Ezekiel
20 reminds me of a phrase the cook back at colleges used to say;
“Every day can’t be Sunday”. We have difficult and challenging
tasks to overcome during the week, but Sunday is a day set aside for
honoring God and resting in Him. For many families, the Sabbath is a
day of gathering, eating and relaxing after church. For some people,
Sunday has become a day to recuperate after too much celebrating on
Saturday night. In today’s chapter, the Saturday night crowd comes
to Ezekiel “to inquire of the
Lord“. But instead of giving
them answers, God gave them a history lesson on Israel. As we
listen, for many of us, it is our own history lesson too. Their
story began with God’s promise, “I
swore with uplifted hand to the descendants of Jacob and revealed
myself to them in Egypt… that I would bring them… into a land I
had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey“.
Page two says, “But they
rebelled against Me“. It
pains me to say some think that is the end of the lesson. It is not!
God’s patience and mercy are beyond our imagination. Please
understand that God’s promises are not based on our
trustworthiness! “But for the
sake of My name, I brought them out of Egypt“.
History lesson three says that with restoration God gives us
instruction. “I gave them…
My laws…
Also
I gave them My
Sabbaths as a sign
between us“. Many today know
neither the His instruction, nor His rest.
The
last page of the history lesson says simply, REPEAT. “Yet
the people of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness…
rejected My laws… desecrated my Sabbaths… But for the sake of My
name… I looked on them with pity and did not destroy them“.
Are you living as if there is no Sunday? How many times will you
repeat the cycle before you will hear Him say “follow
My decrees and… Keep
My Sabbaths holy… Then you will know that I am the Lord your God“?
For
a long time, I thought God was ok with whatever I was doing since I
had no major “judgment” in my life, but He is clear, “I
withheld My hand, and for the sake of My name“.
God allows us free will, “Will
you defile yourselves the way your ancestors did?”
Do you wonder why God seems distant? He is holy, “I
will not let you inquire of Me“.
Israel rejected God as their king saying, “We
want to be like the nations“.
Generation after generation, the cycle repeats, “I
will bring you into the wilderness of the nations and there, face to
face… I will purge you of those who revolt and rebel against Me…
afterward you will surely listen to Me“.
The chapter ends with a hint of the new covenant, “You
will know that I am the Lord, when I deal with you for My name’s
sake and not according to your evil ways and your corrupt practices“.
Sin and separation were nailed to the cross of Christ. Judgment was
poured out on the Savior and now by faith, we can be fully restored.
In Christ we have the hope of His promise, “I
have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In
this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome
the world” (John
16:33). The resurrection was on a
Sunday as a reminder that we can begin the week with a day of rest,
knowing that the work of Christ is complete. You will find peace
when you believe your history is now His Story.