Worship and Repent

Occasionally in conversations about the Bible I hear people talk about their difficulty in understanding or accepting what they refer to as “the God of the Old Testament”, as if He is a separate entity from the God Jesus revealed or the One who speaks to us today. I’m not sure if it would be easier to fashion a god of my own dimensions and preferences or if it would be more difficult because of the constant revisions I’d have to make as this god evolved to meet my needs. It’s harder, but simpler, to look at the whole context of Scripture and adjust my understanding of who God is and has always been.

These are a couple of verses that I refer to when this difficulty arises:

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)

"I the LORD do not change.” (Malachi 3:6)

The God who created the universe is the same God who commanded warriors of the Old Testament to kill and pillage. That God is the same God who sacrificed His only Son to pay the price for our sin and make a way to have relationship with Him. And He is the same God whose Spirit heals and speaks to us today. I don’t get it all, but I know I need to reconcile the parts that don’t sound logical or practical or easy. And when there seems to be a discrepancy between how God appears in Scripture and how I’d like Him to be, I’m the one who has to adjust.

One example is this passage from Ezekiel. Ezekiel was called by God to declare His message of punishment and restoration through the Babylonian exile. Ezekiel was in Babylon when God spoke to him, having been taken there in 597 B.C., during the second wave of Jews to be exiled by King Nebuchadnezzar. (The first wave was in 605 B.C. Jerusalem finally fell to the Babylonians and was destroyed in 587/586 B.C.) Some prophets had been telling the people that God wasn’t really angry and that their troubled times would end soon. God had a much different and more severe message to pass along through Ezekiel. He lists several of their detestable sins very specifically in the following verses:

¹ Some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me. ² Then the word of the LORD came to me: ³ "Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all? ⁴ Therefore speak to them and tell them, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: When any Israelite sets up idols in his heart and puts a wicked stumbling block before his face and then goes to a prophet, I the LORD will answer him myself in keeping with his great idolatry. ⁵ I will do this to recapture the hearts of the people of Israel, who have all deserted me for their idols.'

⁶ "Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Repent! Turn from your idols and renounce all your detestable practices!

⁷ " 'When any Israelite or any alien living in Israel separates himself from me and sets up idols in his heart and puts a wicked stumbling block before his face and then goes to a prophet to inquire of me, I the LORD will answer him myself. ⁸ I will set my face against that man and make him an example and a byword. I will cut him off from my people. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

⁹ " 'And if the prophet is enticed to utter a prophecy, I the LORD have enticed that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel. ¹⁰ They will bear their guilt—the prophet will be as guilty as the one who consults him. ¹¹ Then the people of Israel will no longer stray from me, nor will they defile themselves anymore with all their sins. They will be my people, and I will be their God, declares the Sovereign LORD.' " (Ezekiel 14:1-11)

Several phrases are repeated and seem to be quite important in these verses.

1. Idols and stumbling blocks – The French translation of this verse says that these people carry their idols in their hearts and fix their gaze on things that will make them fall in sin. The Message says, “these people have installed idols in their hearts. They have embraced the wickedness that will ruin them”. It seems to me God is revealing to Ezekiel that the people who want to hear from God are hanging on to sinful desires inside and sinful behaviors outside. No wonder God is indignant with them!

2. Sovereign LORD – This exact phrase is used over and over in the book of Ezekiel. It is the name by which God identifies Himself throughout the visions and prophecies revealed to the prophet. And it is always accompanied by “declares” or “says”. When God speaks His message to Ezekiel, He wants to be sure Ezekiel knows that the plan will come to pass because God is sovereign. His purposes will be realized and He is in control.

3. Know that He is the LORD – “Then they will know that I am the LORD” appears no fewer than 17 times in chapters 5 through 14 of Ezekiel. God’s desire above all else is to be known and glorified. He used blessings, direct communication and destructive consequences to make sure the Jews of the Old Testament knew, without a doubt, that He was who He said He was.

So, if God is the same now as He was in the Old Testament, then what’s true of God in this passage must still be true today, right? Is it safe to say that God still wants us to remove sinful attitudes from our hearts and behaviors from our lives? I think yes. Is it logical to assume that He is still sovereign and in control of His creation? Again, yes. And can we believe that God still wants – no, insists upon – receiving glory for who He is? Resoundingly affirmative.

Then what is my response?

First I’d better recognize God and praise Him for His power and glory! Secondly, anything in my heart or actions that isn’t aligned with God’s purposes and character has got to go. And this cycle continues over and over and over until we meet Him face to face. Worship and repent. Worship and repent.

Lest we think there is only doom and gloom in God’s desires for His people, or that He is only concerned with killing all the fun in our lives, let’s remember His heart for relationship found in the final verse of this passage:

“Then the people of Israel will no longer stray from me, nor will they defile themselves anymore with all their sins. They will be my people, and I will be their God, declares the Sovereign LORD.' " (Ezekiel 14:11)

Relationship.

Connection.

Belonging.

And God’s desires for those haven’t changed either. Thanks be to God.

• What other themes or commands do you notice in this passage? Does one or more resonate with you? Which one(s)?

• Are you aware of any idols in your heart or stumbling blocks before your face? In other words, has God revealed any areas of your life – thoughts, attitudes, behaviors – that do not lead you closer to Him? Take some time to pray about that and confess and repent where He convicts you.

• Why does holiness even matter to God?

• Is it ever difficult for you to acknowledge or rest in God’s sovereignty? What other places in Scripture might you look for more revelation of this aspect of God’s character?