Ezekiel 6:13 – “They will know that I am the Lord when their dead lie scattered among their idols and altars on every hill and mountain and under every green tree and every great shade tree—the places where they offered sacrifices to their idols.”
Lots of people walk around every day thinking God is angry with them. They read a passage like this and think that God is just bent on destroying people. How does that connect with love and Jesus and all the things we cling to as Christians? Does God just want to punish us when we do things wrong?
Context is important. We have to remember that God is sending this message of warning through Ezekiel after his chosen people have rebelled against him in idol worship for centuries. That’s hardly a quick temper (and in fact, the Bible says that God is slow to anger). We haven’t read the whole book yet, so let’s wait and understand the big picture before we make quick judgments about God’s character.
Here’s your freedom for today:
God is not out to get you.
In today’s passage, God is warning his people of coming destruction because he wants them to turn back to him. In some sense, it’s the result they’ve been going for. Idol worship doesn’t bring eternal life. God promises that he has something better, and if we want to connect with freedom and life we have to follow him into it. God isn’t out to get you in the sense that we usually use that phrase — he doesn’t want your destruction. But he is out to get you if by that we mean he will pursue you and try to stop you from death that you will bring on yourself. I’ve walked with God a long time, and I’ve sat with hundreds of people in various stages of the spiritual journey. Those who are connected with God have a freedom that is simply not possible any other way. Those who cling to their sin and idols find their lives destroyed. It’s not a cruel punishment, it’s how the spiritual war is won or lost. Gravity doesn’t ask permission to have a pull on us. It’s just a force that we exist within. Sin is the same way, dragging you away from God and pulling you into a painful death.