Ezekiel 15:8 I will make the land desolate because they have been unfaithful, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
Because of the cell phone, we live in a day when there are cameras everywhere. People are constantly taking photos. When it comes to celebrities, they have dealt with this for some time. They live their lives knowing that someone will be there to take their picture, often at the most inopportune time! You can find some pretty ugly pictures of some otherwise beautiful people!
It’s not that different with God. We might flip through the Bible and come upon a verse that seems to show God in a surprising light. Today’s verse does not exist in a vacuum. God had been sending His prophets for some time. He had warned the people through them time and again. In fact, He had told their ancestors before they ever entered the Promised Land what was expected and what would happen should they disobey. Their problem was not a lack of adequate knowledge of what God wanted or warning about the consequences. They just had things more important to them than God.
A God Who judges, a God Who punishes is not the popular image of God. We quite like the image of a God Who is there when we need Him, but will just stand back in the shadows until we do. We like the idea of a God Who is powerful enough to meet our needs, but powerless do address our misdeeds. That is a god of our own creation. That god is not the God of the Bible!
Ezekiel’s prophecy is delivered as spoken by ‘the Sovereign Lord.’ This is not Charles III who celebrated and fawned over at his coronation, with all the trappings of royalty, but who is then basically set aside while the people with the real power run things. He is Sovereign. He does what He will.
But lest the snapshot not give the full picture, let us zoom out. As we do, we will see a God Who loves people and wants what’s best for them. We will see a God Who sent warning after warning because He did not want them to suffer. We see a God Who so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
We see a God who made a way for us. A God Who loves us so much that He suffered, bled, and died to save us from our sin. That is how serious sin is. It separates us from God. He does not want that separation. But He will not force His way on us. Love is only born of free will. He offers us that choice. He has sent His prophets. We can find their words in the Bible. We dare not ignore them!
Blessings,
Pastor Russ
