Ezekiel 7
COMMENTARY:
: 9 And mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: I will recompense you according to your ways and thine abominations that are in the midst of you; and you shall know that I am the LORD that smites. (5414 “recompense” [nathan] means to give, set, put, bestow, grant, permit, pay wages, appoint, deliver or designate.)
DEVOTION: This word is used to say that we are going to receive pay for our actions. At the end of a week, we expect our employer to give us a paycheck for all the work we have done.
The LORD is using this word to say that HE will give them a paycheck for our actions. The children of Israel were given judgment because of their actions regarding the worship of the LORD. They had chosen a way or path for their life that was not pleasing to the LORD.
They promoted false worship. They had prophets and priests that told them that they were OK with God. They were lying to them. Now they are receiving the wages of their sins.
They were going to have famine and pestilence. They were going to be invaded by a heathen nation. While all this was going on the LORD stated that he would not spare or pity them.
We will receive a paycheck for our worship of the LORD. We receive blessings or curses for our actions after we decide to follow the LORD. Those who say they are followers of the LORD and don’t want to be in the house of the LORD on Sunday are telling the LORD that worship is unimportant to them.
Those who say they are followers of the LORD and don’t want to pray for their food are saying that prayer is unimportant to them.
Does that mean that all those who attend church every Sunday and pray at every meal are better than others? Does that mean that they can only expect blessings in their lives? Does that mean those that attend worship service and pray will never have any problems? NO!!!
There are some who think they are better than others because they go to church and pray but the rest of their life is not in order or they have a false pride because of their actions.
God looks at our motive, as well as, our actions. We can act right for the wrong motive. God wants us to act right for the right motive which is to bring glory to HIS name not our own. Remember that if we act right with the right motive that does not mean anything bad will happen to us. Even when bad things happen to us it is for our good.
We have presented the fact that we grow stronger through affliction. God wants us strong. God wants us to act right for the right motives to bring glory to HIS name. What does God think of our actions today????
CHALLENGE: Think about what kind of pay check you will receive from the LORD for the work you have done for HIM this week. Will it be a large paycheck or a small one or none at all? HE expects service each day of each week! Is HE asking too much of us?
: 19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumbling block of their iniquity. (7649 “satisfy” [sabea] means sate, full, abounding, have had enough, or state of physical contentment.)
DEVOTION: We live in an materialistic society. Wealth seems to mean everything to everyone. Even the poor will take what the government gives them and then go and work under the table for more money. There are bumper stickers that state “He who dies with the most toys WINS.” Accumulation of things is a favorite pastime with many. There are programs on television that show houses of people who are hoarders. They can barely walk through their houses because they have things stacked from floor to ceiling in all of the rooms of the house.
Here we find the people of Jerusalem throwing out their gold and silver. It means nothing if there is no food to eat. It means nothing if there are enemies at the doorstep waiting to kill them.
They had made idols of their jewelry and precious metals but they were not going to save them from death. Some may have come to the conclusion that they needed to repent of their sins and turn to the LORD instead of counting on their wealth to give them a good life.
Today we seem to be following in their footsteps. Even believers think it is more important to collect wealth or precious things in order to be content with what they have.
Once I asked a fellow believer “What is the definition of ‘enough’?” and he said “a little bit more.” It can ruin the thought life of a believer if they are only thinking “How can I get a better job to earn more money?” Instead of thinking “How can I serve the LORD better to receive HIS blessing?”
Our thinking needs to keep the LORD as the priority rather than the accumulation of wealth. Remember that our occupation is to serve the LORD once we become a believer. Our avocation is to earn enough money to give us the freedom to serve the LORD. Our thinking has to be along those lines to properly understand our reason for continuing to live in this world.
CHALLENGE: Reminder to our thinking is that we are not to be takers but givers. We can never out give God. Our wealth needs to be available to serve HIM.
: 26 Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumor shall be upon rumor; then shall they seek a vision of the prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the ancients. (1943 “ mischief” [hovah] means ruin, disaster, calamity, fall, an event that completely destroys something or misfortune.)
DEVOTION: The judgment of the LORD had come and now the people what to hear from God. However, they only want to hear good news and not the judgment that they deserve for not following the LORD.
The LORD however, informs them that there is going to be disaster upon disaster because they wouldn’t listen to the former prophets who were warning of this day coming if they didn’t repent and change their ways. It seems that we humans have to get a wakeup call to late. We don’t listen when we are supposed to but after the judgment is on its way.
Now the people of Jerusalem want to hear from the LORD but there will be no prophet telling them that they won’t have to suffer. There will not be a priest who will start offering the right offerings that will cause the judgment to be over. There will be no more older people sitting at the gate of the city giving righteous judgments over issues between people. All these individuals will not be able to help them during this time period.
Can we be going through the same thing here in a America now? Are there no true prophets of God preaching from our pulpits concerning the judgment that might be coming because of our disobedience to the Word of God? Could there be no true pastors warning their people to change their ways? Could there be no more wise deacons and elders in the churches who will help the people make wise decisions regarding the treatment of those fellow believers who worship with us?
Too often we are ready to wait until it is too late for a church to change before it dies. Too often a family has to fall apart before fellow believers come alongside to help the marriage.
CHALLENGE: Are we listening to the warning messages the LORD is sending our way today???
: 27 The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be chothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled: I will do to them after their way, and according to their deserts will I judge them; and they shall know that I am the LORD. (4941 “deserts” [mishpat] means a determination of right and wrong on legal matters, a forensic cause, sentence of a judge, decisions, decision by arbitration, or legal specification.)
DEVOTION: The LORD judged people according to their conduct in the Old Testament and the same is true in the New Testament.
Each of us will be judged by our actions. We don’t know all the commands of the LORD but we know enough to know what the LORD expects of us and therefore we are accountable for what we know that is right in the eyes of the LORD and what is wrong n the eyes of the LORD.
Too often we find that people what the LORD to grade on a curve but HE knows the beginning and the end of our lives and HE knows what we have learned about HIM and holds us accountable for our actions according to our knowledge.
HE is the final judge and we will meet HIM one day and HE will, so think, show us our life on a screen and we will see what we have done while we were here on this earth. HE will show us each opportunity we had to change our behavior to please HIM and what we did when we had that choice.
We are guilty of our own choices even if we would like to blame the LORD for our actions. It will not work. So, we need to change what we are doing now that we know the fact that there is no excuse on judgment day.
CHALLENGE: Our choices need to change as we learn more of what the LORD expects of us. HE will give us the strength to live a life that is pleasing to HIM if we make the right choices daily. HE will forgive when HE knows our heart is right with HIM.
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