Eradicated Irritation

“And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are round about them, that despised them; and they shall know that I am the Lord GOD.” (Eze 28:24 AV)

The last dozen or so chapters of Ezekiel, the LORD has pronounced judgement upon those neighbors of Israel that rejoiced when the LORD brought chastisement upon them.  They took advantage of a weakened Israel at the time of God’s dealing with them.  They goaded them.  They mocked them.  They were the ones who enticed Israel into wickedness, then backed away to laugh at their calamity.   Well, there will come a time when God will deal with them.  There will come a time when influences like this no longer exist.  There will come a time when the LORD returns, and through Israel, will reign over all her neighbors.  No more will there be an annoying prickling brier in the form of a neighbor whose joy comes from causing irritation, pain, and even death.  No more of it!

Being a hunter, irritation is a way of life.  One of those irritations is seeds that stick to one’s clothing.  My bestest hunting partner, outside of my son, shared with me his lease that was infested with such plants.  One of those plants, velvetleaf ticktrefoil, had a seed that stuck to everything.  As the name indicates, the leaves and seed pods have a velvety surface to them.  As long as the seeds were fresh and green, they were soft enough where they did not cause irritation.  But once they dried out, the became a serious issue.  They literally got everywhere.  As anyone in similar circumstances knows, they are quite a chore to clean from one’s clothes.  At first, they do not stick too hardily.  Picking them off in their green condition isn’t too challenging.  Once they dry, it is a different story altogether.  What a picture of the principle mentioned above.

When the saint walks among the world, he is constantly attacked by annoying little temptations that at first, do not seem all that irritating.  They have a velvety surface and if we were not looking for them, probably wouldn’t even notice them.  That is the way it is with the velvetleaf.  Not until we get home and look at how covered we were, did we realize how infested we were.  If we allow those seemingly harmless and pesky little influences to stick around, they become dry, irritating, and harder to remove.  The nation of Israel was not careful to rid themselves of the influence of the world.  It takes regular discipline to remain free.  We can do nothing about the fact we are forced to live among a wicked world.  We can do little to be free from total influence from it.  But we can do something about removing.  The verse above promises there will be a time when those little annoying and pesky temptations are a thing of the past.  They will be removed.  Permanently!  For the saint, upon the rapture of the church of the death of the saint.  We have a guaranteed time of freedom.  No more!  For Israel, the reign of Christ will once and for all free them from the velvet covered temptations that turn to an irritation.  What a day that will be!  Glory!