Ezekiel: The Sin Under the Sin

Transcript:

Hello! This is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective!

In the ninth chapter of Ezekiel, the prophet details God’s judgment against the remnant of Jerusalem. God’s judgment sweeps through the city slaughtering those who do not mourn over its sin.

We learn something of how injustice overtakes a society by the way God describes the city. He says, “The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of blood, and the city full of injustice.” So, we see that the problem is that “injustice” has become epidemic and endemic to the way society operates. It’s “full of injustice!” But why does injustice become so embedded in the fabric of society? Well, the next line gives us a clue. “For they [the city’s inhabitants] say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land, and the LORD does not see.’”

Now, note that carefully. The reason we tend towards evil and give up fighting against injustice (in ourselves and in our society) is because we already, deep in our souls, believe: 1) that God doesn’t care (He’s forsaken the land!), and/or 2) that there is no God watching over us to whom we must give an account (He doesn’t see!).

You see, at the root of all sin, individual or corporate, is a deep disbelief in the God of Scripture. Evil is driven by a cynical hopelessness that says it makes no ultimate difference whether I do what’s right or what’s wrong.

Have you fallen for the lie? Do you find those doubts echoing in your soul: Does God see? Does God even care?

When you believe God’s given up, then you will too.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

And the Lord said to him, “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.” And to the others he said in my hearing, “Pass through the city after him, and strike. Your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity. Kill old men outright, young men and maidens, little children and women, but touch no one on whom is the mark. And begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the house. Then he said to them, “Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain. Go out.” So they went out and struck in the city. And while they were striking, and I was left alone, I fell upon my face, and cried, “Ah, Lord God! Will you destroy all the remnant of Israel in the outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem?”

Then he said to me, “The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of blood, and the city full of injustice. For they say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord does not see.’”
~ Ezekiel 9:4-9 (ESV)