Obedience Even In the Face of Difficulty.

“So I proclaimed this to the people the next morning, and in the evening my wife died. The next morning I did everything I had been told to do.” – Ezekiel 24:18 NLT

This is by far the most difficult command God had given Ezekiel – at least from my perspective. God informs Ezekiel that his wife, his “dearest treasure,” is going to die suddenly, and Ezekiel is not to mourn or weep for her publicly. He is not to eat any of the food brought to him by well-meaning friends, and meant to encourage him. In other words, Ezekiel is not to do any of the normal things you would do when you lose a loved one to death. It was all to be an illustration to the people of Judah living in captivity, because God was about to allow the Temple and the city of Jerusalem to be destroyed. The people loved the Temple. It was the source of their security and pride. “The place your hearts delight in” (Ezekiel 24:21b NLT). As long as they had the Temple, they had hope. But God was going to allow His house to be destroyed by the Babylonians, and the exiles living in Babylon, who had been taken captive years earlier, would mourn in silence. Ezekiel had every right to mourn his personal loss, but was not allowed to. The people of Judah had NO right to mourn their loss, because of their sin, so God refused to allow them to mourn as if their loss was undeserved or unfair.

But what do we do with the death of Ezekiel’s wife? Did God cause her death? Did He kill this man’s wife just to make a point? For me, I have to consider the complete character of God in order to understand what is going on here. There is no doubt that God was in control of this situation. He was sovereign over every event that happened, including the death of Ezekiel’s wife. But whether God caused her death or allowed it is hard to know for sure. Based on what we know about God from the Scriptures, it seems to make the most sense that we interpret this event as God allowing Ezekiel’s wife to die at this particular time – utilizing what He knew was already going to happen. Had she been sick? We don’t know. Was her condition the result of disease or plague? The passage does not tell us. But we must interpret this event based on other revelations of God’s character found in the Word. It is not whether or not God could have caused her death, but whether God would have killed an innocent woman just to illustrate a point. Would that be consistent with His character? In his Notes on Ezekiel, Dr. Thomas Constable says, “The text does not say that God put her to death as an object lesson. She could have been ill for some time before she died. Another similar situation involved God allowing the death of His innocent Son to occur at precisely the time God intended as another expression of His love and judgment.”

In reading the Old Testamant, we have to be careful that we interpret what it seems to reveal about God’s character by comparing what we read with other passages and revelations about God. Otherwise we can easily build a case that God is callous, hard, vindictive and heartless. But even in this very difficult book, we see that God is ultimately loving, kind, patient, and forgiving. While He punishes, He also restores. While He brings well-deserved judgment, He also brings undeserved mercy and grace. He is not one-dimensional, but multi-faceted and complex. And He is always righteous and just in all His actions.

Father, sometimes You are hard to understand. I can’t take one passage or one story and build a case about You. You entire Word is a revelation of who You are and how You work. Help me to look at You holistically as You are revealed through the Scriptures. Give me a growing understanding of who You really are. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

WARNING: Contains Graphic Images.

“Furthermore, they have defiled my Temple and violated my Sabbath day! On the very day that they sacrificed their children to their idols, they boldly came into my Temple to worship! They came in and defiled my house.” – Ezekiel 23:38-39 NLT

Sadly, we see the warning above on everything from DVD packages to video games. Even prime-time TV shows come with warnings about the graphic nature of their content. But it is surprising and a bit shocking to think of a chapter in the Bible that might need a graphic warning label. But chapter 23 of Ezekiel contains some of the most sexually explicit language in the Bible. To understand just how disturbing this message must have been for Ezekiel to deliver and for his audience to receive, imagine going to church one Sunday morning and hearing your pastor present a message that contained some of the same imagery and language that Ezekiel used. Just think how you would feel if he accused you of spiritual prostitution and used the same graphic details to describe your spiritual indiscretions. You would be shocked, appalled, and probably offended. So were the people of Judah. And that is exactly what God intended. He wanted to shock them. He wanted to offend them. And He wanted them to be appalled at the gravity of their guilt. So He used extremely graphic language to describe just how serious their sin was.

Sometimes we can become overly comfortable with our sin that we view it with a kind of casualness. We get so used to it that we forget just how detestable it is to God. That was Judah’s problem. They had sinned for so long that it no longer bothered them. They had learned to live with it and excuse it. They had gotten used to justifying their behavior as normal. But God made it graphicly clear that this was anything but normal. Like two sisters who blatantly prostituted themselves with other men, Israel and Judah had pursued relationships with other nations and other gods. They had turned their back on God and sought satisfaction elsewhere. They looked to other nations for their security. They turned to other gods for hope and healing. And while we might consider those actions less-than-shocking, God makes it clear that He sees what they had done as nothing short of immoral and unthinkable. Like a woman who walks out on her loving husband and gives herself physically to every man she meets, Israel and Judah had prostituted themselves time and time again – right in front of the very God who had chosen them, rescued them, and blessed them with His Law, His Temple and His presence.

This chapter is meant to disturb us. It should shock us and make us understand just how serious spiritual adultery is to God. He doesn’t take it lightly. He won’t tolerate it among His people. He would not and could not turn a blind eye to their actions. One of the most disturbing verses in the whole chapter is His accusation that “on the very day that they sacrificed their children to their idols, they boldly came into my Temple to worship! They came in and defiled my house” (Ezekiel 23:39 NLT). In other words, on the very day that they had murdered their own children as a form of their worship of other gods, they would come into God’s house and worship Him. They thought nothing of their actions or how they had offended God. But we do the same thing. We show up at church on Sunday having worshiped the gods of this world all week, then sing songs of praise and worship to God as if it doesn’t matter and He doesn’t care. We sacrifice our kids to the gods of entertainment, music, the Internet, and the culture, allowing them to watch what they want to watch on TV, listen to what they want to listen to, and absorb anything and everything from the world via the tube and the Web. Then we all show up on Sunday to worship God. We bring our unconfessed sins into His presence and act as if there is nothing wrong.

This chapter should disturb us and wake us up to the reality of the seriousness of sin. Spiritual unfaithfulness is an offense to a holy God. If it bothered them this much back in the day of Ezekiel, it must still bother Him today. He is calling us to remain faithful to Him. He is warning us to consider the seriousness of unfaithfulness in the life of the child of God.

Father, shock me into understanding just how much You hate when I am unfaithful to You. Don’t allow me to take my spiritual indiscretions lightly. You certainly don’t. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

Standing In The Gap.

“I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn’t have to destroy the land, but I found no one.” – Ezekiel 22:30 NLT

I can’t read the verse above and not think of that famous war-time poster of Uncle Sam pointing his finger and saying, “I want you!” Here in Ezekiel 22, God is pointing His finger and saying that He looked for a few good men, but found none. There was no one who might help rebuild the spiritual walls of the nation of Judah. Not a single man could be found who was willing or able to stand in the gaps in that wall while it was being rebuilt, in order to protect the people and the integrity of God’s name. God said, “I searched…but I found no one!” He could find plenty of murderers, unethical leaders, immoral husbands and wives, extortioners, swindlers, unrighteous priests and false prophets. But He couldn’t a single, solitary man to “stand in the gap.”

From God’s perspective, the land was polluted. The people were like worthless slag, the leftovers of the refining process. The chosen people of God had become valueless because they were no longer holy and set apart. Rather than live their lives as God’s special possession, set apart for His use and His glory, they had chosen to defile themselves and dishonor God by serving other gods. After all God had done for them, there was not a single individual who God could point His finger at and say, “I want you!” Yes, He had Ezekiel, Daniel, Jeremiah, Nehemiah and a handful of other prophets, but there was a glaring absence of faithful men and women who He could trust to help rebuild the spiritual legacy of the nation of Israel. Things were so bad that even God’s faithful prophets would prove unsuccessful in stemming the tide of sin and rebellion. The moral condition of the nation had reached an all-time low.

But this chapter reminds us that God is always looking for men and women who will rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. Today, we face similar conditions to that of Ezekiel’s day. Immorality, unethical leadership, graft, greed, corruption and a growing sense of spiritual apathy. And God is looking for a few good men and women who would be willing to stand in the gap so that the spiritual walls might be rebuilt. Those men and women are there, but the sad thing is that they are seemingly few and far between. The righteous seem to be overwhelmed by the unrighteous and the spiritually indifferent. But God has always worked with a remnant. He is looking for the faithful few through whom He can work in the midst of all the darkness. “I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall.” Has He found you?

Father, may I be that person You are looking for. I want to stand in the gap. I want to help rebuild the spiritual walls around Your people. Use me to accomplish Your will in this nation and around the world, so that You might receive the glory. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

I’ve God Bad News and Good News.

“Destruction! Destruction! I will surely destroy the kingdom. And it will not be restored until the one appears who has the right to judge it. Then I will hand it over to him.” – Ezekiel 21:27 NLT

It is hard to argue that the book of Ezekiel is filled with a lot of bad news. Over and over again the prophet delivers messages from God regarding the sins of the people and the coming destruction. But occasionally God gives a glimpse of future hope. He let’s them in on the secret that there is good news ahead. There is a brighter future on the horizon. He will not remain angry forever. He will not destroy completely. He will keep His covenant promise. In verse 27 we get a glimmer of light in the midst of all the darkness and gloom. Yes, destruction is coming. God is going to destroy the kingdom of Judah. And it will remain in a state of destruction and devastation for many years. But there is a day coming when He will restore the nation of Judah and the people of God. With the death of Zedekiah, the reign of the kings of Judah comes to an end. There would be no more kings sitting on the throne of David. Even now, there is no king in Israel. But God is not done. His plan is not complete. God tells Ezekiel that there is a day coming when He will turn over the kingdom to one “who has the right to judge it” (Ezekiel 21:27b NLT).

We are told of this coming king in Isaiah 9:6-7. “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor,d Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!” The prophet Jeremiah was told about this coming king as well. “‘For the time is coming,’ says the Lord, ‘when I will raise up a righteous descendant from King David’s line. He will be a King who rules with wisdom. He will do what is just and right throughout the land. And this will be his name: “The Lord Is Our Righteousness.” In that day Judah will be saved, and Israel will live in safety.'” (Jeremiah 23:5-6 NLT).

The bad news came with some very good news. God has a plan for His people. He is not done with Israel – even now. They are a nation, but they do not have a king. They have no Temple. They have no sacrificial system. They have no priesthood. But there is a day coming when God will provide for them a ruler who will serve as their priest and king. He will rule and reign in righteousness. He will reestablish the throne of David and rule in Jerusalem with total power and in complete righteousness. He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords, the Messiah, Jesus the Son of God.

Father, You are far from done. Your work is not yet complete. Your plan is not finished. Keep us focused on the good news of Your sovereign plan. It is easy to look at all that is going wrong in the world and lose hope. But You are in total control and Your plan is unstoppable and totally reliable. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

For the Honor Of His Name.

“…for I acted to protect the honor of my name. I would not allow any shame to be brought on my name among the surrounding nations who saw me reveal myself by bringing the Israelites out of Egypt.” – Ezekiel 20:9 NLT

What’s in a name? In regards to God, everything. His name represents who He is. It encompasses His character and nature. His name isn’t just a label or designation to help differentiate Him from something or someone similar. It is His essence. And as the chosen children of God, the people of Israel were to help set apart His name by living lives that were distinctly different from that nations around them. But in this chapter, God instructs Ezekiel to remind the people of their repeated rejection of Him over the years since He delivered them from Egypt. Over and over again, God says, “But they rebelled…” God had made a solemn oath to deliver them from captivity and give them the Promised Land. In return, He had asked them to get rid of their idols and worship Him alone. But they couldn’t do it. They repeatedly rebelled and refused to obey His law – all throughout their years in the wilderness and even after they arrived in the Promised Land. So God was forced to punish them for their rebellion. He would have been absolutely just in wiping them out completely, but instead, He showed them grace and mercy – all to protect the integrity of His name. He was going to do what He said He would do. He was going to keep His covenant promise to them. He had promised them the land and He was going to give it to them – in spite their unfaithfulness and rebellion. God’s name and His character was at stake. If He would have failed to bring the people of Israel into the Promised Land, the nations would have questioned His integrity. They would have doubted His power. They would have never have seen His holiness or set-apartness – those characteristics about Him that made Him distinct from any other god.

Over the years, the people of God had brought shame on His name. They had been set apart by God as distinct and holy. They were His possession and were to live like it. That is why He gave them the Law. That is why He provided the sacrificial system. Unlike all the other nations, the Israelites were to worship Him and Him alone. But they had failed to do so, and as a result, they had defiled His name. And while God would have been completely justified in destroying them, He had to keep His promises because His name was at stake. He is the covenant-keeping God. If He failed to keep His promise, He would prove Himself either untrustworthy or incapable of doing what He had promised. So when the people failed to honor God’s name, He did it Himself. He protected the integrity of His name. He punished justly, spared them graciously, and continually extended mercy – refusing the wipe them out completely, all because of His name.

Over in Romans 2:4, Paul reminds us, “Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?” God’s interactions with Israel were always based on His character, not theirs. And the same is true in our day. God continues to shower us with mercy and grace, because that is His character. He is a holy God who must punish sin, and He did, by sacrificing His own Son on the cross in our place. He can only allow those who are righteous into His presence, so He exchanged our unrighteousness with the righteousness of Christ. Christ took on our sin and we took on His righteousness. So we stand before God as holy. Everything God has done and will do reflects His character and His name. “You will know that I am the Lord, O people of Israel, when I have honored my name by treating you mercifully in spite of your wickedness. I, the sovereign Lord, have spoken!” (Ezekiel 20:44 NLT).

Father, Your name is great and while I tend to ignore it, demean it, and take it in vain by the way I live my life, You are constantly living up to Your name. It is Your reputation and character. It is who You are. And I am grateful that You live up to Your standards. You never change. You never fail to be who You are. You never step out of character. And because You honor Your name, I can stand before You and honor You as well. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

Sad Song Sung Blue.

“But the vine was uprooted in fury and thrown down to the ground. The desert wind dried up its fruit and tore off its strong branches, so that it withered and was destroyed by fire.” – Ezekiel 19:31-12 NLT

The people of Judah still held out hope that things would change. Even as they lived in forced exile in the land of Babylon, they kept dreaming that someone from the line of David would step up and deliver them from their oppression and restore the glory of Judah. In spite of all the warnings and prophecies of Ezekiel and others, they kept believing that things were going to turn around any minute. But God wants them to know that their destruction is unavoidable and their restoration impossible – without His help. So he has Ezekiel write a funeral dirge – a song of lament describing the final days of the once great nation of Judah. From God’s perspective, Judah is dead. Their is no life left. There is no king waiting in the wings, ready to step up and deliver the nation from the hands of the Babylonians. Her kings had all been killed or taken captive. The once fruitful and powerful nation was relegated to obscurity in a foreign land. The city of Jerusalem was destroyed and the Temple desecrated. There is no one left to deliver the people.

But there is always God. When all else looks bleak and hopeless, there is always God. He knew their state well. He was fully aware of their weak and helpless condition. He knew that there was no one king left in the line of David to deliver them. So God would do what men could not do. He would restore them to the land from which He had banished them. He would return a remnant to the land in order to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Ezra and Nehemiah would help lead a small group of captives to the land where they would labor to restore the nation of Judah. God would be the one to make it all possible. In spite of all their sin and rebellion, God would show them mercy and grace, returning them to the land and restoring them as a nation. And while their would be no king to rule when they returned, God still has a king in waiting – His very own Son – who sits at His right hand in heaven and will one day return to the earth to set up His kingdom in Jerusalem where He will reign in righteousness. This song has a happy ending because God is faithful. All the sadness will be turned to joy. The darkness will be replaced by light. The hopelessness will be replaced with hope. The song of sadness will be replaced with shouts of joy.

“Come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come to him with thanksgiving. Let us sing psalms of praise to him. For the Lord is a great God, a great King above all gods.” – Psalm 95:1-3 NLT

Father, only You can turn our sadness into joy. You can take what appears to be hopeless and replace it with hope. You deliver when no one else can. You restore what appears to be gone for good. Never let me lose sight of the fact that nothing is beyond Your reach. Nothing is impossible for You to do. With You, there is always hope. And one day, we will sing for joy when we see what You have done. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

Our Righteous God.

“Therefore, I will judge each of you, O people of Israel, according to your actions, says the Sovereign Lord. Repent, and turn from your sins. Don’t let them destroy you! Put all your rebellion behind you, and find yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O people of Israel? I don’t want you to die, says the Sovereign Lord. Turn back and live!” – Ezekiel 18:31-33 NLT

There was a common proverb among the Israelites in Ezekiel’s day that said, “The parents have eaten sour grapes, but their children’s mouths pucker at the taste.” It was a subtle form of the blame game. Rather than accept responsibility for their sins and the subsequent consequences, they preferred to blame their problems on their ancestors. In the case of the Israelites, there was no doubt about the sinful behavior of their forefathers. God had made it clear that previous generations had failed to live their lives in faithful obedience to Him. But He was not going to allow the present generation to blame their current condition on others. They were just as guilty and just as deserving of punishment as their grandparents and parents had been. God was clearing up a common misunderstanding in their day and letting them know that each and every individual was responsible for their own behavior. “What?’ you ask. ‘Doesn’t the child pay for the parent’s sins?’ No! For if the child does what is just and right and keeps my decrees, that child will surely live. The person who sins is the one who will die. The child will not be punished for the parent’s sins, and the parent will not be punished for the child’s sins. Righteous people will be rewarded for their own righteous behavior, and wicked people will be punished for their own wickedness” (Ezekiel 18:19-20 NLT).

Then God shares something that is highly confusing and disturbing for us as believers to read. “However, if righteous people turn from their righteous behavior and start doing sinful things and act like other sinners, should they be allowed to live? No, of course not! All their righteous acts will be forgotten, and they will die for their sins” (Ezekiel 18:24 NLT). Wow! If I read that passage correctly, it sounds like if I suddenly fail to live righteously, everything I have done that was righteous up until that point will become null and void, and I will end up dying for my sins. At first glance, it appears as if this passage is saying I can lose my salvation just for sinning. I am responsible for living a righteous life – continually and consistently. As long as I do, I am safe. But if I fail to do so, I am condemned. But we have to remember that this passage was written before the cross. It is stating the condition of things prior to the Good News of Jesus Christ. And what makes the Good News good news is that when God sent His Son into the world, He was providing a way for men to get right with Him and stay right with Him that was not going to be based on SELF-righteousness. No longer would the requirement be that I somehow live a righteous life in my own strength. I would no longer be expected to live up to God’s righteous standard on my own. And let’s face it, God’s standard of righteousness was demanding. He expected obedience, faithfulness, adherence to His Law and unflinching worship of Him and Him alone. And no man was able to meet that standard. Which is why He sent His Son. Because God is righteous and holy, He could not lower His standard to accommodate man’s weakness, so He sent His own Son to earth as a man to live a purely righteous life and die a sinless death on our behalf. Jesus Christ did what no man before Him had ever or could ever have done. He met God’s righteous standard and paid the high price for man’s sinfulness with His own death on the cross. And God was satisfied. So in return, those who place their faith in His Son receive His righteousness. He took my sin upon Himself on the cross and exchanged it with His righteousness. So that now, when God looks at me, He sees me as righteous because of the blood of Jesus Christ. When I read the Old Testament, I am reminded of just how great the gift is that I have received. There was a time when men were expected to earn and keep God’s favor on their own. They were required to meet the exacting standards of God’s righteousness or reap the consequences. But because of what Christ has done, my righteousness is no longer based on what I do. Now that does not free me to live my life in sin, expecting God’s grace to overlook my guilt and excuse it with a dismissive boys-will-be-boys attitude. “Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?” (Romans 6:1-2 NLT). Because of Christ’s sacrificial, substitionary death on the cross, I have been given a new capacity to NOT sin. I don’t have to sin. I am no longer a slave to sin. I can obey the Spirit of God who lives within me. I have a new heart and a new power to live righteously. Paul tells us, “For everyone has sinned; we fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood” (Romans 3:23-25 NLT). I was once a sinner, responsible and culpable for own sinful behavior. I was guilty and deserving of death. But God sent His Son to pay the penalty for my sin and die the death that I deserved. God showered me with His grace and gave me something I didn’t deserve – salvation. He extended mercy, and didn’t give me what I DID deserve – death. “God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus” (Romans 3:26 NLT).

Father, You are a righteous, holy God and Your standards are perfect. When man could not live up to your standards, You sent Your Son to do what we could not do. He lived the life we couldn’t live and paid the price for our sin we deserved to pay. Now we enjoy a right standing with You – all because of Him. Thank You. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

On Eagle’s Wings.

“And all the trees will know that it is I, the Lord, who cuts the tall tree down and makes the short tree grow tall. It is I who makes the green tree wither and gives the dead tree new life. I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do what I said!” – Ezekiel 17:24 NLT

I’m not particularly fond of riddles. I don’t like puzzles and guessing games drive me crazy. No, I tend to like answers, not questions. I prefer clarity over confusion. So when God speaks in riddles and parables, I find myself getting a bit uncomfortable. I want answers and I don’t want to have to search too hard to find them. So when this chapter started off with a riddle, I was less than excited. But fortunately, this is one of those cases where God doesn’t leave us guessing what the riddle means. He graciously provides an explanation so there’s absolutely no confusion as to what He is trying to say.

A giant eagle swoops down and plucks off the top of a cedar tree, carrying it off to a city far away. The eagle also took a seedling and planted it by a river where it grew into a vine with deep roots and strong branches. This healthy, growing vine, while prosperous, turned its attention to another eagle, in search for water, even though it was doing just fine right where it was. It had plenty of good soil and water, but was not satisfied. So God says that He will uproot this vine, cut off its fruit and leave it to whither and die right in the soil where it had been prospering. What in the world is going on here? Well, God tells us. The first eagle represents Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. He “swooped” down with his troops, invaded Jerusalem and took Jehoiachin, king of Judah as his prisoner back to Babylon. He then set up another puppet king named Zedekiah (the seedling) on the throne of Jerusalem. Zedekiah made a covenant with Nebuchadnezzar – an oath of loyalty. As lone as he kept that oath, the nation prospered. But Zedekiah decided to rebel and turned to Egypt (the second eagle) for assistance. He broke his covenant with Nebuchadnezzar. As a result, Jerusalem was invaded again, the city was leveled, the Temple destroyed and Zedekiah was taken captive to Babylon, where he had his eyes gouged out. 

But God is not finished with the explanation. There is another “eagle” revealed, and it’s Him. He says that a day is coming when He will take another branch from the top of a cedar tree and plant it on Israel’s highest mountain. This branch is Jesus, the Messiah. We are told about this branch in the book of Jeremiah. “‘For the time is coming,’ says the Lord, ‘when I will raise up a righteous descendant from King David’s line. He will be a King who rules with wisdom. He will do what is just and right throughout the land. And this will be his name: “The Lord Is Our Righteousness.” In that day Judah will be saved, and Israel will live in safety‘” (Jeremiah 23:5-6 NLT). There is a day coming when Jesus will return to the earth and set up His kingdom in Jerusalem, where He will reign for 1,000 years. Babylon, Egypt, the United States, Russian, China, Great Britain, and all the other nations of the earth are no match for the plan of God. Babylon was a tool in the hands of God to accomplish His divine will. He has a greater plan in place. He is out to accomplish His will in His way and on His time table. When God completes His plan all people will know that He has been in control all along, cutting down the tall tree and making the short tree grow, withering the green tree and giving new life to the dead one. God is sovereign and in complete control. That is the way He starts out this whole chapter. “Son of man, give this riddle, and tell this story to the people of Israel. Give them this message from the Sovereign Lord” (Ezekiel 17:2 NLT).

Father, You truly are the Sovereign Lord. You have always been in control, even back during the days of Ezekiel. And You are just as much in control today. Never let us lose sight of the fact that You are sovereign and Lord over ALL things, including kings, presidents, countries, continents, time, space, past, present and future. We can trust You. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

Our Faithful and Forgiving God.

“And I will reaffirm my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the Lord. You will remember your sins and cover your mouth in silent shame when I forgive you of all that you have done. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!” – Ezekiel 16:62-63 NLT

Judah was guilty. In fact, the southern kingdom was so guilty that God compared their sins to the northern kingdom and the city of Sodom and said, “You have done more detestable things than your sisters ever did. They seem righteous compared to you. Shame on you! Your sins are so terrible that you make your sisters seems righteous, even virtuous” (Ezekiel 16:51-52 NLT). Judah was so sinful and wicked that they made the city of Sodom look tame, even righteous in comparison. Now, that’s bad. And God pulls no punches in pointing out the various ways in which Judah had taken home the world record in sinful activity. What makes their story so shocking is that God had taken them from nothing and made them something. He had poured out His love, grace and mercy on them at a time when they were totally undeserving. He compares them to a newborn baby, unwanted and abandoned in a field to die. God rescued them, gave them life, and raised them up as His own. He made a covenant with them. He blessed them, cared for them, and allowed them to prosper and thrive. He took what was unwanted and undeserving and made it His special possession. And how did they treat their rescuer and redeemer? With contempt, callousness, and a degree if ingratitude that is hard to imagine. Instead of returning God’s affection, they rejected Him. They used the gifts God had graciously given them to buy the affections of other “lovers.” They acted like a prostitute who paid others for sexual favors. They gained nothing from their sinful encounters. “Prostitutes charge for their services – but not you! You give gifts to your lovers, bribing them to come and have sex with you. So you are the opposite of other prostitutes. You pay for your lovers instead of their paying you! (Ezekiel 16:33-34 NLT). Their unfaithfulness would prove to be unprofitable and extremely costly.

But amazingly, while God was forced to punish them for their sin, He was also faithful to forgive them. He reminded them, “I will give you what you deserve, for you have taken your solemn vows lightly by breaking your covenant. Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you when you were young, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you” (Ezekiel 16:59-60 NLT). God would not overlook their sin. He would have to punish them for their indiscretions, but He would not forget the covenant He had made with them. In spite of their unfaithfulness, He would remain faithful. And there is a day coming when God will forgive all the sins of Judah. He will reestablish them as His own. He will return them to His favor and pour out His love, grace and mercy once again. He will set up His throne in Jerusalem where His Son will reign in righteousness. They will feel shame for all they have done to sin against God, but that shame will be short-lived. He will replace it with joy as they take in the magnitude of His undeserved grace and mercy. All of this should be a reminder to us that this is the God we serve. That He could forgive the sins of Judah should give us hope and assurance that He will forgive our sins. That He could love Judah in spite of their unfaithfulness should remind us just how much God loves us – even when we prove unfaithful. What an amazing, forgiving, gracious, loving God we serve.

Father, I am blown away by Your love and forgiveness. I have a hard time understanding Your faithfulness. That You could remain faithful to Judah after all they had done to sin against You is difficult to comprehend. My faith is so fickle. I give up on others so easy. But You don’t. Help me to grow in my understanding of just how great and gracious You really are. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

The Folly of Fruitlessness.

“And this is what the Sovereign Lord says: The people of Jerusalem are like grapevines growing among the trees of the forest. Since they are useless, I have thrown them on the fire to be burned.” – Ezekiel 15:6 NLT

Where was the fruit? God had planted Israel as His choice vine. He had placed them in a prominent place right in the middle of all the nations of the world. He had blessed them and made them His own. He had great plans for them. He wanted them to prosper and be fruitful, so that they and the nations around them might know that Yahweh is Lord. But Israel proved fruitless and unfaithful. “But I was the one who planted you, choosing a vine of the purest stock — the very best. How did you grow into this corrupt wild vine” (Jeremiah 2:21 NLT). “The nation of Israel is the vineyard of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. The people of Judah are his pleasant garden. He expected a crop of justice, but instead he found oppression. He expected to find righteousness, but instead he heard cries of violence.” – Isaiah 5:7 NLT

Israel had a singular purpose: To produce fruit. They were to be a conduit through which God would work, producing the fruit of righteousness in a land that desperately needed it. God makes it clear to Ezekiel that the wood of a vine is worthless for anything but the production of grapes. If it is not producing fruit, it is worthless. If Israel was not going to do what God had chosen it to do, it was of no use to Him. God had no need for Israel to become a great nation if it was not going to be dedicated to Him alone and committed to the job of fruit-bearing. It had one purpose and one purpose only. And God drives that point home. “Is vine wood ever used to make anything? Is it used to make pegs to hang things from?” (Ezekiel 15:3 MSG).

But Israel wanted to be great. It wanted to be significant. It desired to be a major player in terms of both military might and political power. Fruitfulness was not high on its list of priorities. And while it had become a great nation, wealthy and highly influential; in God’s eyes, Israel had become expendable. They were no longer doing what they had been created to do. From the day God had called Abram out of Ur, He had a clear plan for His chosen people. “The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you’” (Genesis 12:1-3 NLT). Ultimately, the blessing God was talking about would come through Jesus Christ, the Savior. But even before the coming of Christ, Israel was to be a beacon of light in the midst of the darkness. They were to reveal to the world the one true God as they lived in faithful obedience and dependence upon Him. He was to be their God and they were to be His people. God was their vinekeeper. He had planted them, nourished them, cared for and protected them. But when all was said and done, something was missing: Fruit. “What more could I have done for my vineyard that I have not already done? When I expected sweet grapes, why did my vineyard give me bitter grapes?” (Isaiah 5:4 NLT). God was looking for fruit – the byproduct of a relationship with Him. And He is looking for the same thing in our lives today. God wants to see fruit in our lives. “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23 NLT). Producing fruit is the purpose for why we exist. We have been chosen by God for that purpose and that purpose alone. Like grapevines that no longer produce grapes, Christians who are not bearing fruit in their lives are missing their calling. May we come to realize that we are here for one reason alone – to allow God to produce His fruit through our lives so that we might be a blessing to those among whom we live.

Father, I want to be a fruit-bearer for You. Forgive me for the many times I get off task and decide to give my life another purpose other than the one for which You have chosen me. May I learn to be satisfied with my role as a fruit-bearer for You. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org