A Warning

“If righteous people turn away from their righteous behavior and ignore the obstacles I put in their way, they will die. And if you do not warn them, they will die in their sins. None of their righteous acts will be remembered, and I will hold you responsible for their deaths. [Ezekiel 3.20] 

The implications of this verse are many.

• First, it is possible that righteous people turn away.
• When righteous people turn away, God puts obstacles in their lives.
• The obstacles God puts in the lives of righteous people gone astray are opportunities to repent.
• If these righteous people gone astray do not repent, they will die.

But, there is more...

As was the case for Ezekiel, so it is for those God has anointed with prophecy today.

• If you see righteous people turn away at the onset of obstacles in their lives and fail to warn them of their circumstances, not only will they die, but you will be responsible for their deaths.

Today's One Year Chronological Bible reading also contains readings from Jeremiah. It is there we see the exact warning given to Ezekiel played out in the case of the prophet Hananiah (Jeremiah 28). Instead of acknowledging the severity of Israel's sin that had already begun to be played out in Babylon's siege of Jerusalem, Hananiah down-played the obstacles and said it would all be over in a couple of years. Well, he died an untimely death.

The point is, refusal to "read the signs" - the obstacles God places in our paths - is ill-advised.

What about Job? What about Joseph? What about the Apostle Paul? Didn't these all face obstacles? Yes, indeed they did. However, Job eventually forsook his pride and repented, Joseph forsook his pride and forgave, and Paul acknowledged his pride and rejoiced. These all recognized obstacle's roles in identifying the sin of pride in their lives in order to bring them away from their sin and closer to God and His purpose.

The first implication listed above is the most telling: it is possible that righteous people turn away. That turning away always begins with the sin of pride - the idol of self. Once the door to the idol of self is opened, every other form of idolatry will opportunistically step right in!

Today, we are pretty quick to deal with our obstacles with man's man-made systems of debt, insurance, medicine and technology. In exchange for money (and lots of it), these systems purportedly ease the effect of obstacles in man's life without need for repentance or God's miraculous touch. Can you say, "red flag"?

I don't stand alone in decrying this failure to read the obstacles, but I certainly don't stand with the crowd! In fact, the religious crowd is the greatest opposition to what the Word of God actually teaches on the subject of obstacles. They do go straight to faith to endure the obstacles in some camps while others attempt to overcome the obstacles. Both almost unanimously fail however to approach their obstacles first through the avenue of repentance. Consequently, their "faith results" are dismal at best and reflect nothing of the unmistakable, undeniable power Jesus demonstrated.

So... this is a warning(?) to us all to deal with our obstacles correctly - in humility and repentance followed by faith in God alone.

Father, no doubt, Your people everywhere struggle with this topic of obstacles. Help us to "get it right" by approaching our obstacles first in humility and repentance so that we might then effectively overcome those obstacles by faith. So be it.