Punishment in Keeping With the Crime

December 28, 2022 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

⁴⁵And the word of the Lord came to me: ⁴⁶“Son of man, set your face toward the southland; preach against the south, and prophesy against the forest land in the Negeb. ⁴⁷Say to the forest of the Negeb, Hear the word of the Lord: Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree in you and every dry tree. The blazing flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from south to north shall be scorched by it. ⁴⁸All flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.” ⁴⁹Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! They are saying of me, ‘Is he not a maker of parables?’”

¹The word of the Lord came to me: ²“Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries. Prophesy against the land of Israel ³and say to the land of Israel, Thus says the Lord: Behold, I am against you and will draw my sword from its sheath and will cut off from you both righteous and wicked. ⁴Because I will cut off from you both righteous and wicked, therefore my sword shall be drawn from its sheath against all flesh from south to north. ⁵And all flesh shall know that I am the Lord. I have drawn my sword from its sheath; it shall not be sheathed again.

⁶“As for you, son of man, groan; with breaking heart and bitter grief, groan before their eyes. ⁷And when they say to you, ‘Why do you groan?’ you shall say, ‘Because of the news that it is coming. Every heart will melt, and all hands will be feeble; every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it is coming, and it will be fulfilled,’” declares the Lord God. – Ezekiel 20:27-21:7 NLT

The final phase of God’s judgment was coming and He has confirmed that its arrival would be well-deserved and fully just. The people of Israel stood before God guilty and condemned. From the northern borders of Israel to the southern tip of Judah, the entire land of promise had been polluted by the unfaithfulness of God’s chosen people. During the reign of King Josiah in Judah, the prophet Jeremiah delivered a warning that the southern kingdom would suffer the same fate as the northern kingdom because they were guilty of the same crime. The northern kingdom of Israel had already fallen to the Assyrians and yet the southern kingdom of Judah had learned nothing from watching God’s destruction of their ten fellow tribes.

“Have you seen what fickle Israel has done? Like a wife who commits adultery, Israel has worshiped other gods on every hill and under every green tree. I thought, ‘After she has done all this, she will return to me.’ But she did not return, and her faithless sister Judah saw this. She saw that I divorced faithless Israel because of her adultery. But that treacherous sister Judah had no fear, and now she, too, has left me and given herself to prostitution. Israel treated it all so lightly—she thought nothing of committing adultery by worshiping idols made of wood and stone. So now the land has been polluted. But despite all this, her faithless sister Judah has never sincerely returned to me. She has only pretended to be sorry. I, the Lord, have spoken!” – Jeremiah 3:6-10 NLT

God also gave Ezekiel a message for the recalcitrant citizens of Judah. Despite the fall of their northern neighbor, they remained just as stubbornly committed to their idolatrous ways. They had shown no signs of regret, remorse, or repentance. So, God provides Ezekiel with a series of prophetic statements concerning the land of Judah, beginning with the southern region of the Negev.

“Son of man, turn and face the south and speak out against it; prophesy against the brushlands of the Negev.“ – Ezekiel 20:47 NLT

The Negev was an expansive desert region that extended from Bathsheba in the north all the way down to the tip of the Gulf of Aqaba. While the Negev was predominantly an arid region, in Ezekiel’s day the northern portion was forested and rather lush. The southern region was more desolate and featured drought-resistant shrubs and bushes. It was less populated but still considered a part of the promised land. Yet, God declares that He is going to bring destructive fires to turn the entire region into a vast wasteland.

“I will set you on fire, and every tree, both green and dry, will be burned. The terrible flames will not be quenched and will scorch everything from south to north.” – Ezekiel 20:47 NLT

The devastation will be complete and the divine nature of its source will be readily known.

“And everyone in the world will see that I, the Lord, have set this fire. It will not be put out.’” – Ezekiel 20:48 NLT

But Ezekiel complains that this message is falling on unreceptive ears. He is stuck in Babylon, delivering God’s warnings of judgment against the Negev to people who don’t even live there. His fellow exiles view his messages as incomprehensible and non-applicable to them.

“O Sovereign Lord, they are saying of me, ‘He only talks in riddles!’” – Ezekiel 20:49 NLT

But rather than address Ezekiel’s concerns, God simply provides him with further details by focusing the point of His message further north.

“Son of man, turn and face Jerusalem and prophesy against Israel and her sanctuaries.” – Ezekiel 21:1 NLT

It seems that God required Ezekiel to physically turn and address these different regions of Judah. Once again, he is expected to act out his prophecy by turning south and then north to accentuate the different regions of Judah. Perhaps he was using the miniature model of Jerusalem that God had commanded him to make earlier (Ezekiel 4:1-17). This physical orientation was probably intended to remind the exiles of the geographic layout of their former homeland. It was a visual demonstration of the vast and diverse nature of Judah’s territory.

In the less-populated south, the primary recipients of God’s fury would be the trees and shrubs. But as His wrath moved northward, it would focus on the people who occupied the cities, villages, and towns that dotted the landscape, including the capital city of Jerusalem.

“This is what the Lord says: I am your enemy, O Israel, and I am about to unsheath my sword to destroy your people—the righteous and the wicked alike. Yes, I will cut off both the righteous and the wicked! I will draw my sword against everyone in the land from south to north.” – Ezekiel 21:3-4 NLT

In some sense, God seems to be comparing the entire nation of Judah to a desert, a virtual spiritual wasteland where the life-giving presence of God is nowhere to be found. Despite the presence of the temple in Jerusalem, their knowledge of God’s Law, and the availability of the sacrificial system, the people of Judah showed no signs of spiritual life and vitality.

The prophet, Habakkuk, gave an eyewitness account of the sorry spiritual state within the land of Judah.

Wherever I look,
    I see destruction and violence.
I am surrounded by people
    who love to argue and fight.
The law has become paralyzed,
    and there is no justice in the courts.
The wicked far outnumber the righteous,
    so that justice has become perverted. – Habakkuk 1:3-4 NLT

And God provided Habakkuk with His divine solution to Judah’s moral and spiritual problem.

“I am raising up the Babylonians,
    a cruel and violent people.
They will march across the world
    and conquer other lands.
They are notorious for their cruelty
    and do whatever they like.
Their horses are swifter than cheetahs
    and fiercer than wolves at dusk.
Their charioteers charge from far away.
    Like eagles, they swoop down to devour their prey.” – Habakkuk 1:6-8 NLT

God had determined to destroy His rebellious and unrepentant people. He had relented long enough and now it was time to deal with their rampant and escalating wickedness. And to help accentuate the devastating nature of the coming destruction, Ezekiel is instructed to “groan before the people! Groan before them with bitter anguish and a broken heart” (Ezekiel 21:6 NLT). His presentation of God’s prophecies is to be accompanied by heartfelt distress and visible expressions of sorrow. And it probably didn’t require a lot of acting on Ezekiel’s part to carry off this request. He was personally grieved by the news of his nation’s pending destruction, and he was not alone. Even Habakkuk expressed his concern about God’s plan.

“O Lord my God, my Holy One, you who are eternal—
    surely you do not plan to wipe us out?
O Lord, our Rock, you have sent these Babylonians to correct us,
    to punish us for our many sins.
But you are pure and cannot stand the sight of evil.
    Will you wink at their treachery?
Should you be silent while the wicked
    swallow up people more righteous than they?” – Habakkuk 1:12-13 NLT

Even God’s prophets struggled to understand God’s ways. His determination to use a pagan nation to punish His own people made no sense to them. It seemed out of character and in direct violation of His covenant commitments. But what they failed to understand was the egregious nature of Judah’s sin. They had yet to comprehend the gravity of the situation or the full extent of Judah’s spiritual degradation. But God was letting Ezekiel know that the punishment would be commensurate with the crime. And when the judgment of God came, it would leave a lasting impression.

“When it comes true, the boldest heart will melt with fear; all strength will disappear. Every spirit will faint; strong knees will become as weak as water. And the Sovereign Lord says: It is coming! It’s on its way!” – Ezekiel 21:8 NLT

Their wandering and unfaithful hearts will be left in a state of abject fear. The false gods they loved so much will abandon them. In their time of greatest need, their idols will prove powerless, leaving them without a source of strength or security. The formerly prideful and arrogant will find themselves humiliated and degraded. Those who rested on their financial strength and self-sufficiency will become destitute and devoid of all material wealth.

And the impact of this coming judgment would be without boundaries. From the Negev to Jerusalem and from Babylon to the Kebar River, the full force of God’s wrath will be felt by His chosen people. Even from their distant vantage point in Babylon, the exiles will not escape the consequences of their unfaithfulness to God. And God provided the prophet, Habakkuk, with the simple antidote for escaping the wrath of God: Faithfulness.

“This vision is for a future time.
    It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled.
If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently,
    for it will surely take place.
    It will not be delayed.

“Look at the proud!
They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked.
But the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God.” – Habakkuk 2:3-4 NLT

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

God Wants to Forgive.

July 4, 2017 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

Flee for safety, O people of Benjamin,
    from the midst of Jerusalem!
Blow the trumpet in Tekoa,
    and raise a signal on Beth-haccherem,
for disaster looms out of the north,
    and great destruction.
The lovely and delicately bred I will destroy,
    the daughter of Zion.
Shepherds with their flocks shall come against her;
    they shall pitch their tents around her;
    they shall pasture, each in his place.
“Prepare war against her;
    arise, and let us attack at noon!
Woe to us, for the day declines,
    for the shadows of evening lengthen!
Arise, and let us attack by night
    and destroy her palaces!”

For thus says the Lord of hosts:
“Cut down her trees;
    cast up a siege mound against Jerusalem.
This is the city that must be punished;
    there is nothing but oppression within her.
As a well keeps its water fresh,
    so she keeps fresh her evil;
violence and destruction are heard within her;
    sickness and wounds are ever before me.
Be warned, O Jerusalem,
    lest I turn from you in disgust,
lest I make you a desolation,
    an uninhabited land.”

Thus says the Lord of hosts:
“They shall glean thoroughly as a vine
the remnant of Israel;
like a grape gatherer pass your hand again
over its branches.” – Jeremiah 6:1-9 ESV

There are those who might find the book of Jeremiah a bit redundant and repetitive. After all, it does seem that God is belaboring the point regarding Judah’s sin. It would appear that by this time, the people of Judah would have gotten the message – loud and clear. But the very fact that God continues to point out their sin and warn them of coming destruction unless they repent, is more a sign of God’s patience and an indicator of their stubbornness. He continues to point out the horrific nature of their sin and warns them of what is going to happen to them because of it. God takes no delight in this message. He finds no pleasure in describing the fate of His own chosen people. But He is brutally blunt in His call that they repent.

“Listen to this warning, Jerusalem,
or I will turn from you in disgust.
Listen, or I will turn you into a heap of ruins,
a land where no one lives.” – Jeremiah 6:8 NLT

God was serious. But the people of Judah were not taking Him seriously. Despite Jeremiah’s dire depictions of their coming destruction, they were making no efforts to change their ways. So, God was forced to up the ante and increase the intensity of His accusations and warnings. He calls out the people of the tribe of Benjamin and the citizens of the cities of Tekoa and Beth-hakkerem. The coming destruction was not going to be isolated to the city of Jerusalem. It was going to impact all those living in and around the southern nation of Judah. The Babylonians, when they came, would spare no one. No city, town or village would be safe. Because the sins of the people of Judah had not been restricted to the capital city. Sin was everywhere. The disobedience and unfaithfulness, like a contagious disease, had spread throughout the land. All were guilty.

And God lovingly describes Jerusalem as “my beautiful and delicate daughter” (Jeremiah 6:2 NLT). He was about to destroy the city and the people He loved. All because of sin. His holiness and justice demanded it. He could no longer overlook it. While He loved the people of Judah, His justice required that the sins of His people be punished. Their failure to repent was going to bring His wrath down on them. But He continued to warn. He kept sending Jeremiah back to them with further messages of coming judgment.

He tells them that He loves them, but that He will destroy them. They are not immune to His judgment. They can’t just live in unfaithfulness to Him and expect to get away with it. He is God. He is holy. He is obligated by His very nature to deal with sin, which is nothing less than open rebellion against His sovereignty. Where once there were shepherds and their peaceful flocks camped outside the city walls, there would now be Babylonians troops bent on destruction. And they would be so anxious to pillage the city, that they would fight well into the night. They would cut down all the trees surrounding the city to build their siege engines and ramparts. The devastation would be great. And the fall of Jerusalem would be complete. God even describes the Babylonians as a grape harvester who makes another trip through the vineyard to make sure he left no fruit on the vines. The Babylonians would be excrutiatingly thorough in their pillaging of the city. Nothing would be left. No treasures would be overlooked. The city would be stripped clean. All because of sin.

It would be easy to read these passages and focus on what appears to be the unchecked wrath of God. But the thing that should grab our attention is the devastating effect of sin. God hates it, and for a very good reason. It is like a cancer that spreads through the human body. It is destructive and has no redeeming qualities about it. It brings no worth or value with it. It grows and spreads, but adds nothing to the body that will bring life. Sin brings nothing but death, because it separates man from God. But like the people of Judah, we can grow comfortable with our own sin. We can become complacent and completely at peace with life-threatening, joy-stealing, peace-shattering presence of sin in our lives. But God hates it. And He is out to eliminate and eradicate it. He cannot and will not tolerate it. And when He points it out in our lives, we should thank Him for exposing the very thing that brings death, so that we might enjoy the life He has promised us. God prefers repentance over punishment. He longs to see His children return to Him in brokenness and contrition. He loves to forgive and restore.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. – 1 John 1:9 ESV

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Shame On Us.

June 26, 2015November 30, 2024 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens. From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt. And for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, and to utter shame, as it is today. – Ezra 9:6-7 ESV

Ezra 9:6-15

In 537 B.C., 50,000 Jews were allowed to return to the land of Judah from after 70 years of captivity in Babylon. It was all made possible by a decree from Cyrus, the Persian king. They were led by Zerubbabel and their task was to rebuild the temple of God. In 487 B.C., at the decree of the Persian king, Artaxerxes, Ezra and some 2,000 other refugees returned to the land with the responsibility to restore proper worship in the temple and to reestablish and enforce God’s laws. Ezra was a scribe, an expert in the law. When they arrived in Jerusalem, they did not find things as they had expected. Ezra received a report informing him of some rather disconcerting news. “Many of the people of Israel, and even some of the priests and Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the other peoples living in the land. They have taken up the detestable practices of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites. For the men of Israel have married women from these people and have taken them as wives for their sons. So the holy race has become polluted by these mixed marriages. Worse yet, the leaders and officials have led the way in this outrage” (Ezra 9:1-2 NLT).

When Ezra heard this news, he was appalled. The Hebrew word Ezra used to describe his state is shamem. It means “to be stunned, horrified, appalled, and stupified” (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance). He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The exiled who had returned to the land thanks to a miracle of God and allowed to rebuild the once destroyed temple, had been breaking one of God’s cardinal laws: intermarriage. Not only that, they had been taking up “the detestable practices” of the pagan people who had occupied the land in their absence. Rather than live set apart and holy lives, dedicated to God, they had compromised their convictions and powerfully diluted their influence as the people of God. And their leaders had set the tone for this shocking display. Ezra went into mourning. Then he took the issue before the Lord. Standing before the people, he raised his hands and prayed. “O my God, I am utterly ashamed; I blush to lift up my face to you” (NLT). He came before God in a state of utter dismay and embarrassment on behalf of the people of Judah. While he had not participated in their sin, he felt a responsibility for it. He knew that, as a people, they represented God’s children. Their sin was corporate in nature. Rather than living as the chosen, set apart people of God, they had decided to become like the world around them, taking on their sinful practices and bringing shame to the very name of God.

How serious was all of this? Ezra put it in very stark terms, saying, “our sins are piled higher than our heads, and our guilt has reached to the heavens.” This was serious business. He knew that God was fully aware of their sin and was not pleased. In fact, this latest transgression against God was a reminder of all the sins the people of Israel had committed over the centuries and that had led to their many defeats and their ultimate fall to the Babylonians. But here they were, even after 70 years of captivity, doing it all again. Ezra couldn’t believe his eyes. He couldn’t gloss over what he had seen and heard. He couldn’t act as if it hadn’t happened or it didn’t matter. Years earlier, when God had prepared to send the people into the land of Canaan for the very first time, He had told commanded them regarding the people living in the land, “You must not intermarry with them. Do not let your daughters and sons marry their sons and daughters, for they will lead your children away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the Lord will burn against you, and he will quickly destroy you” (Deuteronomy 7:3-4 NLT). God had known that the outcome of these marriages would be devastating to the spiritual well being of the Israelites. But they had failed to obey God then, and they were repeating the same mistake again. And the saddest part was that they were unashamed of their actions. It reminds me of a statement made by God before the fall of Jerusalem. Speaking of the religious leaders of Israel, God said, “Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush” (Jeremiah 8:12 ESV). But Ezra was ashamed. He was mortified by the actions of his fellow Jews and he brought his shame before God.

There comes a time when we must accept the reality of our corporate sin as the people of God. While we may be free from personal guilt, we still bear a responsibility to accept and acknowledge the guilt we share as part of God’s family. We cannot afford to overlook the transgressions committed by fellow believers and believe it has no impact on ourselves. Ezra knew that God’s blessings on the people of Israel would be directly influenced by their behavior. Their sin would bring His displeasure. Ezra knew that and so he too personal responsibility to confess their sins before God. Rather than simply claim his own innocence, Ezra confessed their corporate culpability before God. What good was a rebuilt temple and a restored people if they refused to live their lives set apart to God? Perhaps it’s time that we began to see our corporate sin as the people of God with greater clarity and take personal responsibility before God. Or do we feel no shame? Have we forgotten how to blush at our sin?

Devotionary

The Bible Made Accessible and Applicable

unrepentance

Punishment in Keeping With the Crime

God Wants to Forgive.

Shame On Us.