The Disturbing Message Of Ezekiel
My personal Bible reading for the last few mornings has been from the book of Ezekiel. It is a book of dark forebodings of God’s impending judgment upon Israel for their sins. What strikes me, even with a cursory reading, are the parallels for modern-day America. I’m not usually a "gloom and doom" prophet, but it seems too obvious that we are on a collision course, socially and religiously.
I’m reading Ezekiel 22. Consider these clips from the Good News Bible translation, and how the message parallels with today. My brief comments follow the verses.
(Eze 22:5) Countries nearby and countries far away sneer at you because of your lawlessness. (clear parallel to the international situation of today) (Eze 22:6) All Israel's leaders trust in their own strength and commit murder. (how foolish, as often does the Bible tell us, to ever think one’s own strength is sufficient)
(Eze 22:7) None of you in the city honor your parents. You cheat foreigners and take advantage of widows and orphans. (mistreatment of the weak and helpless is always grounds for God’s wrath)
(Eze 22:8) You have no respect for the holy places, and you don't keep the Sabbath. (daring to think God and holiness are optional for life)
(Eze 22:9) Some of your people tell lies about others in order to have them put to death. Some of them eat sacrifices offered to idols. Some are always satisfying their lusts. (Having a fellow human-being put to death is a most serious matter. I cringe as our politicians, daily, try to outdo one another by continually stating how tough they will be with applying the death penalty)
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(Eze 22:25)
The leaders are like lions roaring over the animals they have killed. They kill the people, take all the money and property they can get, and by their murders leave many widows. (Their politics is all about the accumulation and retention of personal wealth, even at the expense of the most vulnerable.)
(Eze 22:26)
The priests break my law and have no respect for what is holy. They make no distinction between what is holy and what is not. They do not teach the difference between clean and unclean things, and they ignore the Sabbath. As a result the people of Israel do not respect me. (A people miserably failed by their so-called spiritual leaders. Why should the man-on-the-street have reverence for God, when the spiritual leadership does not?)
(Eze 22:27)
The government officials are like wolves tearing apart the animals they have killed. They commit murder in order to get rich. (What’s the value of a human being? Apparently nothing, if he/she gets in the way of power and money) (Eze 22:28)
The prophets have hidden these sins like workers covering a wall with whitewash. They see false visions and make false predictions. They claim to speak the word of the Sovereign LORD, but I, the LORD, have not spoken to them. (The public religion is all about pretence, just smoke and mirrors. Just spiritual leaders spouting hot air.)
(Eze 22:29)
The wealthy cheat and rob. They mistreat the poor and take advantage of foreigners. (We mouth our "complaints" about illegals and foreign imports. The reality is that so much of our wealth is built upon the broken backs of the world’s poor. And, God sees and knows.) (Eze 22:30)
I looked for someone who could build a wall, who could stand in the places where the walls have crumbled and defend the land when my anger is about to destroy it, but I could find no one. (Where is the real prophet, the true messenger of God? The reason God is averting judgment is for the message to be proclaimed. But there is only silence.)
(Eze 22:31)
So I will turn my anger loose on them, and like a fire I will destroy them for what they have done." The Sovereign LORD has spoken. (How disturbing. And, I believe, quite applicable to this day and time.) If Israel did not get by with such idolatry of money and power, mistreatment of others, and disdain for God- and if indeed there is a holy and righteous God, then how in the world can we continue to survive as a society and political entity, if we do not change?
09.20.06 (11:02 am) [
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posted by:
radiohead (
reply)
post date:
09.20.06 (9:58 am)
I used this as my devotion for today. I just got through our 11th Annual Conference at church and coming from an apostolic church we learned about pursuing and overtaking the land. Eze. 22:30 hits me at the heart of what I have been doing and feeling lately...
"I looked for someone who could build a wall, who could stand in the places where the walls have crumbled and defend the land when my anger is about to destroy it, but I could find no one."
I find this to be a symbol of intercession, who stands in the gap for people nowadays? Who takes on the spiritual responsibility of the land? We seem to think that everything in life is only of what we see, but God tells us He is things seen and unseen. I have learned that the power of intercession for people, for land, for nations is quite a heavy responsibility. I consider myself a warrior for Christ and I wonder sometimes when others will stop being ok with what is seen and start putting on the armor of God and start attacking the things unseen.
There is a quote that I absolutely love that I think goes along with this...
"If you want to experience God’s abundance, find a church where their sword is not just being polished, but is dripping with the blood of the enemy, where it has pierced the heart and soul of the demonic forces of hell. Get involved with those who are in the heat of battle."
~ Rod Parsley
Good post, once again I agree... :)
posted by:
TheRockSays (
reply)
post date:
09.20.06 (10:02 am)
I'm wondering, are you against captial punishment for biblical reasons?
posted by:
bawdy (
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post date:
09.20.06 (12:44 pm)
Same as it ever was...
Personally, I have no problem with capital punishment in cases for the worst offenders, as long as there's 100% certainty they're guilty.
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
09.20.06 (5:17 pm)
Reply to: LadyG
If it is true, then it is also very scary.
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
09.20.06 (5:21 pm)
Reply to: radiohead
I, too, have heard and even used Ezekiel 22:30 as a challenge toward intercessory prayer. If the Christian is "the salt of the earth", then our preserving influence upon our nation is found in our prayer.
Sounds like a great conference; keep it up, and keep praying. I am especially honored that you would choose this little writing of mine as a springboard for your devotion time. Thanks.
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
09.20.06 (5:26 pm)
Reply to: TheRockSays
When we get to a consideration of capital punishment from the scriptures, either argument can be made and sufficiently supported. I am opposed to capital punishment for many reasons, and feel comfortable before God with my position.
*It is not a deterrant to crime
*It is meted unjustly; those with better lawyers, those with more money, those of particular races are less likely to receive the death sentence
*It is the ultimate revenge, a right I believe to be reserved to God alone
*In our day and time, a life sentence is in reality a more severe punishment
*With all the legal challenges today, those who are executed often volunteer for sluch death, choosing to forego continued defense and continued appeals. In essence, it is a sick form of suicide.
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
09.20.06 (5:28 pm)
Reply to: bawdy
How can we guarantee absolute certainty?
I believe the human condition is devolving, digressively becoming worse. It's a characteristic of unchecked sin.
posted by:
surrogate (
reply)
post date:
09.21.06 (5:53 am)
Pretty sure the parallels have always been there and perhaps always will be. It's the assumtion that this is a prophecy of any sort that I don't buy. -Was just a method of commenting on the present situation at the time it was written, and since the truths contained within seem fairly universal (for lots of places during many ages), it's easy to assume the "collision course" 'thang.
As the old song goes... "it ain't necessarily so."
posted by:
fractalmom (
reply)
post date:
09.21.06 (8:08 am)
Interesting post. I too can be swept into prophecy, and will raise a cautionary hand. I think that many passages of the Bible can be interpreted in a myriad of ways, whether prophetic, cautionary or just plain good advice.
Certainly we are living in a bizarre world. And, it gets weirder and weirder every single day.
This morning as I watched CNN, I saw the president of Venezuala call President Bush the devil incarnate whilst crossing himself on international TV.
And, how many people will think of him as a good person because he was crossing himself while saying the words? Where is it written that because you profess to believe in God, that you are always right in everything you say, do and project?
Isn't there a passage which says something along the lines of "Whosoever doeth evil in my name still doeth evil, and whosoever doeth good in the name of Satan still doeth good?" or am I not remembering my catechism?
now I went and confused myself again. DANG IT
DM
posted by:
bawdy (
reply)
post date:
09.21.06 (10:33 am)
DNA testing is one recent development that can leave no doubt about guilt. Some people forfeit their right to live by taking away the lives of others. I don't see capital punishment as murder. I see it as justice. And it's cost efficient!
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
09.21.06 (5:10 pm)
Reply to: surrogate
It seems to me that you approach the Christian/Jewish scriptures with a prejudice. What I have quoted and commented upon, I think, has an uncanny parallel and quite relevant message for us.
Think about it:
Scorned by the surrounding nations
Political leaders drunk with power
Mistreatment of foreigners and the most vulnerable
Empty, meaningless religion of the masses
Worship of the almighty dollar
I think it gives a sobering message for today, quite remarkable considering it comes from almost 3,000 years ago.
Whether you are of my particular religious persuasion or not, you should read the Bible- it can be an amazing book.
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
09.21.06 (5:13 pm)
Reply to: fractalmom
I'm not familiar with that particular quotation, but it certainly makes sense. Perhaps it can be found in Fractalmom 17:25.
Many Christians, I think, go overboard with the consideration of prophecy. I hate to be cornered by someone fanatical about end-times prophecy. I do think it is of much more import that we busy ourselves trying to love our neighbor, than to know the dates and times of the second coming.
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
09.21.06 (5:15 pm)
Reply to: bawdy
Cost efficient? You defend capital punishment on the basis of fiscal savings? I suspect you are a blue-blood conservative.
posted by:
seochris (
reply)
post date:
09.21.06 (8:22 pm)
seochris here.
I always felt that ezekiel is the most difficult part in the bible. However I'm facinated by chapters 37 and the last one.
Your account of today's lawlessness is pretty true.
posted by:
surrogate (
reply)
post date:
09.22.06 (4:07 am)
Reply to: PastorDave
I'll leave the daily reading to you. I've read the book twice in its entirety (plus I've listened to it once - new testament twice) and refer to it from time to time, but I don't read it daily, haven't for years and have no desire to. I refuse to parse it and don't claim to have more than the slightest passing understanding of SOME of it.
Here's what I do know. There are many books that I'm so familiar with, that I can quote pages from almost verbatim. That doesn't mean I have a clue as to what the author had in their head when they wrote it, and no amount of studying the texts can give me any more insight, because I'm not a mind reader. Perhaps some people are. I know, the way you get around this is by assuming you're reading the word of God and that his secrets can be slowly revealed by you learning and understanding more and more of "his word." Can't argue that since it's so illogical and NOWHERE in the book itself is the claim made, but it seems absurd to me. I do know that if God had gone about creating the world the way men put that book together, we'd have a world full of two-headed animals and oceans full of boiling water.
posted by:
bawdy (
reply)
post date:
09.22.06 (11:31 am)
No, I've never voted conservative in my life. I have some liberal views, and I have others that are more conservative. I didn't say I support capital punishment based on fiscal responsibility. But I feel murderers forfeit their right to outlive their victims. I wonder how you'd feel if someone killed one of your family members and was released from prison after serving his sentence. It is costly to keep murders in jail for twenty-five or so years. Saving taxpayers that money is just a bonus of capital punishment.
