To God Be the Glory .... eventually.

I am reading through the books of prophets in the old testament as I complete a six-year journey through the Bible. I finished the book of Ezekiel and am left with an impression that is in a way comforting and not comforting. Most of the book seemed to be Ezekiel having to share God's words to a rebellious and disobedient nation. Needless to say, what he shares for most of the book is God telling them why He has decided to remove His blessings and protection from them and allow others to take over their land and families. They have decided to worship other gods at altars built for that purpose. They have taken things into their own hands and not sought God as "God." I read nearly 40 chapters and wondered what is God going to do with this whole situation.

Then, at the very end of chapter 39, God tells Ezekiel to give the following message...."25 “Therefore

this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will now restore the fortunes of Jacob[a] and will have compassion on all the people of Israel, and I will be zealous for my holy name. 26 They will forget their shame and all the unfaithfulness they showed toward me when they lived in safety in their land with no one to make them afraid. 27 When I have brought them back from the nations and have gathered them from the countries of their enemies, I will be proved holy through them in the sight of many nations.28 Then they will know that I am the Lord their God, for though I sent them into exile among the nations, I will gather them to their own land, not leaving any behind. 29 I will no longer hide my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit on the people of Israel, declares the Sovereign Lord.”

Then God gives a detailed account of how he is going to restore the fortunes and lives of the people and have them build a new temple. He gives the dimensions of the temple down to the smallest measurement and explains how they are to use the temple to worship Him. He explains the land that he will give them to live on and how it is to be divided and used. He says the city shall be 18,000 cubits around and the name of the city from that day shall be "The Lord is there."

The people of Israel were experiencing prosperity and began to believe that they were in control of their good fortune. God removed his blessings and protection because they refused to be able to see Him anymore at the foundation of their lives. They experienced horrible events because they were left to the control of the fallen world and their own devices. Then God decided to restore their nation. First He says that He is restoring it so that the other nations will see His glory among them. They will see that when the people of Israel turned from God, they were captured by their enemies. When God restores them, the nations will see the people of Israel set God apart as "God." giving Him honor and glory. By that the world will know God.

I am sure that there are groups of God's people today that, because of their own decisions not to place God in the place of control, are not experiencing His blessings and protection. It is frustrating to see them cling to their own personal plans, even though they want to be followers of God. I am sure there were those among the Israelite group that encouraged the group to return to God, but to no avail. God will take whatever action necessary to bring His people back to Him. We belong to him and He will not give up on us. I pray that when we find ourselves in that situation, we humbly return to God in submission and allow Him to be glorified in our future. I pray that we would give up our own plans and seek His. I would pray that we would call out to God for His compassion that we know to be true and for his love and power. I pray that we would ask Him to not hide His face from us and pour out His spirit upon us.