Rēad to Read …Again
Daily Reading: Ezekiel 21-22
Ezekiel 21:27
I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.
From the time of Israel, Judah, and Jerusalem’s captivity and deportation to Egypt and Babylon it has ceased to be a world power, no less a productive industrialized nation. From about 600 years before Christ unto today, Israel has suffered at the hands of her enemies. It appears that which Ezekiel prophesied has come to pass, I will overturn, overturn, overturn… He has. But one day God will give Israel to the One whose right it is, meaning God will give it to Christ. The Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, by whatever name He is called, He is the One that has the right to sit on the throne of David and restore Israel.
The ongoing warnings of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the rest of the great Old Testament prophets continually warned God’s people of His displeasure over their idolatries and sinful practices. They did not heed. Even in today’s reading, in chapter twenty-two God again rehearses the indictments against His people. This is a sad period in the life of the nation of Israel. But, again, it didn’t have to be this way.
But that is the way it is. People are always prone to leave the clear and clean precepts of God’s Word for their own way. Cain did, before the flood all except Noah and his family did, during the wilderness wanderings they did, during the times of the judges they did, also during the time of the kings, then during the divided kingdom time they did, during the Babylonian captivity they did, during the time of Christ they did, and even today God’s chosen people deny His Word and live according to that which is right in their own eyes.
Sadly, today in the New Testament age, the same thing is happening. God’s Word is rejected, mocked, and ignored by many. The warnings of God’s prophets to Israel should be a warning to those of today. He can overturn! He overturned Israel, He will overturn the world armies from taking Jerusalem during the battle of Armageddon, and He will overturn that rebellion at the end of His millennial reign. God always wins!
To this end, we too are given a warning. In Romans 11:21 Paul writes, For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. In the New Testament twenty-six times the phrase “take heed” is used. Do we? Do you? Do you take heed to God’s warnings? Israel didn’t and we know what happened to them. If God did not spare them the consequences of their sins, why would He spare the Gentile world of today?
You may grow tired of the ongoing saga of Israel, her sins, and God’s harsh dealing with her, but understand that God gave us these writings that we may be warned of the same wages of sin and idolatry. Being warned, may we do better. Our only hope is the same hope that Israel had and has, the Lord Jesus Christ. For He has earned the right. He won the greatest battle of all time: the battle over sin, death, and Hell and He has given us the victory. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (I Corinthians 15:57)
Dr. William T. Howe
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