises of His people. Praise Him always. It is the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ that saves us. His merciful act of paying the debt for all our sins saved us.

Keeping oneself “in God’s love” (Jude 1:21) does not indicate that salvation depends on one’s own efforts, for that would contradict other Scripture passages (e.g., Jude 1:24). Instead, a believer is nurtured as he is occupied with God’s love for him, and is in fellowship with Him (cf. John 15:9-10, “remain in My love”).

Waiting (prosdechomenoi, “looking expectantly”) for the blessed hope, the return of Christ for His church, is a fourth means of personal nurture. Waiting for that event is waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ in the sense that the Rapture will be the consummating evidence of His mercy. Jude added that it will bring you to eternal life, that is, to enjoying never-ending life in God’s own presence (cf. 1Pet. 1:5, 1:9, 1:13). Amen.

Ezekiel Chapter 44 Vs. 23

 Rules for Levitical Priests

And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. Eze 44:23

teach my people... God is holy, and He wants His people to be holy. The priest, or High Priest, must live in such a way as to set an example for the people. The best way to teach holiness is to live holy before them.

These actions, designed to promote holiness, will help the people see the difference between the holy and the common.

Jude Chapter 1 Vs. 20

 

A Call to Persevere

Verses 20-21: In the light of the fact that Jesus is coming again and that He will judge all men, Jude challenges believers to build themselves up in the Scriptures (study the bible), to pray, to “keep … in the love of God” (largely by loving others). And to compassionately seek to warn the lost of their future condition.

“But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,” Jude 1:20

But ye, beloved,... Seven final commands to Christians:

1. Build up yourselves on your most holy faith (Jude 1:20; 1Tim. 1:4).

2. Pray in the Holy Ghost (Jude 1:20; Eph. 6:18; Rom. 8:26).

3. Keep yourselves in the love of God (Jude 1:20; 2Tim. 1:14; Rom. 8:35-39).

4. Look for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ (Jude 1:21; Heb. 12:15).

5. Have compassion on some, making a distinction between those who are weak and ignorant and those who are proud and arrogant of heart and unwilling to obey truth (Jude 1:22).

6. Save the willing with fear, pulling them out of the fate of eternal hell (Jude 1:23).

7. Hate even the garment spotted by the flesh (Jude 1:23; Jas. 1:27; Eph. 5:27).

building up yourselves... True believers have a sure foundation (1Cor. 3:11), and cornerstone (Eph. 2:20), in Jesus Christ. The truths of the Christian faith (verse 3), have been provided in the teaching of the apostles and prophets (Eph. 2:20), so that Christians can build themselves up by the Word of God (Acts 20:32).

praying in the... This is not a call to some ecstatic form of prayer, but simply a call to pray consistently in the will and power of the Spirit, as one would pray in the name of Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:26-27).

The antidote for error is not simply to pull back from wrong but also to be built up in what is right, especially through clinging to God in prayer.

Notice, it is our obligation to build our faith. The best way to build our faith is through prayer and using our faith. The more we use it, the more it grows. When we do not know what to pray for, God the Holy Ghost prays for us, if we will allow Him. Letting God pray through you, for you, builds you up more than you could ever imagine.

Nurturing themselves

In addition to remembering what the apostles had said about the apostates, Jude’s readers were to give attention to themselves. Here is the heart of his message: build yourselves up in your most holy faith… pray in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love, and wait for Christ’s return. (The NIV seems to suggest three exhortations, but the Greek has four parallel participles: building, praying, keeping, expecting.) The evident contrast of these actions to the scoffers was introduced by the words But you. And for the third time Jude addressed his readers as dear friends (Jude 1:3, 1:17, 1:20).

Personal edification (“build yourselves up”) comes from progressing in the knowledge of “your most holy faith.” This “faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints” (Jude 1:3) was the teaching of the apostles now recorded in the Scriptures, to be studied (Acts 20:32; 2Tim. 2:15).

Praying in the Holy Spirit is not speaking in tongues, but is “praying out of hearts and souls that are indwelt, illuminated, and filled with the Holy Spirit” (George Lawrence Lawlor, Translation and Exposition of the Epistle of Jude, p. 127). It is praying in the power of the Holy Spirit (cf. Eph. 6:18).

Ezekiel Chapter 44 Vs. 22

 Rules for Levitical Priests

Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her that is put away: but they shall take maidens of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow that had a priest before. Eze 44:22

Neither shall they... The priests were not forbidden to marry. They were to be very careful who they married. We see this was forbidden in the Levitical law.

Lev. 21:7 “They shall not take a wife [that is] a whore, or profane; neither shall they take a woman put away from her husband: for he [is] holy unto his God.”

Lev. 21:13 “And he shall take a wife in her virginity.”

There are more Scriptures on this, but I believe this is sufficient. The wife of a priest must live a holy life, as well as the priest.

As we see here, also restrictions will be placed on whom they can marry(cf. read Lev. 21:7, Lev. 21:13-15).

Jude Chapter 1 Vs. 19

 

A Call to Persevere

“These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.” Jude 1:19

separate themselves, sensual,... Separate themselves from the true church and those who demand holy living, which they leave under the pretense of superior wisdom and ideals. Jude seems to have in mind their tendency to be schismatic or divisive, to set forth heretical notions and then separate themselves and their followers from those who hold to apostolic doctrine. But note that they get their start in the church itself, (verse 4). They fractured the church rather than united it (Eph. 4:4-6; Phil. 2:2). We should unite the Church.

Make my joy complete. Love in the same degree and be in agreement in all things for the Master.

Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves:

Seven final commands to the Corinthians:

1. Examine yourselves to see if you are in the true faith (2Cor. 13:5). Greek: peirazo, make proof or trial of one; make a test. Translated try (Heb. 11:17; Rev. 2:2, 2:10; 3:10); prove (John 6:6); examine (2Cor. 13:5); tempter (Mat. 4:3; 1Thes. 3:5); assay (Acts 16:7); go about (Acts 24:6); and tempt 27 times (Mat. 4:1; etc.).

2. Prove your own selves (2Cor. 13:5). Greek: dokimazo, to assay metals; to prove or test. Translated "try" (1Cor. 3:13; 1Thes. 2:4; 1Pet. 1:7; 1Jhn. 4:1); "prove" (Luke 14:19; Rom. 12:2; 2Cor. 8:8, 8:22; 13:5; Gal. 6:4; Eph. 5:10; 1Thes. 5:21; 1Tim. 3:10; Heb. 3:9); "examine" (1Cor. 11:28); "discern" (Luke 12:56); "approve" (Rom. 2:18; 1Cor. 16:3; Phlp. 1:10); "allow" (Rom. 14:22; 1Thes. 2:4); and "like" (Rom. 1:28).

3. Be perfect (2Cor. 13:11). Greek: katartizo, to adjust; put in order again; restore; repair; settly by mediation. Translated "mend" (Mat. 4:21; Mark 1:19); "restore" (Gal. 6:1); fit (Rom. 9:22); "prepare" (Heb. 10:1-39:44); "frame" (Heb. 9:3); "perfectly joined together" (1Cor. 1:10); "be and make perfect" (Mat. 21:16; Luke 6:40; 1Thes. 3:10; 2Cor. 13:11; Heb. 13:21; 1Pet. 5:10).

4. Be of good comfort (2Cor. 13:11). Greek: parakaleo, (see, 2Cor. 1:4)

5. Be of one mind (2Cor. 13:11). Combination of the Greek: verb phroneo, to think, the impersonal pronoun with a definite article which here means "the same thing." Think and teach the same things; have no disputes (Rom. 12:16; 15:5; Phlp. 2:2; 3:16; 1Cor. 1:10).

6. Live in peace (2Cor. 13:11). Greek: eireneuo, as in Rom. 12:18; Heb. 12:14. Cultivate a disposition of peace and harmony.

7. Greet one another (2Cor. 13:12). Be friendly; be glad to see each other; encourage every friendly act by a show of affection. Your party spirit cannot live in such an atmosphere as genuine love and friendship (1Co. 13:1-13).

having not the... Sensual or worldly-minded people are people who are controlled by their flesh and not the Spirit of God. I have said this over and over, but we are either controlled by our flesh, or by our spirit. We must crucify our flesh, so that Jesus can quicken our spirit.

These worldly-minded, sensual apostate teachers advertise themselves as having the highest spiritual knowledge, but are actually attracted to the most debased levels of life. They are “soulish” not “spiritual” (Jas. 3:15).

John 3:6 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

As stated in Jude 1:18-19, these intruders (a) scoffed (cf. Jude 1:10-15), (b) followed their own ungodly desires (cf. Jude 1:16) and mere natural instincts (cf. Jude 1:10, 1:16), and (c) sought to divide believers. Such men obviously did not have the Holy Spirit and thus were not born again (Rom. 8:9).

Ezekiel Chapter 44 Vs. 21

 Rules for Levitical Priests

Neither shall any priest drink wine, when they enter into the inner court. Eze 44:21

Neither shall any... It does not say that he is to never drink a glass of wine. It says he must not come into the sanctuary, after drinking a glass of wine.

The priests will be prohibited from drinking wine before ministering lest they become drunk and not perform their duties properly (cf. Lev. 10:8-9).