The Sovereignty of God

Readings for today: Jeremiah 45-48, Psalms 25

Over the years, I’ve been blessed to have friends from many different faith backgrounds and life experiences. Some of my friends are not believers. They are agnostic or atheist. They don’t think there is anything beyond this world. Some of my friends are deists. They believe in a higher power of some sort but not necessarily a Christian one. In fact, many of them would argue all gods are the same. Some of my friends are Muslim. They believe in Allah and what the Prophet Muhammed taught. Some of my friends are Hindu. They believe in a pantheon of gods and goddesses. Some of my friends are Buddhist and their desire is to seek enlightenment. Their god isn’t personal per se though becoming one with him is the very definition of enlightenment. When we have conversations about faith, I often hear my friends say something along the lines of “that’s okay for you Christians to believe, it’s just not for me.” Essentially, you do you and I’ll do me. And while that sounds nice and the epitome of tolerance, it’s actually dangerous. Why? Because Jesus Christ isn’t just the “Christian god.” He is the God of the universe and everyone will one day appear before His judgment seat.

Consider our reading from today. God exercises His judgment over the nations. Each of these nations had their own gods. They each had their own belief systems. They each had their own religions but all of them are still subject to God. They live and move and have their being under His sovereign authority. They exist at His pleasure. They are subject to His righteous judgment. Pharaoh, Philistia, Moab…none of them shall escape. They shall all fall before the Lord. The same will be true with Babylon. It’s the same for every nation on the earth. Every nation that has ever or will ever exist. All of them are subject to the Lord of hosts. This is the mistake so many make when they pursue other religions or worship other gods. They make the same mistake the ancient pagan nations made. They fall into the trap of believing all gods are the same and belief in god is a matter of personal choice. They are wrong. There is only one God who holds all authority in heaven and earth and under the earth and all of us will one day appear before His judgment seat.

Readings for tomorrow: Jeremiah 49-50, Psalms 26

The Day of the Lord

Readings for today: Joel 1-3, Psalms 125

I have seen starvation up close and personal. I have sat with those who are suffering through incredible pain and hardship. I have watched their children stare off into the distance. I have wept with mothers and fathers who don’t know where to go or what to do. They are helpless. They are hopeless. It’s tough for me to imagine facing anything more difficult. Some blame God for allowing or even creating these conditions. Some blame the corruption of humanity. Some blame the broken world in which we live. I am honest enough to say I don’t have it all figured out nor did the biblical writers. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they watched what was happening in the world around them and interpreted it through a theological lens. They trusted God was at work. They knew God reigned supreme over all He had made. They believed God was faithful and true and would deliver His people but they also knew God was righteous and just and would not allow the guilty to escape judgment. All of the nations and even nature itself were simply tools God used to bring about His sovereign purposes for the world.

These are important truths to keep in mind when we read the words of the prophet Joel about the plagues of locusts that have descended on God’s people. His words have to be interpreted on multiple levels. At their most basic, they are to be taken at face value. He’s most likely referring to a literal plague of locusts that swept through Israel shortly before the writing of his book. On a secondary, more allegorical level, his words are most likely referring to a human army that will sweep in and destroy the southern kingdom of Judah. For example, locust plagues often fill the void left by the Babylonian fertility god, Tammuz, in ancient Mesopotamian liturgies and it is the Babylonians who will sweep in to destroy Jerusalem in 587 BC a couple of hundred years after the death of Joel. Finally, and most importantly, the locust plagues are symbolic of God’s judgment against His people for their sin.

So what do we take away from such readings? What possible relevance can they have for our lives today? Well, as I said above, natural disasters still take place. Starvation, famine, drought, plague are all very real in our world today. Not only that but every single human being faces pain and suffering of some kind over the course of their lives. None of us escapes the consequences of the brokenness of the world in which we live. Like the ancient prophets of Israel, I think it’s important to take time to reflect on what God may be trying to teach us in the midst of our individual, communal, or even national struggles. Is He judging us for our sin? Is He calling us to repentance and humility before Him? Is He comforting us in our afflictions? Is He delivering us from evil? Is He sending us to do the same for others? How do we experience the great and awesome Day of the Lord?

Readings for tomorrow: Amos 1-5, Psalms 126

Justice

Readings for today: Ezekiel 5-8

God is just. It’s a fundamental attribute of His divine character. He will not let the guilty go unpunished. He will not let evil escape judgment. He will not let those who commit crimes get off. He is fiercely committed to enforcing His Law. And, in the abstract, I think everyone expects God to be just. We want Him to judge the guilty. We want those who commit great evil to get their due. We just don’t ever want it to happen to us.

God’s justice is a common theme in the prophets. God’s people have been stockpiling sin for generations. God has graciously withheld His righteous judgment to give them ample opportunity to repent but eventually justice must have it’s day. Ezekiel lives in such a time. Israel is finally going to pay for her sins. She is going to pay for all the abuse of power, arrogance and pride, violence, oppression, exploitation, and idolatry she has committed. There is no question of her guilt. God sees all and knows all. Not a single crime escapes His notice. His ledger is full and detailed. As harsh as it may seem, they’ve earned all they’re going to get. The destruction of Jerusalem. The suffering and death of so many at the hands of the Babylonians. God refuses to relent until every last sin is paid for in full.

I recently came across a thread on social media from a well-known, very progressive rabbi. He spends a lot of time harshly critiquing the Christian faith. One of his main critiques is the lack of justice in our faith. He simply believes a God who forgives is unjust. He is not worthy of worship. Yes, he knows atonement theology. He knows we believe Jesus became our substitute and took God’s judgment on Himself. He just simply cannot bring himself to believe it. In fact, he gets angry when anyone presses him on it. He believes such an act makes God unrighteous. How could a just God punish the innocent in place of the guilty? What he misses, of course, or simply cannot accept, is the fact that Jesus is God Incarnate. God Himself taking on human flesh and becoming one of us in order that He might stand in our place. God didn’t just choose some random person to pay for the sins of the world. He didn’t sacrifice a prophet or good, moral teacher in our place. He laid down His own life to satisfy the demands of divine justice so that He, in turn, might show us mercy. That’s what the gospel is all about and it continues to be a “stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.”

I know it’s not easy to read through passages like the one we read today. The blood and violence and righteous anger of God is disturbing. And yet, it should remind us yet again of the unbelievable sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf. It should fill our hearts with gratitude for all Jesus has done for us. Jesus took my place. Jesus stood in my stead. Jesus paid the price I had earned. He endured the punishment I deserved. He did this so that I might be washed clean, set free, and live with Him for all eternity.

Readings for tomorrow: Ezekiel 9-12

Saved

Readings for today: Jeremiah 25-28

What does it mean to be saved? Salvation is multi-faceted to be sure but at a baseline level, it means we are saved from something. So what are we saved from? What doom awaited us apart from Christ? What judgment had we earned? What punishment did we deserve? What fate did we escape through Christ’s atoning sacrifice? The reality is I don’t ponder these questions near enough. My sinful baseline understanding of myself is that I’m a pretty good guy who makes poor decisions every now and again. The reality is far worse. Apart from Christ, I am a slave to sin. I love myself more than I do those around me. I prefer myself to anyone else. I will seek to satisfy myself before I stretch out a hand to help others. My entire life is oriented around my own wants, needs, and desires.

This is the human condition and it’s why we find ourselves in the mess we’re in. It’s why some people starve in our world while others feast. It’s why some people barely survive each day while others store up great wealth for the future. It’s why some people live under monstrous oppression while others are free. It’s why power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. It’s why vast inequalities exist and we can’t muster up the political and social will to make a change. It’s why violent people take what they want by force. Force of will. Force of arms. Force of strength. Force of emotional manipulation. This was as true in Jeremiah’s day as it is for us and listen again to the righteous response of God.

“God roars like a lion from high heaven; thunder rolls out from his holy dwelling— Ear-splitting bellows against his people, shouting hurrahs like workers in harvest. The noise reverberates all over the earth; everyone everywhere hears it. God makes his case against the godless nations. He’s about to put the human race on trial. For the wicked the verdict is clear-cut: death by the sword.’” God’s Decree. “Prepare for the worst! Doomsday! Disaster is spreading from nation to nation. A huge storm is about to rage all across planet Earth. Laid end to end, those killed in God’s judgment that day will stretch from one end of the earth to the other. No tears will be shed and no burials conducted. The bodies will be left where they fall, like so much horse dung fertilizing the fields. Wail, shepherds! Cry out for help! Grovel in the dirt, you masters of flocks! Time’s up—you’re slated for the slaughterhouse, like a choice ram with its throat cut. There’s no way out for the rulers, no escape for those shepherds. Hear that? Rulers crying for help, shepherds of the flock wailing! God is about to ravage their fine pastures. The peaceful sheepfolds will be silent with death, silenced by God’s deadly anger. God will come out into the open like a lion leaping from its cover, And the country will be torn to pieces, ripped and ravaged by his anger.” (‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭25‬:‭30‬-‭38‬ ‭MSG‬‬)

There is only one way to escape this fate. Place your faith in the saving work of Jesus Christ. On the cross, Jesus suffered the doom we deserved. Jesus atoned for the sins of the world. Jesus took the judgment of God on Himself. He poured out His life. Suffered in our place. Died so that we may live. Let your soul rest in the shadow of the cross. Let your heart rest knowing your Savior stands over you still. Let your mind rest in the sure and certain knowledge that Jesus’ death was sufficient to cover all your sin. Past. Present. Future. Rest and rejoice in all Christ has done for you and won for you today.

Readings for tomorrow: Jeremiah 29-32

The Judge of Nations

Readings for today: Nahum 1-3

Every day I try to read the news. I scan the headlines from the BBC to CNN to FoxNews. I read the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. I keep up with breaking news on Twitter. It’s not easy. The headlines are often heartbreaking. Most of the time, I have to wade through all sorts of disinformation. Truth is in scarce supply these days. Not only that but every single article seems to cry out, “there is no god!” After all, how could a righteous God allow such political corruption to exist? How could a good God allow such human suffering? How could a just God allow tyrants to sit on thrones? How could a compassionate God allow things like life-threatening poverty while others live in luxury? If I dwell on these things too long, I start to lose hope. The forces arrayed against the righteous in this world seem so strong and my faith is so weak. That’s why reading a book like Nahum is so important.

In Nahum’s day, Assyria was the dominant world power. She had conquered the nations around her with absolute ruthlessness and cruelty. Just over one hundred years prior to Nahum’s prophecy, Assyria had destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel, literally wiping her from the map. Jonah had been sent to Nineveh about 15 years after the destruction of Israel to preach revival but the fires his preaching kindled had clearly gone out. Assyria was back on the warpath. As she rampaged through the Middle East, it must have been hard not to be afraid. It must have been challenging to maintain faith. It probably felt like the future was bleak at best. After all, Assyria had no rivals left. No one powerful enough to check her power.

Nahum, however, is not fooled. He knows God reigns sovereign over the nations. He knows God rules the world with justice. He knows God will bring His righteous judgment in due time. I love how Nahum puts it, “God’s orders on Nineveh: You’re the end of the line. It’s all over with Nineveh. I’m gutting your temple. Your gods and goddesses go in the trash. I’m digging your grave. It’s an unmarked grave. You’re nothing—no, you’re less than nothing!” Look! Striding across the mountains— a messenger bringing the latest good news: peace! A holiday, Judah! Celebrate! Worship and recommit to God! No more worries about this enemy. This one is history. Close the book.” (Nahum‬ ‭1‬:‭14‬-‭15‬ ‭MSG‬‬) What a great reminder that God is in control. No matter how bleak things may seem, God is at work to bring about His will. He simply will not let this world go. He loves it - and He loves us - far too much to walk away.

As you engage the world around you, don’t give into fear. Don’t let despair set in. God is still in charge after all these years and God will bring His will and His way to pass. Our job is simply to trust.

Readings for tomorrow: Zephaniah 1-3

The End of Judgment

Readings for today: Amos 6-9

Reading from the Message today was like reading something straight out of the headlines of the New York Times or Wall Street Journal. Amos’ prophetic words powerfully describe what’s happening in our nation today. Listen to them again from Amos 6:3-6…

“Woe to you who are rushing headlong to disaster! Catastrophe is just around the corner! Woe to those who live in luxury and expect everyone else to serve them! Woe to those who live only for today, indifferent to the fate of others! Woe to the playboys, the playgirls, who think life is a party held just for them! Woe to those addicted to feeling good—life without pain! those obsessed with looking good—life without wrinkles! They could not care less about their country going to ruin.”

Greed. Exploitation. Indifference. Indulgence. Unrestrained hedonism. The constant pursuit of the dopamine rush. Obsession with appearance and the fountain of eternal youth. These same sinful attitudes infect our culture today and they represent a clear and present danger to the future of our country. God will not be mocked. He will hand us over to the lusts of our hearts and allow us to suffer the natural consequences of the choices we make. We might as well be “holding a horse race in a field of rocks” or “plowing the sea with oxen.” (Amos 6:12 MSG) We have forgotten God. Even worse, we have specifically rebelled against His will and created design. It won’t end well.

So what are God’s people to do? What are we to do when we read Amos 7 and the series of visions God gives His prophet, foretelling the destruction of Israel? What are we to do when we see the cutting locust on the horizon? The firestorm that’s on it’s way? The plumb line God is holding over our nation? We do what Amos did. We pray. We intercede. We call on God to remember His love for His people. We call on God to remember His love for the world. Most of all, we call on God to remember the judgment He poured our on Jesus Christ who died not just for our sins but for the sins of the world. (1 John 2:2) Amos cried out to God. Three times he interceded for the people of Israel. Jacob is so small. Jacob is so weak. He cannot stand the coming judgment. Twice God relented. The third time He brings judgment and it is terrible but leaves Amos with a promise.

“But also on that Judgment Day I will restore David’s house that has fallen to pieces. I’ll repair the holes in the roof, replace the broken windows, fix it up like new. David’s people will be strong again and seize what’s left of enemy Edom, plus everyone else under my sovereign judgment.” God’s Decree. He will do this. “Yes indeed, it won’t be long now.” God’s Decree. “Things are going to happen so fast your head will swim, one thing fast on the heels of the other. You won’t be able to keep up. Everything will be happening at once—and everywhere you look, blessings! Blessings like wine pouring off the mountains and hills. I’ll make everything right again for my people Israel: “They’ll rebuild their ruined cities. They’ll plant vineyards and drink good wine. They’ll work their gardens and eat fresh vegetables. And I’ll plant them, plant them on their own land. They’ll never again be uprooted from the land I’ve given them.” God, your God, says so.” (Amos‬ ‭9‬:‭11‬-‭15‬ ‭MSG‬‬)

God’s judgment is never the last word. It is always a means to the much greater end of restoration, redemption, salvation. God longs for the nations of the earth to turn to Him. God loves every nation on earth. Every people group on earth. Every tribe and tongue and language. This includes our own. The most important thing we can do as God’s people, called to live and serve for such a time as this in our nation’s history, is pray for our country. Pray for our leaders. Pray for the hearts of our neighbors. Ask God to intervene and bring us to repentance for we, like Jacob, are small and timid and weak and cannot stand the coming judgment.

Readings for tomorrow: Hosea 1-5

Judgment

Readings for today: 2 Kings 9-11, 2 Chronicles 22:10-12, 23

Today’s reading is harsh, brutal, and terrifying. How can we begin to get our minds around the judgment we see in this passage? First of all, we have to remember God’s commitment to work through human beings to bring about His sovereign will. Justice in the ancient near east was a communal affair. It involved not only the person who committed the crimes but their entire families. It included those who supported them. Everyone connected with the former regime was hunted down and put to death. So when God calls Jehu to execute justice on the entire line of Ahab, the impact ripples out to every man, woman, and child connected to them.

I know it’s hard to get our minds around the blood and violence. It’s hard to understand how this could be fair and just and righteous in God’s eyes. How could a good God allow such unrestrained violence in His name? Once again we have to take a step back and remember that though the Bible was written for us, it was not written to us. What happens in today’s passage would have made perfect sense to the people living in ancient Israel at the time. They would have perceived it to be fair and just and righteous according to the cultural standards of their day. And while we may struggle to understand why they made the choices they did, it should cause us to reflect on the justice systems of our own day and age. What will future generations say about us three thousand years from now?

Once we take a step back from all the blood and gore, we can begin to understand and see the greater purposes of God. He alone has the right to judge. He alone has the right to execute justice on the earth. The line of Ahab got what they rightfully deserved after generations of false worship and murder and theft and corruption. God proved faithful to His promise to avenge the death of Naboth and his family. He proved faithful to His promise to bring an end to the pagan ways of Jezebel. And their lives serve as a warning to us. Unless we turn from our sin and place our faith in Jesus Christ, we too will come under the judgment of God. Only the blood of Jesus Christ shed on our behalf can satisfy the justice of God. May we humble ourselves before Him, confess our sin, and call on the One who is “faithful and just” to “cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:8-9)

Readings for tomorrow: 2 Kings 12-13, 2 Chronicles 24

Honest Perspective

Readings for today: Joshua 11-14

It’s about this time every year in my Bible reading that I start to get weary. Worn down by all the bloodshed and violence. Worn down by all the religious warfare. Worn down by the thoughts of men, women, and children dying in these cities as Israel conquers the Promised Land. I am worn down by a world I do not understand. Worn down by the brutality of it all. Worn down trying to understand how God could be driving it all. I come to the end of my finite mind. I come the end of my understanding. I come to the end of my ability to reason my way through. And I just sit with the horror of it all. Overwhelmed.

That’s usually when God brings me some perspective. It might be a news story. It might be an experience overseas. It might be meeting people along the way who have come face to face with humanity’s inhumanity and lived to tell the tale. For example, several years ago I was at a dinner party with some new friends. One of them does a lot of work in Rwanda with the mountain gorillas. He and his family have been engaged over there for decades helping with the research and preservation of the species. As it turns out, he was there during the genocide in 1994. He saw the bodies piled up in the streets. Stacks upon stacks. He can never get the images out of his head. And it forced him to ask a couple of very hard questions. First, how could a good God allow such suffering? Second, how could a loving God not respond with wrath over the atrocities? Third, how could a just God not punish the guilty forever? You see, hell becomes a lot more palatable when you’ve come face to face with horrific violence. Eternal damnation seems almost necessary if God is going to truly address evil. His wrath and anger at human sin makes perfect sense to us when we see children dying or the vulnerable suffer. If we are courageous enough to take an honest look at human history, we know humanity’s inhumanity seemingly knows no bounds. The Killing Fields in Cambodia. The purges in Maoist China and Stalinist Russia. The Holocaust. And those are just the 20th century examples! The Mongolian conquest. The Crusades. The African slave trade. The British occupation of India. Rome’s brutal conquest of the Germanic tribes. For as long as human beings have walked this earth, there has been war. There has been violence. There has been suffering. There has been evil. And God - if He is who He has revealed Himself to be - must respond.

So what does a good, loving, and perfectly just and righteous God do about the evil in the world? He executes judgment. He uses human beings as His instruments to punish the guilty. Not just guilty people but guilty societies. Guilty systems of oppression. Guilty nations locked in idolatry and sin. And what we read in Joshua is but a foretaste of the judgment God levels on His Son and the judgment He will finally bring upon the world when His Son comes again. This is why the Lord appears to Joshua in 5:13-15. We read this story just a few days ago. Before the conquest, before the fall of Jericho, the commander of the Lord’s Armies appears to Joshua. Joshua falls on his face before him and asks him if He is for Israel or for their adversaries. It’s a great question. It’s a common question. Essentially, he’s asking the angel, “Are you for us or against us?” Are you on our side or their side? Are you team Israel or team Canaanite? I love the angel’s response. “No, I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” Basically, the only “side” I’m on is my own! I am no tribal deity. I am not like the other gods. I reign and rule according to my own sovereign purposes and plan. And I will execute my judgments on the earth against the powers of evil, sin, and death.

The fundamental truth we don’t want to face is that - deep down - we want God to be just. We want God to punish the guilty. We want God to confront and overthrow evil and sin. We want God to eradicate systems of injustice and oppression. We are in favor of all these things…for other people. We approve of all these things…for other nations and societies. We are good with all these things…as long as we receive mercy. This is what makes these readings so hard. We cannot fathom how God could be justified in going to war against the different Canaanite tribes. We cannot understand the depths of the evil that would elicit such a harsh response from God. And that’s because we have yet to fully appreciate the seriousness and weight of our own sin. The evil we carry in our own hearts. Like the Apostle Paul, I do things I know I should not do. I don’t do things I know I should do. Every day is full of sins of “commission” and sins of “omission” that negatively impact the lives of those I love and the lives of those I am around. The evil in the world is not just “out there” but inside of me as well. So I try to read with the understanding that but for the grace of God, I too deserve judgment. I too deserve punishment. I too deserve death and destruction. And that moves my heart to praise and thanksgiving for what God has done in Jesus Christ.  

Readings for tomorrow: Joshua 15-18

Judgment

Readings for today: Joshua 7-10

There are fundamental assumptions baked into the text of the Bible. If you don’t keep these in mind, it becomes difficult to understand how all the different stories go together. For example, how does one square what we read today about all the God-ordained death and destruction with the idea that God loves everyone? How does one reconcile the fact that God actually fought on the side of Israel against her enemies with the God who promises to bring peace on earth? How does one come to grips with the execution of Achan and his family with the God of mercy, forgiveness, and grace? As you wrestle with the text, here are the things you need to keep in mind.

First and foremost, God is holy. He is righteous. He is just. He alone has the right and authority to judge the peoples of the earth. He alone determines when that judgment takes place and the instrument He will use to execute His judgment. God will by no means clear the guilty. Sin is a capital offense. The punishment for sin is death. So when we see God using Israel to execute His righteous judgment on the Canaanite tribes, we can be confident He is being eternally consistent within Himself.

Second, humanity is unholy. We are unrighteous. We are not just. Human society is rife with inequality, oppression, tyranny, abuse, immorality, etc. Human beings are responsible not only for the ways we participate in such systems but for our passivity in accepting these evils as “normative.” Furthermore, we perpetuate these gross injustices every day in the personal choices we make. The sins both of commission and omission. The ways we relate to one another. The ways we treat one another. The ways we fight one another. None of us are innocent. We are conceived in inquiry and born with an orientation towards selfishness and sin. The reality is we’ve earned God’s judgment so when we see God use His people to wipe out entire cities and societies, we can be confident that the people living in those places were guilty of sin and deserving of their fate on some level.

Why does God not wipe out all of humanity then? Why privilege some over others? Why choose some and not choose others? Why does Israel get a pass when the other tribes and nations do not? This is the great mystery of election. God is well within His rights to erase humanity completely. But He made a promise after the Great Flood never to destroy the earth again and must remain faithful to Himself. God is playing the long-game here. He wants to save humanity from herself but He also chooses to use humanity as His primary instrument to accomplish His plan of salvation. Sometimes that plan manifests itself in judgment along the way. Sometimes that plan manifests itself in mercy. God sits outside time and space and is not bound by our timelines or our notions of what is right and wrong. He sees the human heart. He knows every human thought. He is aware of every action we take both privately and publicly. Nothing is hidden from Him. Nothing is secret. If God chooses to execute judgment, it is a just response to the evils of this world. If God chooses to delay judgment, it is a merciful response to the evils of this world but make no mistake all will one day appear before the judgment throne. There will be a reckoning.

Where does that leave those of us who believe in Jesus Christ? Did we somehow escape judgment? Did we get a pass? Not at all. Jesus took our place. The punishment we deserved, He took on Himself. The sentence we deserved, He willingly served on our behalf. The full measure of God’s judgment fell on Christ on the cross and was perfectly satisfied. To put a fine point on it, Jesus was “devoted to destruction” so that we might be spared. Thanks be to God for His salvation!

Readings for tomorrow: Joshua 11-14

The Purpose of Judgment

Readings for today: Ezekiel 4-6, Hebrews 9

Today’s reading is as brutal as they come. Violence. Disease. Famine. Destruction. Pain. Suffering. God delivering His people over to judgment. It is hard to read. Harder still to try and picture. But the hardest part is to accept is that this is all from God. All a part of His plan. It raises some extremely difficult questions. How can this be the same God who promised compassion and steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love Him? How can this be the same God who will later reveal Himself fully and completely in Jesus Christ? How can this God of wrath be the same God of love? Is God bipolar? Manic? Schizophrenic? Does He have rage issues? Can He be trusted? Is such a God even worthy of our love? 

These are all important questions to ponder but they also ultimately miss the point. God is God. He has made known His will. He has established His covenant. He has made clear His expectations. From the beginning, He has held nothing back. Nothing hidden. Nothing secret. He created us to fulfill His purposes. He is the Potter. We are the clay. Our problem is that we keep forgetting our place. We keep rejecting our role. We refuse to acknowledge His Lordship over our lives. Starting with Adam and Eve, we keep asserting our independence. We keep trying to be our own gods. Do things our own way. Worship as we please. And we forget the One whom we were created to serve. We forget the One we were created to please. We forget God is God and we are not. 

We cannot say we haven’t been warned. God is more patient with us than we deserve. He forbears for generations as the sin piles up. He continues to reach out in love only to have the door slammed in His face over and over again. He continues to show us grace though we deserve judgment. He continues to be faithful though we ignore Him and walk away. There are consequences to such actions. The apostle Paul talks about them in Romans 1, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men...” And how does that wrath manifest itself according to Paul? God simply withdraws His hand. He “gives us over” to the lusts of our hearts. The lust of our eyes. The pride and arrogance of our lives. And the results are ugly. Harsh. Tragic. Horrifying. Human beings, left unchecked, are brutal creatures. It was Robert Burns who first coined the phrase, “Man’s inhumanity to man” in a poem he wrote in 1787 and the events of the last few hundred years only serve to confirm his analysis of the human condition. We are capable of unfathomable evil. We are capable of the most brutal violence. We are capable of the most horrifying, dehumanizing behavior. And if we’re totally honest, we all know this to be true. Given the right conditions, all of us are capable of just about anything. (See the infamous “Stanford Prison Experiment” of 1971.) 

How should a just and holy God respond? Righteous judgment. Our sin offends God on a level we simply cannot understand. Listen to how Ezekiel describes how God feels, “Then those of you who escape will remember me among the nations where they are carried captive, how I have been broken over their whoring heart that has departed from me and over their eyes that go whoring after their idols.” (Ezekiel‬ ‭6:9‬) God takes our sin seriously. Our problem is we don’t take it seriously enough. We gloss it over. We make excuses. We rationalize our behavior. We justify our thoughts, attitudes, and actions. We foolishly believe we are somehow special and will escape judgment. We presume upon our relationship with God. We are just like Israel who believed they were “immune” because they were God’s chosen people. 

But God will not be mocked. He vents His fury without mercy. "Thus shall my anger spend itself, and I will vent my fury upon them and satisfy myself. And they shall know that I am the Lord —that I have spoken in my jealousy—when I spend my fury upon them.” (Ezekiel 5:13) It is scary. It is frightening. It makes us tremble. And if we aren’t careful we will miss what God is trying to do. In our fear, we will focus yet again on all the wrong things. God’s judgment is NOT an end in itself! It points beyond itself to something far greater! Far more important! 

“That they may know I am the Lord.” Over and over again we read this refrain. God using judgment to cleanse His people. To refine them. To separate the gold from the dross. The wheat from the chaff. He disciplines them in His love. He confronts the evil of their hearts. He forces them to come face to face with the depth of their sin and degradation. The utter futility of their idolatry. The full measure of their rebellion. Yes, it is harsh but it is also true. It is just. It is fair. It right. It is good. And it is ultimately so they may return in humility to the Lord. They must be broken. Their hardened hearts must be cracked. Their stiff necks bent. Their locked knees bowed. God will indeed bring them to their knees through judgment so they may experience the joy of being in right relationship with Him. This is the point of their exile. This is the point of their suffering. God wants His people back. And He will not relent until they return. 

It’s a sobering reality. Especially for us Christians. To think of all that Christ endured as the Father poured His wrath out on His Son. To consider all Christ went through as he experienced the depths of hell and God-forsakenness. He took on the full weight of human sin. As terrifying as the judgment is in Ezekiel, it pales in comparison to the judgment Christ suffered on the Cross. Reading these words through the prism of the Cross should make us appreciate the wonder of Christ’s sacrifice for us. We should find ourselves marveling at the great love of God who would take our place. Bring judgment on Himself. Freely lay down His life in order to save us from our sin. Amazing love! How can it be that Thou my God wouldst die for me?

Readings for tomorrow: Ezekiel 7-9, Hebrews 10