YHWH confronts
“And you, son of man, say to the house of
Israel, Thus have you said: ‘Surely our transgressions and our sins are
upon us, and we rot away because of them. How then can we live?’ 11 Say
to them, As I live, declares YHWH the lord, I have no pleasure in the
death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live;
turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house
of Israel?
12 “And you, son of man, say to your people, The
righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him when he
transgresses, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not
fall by it when he turns from his wickedness, and the righteous shall
not be able to live by his righteousness when he sins. 13 Though I say
to the righteous that he shall surely live, yet if he trusts in his
righteousness and does injustice, none of his righteous deeds shall be
remembered, but in his injustice that he has done he shall die.
14 Again,
though I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ yet if he turns
from his sin and does what is just and right, 15 if the wicked restores
the pledge, gives back what he has taken by robbery, and walks in the
statutes of life, not doing injustice, he shall surely live; he shall
not die. 16 None of the sins that he has committed shall be remembered
against him. He has done what is just and right; he shall surely live.
17 “Yet
your people say, ‘The way of YHWH is not just,’ when it is their own
way that is not just. 18 When the righteous turns from his
righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it. 19 And when the
wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he
shall live by this. 20 Yet you say, ‘The way of YHWH is not just.’ O
house of Israel, I will judge each of you according to his ways.”
-Ezekiel 33:10-20
YHWH
confronts his people with hard words but amazing words of hope. He
first declares that He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. In
other words it is with great grief that He sentence the wicked to their
eternal punishment away from His presence. He instead desires to see
the sinner repent and turn to Him to and seek His favor. It is His
great pleasure to pardon and forgive sin!
He addresses the
‘righteous’ who trust in their righteous deeds, confronting them with
the obvious: their inconsistency and injustice. You who think you are
righteous beware! You are FULL of injustice. And by your unjust and
unrepentant life you will be judged. If your trust is in your deeds,
your deeds will condemn you! This should shake us to our core and
drive us to humility: “In his injustice he shall die!”
YHWH in
deep compassion does not leave the conversation there. He continues
saying that if the wicked turn from their sin to Him in repentance,
“None of the sins that he has committed shall be remembered against
him.” YHWH is not unjust He gives to people what they treasure most.
If
in your desire for ‘righteousness’ you neglect to seek God. He will
with grief assign you to the pit away from Him forever. However, if you
turn to Him and seek His favor He will (with joy) give to you Himself
and all His glory (for you to enjoy and revel in) and forgive all of
your sin! Let us turn to Jesus seeking Him, His favor and His
forgiveness.
Sinners confess
-How long has it been since I repented and turned to Jesus for forgiveness?
-Have I been blinded to my sin by my pride?
-In my heart have I laid charges against God’s justice?
-Is YHWH the treasure that I seek?
-What is the content of my prayers?
Covenant remembered
They
will see the glory of YHWH, the splendor of our God. Strengthen the
feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful
hearts,
"Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
he will come to save you."
Isaiah 35: 2-4
Forgiveness and Reconciliation
The
Father came with vengeance and divine retribution about 2000 years
ago. He poured his anger and wrath upon the innocent man, His own
Son. Jesus absorbed the wrath of God in order that He might have
authority to forgive sins and reconcile us to God! It is because of
what Jesus has done that I have the privilege to declare to you, “Your
sins are forgiven through Christ!!”