Advent 2020 (day 7 of 26)

December 5, 2020 (Saturday)

 

Day 7 of 26 of the Advent season.

 

The prophet Ezekiel wrote during the Babylonian captivity. At this time in history, Israel has been split, dismantled, and spread throughout the world. It was in this dark day that Ezekiel steps into the void with a message of hope.

 

Ezekiel starts, “I will take you from the nations, I will gather you from all the countries, and I will bring you to your own fertile land.” [Ezekiel 36:24 CEB] This is a promise that Israel will be returned to their home land. This happened after the Babylonian captivity. But, some prophecies have more than one full fulfillment. We see them reconstituted as a nation in 1945!

 

The next promise in this section is, “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be cleansed of all your pollution. I will cleanse you of all your idols.” [Ezekiel 36:25 CEB] The inclusion of “idols” was not a complete leaving of the one true God. Typical “idols” were ADDED to the worship of God. In other words, idols polluted the purity of the worship of God.

 

To combat this mixed loyalty, God promised, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. I will remove your stony heart from your body and replace it with a living one, and I will give you my spirit so that you may walk according to my regulations and carefully observe my case laws.” [Ezekiel 36:26 – 27 CEB] Early holiness preachers and theologians saw this fulfilled in Pentecost and as a call for being filled with the Holy Spirit.

 

The promise is a new heart and a new spirit. The idea is to replace the stony heart with one that is living. The dead spirit will be replaced with God’s spirit. The point behind this internal change is an external change of behavior. When the change of behavior is missing, it’s a sign of mixed loyalty. In other words, we have idols… things that interfere with our worship of God.

 

The final part of Ezekiel’s promise is, “Then you will live in the land that I gave to your ancestors, you will be my people, and I will be your God.” [Ezekiel 36:28 CEB] This is a promise that Israel will finally live in right relationship with God. This is a joyful promise! It all connects to the King of glory. In fact, the invitation for all to live in right relationship with God has been extended to all… through us, who follow Jesus.

 

Jesus showed up on the first Christmas has a helpless baby. Someday Jesus will return as the King of kings. The world will finally be at peace. Let’s celebrate that expectation during Christmas time.