December 27, 2011
God is a patient God. Israel was in rebellion for 390 years. Judah was in rebellion for 40 years. God is patient but He is also a just God. He does not ignore or forget the warnings and judgments He promised through His prophets.
Ezekiel was to demonstrate what was going to happen to Jerusalem. God was angry... with a righteous anger. His people refused to obey His commands over and over—for years. And He now declares,
On October 13th of this year (2011) I wrote about how the phrase: "Then they will know." Now I'm in Ezekiel, and eight times in these chapters, "then they will know" is recorded. I (God) am going to carry out what I have warned them I would do. Then they will know. The idols you've made for yourselves will be destroyed. Then you will know. You will remember all the evil things you did that I hated, how you were unfaithful to me. Then you will know. I will carry out my anger, there will be war, hunger, disease and no one will be spared. Then you will know.
All the earlier warnings were future tense, but now it shifts.
Joshua 24:23 - "Then Joshua said, "Now throw away the gods that you have. Love the LORD, the God of Israel, with all your heart."
Job 31:24–28 - "I have not put my trust in gold or said to pure gold, 'You are my security.' I have not celebrated my great wealth or the riches my hands had gained. I have not thought about worshiping the sun in its brightness nor admired the moon moving in glory so that my heart was pulled away from God. My hand has never offered the sun and moon a kiss of worship. If I had, these also would have been sins to be punished, because I would have been unfaithful to God."
Jeremiah 1:16 - "And I will announce my judgments against my people because of their evil in turning away from me. They offered sacrifices to other gods and worshiped idols they had made with their own hands."
Luke 16:10–13 - "Whoever can be trusted with a little can also be trusted with a lot, and whoever is dishonest with a little is dishonest with a lot. If you cannot be trusted with worldly riches, then who will trust you with true riches? And if you cannot be trusted with things that belong to someone else, who will give you things of your own? No servant can serve two masters. The servant will hate one master and love the other, or will follow one master and refuse to follow the other. You cannot serve both God and worldly riches."
Revelation 21:8 - "But cowards, those who refuse to believe, who do evil things, who kill, who sin sexually, who do evil magic, who worship idols, and who tell lies—all these will have a place in the lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."
Addendum: *To see what Psalm 140 says about disaster hunting down evil people see my journal entries for Psalm 140 recorded in March of 2015.
Next Entry: Ezekiel 8:1 – 11:25
God is a patient God. Israel was in rebellion for 390 years. Judah was in rebellion for 40 years. God is patient but He is also a just God. He does not ignore or forget the warnings and judgments He promised through His prophets.
Ezekiel was to demonstrate what was going to happen to Jerusalem. God was angry... with a righteous anger. His people refused to obey His commands over and over—for years. And He now declares,
"I myself am against you, and I will punish you... because you do the things I hate... I will cut you off. I will have no pity, and I will show no mercy... Then they will know that I, the LORD, have spoken. After I have carried out my anger against them, they will know how strongly I felt." (Ezekiel 5:8-13)Then they will know!
On October 13th of this year (2011) I wrote about how the phrase: "Then they will know." Now I'm in Ezekiel, and eight times in these chapters, "then they will know" is recorded. I (God) am going to carry out what I have warned them I would do. Then they will know. The idols you've made for yourselves will be destroyed. Then you will know. You will remember all the evil things you did that I hated, how you were unfaithful to me. Then you will know. I will carry out my anger, there will be war, hunger, disease and no one will be spared. Then you will know.
All the earlier warnings were future tense, but now it shifts.
"An end! The end has come!... I will judge you for the way you have lived, (KJV - according to their ways) and I will make you pay for all your actions that I hate. I will have no pity on you; I will not hold back punishment from you. Instead, I will make you pay for the way you have lived and for your actions that I hate. Then you will know that I am the LORD." (Ezekiel 7:6-9)The disaster in Chapter 7 builds and builds like a crescendo in music.
"Disaster on top of disaster is coming. The end has come! The end has come! It has stirred itself up against you! Look! It has come! Disaster has come...! The time has come... soon I will pour out my anger against you. I will judge you for the way you have lived and make you pay for everything you have done that I hate. I will show no pity, and I will not hold back punishment. I will pay you back for the way you have lived and the things you have done that I hate. Then you will know that I am the LORD who punishes." (Ezekiel 7:6-7)The warnings crescendo, getting louder and louder and swelling to the point of climax. All the exclamation points I wrote as part of Ezekiel 7:6–7 are God's exclamation points—six of them. Ezekiel 7:10 - "Look, the day is here. It has come. Disaster has come, violence has grown... the time has come; the day has arrived." Wave upon wave of relentless disaster, surrounded on every side with no way for escape. Ezekiel 7:19 - "Their silver and gold will not save them from the LORD's anger. It will not satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs, because it caused them to fall into sin." They were proud of all they owned, "so I will turn their wealth into trash."
- I will turn away
- I will bring the worst against them
- I will end the pride of the strong
- There will be no peace
- Disaster will come on top of disaster (*Psalm 140 - "...may disaster hunt down men of violence.")
- God's teaching will be lost
- Hope will be gone
- People will shake with fear
THEN THEY WILL KNOW!
From Life Lesson:
God will not tolerate anything that displaces him in our lives. Idolatry is anything that comes between us and God. (We have to choose.) Our families cannot choose Christ for us. Our friends cannot do it. God is a great God, but even God cannot make the decision for us. He can help, but only we can decide. We have to make our own choice. ~ From Day to Day with Billy Graham by Joan W. BrownFrom Life Application:
Be aware of selfish desires for material wealth or social status. Have only one concern: a right relationship with God.Exodus 20:1–6 - "Then God spoke all these words: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt where you were slaves. You must not have any other gods except me. You must not make for yourselves an idol that looks like anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the water below the land. You must not worship or serve any idol, because I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God. If you hate me, I will punish your children, and even your grandchildren and great-grandchildren. But I show kindness to thousands who love me and obey my commands."
Joshua 24:23 - "Then Joshua said, "Now throw away the gods that you have. Love the LORD, the God of Israel, with all your heart."
Job 31:24–28 - "I have not put my trust in gold or said to pure gold, 'You are my security.' I have not celebrated my great wealth or the riches my hands had gained. I have not thought about worshiping the sun in its brightness nor admired the moon moving in glory so that my heart was pulled away from God. My hand has never offered the sun and moon a kiss of worship. If I had, these also would have been sins to be punished, because I would have been unfaithful to God."
Jeremiah 1:16 - "And I will announce my judgments against my people because of their evil in turning away from me. They offered sacrifices to other gods and worshiped idols they had made with their own hands."
Luke 16:10–13 - "Whoever can be trusted with a little can also be trusted with a lot, and whoever is dishonest with a little is dishonest with a lot. If you cannot be trusted with worldly riches, then who will trust you with true riches? And if you cannot be trusted with things that belong to someone else, who will give you things of your own? No servant can serve two masters. The servant will hate one master and love the other, or will follow one master and refuse to follow the other. You cannot serve both God and worldly riches."
Revelation 21:8 - "But cowards, those who refuse to believe, who do evil things, who kill, who sin sexually, who do evil magic, who worship idols, and who tell lies—all these will have a place in the lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."
Addendum: *To see what Psalm 140 says about disaster hunting down evil people see my journal entries for Psalm 140 recorded in March of 2015.
Next Entry: Ezekiel 8:1 – 11:25
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