Throughout the Bible, God is seen as a loving Father. His role as Father, naturally includes the role of blessing His children as well as punishing (correcting) them.
The tale known as The Prodigal Son is a perfect example of how things work with Abba God. If we walk away from His house, if we step out from His protection, we expose ourselves to a world of evil.
When I was a child, my mother took me to the public swimming pool in Fernandina Beach. When it was time to go, I was not pleased. I defied her instructions. I told her I was going to stay and swim. She said, “Sure. OK, bye.”
Here’s the problem: I was four years old. I did not yet know how to swim. I used her help and the side of the pool to get around in the water. I thought if I threatened to jump in by myself, she would give in and hang out to make sure I survived the depths.
I was not pleased.
I threatened to plunge in by myself, and she was not concerned. So in an act of defiance, I jumped in. Once I was in the water, I panicked. My head went under and I thought I would surely die. Shortly, a hand reached in and pulled me out of the water. I appreciated that, but I did not appreciate her laughter. Man, did I learn a lesson. I literally stepped into my own punishment.
America’s Adopted Prophet Gets A Buzz Cut
In Ezekiel’s time, God was dealing with a rebellious people. I want Americans to see themselves, not as a replacement of Israel, but as a distant cousin, if you will. I want us to learn from their mistakes of the past. I want the Word of God to be heard by all Americans. We are a nation of the rebellious.
Let’s look at how The Father illustrates this to Brother Ezekiel. He instructed our prophet to shave his head and his beard with a knife. I hope it was sharper than my pocket knife.
Next, it was time to gather all the hair and weigh it. God, can just count each hair, but Ezekiel simply needed to weigh it.
Next, it was time to separate it into three equal piles. All that hair represents God’s people, His children. None of these strands of hair would grow anymore. They were “cut off.” Next time you read through Torah, you will notice that there are many sins which will result in being cut off or cut away from the assembly.
Ezekiel was told to burn one pile,
strike the other pile,
and scatter the third pile of hair while unsheathing his sword.
Why? Why was Israel being snipped off the head? A reason is repeated three times in verses 6 and 7.
“She has rebelled against my ordinances in doing wickedness more than the nations, and against my statutes more than the countries that are around her;
for they have rejected my ordinances, and as for my statutes, they have not walked in them.’
…‘Because you are more turbulent than the nations that are around you, and have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept my ordinances,” - Ez. 5:6-7
Just as I was embarrassed in front of a busy pool full of people. Israel was shamed in front of all the nations who stood around watching. God promised He would execute judgement in front of the nations.
1/3 of Israel would die of pestilence and famine. (have you heard of any pestilence or famine in our land lately?)
1/3 would die from war (what? we’ve got that).
And the rest are scattered and will essentially live like Jeremiah Johnson and have to run and hide, and scrap to survive.
Many Americans love God. But how many love God enough to really listen to Him? Do we want to swim in the pool by ourselves? Well, we cannot make it without His Hand to hold us. If we sow rebellion, we are likely to receive the grapes of wrath and the wine of ridicule.
We could simply bless God with our actions as well as our words. If we choose obedience, we are effectively choosing blessing, and that blessing is peaceful and secure. If we choose to drop away from His shalom, our sleep cannot be peaceful, we will crouch in fear wherever we walk.
Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him. Psalm 68:1
America - incline your ears to our God. Give Him glory above all men, all institutions, all nations. Amen
Here is my brand new “PRAY” sticker. This is the second in a series of simple messages to help lift up God and His precepts.