Tag: Fall Of Man

Harder than Flint

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It was my observation while reading chapter 3 of Ezekiel that he was given a very tough audience by the one true living God. He was warned by Elohim they were people of bad character and poor disposition.

Ezekiel 3: 7-11 says — The people of Israel are not willing to listen to you because they are not willing to listen to me, for all the Israelites are hardened and obstinate. But I will make you as unyielding and hardened as they are. I will make your forehead like the hardest stone, harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people.” And he said to me, “Son of man, listen carefully and take to heart all the words I speak to you. Go now to your people in exile and speak to them. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says,’ whether they listen or fail to listen.” [NIV]

Well, this sets the stage for a difficult job. Nothing was going to make them weep or blush with shame.  No amount of denunciation was going to humble them. They knew that Ezekiel was sent specifically to them, the House of Isreal. The rest of the slaves were being ignored. This pushed them away.  Then, they added more to the snarky attitude towards Ezekiel. They were snarky towards God himself. Their rejection of Ezekiel was significant, but in comparison to their rejection of God it was a mere footnote in their rant. They had no fear nor respect for the desires of the God who had snatched them out of Egypt.

Their obstinance was so strong, they were unlikely to respond to the voice of God himself crashing across that city of Babylon. They rejected the message just because it originated from God. The content was not nearly as relevant to their rejection as the source was. They viewed the law as a huge detriment to proper living. They turned a deaf ear to Ezekiel because of the source of his message.  He never had a chance to persuade them. They walked away laughing at him and scoffing at God, their fist raised in defiance.

Ezekiel must dig deep for courage to continue.  He is told to continue.  God gave him a strong face (a forehead of flint) to stand against them. I suspect we might call this a ‘poker face’. I wonder if he was a bit timid and needed some encouragement and bolstering to stand against these people. I might expect him to be rather humble and unassuming in nature. All the more for him to be the perfect tool for Gods work.

The more aggressive that people outside God’s grace are in their opposition to the message the more resolutely we should be to defend the message.  We should not be driven by the need to win, rather we press forward because they are so mired in confusion and half-truths.  They need help.  We are that help if we are standing in front of them.  We read in Job 17:8 of the need for his people to stir up against the voices that resist God.  We are called to speak.  Why?  We serve a God who is not silent.  The God of this universe will help men who have need speak and set their face like a flint against resistance (implied in Isaiah 50:7).

This all can be seen to be very harsh.  I think we need to remember the Grace and Mercy of God.  Do we only speak to people who seem to be reasonable and kind, they just need Jesus to complete their life.  Do we reject and shun those who rail against God and his way?  I do not think it is our place to decide.  We are to carry the message and walk the talk no matter who we are with.  Kindness and Love will drive our focus.  God’s mercy is the story.  We are mere storytellers, not the Judge.   I choose Jesus.

Confine Yourself to Quarters

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It has been my observation that the early chapters for the book of Ezekiel are a series of give and take events between Ezekiel and the God he serves. We find ourselves at the end of the third chapter. After all the pomp and glitter of his visions and the clear directives of how he should respond to the rebellious House of Israel in Chapters 1-3, we would expect to see him walk outside his house, find a high spot amongst the Israelites and start talking. We would expect a large group to gather at first until the message started to bite. And so, we find the watchman in his first act of ministry. This first event seems a bit unexpected given the power and grandeur of his commissioning.

Ezekiel 3:22-27 says — The hand of the Lord was on me there, and he said to me, “Get up and go out to the plain, and there I will speak to you.” So, I got up and went out to the plain. And the glory of the Lord was standing there, like the glory I had seen by the Kebar River, and I fell facedown. Then the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet. He spoke to me and said: “Go, shut yourself inside your house. And you, son of man, they will tie with ropes; you will be bound so that you cannot go out among the people. I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, for they are rebellious people. But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you shall say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’ Whoever will listen let them listen, and whoever will refuse let them refuse; for they are rebellious people [NIV].

In this passage, we find the usual interaction. God tells him to get up, head to the flatlands (away from the river) so we can visit. Ezekiel goes to the flatlands and sees the same thing he saw at the river Kabar; So, he lays prostrate in respect, then the Spirit of God stands him back up and starts talking. 

As he drops to the ground, I suspect he would be thinking – God can be any place he wants to be, any time he wants to be, in any form of Glory he wants to display. He is a man who once took issue with his calling and withdrew from the previous visions (see Ezekiel 3:14). Transformed, he is a man who is now comfortable talking with the one true living God.

I do not think that we should expect to see such a vision, but we should expect to interact with God. He is not silent. We will hear him in meditation, through scripture, and in prayer. We do within the confines of our faith have a glimpse of the Glory of God (see 2 Corinthians 3:18). As he is being raised up, I suspect he was wondering if he has already made a mistake, hanging out in his house. He gets fully up and he gazes at the Glory of God. I suspect he was expecting a direct statement – go here, do this. Instead, God orders him to sequester himself at home.  Immediately!  God tells him to not appear in public. I think he might have been relieved. He was off the hook. Then the rest of the story unfolds. Men came to his home and tied him up.  Opps!

I think that our choices often define our speedbumps. It is reasonable to expect God to sideline pastors when they do not tend to their flock and do not respond to gentle nudges to get things done. We pray for stuff we have no business requesting and then God sends us a ‘I Love you’ note in the form of a speedbump – the very outcome of the poor prayer decision we made a few weeks ago. Ezekiel is now confined to quarters, bound, laying on the floor and unable to speak. Talk about a speedbump!

Yet God uses this situation to demonstrate the siege of Jerusalem where people were confined to their homes and unable to talk to others. He shows that even in this dire situation, He is the Lord God Almighty. He is in control. He is sovereign. He shall be respected. I choose Jesus.

Those who Escape will Remember Me

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It was my observation that Israel had been the Jewel in God’s eye, but Ezekiel (chapter 6) declares they were polluted in their thinking and their actions. Their worship of the most high had become wallowing in the mud of idolatry. For reasons that seemed foolish they had rejected the realness and beauty of the one true living God for wooden and stone models of a god ‘made up’ by humans.

You might think the Hebrew nation is going to crash and burn. A sad ending indeed. But this is not the ending. God’s grace will prevail. There will be a remnant. A few will remain faithful, they will suffer along with the rest of the Hebrews, but they will not perish. Their heart will not be extinguished. God will shelter them from the deepest troubles. They will pass through the fire unblemished.

Ezekiel 6:8-10 says — But I will spare some, for some of you will escape the sword when you are scattered among the lands and nations. Then in the nations where they have been carried captive, those who escape will remember me—how I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts, which have turned away from me, and by their eyes, which have lusted after their idols. They will loathe themselves for the evil they have done and for all their detestable practices. And they will know that I am the Lord; I did not threaten in vain to bring this calamity on them [NIV].

If you take a look at Isaiah 1:9 we see the same theme. The entire group deserves to be cut off, but by grace, God maintains a remnant. Some will die by the sword but some will escape. None of the people marked to fall by the sword escaped, they put their trust in the walls of the city rather than the God of the city. Their shame of trusting wood, mud and stone was their fall.  Those who trusted God, were spared and their seed became the new inhabitants of the City of God.

God’s patience left them room for repentance and for receiving forgiveness. Those who repented, escaped death, he gave them life for their repentance. This story is an encouragement to us that repentance matters. We mess up, we repent, we find forgiveness and restoration. We find a path to weather the storm and find the eye of the hurricane. It is clear this remnant was marked for salvation. God, in his foreknowledge knew who was trusting the walls of the city and who was trusting God. They were made safe by God’s mercy through their repentance.

Please understand, they did suffer, they were carried off as captives, but this was better than death. They were driven out of the promised land but not out of God’s hand. We need to learn from this small patch of history. True repentance shall be accepted by the one true living God. In this light, our troubles are permitted by God who uses the troubles to bring us back to him. Our troubles reinforce the need to repent and demonstrate the depth of his grace and mercy. We make a mess, he cleans it up, but we are wise to never think that repenting is a ‘get out of jail’ card. Sometimes we are simply placed in the eye of the hurricane while the storm rages on. We walk through the valley of death, our God is with us, even there in our deepest troubles. We rest in his peace.

Sin starts when we lose sight of God (implied Jeremiah 3:21). Repentance starts when we restore our gaze upon him. His mercy brings himself to our mind. We respond. Grace finds us in our deepest mess, he brings us hope, he brings us mercy, he brings us out. We resist, he persists. We take the role of the prodigal, we head home, and he runs out to meet us. My friends, make no mistake. God will cause us to know we are in deep trouble, that he is Lord of all, and then provide the opportunity (our choice) for repentance (and a safe haven) or complete chaos. What do you pray for? A safe haven. Let God manage the problems. Find his peace. Move towards his peace. This leads to life. I choose Jesus.

According To Your Conduct

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It was my observation while reading Ezekiel (chapter 6) we find a message of firmness interspersed with grace for the Hebrew remnant, now in chapter 7 we find a much different message for those who were continuing to resist the mercy of God and seek solace in the idols of their neighbors.  The approaching armies were pressing on Jerusalem, the imagery was strong and persistent.  Repent or die.  The messaging was very clear.  For those who do not repent there will be complete and utter destruction of Jerusalem, they will reach the end of their life.  It will not be a gentle death.

Ezekiel 7:1-4 — The word of the Lord came to me: Son of man, this is what the Sovereign Lord says to the land of Israel: The end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land! The end is now upon you, and I will unleash my anger against you. I will judge you according to your conduct and repay you for all your detestable practices. I will not look on you with pity; I will not spare you. I will surely repay you for your conduct and for the detestable practices among you. Then you will know that I am the Lord. [NIV]

In my view this was a fair and substantive warning of the judgement to come. It is unreasonable to assume that some were left unaware of the reason for the attack and siege from the Chaldeans. The prophets of God have been talking about this purging since Isaiah and even before. The message from God has been consistent. Now, the Hebrews can see the armies they have heard about.  God kept his word. Yet most of the people are deaf, foolish and uncaring of the message. Jerusalem is in deep trouble, yet the men of the city are not concerned. They are trusting the walls of the city to stop the attack.  Ezekiel continues on – the end is near, it has come, he that has ears, let him hear. This is the final event, the end that consummates the foregoing judgements.  Now the trouble begins. This is on par with the message of Genesis 6:13 to Noah, which discussed the period of their depraved state, the destruction of the Hebrew nation, the serious deluge that was the end of almost all flesh.

The message was speaking of the end, the end you have been warned about, the end that leaves a scant measure of remnant to build upon after the trouble (see Jeremiah 29:10-14). They were expecting that God would bail them out. But that was not the case (see Deuteronomy 29:28-33). Their pride had obscured the proper impact of God’s wisdom. They were fooling themselves.

This messaging provides us with hints of the things to come down the road, even after Cyrus restores Jerusalem and they wait for the final stretch until the Messiah comes onto the scene.  This hint points to the Romans (a replacement for the Chaldeans as a judgement tool). When we read messaging such as the end of things as we know it is at hand, we get the feeling of the thoughts found in Matthew 24:3. It seems that the once the Davidic reign came to close, the Hebrews were always feeling a sense of trouble on the horizon.  This day was no different. With one exception.  Destruction was going to happen soon, really soon.  The veiled warnings were coming to fruit.  If it is the last days for Jerusalem, then Daniel 12:13 applies — As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance. [NIV]

Nahum tells us about this kind of evil and trouble that ensues.  There is no need to continue day-to-day business.  Nahum 1:9 says — What do ye imagine against the Lord? He will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time [NIV].  The Babylonian thing is a final event.  The Hebrew nation is forever changed.  The trouble is without precedent or parallel (implied in Psalms 75:8).

This situation exhibits God’s wrath, yet we do see his mercy protecting the remnant.  This font of calamity, river of pain, this is the wormwood we find in the depth of Ezekiel’s message.  His fury is poured out on the city.  Jeremiah 4:18 says — Your own conduct and actions have brought this on you.  This is your punishment. How bitter it is! How it pierces to the heart! [NIV].  As for me?   I choose Jesus.

You Have Been Unruly (Part III)

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This is the third message present in chapter 5. I addressed the first two messages from Chapter 5 in Part 1 and Part 2 of this series. In this third message, we find a clear statement, I will put you down, I will bring you famine, childlessness, bloodshed, and the plague. You are done. I, the Lord, have spoken.

Ezekiel 5:14-17 says — I will make you a ruin and a reproach among the nations around you, in the sight of all who pass by. You will be a reproach and a taunt, a warning, and an object of horror to the nations around you when I inflict punishment on you in anger and in wrath and with stinging rebuke. I the Lord have spoken. When I shoot at you with my deadly and destructive arrows of famine, I will shoot to destroy you. I will bring more famine upon you and cut off your supply of food. I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will leave you childless. Plague and bloodshed will sweep through you, and I will bring the sword against you. I the Lord have spoken [NIV]

This situation is far more dire than any previous judgement. All of the minor prophets deal with this situation. Once the judgement is over and the Hebrews limp home from Babylon, they never really get their luster restored. They dribble along looking for unity, shifting the blame for their problems from Babylon, to Alexander the Great, then the Romans. Eventually the Messiah appears. Then after the rejection of the Messiah, the temple is destroyed by the Romans and the Hebrews are scattered.

This is a bad thing, on the scale of the problem that led to Noah and the ‘reset’ button (the flood and the ark). Nobody makes fun of God. Nobody! The Hebrews have caused the other nations to mock and make fun of the one true living God. God’s judgment is announced with time for repentance provided.  Then Judgement comes — his way, his time, his severity, and with his finality. He tried extremely hard to make a path for the Hebrews. They simply balked at the gesture.  He put the hammer down.

The one true living God is determined to school this rebellious crowd. He is determined to cause the knee to bend. They will learn to fear him and then learn to respect his power and his mercy. The closer the human is to God’s grace the more severely he refutes the sin. The Hebrews were to teach the other nations about virtue and piety. They were to be water in a dry land. But they chose to abdicate that role, pursuing with vigor the depravity of the other nations. They rolled in the mud, imbedded their minds with the filth of sin. They lifted their haughty fist in anger towards God and rebelled.

The outcome. We are watching the demise of the Hebrew nation, they are reduced in stature to serve the neighboring kingdoms, they build somebody else’s city rather than their own city. In their final days of freedom, they resort to eating their children. Their lifeblood is squandered to fill their belly. Is that not similar to what is happening today? Do we not kill our own children to be free?

The sword of the Lord that once defended the city is now used to destroy the city. The warriors who attach the city move like evil beasts making prey of the inhabitants of the city. Women were not safe, children are not safe, this is a bad situation as the city grinds down to embers. No one escapes, even the ones who try to flee to the deserts and mountains are hacked down. But there is still more.

As we push our way through this story, we see God’s mercy emerging. We see the promises of a future once God pulls back his wrath and replaces it once again with his mercy. We see an amazing vision of a valley of bones that are brought back to life in Chapter 37. God promises to end the exile and then, taking a page from the new covenant yet to be written, God tells them how they will be returned to life. When we walk in with his eyes, at his pace, watching things unfold, his mercy is endless. I choose Jesus.

You Have Been Unruly (Part II)

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It has been my observation that Ezekiel 5 contains three messages, each building upon the other. I reviewed the first message in — You have been Unruly (part 1). Now we are moving to the second of the three messages. What makes Ezekiel 5 worthy of detailed examination is simple – this is the first real message presented by Ezekiel in his writings. First, the Hebrews abdicated their position as the light of the world. Second, the Hebrews are about to endure something that God has never done in the past and will not do again. Parents will eat their children and children will eat their parents. Third, God says He will bring them bloodshed, famine, drought, childlessness, and the plague. This is intense.

Ezekiel 5:8-11 says — Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself am against you, Jerusalem, and I will inflict punishment on you in the sight of the nations. Because of all your detestable idols, I will do to you what I have never done before and will never do again. Therefore, in your midst parents will eat their children, and children will eat their parents. I will inflict punishment on you and will scatter all your survivors to the winds. Therefore, as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your vile images and detestable practices, I myself will shave you; I will not look at you with pity or spare you.

This is a harsh message compared to the first message from Ezekiel 5 (see part 1 of this essay series). Is he justified? Yes. They brought this judgement to their own doorstep. They knew the right path and had experienced the benefit that comes from following the right path, yet they rejected the mantle of God and decided they could do better for themselves, if they took matters into their own hands.

Standing against the one true living God is a lonely place to be. There is nowhere on the face of this earth to hide. There is nothing that can be hidden. All is known. Those who will not acknowledge God’s judgement will suffer the consequences. The ability to hide behind the mercy of God and sidestep the judgement of God is over. The punishment of famine and cannibalism is the only path forward. When God’s sovereignty is set aside and dishonored by man’s sin, God is grieved (implied in Psalms 95:10). Their destruction brings the situation to closure. The books are balanced.

The notion of ransom and mitigation defers or resolves the impact of sin. But when God’s mercy has been stayed, then we find only wrath with no pity. This is not a place any person ever wants to find themselves. From this place there is no recourse. You never want to find yourself the intended audience of this message.  Notice the intent of Ezekiel 7:4 — I will not look at you with pity; I will not spare you. I will surely repay you for your conduct and for the detestable practices among you. Then you will know that I am the LORD [NIV].  The Hebrews have crossed the line.

We do not know the exact details surrounding their cannibalism, it appears they engaged in this detestable practice because of the lack of food. We know that as the siege progresses, life becomes difficult, people lose hope and physical strength. They did not have any manna to help them, they were left with few options to maintain life.

Even if they managed to escape the famine, they knew the Judgement was still in full force. It did not matter where they went, God was there. He was calling them back to him. He was telling them to turn back or die. It is remarkable that so many chose death rather than repent. They were a stubborn group who had completely abandoned the God of their forefathers. The remnant was a very thin line during this period of Israelite history. But the remnant survived. I choose Jesus.

You have been Unruly (Part I)

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It has been my observation while reading the first four chapters of Ezekiel, we are presented with visions and theatrical presentations. But, at the beginning of chapter 5, things change.  Ezekiel is asked to shave his face and his head. Then he is asked to play with his fresh cut hair, throwing it into the air and cutting it with his sword. I was amazed by the sharpness of his sword, similar to a Samurai Sword, to cut in this manner. I think his head and face were shaved to reflect the stripping of Jerusalem from its inhabitants, to be set naked and bare, to be shaved with a razor (see Isaiah 7:20).  But there is more. Now, for the first time in Ezekiel, we get a plain unvarnished message. Ezekiel tells it straight. You have rebelled. You have rejected my laws. You have been unruly!

Ezekiel 5:5-7 says — This is what the Sovereign Lord says: This is Jerusalem, which I have set in the center of the nations, with countries all around her. Yet in her wickedness she has rebelled against my laws and decrees more than the nations and countries around her. She has rejected my laws and has not followed my decrees. Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: You have been more unruly than the nations around you and have not followed my decrees or kept my laws. You have not evenconformed to the standards of the nations around you [NIV].

Initially, God set Jerusalem up as the center of admiration from of all the nations surrounding her. The location of the promised land was not a random decision. She was not a remote village but placed in the middle of countries of large populations, these countries were full of learning and sophisticated cultures, famed for their arts and science. Yet, Jerusalem, with a culture designed by God, was a jewel amongst the best the world had to offer.

Because of her strong morality and solid culture, Jerusalem was dignified and desired above the neighboring countries and was, in many ways, excelling over all of them. Other countries clamored to do business with the Hebrews because of their honesty.  The holy mountain (city) was exalted above all the other hills (implied in Isaiah 2:2). This was the hill God desired; the other nations were aware of this affection (See Psalms 68:16). Some looked at Jerusalem with a kind-eye, others with a jealous-eye.

God set up Jerusalem on display to influence the other nations, setting the stage for the new covenant. This city on a hill was to be a candle upon a candlestick to spread the light to the dark corners of the world. The other nations had observed the excellent culture created by God’s statues and law. As noted during Soloman’s time, the people of Jerusalem were viewed as a wise people to be respected (see Deuteronomy 4:6) but now they squandered this position.

By failing to meet the goals, this flow of influence through the earth would be reserved for the latter days, the time of the new covenant. Once this situation was clear, once Jerusalem no longer held this position, the light burned dim and eventually was extinguished. In fact, the glory of the Lord departs Jerusalem as presented in Ezekiel’s visions in chapter 10.

So, it goes without much thought, when people are placed in visible leader roles by God, it may be by design they do well, not because they are particularly talented, but because it furthers the message and mission of the one true living God. For this reason, the light shines. God is glorified. When the men start carving a bit of the glory out for themselves or turn away from the source of success, then the trouble begins.

With that, we find the core of Israel’s trouble. They took their eyes off of God and his plan. They backed away from God’s structure, the Hebrews began to despise the things that their neighbors admired. Consider the confusion that followed. Consider the pettiness their neighbors saw. The neighbor’s admiration turned to greed – they desired the wealth assimilated by the Hebrews. And, with that, the downward turn was complete. How easily the snare was set for Jerusalem to fall. We must never take our eye off the prize. There will always be a snare at our doorstep. I choose Jesus.