Fall Of Man

Detestable Things

Dan

It was my observation that detestable things come in many flavors. Ezekiel defines one of those flavors in Chapter 8. He makes it clear the Hebrews are on a dark slippery slope downward. They thought they were on high ground and were navigating the speedbumps, even pointing fingers at others. But they were fools. They criticized God; they missed the point. Never pick a fight with the boss. All you do is condemn yourself. This is the plain truth. They work hard to deflect their sin to something else or somebody else. But God sees through their smoke screen and knows the plain truth.

Ezekiel 8:14-18 says – He brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the Lord, and I saw women sitting there, mourning the god Tammuz. He said to me, do you see this, son of man? You will see things that are even more detestable than this. He then brought me into the inner court of the house of the Lord, and there at the entrance to the temple, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five men. With their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, they were bowing down to the sun in the east. He said to me, have you seen this, son of man? Is it a trivial matter for the people of Judah to do the detestable things they are doing here? Must they also fill the land with violence and continually arouse my anger? Look at them putting the branch to their nose! Therefore, I will deal with them in anger; I will not look on them with pity or spare them. Although they shout in my ears, I will not listen to them. [NIV]

Only a fool believes he can deceive the one true living God. Only a fool thinks they can negotiate with God. Never assume you can divert God’s attention and then press him to play the nice guy card, getting yourself off the hook. Bad move. He is a merciful God but not a pushover. Ezekiel, speaking for God, hammers out the message. In his kindness, he leads us firmly, holding our hand with a strong grip, and leading us to truth. Then God looks you in the eye and says – You still want to resist? Bad move!

And so, here we are. Idols worshiped in the temple courtyard. Women mourning and weeping for Tammuz. This practice was an ancient Sumerian cult ritual commemorating the death of seasonal fertility. Not much trust of God in this activity. It was clear that atheism or some form of God denying was at the core of their idolatry. The Hebrews seems to be flippant about their view – God does not hear us, so we can do what we want to do. They seem to feel they are out of God’s purview. God’s response? I cannot hear? I am deaf?  Not really. It is because of your behavior; I choose to not hear you.

I suspect, in most of these cases that Ezekiel was prophesying about, the essential problem was a denial or disbelief of the omniscience of God, this denial feeds the Hebrew departures from his law and leads many people from today’s church into chaos. This departure, to find yourself, to find some new truth, to find an easier path to walk, to find ‘real’ truth, to find a better set of friends, this departure starts when we stop accepting the omniscience of God. Huh? We start doubting that God knows everything about everything. We start assuming he is dated, out of step with the new and improved moral ideas. This pushes you to step away from an ignorant God. God starts feeling a little too small for your ‘higher level’ world. You start feeling like you got a handle on things and a better plan than God has. You start thinking God’s old, outdated moral law is not as pure as your new moral law. You start feeling superior in thought to this ancient God. And, in that instant, you are starting to cross the line.

And so, we place the branch to our nose to negate the detestable things. The branch, in this case, is often thought to be a highly aromatic branch used to shield us from detestable odors. Odor? You know. The kind of aroma we smell in a field frequented by a large herd of Javelina. We are talking about that unmistakable smell. You cannot see them, but you can hear their hooves and that detestable smell. That unmistakable smell. You know danger is near and you try hard to convince yourself you can avoid the trouble. After all, Javelina cannot see very well!  As for me?     I choose Jesus.

Respecting the Things of God

Dan

It was my observation while reading Ecclesiastes that Solomon was clear in Ecclesiastes 8:9-13 that we should avoid engaging with tyrannical and oppressive people. Why? In the end, the righteous succeed and evil men will diminish. He also talked about the need for a speedy trial and resolution in court cases.

Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 8:9-13 — All this I saw, as I applied my mind to everything done under the sun. There is a time when a man lords it over others to his own hurt. Then too, I saw the wicked buried—those who used to come and go from the holy place and receive [men’s] praise in the city where they did this. This too is meaningless. When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do [more] wrong. Although a wicked person who commits a hundred crimes may live a long time, I know it will go better with those who fear God, who are reverent before him. Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, their days will not lengthen like a shadow [NIV].

Solomon made it clear he had observed many rulers that ruled over others even to their own hurt. They were put into power to administrate justice for their people, to preserve public peace, and to protect the people from aggressive outsiders. Yet, they used power to hurt, take property, freedom, and justice away from the people to the benefit of the few. Their pride and greed led to their decline in power; bringing the troubles they imposed on others back to themselves. They had no respect for God or God’s people.

He saw these rulers and potentates come and go from the temple, never being held accountable for their actions. They continued with the behavior all their life in office, died and were buried with the honor of the office they held (not the honor they carried because of their actions). Their vanity, wealth and power vanished with the whiff of their death. Their life was considered to be meaningless. Nothing was remembered – neither the good things nor the bad things. They became obscure. Their bodies buried in the dust, vanishing into dust. God had the last word. Death put them in their place.

Solomon has sufficient experience and foresight to understand that some leaders, placed into power, would do improper things one hundred times over and yet God’s response would be deferred, patience would be applied to the situation much beyond the range of human kindness. This would add to the leader’s days, and then, at the same time – God told us to hang tough – He is in control. We are not to become discouraged or demoralized. You may recall the song lyric – Be happy! That is God’s counsel. Focus on the one true living God, not some random human who is out of control. The message of God for people who are enduring poor leadership is found in Ecclesiastes 3:14. He says — I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, and nothing can be taken from it. God does it, that men should fear before Him [NIV].

We are given the fruit of the Spirit for a reason; our character is shaped by each of the fruits. The notion of fearing God can be easily defined as ‘respecting God’ and his plans. We know his eye is always on us, even when things are falling apart, His eye is on us. In turn, we are to keep our eye on the one true living God (eternal things), not on the things around us (temporal things). If we stand in awe of his majesty, trust his judgement in our lives, and focus our life on walking with God, we will find peace.

When we are flat on the ground, fully at the mercy of proud oppressors then we find the true meaning of fearing God. We stay focused, submit to God’s will, find our way through the trouble, and find a place of respite to reel in our thoughts. We learn through these experiences they cannot interrupt our communion with God. We know it will be well with our soul when we respect the things of God. I choose Jesus.

Harder than Flint

Dan

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

Dan

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

Dan

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

Dan

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)

Dan

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.