{"id":10559,"date":"2020-07-31T20:00:11","date_gmt":"2020-08-01T03:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=10559"},"modified":"2020-07-31T20:31:46","modified_gmt":"2020-08-01T03:31:46","slug":"ezekiel-20_30-49","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/ezekiel-20_30-49\/","title":{"rendered":"No Matter What the World Around You Does, Trust God"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ezekiel 20:30-49\u00a0 Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Ezekiel 20:30-49.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Ezekiel 20:30-31 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n30\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Therefore say to the house of Israel: ‘This is what the Sovereign\u00a0LORD\u00a0says: Will you defile yourselves the way your fathers did and lust after their vile images?
\n31\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When you offer your gifts–the sacrifice of your sons in the fire–you continue to defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. Am I to let you inquire of me, O house of Israel? As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign\u00a0LORD, I will not let you inquire of me.
\n<\/em>
\nOn verses 30-31:\u00a0 As part of their idol worship, the Israelites adopted the wicked and horrific practice of sacrificing their children to the idol Molech by burning their infant children in a massive fire pit.\u00a0 The Israelites hoped that by sacrificing their children to Molech, Molech would bless them with prosperity.\u00a0 In response to this heinous crime and horrific sin, God refused to let the elders of Israel inquire of Him.<\/p>\n

As horrible as the Israelites\u2019 child sacrifices were, those of us who are parents or older siblings must ask ourselves, \u201cDo we sacrifice our children \u2013 their well being, their spiritual growth, their moral development, and our relationship with them \u2013 for the sake of money?\u201d\u00a0 May we not be so consumed by the pursuit of money and material gain that we sacrifice our children in the process.<\/p>\n

Ezekiel 20:32-33 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n32\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“‘You say, “We want to be like the nations, like the peoples of the world, who serve wood and stone.” But what you have in mind will never happen.
\n33\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign\u00a0LORD, I will rule over you with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with outpoured wrath.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 32-44:\u00a0 The Israelites had this tendency to want to be just like the idol-worshiping nations around them (v32).\u00a0 If their neighbouring nations worshiped other gods, the Israelites wanted to worship those gods as well.\u00a0 If their neighbouring nations had a flawed and treacherous king to rule over them, the Israelites wanted a flawed and treacherous king to rule over them too.\u00a0 Whereas the Israelites wanted to be just like their neighbouring nations, God\u2019s response here is that He will not let that happen (\u201cBut what you have in mind will never happen\u201d \u2013 v32).\u00a0 Try as they might, the Israelites would never be just like any other nation.\u00a0 Here are three reasons why:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. God would never treat His chosen people as merely any other nation.\u00a0 His call is irrevocable (Romans 11:29).\u00a0 So even when His chosen people rebel against Him and drift far away from Him, like any parent God will never see His chosen people as merely anybody.\u00a0 He refuses to give up on His chosen people, even when they have given up on themselves.In the same way, you are chosen by God.\u00a0 You could try to do everything in your power to shed your identity in God and to live just like the rest of the world, but for\u00a0as long as you live God will never stop seeing you as special and chosen in His eyes<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n
    1. No matter how much the Israelites would try to be like the world, there would always be a remnant within Israel that knew deep down that they were made for more than this world, that they were made for the purposes of God.In the same way, no matter how much you try to be like the world, you will never be just like the world.\u00a0 For\u00a0deep down there will always be a part of you that knows that you were made for more than this world, that you were made for the God who loves you eternally<\/strong>.\u00a0 No matter how much we sin against Him, God can\u2019t get away from His calling on your life, and neither can you.\u00a0 God made you for greater things than the world could offer (Romans 12:1-2).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
        \n
      1. God would love the Israelites too much to let them have their own way.\u00a0 Verses 33-44 describe God\u2019s plan to intervene and gather the Israelites from the countries where they have been exiled.\u00a0 As we will see in the verses that follow, in at least 3 ways God\u2019s plan would echo what God had previously done with the Israelites many centuries before when they were enslaved in Egypt.\u00a0 Likewise,\u00a0when God intervenes or interrupts your plans, often it\u2019s because God loves you too much to let you have your own way<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Ezekiel 20:34 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
        \n34\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I will bring you from the nations and gather you from the countries where you have been scattered–with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with outpoured wrath.<\/em><\/p>\n

        On verse 34: Here is the first similarity between how God dealt with the Israelites in Moses\u2019 time and how God would deal with the Israelites in exile:\u00a0 Just as God took the Israelites in Moses\u2019 day out of slavery in Egypt \u201cwith signs and wonders, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror\u201d (Jeremiah 32:21), so Ezekiel is foretelling the day when God would remove the yoke of exile from the Israelites \u201cwith a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with outpoured wrath\u201d, such that they would know that it was God would did it and not themselves or coincidence.<\/p>\n

        Likewise,\u00a0it is with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with outpoured wrath that God rescued us from sin and death<\/strong>.\u00a0 With outpoured wrath against our sin, God punished His Son Jesus in our place when He hung on the cross.\u00a0 With a mighty hand and an outstretched arm God raised Jesus from the dead.<\/p>\n

        Ezekiel 20:35-38 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
        \n35\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I will bring you into the desert of the nations and there, face to face, I will execute judgment upon you.
        \n36\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0As I judged your fathers in the desert of the land of Egypt, so I will judge you, declares the Sovereign\u00a0LORD.
        \n37\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I will take note of you as you pass under my rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant.
        \n38\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I will purge you of those who revolt and rebel against me. Although I will bring them out of the land where they are living, yet they will not enter the land of Israel. Then\u00a0you will know that I am the\u00a0LORD<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n

        On verses 35-38:\u00a0 Here is a second similarity.\u00a0 In Moses\u2019 day, some Israelites, despite being rescued from slavery in Egypt, refused to submit to God.\u00a0 Because of their rebellion, God let them die in the desert instead of making it to the promised land.\u00a0 Similarly, Ezekiel foretells that some Israelites in Ezekiel\u2019s day will be bent on rebelling against God and will be left behind somewhere \u201cin the desert\u201d along the way.<\/p>\n

        Likewise, when we were hell bent on sinning against God, God intervened and sent His Son Jesus Christ to remove the yoke of sin from all of us, making a way for us to come back to Him.\u00a0 But like the Israelites in Moses\u2019 day and the Israelites in Ezekiel\u2019s day,\u00a0whether we\u2019re part of the remnant that arrives home to be with God or among those who end up dying in the desert on the way there all depends on our faith<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0Do we hang on to faith in Jesus or do we go back to trusting in ourselves?\u00a0\u00a0 Place your trust in Jesus Christ.\u00a0 He is our only ticket home.<\/strong><\/p>\n

        Ezekiel 20:39-44 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
        \n39\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“‘As for you, O house of Israel, this is what the Sovereign\u00a0LORD\u00a0says: Go and serve your idols, every one of you! But afterward you will surely listen to me and no longer profane my holy name with your gifts and idols.
        \n40\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0For on my holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, declares the Sovereign\u00a0LORD, there in the land the entire house of Israel will serve me, and there I will accept them. There I will require your offerings and your choice gifts, along with all your holy sacrifices.
        \n41\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I will accept you as fragrant incense when I bring you out from the nations and gather you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will show myself holy among you in the sight of the nations.
        \n42\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then you will know that I am the\u00a0LORD, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the land I had sworn with uplifted hand to give to your fathers.
        \n43\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0There you will remember your conduct and all the actions by which you have defiled yourselves, and you will loathe yourselves for all the evil you have done.
        \n44\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0You will know that I am the\u00a0LORD, when I deal with you for my name’s sake and not according to your evil ways and your corrupt practices, O house of Israel, declares the Sovereign\u00a0LORD.'”<\/em><\/p>\n

        On verses 39-44:\u00a0 Here\u2019s the third similarity between God\u2019s work in the Israelites in Moses\u2019 time and God\u2019s work in the Israelites in Ezekiel\u2019s time.\u00a0 Just as it was a believing remnant led by Joshua and Caleb that would end up in the promised land, so God would make sure that those who return to Israel to stay are those who believe and worship the Lord (v40-44).
        \nSince God is sovereign and His plan to bring the Israelites back from exile could not be thwarted, God can say in verse 39,\u00a0“As for you, O house of Israel, this is what the Sovereign\u00a0LORD\u00a0says: Go and serve your idols, every one of you!\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s not because God was condoning idolatry.\u00a0 It was because God knew that, despite their current idolatry, many of the Israelites would come back to Him one day, listen to Him and no longer profane His name (v39).<\/p>\n

        Likewise, God is committed to starting what He finished in you and me.\u00a0 God knows that we will go through ups and downs in life and in our relationship with Him, but for as long as we live He never gives up on us.\u00a0\u00a0It is God\u2019s patient and persevering kindness that leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4).<\/strong><\/p>\n

        Ezekiel 20:45-48 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
        \n45\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The word of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0came to me:
        \n46\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Son of man, set your face toward the south; preach against the south and prophesy against the forest of the southland.
        \n47\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Say to the southern forest: ‘Hear the word of the\u00a0LORD. This is what the Sovereign\u00a0LORD\u00a0says: I am about to set fire to you, and it will consume all your trees, both green and dry. The blazing flame will not be quenched, and every face from south to north will be scorched by it.
        \n48\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Everyone will see that I the\u00a0LORD\u00a0have kindled it; it will not be quenched.'”<\/em><\/p>\n

        On verses 45-48:\u00a0 Here Ezekiel predicts the fall of Jerusalem, as \u201cthe south\u201d (v46), \u201cthe forest of the southland\u201d (v46) and \u201cthe southern forest\u201d (v47) are all references to Jerusalem and the kingdom of Judah.\u00a0 Ezekiel predicts that a great, unquenchable fire will scorch Jerusalem.\u00a0 This is indeed what would happen just a few short years later when Nebuchadnezzar would destroy Jerusalem and set fire to it in 486 B.C.<\/p>\n

        Ezekiel 20:49 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
        \n49\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then I said, “Ah, Sovereign\u00a0LORD! They are saying of me, ‘Isn’t he just telling parables?'”<\/em><\/p>\n

        On verse 49:\u00a0 Apparently the Israelites would not listen to Ezekiel despite Ezekiel telling the truth and doing so in such a powerful, creative fashion.\u00a0 The people thought he was just making up stories.\u00a0 God had warned Ezekiel before that he was sending Ezekiel to speak to a rebellious people (Ezekiel 2:2-8).\u00a0 Even so, it must have been frustrating for Ezekiel to give his best and to not be taken seriously.<\/p>\n

        Likewise,\u00a0when you do your best to answer God\u2019s call on your life, know that you will not please or convince everyone<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0Some may mock, misunderstand or otherwise reject you.\u00a0 But remember: it\u2019s part of the calling.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0We can\u2019t control how people respond to the message we share, and we don\u2019t have to. Just focus on doing the best you can with what God has given you, and God will work out the rest to write a greater story than we could ever write.<\/p>\n

        Heavenly Father, thank You that no matter how far I stray from You, no matter how much I try to be like the world, for as long as I live, You always see me as Your child and You never give up one me.\u00a0 Thank You that You love me too much to let me have my way all the time.\u00a0 May I trust in You no matter what the world around me is saying or doing.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

        <\/div>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

        Today\u2019s passage is Ezekiel 20:30-49. Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

        Ezekiel 20:30-31 (NIV)
        \n30 “Therefore say to the house of Israel: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Will you defile yourselves the way your fathers did and lust after their vile images?
        \n31 When you offer your gifts–the sacrifice of your sons in the fire–you continue to defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. Am I to let you inquire of me, O house of Israel? As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I will not let you inquire of me.<\/p>\n

        On verses 30-31: As part of their idol worship, the Israelites adopted the wicked and horrific practice of sacrificing their children to the idol Molech by burning their infant children in a massive fire pit. The Israelites hoped that by sacrificing their children to Molech, Molech would bless them with prosperity. In response to this heinous crime and horrific sin, God refused to let the elders of Israel inquire of Him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10560,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10559"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10559\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10562,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10559\/revisions\/10562"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}