Ezekiel 7:1-27 An End Comes
Not THE final end but an end comes. God tells Ezekiel that an end is coming for the people’s pride. Disaster comes without pity as they are judged according to their own ways.
Israel and Judah had long heard that God would bring judgment on them for their actions. That time is NOW! And that judgment will be disaster after disaster. God is not going to give them ‘a slap on the wrist’ this time. There will be NO pity in this judgment. They will feel the FULL force of God’s anger with them.
When I think about all the times God warned His people that there would be a price to pay for their sins, I’m reminded of my mom and how she used to count when we were getting close to the ‘punishment line’. She didn’t call it the ‘punishment line’, I just came up with that name. It was the point of no return. She would give you warnings but if you ignored them, you got what was promised; TROUBLE. My mom adopted the age-old practice of ‘counting’ to get our attention. She counted to 10. Some parents count to 3. Three wasn’t her number, as she had trained us to fear/respect 10. Then she realized that she didn’t really need the lower numbers. She started at 5 instead. We knew the scale so we began to get it together but we knew we still had time. When things were REALLY serious, she started at NINE! There was NO wiggle room or time to think it over. It was “Do it NOW or receive the consequences.”
Then there were the times when she told us to go cut our own switch. We KNEW we were in for it. There was no getting out of the spanking but we tried to mitigate the pain we knew was coming by choosing a switch that wouldn’t hurt as much. One time, my brother found this ‘wimpy’ switch. It was so weak that it wouldn’t even stay straight. He held it up for our (his sisters and brother) inspection before presenting it to our mom. We thought it was a good choice to. It was long and thin but had no strength to it. We found out shortly that we had chosen the WORST switch in the world! It was a willow switch. Any of you who have ever received correction at the ‘hands’ of this instrument know EXACTLY what I’m talking about.
God’s people had pushed Him to 10. Nine was history. It was ‘switch picking’ time. King Hezekiah had already encountered the ‘switch’ God would use. He thought it was a good choice, even after he was told by the prophet Isaih that he had just set himself and Judah up for trouble. He thought that showing the envoys from Babylon EVERYTHING he had would make him look good in their eyes. They wouldn’t hurt a flea; their switch was too wimpy.
God was wielding that switch like a pro. NO ONE was going to escape their judgment ACCORDING TO THEIR OWN WAYS. No talking their way out of this. No pie crust promises. No begging or pleading either. ALL those approaches had been tried before and God had allowed them another chance with each one. NOT this time. God KNEW they wouldn’t learn ANY OTHER WAY. This lesson had to be deep and personal. NO PITY. And it would last until the lesson was TRULY learned. A lesson that would last MORE than a lifetime. One that would become engrained in their makeup as deeply as their name.
When Ezekiel is speaking to the exiles, they are already living under some of that punishment, but they are holding out hope for a quick return to their previous state and station in life. They have become used to hearing ‘God count’ and have decided that He never would reach 10. “He’s all talk. We’ve heard it before. It will blow over and things will get back to normal. Besides, OUR prophets have told us so.” They are not listening to Ezekiel. They WILL hear him when Jerusalem actually falls. They will look back and remember these words. But their own actions will have laid even more punishment for themselves. “When you find yourself in a hole, STOP DIGGING!”
I always ask God to show me how He would have me apply what I read each day to my life. I think today’s application is pretty clear. When God FIRST convicts you regarding your actions, CHANGE THEM. Don’t wait until He ‘reaches 9 or even 10’ before finally listening and obeying. God is merciful and patient but He DOES have an end to His patience. You DON’T want to be on the other side of that ‘end’.
One final thing about “an end” vs “the end.” God told Ezekiel that “an end” was coming. That “end” was to something specific. Israel and Judah’s chasing after other gods was coming to an end because He was going to see that they NEVER DID THAT AGAIN. But it wasn’t “the end”; the final page in the ‘book’. There would be many more beginnings and ends to come. “The end” still hasn’t happened, but it IS coming.
For each of us individually, “the end” is our physical death. Once we cross that “the end” there is no changing the story. If you die without Christ, there is NO going back and fixing it. You have an ETERNITY to suffer for that choice. When you die KNOWING Jesus as your personal savior, there is NO taking that away from you. You have an ETERNITY to praise Him and thank Him for allowing you to be part of His family.
DO NOT BE DECEIVED. “THE END” IS coming. Be certain of where you stand BEFORE it arrives.
Father God, thank You for all the ‘chances’ and warnings You have given me in my life. Your mercies are all that have kept me from my own end. From stepping out in front of a car as a child to struggling with my eating disorder twice to all the times You held me on the road while driving in bad weather. Your hands have held me fast. THANK YOU that there has been “an end” to many of the sins You brought me warnings to change my behavior. I PRAY with ALL my heart that ANY that remain will come to “an end” IMMEDIATELY. I NEVER want to hear You say 5 even.
