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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.
Again the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, say to
the land, ‘You are a land that has not been cleansed or rained on in the day of
wrath.’ There is a conspiracy of her princes within her like a roaring lion
tearing its prey; they devour people, take treasures and precious things and
make many widows within her. Her priests do violence to my law and profane my
holy things; they do not distinguish between the holy and the common; they
teach that there is no difference between the unclean and the clean; and they
shut their eyes to the keeping of my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among
them. Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey; they shed
blood and kill people to make unjust gain. Her prophets whitewash these deeds
for them by false visions and lying divinations. They say, ‘This is what the
Sovereign Lord says’—when the Lord has not spoken. The people of the land
practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and
mistreat the foreigner, denying them justice.”
“I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall
and stand before Me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to
destroy it, but I found no one. So I will pour out My wrath on them and consume
them with My fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done,
declares the Sovereign Lord.”
Ezekiel 22:23-31
This ends today’s
reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
We’ve spent a lot of time poring over the 22nd chapter of
Ezekiel but we have needed to because there is an incredible amount of content
within these 31 verses as God details the actions of His people that prompted
Him bringing judgment upon them. Today, we look at the chapter’s closing verses
and get a sense of how widespread the sins of the Israelites were and how much
this frustrated a God who was looking for some glimmer of hope that would cause
Him to cancel the punishment and wrath He was about to bring.
Look again at these final verses:
Again the word of the
Lord came to me: “Son of man, say to the land, ‘You are a land that has not
been cleansed or rained on in the day of wrath.’ There is a conspiracy of her
princes within her like a roaring lion tearing its prey; they devour people,
take treasures and precious things and make many widows within her. Her priests
do violence to my law and profane my holy things; they do not distinguish
between the holy and the common; they teach that there is no difference between
the unclean and the clean; and they shut their eyes to the keeping of my
Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. Her officials within her are like
wolves tearing their prey; they shed blood and kill people to make unjust gain.
Her prophets whitewash these deeds for them by false visions and lying
divinations. They say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says’—when the Lord has
not spoken. The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they
oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the foreigner, denying them justice.”
“I looked for someone
among them who would build up the wall and stand before Me in the gap on behalf
of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one. So I will pour
out My wrath on them and consume them with My fiery anger, bringing down on
their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord.” Ezekiel 22:23-31
Note here that the Israelites were wicked from the top down,
from their leaders to the common person on the street. Specifically, the Lord
speaks about each group individually as follows:
1. The princes and officials.
These were the supposed leaders of the people of Israel, the
ones who were to protect and take care of the people they governed.
But that’s not what took place. Rather than care for the
people they ruled over, these leaders treated them like a lion treats its prey,
hunting down people and committing criminal acts against them, acts which
included murder. And if the people had treasures and precious things, those
items of value would be stolen unjustly from them by their leaders.
2. The priests.
If the leaders of the Israelites had gone bad, surely the
people could turn to their spiritual guides and advisors for help, right?
Not exactly because God tells us that His spiritual leaders
were also engaging in violence and profaning His holy things. Note that there
was no clear cut distinction drawn between right and wrong or righteousness and
sin or what was clean or unclean. And not that this should surprise anyone
given the prior charges but the priests paid no homage to the Sabbath day
despite God’s command to honor it and keep it holy (Exodus 20:8-11).
3. The prophets.
These messengers set apart by God to share His messages with
the people had obviously gone on their own program, speaking words in the name
of the Lord that He had never spoken. Thus, the Israelites were misguided by
believing the “false visions and lying divinations” of the prophets.
4. The remainder of the Israelites.
Just because the princes and officials, priests, and
prophets were acting sinfully didn’t mean the people had to but as we read in
the scriptures, they chose to behave wickedly as well, practicing extortion,
committing robbery, oppressing the poor and needy, and mistreating the
foreigner, denying them justice.
Given all this, we find God lamenting over one important
point:
He could find no one who could stand in the gap.
“I looked for someone
among them who would build up the wall and stand before Me in the gap on behalf
of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.”
If God could have found one prince who was righteous in His
sight and could stand in the gap and intercede for His people, then He would
not have to destroy the land.
But He found no prince who could do so.
Ditto for any priest, prophet, or any other person in the
Israelite society.
And so God sent judgment, pouring out His wrath on His
people and consuming them in His anger by way of the attacking Babylonian
forces. He brought on His people what they deserved for what they had done.
So what does this have to do with us today?
It has everything to do with us if you realize that we are
all sinners who have wronged God and it’s this truth that has placed us all in
the crosshairs of His fiery wrath and judgment because there is no one here on
earth who is able to step into the gap and save mankind.
This is why we all need Jesus.
You see God knew that none of His beloved children would be
able to spend eternity with Him unless He provided an atoning sacrifice to
cover our sins and that sacrifice came in His only Son Jesus, the Lamb of God
who came to take away the sins of the world. And so Jesus, through His
crucifixion on Calvary’s cross, paid the penalty we rightfully deserved and it’s
only through Him that we can be pardoned and justified from our sins. He
(Jesus) stepped into the gap and provided a bridge to God where we could live
with Him and the Father forever. To cross the bridge to eternal life, all we
need to do is place our full belief and trust in Jesus as Savior.
Or in other words, the only way to the Father is through the
Son (John 14:6).
Amen
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
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