The Bible says in Ezekiel 5:13-15, Thus shall
mine anger be accomplished, and I will cause my fury to rest upon them, and I
will be comforted: and they shall know that I the LORD have spoken it in my
zeal, when I have accomplished my fury in them.[14] Moreover I will make
thee waste, and a reproach among the nations that are round about thee, in the
sight of all that pass by.[15] So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an
instruction and an astonishment unto the nations that are round about thee,
when I shall execute judgments in thee in anger and in fury and in furious
rebukes. I the LORD have spoken it. In verse 13 God
speaks of His anger, His fury, and His zeal. What is God angry about? God is
angry about sin, and He is especially angry about sin in the lives of His
people. God is holy and pure and He can have no fellowship with sin. And God is
the just and true Judge of the whole earth. God must be true to His nature, and
He will be true. Nothing impure or unclean can come into His presence. Knowing
this truth shows how miraculous it is that God can even forgive sins. But
actually, the reason that God can forgive sins without violating His holy
nature is because He is just. He already punished sin when He punished Jesus.
As a matter of fact Jesus became sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be
made the righteousness of God in Him. When Jesus was dying on the cross, Jesus
said to the Father, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? The anger of
God against sin fell on Jesus. Gods demands for justice were satisfied in the
person of Christ on the cross. We are told in First John 1:9, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Notice that it says that God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. Why is God just to forgive us our sins? It would not be
just or righteous or good to punish twice for the same sins. His justice
demands that He forgive us.
What about those who do not come to
Jesus? Without Jesus as Savior, they will face the wrath of God against sin.
That is not a very welcome future. It says in Romans 2:5, But after
thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto
thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous
judgment of God; And it says in Colossians 3:6, For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: It says in the first part of Revelation 10:14, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out
without mixture into the cup of his indignation
In Ezekiel 5:15 God said that He would
make Israel a reproach among the nations. That is a terrible consequence because
the purpose of a believer is to be a light in the world, a light for Christ. We
want the result of our lives to be such that those who know us see a testimony
for Jesus. Jesus said, Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good
works and glorify your father which is in heaven. If that happens in your
life, then no matter what else happens to you, you will have had a successful
spiritual life. And you will be very happy when you see Jesus and He says to
you, Well done, thou good and faithful servant.
The Bible says in Ezekiel 5:16-17, When I shall
send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction,
and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you,
and will break your staff of bread:[17] So will
I send upon you famine and evil beasts, and they shall bereave thee; and
pestilence and blood shall pass through thee; and I will bring the sword upon
thee. I the LORD have spoken it. In these 2 verses God mentions
four terrible thigs that will happen to the Israelites: famine, evil beasts,
pestilence, and the sword. Famine is one of the worse things that can happen to
people. Of course, the basic need of life is food. Without it we die. Food
symbolizes spiritual sustenance. Some people have plenty to eat but they are
dying spiritually. Jesus said, Man shall
not live by bread alone, but by every Word of God. When God spoke of evil beasts coming against the Israelites, it
reminds us of what will once again happen in the last days. It says in Revelation
6:8, And I looked, and behold a pale horse:
and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power
was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and
with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth. There is something about all the destructions that came
upon Israel: many of them are very similar to what is going to happen in the
last days in the period of the Great Tribulation to the entire world. If
judgment starts at the house of God because of sin, what will the end of this
age bring to all the nations of the world? You can read about it in the book of
Revelation. It is judgment. Jesus said in Matthew 24:21-22, For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not
since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.[22]
And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but
for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
The Bible says in Ezekiel 6:1-3, And the word
of the LORD came unto me, saying,[2] Son of man, set thy face toward the
mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them,[3] And say, Ye mountains
of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith
the Lord GOD to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the
valleys; Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy
your high places. The leaders of Israel were called mountains and
hills. Those are common phrases used in the Bible for human leaders. Human
beings who are in the positions of leadership certainly think of themselves as
being high and lifted up. But leaders are put into place by God, and they are
also brought down by Him. God was not only angry at the foolish and sinful
decisions of the leaders, but God was also especially angry because of the
violation of the first of the Ten Commandments: Thou shalt have no other Gods before me.
Leaders lead. What happens in a country is partly the fault of leadership. We
have had a failure of leadership in this world. The leaders of the children of
Israel failed, and God said that He would bring them down. God did not bring
peace. He brought war to the nation of Israel. That is what happens when you
live under law. How fortunate we are to live in the age of grace, when the
grace of God is showered down upon us through Christ. John 1:17 says, The law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus
Christ.
The Bible says in Ezekiel 6:4-7, And your
altars shall be desolate, and your images shall be broken: and I will cast down
your slain men before your idols.[5] And I will lay the dead carcases of the children of Israel before their idols; and
I will scatter your bones round about your altars.[6] In all your dwellingplaces the cities shall be laid waste, and the high
places shall be desolate; that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate,
and your idols may be broken and cease, and your images may be cut down, and
your works may be abolished.[7] And the slain shall fall in the midst of
you, and ye shall know that I am the LORD. Part of this terrible
destruction has to do with the fact that the Israelites were under law and not
under grace. Part of it has to do with the fact that God lifts up nations and
then cats them down when He determines it is time. Part of this also has to do
with the fact that He wants us to love Him and serve Him, and once He has given
an opportunity to do so, His jealousy becomes involved. Notice the last phrase
of verse 7, and ye shall know that I am the
LORD. If He cannot get your attention with
love and mercy, maybe He will try something else. If God cannot get the worlds
attention in this period of grace and love, then maybe a period of Great
Tribulation will do it. Verses 4 through 7 are all about death: slain men, dead carcases, scatter your bones, and the slain shall
fall. Why did these things happen? ye shall know that I am the LORD. God
gives life and He takes it.
The Bible says in Ezekiel 6:8-14, Yet will I
leave a remnant, that ye may have some that shall escape the sword among the
nations, when ye shall be scattered through the countries.[9] And they
that escape of you shall remember me among the nations whither they shall be
carried captives, because I am broken with their whorish heart, which hath
departed from me, and with their eyes, which go a whoring after their idols:
and they shall lothe themselves for the evils which
they have committed in all their abominations.[10] And they shall know
that I am the LORD, and that I have not said in vain that I would do this evil
unto them.[11] Thus saith the Lord GOD; Smite
with thine hand, and stamp with thy foot, and say, Alas for all the evil
abominations of the house of Israel! for they shall fall by the sword, by the
famine, and by the pestilence.[12] He that is far off shall die of the
pestilence; and he that is near shall fall by the sword; and he that remaineth and is besieged shall die by the famine: thus
will I accomplish my fury upon them.[13] Then shall ye know that I am
the LORD, when their slain men shall be among their idols round about their
altars, upon every high hill, in all the tops of the mountains, and under every
green tree, and under every thick oak, the place where they did offer sweet savour to all their idols.[14] So will I stretch out
my hand upon them, and make the land desolate, yea, more desolate than the
wilderness toward Diblath, in all their habitations:
and they shall know that I am the LORD. Verse 8 starts off
with a very important phrase. God says, I
leave a remnant. God has always reserved a
people to Himself, no matter how bad the world has gotten. And God has always
preserved the Jewish people. One of the great miracles that proves the Bible
and proves the existence of God is the existence of the Jewish people. They
were scattered throughout all the earth and yet they retained their national
identity, their language, and their religion. No other people did this. All
other people in history in similar circumstances were swallowed up by the
culture and customs around them. What can explain this astounding fact? God
said, I leave a remnant. God always keeps His Word. If you want to know what the
future holds, then learn the Word. Jesus said in John chapter 14, I will come again and receive you unto myself. Things will not always be as they are. They will change
at the return of Christ and the first phase of that return is when Jesus
receives the believers in the event that we call the rapture. It might happen
today or some other day, but it will happen.
In the second phrase of Ezekiel 6:8
God said, that ye may have some that shall escape
the sword among the nations. Yes, God would save some, but the message is
clear that many Jewish people would die by the sword. They would die violent
deaths at the hands of the people to who they were dispersed. Often people ask
how did God allow the terrible atrocities of the German holocaust?
God saw it coming. God warned the nation of Israel of how bad it would be if
they turned away from Him.
God said in verse 10, I would do
this evil unto them. He is not talking about doing sins, but He is taking about all
the destruction and negative consequences that God brought upon the children of
Israel. And in verse 12 God said, I accomplish my fury upon them. God did it
all: all the burning, all the killing, all the dying, all
the disease. God made it happen. God allowed it to happen. God could have done
something else, but He did not. He did what He did. No one could stop it, once
God decided to do it. He is God and there is none else. It seems that we are
totally dependent upon the Lord and what He will do. It seems we need the Lord
and His mercy. It seems that you need a Savior, or you might be in big trouble.
One of the benefits of being a Christian is that no matter what happens and no
matter how bad it seems, we have the promise of Romans 8:28, And we know
that all things work together for good to those that love God and to those that
are the called according to His purpose.
It will be a terrible thing to stand
at the judgement without a Savior. Hell awaits those who do not have Jesus as
their Savior.
___________________________________________________
Copyright; 2016 by Charles
F. (Rick) Creech
All Rights Reserved