We're Not So Different

Robin and I are currently reading the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel.  Last night, as we read chapter 8, the word "abomination" loomed large.  According to Ezekiel's testimony, the Lord Himself takes Ezekiel into Jerusalem and to the Temple, to show him what goes on there. 

As Ezekiel witnesses the first abomination he is told something along the lines of "If you think that was bad, wait until you see what is coming up."  This happens three times, culminating in the last abomination, which verse 16 describes like this:

"And he brought me into the inner court of the house of the Lord. And behold, at the entrance of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with their backs to the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east, worshiping the sun toward the east."

That last image is the epitome of contempt for God.  Twenty-five men, at the singular place of worship for God, with their backs toward the Creator as they worship the creation.  These are presumably Jews, who if they know nothing else of God know the first of the Ten Commandments,

"You shall have no other gods before me."

In the face of this provocation, this open hatred of God, God's response is:

"Therefore I will act in wrath.  My eye will not spare, nor will I have pity.  And though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them."

There are a lot of things that we might say about ourselves to show how different we are from the people of Ezekiel's day.  To show how much more advanced or sophisticated we are.  I mean, sure, we don't exactly follow all of God's ways in our daily life, but who does?  Who is without error?  Who doesn’t make any mistakes?  In our efforts to rationalize our thoughts and behaviors we nearly stumble over our own feet in avoiding the word "sin."

Yet it is precisely that word that we have in common with the people of Ezekiel 8.  We sin.  We disobey God and try, again and again, to live as our own gods. And if that doesn't quite work we make our own gods and bow down to them, for their demands are exceedingly low and easy for us to meet.

And while we may want to believe that God's wrath is an old-fashioned and outdated concept, efforts to do that just add to our self-deception.  His wrath is just as much a part of God's character as is His justice, His righteousness, His holiness, His peace, His mercy. 

God's mercy.  That is where we can truly be different from the men of Ezekiel 8.  Before the day of wrath comes, and come it will, we can respond to the call found throughout both testaments of the Bible to repent of our sin and believe in God, a call made crystal clear in the New testament as we repent and believe in the person and work of Jesus Christ, who comes to save us from our sin.

We are not so different from the men of Ezekiel 8.  In rejecting God our peril is great, greater than we can really comprehend.  But in God's mercy, through faith in Christ alone as our Savior and Lord, our end can be as different as night is from day. Amen.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.