Saturday, August 28, 2010

For They Are A Rebellious House...

Note:  This post is out of cycle, and is not a part of the current series.  Thanks for reading! 
And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them. (Eze 2:5 KJV)
As I begin reading the book of Ezekiel I find that this is a refrain repeated three times in the second chapter.  Now we all know that if God says something even once, that it is of utmost importance.  But here, in the prophet's commissioning He repeats it thrice.  That's huge.

Even more significantly, He repeats that characterization ten more times throughout the book.  It might be said that  the God of the universe is trying to make a point.  If He is, then it is one that should be taken well by all peoples in all ages.  Thirteen reiterations to the man of God, concerning a nation should be sufficient.

You see, Israel had been weighed and found wanting.  They had forgotten the God of their fathers, and had habitually, and insistently pursued their own lusts for many generations.  At the opening of this book, they had been in captivity thirty years.  The great Diaspora had only just begun.  They had been admonished by prophets, beginning with Moses, to remember God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His statutes.  We find the greatest summation of all this in Deuteronomy 28.  In it, all the blessings for keeping God's ways are delineated.  Likewise the penalties for transgression are also laid out.

This was God's own people.  His chosen ones.  The apple of His eye...

If they were not exempt from His blessings or His judgement, then how can any other nation be?  It is a sobering thing to witness America drift further and further from her Godly founding principals.  We who study the scriptures are alarmed at the downward turn our nation has taken.  

It's true that among the rich and powerful are evil people doing evil things that are leading the populace astray.  But what's even more damning is that so many are completely ignorant of God and His ways.  In an era where the written word of God is so readily available, the masses largely remain ignorant.  The Bible is still the all time best seller (incidentally, the most stolen too).

This is a serious point to ponder.  Like Israel, this nation seems preoccupied with forgetting the One who made them great.  It is thankless, and shameful.

But there is hope yet.

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. (2Ch 7:14 KJV)
Here, we find a four step national recovery program, all rolled into one verse.

  1. Humble ourselves, that is, acknowledge that without Him we can do nothing.
  2. Pray. I think many people even believers know little about prayer.  But that's another posting.
  3. Seek His face.  How many decisions do we make without Him?  A point to meditate upon.
  4. Repent.  Do we who are called by Christ's name practice wickedness?  We must walk circumspectly.

The promise is that if we, who are His follow these steps that He will hear.  He will forgive.  He will heal our land.  We simply cannot, CANNOT rely on government to keep us safe, happy, and prosperous.  Our forefathers were quick to acknowledge this.  They debated it, wrote about it, and codified it into our founding documents.  How very different it is today.  Do we see many of our nation's leaders consulting with God about how they should govern?  There are some, but you most likely never hear of them.

But we as Christians do not have to be elected to an office to abase ourselves before God, to pray, to seek Him, to repent on behalf of ourselves and our nation.  We only have to do it.  Are we?  Are you?

Let's begin to turn our hearts to the God of OUR fathers, and let the healing begin!

2 comments:

  1. Amen, amen & AMEN!!! Sharing this on my FB!

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  2. Thanks Retta. Your feedback is always encouraging.

    ReplyDelete