A Wicked Death
Ezekiel 18:21–28
Who is it that judges who is wicked and who is just?
Photo by Patrick Pahlke on Unsplash
If the wicked turn away from all their sins that they have committed and keep all my statutes and do what is lawful and right, they shall surely live; they shall not die. None of the transgressions that they have committed shall be remembered against them; for the righteousness that they have done they shall live. Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the Lord God, and not rather that they should turn from their ways and live? But when the righteous turn away from their righteousness and commit iniquity and do the same abominable things that the wicked do, shall they live? None of the righteous deeds that they have done shall be remembered; for the treachery of which they are guilty and the sin they have committed, they shall die. Yet you say, “The way of the Lord is unfair.” Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way unfair? Is it not your ways that are unfair? When the righteous turn away from their righteousness and commit iniquity, they shall die for it; for the iniquity that they have committed they shall die. Again, when the wicked turn away from the wickedness they have committed and do what is lawful and right, they shall save their life. Because they considered and turned away from all the transgressions that they had committed, they shall surely live; they shall not die. - Ezekiel 18:21–28
As much as we would like to be the ones who judge people for being wicked, we cannot.
Only God judges. And God has a simple rule. If you turn away from Him, you are condemned, but if you turn back to Him, you are saved.
That's not too hard to understand, is it?
An act of love on our part is to pray for those we believe have turned away from God. Unless we want that person to die the death of the wicked. Then, we are talking about something else. We are talking about us.
The problem with human judgment is it is slanted. It cannot not be.
We see the world through our eyes, and our eyes are influenced by our beliefs and opinions. This is why some people protest what others applaud.
Whether we think God is fair or not, He is the final, only, judge of our lives, so it is mute point what we believe should happen to someone.
The position of judge in society is a powerful one. We are seeing this in the courts today. Some run to the courts to get a ruling to overturn the actions of the elected leaders, and it works.
So, we are constantly testing the structure of our system to see how it can be manipulated. So it is with God. Can we get God to do our bidding?
The obvious answer is "No." But we try anyway because we are human.
But we find ourselves at an impasse at times. When those we oppose won't change, and we certainly won't change, nothing good happens.
We used to offer it up to God and let Him be the judge, but we don't have patience for that anymore. So, we resist, break the laws, fight, and even kill one another.
Were we always this way?
I will have to check with Cain.
More to come...