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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
“In the seventh year, in the fifth month on the tenth day,
some of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord, and they sat down in
front of me.”
“Then the word of the Lord came to me: ‘Son of man, speak to
the elders of Israel and say to them, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
Have you come to inquire of me? As surely as I live, I will not let you inquire
of me, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”
“Will you judge them? Will you judge them, son of man? Then
confront them with the detestable practices of their ancestors.”
“Therefore, son of man, speak to the people of Israel and
say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: In this also your ancestors
blasphemed me by being unfaithful to me: When I brought them into the land I
had sworn to give them and they saw any high hill or any leafy tree, there they
offered their sacrifices, made offerings that aroused my anger, presented their
fragrant incense and poured out their drink offerings. Then I said to them:
What is this high place you go to?’” (It is called Bamah to this day.)”
“Therefore say to the Israelites: ‘This is what the
Sovereign Lord says: Will you defile yourselves the way your ancestors did and
lust after their vile images? When you offer your gifts—the sacrifice of your
children in the fire—you continue to defile yourselves with all your idols to
this day. Am I to let you inquire of me, you Israelites? As surely as I live,
declares the Sovereign Lord, I will not let you inquire of me.”
Ezekiel 20:1-4,
27-31
This ends today’s
reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
What can happen if we choose to shut God out of our lives?
We find out in today’s devotion as we move to studying the
20th Chapter of the Book of Ezekiel. Look again at these words:
“In the seventh year,
in the fifth month on the tenth day, some of the elders of Israel came to
inquire of the Lord, and they sat down in front of me.”
“Then the word of the
Lord came to me: ‘Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and say to them, “This
is what the Sovereign Lord says: Have you come to inquire of me? As surely as I
live, I will not let you inquire of me, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”
“Will you judge them?
Will you judge them, son of man? Then confront them with the detestable
practices of their ancestors.”
“Therefore, son of
man, speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign
Lord says: In this also your ancestors blasphemed me by being unfaithful to me:
When I brought them into the land I had sworn to give them and they saw any
high hill or any leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices, made
offerings that aroused my anger, presented their fragrant incense and poured
out their drink offerings. Then I said to them: What is this high place you go
to?’” (It is called Bamah to this day.)”
“Therefore say to the
Israelites: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Will you defile yourselves
the way your ancestors did and lust after their vile images? When you offer
your gifts—the sacrifice of your children in the fire—you continue to defile
yourselves with all your idols to this day. Am I to let you inquire of me, you
Israelites? As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I will not let
you inquire of me.” Ezekiel 20:1-4, 27-31
As Ezekiel 20 opens, we find Ezekiel being approached by “some
of the elders of Israel” who came to the prophet to “inquire of the Lord”. As
they sat down before him, we find God priming His messenger with words to say.
For He knew already that the elders were going to ask to speak to Him and God
had no interest in listening.
Why was this? Why was God rejecting His elders? Weren’t they
the senior members of His temple, the men who possessed the greatest wisdom
when it came to matters pertaining to Him?
They were supposed to be but as we know from earlier
scriptures in this book, they (the elders) had turned away from God and engaged
in idolatry, even going as far as conducting pagan worship ceremonies in God’s
temple. They had shut off God from their spiritual lives but now were coming to
Him, as if God were a God of mere convenience, there for them at their
beckoning call.
And so God, was less than pleased to see the elders coming
to Him and made it clear right up front that He wanted nothing to do with them,
sending the following message through Ezekiel:
“As surely as I live,
I will not let you inquire of me, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
God then goes on to show us that the Israelites of Ezekiel’s
day were no less sinful then their ancestors had been. Rather than learn from
the mistakes of the past, they simply repeated them.
How had the Israelite ancestors sinned against God in their
day?
God tells us in the following verses:
“In this also your
ancestors blasphemed me by being unfaithful to me: When I brought them into the
land I had sworn to give them and they saw any high hill or any leafy tree,
there they offered their sacrifices, made offerings that aroused my anger,
presented their fragrant incense and poured out their drink offerings. Then I
said to them: What is this high place you go to?’” (It is called Bamah to this
day.)”
Indeed, spiritual infidelity had occurred before within God’s
people who gave their devotion to false gods, performing various sacrifices
unto them. They had no more regard for God’s commands to have no other gods
before Him than the generation of Israelites at the center of our study in
Ezekiel who were lusting after vile images and even going as far as offering up
their own children, surrendering young life for dead gods.
Yes, the Israelites, past and present, had defiled
themselves and sinned against God in the ways that He called detestable. They
had abandoned Him, disrespecting and disregarding Him in the worst ways possible.
And then they had the nerve to approach Him as if nothing had ever happened,
like there was no consequence for their wickedness.
Well, as we know, there were consequences, severe ones that
ranged far beyond God simply shunning a group of His elders. For God brought an
insurmountable force in the Babylonian army who ran roughshod over Judah and
Jerusalem, leaving the kingdom and city in ruins before hauling the people away
into a seventy-year exile. If the Israelites wanted to live apart from God
spiritually, they would get to experience what it felt like to be abandoned
themselves.
Friends, the Lord is sending a strong message to all
believers today, not just the elders of Israel in today’s scripture. For He is
not going to tolerate anyone who chooses to willingly and willfully shut Him
off from their lives.
If we decide to go that route, we might just find God
shutting us off in return.
Amen
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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