Under The Fig Tree 所写的文章

In Ezekiel 34, God brings a prophecy against the shepherds of Israel, whom God had instituted as spiritual leaders over the flock—His people. Not only had these leaders failed to nourish God’s sheep, they had also abused their power, reaping personal benefits at the sheep’s expense. “The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have ruled them.” (Eze 34:4) You and I may not so be so bold to abuse God’s flock as these failed leaders had.  It would, however, be foolish of us to disregard these rebukes completely. You likely have others you can look out for in this journey of faith – your sheep. Let us consider: Whatever kind of a shepherd we now are, however our sheep may respond to us, Jesus wants us to always pray and not lose heart (Lk 18:1). The perfect Shepherd is ready to grant us an upright heart and a skilful hand to shepherd His people as David did (Psa 78:72).  More importantly, God is the perfect Shepherd. Where we may fail in our ministry, God can do infinitely more. Despite those shepherds’ failings, God says, “I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick” (Ezekiel 34:16). Moreover, when you and I are in our darkest days, we have a perfect shepherd who restores our soul (Psa 23:3). Our Shepherd declares, “You are My flock, the flock of My pasture; you are men, and I am your God” (Eze 34:31). As you embrace your ministry of shepherding God’s sheep, never stop allowing God to shepherd you. All the sheep of His pasture fare so wondrously fine His sheep am I.

In the same chapter that God delivers to Ezekiel shocking national news of the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem, God also delivers to Ezekiel shocking personal news. His wife will die that day. Our past devotionals have discussed much about why God’s punishment of the house of Israel is righteous, rather than unwarranted. God reiterates here that according to their filthy, lewd deeds that they will be judged. Why, then, did Ezekiel’s wife have to die? Why did she have to be punished? Such a statement reveals a very human assumption: death is punishment, and God has no right to take away human life. Does He have no right? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not (Rom 9:14). Above all, life is not in our hands. We neither know when we will die (Eccl 9:12), nor do we have power over our spirits in the day of death (Eccl 8:8). Life, though, is in God’s hands. Take a step back and realise who we are before the Lord. Merely the thing formed, speaking to Him who formed us. He who gives life has the authority to take it away (Rom 9:20-21). Is the Lord then cruel to Ezekiel, taking away his wife so suddenly, then demanding that he hem in his grief by an unwavering silence? Although everyone dies one day, a clear divine plan shrouds the death of Ezekiel’s wife: just as God will take away the delight of Ezekiel’s eyes, God will also take away the delight of the people, their temple in Jerusalem. I believe this, and full faith in God’s good sovereignty, would have fuelled Ezekiel’s surrender. We too can gain strength to face the difficulties that stomp into our lives with no warning. Others may see a mess, but we can see a message from God, even when we may not understand. The message could be as simple as realising the true sovereignty of our good God. Such surrender opens up all of us—even the mess, the loss, the pain—to be used for His glory. If we find ourselves struggling to surrender, we can make earnest, desperate prayers to learn obedience to God’s plan (Heb 5:7). It is when we surrender that we live out God’s message, even in the mess.

Many people see the weaknesses of Christians through history or around them. They then conclude: God must not be real. Others see the weaknesses of believers in the True Jesus Church and conclude: this church must not be true. But the faithlessness of man does not change who God is. Otherwise, why would He be God? Throughout history, we see instances of God’s people failing to live out a life of transformation. In Ezekiel 22, God lists an awfully shameful list of sins that these supposed “followers of God” had committed. These “believers” had Imagine being surrounded by people who claimed to follow God, yet bullied their way (or worse: murdered their way) to wealth and positions of power. Sad to say, we do see this in the world today. And I can see why many would be discouraged by such sights. Do the evils of such “followers of God” render God as no longer Almighty? Is it God’s fault that His people lived such horrible lives of wickedness and sin? Not at all. God gives us all free will. Unfortunately, these believers made poor, evil choices. God teaches us clearly through the Bible how to follow Him. But no matter how these people proclaimed to be followers of God, through their actions, they had stopped following Him. What we can take heart in is that God sees and knows. He does not turn a blind eye to such wrongdoing. “Behold,” God says to them, “I beat My fists at the dishonest profit which you have made, and at the bloodshed which has been in your midst. Can your heart endure, or can your hands remain strong, in the days when I shall deal with you? I, the Lord, have spoken, and will do it.” (Ezekiel 22:13-14) As this shows, God’s judgment may not come when we wish, and it may seem at times that God is silent. The question for you and I, then, is whether we can trust in God until He acts— in His time . For ourselves, though, let us not just be bystanders. Let’s avoid self-righteously pointing out others’ wickedness, but ironically fail to transform our lives too.

Lamentations 1: Consider your destiny, consider your heart The Book of Lamentations consists of a series of grief-filled poems mourning the finality of Jerusalem’s losses. They also seek comfort for these sorrows and hope in God’s mercy. The first chapter describes Jerusalem’s catastrophic invasion by personifying Jerusalem as a woman. Here, she bitterly weeps for having fallen from the status of a princess to that of a lonesome slave, mocked by her enemies and punished by God (Lamentations 1:1-3). Woven in this sorrowful song is a line that reveals the erroneous mindset catalyzing her downfall: She did not consider her destiny (Lamentations 1:9). Did the people of Judah know what their destiny was for sinning so relentlessly, though?、 Surely, they did.  The destiny for those mired deeply and unrepentantly in sin was written explicitly in God’s law (Leviticus 26, Deuteronomy 28). God had also sent prophets such as Isaiah and Jeremiah to warn the people, for decades , of the destiny awaiting those who disobeyed God.  These prophets furiously and urgently implored the people to restore their broken relationship with God—to change their destiny. Yet they did not. We too should know what destiny awaits us, depending on what lives we choose to live. For one, those who do the will of God can enter the kingdom of heaven, while those who do not do the will of God cannot enter in (Matthew 7:21-23).  In addition to considering our destiny, we must consider our heart. What stopped the people from transforming their lives in righteousness was unbelief.  In the history of God’s people, this is not new. Those wandering in the wilderness who failed to enter the Promised Land “could not enter in because of unbelief” (Hebrews 3:18-19).  We too must consider our hearts, for fear that we too have an evil heart of unbelief (Hebrews 3:12).  The medicine an unbelieving heart needs is humility and sincerity towards God. Our kind God has promised to give us a heart of flesh in place of a heart of stone, so that with the help of His Holy Spirit, we can deepen our faith and walk in His ways (Ezekiel 36:26-28). As we consider our destiny, we pray for God to soften our hearts and to help our unbelief. Then, with a true heart of sincerity, we can transform our lives with godliness and march onward to our heavenly destiny.