Excessive Sin Given Excessive Forgiveness

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Ezekiel 16:23-25, 42-43, 48-52, 62-63 NLT

“What sorrow awaits you, says the Sovereign Lord. In addition to all your other wickedness, you built a pagan shrine and put altars to idols in every town square. On every street corner you defiled your beauty, offering your body to every passerby in an endless stream of prostitution.

“Then at last my fury against you will be spent, and my jealous anger will subside. I will be calm and will not be angry with you anymore. But first, because you have not remembered your youth but have angered me by doing all these evil things, I will fully repay you for all of your sins, says the Sovereign Lord. For you have added lewd acts to all your detestable sins.

As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, Sodom and her daughters were never as wicked as you and your daughters. Sodom’s sins were pride, gluttony, and laziness, while the poor and needy suffered outside her door. She was proud and committed detestable sins,  so I wiped her out, as you have seen. “Even Samaria did not commit half your sins. You have done far more detestable things than your sisters ever did. They seem righteous compared to you. Shame on you! Your sins are so terrible that you make your sisters seem righteous, even virtuous.

And I will reaffirm my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the Lord. You will remember your sins and cover your mouth in silent shame when I forgive you of all that you have done. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”

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Having grown up hearing people preach and teach the Bible and continuing to hear it for the better part of these past 47 years I have heard of Sodom. Who hasn't? Famous for their sin and maybe even more famous for their destruction by fire and brimstone rained down from heaven because of their terrible evil.

If a person wants to say that someone or some place is really perverted and evil then they compare them to Sodom!

Ezekiel puts things in perspective. First, the really detestable thing about Sodom contrary to common misconception isn't apparently their lewd sexual practices particularly homosexual gang rape of strangers. But rather Sodom is rebuked by God in Ezekiel for their economic unfairness! The people of Sodom apparently fostered an economic apathy towards the poor and this was the pinnacle of their sinful practice. Before you point that finger look in the mirror!

But secondly it turns out according to God we have the wrong iconic sinners! If you want to feel smug and point the finger at the real detestable sinners you'd have to point at God's people. Apparently, the all time evil lewd crude dudes were the Jews! Nobody was as evil , sexually promiscuous, or economically unfair than God's chosen people. 

The Sun finds a way through!

And God isn't messing around either he has judgements planned for them that are far worse than Sodom experienced. And it is a bit embarrassing when you think the Israelites themselves used to always point the finger at bad old Sodom or the dolt Samaria only to look in the mirror and see they were the really bad guys! Remember Abraham pleaded with God to save Sodom if only a handful of people were not completely against God. But it turns out no one was good so they all had to die a terrible death as did their children, babies  animals, and culture. If Abraham could not save Sodom, he will not be able to save the worst sinners of all time, Israel.

But hold on! What is God ending this passage with now? He has exposed his people as completely off the chart sinners of a magnitude unheard of and then he says the whole lot will be restored. Sodom, Samaria, and the all time gross sad filthy disgusting people of God too will be forgiven!

Watch out who you think you are better than!

Watch out who God can forgive and restore!

The role of a prophet of God.

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Ezekiel 2:1-10 NLT

“Stand up, son of man,” said the voice. “I want to speak with you.” The Spirit came into me as he spoke, and he set me on my feet. I listened carefully to his words. “Son of man,” he said, “I am sending you to the nation of Israel, a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me. They and their ancestors have been rebelling against me to this very day. They are a stubborn and hard-hearted people. But I am sending you to say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says!’ And whether they listen or refuse to listen—for remember, they are rebels—at least they will know they have had a prophet among them. “Son of man, do not fear them or their words. Don’t be afraid even though their threats surround you like nettles and briers and stinging scorpions. Do not be dismayed by their dark scowls, even though they are rebels. You must give them my messages whether they listen or not. But they won’t listen, for they are completely rebellious! Son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not join them in their rebellion. Open your mouth, and eat what I give you.” Then I looked and saw a hand reaching out to me. It held a scroll, which he unrolled. And I saw that both sides were covered with funeral songs, words of sorrow, and pronouncements of doom.

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The work of a prophet is fraught with hardships.

The messenger of God nearly always confronts unwelcoming audiences.

Israel is not alone in its rebellion although it is particularly hard hearted and it should know better since God had revealed the right way to them.

Every one you meet today will be or has been a rebell against God.

Some people have only had their consciences to guide them. These people were born with a moral compass. This compass can be ignored or even altered but both internally through their conscience or externally through the created order everyone understands there is a God!

But no one welcomes God or his rule over them.

Bethany walking a hard path on Kinder Scout, Edale England.

So the prophet is up against the hard hearts of humanity on one side and the eternal God and his royal rule on the other.

Even today a Christian's role in the world is not too unlike that of Ezekiel.

God plans to reveal more of his character and plan to the world but the world wants to ignore the message and harm the messenger.

So the prophet of God faces these two formidable forces The Word of God compels him to go out and speak but the hard hearts of man rebel against that word and threaten and mock the messenger. Yet there is still another threat!

The prophet's own heart is vulnerable. We too are rebels at heart and we are prone to join the rebels. Although we know the truth of God's clear and righteous message we tend towards joining the rebels.

The prophet of God is telling people who do not want to hear a message that they find offensive, all the while concerned he'll become a traitor to God himself.

But you dear christian like Ezekiel the prophet have some powerful and compelling aids in the prophetic office.

First, you have been called by God himself. You have not dreamed this up, it is not about you and it is not your plan. You have been given the task by the ruler of the universe.

Second, you've been filled by the Spirit of the living God. God is in you, and he protects and empowers you. God has not sent you alone. God is with you.

Thirdly, God has told you what you are up against. God has made it clear that you are to be opposed and that the people you will speak to are rebellious and they will try the get you to come to their way of thinking. You are warned.

Fourthly, God says, "Don't be afraid!"

Remember when you tell people God's news, whether it is welcomed as a life giving warning or more likely rejected God is with you, instructing you, indwelling you, and sending you.

You and Ezekiel both are seeing a bit of the glory of the everlasting God.