Our Hope Is In Our Lord
Sometimes God may have to strip away from you the things you have come to depend upon instead of Him. The people of Judah had become rebellious and began worshiping other gods. Even in exile in Babylon, they took pride in the temple more than obedience to God. In Ezekiel 3:10–11; 24:15–24, 27, God had Ezekiel tell them that the temple would be destroyed and their children still left in Jerusalem would suffer slaughter at the hands of Babylon’s army. In exile, they would not even have the freedom to grieve because of their captors oppression. Only then would they look to the Lord as their hope. I pray that you would realize that the hope we have that sustains us in this world is our hope in the Lord. Amen
And he said to me, “Son of man, listen carefully and take to heart all the words I speak to you. Go now to your people in exile and speak to them. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says,’ whether they listen or fail to listen. ” (Ezekiel 3:10–11)
This was Ezekiel’s charge, given to him directly from God. Ezekiel was to be a prophet to God’s people who were living in exile in Babylon. As a prophet of the Lord, He was to speak the word to God’s people that God gave him to speak. He was to do this faithfully, without fear and without regard to their willingness to listen to what God was telling them.
The word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, with one blow I am about to take away from you the delight of your eyes. Yet do not lament or weep or shed any tears. Groan quietly; do not mourn for the dead. Keep your turban fastened and your sandals on your feet; do not cover your mustache and beard or eat the customary food of mourners. ”
So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. The next morning I did as I had been commanded.
Then the people asked me, “Won’t you tell us what these things have to do with us? Why are you acting like this?”
So I said to them, “The word of the LORD came to me: Say to the people of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am about to desecrate my sanctuary —the stronghold in which you take pride, the delight of your eyes, the object of your affection. The sons and daughters you left behind will fall by the sword. And you will do as I have done. You will not cover your mustache and beard or eat the customary food of mourners. You will keep your turbans on your heads and your sandals on your feet. You will not mourn or weep but will waste away because of your sins and groan among yourselves. Ezekiel will be a sign to you; you will do just as he has done. When this happens, you will know that I am the Sovereign LORD.’ (Ezekiel 24:15–24)
A devastating word came to Ezekiel from the Lord one morning. His beloved wife, “the delight of his eyes”, would die suddenly. Not only would Ezekiel have to endure the pain of this loss, but God told him that he would not be allowed to outwardly mourn her death. No tears, no shouts of grief, no absence from his duties for bereavement! In the morning he spoke to the people and in the evening she was gone.
The people observing Ezekiel’s lack of mourning, correctly interpreted it as a sign and asked him what it meant. Ezekiel responded with the word of the Lord that the temple, “the delight of their eyes”, would be desecrated and destroyed. The temple was their pride and joy. They viewed the temple as a stronghold that protected them against any enemy. God’s pronouncement of this calamity would have certainly shaken them to their core and caused them great grief, but the n their Babylonian captivity, they would not be allowed to mourn.
At that time your mouth will be opened; you will speak with him and will no longer be silent. So you will be a sign to them, and they will know that I am the LORD. ” (Ezekiel 24:27)
This verse is a reiteration of God’s purpose for the sign of Ezekiel’s loss and the desecration of the temple. God desired for His people to repent from their rebellion and idolatry and return to Him. By the sign and by the fulfillment of the prophecy that God had Ezekiel speak to His people, they would know that God had done this and that He alone is LORD.
By destroying the temple, God reset their hearts and minds away from the temple grandeur and its treasures, and back to where it properly belonged… on Him. With their hearts and minds refocused on God, He allowed Ezekiel to begin to speak a word of comfort and hope to the people in exile.
Concluding thoughts God wants the focus of our worship and our delight to be on Him. He doesn’t want us to put our hope in things or people. They will fail us and often leave us unfulfilled and disappointed. And to ignore our true source of protection, provision and power is an act of rebellion against the Lord. As the exiles did, even in captivity, still placing the focus of their pride, delight and hope in the temple, we can find ourselves putting our hope in places other than God. When we do that, we will ultimately be disappointed and then reminded of where our true hope lies. It is found only in Him….our hope is in our Lord!
Blessings, Rev. Glenn
My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus' name.
Refrain:
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand:
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.
