Should This Matter?

Ezekiel 20:39-40

“As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord God; Go ye, serve every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me: but pollute ye my holy name no more with your gifts, and with your idols.

For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord God, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the first fruits of your oblations, with all your holy things.”

God’s plan will always prevail. Nothing can stand in its way. Not even us!

There are plenty of verses in the Bible that highlight God’s faithfulness. It is clear that what God promises to come will come. When God promises salvation, He is faithful to give salvation. When God promises punishment, He is faithful to give punishment.

But what are we to do about God’s faithfulness? What is our role?

Do you remember that old beautiful hymn “Standing on the Promises of Christ my King” (by Russell Kelso Carter 1849-1928)? Here is the second verse and chorus.

Standing on the promises that cannot fail,

When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,

By the living Word of God I shall prevail,

Standing on the promises of God.

Chorus:

Standing, standing,

Standing on the promises of God my Savior;

Standing, standing,

I’m standing on the promises of God.

Wow! What an awesome hymn. This hymn really points to the fact that we need to live our lives in the reality that God will be faithful to His word. But how do we do that?

While continuing my Bible study in Ezekiel 20, I was reminded of the fact that we can chose whether or not to participate in God’s plan. In Ezekiel 20, Ezekiel is approached by elders from Israel seeking an answer from God. Ezekiel and these elders are captives in Babylon, and while the passage does not tell us what the elders asked Ezekiel, we can easily surmise that they would have been curious as to the fate of the captives in Babylon and the people left in the city of Jerusalem which had not yet be destroyed by Babylon. God does not provide an answer to these men but instead gives a lengthy rebuke of the idolatry that still continued in Israel. God tells them that due to their sin, He will not answer them.

Ezekiel 20:31

For when ye offer your gifts, when ye make your sons to pass through the fire, ye pollute yourselves with all your idols, even unto this day: and shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live saith the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you.

After the reprimand, instead of giving these elders an answer, God gives them a promise: Despite Israel’s long history of idolatry and their well-deserved punishment, God will gather Israel again back to their land to worship Him completely as they should have always done so from the beginning. God’s promise will come to pass. There will be a righteous remnant who will serve God in Zion. The elders wanted salvation right now. They wanted God to give them the answer that they wanted to hear, despite their own faithfulness to God (or lack thereof).

You see, the elders could choose whether or not they wanted to be part of the righteous remnant or whether or not they wanted to be part of the wicked. God’s kingdom will come either way.

God is not hindered by our disobedience, only we are.

God told the elders to go ahead and do what they they had already decided to do in verse 39. They were deep in idolatry and clearly planned to stay there. God isn’t intimidated by that. He tells them to go ahead and serve their idols but they will not participate in the kingdom to come.

This passage reminded me of one of my favorite sections of Esther: Esther 4:13-14. Let me set up the scenario for you. Esther is a Jewish exile in Susa, but she isn’t just any Jew, she just so happens to be the new queen of Persia, married to King Ahasuerus (likely Xerxes I or Artaxerxes I). During her reign, an official named Haman grew to hate Esther’s cousin, Mordecai, because he refused to bow and reverence Haman when he would walk by. Therefore, Haman sought to destroy Mordecai and all the Jews with him. Haman is successful in convincing the king to set a decree against the Jews. At that point, it is up to Esther, a Jew herself, to approach the king about the matter. To approach the king without an invitation could mean death, so Esther was truly putting her life on the line for her people. She expresses to Mordecai her hesitation to initiate a conversation with the king.

This is where Mordecai’s advice comes into play. He tells Esther that God’s plan will prevail regardless of her decision. God will save the Jews. She can either help with that or not. Her placement as queen gives her the unique ability to help her people and it is likely that God placed her there for that purpose.

Esther 4:13-14

Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with they self that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews. For if thou altogether boldest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews form another place: but thou and they father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou aren’t come to the kingdom for such a time as this.

Of course, Esther makes the wise decision to approach the king regarding his decree against the Jews. The king hears, realizes that Haman had deceived him, and changes his decree. Esther stood up for her people! She chose to take part in God’s plan!

You see, the elders here in Ezekiel 20 want God’s plan of salvation of the Jews to come to pass. But, they don’t’ want to actually have to participate, that is, repent of their sin.

As Christians today, we face the same dilemma. God has His plan and purpose for our lives. As Christians, we readily talk of how we want God’s plan for our lives and we want to further His purpose, but we don’t actually want to live like it. Make no mistake, His plan will proceed with our without us, but we get to choose whether or not we participate. We can choose to be a part of the righteous remnant or not.

How do we further God’s plan? We obey Him. How do we obey Him? By following His word and through prayer. God has promised us salvation and blessings. We all want those, but we must follow Him to receive them!