The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Ezekiel 6:11-14,
"This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Strike your hands together and stamp your feet and cry out 'Alas!' because of all the wicked and detestable practices of the house of Israel, for they will fall by the sword, famine and plague… So will I spend my wrath upon them. And they will know that I am the Lord… And I will stretch out my hand against them and make the land a desolate waste from the desert to Diblah -wherever they live. Then they will know that I am the Lord."
Our God is a God of wrath who visits his wrath on those who oppose him and his purposes.
Very specifically here, the Lord pointed to Israel's penchant for idolatry. Although the Lord could not have been more clear about his condemnation of idolatry when he provided Israel with the tablets of his covenant, Israel pursued her love affair with idols.
I can't help but think that when God would introduce his Son to the world through the nation of Israel, he did not want anyone to wonder which "god" Jesus would be the son of.
When Jesus was baptized by John, a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." I am certain that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob did not want the world to wonder whose voice was speaking as Jesus was introduced to the world.
If Israel retained her embrace of Molech, might there be confusion in the world as to who Jesus was the son of? Was he the son of Baal? Was he the son of Asherah? Was he the son of Tammuz? I think you get the idea.
God chose the offspring of Abraham as his covenant people through whom he would pursue his plan of redeeming mankind. This is the people God would speak to the world through - his prophets. This is the people God would communicate his law and his justice through, letting the world know it was condemned because of sin. Most importantly, this is the people God would use to bring his Son into the world to provide a sacrifice, through whom payment could be made for the penalty for our sin - satisfying God's own sense of justice.
As God rolled out the mystery of his redemption of mankind to the world, Israel was the people he chose to use for his purposes. To make Israel useful for this purpose, they would have to be idol-free. The fascinating thing we find in the gospel accounts of Israel is her revulsion of idols and idol worship, a stark contrast to what the nation looked like years earlier.
Israel paid a horrific price for her penchant for idolatry, but we find God very adept at molding Israel into what he needed. We see it in his wrath against this idolatrous nation.
Our God is a God of wrath who visits his wrath on those who oppose him and his purposes.
Very specifically here, the Lord pointed to Israel's penchant for idolatry. Although the Lord could not have been more clear about his condemnation of idolatry when he provided Israel with the tablets of his covenant, Israel pursued her love affair with idols.
I can't help but think that when God would introduce his Son to the world through the nation of Israel, he did not want anyone to wonder which "god" Jesus would be the son of.
When Jesus was baptized by John, a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." I am certain that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob did not want the world to wonder whose voice was speaking as Jesus was introduced to the world.
If Israel retained her embrace of Molech, might there be confusion in the world as to who Jesus was the son of? Was he the son of Baal? Was he the son of Asherah? Was he the son of Tammuz? I think you get the idea.
God chose the offspring of Abraham as his covenant people through whom he would pursue his plan of redeeming mankind. This is the people God would speak to the world through - his prophets. This is the people God would communicate his law and his justice through, letting the world know it was condemned because of sin. Most importantly, this is the people God would use to bring his Son into the world to provide a sacrifice, through whom payment could be made for the penalty for our sin - satisfying God's own sense of justice.
As God rolled out the mystery of his redemption of mankind to the world, Israel was the people he chose to use for his purposes. To make Israel useful for this purpose, they would have to be idol-free. The fascinating thing we find in the gospel accounts of Israel is her revulsion of idols and idol worship, a stark contrast to what the nation looked like years earlier.
Israel paid a horrific price for her penchant for idolatry, but we find God very adept at molding Israel into what he needed. We see it in his wrath against this idolatrous nation.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
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