epcblog

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

Monday, May 12, 2008

Ezekiel 22

It is a great challenge for a prophet to speak in judgment against His own people. There is always the danger that He will be found to be a hypocrite with a log in His own eye, who is flailing about trying to remove the splinter from his neighbor. Despite this danger, there are times when God causes a man to speak for Him. When He speaks in judgment, He must speak with the voice of God, who has no sin at all. The Lord has raised up Ezekiel, not only to speak of the great things to come from God’s grace, but also to tell the truth of the case that God has against His covenant people according to His Law. They have shed innocent blood, and they have defiled the land with their gross idolatry. They have become fit objects of the Lord’s wrath and they will be publicly exposed by the Lord in the sight of the nations all around them.

The sin of Israel, including her leading men, needed to be frankly exposed. There is much that can be said, and Ezekiel simply lists their many provocations against the Almighty. They have hated parents and ignored the poor man who was far from home. They have turned away from duties of worship, and lied in order to have the privilege of killing. They have gone up to the places of false worship, and once they reached their destinations, they insisted on adding sexual immorality to their practices of pagan worship. They have violated every standard of decency in order to satisfy their base lusts. They have been greedy for money at the expense of the weak, but above all of their sins, they have forgotten their Lord and their God.

Will men be so brash in God’s own land as to act as if God does not know or is powerless to address iniquity? Will we in the church use the name of Christ, and then commit all kinds of abominations with no fear that He will sweep us away? This is faithlessness, no matter what our claims to belief may be. In the case of Israel, God announces again through Ezekiel that He will judge His people. They have forgotten Him. Are they courageous enough to stand against Him now? He will scatter them far away. They have been proud in their sinning, but do they have the courage to stand against Him when He comes to judge?

God will cleanse His people with judgment, as a metalworker removes impurities in gold or silver with fire. The fire of His discipline will come against His city. Will there be anything there but dross? Is there any gold or silver left there at all? It seems that there will be some remnant, but they will only be discovered through removing all that is not gold. The stubble will be consumed. In the same way, a Day of Judgment will finally come upon the church when the Lord returns. The results of each minister’s work will be seen, as that which can be burned will be consumed in the Lord’s wrath, but the gold, silver, and precious stones will be purified.

The judgment against Jerusalem reflects a massive failure of her prophets, priests, and kings. So many prophets have not spoken the truth from God. They have filled themselves with the property of others and have murdered many people. The priests have not maintained the ceremonial law with integrity, and they have not received the Sabbath as a delight. The kings have not been shepherds who tenderly care for the people. They were wolves who steal, kill, and destroy.

This is not just a problem with the leaders. The people have used force to steal from the weak. As the Lord looked among them to find one man who could stand in the gap for the people he found none. Was there one righteous man who could intercede for the many in some way that would be favorable to the Lord’s ears? No one was found. Therefore they will receive the punishment that they deserve upon their own heads.

This is a very sad fact of life for the covenant people of God. If it were the final message of the Bible, we would be right to wonder what the whole point of this really was. We have known about the sin of man since the fall. Adam transgressed the covenant, and he was our accurate representative. We have known for centuries that we all deserved death. If there really would be no answer to our sin beyond divine judgment, what point would there be in the centuries of waiting? Why the nation of Israel at all? Why did God set up the system of festivals and sacrificial offerings? Why all the prophets, priests, and kings? What about the promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Why the redemption from slavery through Moses? Why David and the Psalms? Why Solomon and the rest of the wisdom literature?

The truth is that this could not be the end of the story. It simply amplifies our desperate condition. Among those born of Adam, there is not one man who can stand in the breach for humanity. But by the righteousness and grace of God a second Adam has been found. He is a descendant of David from the tribe of Judah. He is the prefect prophet, priest, and king. He is the expected Immanuel – God with us. He came as the Son of God and the Son of Man. He took the fire of God’s wrath upon Himself upon the cross, and our dross has been consumed in Him. He has come out of the awful ordeal as the pure gold that He is, for there was never any sin in Him. The sin that was on Him was our sin, and He has consumed it in His death. Because He faced the judgment of God for us, our debts have been forgiven. Now we have peace with God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Though Jesus has certainly saved us to the uttermost, we must remember that He is coming again to judge the living and the dead. He will be utterly faithful to His people, but He will separate the righteous from the wicked, and He will not be mocked. He will have the courage to speak the truth. It is best that we all follow Him with sincerity day by day, by the grace that He supplies. He can be trusted to save us. He can also be trusted to lead us through life into glory. The one man of righteousness who can stand in the gap for His people has been found, and we must follow Him.

posted by Pastor Magee @ 7:00 AM

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