Friday, April 4, 2008 at 1:01am
Heed God's warning
Column: For His Glory
"Say to them, 'As I live!' declares the Lord GOD, 'I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?'"
(Ezekiel 33:11)
We know that God is love and because He is love He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Yet some would go to the other extreme and get so enamored with the word "pleasure" in this text and come out believing that God will not punish the wicked. Yes, He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but He will destroy the wicked. But before He executes His mighty judgment, He warns the people, and warns the people, and warns the people, and do you know how most people repay God? Not by repenting and glorifying Him but by rebelling even more and hardening their hearts. Read what the Bible has to say: "Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil." (Ecclesiastes 8:11). That is what God receives for being patient with the nation of Israel, and yet He pleads with them, "Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?" Can we hear the warmth and love in His plea to a rebellious nation? You don't have to be destroyed, Israel, it doesn't have to end this way but it did. We know the story, or at least I hope we do.
Jesus is overlooking the city of Jerusalem as He is about to descend upon the city of Jerusalem (Luke 19:37): "As soon as He was approaching, near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen," shouting: 'BLESSED IS THE KING WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!'
"Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, 'Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.' But Jesus answered, 'I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!'
"When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, 'If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation."
Why did Jesus weep for Jerusalem? Ezekiel told us, "As I live! Declares the Lord God I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked. ..." Warning after warning after hundreds of years of warning had been sent to the nation of Israel, and they refused to recognize their king the King of peace. Jesus is their peace and they did not know it. Their hearts hardened by every warning, instead of repenting and believing in their God, the destruction of Jerusalem was sealed and the city would suffer a horrific end at the hands of the Roman Empire because they persistently refused to head the warnings God had sent to them via His prophets, persistently refused to turn back to Him like we read in Ezekiel.
And the story repeats itself today. God is sending His warning about an impending judgment, not because He wants to destroy, rather because He wants to save you. Look at the world around us; things are not right with us as a nation, a world or as individuals. We need a savior, we need Jesus; heed the warning and live. May God bless you as you search for Him.
— — —
Gio Marin is the pastor of the College Station and Waller Seventh-day Adventist Church in the state of Texas. He graduated in December 2007 with a master of divinity degree from Andrews Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, with a dual emphasis on systematic theology and church growth & evangelism. Send him an email at {email GioMarinColumn@aol.com}GioMarinColumn@aol.com{/email}. © Copyright 2008 by Gio Marin.
(Ezekiel 33:11)
We know that God is love and because He is love He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Yet some would go to the other extreme and get so enamored with the word "pleasure" in this text and come out believing that God will not punish the wicked. Yes, He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but He will destroy the wicked. But before He executes His mighty judgment, He warns the people, and warns the people, and warns the people, and do you know how most people repay God? Not by repenting and glorifying Him but by rebelling even more and hardening their hearts. Read what the Bible has to say: "Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil." (Ecclesiastes 8:11). That is what God receives for being patient with the nation of Israel, and yet He pleads with them, "Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?" Can we hear the warmth and love in His plea to a rebellious nation? You don't have to be destroyed, Israel, it doesn't have to end this way but it did. We know the story, or at least I hope we do.
Jesus is overlooking the city of Jerusalem as He is about to descend upon the city of Jerusalem (Luke 19:37): "As soon as He was approaching, near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen," shouting: 'BLESSED IS THE KING WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!'
"Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, 'Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.' But Jesus answered, 'I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!'
"When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, 'If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation."
Why did Jesus weep for Jerusalem? Ezekiel told us, "As I live! Declares the Lord God I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked. ..." Warning after warning after hundreds of years of warning had been sent to the nation of Israel, and they refused to recognize their king the King of peace. Jesus is their peace and they did not know it. Their hearts hardened by every warning, instead of repenting and believing in their God, the destruction of Jerusalem was sealed and the city would suffer a horrific end at the hands of the Roman Empire because they persistently refused to head the warnings God had sent to them via His prophets, persistently refused to turn back to Him like we read in Ezekiel.
And the story repeats itself today. God is sending His warning about an impending judgment, not because He wants to destroy, rather because He wants to save you. Look at the world around us; things are not right with us as a nation, a world or as individuals. We need a savior, we need Jesus; heed the warning and live. May God bless you as you search for Him.
— — —
Gio Marin is the pastor of the College Station and Waller Seventh-day Adventist Church in the state of Texas. He graduated in December 2007 with a master of divinity degree from Andrews Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, with a dual emphasis on systematic theology and church growth & evangelism. Send him an email at {email GioMarinColumn@aol.com}GioMarinColumn@aol.com{/email}. © Copyright 2008 by Gio Marin.