God Sees and Works

Then He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the room of his idols? For they say, ‘The Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land.’ ” Ezekiel 8:12

Dear Congregation,

     This passage gives us another glimpse into the actions and attitude of backslidden Israel in the days near the captivity and exile. Ezekiel is shown abominable acts committed by leaders on temple property. The verse highlights that they ceased to fear the Lord and feared only the criticism or judgment of other people. Not only that, but they created their own new theology concerning God. Since God was largely speaking through a minority of prophets at this point in history they could dismiss God as having abandoned the land or earth. God did not see them because they had declared it so.

          First lets remember that we do not get to dictate or decide what God can and cannot do. We also cannot make assumptions about God based on our own experiences. All of our understanding of the Lord must come from His revealed Word. Therefore God always sees all things, God is always with His true people despite appearances, and God will always have final justice and victory no matter how it may appear to the contrary. I have often noted in Sunday sermons how people do not change through history, and their actions are cyclical. We can say much of our own culture, indeed, even of “Christians” today to match the above verse. People as a whole can recognize evil generally yet they still practice it because in secret there is the pretense of privacy. Society has dismissed God from the largest public forums because as they judge it, He has abandoned the Earth or never existed. Therefore we have become the law makers and the law breakers. What we know from Ezekiel’s prophecy as a whole is that these elders were terribly mistaken. So the modern idolaters and leaders who dismiss God’s word are as well.

          We as the Bible believing church in the 21^st century can take warning from this passage and also be encouraged by it. God has not forsaken the earth or His church and His Word is still powerful and effective despite what our news and entertainment sources would like us to believe. When society walks away from the path of Christ we know that God is neither ignorant of nor powerless to deal with its actions. We can find our strength and solace in the firm unchanging truth of the Gospel and we can know that He is God and does rule and will rule. Justice will be done, the saints will be vindicated, the Church will be triumphant, and all will be put right because of the real, objective, revealed Lord Jesus Christ! Let us call out sin for what it is and not cover it up. Let us proclaim the Gospel as the only solution, and be about the Father’s business till He come.

In Christ,

Pastor Basile