Skip to main content

Sighing and Crying Over Sin and Sinners

http://www.melbar.de/Trinkhorn-Shop/Drachenhoerner/M10909301007.jpg

How do you respond to sin and the sinful people around you each day?

In Ezekiel chapter 8, the prophet receives a vision from God and his spirit is led by God to the "door of the inner gate" of Jerusalem. This is where the Lord shows him the idolatrous actions of Israel. The people were worshiping all kinds of "creeping things, abominable beasts and all idols (v. 10)." There were others who did idolatrous acts in secret (v. 12). The women were "weeping for Tammuz" (Adonis - a Greek god, v. 14), and the men were worshiping the "sun toward the east (v. 16)." All these sins provoked God to jealousy (v. 3). God is a jealous God (Exodus 20:5), and He was not going to let these abominable acts to continue among His people and in His sanctuary. The result culminates in verses 17-18, where God responds, "...lo, they put the branch to their nose. Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them."

In chapter nine, Ezekiel's vision continues with the outpouring of God's judgement on this wicked people. Six angels are sent behind the Babylonian army to supervise the slaughter of the "old and young, both maids, and little children, and women (v. 6)." This shows that God uses the agents of evil (Nebuchadnezzar's army) to carry out His judgements. Each of these angels carried in their hand a "slaughter weapon," and one carried a writer's inkhorn. A strange item for an angel charged with slaying a wicked people, but thank God for the inkhorn!

The text continues to describe the duty of these angels to destroy and slay the remnant of Jerusalem, and all seemed hopeless for those of the city. But it was the duty of the inkhorn carrier that revealed God's mercy! According to verse four of chapter nine, he was to set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that "sigh and cry for the abominations that be done in the midst thereof." God proceeds to instruct these angelic supervisors to spare those marked by the writer's inkhorn! They were not be touched or harmed because they showed remorse and repentance by sighing and crying over sin and sinners.

Are you bothered and remorseful about sin or do you just continue your day unmoved and unaffected by the sinfulness that surrounds you? This passage clearly shows God's compassion and mercy toward those who are repentant and convicted about their sin and the sin of others. So my question to you is, "Have you been marked?"  If not, God's judgement is coming. Ironically, God directed the angels to "begin at my sanctuary" where the "ancient men" were. These men were to be destroyed first, probably because they bore most of the responsibility of Israel's sinful idolatrous acts. They knew the truth and failed to teach the generations that followed. The same will be true of so-called Christians today, who have forsaken their obligation to teach the truth to them that follow.

Our nation is in a similar situation to that of Israel in Ezekiel's day. We idolize just about everything in our culture. Remember that an idol is anything that replaces our time with God. God is a jealous God. He will not endure the sin of idolatry. His judgement on America is coming. Will you be spared? Has the carrier of the inkhorn marked you? If not, fall on your face and begin to "sigh and cry  for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof." Here you will find God's mercy.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Making the Case for "Assault"-Style Weapons: It's a Heart Issue

In the wake of the recent school shootings in America, many have asked, "Why do we need access to "assault"-style weaponry as private citizens?" So... here's my take on the Second Amendment. Not to be argumentative... just posing a logical explanation. Let's say our government does begin to radically infringe upon our rights. Let's say a dictatorship does arise. The sole intent of the Founding Fathers to arm its people was to protect against a rogue government.  "But they never envisioned the type of guns we have today." This is the argument of many, which in my estimation falls flat on its face. Though they're right and it's true, the Founders could never have imagined the realm of destruction and devastation our modern-day privately-owned weapons wield. But they also never envisioned a government that has the military weaponry ours does today either. Can you imagine a suppressed citizenry trying to defend with single-s...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Christian School: Committing to Sacrifice

This time of year is definitely an emotional roller coaster for the administrator of a Christian school. The end of the year is quickly approaching and we look back on all the successes of the last 10 months. Academic programs, fine arts competitions, educator's conferences, legislative tasks, Christmas programs, Spirit Week, achievement testing, classroom activities, administrative accomplishments, student progress… the list could go on. This year ’ s staff has been the best one ever—a team of dedicated, hard-working, enthusiastic teachers who have sacrificed so much for such little monetary compensation. Our students have excelled academically and – I ’ d like to say—spiritually over the past school year. Grades are up, spirits are high and camaraderie is at its peak. All in all… it has been a fantastic year. The best one yet in our 13-year existence. All that said, what could possibly get me down? Well, it ’ s commitment time. The time of year when our current parents...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mr. B. Goes to Washington

In 1939, Academy award-winning director Frank Capra, produced and directed a film starring Jimmy Stewart entitled Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. In the film, Stewart’s character, Jefferson Smith, goes to Washington D.C. as a wide-eyed idealist completely naïve to the political process. In the end, Smith stands behind his convictions and elicits change in the capital’s business-as-usual attitude. In mid-September, I too, went to Washington. It was my first time visiting our capital city, and like Smith, I was wide-eyed and naïve. Over the years, I have had a growing interest in politics and the process by which our government operates. I had some knowledge – what one gets from civics classes and news sources– but my time in D.C. really allowed me to gain a better grasp on our federal government and how our Founders intended it to operate. The purpose of my visit was to spend a week on Capitol Hill lobbying on behalf of the Buckeye Christian School Organization (BCSO) and the...
Post a Comment
Read more