Ezek. 7: An End Is Come

Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Also, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God unto the land of Israel; An end, the end is come upon the four corners of the land. Now is the end come upon thee, and I will send mine anger upon thee, and will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense upon thee all thine abominations. And mine eye shall not spare thee, neither will I have pity: but I will recompense thy ways upon thee, and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee: and ye shall know that I am the Lord. (Ezekiel 7:1 to 4)

As I’ve been looking at the prophecies of Ezekiel, and considering what the I believe the Lord is saying to us today, there’s something that I noticed: namely, the gravity. From the start the emphasis has been upon His impending judgments; yet, at the same time, there has also been the mention of those who would be delivered from them. The Lord is just; and, therefore, He’s going to judge us according to our ways. In other words, He isn’t going to judge us if we’re walking earnestly with Him, even though we quite often fall short of what we should be. But for those who will be subject to His judgments, the result will be devastating.

When the Lord sends us to the churches, we’ll be bringing His ultimatum to them. We’ve been so accustomed to His grace that we’ve gotten away from realizing that there’s a day of reckoning coming; and that day is a lot closer than we think. His ultimatum will be very simple: repent! Turn yourselves around and back to Him lest you fall under His heavy hand without mercy! That may sound overly harsh; but since far too many of His people have turned a deaf ear to Him, then His patience is coming to an end. You may think that the words of warning are lies from the enemy, and that the Lord would never bring judgment upon His people; but the natural Jews thought the exact same thing as the king of Babylon was preparing the siege of Jerusalem.

Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered. And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away. (Matthew 21:18 and 19)

The Lord has been seeking for something from His people; but, in many cases He hasn’t been able to find it. It’s called fruit. He hasn’t been seeking for great Bible scholars who are well-versed in many areas and who can rattle off multitudes of Scriptures; but that’s what the church has offered Him. He hasn’t been seeking huge congregations and grand and glorious buildings dedicated to His service; but that’s what the church has offered Him. And He hasn’t been seeking countless revivals and numerous missions programs; but that’s what the church has offered Him. Rather, He’s been hungry, and He’s been seeking fruit to satisfy His hunger. He’s been seeking “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance” (Galatians 5:22 and 23); but that’s NOT what many in the church have offered Him. Many in the church have naively laying claim to being His priests. Well, since they’ve been claiming this, then He’s been seeking for those fruits which demonstrate that they are what they claim to be. Sadly, though, He’s found nothing but the leaves. They say that they’re a fruit tree, but they only appear that way. Instead of fruit that would distinguish them, they’re simply bearing leaves; and they look no different than any other tree. Instead of bringing forth almonds, which would separate them as His priesthood, they’ve brought forth pride and violence, and have become a rod of wickedness. What, then, do you think is going to happen? Well, what did Jesus do to the fig tree that didn’t bear fruit? He’s been saying that the day of His judgment is at hand when He’ll recompense their ways upon their head. Just as with the curse that Jesus pronounced upon the fig tree, so shall it be with the rebellious.

We have a responsibility to be obedient to the Holy Spirit and to be willing to give ourselves as a sacrifice to the Lord the same way that Jesus gave Himself. Now, by this I mean that we have to be willing to give everything that lies within us for the sake of others and to expect absolutely nothing in return. No recognition, no reward, no appreciation, no favor, no support; and to do it with real, honest love for them, simply because of our love for the Lord. If we want to be part of what the Lord is doing and is going to do, and to be a part of His Kingdom, then obedience and sacrifice is not an option. It’s mandatory. And it’s what far too many in the church overlook.

God requires His people to stand strong against the encroachment of the enemy; but far too many of them have bowed their knee to the gods of this world. Those who affirm belief in Him on one hand and then affirm support for abortion on the other are setting themselves up for judgment. Just in this nation, there are churches in a number of denominations, such as the Anglican, Baptist, Independent Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, and others, which are in full support of homosexuality and gender transition in direct and open rebellion against God. Along with that, numerous believers have relegated Him to a second or third or fourth or further place in their lives, and then have wondered why they’re experiencing increasing chaos and confusion.

There’s something that I want to say here that I’ve said before and will continue to say: for the majority of believers who reject the words of warning that we’ll bring to them, their salvation won’t be at stake. They’ll have made that decision to accept Jesus as their Savior and that won’t change. What they WILL lose is the opportunity to reign with Him; and that will be devastating to them. They’ll have done what they’ll have been taught, and will have anticipated it, but when He tells them “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:23), then there are no words that can describe what they’ll experience. They’ll suffer the loss of everything, and their works will not be counted, “but [they] shall be saved; yet so as by fire” (1 Corinthians 3:15).

That chain in verse 23 tells us that those who will reject the words of warning that we’ll bring them will have put themselves back into bondage; and it will correspond to the yoke that Jeremiah had made to demonstrate that the people had submitted to the bondage of their enemy. Many believers today are convinced that they’re free because of the Spirit of God; yet they won’t realize that they’ll have once again placed themselves into subjection to the enemy. And the Lord, through us, will be telling them that, because of their propensity to shed blood, because of their backbiting and self-seeking, because of their false teaching and false traditions, then they’re going to go into captivity to an extent even greater than they have been. When everything falls apart around them, they’ll seek answers but will receive none. Yet they won’t understand that, had they submitted to the Lord, then things would have been drastically different. You see, the time is fast approaching when we’re all going to have to bear the consequences of the choices we’ve made.