Need A Word From God?

On August 14, during the seventh year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity, some of the leaders of Israel came to request a message from the LORD. They sat down in front of me to wait for his reply. Then this message came to me from the LORD: “Son of man, tell the leaders of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: How dare you come to ask me for a message? As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, I will tell you nothing!’ [Ezekiel 20.1-3]

That's just like religious people today! They live any old way they want regardless of what God's Word says about it, then they want a 'word from God.'

In the rest of the chapter following the passage above, there are some recurring things that are worthy of our attention for a modern application;

First, God's people continued in the sins of their ancestors. Before I expound on this (as does Ezekiel), this seems to be the greatest challenge facing the Church today: doing the same things our ancestors did but somehow expecting different results. The Church is not growing. The Church is not affecting the world. The Church is not demonstrating Jesus. And yet, the Church embraces the same methods (albeit modernized versions) in spite of the obvious ineffectiveness.

Moving on... Ezekiel's identification of 'the problem' begins with his calling out idolatry. The "some old things" God's people were doing was, among other things, idolatry. Imagine that. If idolatry was cataloged to highlight all its forms and variations, one idol that would stand out is "religion." Ironically, the very gift of religion that God gave His people is addressed in this very chapter of Ezekiel! 

I gave them over to worthless decrees and regulations that would not lead to life. I let them pollute themselves with the very gifts I had given them... [Ezekiel 20.25-26a]

In the greatest irony relative to the passage just quoted, another violation God's people committed, was addressed repeatedly in Ezekiel 20. That violation was the people's disobedience to God's regulations. Rather than simply obeying the regulations, the people worshipped them as an idol. They worshipped the gift of the regulations rather than God who gave them. This problem deserves careful consideration by the modern Church!

Then, the observance of God's Sabbaths is also repeatedly mentioned in Ezekiel 20 as an area of glaring violation against God. In its most superficial meaning, "Sabbath" means "rest." Bath literal and allegorical applications of the Sabbaths should be considered because God was nothing if He was not adamant about the subject! Although Sunday-churchgoers focus more on the allegorical meaning of the Sabbath (that in Christ they have entered "rest"), they can't produce a plethora of scriptural support for doing so. It must be noted here that Sabbath days (plural) of rest included Jewish holidays prescribed by God. The point is, are we passing off any responsibility regarding the Sabbaths just because going to church on Sunday is the way we've always done it?

Idolatry, disobedience, and desecration of the Sabbaths are the violations pointed out in Ezekiel 20. For their repeated offences in these three areas, God refused to listen to His people. If the 'heavens seem like iron' to us, would it not at least be worth considering how we too might be in contemporary violation of these ancient problems?

Jesus was very clear that He did not come to abolish the Law or the Old Testament:

“Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. [Matthew 5.17]

If Jesus came to "accomplish their purpose," then we should do well to understand how Jesus affects idolatry, disobedience, and desecration of the Sabbaths in our time and lives! For anyone to simply claim, "Jesus" without understanding how the purposes of idolatry, disobedience, and desecration of the Sabbaths are "accomplished" in Christ is dangerously shortsighted because, with the advancement of time, these three have evolved into more complex considerations than ever before. Never has idolatry been more prevalent and undetectable as men trust man's accomplishments, science, technology and medicine instead of God. Never has disobedience been more powerful than in the gross promotion of "self" and "self-preservation." Never has society more disallowed "rest" in offering limitless technologies and activities to capture man's time.

The point is, can we expect answers from God today any more than the people of Ezekiel's day just by saying "Lord, Lord..." when our being "in Christ" has had no overwhelming identifiable affect upon our lives and the lives of those with whom we meet? Should not our being "in Christ" makes us sensitive to idolatry, disobedience and the desecration of the Sabbaths of rest so that our lives mirror the impact Jesus had on the world?

Something needs to change in the Church as we know it because the Church today (particularly in the West) does not mirror Jesus as He is revealed in the New Testament.

We don't need a "word for God." WE ALREADY HAVE IT!

Our only recourse is repentance. Repentance is only validated in our refusal to trust idols regardless how popular they are, our obedience to the commands of Christ selflessly mirroring His life - not our own, and adhering to prescribed "rest" in Christ, not allowing the world to consume all our time and energy.

What is said here is no less difficult than when Ezekiel said it. But if we today are not getting a clear word from God, we should consider why... There is a reason.

Father, life is only complicated  when we refuse to live it as You said. Forgive me for 'rolling with the punches' that society puts on me instead of running to You and only You in full submission.