Fire in His Mouth

Leaders who are like wolves, tearing whom they may in order to get dishonest gain.

Religious leaders who profane the laws of God, not teaching right from wrong.

Prophets who say they speak for God but give lying messages instead, and often for money.

People who practice extortion, commit robbery, oppress the poor and needy, extort from immigrants without justice.

Dishonesty, disrespect for parents, cheating or oppressing aliens (immigrants), mistreatment of widows and orphans, profaning sacred things, lying, bribery, rape, incest, extramarital affairs, charging excessive interest, extortion, creating one’s own idols, shedding blood.

Ignoring God.

This is how God described Israel. Not the whole world, although they were guilty of the same behaviors, but He was talking about His people. The ones that called themselves by His name.

God sent many warnings about the need to stop; to turn around and get back to God’s ways. The Israelites didn’t accept the warnings. They didn’t change their ways. And they were destroyed.

The scary thing is… God could be saying the same things about us. Not all of America, even though there’s guilt there too, but those of us in America who call ourselves by His name. Those of us who claim to be Christians.

God has been sending us warnings for years; to turn around and get back to His ways.

Will we respond any better – or will we end up with the same fate as the Israelites?

How much longer will He give us to change? Or has He already started blowing on us with the fire of His wrath?  Could the increase in violence and turmoil in our country this year be part of it?

It’s easy for me to ignore this in my day to day life, doing my part in the corona virus war by staying home as much as possible. But complacency is never good. I was recently startled by a cloud that looked an awfully lot like the Lion of Judah with the glow of fire in his mouth. Not just startled like, “Hey, look at that.” But STARTLED like, “Oh no, He’s here!”

Ezekiel 22:21 I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst of it. 

I believe God is telling me it’s time for me to get serious with my writing. And if God is really speaking to me about what He’s about to do, then it’s my responsibility to share that with as many people as I can. Just like I would if I knew a hurricane was coming.

My goal is to write a series of blogs challenging us as Christians to compare how we’re living, how we think, what we do – to His word. I’m including me in the we. Are we courageous enough to examine ourselves and admit where we fall short? Are we serious enough about God to change our ways that don’t line up with His?

He certainly is serious about us.

Tell me what you think in the comments below. And let me know which specific areas you’d like to see me to cover.

Ezekiel 22:1-31 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2“And you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Then declare to her all her abominations. 3You shall say, Thus says the Lord GOD: A city that sheds blood in her midst, so that her time may come, and that makes idols to defile herself! 4You have become guilty by the blood that you have shed, and defiled by the idols that you have made, and you have brought your days near, the appointed time ofa your years has come. Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all the countries. 5Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you; your name is defiled; you are full of tumult.

6“Behold, the princes of Israel in you, every one according to his power, have been bent on shedding blood. 7Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the sojourner suffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow are wronged in you. 8You have despised my holy things and profaned my Sabbaths. 9There are men in you who slander to shed blood, and people in you who eat on the mountains; they commit lewdness in your midst. 10In you men uncover their fathers’ nakedness; in you they violate women who are unclean in their menstrual impurity. 11One commits abomination with his neighbor’s wife; another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; another in you violates his sister, his father’s daughter. 12In you they take bribes to shed blood; you take interest and profitb and make gain of your neighbors by extortion; but me you have forgotten, declares the Lord GOD.

13“Behold, I strike my hand at the dishonest gain that you have made, and at the blood that has been in your midst. 14Can your courage endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it. 15I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries, and I will consume your uncleanness out of you. 16And you shall be profaned by your own doing in the sight of the nations, and you shall know that I am the LORD.”

17And the word of the LORD came to me: 18“Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me; all of them are bronze and tin and iron and lead in the furnace; they are dross of silver. 19Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. 20As one gathers silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into a furnace, to blow the fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and I will put you in and melt you. 21I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst of it. 22As silver is melted in a furnace, so you shall be melted in the midst of it, and you shall know that I am the LORD; I have poured out my wrath upon you.”

23And the word of the LORD came to me: 24“Son of man, say to her, You are a land that is not cleansed or rained upon in the day of indignation. 25The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst. 26Her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things. They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. 27Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain. 28And her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,’ when the LORD has not spoken. 29The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the sojourner without justice. 30And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none. 31Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have returned their way upon their heads, declares the Lord GOD.”

2 Chronicles 7:14  if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Just Leave Me Alone

It had been a long day. A very long day. And all day long, frustrated with things going wrong and the stress of so many people making demands on her, she had lashed out at Jesus.

“Why do You allow this to happen? Why won’t You do something about it? You’re all powerful, You could make things easier if You wanted. Is this how You take care of the people You love?”

Now that she was home, she was tired and wanted nothing more to do with anyone. Just let me be alone in peace, she thought, planning on going to bed early.

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But then she remembered this was church night. Great. Should she skip church this night? Or go even though she really didn’t want to?

As she considered her choices, she decided what she needed most was Jesus to refill her. Since she found it easiest to open herself to Him during worship music, she went to church.

Once there, she sat in the least occupied area she could find hoping that everyone would leave her alone. Maybe if she kept her eyes closed, they would assume she was praying and not want to disturb her. She didn’t open them until the music started and was promptly disappointed to find out the music chosen for the service were songs she didn’t like. Just my luck, she thought. I should have stayed home.

Near the end of the service, she decided good music or not, she needed a touch from IMG_20180428_202916014Jesus. So she closed her eyes and asked Jesus to totally fill her. She pictured herself kneeling in front of Him, not moving, not saying anything, just being in His presence. As she did, she began to feel lighter and lighter – like burdens were being taken off her shoulders. Enjoying the feeling, she didn’t want the service to end, but no one asked her and so it ended much too soon.

She was delighted to find that the feeling of lightness and peace went home with her.  As she prepared for bed, she smelled something burning. Sniffing, she tracked it down to the fuse box. She called the landlord who came over to check it out.

“The hot water fuses shorted out,” he reported. “It’s a good thing you caught it. Too much longer and it most likely would have caught fire.”

After he left, she remembered that she had wanted to go to bed early. And if she had, there’s a good chance she wouldn’t have noticed the burning smell while she slept. She knew who was responsible for her catching it. And she thanked Him for not leaving her alone, for taking care of her even after all her ranting and raving that day. His unconditional love was truly amazing!

That’s My Dad!

As she read the Old Testament, and the various ways God dealt with the prophets and the Israelites, an idea slowly took form in her mind. That was not just God who did those things, it was her Dad!

The whole previous year, God had revealed His Fatherhood to her. And now she connected the God of the Israelites with the God who is her Father. But not just her Father – a parental figure who loved her and took care of her – but her Dad – who knew her intimately and who liked to hang out with her.

Wow!  She was blown away!

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It was her Dad who hid in the burning bush and parted the sea and rained down manna.

It was her Dad who appeared as fire and smoke and scared the Israelites.

It was her Dad who knocked over the walls of Jericho.

It was her Dad who sent the big fish after Jonah.

It was her Dad who had incredible conversations with the prophets.

And it was her Dad who did so many other amazing things!

Excited, she couldn’t wait to reread the Old Testament in this new light. It was like His dealing with people of long ago suddenly became more personal.

Looking up, grateful to the Holy Spirit for helping her understand a little bit more about God, she whispered, “There is none like You, my amazing Dad!”

He whispered back, “And there is none like you, my amazing daughter!”

Hey, God! Will You Show Me You?

Hmmm…  I wonder what God is really like. She thought about all the different ways she had heard people describe God. From an old man sitting on a throne to a hippie Jesus to a vague force in the sky, it seemed everyone had their own idea of what God was like. Maybe I should just ask God what He’s like, she thought.

“Hey, God! Would you show me You – who You really are?”

She closed her eyes and waited.

Would He show Himself as the Jesus she always pictured – a kind looking man in a white robe and wearing sandals? Or would He be an older man with a long white beard? Or maybe He’d be more like a ghost, transparent and floating through the air.

It didn’t take long for her mind’s eye to see the room where she was sitting. In through the door came a great big ball of fire, only she knew somehow that it was a great big ball of love. It hovered there for a few minutes, then disappeared.

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God is a ball of fire? A fiery ball of love?

As she thought about it, she remembered reading in the Bible how He revealed Himself as fire to the Israelites. And that He called Himself a consuming fire. And in Song of Songs, love is described as a blazing fire.

Wow! God is a ball of fire!

And she thanked God for loving her enough to answer her request is such an unexpected and amazing way.

 

 

Scripture references:

Ex 13:21 The LORD led the Israelites by night in a pillar of fire.

Ex 19:18 the LORD descended on Mount Sinai in fire

Ex 24:17 to the Israelites the glory of the LORD looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain.

Deut 9:3, repeated in Heb 12:29  the LORD your God is a consuming fire.

Song of Songs 8:6 for love… burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame.