Ressurection

Today’s message is about restoration.

The Lord has been telling Israel about their sins, about all the destruction that was coming to them. He told them that they would be taunted and dragged away from their land by foreign nations. It’s gotten to the point where the Lord even says it will be so bad, parents will eat their children because they will be so hungry!

But the Lord takes a turn in Ezekiel 36. He starts foretelling the restoration of the people of Israel. He says, “I am furious that you have suffered shame before the surrounding nations.” Why is He furious? It’s because “I was concerned for my hold name, on which my people brought shame among the nations.” The Israelites had done evil, gone away from the ways of the Lord. They were no longer glorifying His name. What we have to realize here is that the Lord does not want people to glorify His name just because He has an ego. He want’s people to glorify His name because He made all things and knows the best way to live on the Earth. The Law Moses wrote had instructions on how to deal with disease and keep the nation clean long before the people ever knew about germs. If we do what He says in the Bible, we are living the way we should and pointing other people to the best way to live, which is by the glory of God.

The flip side of it, is He loves us! He is sad that His people have gone astray. You remember the whole “I hope they repent” part that I wrote about two days ago? God did not want His people to suffer, but they had to be punished for their actions. God is perfect and cannot be in connection to His people without their judgement being paid.

Here’s my favorite part:

“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.”

He is already telling the people of His plans for Jesus! Jesus provided the ultimate sacrifice that was finally enough for our sins and we are washed clean (symbolized by baptism) and we are given the Holy Spirit to guide us in our day to day lives.

But we have to be the first to initiate:

“I am ready to hear Israel’s prayers and to increase their numbers like a flock. They will be as numerous as the sacred flocks that fill Jerusalem’s streets at the time of her festivals. The ruined cities will be crowded with people once more, and everyone will know that I am the Lord.”

He is ready to take the dead and destroyed and revive it. But He has to hear their prayers first! Same thing goes for you and me. Have you prayed for God to restore what’s dead and destroyed in your life? Pray to Him and He will make it known that He is the Lord!