First of all the Lord has decided to give us a lot to digest on this rainy Tuesday. That's okay because we're going to enjoy this meal together! First lets break it down in small bites. Part of being able to read the bible effectively is sometimes about trimming away the fat and getting to the meat of the message. Ok? So let's do this together!
First paragraph:
God's children, the Israelites, were as usual, being rather naughty and misbehaving against their father in heaven. This made God mad enough that he hid his face, or turned away from them. They were punished for their behavior and sent to their room (or in this case exile) and were turned over to their enemies, even to the point of death.
Second Paragraph:
Their time of punishment is now over declares the Lord. He is going to forgive them for their bad behavior. Their sentence has been served. God is going to be with them again. God is going to take such good care of his children, all people will see him as the best father there is. Like a good shepherd he will not forget or leave behind a single one of his children. And this paragraph ends with a wonderful promise from God and it is word for word: I will leave none of them behind; and I will never again hide my face from them, when I pour out my spirit upon the house of Israel.
Third Paragraph:
These are the details of Ezekiel's vision. These details would have offered validity to his prophesy. He gives the date, the location, the details, so that when he shares this vision with others (including you and me) the listeners or readers can be assured this vision/prophecy is indeed from the Lord and not the rantings of a lunatic! You and I can rest assured this is the will of the Lord.
Now lets start the actual digesting. In my summaries of the paragraphs I used a lot of parent/child language, or father and children. We know of course that God is indeed our father in heaven. I was recently talking to a close friend of mine who shared her story with me. The story she shared particularly regarded her father. The relationship between this woman and her father is very, very bad. From what she has told me, it would perhaps even appear this family would be better suited if the father wasn't in the picture at all. I have no reason to distrust what this young woman has told me, and so I empathize and pray for her, her family, and her father. It breaks my heart to know that there are people like her out there, that have such a lousy father figure in their lives. And so I could understand that a person like or her (or maybe you) might have trouble relating to God as your father. So please know that I am sensitive that not all of us are blessed to have dad's of the year.
This encounter did get me to thinking about my own parents and my father of course. I am very very blessed to have wonderful parents whom I have loved always and come to so greatly respect the older I have gotten. They have raised me very well and for that I am so thankful! I remember growing up that I would get punished for bad behavior, and often times the punishment would fit the crime. My parents did not just always ground me but no, were more creative. If I got caught telling lies, my mouth would get washed out with soap (because it was dirty), if I got caught stealing something I had to return it and apologize, I think you're getting the picture. There were occasions when I was spanked or even bitten (let me explain that one, I had formed the habbit of constantly biting my mother for whatever reason, and even though she told me time and again that it hurt and I should stop, I continued with the bitting, so one day she bit me back enough to hurt but not enough to even break skin, but it did get the point across that this hurt and it got me to stop!) Anyway, at the time I would have been the first to tell you these punishments clearly violated my constitutional rights as they were obviously cruel and unusual. But looking back on them I am in fact GRATEFUL for them. They taught me lessons about life, about values, and about the world. Our actions have consquenses!
My wife works for starbucks and so often I see (or hear about) customers that will bring in their small children and simply let the children kick the cooloer in the store, to leave their trash and garbage everywhere, to have no respect for the employees, to scream, and throw a fit if they don't get what they want, and the whole time the parent is just completely focused on getting their late. It bugs me, but I am quite sure it bugs my wife even more. Why are today's parents so reluctant to discipline their children. Now I am not advocating child abuse, or injuring your kids, but they have to learn no means no, and that actions have consequenses!
The point I am getting at is yes, God punished his children, and it seems cruel or unfair that he would turn his back on them. But essentially the Israelites wanted to run away from their father. He tried time and time again to reason with them, to change their hearts, to get them to listen but they were like stubborn teenages and refused. They felth they knew best and so they rebelled. God said, "if you choose to leave me, I cannot support you, I cannot protect you, and I will not be there. If you leave, I'm not coming after you." The children said "Good!" and "We don't need you anyway!" and ran away. Eventually his children realized they did need God their father, and God, being the best dad ever, wants to welcome them back, to love them, protect them, and care for them as any good dad would. Just as the Father welcomes back the prodigal son, (Luke 15:11-32) with open arms and a gift, so God welcomes back his lost children.
The relationship of the Israelites and God is much like children and their parents. Except in this case, the parent is perfect, and the children are the ones who make the mistakes. God loves us like a father and like a mother too. God's love is uncoditional, and sometimes God has used punishment for bad behavior, and the punishment always fit the crime. But now, in these days we still hurt our father, we rebel against our mother, and we do what we know to be best. We do indeed deserve punishment but God has given us a sibling that takes the punishment for us, a sibling named Jesus Christ. He has taken the ultimate punishment for us- death on a cross. And so God's spirit has indeed been poured upon us, and that is representative of Christ's blood being shed. God will never turn his back on us again, even when we deserve it. So you see, when you look at this passage through the lens of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, it's not so bad after all!
Listen to this song and then pray...
Dear FATHER in heaven. You love us always. You have given us your promise to never turn your back on us again. And you have given us a brother who loves us as you do. Thank you for Christ our Brother. Be with those who don't have fathers in their lives. Be that father that they they thought they never had. Strengthen us to never turn from you.
In your son's name we pray,
Amen
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