epcblog

Devotional thoughts (Monday through Thursday mornings) from the pastor of Exeter Presbyterian Church in Exeter, NH // Sunday Worship 10:30am // 73 Winter Street

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Ezekiel 8

The people of God were in exile. Ezekiel was with the elders of Judah, and the hand of the Lord GOD fell upon him there in the land of exile. The message from God came through His prophet in the hearing of those who had special responsibility for the Lord’s nation. They were leaders of the people, though they were in forced subjection to another nation by God’s hand.

God speaks through all of the things that He has made. Because of this speech, man is without excuse. Yet God also speaks with great clarity using words. He normally speaks those words through an appointed messenger. The words that we have recorded in the Bible are a completed deposit of this special revelation. We stand in great need of this speech of God, which we should value for what it is, the Word of God to us. Particularly those who have positions of responsibility among the people of God should recognize their great need to hear from the Lord.

In the case of the prophet Ezekiel, he not only hears from God or his angel, he may actually see the one who speaks in some way. The appearance of a human figure is presented to the prophet. There is more to this being than his humanity. The fire that seems to be a part of him is reminiscent of the divine representation to Moses in the burning bush. This man with a torso like gleaming metal is somehow more than a man. He shows this by his actions as well as his appearance, since he can pick up Ezekiel by a lock from the prophet’s head, and with the Spirit of God, lifts him up in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the court of the temple. There he is confronted by idolatrous images and actions that seem almost designed to bring God’s wrath upon those who embrace them. This is not only because such instruments of false worship are always against the Law of God, but especially because of their placement in the temple area, the place of God’s presence with His people.

What follows in the remainder of the chapter is an account of the various provocations against God by His people. In this vision Ezekiel digs into the wall, discovers an entrance, goes inside, and there sees all kind of images of the idols of the house of Israel. Even if such a wall as this one had never existed, the placement of this vision is appropriate, because here we are given a glimpse into the idolatrous affections of the hearts of God’s people. This sin begins in the heart and the mind. God has granted to us the amazing capacity to desire, to feel things deeply, and to meditate upon them. These capacities are to be dedicated to Him. We are to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. In our hearts we have instead plastered the inside walls of this temple of the Holy Spirit with idol upon idol, till these creeping things have obscured the image of God in us, and the light of the Lord that should be shining through us seems irreparably darkened by our sin and iniquity.

This is bad enough when the weakest people among the descendants of Jacob would be taken in by such strange worship. The next level of abomination Ezekiel is made to see is the participation of seventy leading men in burning incense to false gods. They fall prey to strange opinions and practices, convincing themselves that god will not notice such things. They also say, “The Lord has forsaken the land.” Instead of taking in this information as a further directive towards the deepest kind of repentance, the elders seem to seize upon it as a wild excuse in their determination to ignore the word of the Lord.

This is followed with visions of organized worship, first of women weeping for a false god, and then of men turning away from the presence of God so that they could worship the sun. In addition to these ritual sins of spiritual wickedness, they express their hatred of the Author of all that is good and right by filling God’s land with violence. The end result of their superstition, idolatry, and murderous oppression will be that God will not hear them when they call out to Him in distress. His eye will not spare, and he will have no pity.

This description of God’s people, his elders and the men and women in Jerusalem, bares no resemblance to the Son of God. They were insensible spiritually, with no remaining feelings of shame. They were full of all that was false, and covered in the depravity of all that was hateful and wicked. The Messiah, on the other hand, was as far away from even the thought of such sin as the east is from the west. He was entirely pleasing to His Father, without even the slightest blemish.

How is it, then, that He faced their end? How is it that the Father turned away from Him on the cross, since Jesus could never have ceased to be the Son of His love? It was surely for our sake that He was stricken, smitten, and afflicted. Divine justice came upon Him as our substitute. This alone is quite amazing, but it would not be enough if the only thing that was accomplished was the removal of the just penalty that was against us. If we no longer had the fact of hell to deal with but were still as fit for hell as ever, this would not be the fullness of good news that is ours in Christ. We have something more promised to us. We shall not be full of unbelief and wickedness forever.

By the cross our lives have been changed. We have been granted the presence of God in the temple of the Holy Spirit. We hear the Word of God in nature, and especially in the Bible, even now. We have a new heart that loves that Word. One day we will be lifted up to the heavenly sanctuary. Every trace of our sinful inclinations will be completely removed from us in every conceivable way. We are being cleansed now, but we shall one day be without spot or blemish or any such thing. The temple of God shall be forever holy. We will be there. In fact, in Christ, we will be the perfected temple of God. On that day we will not only hear our God, but we will see His Son face to face. With our resurrected bodies we will see Him as He is. This perfection of holiness is an essential component of what we understand to be the perfect salvation. Because of Christ, God hears us when we call. In fact, all who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

posted by Pastor Magee @ 7:00 AM

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