Ezekiel 20:1-13
December 6, 2023
Israel's Continuing Rebellion
In the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord, and sat before me. And the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God, Is it to inquire of me that you come? As I live, declares the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you. Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Let them know the abominations of their fathers, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: On the day when I chose Israel, I swore to the offspring of the house of Jacob, making myself known to them in the land of Egypt; I swore to them, saying, I am the Lord your God. On that day I swore to them that I would bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands. And I said to them, ‘Cast away the detestable things your eyes feast on, every one of you, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.’ But they rebelled against me and were not willing to listen to me. None of them cast away the detestable things their eyes feasted on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt.
Our Lord is very detailed in the messages He leaves for us to understand the relationship, He is Father, Lord, mighty God, and we are His children. He will not put up with our putting other things before Him or trying to get our needs met outside of Him.
Or we the Church are more like them than we want to admit? And as the Church, we do not need to seek God through anyone but His Son, our Lord Jesus who intercede for us with the Father. In Egypt the people were slaves, and God used Moses to speak to them, and God did mighty works to bring them to believe in Him, and to put the blood on their doorpost so the angel would pass over them and the firstborn. But once they left Egypt, they were willing to go back to being slaves of man and not submitting to God’s authority over them. Are we the Church that much different than them? Do we not worship many things more than God? How about knowing all the names of movie stars, but not knowing that Ezekiel is found in the Old Testament? What about sports, how much do you know about them, compared to how much you know about God’s promise and instruction on living a victorious life?
“Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, in whose sight I made myself known to them in bringing them out of the land of Egypt. So, I led them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. I gave them my statutes and made known to them my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live. Moreover, I gave them my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They did not walk in my statutes but rejected my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live; and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned.
We the Church are instructed to assemble ourselves, for worship, fellowship, and to encourage one another, and yet many since Covid, have not done so. We have been told to honor God’s commands and it is our self-righteousness that makes us believe we are in step with our Lord. If you go by the title of Christian but do not obey God’s commands, are you not a stumbling block that leads others to sin?
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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