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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.
“So then, son of man, prophesy and strike your hands
together. Let the sword strike twice, even three times. It is a sword for
slaughter—a sword for great slaughter, closing in on them from every side. So
that hearts may melt with fear and the fallen be many, I have stationed the
sword for slaughter at all their gates. Look! It is forged to strike like
lightning, it is grasped for slaughter. Slash to the right, you sword, then to
the left, wherever your blade is turned. I too will strike My hands together,
and My wrath will subside. I the Lord have spoken.”
Ezekiel 21:14-17
This ends today’s
reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Have you ever sung these words from the song, “The Battle
Hymn of the Republic”:
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword;
His truth is marching on.
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword;
His truth is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.
The imagery is one of the Lord being the great warrior of
His people, the One who is wielding His terrible swift sword against the
enemies of His people and indeed, this was how the people of Israel had seen
their God, as their mighty Conqueror who delivered them from the hands of their
enemies.
Well, God indeed was a mighty Conqueror and Warrior. He had
no rival and no one could stand in opposition to Him, hoping for victory. He
was for His people but that arrangement hinged on one very important condition:
the Israelites had to remain faithful to Him and obedient to His word and will
and way, something we know they failed miserably in doing. And so after
choosing to practice idolatry in plain sight of God, opting for sinfully
disrespecting and disregarding His commands, the people found themselves in a
place where no one should ever want to be. They found themselves facing God’s
terrible swift sword, as evidenced by the following words He spoke to them:
“I am against you.”
The battle cry of God had turned on them further reinforced
as we look again at our scripture passage for today, the foundation for the
final devotion in this four part series:
“So then, son of man,
prophesy and strike your hands together. Let the sword strike twice, even three
times. It is a sword for slaughter—a sword for great slaughter, closing in on
them from every side. So that hearts may melt with fear and the fallen be many,
I have stationed the sword for slaughter at all their gates. Look! It is forged
to strike like lightning, it is grasped for slaughter. Slash to the right, you
sword, then to the left, wherever your blade is turned. I too will strike My
hands together, and My wrath will subside. I the Lord have spoken.” Ezekiel 21:14-17
Note here how God is in absolute control of the actions He
takes on His people. He can strike His hands together and bring fatal judgment
on His enemies but He also can opt to strike His hands together and pull back
His wrath, causing His punishment to subside. He can bring slaughter on anyone
who opposes Him but He also can bring redemption and mercy.
We see these truths play out in the lives of the Old
Testament Israelites of Ezekiel’s day. For in response to their infidelity and adulterous
worship practices, God did draw out His sword of wrath and send harsh judgment
in the way of the Babylonians who attacked and annihilated Judah and its
prized, holy city of Jerusalem. Led by King Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian
forces left the entire territory in ruins before hauling off all Israelites who
survived the onslaught into a seventy-year captivity, the imposed penalty for
their idolatry and abandonment of God, the God who turned against them just as
they had turned against Him.
But we know this judgment would not last forever. The
Israelites would not spend a day less than the seventy years God sentenced them
to but afterwards, the Lord did choose to have His wrath subside and give His
people a chance to return home to Judah and Jerusalem where they could rebuild their
homes, their lives, and their relationship with God. The Old Testament books of
Ezra and Nehemiah are outstanding sources to read about the second chance
opportunity God gave His people and how they made good on that opportunity.
In the end translation as we turn to today, we can either
place ourselves in a position where we deserve God’s sword of wrath for our
choice to sin against Him or the blessing of His favor for remaining obedient
and faithful to Him.
God can go either way and will do what He needs to do to
make us the people He wants us to be. Let’s do ourselves a favor, learn from
the mistakes of the Old Testament Israelites, and never stray from living a
life fully guided by God’s righteousness, a life we can easily put in place by
living like Jesus, God’s only Son, did.
Come to think of it, isn’t that what we’re supposed to be
doing as Christians anyways?
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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