Highland,
It was so great to be with you this past Sunday. Those of you who were unable to be with us, know that we missed you and we look forward to seeing you again soon.
As I mentioned Sunday, we are going to spend some time in the Old Testament for the next several weeks. I have personally been spending time in Ezekiel and Isaiah and I hope that we can glean and walk, together, from what the Lord has been teaching me in my personal time of study and prayer.
As you know, we have recently completed a series called: “The Right on Righteousness.” That has now led us to praying for revival. If you want to revisit some of those sermons, they are written here, on our blog page. Also, as we continue praying for revival, I hope that we can look at these sections of the Bible together and come away with a better understanding on two things:
Starting in Ezekiel, we will take an ‘in-house’ look at our hearts, Highland. Our focus will be our personal relationship with the Lord as it relates to the outworking of righteousness in our lives (our recent series focused on the in-working of righteousness between heaven and our hearts) these sermons, though, will be more of a look at the outworking (our responsibility) of righteousness in our lives. It also includes a closer look at generational sin and how that plays into our relationship with the Lord and in our lives, too.
Sunday, we read through the entire chapter of Ezekiel 18. We then simply broke open this passage. We began to look at what Scripture says about generational sin and what Scripture says about our personal relationship with the Lord. This chapter (Ezekiel 18) really hones in on this very matter. To gain some context around this passage, the Israelites are under Babylonian captivity - they have been under their rule for about 5 years. Ezekiel is part of the captivity and serves as the prophet of God during this generation of the God’s people. They are, frankly, upset with God and are expressing their frustration with Ezekiel; one core gripe - they feel they are sons and daughters paying for the sins of their fathers and mothers. In this passage (Ch 18), Ezekiel is offering the Lord’s response to this very frustration.
Here is the passage: “The word of the Lord came to me: What do you mean by using this proverb concerning the land of Israel:
The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge?
“As I live” — this is the declaration of the Lord God — “you will no longer use this proverb in Israel. 4 Look, every life belongs to Me. The life of the father is like the life of the son—both belong to Me. The person who sins is the one who will die” (Ezekiel 18:1-4).
The Israelites were allowing this saying to circulate throughout their days. This saying/proverb picked up a lot of traction because it’s based on how they felt about God’s Word, but their feelings were not based on the truth that is God’s Word and they were misguided by their feelings.
The proverb means that the sons and daughters who were in captivity felt that they were having to pay for their past generation’s sin. When you see someone eat something sour, then, as you observe, typically, onlookers will whence and recoil at the thought of being offered that which is sour. Furthermore, the statement indicates that they felt that the sour grapes were their inevitable and unavoidable option, hence, the children’s teeth were set on edge, meaning they are expecting to receive the sinfully-offensive and hostile nature of their father’s relationship with the Lord.
The passage goes on to explain how this proverb is based on a faulty foundation and does not stand as truth. Ezekiel then explains that for any person who repents, they will live! Ezekiel speaks to the heart of our Lord, the maker of heaven and earth; the Judge who sees our hearts and executes righteous judgments and is rich in mercy. In Ezekiel’s sermon, he highlights what we know to be true - ‘no one is righteous, no, not one’ (Rom 3). But, anyone who repents, no matter their background, their treachery, the deceit, their sin, if they repent, submitting to the Lordship of Jesus, that person who repents will receive salvation in the name of Jesus, alone. In so doing, we receive a new disposition through the renewing work of the Holy Spirit. He serves to convict and counsel us, bringing our heart into agreement with the heart of God.
As we repent and live, our heart-cry then becomes exactly how we are praying as a church:
Teach me, LORD, the meaning of Your statutes,
and I will always keep them.
Help me understand Your instruction,
and I will obey it
and follow it with all my heart.
Help me stay on the path of Your commands,
for I take pleasure in it.
Turn my heart to Your decrees
and not to material gain.
Turn my eyes
from looking at what is worthless;
give me life in Your ways.
Confirm what You said to Your servant,
for it produces reverence for You.
Turn away the disgrace I dread;
indeed, Your judgments are good.
How I long for Your precepts!
Give me life through Your righteousness. - (Psalm 119:33-40).
HOW WE ARE PRAYING
Highland, let us ask the Lord to give us life through His righteousness. This is possible through Christ alone, who bore our sin ‘that we might become the righteousness of God’ (2 Corinthians 5).
For those in our lives who are unrepentant, let us ask the Lord to bring them to repentance by way of the Holy Spirit’s conviction, that they may submit to the Lordship of Jesus, receiving forgiveness for their sin in His name.
For those of us who are repentant, who profess Jesus to be Lord, let us remain in total heart agreement with our Lord, hungering for His righteousness. Let us ask the Lord to fill us, as His people, that we might be a demonstration of His glory!
Also, let us ask the Lord to coat our eyes with His righteousness, that, as the eye is the lamp of the body, our eyes would reveal that our hearts find delight in being filled by the light of His presence.
Rob
