by Maggie Crosby
[22] “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. [23] And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. [24] I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. [25] I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.
[26] And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. [27] And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. [28] You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. [29] And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. And I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you. [30] I will make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant, that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations. [31] Then you will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominations. [32] It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord GOD; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel.
[33] “Thus says the Lord GOD: On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be rebuilt. [34] And the land that was desolate shall be tilled, instead of being the desolation that it was in the sight of all who passed by. [35] And they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.’ [36] Then the nations that are left all around you shall know that I am the LORD; I have rebuilt the ruined places and replanted that which was desolate. I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it.
Whenever I hear the pastor say, “please turn your bibles to the Old Testament,” I feel a twinge of anxiety. Uh oh, I think, what have we done wrong?
As I began reading this passage in Ezekiel, I felt the same panic I used to feel when one of my parents would shout “Maggie Colleen Crosby!” The full name meant I was in trouble. Can you relate? I’d start racking my brain, compiling a list of my most recent transgressions, “1) I told the neighbor kid the truth about Santa, 2) I lied about brushing my teeth last night, 3) I read my sister’s diary…” Which one had they discovered? After the stern “We’re very disappointed with you” talk with my parents, I would invariably be sent to my room to think about what I’d done.
I tend to personify the God of the Old Testament in that light, as the angry parent who is waiting to send me to my room.
For the first few verses, it’s sounding like this will be the case – that God will lecture the people of Israel for their wrongdoings (How many times do you need to say “profaned”? We get it, we messed up…) and then “send them to their room” so to speak.
But then God surprised me. When will I stop being surprised by His surprises? He promises to vindicate the people, to gather them and cleanse them.
He doesn’t make them do chores to work off their wrongdoings – HE vindicates THEM. HE gives to THEM a new heart and a new spirit.
He doesn’t send them away to think about what they’ve done – He GATHERS them. I like that word, “gather.” It sounds like something you do to wildflowers, to gather them into a bouquet. Or to friends, to gather them for a nice dinner party. It doesn’t sound like the verb of an angry parent.
The people of Israel have strayed from the Lord, they have become distracted by idols and things of this world. But He doesn’t ask them to pack their bags and return to him – He will do the work, he will gather them, renew them and provide for them in spite of their transgressions.
He says something interesting here; He says that it is, “not for your sake that I will act.” I think that what He means is that he would do the same thing for any of his people. He reminds them that they have done wrong, and tells them that they should be “confounded” by their sins, because they are so far off from what He hopes for them. His motives aren’t to shame and fix this one particular group, but instead to make the world right for everyone, to restore it to the way he designed and created it.
In verses 33-36 God shows off a bit. Repeatedly throughout the Bible, He has said and shown that he can do great things, that he will repair all that we ruin and restore what we break. He can turn our desolate lands into the Garden of Eden, the ultimate creation that we ruined.
Tomorrow's reading: John 14:15-21
No comments:
Post a Comment