I was wiping down the outside of my sticky, smudged refrigerator this morning and recalling the scripture in Ezekiel I had read about an hour earlier. I was thinking about how just yesterday I noticed that the inside of our refrigerator really needed a good wipe down. Like, that’s where I should be spending my time to clean. But cleaning the outside is easier, right? It takes much less time. People see the outside. I have to face the outside more often. I don’t have to explain the inside unless I choose to open it in front of others.
We do this with our lives. We focus so much time and energy on the outside. Cleaning it up and making sure we are presentable. We think about our clothes, our wrinkles, our weight, our skin, our children’s behavior, our homes and cars and yards and how it all appears. What about our hearts? Our souls? What is the inside looking like? Have we even taken time to look and think about it? Or do we keep shining the outside because that is what people can see? That is what is most obvious to us?
I realize this will seem like a silly example for many of you. I mean, it’s just a refrigerator. No real harm done. Although I will say, as a young bride, I did really care so much what people thought of appearances. I had a tendency to be critical of others for their personal appearance as well as the tidiness or lack thereof of their spaces. Oh, how life has humbled me. I have changed so much. God’s grace has made me a new creation. And I feel the peace and freedom of no longer noticing people in this way. I am secure in my position as a daughter of the King, loved beyond measure just because of who He is and who I am in Him.
Back to Ezekiel, God is sharing with His prophet (a messenger to the people of Israel) that He knows the hearts and minds of the people. They have turned far from loving Him and far from loving their neighbors. He knows they say one thing and do another. He knows they are lying to and deceiving those under them. AND He is over it. Being a just and loving God, He is about to discipline them in a severe way. These leaders assume their superficial securities or appearances will save them. If they only appear shiny, that will be good enough.
But God says, no. I know your thoughts. I see what you have not tended to on the inside. He gave them so many chances to reflect, consider their evil ways, and repent (or choose to change direction). They were too busy, too disinterested, too prideful, too careless to bother.
As the outline of history continues in scripture, we learn that God’s chosen nation is about to have an enemy nation come in and attack. Those that survive the invasion, the food shortages, the diseases, and wild animal attacks will be forced to leave their homes and live as foreigners in a corrupt land. All of the superficial appearances they were concerned with are about to mean NOTHING. They will be faced with the devastating reality of sin. They will be forced to consider who they are and what they truly believe about their Creator, the God of the Universe. The only goodness that will go with them into this new land is God Himself. He loves His people too much to completely forsake them. He wants them to take a look on the inside. To consider how they have drifted from Him and become most concerned with appearances and comfort and having their own way. He wants them to think deeply about their value because of WHO HE IS. Not because they are so great, but because He has chosen them as HIS OWN.
Read it for yourself and let God show you who He is. Ask the Holy Spirit for help and allow Him to guide you in an honest evaluation of your heart and soul. If our outside is shiny, but our inside is grungy, we are most likely feeling trapped, overwhelmed and miserable. And those around us know about the mess anyway, whether we open the doors to show them inside or not.
Ezekiel 11:1-21 (NLT)
Judgment on Israel’s Leaders
11 Then the Spirit lifted me and brought me to the east gateway of the Lord’s Temple, where I saw twenty-five prominent men of the city. Among them were Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, who were leaders among the people.
2 The Spirit said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who are planning evil and giving wicked counsel in this city. 3 They say to the people, ‘Is it not a good time to build houses? This city is like an iron pot. We are safe inside it like meat in a pot.[a]’ 4 Therefore, son of man, prophesy against them loudly and clearly.”
5 Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon me, and he told me to say, “This is what the Lord says to the people of Israel: I know what you are saying, for I know every thought that comes into your minds. 6 You have murdered many in this city and filled its streets with the dead.
7 “Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: This city is an iron pot all right, but the pieces of meat are the victims of your injustice. As for you, I will soon drag you from this pot. 8 I will bring on you the sword of war you so greatly fear, says the Sovereign Lord. 9 I will drive you out of Jerusalem and hand you over to foreigners, who will carry out my judgments against you. 10 You will be slaughtered all the way to the borders of Israel. I will execute judgment on you, and you will know that I am the Lord. 11 No, this city will not be an iron pot for you, and you will not be like meat safe inside it. I will judge you even to the borders of Israel, 12 and you will know that I am the Lord. For you have refused to obey my decrees and regulations; instead, you have copied the standards of the nations around you.”
13 While I was still prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah suddenly died. Then I fell face down on the ground and cried out, “O Sovereign Lord, are you going to kill everyone in Israel?”
Hope for Exiled Israel
14 Then this message came to me from the Lord: 15 “Son of man, the people still left in Jerusalem are talking about you and your relatives and all the people of Israel who are in exile. They are saying, ‘Those people are far away from the Lord, so now he has given their land to us!’
16 “Therefore, tell the exiles, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Although I have scattered you in the countries of the world, I will be a sanctuary to you during your time in exile. 17 I, the Sovereign Lord, will gather you back from the nations where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel once again.’
18 “When the people return to their homeland, they will remove every trace of their vile images and detestable idols. 19 And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them. I will take away their stony, stubborn heart and give them a tender, responsive heart,[b] 20 so they will obey my decrees and regulations. Then they will truly be my people, and I will be their God. 21 But as for those who long for vile images and detestable idols, I will repay them fully for their sins. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”
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