SCRIPTURE: Ezekiel 7
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
I will not look on you with pity; I will not spare you. I will surely repay you for your conduct and for the detestable practices among you. [Ezekiel 7:4]
I do not enjoy reading these judgment passages.
To our ears, this sounds harsh and cruel, how can God allow this?
But the repeated refrain in the words of the prophets is that what happens is directly proportionate to their detestable conduct.
Given the extremity of the judgment, their conduct must have been horrible!
God measures out judgment according to the measure of our sin.
I will deal with them according to their conduct, and by their own standards I will judge them. Then they will know that I am the LORD. [Ezekiel 7:27]
Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. [Matthew 7:1-2]
When Jesus teaches us to pray, He includes the line about God forgiving us just as we have forgiven others – am I really sure I want to pray this?
Do I want God to treat me just as I have treated others – to be as patient with me as I am with others, to be as generous to me as I am to others?
We tend to have a rosy picture of our own actions, but how do others see them?
We tend to minimize the negative impact we have had on others, but would others feel the same way?
Do we really want God to be fair, because if He is, we may regret it.
We need God’s mercy if we are to survive God’s justice.
The people of Israel had turned away from God, they had become cruel and corrupt; the immoral practices associated with idol worship in those days was awful.
Despite loving appeals and passionate warnings, they refused to stop.
And so finally God stops being merciful and patient, and lets them taste the consequence of their actions.
If you, LORD, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? [Psalm 130:3]
Today’s reading shows us that God’s patience has a limit, and that one day if we refuse to repent and change, He will treat us as our sins deserve.
We don’t want to go there… it won’t be pretty.
PRAYER:
Lord, I need Your mercy and Your help. Do not treat me as my sins deserve, and help me not to treat others as their sins deserve!
Choices have consequences.
The end has come upon the people and the Lord God, the Judge, has come to judge the people according to their conduct. And by their own standards will He judge them. There is no escape. Ruin upon ruin. There is no wisdom in the land for each has gone his own way. For what a man has sown, that he will reap. God’s grace and mercy are not found in this passage. Or maybe it has – for the people are judged by their own standards and not His. God comes to visit and and the people will know that He is God. God’s patience has a limit and He will visit the people and then who can stand?
Lord God, help me to seek that which is good. Help me to seek You in all I do. Open my eyes that I see You and know You and serve You all the days of my life. Lord be gracious to me, a sinner.
From out the depths I cry, O Lord, to Thee,
Lord, hear my call.
I love Thee, Lord, for Thou dost heed my plea,
Forgiving all.
If Thou dost mark our sins, who then shall stand?
But grace and mercy dwell at Thy right hand.
I wait for God, the Lord, and on His Word
My hope relies;
My soul still waits and looks unto the Lord
Till light arise.
I look for Him to drive away my night,
Yea, more than watchmen look for morning light.
Hope in the Lord, ye waiting saints, and He
Will well provide;
For mercy and redemption full and free
With Him abide.
From sin and evil, mighty though they seem,
His arm almighty will His saints redeem.