"that they may know that I am the Lord"
Why does God do what He does? Now there is a question that we can spend the rest of our lives trying to figure out!
As I finished Ezekiel today and have been reading throught the book these last few days... I came to realize that repeatedly (in fact its stated 63 times in the first 40 chapters) when God gives a word to Ezekiel it was to show them that He was the Lord. Whether it was judgement coming, judgement already administered or the promise of restoration... God would end each degree with one of two statements: "that they may know that I am the Lord" or "I, the Soveriegn Lord have spoken"
It is so easy for me to think that I exist for my own purposes, but I exist solely to bring glory to Him. His judgements and promises aren't about me or us, they are about Him. That sounds a little egotistical stated that way, but it's the exact opposite of egotistical. He created us as an expression of Love, as an expression of himself and the longing that He has for His creation to love Him back. His judgements harsh and extreme as they were for Israel, were expressions of His deep love and longing for them. He wanted them, the nations surrounding them, and the nations of the earth (all mentioned at different times) to know that He was the true God, the one that made them, and He would demonstrate His power in an attempt to woo them back, to see His power, soverignty, justice and LOVE, in order to draw them back to Him.
God does things, ALL THINGS, so that we would turn and recognize Him as God. The phrase (and I've used it in previous postings) "He is God and there is no other" keeps running through my mind and heart. What I'm discovering as I let that permeate and marinate in my mind and heart is that God who has no equal, no one to even compare him to... Loves insignificant me... (or despicable me... which I still haven't seen yet) That means life for me. Real life. And I'm seeing a whole different side of God.
And in that I am awed and amazed, humbled, afraid, and some what more alive than I've ever been.
As I finished Ezekiel today and have been reading throught the book these last few days... I came to realize that repeatedly (in fact its stated 63 times in the first 40 chapters) when God gives a word to Ezekiel it was to show them that He was the Lord. Whether it was judgement coming, judgement already administered or the promise of restoration... God would end each degree with one of two statements: "that they may know that I am the Lord" or "I, the Soveriegn Lord have spoken"
It is so easy for me to think that I exist for my own purposes, but I exist solely to bring glory to Him. His judgements and promises aren't about me or us, they are about Him. That sounds a little egotistical stated that way, but it's the exact opposite of egotistical. He created us as an expression of Love, as an expression of himself and the longing that He has for His creation to love Him back. His judgements harsh and extreme as they were for Israel, were expressions of His deep love and longing for them. He wanted them, the nations surrounding them, and the nations of the earth (all mentioned at different times) to know that He was the true God, the one that made them, and He would demonstrate His power in an attempt to woo them back, to see His power, soverignty, justice and LOVE, in order to draw them back to Him.
God does things, ALL THINGS, so that we would turn and recognize Him as God. The phrase (and I've used it in previous postings) "He is God and there is no other" keeps running through my mind and heart. What I'm discovering as I let that permeate and marinate in my mind and heart is that God who has no equal, no one to even compare him to... Loves insignificant me... (or despicable me... which I still haven't seen yet) That means life for me. Real life. And I'm seeing a whole different side of God.
And in that I am awed and amazed, humbled, afraid, and some what more alive than I've ever been.
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