epcblog

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

Thursday, May 08, 2008

Ezekiel 20

Many people claim to want to hear from God. Some even come to the ones who are authorized representatives of the Word of God just for this purpose. In the days of the Old Testament, some of those authorized representatives were actually true prophets. They had received a call directly from God and were particularly equipped by Him to speak to a given people. Here certain of the elders who are Israelites in Babylon, come to Ezekiel indicating a desire to hear from the Lord. This event happened five years before the final destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians.

Just because men claim to want to hear from God does not mean that God will speak to them. The Lord knows the hearts of men, and He has determined that He will not be inquired of by these elders. God does have something to say to them, and He does so in the remainder of this chapter, but He will not condescend to answer their questions. He will instead review some of the facts of their history, and then tell them something remarkable that will be fulfilled in the distant future. This may all seem irrelevant to them if they are just looking for some divine way out of exile in their lifetime. If that is their only interest, I am not sure that they will find anything satisfying in the message that Ezekiel delivers here.

God begins His historical thoughts from the point of their deliverance from slavery in Egypt. God announced Himself to them as the Lord their God. He promised to bring them out of the land of bondage, and to bring them into a wonderful place that would be their land. God called them to get rid of all the idols of Egypt that they were clinging to. This is not that different from our situation as New Covenant followers of Christ. God has met us in our place of bondage to sin. He has delivered us from that place and brought us into a new life by His Spirit. He asks us to turn away from all idolatry and to worship Him, for He is the God who has delivered us from sin through Jesus Christ.

God recounts the response of His people of Old to this demand. They did not give up their Egyptian gods. When they were out of the sight of Moses for a very short time, even Aaron was led astray in making a golden calf for them to worship. The Lord was ready to destroy them, but for the sake of His Name, He was true to His promises and to His great acts of deliverance performed before the sight of all people.

This pattern was quickly repeated during their time in the wilderness. The Lord increased His wonderful revelation to His people, granting to them a system of life through His Law. He reminded them in particular about His good gift of Sabbath to them, a day of rest for their sanctification. They would not keep His laws and they still were devoted to their idols. Once again, He would have destroyed them, but He spared them, and led their children into the Promised Land. As might have been predicted, it would not take long for the depravity of Israel to be seen one more time. Once again the Lord spared them out of concern for His own Name, but it was not as if there were no consequences. The Law became a testimony to them of their own sin, not a good way of life for them, for they continued in their idolatry and rebellion. When they came into the land they were experts at setting up shrines of false worship in high places everywhere. These were provocations against the Lord. Do His people really think that God will not care when we repeatedly do the things that He commands us not to do?

The conclusion of this brief review of their rebellious history is now taken up to the present moment as the elders have come before Ezekiel to inquire of God. The Lord will not be inquired of by them. He will never agree to be another god alongside their various idols. If they intend to continue in their heritage of idolatry, offering their gifts to the gods of the nations, and even sacrificing their own children in the fire, God will certainly not fit into their plans. They might like to have gods of wood and stone like so many of their neighbors, but the Lord will never agree to that. He will show Himself to be their God even if it is by pouring out His wrath upon them.

Now it is time for a distant future event to be announced, though they may have little interest in or understanding of the message that will come through this great prophet. Do we simply want comfort and a return to our old life as these false elders of Israel? Do we instead long for and love the appearing of Jesus Christ? If so, here is the message. God calls for a suffering future like the days of suffering in the wilderness. There will be a restoration and beyond that an entire New Covenant era, but it will not be an easy thing. The church will be born and will grow within the context of much struggle. God will purge out the rebels from among us. This will not be an easy thing. A day is coming when it will not be so much a matter of whether His people serve Him on one mountain or another mountain. A day is coming when the Lord will raise up true worshipers who worship Him in Christ, the rock of our salvation. Using the language of Old Testament worship and experience, the prophet speaks in a hidden way about the gathering of the Lord’s people from many places in an era of hope, yet also an era of pain.

Before that day, there will be more trouble from Babylon. That too is mentioned here. There is no quick fix. There is no easy message of everything being alright. That kind of word is left for false prophets to deliver. There is a true Word of the Lord acting in ways most consistent with the glory of His great Name. A wind will head south from Babylon and will bring more destruction upon Jerusalem in just a few short years, but the Lord will raise up a new people one day to worship Him. For now, they cannot seem to get the point at all, though most of what Ezekiel has said is very plain. May we not be similarly resistant to the Lord’s call to us today to be followers of Christ. That good demand is still given today to those who would take the Name of the Messiah upon themselves. May we be those who love His good gifts to us, seeking to embrace the grace that is ours in Christ, and desiring to follow the commandments of our Savior. May we enjoy something of our Sabbath rest in Him even now, growing in faithfulness day by day through the work of His sanctifying Spirit.

posted by Pastor Magee @ 7:00 AM

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