“In thy filthiness is lewdness: because I have purged thee, and thou wast not purged, thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more, till I have caused my fury to rest upon thee.” (Eze 24:13 AV)
This is quite a sad verse. Israel got to the point that no matter what
the LORD tried, it didn’t work. For
hundreds of years, the LORD tried judges, kings, and prophets. He used their neighbors to persecute them. He sent natural disasters. He sent times of distress. There may have been a temporary revival, but
after some time, they went right back to their idolatry. No matter how passionately the LORD pled with
them, they would make no permanent effort to walk in holiness and faith. A few verses later, the LORD tells Israel He
will solve their sin issue in a stroke.
Or, a brief and intense act on His part to take away any and all ability
to fall into sin. This is the nature of
His creation. If His work is bent
towards divinely appointed design, He blesses.
If contrary to His design, it becomes self-destructive. The unfortunate thought here is sin can be so
powerful that even God cannot conquer it for us. Not that He lacks the ability. Rather, because our wills will not conform to
His expectation. The end result will be
the ability to fall is taken away by the removal of the ability to partake, to
begin with.
I knew a young person once who never seemed to
learn his lesson when it came to safe driving.
He got his license at sixteen and it didn’t take him long before he got
his first speeding ticket. Being the
first, the judge let him off with a promise to behave himself. That wasn’t the case. He soon got another. This time, the judge fined him and put points
on his license. A few months later, he
was ticketed for more serious infractions.
Standing before the court, he paid another fine, and points were
added. He lost the ability to drive for
a short period of time. Now in the
high-risk pool, his insurance was ten times more expensive. Once he got his license, off he was to the
races. Only this time, he caused an
accident wherein the driver of the other vehicle was killed. He was brought before the courts and found
guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Five
years later, after his jail sentence was served, he was out on the road again. This time, he drove a heavy delivery truck. Going way too fast for the weather, he struck
and killed a small group of children playing in the snow. Having been a repeat offender, he is now
spending the rest of his life in jail.
He never learned and the liberty to drive irresponsibly was permanently
taken away.
We learn our lessons the hard way. God sends so many warnings that He will
eventually tire of them. Grace may be
without limit, but that does not require Him to exercise it so. God wants us free from sin. It is the best way to live. He had a passion for this. The LORD tried to correct Israel for
generations. He finally had to remove
them to Babylon and scatter them throughout the world so they would not have
the opportunity to fall into idolatry. The
LORD placed them in places and circumstances where survival was the greatest
objective. During the tribulation,
Israel will be reduced to a small remnant who will accept Christ as their Messiah. This will come by way of great persecution. They will survive in the wilderness with the
miraculous hand of God sustaining them.
Hardships that are guaranteed to keep them from the idleness which encouraged
sin. These times may be tough. But if we do not learn to yield to the ministry
of the Holy Spirit and cleanse ourselves from presumptuous sins, then He just
may take away the ability to fall in the first place. That which enables will be removed. It will become the only option for our God
who loves righteousness.
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