When we become
Christians by profession of faith and cleansing from sin, God calls us His own
and makes us sacred for Him and His purposes. The Israelites experienced this
same calling to be sacred/holy for and by God. God chose the people of Israel
to be His people. He led them through a desert after rescuing them from slavery
in Egypt. God prepared a place for them the people had never known. He was
their Savior and Provider.
The Israelites did not quite
understand and within a few years, the land of Israel split in two. Israel, the
northern tribes, led by abominable kings and a queen, fell away from God and
His purposes. The southern kingdom of Judah, in which Jerusalem lay and contained
His temple, grew stubborn and rebellious later than the northern kingdom. They like
all people sinned against God by being stubborn and insubordinate towards God
and His laws, ordinances, and statues.
Each of these 12 tribes
God called His own and made them sacred because of His choosing and calling. He
set them up as the nation of God, a theocracy, to shine His light to the
surrounding nations. The surrounding nations saw or heard about the Israelites’
God as they journeyed 40 years to the Promised Land. They knew of God’s power,
might, provision, love, and salvation.
When the Judahites became
impudent and stubborn (3:7), God sent His servant, a man called by Him to
prophesy, to tell the people of Judah of His judgment against them because of
their rebelliousness. Ezekiel first enacted God’s judgment then proclaimed it.
He dared not proclaim it because God said the blood of the people, if he did
not warn them, would be upon Ezekiel’s hands.
With 5:7-9, & 15, God
through Ezekiel proclaimed,
Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Because you have more turmoil than the nations which surround you and have not walked in My statutes, nor observed My ordinances, nor observed the ordinances of the nations which surround you,’ therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Behold I, even I, and against you, and I will execute judgments among you in the sight of nations. And because of all your abominations, I will do among you what I have not done, and the like of which I will never do again.’
‘So, it will be a reproach, a reviling, a warning and an object of horror to the nations who surround you when I execute judgments against you in anger, wrath, and raging rebukes.’ I, the LORD, have spoken. [NASB]
The sacredness of the Israelites did not exempt them
from God’s punishment, His judgment. Rather, as the loving Father, His love for
the Israelites required Him to punish them to bring them back to Him. God sent
them to be a light proclaiming Him as the One and Only God. Instead, the
Judahites followed the gods of other nations. The people who were to shine a
light for Yahweh, of whom the surrounding nations knew about, instead shone a
light on their disobedience and rebellion.
Because of God’s love for the Judahites, He rebuked
and punished them. When you near the end of Ezekiel, God proclaimed He would
bring a remnant of the original Judahites back to the land He promised to them.
They would still be His people called by Him to be a beacon. The people of
Israel would either be a beacon for God’s love by their obedience or through
their disobedience and God’s faithfulness to them carried out through judgment.
Each of us who are Christians have this same
responsibility. We can be the sacred light of God to the people who surround us
with our acts, words, and thoughts of love toward God and other people. We can
live our lives obeying God or we can do what we want and be disobedient. This
freewill is one of God’s gifts to humans. If, however, we choose in our
freewill to walk away from God, He will chastise or rebuke us so we turn around
and return to Him. Either way, God’s glory shines because of His love for us-a
love so great He would discipline us. Just as the prodigal’s return brings
great joy and the father’s love shines from his eyes on his son or daughter who
returned, so the Father’s love and joy shine and He receives glory and praise
when His child returns to Him after walking away.
I will give thanks to You, O LORD, among the peoples, and I will sing praises to You among the nations. For Your lovingkindness is great above the heavens, and your truth reaches to the skies. Be exalted, oh God, above the heavens, and Your glory above all the earth. (Psalm 108:3-4 [NASB])
Lord,
help me be obedient to You and Your will each day. Lead me back to Your
presence and forgive me when I turn away from You. Let Your name be praised and
glorified in all I do and all You do to and through me. For You are glorious,
oh Lord. Amen.
