“…then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.” Ezekiel 37:14
I have, of late, pondered why some people who supposedly once knew God, would turn their backs on Him or recreate Him into a god they like.
Israel and Judah fell because they exchanged the One True God, for the gods of the nations around them. They were sent into exile and scattered throughout the world. Even to this day, many Jews do not live in Jerusalem and are only Jews by lineage and not by faith.
God gave Ezekiel the vision of dry bones to show how Israel would be made alive again. Then God joins the sticks Ezekiel picked up to show how Judah and the rest of Israel would become one nation again (as they were during David’s reign). And God tells Ezekiel there will be a time when they will have an everlasting covenant of peace with God.
Israel is a nation today but has yet to wholly follow God as a nation. This is yet to come.
In my studies, I see evidence to support that Israel will build a temple and begin worshiping God. Will the temple be built before the rapture or after? I’m not sure. However, Scripture seems to indicate that they will worship God in the temple through the first three and a half years of the tribulation. Then trouble comes for the last half. But when the Lord comes at the end of the tribulation period, Christ reigns for 1000 years. However, at the end of that period, Gog and Magog give appearance (see Revelations 20:8) for a great battle, which they lose.
And that brings me back to pondering why people turn their back on God. Revelations 20:7-8 states that Satan will deceive the nations before this final battle (which ends pretty quickly). My heart breaks to think about those who today are deceived into not believing the whole of God’s Word and therefore not believing in the God of the Bible.
When God describes the victory over Gog and Magog, what does He say?
“…and they shall know that I am the LORD. So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.” Ezekiel 39:6-7
Whether those who are deceived like it or not, they are going to know the God of the Bible.
I believe that God wants all people to be saved, but not all people want to be saved. God gave us a free will. We can choose to follow Him or choose to believe what we want to believe. And throughout the ages, people have chosen to believe what they want to believe.
I’m burden at the confusion brought on by those who add to Scripture by quoting the thoughts of mere men, no greater or lower in the eyes of God than I. The thought of teaching false doctrines or wrong thinking scares me. What if I do this? What if something I say causes another to stumble, to believe a lie, to be deceived? And, it pushes me to study the Bible more.
I consider the Bible the final authority on God. And without that foundational belief, I could be tossed to and fro by various whims of philosophies and religious notions and worldviews. If I did not hold to this one simple belief—the Bible is the Final Authority on everything—then all that I believe would have no foundation and would crumble under even the slightest bit of scrutiny.
So, the conclusion that I draw is twofold:
- That the people who reject the God of the Bible don’t know the Bible and don’t believe it is the final authority on God.
- Some of these people, while knowing the Bible, have chosen to listen to lies that do not hold to the whole of Scripture nor endorse the authority of the Bible.
Perhaps there are other reasons. Even Satan knows Scripture, better than most, if not all, people. And yet, in his pride he made God his enemy. Pride and lust do keep people from receiving God’s Word as truth.
I can’t change the hearts of people. That falls in the realm of the Holy Spirit’s abilities. But God won’t force man to believe Him. Yet, when God withdraws His hand and allows all sorts of evil come to man (even sending Nebuchadnezzar against Judah), He does so for the purpose of drawing those who are away from Him back to Him.
There will come a time, after giving people both the worst and best of life (the tribulation and the thousand year reign), when the final judgment will come and those who rejected God’s Son will spend an eternity away from Him. What they wanted (or thought they wanted) would be theirs. Sad. So very Sad.
So, while I ponder people’s decisions about what they believe, I do have a responsibility to be prepared to give a reason for my faith, should the opportunity arise. Again, a reason for me to know and understand all of Scripture, but even more importantly, to keep a very tight relationship with God and allow His Holy Spirit to guide me.
How about you? What do you believe? How does it affect your desire to know God and to study His Word?
For further study, read Ezekiel 37-39, Revelations 17-20, Psalm 119.
“Then shall they know that I am the LORD their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there. Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.” Ezekiel 39:28-29
“Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.” Psalm 119:18
“And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.” Revelations 21:3
