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©Lightwritingmatters 2015
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“God's promises must drive us to his precepts as our rule,
and then his precepts must send us back to his promises for strength, for
without his grace we can do nothing.” – Mathew Henry Commentary -- Eze 36:
25-27
Breaking it down
That is a very powerful statement. It begs you to read it
multiple times, slowing down and taking in every point of the thought. It is a
concise rendering of the physicality, the emotionality, the mentality and
Spirituality of our relationship with GOD.
Many adults have prospered in their lives because from
infancy they had a structured relationship with their parents. To some degree
they had rules, some promises but often the promises were contingent on some
sort of responsibility, chore, duty expected from the child. In these cases,
parenting is modeled after the relationship GOD has fostered with mankind as a
whole as well as individually. Whether we personally give mental assent or belief in
GOD or we do not, should we break nature’s law, should we break laws of common
decency, or, should we break civil laws, the consequences are rarely
uncomfortable at some level.
However, if we do utter and profess faith in GOD
then we are bound to certain accepted precepts and from obedience the benefits
are NEVER inconsequential! In fact, each time we bear the consequence of full
faith reliance on GOD the GRACE of GOD absolutely strengthens re-asserting over
and over the promises of GOD are fact.
To that last statement there
is this timeless statement: “it is good to
give thanks to Jehovah And to sing praises to your name, O Most High, 2 To
declare your loyal love in the morning And your faithfulness during the
nights,” – [Psa 92:1-2] Notice, verse two signifies that GOD is ‘faithful
during the nights’. In Psalm 91 HE itemizes all the ways HE will protect us if we dwell in HIM, stay in HIS shadow and make HIM our stronghold. One of
those ways is via this promise: “For he will command his angels concerning
you to guard you in all your ways;” Psa 91:11 The compound evidence of HIS
promises and HIS faithfulness just in the 150 Psalms is phenomenal.
Back to Ezekiel 36:25-28
25 I will sprinkle clean water
on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your
impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will
give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you
your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And
I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be
careful to keep my laws. 28 Then you will live in
the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your
God. –Ezekiel 36
To be sure, the entirety of Ezekiel 36 is tied to the whole
of the book of Ezekiel regarding the ‘whys and wherefores’ of their predicament. However, this little nugget
in verses 25-28 is the point of this article: GOD’S GRACE. Just prior to these
verses GOD explains ‘why’ HE is taking this wholly unexpected action: ““Therefore
say to the Israelites, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: It is not for your
sake, people of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of
my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you
have gone. 23 I will show the holiness
of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name
you have profaned among them. Then the
nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord,
when I am proved holy through you before their
eyes.”
HIS single reason through compound results! HIS grace to the
people of Israel [us as well] in this instance is not for Israel’s or our sake
though we benefit immensely, but for HIS sake. It will be established by how we
give WITNESS to HIM through HIS holiness present in HIS people as seen through
the eyes of those who look on.
Clearing this up historically
Make no mistake. Historicity reflects a troubled past for
the Nation of Israel from its inception to post Jesus era. As a whole, they
established a record of not understanding segregation from the cultural and
practical living styles of foreign nations. They understood from their time
meandering about in the desert wilderness -- after deliverance from Egypt via
the Red Sea -- that there was a conditional agreement. They said 'yes' to be the people of GOD with benefits of living and living well so
long as they would abide by certain rules.
This premise is not difficult to understand if you were raised
in a house where your parents helped you to grasp facts: They worked, they made
money, they paid the bills which would include but not be limited to a roof
over our head and food in our bellies. From time to time we would have
recreation, festivals [we call them holidays] and these times would be wholesome
and family centered. If we failed to obey the rules of the house there would be
consequences that we would not like and vice-versa, if we were obedient it
would be in our best interest. We grew up, we got jobs, we had families and understood that
principles we were raised to observe all the more.
Children push the limits and
it is not uncommon for a child to come home and announce that a friend is not
required to obey the same rules or any rules at all. It seemed acceptable to
the child to adopt that philosophy though it was foreign to the family’s
culture. The child may have given an ear to parental cautions and reasons why it would not be
wise nor tolerated to adopt such ‘foreign’ behavior but the child decided to
exercise their free will and began to disregard the rules of the house to their
own peril. It is not unique to any one generation; any one culture or any one
family. Pushing the limits, wanting more personal freedom with less constraints,
is a common character of humans from the first two. It was dealt with by GOD and
HIS people with a systematic laying out of the rules to which they agreed. When
they began to falter GOD sent individuals to remind them ad nauseum of their
lapse of memory and judgment. HE worked with them even as they decided on a
form of self-governance that effectively put an intermediary between themselves
and GOD.
Those folks over a long span of time eventually wind up losing
everything in the end. Lesson learned? NO! It broke down a few times. The last
time was a few decades after Jesus died when the nation, the temple and the
people were either destroyed or dispersed completely out of their own country.
So? The lesson? Let’s rewind back to Ezekiel, himself, one
of those individuals sent to ‘remind’ the people they had not only strayed from
their agreed upon relationship with all its binding rules but found themselves
actually taken captive and held against their will by one of the many cultures they sought
to adopt in their lifestyles while living freely in their own land. To what
end? Their place of worship was decimated. Ancient artifacts held as holy were
taken and held by a foreign government manifesting no respect for their
holiness. They themselves were subject to yet a DIFFERENT set of rules which
were not friendly to them. Their culture was mostly disregarded. But,
individuals GOD raised up even while held captive managed to act as emissaries between
the ruling government and the captives giving the captives a viable and
tangible link between the GOD they grossly offended and who put them in time
out and themselves. GRACE comes in so many ways! Hence verses 25-28: “25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and
you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and
from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new
heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of
stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I
will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be
careful to keep my laws. 28 Then you will live in
the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your
God.”
Now is the time for every person to take a long hard look at
their choices, actions, thoughts, motivations and history. Where are we in
time? Where does it look like we are headed in time? If we are blessed to be
aware of GOD’s GRACE are we appreciative or abusive of it. Only we can know. In
closing there is this thought expressed by a 17th century Welshman
whose relationship with GOD and HIS WORD/Word was extraordinary.
Note: “The
promise of God's grace to enable us for our duty should engage and quicken our
constant care and endeavor to do our duty.” Mathew Henry Commentary on Ezekiel
36
AMEN!
©Lightwritingmatters 2015
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©Lightwritingmatters 2015
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