Ezekiel 6-10

September 4

Ezekiel 6-10

God does not just punish Israel for no reason. He does not just get mad at them and decide he is going to bring disaster upon them. God brings discipline in hopes of bringing correction. "Then in the nations where they have been carried captive, those who escape will remember me—how I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts, which have turned away from me, and by their eyes, which have lusted after their idols. They will loathe themselves for the evil they have done and for all their detestable practices. And they will know that I am the Lord; I did not threaten in vain to bring this calamity on them." (Ezekiel 6:9-10, NIV) God’s plan is to remind the Israelites that He is God over heaven and earth and He is all powerful.

The Israelites had turned their eyes to the idols of other nations. They trusted themselves instead of trusting God. They trusted the armies of allies more than they trusted God. The only way to bring them back to a right relationship with God was for discipline to come. God told them ahead of time so they would not think it was the power of the Assyrians or their gods, but it was God Almighty who was bringing this calamity upon them. After the proclamation of the disaster to come God said; “Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

God still brings discipline. God still calls us back into a relationship with Him. We have a choice. We can turn to God or continue to do things our way. Not always, but sometimes, we face trials because we reject the counsel of God. God wants our relationship more than He wants us to be comfortable. If He has to bring trials into our lives to turn our hearts to Him, He will. He does not bring them because He wants to see us suffer. He brings the trials to get us to look to Him and to turn back to Him. He wants us each to know that He is the Lord and nothing else can take His place in our lives.