Then you'll know that I am God. (6:7)
They'll know that I am God. (6:10)
Then they'll know that I am God! (6:14)
...and you'll realize that I am God. (7:4)
They'll know that I am God. (7:27)
Then you'll realize that I am God. (11:10)
...and you'll realize that I am God (11:12)
They'll realize that I am God... (12:15)
They will realize that I am God. (12:16)
Then you'll realize that I am God. (12:20)Perhaps God wants me to grasp this point??
God poured out His wrath on His people unlike anything I can fathom. He showed no pity (5:11), He made them pay for the way they lived (7:2), and He showed no mercy for their outrageous obscenities (8:18). All because they'd forgotten their God and worshipped false gods instead. For years and years. His patience finally reached its end, and Jerusalem was destroyed.
"My mercy is severe. My love stops at nothing to bring in My kingdom, to renew My people, to draw My servants into radical dependence on Me as their first thing.... Seventy times in this letter I explain that I do all that I do for one purpose: that My people will know that I AM the Lord. To know Me in my holiness is to know yourself in your sinfulness. To know Me in My love is to experience life, to know that a party is coming. To know Me: that's My plan." 66 LLWe've heard God warn the Israelites over and over and over again in our journey through the Old Testament this year, but this hard-hearted people refused to listen:
God's message came to me: "Son of man, you're living with a bunch of rebellious people. They have eyes but don't see a thing, they have ears but don't hear a thing." (12:1)I keep asking: Lord, what am I not seeing? What am I not hearing? And as always, He is faithful in answering that prayer. I feel like my head is spinning and my heart is reeling from all God's revealing to me about my own depravity. He's causing me to face reality, to see more of what He sees in me. And it's humbling, embarrassing (pride, once again), and daunting.
But as I grapple with the unvarnished truth about myself, I'm unexpectedly hopeful. God is unchanging, regardless of my performance. He'll always love me. And He knows the worst about me - even stuff I don't know - and He still chooses to move toward me, to forgive me, to correct me, and to gently transform me into His likeness. Amazing.
Even in these chapters on Ezekiel's vision of the destruction of Jerusalem, God's love and faithfulness are evident:
I will gather you back from those countries and lands where you've been scattered...You'll come back and clean house, throw out all the rotten images and obscene idols. I'll give you a new heart. I'll put a new spirit in you. I'll cut out your stone heart and replace it with a red-blooded, firm-muscled heart. Then you'll obey my statutes and be careful to obey my commands. You'll be my people! I'll be your God! (11:18-20)
"You must feel my wrath before you will appreciate the extent of my love...But remember this: wrath is not My bottom line. The center of my heart is love. Always has been. Always will be." 66 LL, pg. 31Lord, I feel like You're shining a spotlight on the dark recesses of my heart. It's very uncomfortable and disconcerting. I feel exposed. But I'm grateful You're also showing me that this is part of the process of knowing You more. I'm holding on for dear life to that truth.
3 comments:
I am fascinated by the description of the glory of God in Ezekiel. It is a touch of what is to come very much later, in Revelation, a book I'm looking forward to studying this Fall.
What fascinates me about it is that is so clearly divine - who could think of something like the whirling wheels and cherubim with the face of a lion, eagle, or ox?
I feel a tremendous sense of awe as I try to imagine what it would be like to be Ezekiel and get to experience the vision firsthand.
There is something so majestic, so holy, so terrifying, and so powerful about the glory of God and His very self. Imagine that one day, we will get to experience Him fully!
If God is always good, how come He didn't help save these rebellious Israelites? He saved us, we are rebellious. But because they didn't have a Savior then- weren't most of them just hopeless?
God's wrath is overwhelming. So i just wonder how in His plan He withheld His overwhelming love in the old testament. Was He just waiting for the right time to send His Savior? What a mystery. Just pondering how He gave His son for me, but not for them. Any thoughts? I've never really thought about this before. But I can't take it- its hard to read the punishments for their sin.
I don't have a great answer to your question, Christina. Nothing profound here. I'll share how I process the same questions.
I know that I can't try to reduce God into the sum of His parts. His goodness and love don't override his other characteristics; they complete them, in ways that my finite mind will never comprehend. Yes, God is good. He's also just and holy, and that means that He can't ignore sin.
I agree that God's wrath seems overwhelming in the OT. But God never changes, so He's no different in the New Testament. More than anything, reading these chapters reminds me that sin has consequences. Huge consequences that I may not even recognize.
Mystery is the right word. It's a mystery to me as well.
Anyone else have some thoughts on this?
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