The Wall

The Wall


Imagine the wrath of God approaching; a consuming fire that destroys everyone and everything not shielded from it. Sin, which is rejecting, rebelling against and/or falling short of God’s standards and requirements, kindles and calls the flames of God’s righteous judgment. In Ezekiel Chapter 22, using the coming destruction of Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonian army as a canvas, God paints a picture of His coming judgment against His chosen people.

Throughout its heinous history and repeated rebellions against God, His Law and His Covenant, He had warned the Nation of Israel about the severe judgment that would come if they continued in their wicked ways. But now the eternal Judge of every living soul presents the overwhelming evidence of Israel’s guilt and pronounces the sentence.

The Inventory of Jerusalem’s Sin
In Ezekiel 22:6-12, God details the violations of His Law

• Murder; parents not respected; foreigners, widows and orphans being oppressed; holy things are despised; Sabbaths are profaned; people are put to death based on false testimony; offerings made to idols are consumed at mountain shrines; open lewdness/wickedness; sexual perversion; murder for hire, collecting interest and fees from loans; plundering neighbors; and forgetting about the LORD.

The Image of God’s Judgment
In Ezekiel 22:17-22, God describes the method of His Judgment

• God tells Ezekiel that the people of Israel have become useless to Him; like the impurities in precious metals that are removed in a furnace. Therefore, as precious metals are melted in a furnace, God will gather the people of Judah together in Jerusalem and execute His judgment by fire. Both the precious metals and worthless contaminants will be melted by the fire of His wrath. The city will be burned and destroyed; the people will be killed and exiled.

The Indictment of the Guilty
In Ezekiel 22:25-29, God denunciates the breakers of His Law

• The Potentates – Conspiring like roaring lions: tearing apart their prey; devouring souls; taking riches and other valuable things; making many widows. Acting like wolves: tearing apart their prey; shedding blood; destroying souls; getting dishonest gain.
• The Priests – Violating God’s Law and profaning His holy things; not distinguishing between the holy and unholy; not teaching the difference between clean and unclean; ignoring Sabbath violations; profaning God.
• The Prophets – Whitewashing blatant sin; giving false prophecy; lying; falsely claiming ‘Thus says the LORD.’ when the LORD has not said.
• The People – Deceiving for unjust gain; plundering; mistreating the poor and needy; unjustly violating foreigners.

But before the wrath, we see the love and mercy of God layered in with His perfect justice – He takes no pleasure in the destruction of the wicked (see Ezekiel 18:32, 33:11). Despite centuries of sin, God was still looking for a way to pardon His people.

• Ezekiel 22:30 So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.

God had made a way for the temporary covering of sin through the Levitical Law. If done in humility, with repentance and in reverence for God, animal sacrifices (which foreshadowed the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to pay the debt for sin) could have reconciled sinful Israel to God.

However, without an atoning sacrifice for their sin, without confession and repentance, without a wall of righteousness around them and someone to stand in the gap between Israel and God’s wrath, God makes clear that His perfect justice would be served. Israel would indeed reap what they had sown.

• Ezekiel 22:31 Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord God.

So, what is standing between you and God’s wrath?

By what means will the penalty for your sin be paid?

How will you be reconciled to God?

Jesus Christ, the human incarnation of Jehovah God, is the only means by which sinful people can be reconciled to a Holy God.

• Isaiah 53:5-6 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.
• 1 Timothy 2:5-6 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time,

Jesus shed His sinless blood

to build an impenetrable wall

of righteousness around you!

When you surrender to Jesus as Lord and Savior,

He stands in the gap between you and God,

and your sin debt is paid in full!

Through faith in Christ,

in His righteousness,

you are eternally reconciled to God!

Prayer

Savior, LORD and King, thank You for making a way for sinful man to be reconciled to You. Thank You for Your love, grace and mercy. Thank You for the unchanging truth of Your Holy Word and the indwelling presence of Your Holy Spirit. Please Father, through Your Word and the Work of Your Spirit, draw those who are not followers of Jesus Christ to repentance and salvation. Save them from the judgment Jerusalem experienced. I ask these things in the powerful name of my Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen

Dealing with Imperfection

Dealing with Imperfection


If you are looking for perfection, there is only one place to find it.

• Deuteronomy 32:3-4 For I proclaim the name of the LORD: Ascribe greatness to our God. 4 He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He.
• 1 Samuel 2:2 “No one is holy like the LORD, For there is none besides You, Nor is there any rock like our God.
• Psalm 18:30 As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.
• Mark 10:18 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.

The LORD God Almighty, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, one God revealed as three distinct entities, He is the only one without fault or flaw. He doesn’t strive for perfection, it is His very nature and the essence of His being. He is inherently good, just and right. And it is in His perfection that we see our imperfection. God is the standard.

Unfortunately, we all fall short of the standards God has set in His perfection. Falling short of His standards and expectations is called sin.

King Solomon, the wisest man of all time, proclaimed that all people sin.

• 1 Kings 8:46 “When they sin against You (for there is no one who does not sin), and You become angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, and they take them captive to the land of the enemy, far or near;

Under the direction of the Holy Spirit, Paul declares this same truth.

• Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

God, speaking through John, says that we deceive ourselves if we say we haven’t sinned.

• 1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

Therefore, we must accept that no person (spouse, child, parent, sibling, friend, mentor, student…), group (family, workplace, club, civic organization, church…), or anything else that involves or depends on people is perfect. Other than God, everyone and everything (including creation - see Romans 8:21-22) is flawed.

But praise be to God for the glorious truth of the gospel message of Jesus Christ! That message is, when we are born again by surrendering all that we are to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we are made perfect in position before God (see Matthew 5:48, 2 Corinthians 5:21 and Hebrews 10:14). That is to say, for the Christian, even though we still sin, all of our sins have been forgiven (covered by the blood of Jesus). Therefore, God sees us as righteous – that is how and why we spend eternity in Heaven with Him after we die.

However, with all that said, the primary focus of this devotion is not the righteous position before God of those who have been born again. The point of this devotion is to identify the Biblical means of dealing with the imperfection within us and all around us. How do people respond to what they judge to be imperfections in themselves, others, their surrounding and their situations? Typical responses include frustration, anger, pride, fear, guilt, shame, impatience, disgust, hate, despair, apathy, giving up…

However, in the simplicity of God’s perfection, He has given us one specific means by which we are to deal with imperfection. It is discussed throughout the Bible, and is defined as follows:

• 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

As so often is the case, love is the answer. But not the selfish, self-centered, needy, sexual love that the world is obsessed with. Study the verse above. Ask God to reveal to you His truth about Godly love. And then plead with Him to help you live it out.

In the infinite wisdom of God’s perfection, God has shown us what true love is. In dealing with our imperfections, He sent His only Son, who lived a perfect life, to die a sacrificial death to pay off the sin debt of the world.

• Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
• John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

During His life on Earth, Jesus, God in the flesh, the embodiment of perfection, was surrounded by imperfection. And He responded to this imperfection in obedience to God the Father and in love towards us.

• Galatians 1:3-4 Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Jesus modeled perfect love.

And God has instructed us to love that way.

Here is a very small sampling of the verses in the Bible dealing with how we are to love.

• Ephesians 5:1-2 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
• 1 John 3:23 And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.
• 1 Peter 4:8-9 And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” 9 Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.
• Matthew 5:44-45 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
• 1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

Love is the only Godly way of

Dealing with Imperfection!

Prayer

Perfect Father, I thank You for giving us a means to deal with the imperfections within ourselves, others and the fallen world we live in. Please Lord, by the power and truth of Your Word and Your Holy Spirit, guide us in living a life of Godly love. In Christ’s name I pray. Amen.