Image: "Like a Locomotive...", 2010, Somewhere in the sunflower fields of Montana
Ezekiel 13:23 Therefore you shall no longer envision futility nor practice divination; for I will deliver My people out of your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD.” ’ ”
Ezekiel 14:4–5 “Therefore speak to them, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Everyone of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, and puts before him what causes him to stumble into iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I the LORD will answer him who comes, according to the multitude of his idols, 5 that I may seize the house of Israel by their heart, because they are all estranged from Me by their idols.” ’
Ezekiel 14:22–23 Yet behold, there shall be left in it a remnant who will be brought out, both sons and daughters; surely they will come out to you, and you will see their ways and their doings. Then you will be comforted concerning the disaster that I have brought upon Jerusalem, all that I have brought upon it. 23 And they will comfort you, when you see their ways and their doings; and you shall know that I have done nothing without cause that I have done in it,” says the Lord GOD.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Johnny Cash famously sang "I hear the train a'coming, it's rolling round the bend...." Few experiences are comparable to that of standing near a railroad track, so close that 2 steps and you would be there, and having that mighty locomotive bearing down on you. The whistle screams, the ground shakes, there is a roaring sensation made up of mechanical noise and the whooshing air. And, of course, as the engine passes, with the engineer shaking his head at you for standing so close, then comes the "clackity-clack" of the wheels. It is exhilarating and intimidating. You know that the train could pass over you or simply blast you to bits with a full impact, and it would not even register. You would be like a mosquito being hitting a car's windshield at high speed.
You have a feeling of unstoppable power.
Ezekiel was having a similar sensation, only here, he was experiencing a force far greater than that of a mere train. God's locomotive of judgment was not just "coming round the bend", it was bearing down the straightaway right at Jerusalem. The ground was shaking... mighty sounds could be heard... and yet the people were not paying attention, not as they should anyway.
Chapter 13 is built around the "then they shall know that I am the LORD" theme. Four times in 23 verses God tells them what is happening and what are His intentions. God is outraged at the false prophets and seers who are deceiving His people. He declares Himself to be their enemy and He is unleashing His anger on them. "You have spoken nonsense and envisioned lies, therefore I am indeed against you..." He says. Because of their falsity and self-serving pride, they will be obliterated... like a poorly built wall that collapses in a storm... so all that will remain of them will be rubble. On that day, to your horror, God says, "you shall know that I am the Lord GOD." (13:9)
But there is another sign by which they will know that He is indeed God. God will come and minister to those who have been unjustly made sad, who have suffered at the hands of wicked men who have not been warned to turn from their evil deeds. The mighty train will not only tear down, it will deliver. "I will deliver My people out of your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD." (13:23) God had set a day then, and He has set a day now when all those who have misled and confused God's people will be taken away from them. God's sheep will safely graze beside the still waters and lay down in peace. This also will be a sign by which all the nations shall know that indeed, He is God and there is no other.
Chapter 14 shifts gears a bit but the "coming train" metaphor still holds,
God starts by pointing to the elders of Israel, those "laymen" who have authority over His flock and are charged with leading them in righteousness. He accuses them of setting up "idols" in their hearts and putting stumbling blocks in the path of those who follow them. God says that He will answer such as these "according to the multitude" of the idols in their hearts.
Here is judgment plainly stated. God's just charges against any person are based on all those things in their lives that they put ahead of Him. An idol is not just a statue sitting in a shrine. An idol is anything, person or issue that deceives and enslaves a person such that God becomes secondary or even trivialized. Israel had fallen into this to such a degree that God says, somewhat surprisingly, that even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were alive at the time (and one might think that Daniel was), then they could only save themselves through their faithfulness. This is just how deep and wide-ranging this heart idolatry really is. It is prevalent but it is not overlooked. God's train was coming... and it is coming yet.
Chapter 14 closes with another word of comfort as God reminds Ezekiel that He will not make a total end of His people. We can find hope there also but we must remember our weakness and lack of resolution. We can be pretty fickle. We must examine our hearts as we contemplate the approaching train. Through the blood of Jesus, we are separated from its destructive power... if we have yielded our lives to Him in faith and obedience.
When the ground is shaking and the whistle shrills loudly, we might recognize the urgency of knowing where we stand.
Comments