Don’t Text & Drive
“Therefore as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your vile images and detestable practices, I myself will shave you; I will not look on you with pity or spare you.”
Today’s Text: Ezekiel 5:1-17 (Living Life Daily Devotional)
God continues to warn His people through the prophet Ezekiel using powerful symbolism. Ezekiel is instructed to shave his head and beard, an act of deep shame especially for a priest, and then divide the hair into thirds to represent the fate of Jerusalem: (1/3) will be burned inside the city, symbolizing those who will die by fire and famine. (1/3) will be strike with sword all around the city, representing those killed in battle. (1/3) will be scattered in the wind, symbolizing exile with God’s sword still pursuing them.. The remaining few hair strands will be tucked away in the folds of his garment and then thrown into the fire to be burned, representing further judgment to come. This entire act is a prophetic picture of the coming and consuming judgment on Jerusalem.
Jerusalem, once at the center of God’s plan, will now be at the center of His judgment. Their rebellion and wickedness surpass even the surrounding nations. As a result, the judgment is severe: cannibalism, plague, famine, and death by the sword. God's wrath will be poured out in full, and Jerusalem’s downfall will become a public warning to the nations around them.
We live in a world filled with warnings everyday of our lives but for many people, they treat these warnings casually until the consequences finally come.
We’ve all seen the signs and commercials where we are warned to not text and drive, that it can wait. We know that distracted driving is dangerous but we still choose to do it anyway because while we are aware of the consequence, we don’t believe it’ll come to us. Unfortunately it can happen to us, a fatal crash that costs a life. A preventable tragedy if one heeded to the warnings that we have seen.
Another example is the health warnings that doctors have constantly reminded us about. An encouragement to be mindful of what you eat, to sleep properly with certain amount of hours, to exercise, etc. Yet while we nod and we agree, sometimes we ignore these warnings. We unintentionally delay them because we feel perfectly fine right now. It is only when we have a heart attack, diabetes, or other health complications that remind us these warnings were indeed serious and we should have heeded to them.
Just like how people often ignore health and safety warnings, the people of God continued to ignore God’s prophetic warnings of the coming judgment. Ezekiel’s dramatic acts to symbolize the coming judgment were visual alarms that were dismissed thinking that judgment wouldn’t come. This would become a devastating and tragic mistake.
In many ways this is part of God’s grace. We live in a sinful world and we may get caught up with the consequence of living in this sinful world. Yet God warns us continually not to punish us but to protect us. He wants us to wake up and not wait for the spiritual consequences to catch up.
When we think about what God has commanded through Scripture, we ought to follow them in obedience not because we have to but because we recognize God is warning us by His grace and by His love, to protect us. Let us recognize this and seriously take His Word. Don’t wait for the consequences to wake us up and respond to His Word right now while there is still time.
