April 5-9, 2010

Then I looked, and behold, a likeness as the appearance of a man; from His loins and downward there was the appearance of fire, and from His loins upward the appearance of brightness like the appearance of glowing metal. Ezekiel 8:2

This week we continue to stand in God’s courtroom as He judges and sentences Israel for all her sins. The All-Consuming Fire will both reveal their sin in His light and consume them for their sin.

Ezekiel and Jeremiah continue to live out the messages to God’s people. Ezekiel’s tiny model city is emphasized by Ezekiel’s sacrificial life style. Rationed meals of bread and water cooked in an ungodly oven and eaten for 390 days could not have gone unnoticed. But unfortunately, once again it went unheeded.

In that same year, Jeremiah continues his display of God’s anger as he places himself in a heavy oxen yoke. Israel had yoked herself to the pagan religions of the land and her neighboring nations, never realizing that they led her about like a young ox who didn’t could not get away if it tried. Empty words of prophecy could not change the truth Jeremiah acted out. You would think that Jeremiah’s prediction of Hananiah’s death would have turned the hearts of even the most wicked leader. But unfortunately, even miracles can’t penetrate the heart of the godless!!!

It must have brought some comfort to Jeremiah to know that as he was delivering God’s message in Jerusalem, Ezekiel was declaring God’s heart to the people in Babylon. Was Ezekiel there when Jeremiah sent the message with Seraiah? Did he hear him read the words? Was he there when Seraiah tied it up and through it in the Euphrates River? The Bible doesn’t give us a clue, but you can be sure Ezekiel wasn’t ignorant of the event!

Although Ezekiel resides in exile in the land of Babylon, most of his prophecies are spoken against the land of Israel. The people in Babylon still held hopes that the monarchy left in Israel would find a way to defeat Babylon and they would quickly be returned to their land. Through Ezekiel, God shows them the hopelessness of their hopes. Israel’s wickedness and pride had come to full fruition and their would be no reprieve.

On the 5th day of the 6th month of the 6th year of Jehoiachin’s reign God takes Ezekiel on a spiritual excursion to Israel. God’s revelation of what the leaders were doing in secret substantiated the necessity of God’s judgment. Even today it is still shocking to see what some “spiritual” leaders do in their secret places. Pornography, drunkenness, and promiscuity are not unheard of among those whose lives should be an example for others to follow. It is the love of God for His people that causes their sin to be exposed. God has the right to judge sin and the fire of His Spirit causes their hidden deeds to come out into the open. Unfortunately, the ways of the priests in the hidden places of the Temple had become the ways of the people in the open courtyard. What priests did in secret, common man did openly without shame, regret or remorse!

Consistently we are confronted with the fact that human nature never changes. Because there were some who were not taken into captivity in the first exile wave, those that remain in Jerusalem have convinced themselves that they were left behind because they were the righteous ones - that only the exiles are the ones who are the real sinners! Mankind has learned to justify sin since the moment Adam and Eve fell in the garden. We have a tendency to judge others without taking time to see ourselves. Had they been able to see things from God’s perspective, they would have been appalled by the sight. They would have seen that the vision of those in captivity was just a mirror of themselves. The only difference between them was that those in captivity had far more hope than those remaining in Jerusalem!!! For those in Babylon, the worse was basically over. For those in Jerusalem, violence, death and captivity were still at their doorstep!

Once again we hear God’s judgment on those who prophesy out of their own reasoning and desires. The seriousness of God’s judgment against these prosperity hungry, self-assured fortune-tellers is frightening. God say He will raise His fist against them. They will be banished from the community of Israel and their names will be blotted from God’s records!!! That ought to make anyone tremble who stands in the place to speak for God. I know it makes my heart cry out for truth and accuracy in the things I say!!!!!!!

On Thursday we see the uselessness of using a vine to fastened into a wall to be hung on. You can’t build solid structures with vines!

Also, we hear the story of God’s love and compassion for infant Israel on the day she was abandoned. We see His compassion and care for her as she grew to maturity. But then she forgets her covenant and becomes worse than a prostitute. People will often say that when a marriage falls apart, it certainly has to be the fault of both of them. God would say differently! There was nothing more He could have done for His wife, but her sinful, rebellious nature caused her to turn from the One who had only done her good. What a contrast between God and His chosen people. They may have forgotten their vow and broken their covenant, but God has not forgotten His. In spite of their failure, God will continue to deal with His people until the day He has developed a people with whom He can enter into a new covenant! What an amazingly patient God we serve!!! God had covenanted with Himself to have a bride before time began and He will fulfill His own covenant!!!!!

Friday is filled with riddles and proverbs. Shadowy images that hold far more than what we see at face value are waiting for those who are willing and diligent to look beyond the surface of the story. God’s declaration that He is able to take out of power and also willing to replant and give power is the same message that Daniel gave to King Nebuchadnezzar when he interpreted his dream. If the children of Israel would only believe that their captivity is a result of God’s judgment, they will have no problem trusting that He also has the ability to restore them! God is still calling people to repent and turn from their sin. May we be encouraged by the desire of God’s heart towards His people. He has and will continue to go to every length to conform us into a people who corresponds to Him. He will plant the “Branch” in the highest mountain and His kingdom will flourish. And all this because He wants us to live!!!