“My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to listen to your words, but they do not put them into practice, With their mouths they express devotion, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain.”
– Ezekiel 33:31
Hi James and Ellen,
Are you happy today? What makes you happy? Does having gotten a lot of Christmas gifts yesterday make you happy today? Does having a home with a dad and a ma and your own bed in which you can sleep in at night make you happy? Does being able to go to church – if going to church is something that you do, make you happy? How would you feel today if you did not receive any Christmas gifts yesterday? How would you feel today if there was no dad and/or ma in your lives and no home with a bed in it which you can sleep in at night? How would you feel if there was no church of any kind anywhere where you could go to worship God? Do you think that getting Christmas gifts makes most kids happy? Your grandpaa thinks that the answer is probably yes. Do you think that having a dad and a ma and having a shelter of some kind that has place in it where a kid can sleep at night makes most kids happy? Your grandpaa thinks that the answer is probably yes. Do you think that being able to go to church makes most kids happy? Your grandpaa thinks that the answer is probably no. Your grandpaa thinks that most kids think that real happiness comes from having a lot of fun things to play with and do. Your grandpaa thinks that most kids take for granted having a dad and a ma – or at least a dad or ma, who cares for them and having a home that has their very own bed in it – in which they can sleep in at night. Your grandpaa thinks that most kids have never gotten the opportunity to clearly comprehend why church buildings exist and why going to a church might be important to them. God’s specially chosen guys and gals refused to get it why God expected them to live honorable lives instead of living lives that focused on accruing wealth, pursuing power and obtaining prestige. God had clearly warned His specially chosen guys and gals what the consequence would be if they did not stop defying Him by doing what they wanted to do instead of doing what He wanted them to do. God in His divine way of doing things, on or right about August 14, 586 B.C., allowed/permitted/led/ordered Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian army to finally overrun the city of Jerusalem, burn the walls that surrounded the city of Jerusalem and exile many of God’s specially chosen guys, gals and kids who lived in the city of Jerusalem to the country of Babylonia because of their unrepented ways.
God’s specially chosen guys and gals – who were the Israelite people group guy and gals, had absolutely no excuse for their ongoing corrupt, aberrant, rebellious lifestyles. About twelve years before Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian army were finally able to totally razed the city of Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar had his Babylonian army take to his country of Babylonia a large number of God’s specially chosen guys, gals and kids who his Babylonian army had captured. At the time that Nebuchadnezzar exiled to his country of Babylonia this bunch of Israelite guys, gals and kids, Nebuchadnezzar assigned an Israelite people group guy by the name of Zedekiah to rule as king over the guys and gals who were left in the city of Jerusalem. Ezekiel – the prophet spokesman who God had been using to warn His specially chosen guys and gals about what was going to happen to them because of their evilness, ended up in the first collection of Israelite guys, gals and kids who the Babylonian army took to their country of Babylonia as exiles. While he was in the country of Babylonia, Ezekiel had an intimate chat with God. Ezekiel 33 begins with Ezekiel being told by God that He had selected him to be the watchman who was to ‘blow a trumpet’ when he saw danger approaching. God told Ezekiel that as a watchman – or whoever the selected watchmen might be, that there was a death consequence for not ‘blowing a warning trumpet’ when there was obvious sin danger about to destroy a life. God told Ezekiel – or whoever the selected watchmen might be, that the death consequence would be directed also on the head of the guy or gal who ignored the blared blast of a ‘blown warning trumpet’. Ezekiel’s obedient but ignored attempts as a faithful watchman for God to warn God’s specially chosen guys and gals who were living in the city of Jerusalem were realized on or right about August 14, 586 B.C. Ezekiel got word on January 8, 585 B.C. from an Israelite people group guy – who had managed to escape after he had been forced by Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian army to leave with a new gaggle of guys, gals and kids to make the trek to the country of Babylonia as exiles, that the city of Jerusalem had just been completely ransacked, devastated and burned. What this guy told Ezekiel in a way vindicated Ezekiel for his sometimes rather bizarre behavior in what turned out to be futile attempts at warning his Israelite compatriot guys and gals what was going to happen to them if . . .
Your grandpaa believes that God has called him to be a ‘watchman’ here on planet Earth. The job description of a God positioned watchman is to warn guys, gals and kids about their pending doom if they do not . . . verse 31 advices a God called watchman what to expect from what He tasked him to do, “My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to listen to your words, but they do not put them into practice, With their mouths they express devotion, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain.” A free hope gift is available for every kid who believes in what a God called watchman says and who claims this hope gift by believing what God’s Son did for him or her.
Ezekiel 33 (965)