In each chapter Ezekiel starts off with saying, "the Word of the Lord came unto me saying, Son of man." Ezekiel wanted to make sure that the people knew that what he was telling them is not his words but they are the Words of the Lord. He is letting them know not to do what he says but to listen to God's Word. This is just as important today as it was back then. There is several ways for us to get God's Word. First; Pray, ask God to give you wisdom and understanding. Second;Keep in God's Word. Make sure you have a good Bible. All books that says "Bible" on them are not God's Word. Third; Get in a good church. Make sure that the teachers and preacher are teaching from the Word. There are preachers who put their own twist on the Bible instead of what God would have them to say. I am thankful that our Oak Hill pastor preaches the Word.
The people of Israel made many mistakes by following the wrong person. They would get so deep in their sins that they did not want to hear God's messengers. God would remind them of the many blessings that He gave them and yet they would turn from Him and live in sin. It wasn't until things got so bad they couldn't stand it than they would call upon God. Sometimes I can fall into the same pattern. When things are going well I may forget God but then I get in trouble. The first thing I do is to call upon God and He is always there waiting for me to come back to Him.
God's judgment came down on Israel when they would not listen to His warnings. They was put into captivity and became slaves. I see our nation turning away from God and it breaks my heart. We, as Christians, need to stand up before it is to late. We need to let those in charge know that we started out as a Christian nation; we remained strong as a Christian nation; and we will always be a Christian nation. We will not stand for God to be taken off our money, out of our pledge, or out of anything that shows us for what we are, a Christian nation.
God's promise to us is that He will never leave us nor forsake us. As we read the many mistakes Israel made, we should be forewarned not to make the same mistakes.
As I was reading today, as God compares Israel to an adulterous wife, I can't help but think of the new testament parallel of the church as the bride of christ. How faithful are we? It puts such a new spin on that as I read the description of how the naked, alone child was rescued, and given everything, but turned her back on the person who had given her everything. How much has God given us and rescued us from? Help me remember to be thankful!
ReplyDeleteMs. Boots - I always love your comparisons of our country to that of the Israelites as they have SO MANY similarities and problems! We are heading straight down the road the Israelites traveled and we are SO blinded and cannot see it as a country! I also agree with the question that Natalie posed to us. How faithful are we as a church? We have a lot of work to do so that we DO NOT head down this horrible road that we learn about in these books!!!
ReplyDeleteI had no idea that "Like mother, like daughter" was from the Bible! It is included in an interesting context and one that I do not want to be associated with.
ReplyDeleteThis verse struck me: "I will deal with you as you deserve". My first thought about it was that each of us are responsible for our own actions and decisions. I believe this is true. My second thought about it was that I'm so thankful for Jesus and that we don't get the punishment we deserve!
Lord, help us to be thankful!