A pril 11, 1948 EZEKIEL'S MESSAGE FOR OUR DAY E z e k . 18:1-4; 34:11-16; 36:25-28
were father or son, in accordance with his own conduct (v. 4). “ Every man shall be put to death for his own sin” (Deut. 24:16); “ So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God” (Rom. 14:12). Let us never be guilty of ascrib ing injustice to God or of trying to evade our own personal responsibility for our acts. C leansing P recedes B lessing E zek . 36:25-28 , Many folks would like to reverse the order. They would like to experience all the blessings of divine favor without the experience of the new birth. The sprink ling with clean *water in this passage refers to the national cleansing of Is rael just before they settle down in the millennial reign. It has reference to the water mixed with the ashes of the red heifer, which was sprinkled with hyssop on the unclean, typifying the precious blood of Christ in its cleansing power (Heb. 9:13, 14; 10:22). Thus when the people of Israel look upon Him whom they pierced (Zech. 12:10), they will be cleansed. The new birth of Israel will take ■place and the wonders connected with verse 28 occur. A practical question for us today is this, “ Have I been bom again?” Blessing follows that experience, but does not precede it. Helps for the Children A P rophet T ells W hat G od is L ike E zekiel 34:11-15, 25-27 “ Thus shall they know that I the Lord their God am with them” (Ezek. 34:30). God’s people, the Israelites, were sad and worried. Enemies had taken them into a strange country. They longed to return to their homeland. Through Eze kiel, God spoke words of comfort to His disobedient people. God asked Ezekiel to show the Israelites that they were being punished because of their sin. He prom ised to allow them to return to their own land some day and to punish their ene mies who had taken them captive. God promised the Israelites that He would search for and find all of His people just as a shepherd looks for each of his sheep when they are scattered. From all of the countries where the Israelites had been taken, God promised to bring them back to their own land. When they returned to their own coun try, God promised them to provide all of their needs and to give to them rest and peace. Their nation would be a bless ing to others when they returned unto their God and again served Him faith fully. How comforting God’s message must have been to His worried people! How glad they must have been that Eze kiel had been willing to be God’s messen ger to them! M e m o r y V e r s e :
Pointers on the Lesson . I N the lesson for today, the prophet Ezekiel has in mind the children in Is rael who were in captivity. But certain principles are to be found in these verses which apply to God’s people in any age. Paul stated: “ For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope” (Rom. 15:4). The three selected portions for today’s study suggest three such spiritual lessons which all of us need to consider care fully. G od i s L ike a S hepherd E zek . 34:11-16 This teaching is stressed in both the Old and New Testaments. As the faithful shepherd of Palestine goes out in search of the sheep that is lost, so the Shepherd of Israel and the Shepherd of God’s flock today goes after His wandering and sinning sheep. One can count upon this if he belongs to Christ. The present passage pictures the Shepherd of Israel restoring His covenant people. He “will bring them back to their own land” (v. 13). He will feed and rest them again ■“upon the mountains of Israel” (w . 14, 15). He will be a physician to the sick (v. 16) and will bring judgment upon the stubborn ones. It will be a wonder ful day for the world when Israel’s Shepherd does all these things for His earthly people. For through them the whole world will be blessed (Gen. 12:3). Not until Israel is back in her own land, will the world be ready for the blessing God has in store for it. In order for us to understand the shepherd ministry of Christ for us to day, we should study carefully Psalm 23 and John 10. M an S uffers for H is O wn S in E zek . 18:1-4 Man is always prone to blame some one else for his own failures and to im agine that he suffers undeservedly. This is one of the marks of man’s corrupt nature. When Adam sinned, he quickly transferred the blame of it to Eve, yea, even to God: “The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat” (Gen. 3:12). So in Ezekiel’s time, the children of Israel were bearing heavy judgments. But, in stead of recognizing and confessing their own guilt, they accused God of injustice in that He was punishing them, not for their own sins, but for the sins of their fathers. This was unjust, for they them selves had sinned. They should have re pented but they did not. The proverb they had used to justify themselves was answered by God to the effect that He would judge the individual, whether he M A R C H , 1 9 4 8
T R A C T S Recommended by Louis T. Talbot, Paul R. Bauman, Sam H. Suther land, and others. Titles include: Life Facts, Hell, Christ Speaks on Hell, When the Books Are Opened, Ye Must Be Born Again, Sliding Into Hell from a Church Pew, Eat, Drink and Be Merry, The Delusion of Head Belief, Soul Winner’s Chart. Send 10c for samples of all publications listed I KING'S CROSS PUBLICATION STAMMERING Corrected by Latest Scientific M e thod s. Group and Individual1Guidance. For Information About Fluency Formula, Write or Visit: Schroy School for Speech Correction 1816 WEST 5th ST., LOS ANGELES 5, CALIFORNIA Today God has a message of love and hope for those whose lives are filled with sin. Through His Word and through His messengers God is telling them about His Son who died that they may have forgiveness and peace. Many refuse to hear God’s message to them. Others gladly believe and receive the joy that only Christians can have within their hearts. Page Twenty-five KING'S CROSS PUBLICATIONS (Paul R. Cowles, Jr., Dir. Evang.) 1915 15th St. Sacramento 14, Calif.
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