Ezekiel 14 Idolaters Condemned 1 Some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me. 2 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 3 "Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all? 4 Therefore speak to them and tell them, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: When any Israelite sets up idols in his heart and puts a wicked stumbling block before his face and then goes to a prophet, I the LORD will answer him myself in keeping with his great idolatry. 5 I will do this to recapture the hearts of the people of Israel, who have all deserted me for their idols.' 6 "Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Repent! Turn from your idols and renounce all your detestable practices! 7 " 'When any Israelite or any alien living in Israel separates himself from me and sets up idols in his heart and puts a wicked stumbling block before his face and then goes to a prophet to inquire of me, I the LORD will answer him myself. 8 I will set my face against that man and make him an example and a byword. I will cut him off from my people. Then you will know that I am the LORD. 9 " 'And if the prophet is enticed to utter a prophecy, I the LORD have enticed that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel. 10 They will bear their guilt—the prophet will be as guilty as the one who consults him. 11 Then the people of Israel will no longer stray from me, nor will they defile themselves anymore with all their sins. They will be my people, and I will be their God, declares the Sovereign LORD.' " Judgment Inescapable 12 The word of the LORD came to me: 13 "Son of man, if a country sins against me by being unfaithful and I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its food supply and send famine upon it and kill its men and their animals, 14 even if these three men—Noah, Daniel [ a] and Job—were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign LORD.
Dear brudders and sisters,
I just wish to share something I learnt today from the Bible. It's what Sandy shared during the mini-dgrp after the West midweek on Tuesday to prepare our hearts for the campaign month. As I was reflected on this this morning, I was asking the question why God wanted to keep scolding the Israelites again and again AND punish them again and again. I was thinking why? Won't the Israelites be even more rebellious? And today, when I was teaching English in my Normal Technical class, something dawned on me. I was having a especially hard time today with them as they were consistently noisy and disruptive throughout the lesson. I was feeling very tired and was a bit grounchy so noise was not a good addition to my negative state already. After different bouts of shouting, promising them treats as the lesson I planned involved them eating something in class, etc, I was feeling rather defeated when most of the class continued to make their noise and refused to listen to my instructions.
I sat down at the teacher's table and felt my tears threatening to come out. As my HUGE ego continued their hardest to suppress the tears, I looked at them and suddenly stood up. I shouted... or rather ROARED at them and suddenly they were very quiet. I then spoke in a rather quiet tone about how I am very close of giving up on them. How I could bloody well (yes I used the word 'bloody') just throw them worksheets and did not care whether they learnt or not. How I could just heck care whether they hand in their work or do their work with their heart. They could fail their English and it would not affect badly on me AT ALL cos they ARE expected to FAIL any way (NT students get promoted hether they pass or not). Then I told them that if a teacher refuses to even shout and scold them, they should not be happy. Cos it means the teacher has given up on them and is no longer caring whether they learn anything or not. The students kept quiet for about 10minutes and they continued their noise-making albeit at a softer volume later. Most of them did finished the work I planned but I hope they got the message which I seriously doubt. :P
When I went back to the office, I remembered the questions I asked. God punished and shouted at us because He cared enough to keep scolding us. He loves us so much that despite of the heartache and headaches and sore throats He might have, He continued to scold and warn the Isarelites of the consequences. God punished severely in the hope that others would learn. He sacrificed His son for us so that we no longer need to pay a price. Let's remember that as we reach out to the lost and try our best to love them. Our friends may refuse to listen and be rebellious but let's not lose heart. God will be scolding them in LOVE consistently and He will not give up.
Hope my sharing is not too confusing.
Love, VicLabels: my time with Him |
