God's Concern for the Poor and Needy

Sodom (and Judah) are condemned in Ezek 16.49 for several things: They were filled with pride; they were full of bread; they had an abundance of idleness (free time?); and they did not strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. It's quite clear that with resources (full of bread) and time (abundance of idleness) Judah (and Sodom) COULD have shown mercy to the poor and needy. They did not. They are condemned for this.

Our culture sounds a lot like that of Sodom and Judah (our churches sound a lot like Sodom and Judah). We as Christians must battle the materialism of the culture and grasp (in philosophy and action) God's heart for the poor and needy. The church has done this throughout history (or ought to have done so). We need to make sure that we do not neglect it.

False Shepherds; The True Shepherd

In Ezekiel 34.15,16, this morning, a beautiful passage. If the shepherds that God had appointed over Israel would not be proper shepherds (c. f. Ezekiel 34.4), then God would be a true shepherd to his people. God will tend the sheep; he will have them lie down; he will go after and find the strays; and bind up the injured; and strengthen the weak. Oh, and he will also destroy those who should have been shepherds but were not (the sleek and strong). And then, in the ESV, I will feed them in justice. The NIV translates this same fragment as, I will shepherd the flock with justice. While both are legitimate translations, the NIV makes more sense to me. God is drawing a sharp contrast between himself as a shepherd and those who should have been shepherds, but were not (Ezekiel 34.4).

Two points of application. First, if you are shepherding anyone—as a father, or pastor, or leader of a small group—you'd better give due attention to shepherding as God would shepherd because that is your responsibility and God will hold you accountable. Second, God is our shepherd!! What do we possibly have of which to be afraid?

Wisdom and Pride

There is, according to Ezekiel 28.17, no intersection between wisdom and pride. You cannot have both. The passage is speaking of the King of Tyre. It says of him, you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. In other words, your desire to see yourself lifted up affected your wisdom, and that desire won out. Therefore, what wisdom you had was null and void.

This is why it is so important to be on guard against pride. God gives us wisdom, but if we allow our pride to get in the way, the gift that he gives us will be of no help in understanding how to live in the world in a God-honoring way.

As Jonathan Edwards put it: Remember that pride is the worst viper that is in the heart, the greatest disturber of the soul's peace and sweet communion with Christ; it was the first sin that ever was, and lies lowest in the foundation of Satan's whole building, and is the most difficultly rooted out, and is the most hidden, secret and deceitful of all lusts, and often creeps in, insensibly, into the midst of religion and sometimes under the disguise of humility.

• Jonathan Edwards, To Deborah Hatheway, Letters and Personal Writings (Works of Jonathan Edwards Online Vol. 16) , Ed. George S. Claghorn

If You Think that the Lord is Fickle...

...you may want to sit down and think about Ezekiel 24.14 for awhile. It is perhaps the clearest and most exhaustive verse in the Scriptures in which God lays out his character in regards to his word. I am the Lord. I have spoken. It shall come to pass. I will do it. I will not go back. I will not spare. I will not relent. The fact that the Lord tarries when it comes to judgment is not an indication that he is waffling in regards to doing what he has spoken. It is a demonstration of his grace and mercy. John Piper posted the following tweet that bears on the subject in the past week: 40,399 citizens of Japan are over 100 years old. Twenty more years of grace beyond 4 score and 10 to find life in Christ. This is just the way we ought to look at God's word. It will come to pass, the fact that he tarries in regards to what he has said is not an indication that he won't act, it is an act of grace!

God Will Do What He Says

In Ezekiel 12.25, this morning. God tells his own people that the word that he speaks will be performed. In other words, he is saying that what he has prophesied will come to pass. It will not be good for Judah. The problem was that prophets had prophesied before of the coming destruction and exile of Judah, but nothing had happened. Why should it happen now? Thus the people's reasoning. They turned out to be wrong. God's judgment fell on their generation, as he said it would. This brings to mind Hudson Taylor's words: “There is a living God, he has spoken in the Bible. He means what he says, and will do all that he is promised”. Taylor was speaking in a different context, but the principal applies. God speaks. He will do what he has promised, whether it be for good or for evil.

The question for us that arises from this passage is: "Do we truly believe that what God has spoken will come to pass?" If we do it is going to radically alter our thinking and behavior. Is Christ going to return? If he is, then that shapes our life, actions, and philosophy. We will not live for today. We will not waste our life. We will work, and leave the rest and recreation for heaven (cognizant of the fact that rest and recreation are God-ordained, we just do not enslave ourselves to them).

Lord God, may we believe your word, and with Hudson Taylor believe that you mean what you say, and that you will do all that you have promised.

God Accepting More Responsibility

Ezekiel 6.10 (actually all of chapter 6) is another example of God taking responsibility for evil. He brought judgment, destruction, and exile on his own people because they turned away from him to worship other idols. He states three times in this chapter that he brings all of the difficulties so that his people would know that he is the Lord.

One of the reasons that we might find ourselves in difficulty is if we stray from the Lord. He brings us back to himself by reason of putting us in places that cause us to cry out to him. For some of us it takes a little prodding, for others it takes a lot. God will do whatever it takes.

God and Responsibility for "Bad Stuff"

There is a somewhat stunning acceptance of responsibility on the part of God in Ezekiel 5.16,17. He will bring about a lack of food and water for his own people! They will rot away because of their punishment. God brings this upon his people for their unwillingness to follow him and his commands.

This is a sobering truth, but one that we find again and again in the Scriptures. Like a good shepherd, God will keep his people close to him, even if that means he must humble them through difficulty to do so. Staying close to God does not mean that our lives will escape difficulty; it does, however, mean that our difficulties will not come because of our disobedience, and that is a good thing.

How I Do Not Want to be Described!

In Ezekiel 3.7, this morning. God's description of his own people is that they are hard of forehead and stiff of heart. It is a shocking indictment when we understand that Pharaoh was described in the exact same way. The people would not be willing to listen to Ezekiel because God had sent him. In the same way Israel had rejected Samuel in favor of a king, so they would now reject Ezekiel because they did not want to hear God's message.

Strong words to make us search out our hearts again and again so that we do not become hard of forehead and stiff of heart, because that is a sign of a people who have gone their own way and will not listen to God any more. Lord, give me a soft forehead and a pliable heart!