Ezekiel to Easter

I have been plowing my way through Jeremiah, Lamentations and now Ezekiel with all their woes and warnings, and this blog sort of randomly wanders its way through these books. 

Jeremiah does have its bright spots, assurances of restoration sprinkled throughout the prophecies of doom and destruction.  It starts out with the Lord assuring Jeremiah, "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.  Before you were born, I sanctified you."  It's true for all of us too:  God knew us before we were born and set us apart for a holy purpose, which He will show us as we seek it out.  

Then, when Jeremiah expressed his doubts about his assignment, he is assured, "...whatever I command you, you shall speak.  Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you."  We've looked before at the "fear not for I am with you" scriptures.

One of the well-known Jeremiah passages shows up in chapter 9, verses 23 and 24:  "'Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom; let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth, for in these I delight,' says the Lord."

We used to sing Jeremiah 32:17 KJV:  "Ah, Lord God, Thou hast made the heavens and the earth by Thy great power/Ah, Lord God, Thou hast made the heavens and the earth by Thine outstretched arm./Nothing is too difficult for Thee, nothing is too difficult for Thee,/Great in counsel and mighty in deed./Nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing, nothing is too difficult for Thee.

It used to be said that Jeremiah 33:3 was God's phone number.  I guess that was in the days when letters were used in combination with numbers.  Anyway, this is where God says, "Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know."  That's a great verse to memorize, meditate on and keep close.

Lamentations is a collection of five songs of Jeremiah, in which he wails over the destruction of Israel and Judah.  In the middle of this, he reminds himself, "Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.  They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.  'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I hope in Him'" (3:23, 24).

Then in Ezekiel, God pours out His grief and anguish, indignation and wrath at the rebellion and rejection and what He calls the harlotry of His own people as they turn from worship of Him to bowing down and burning incense and sacrificing to gods of their own making, and He pronounces His judgments on them as a result.  

Actually, I'm not very far into the book of Ezekiel so far, but from previous readings I know that it ends with a description of the restoration of Israel, and the rebuilding of the holy city, and the last sentence says, "the name of that city shall be 'The Lord is there (Jehovah Shammah).'"

This is my sort-of segue to the days we have just celebrated, Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday.  Father God laid all the judgments and punishments we deserved on Jesus, our willing sacrifice.  The prophecies of woe and wailing no longer apply to us.  The wrath of God was fully appeased by the propitiation of the perfect, sinless Lamb of God.  Hallelujah, hallelujah!  Praise to the matchless name of our God!  Thank You, thank You, Jesus!  Endless praise and blessing and thanksgiving and glory and honour are due to our wonderful Lord who made the way for us to be free in His presence and to know that He is our Jehovah Shammah, always with us, always welcoming us, with His face of mercy and grace turned beaming toward us.  Blessed be His name forever!