Marked by God

Reading the major prophets has not been a real draw for me. I’ve read them through a few times but not with much excitement. However, several months ago, I was drawn to Isaiah.  I wanted to read it more thoroughly, more in tune to how God would teach me through it.  There are too many details of what occurred as I began this reading, but the main point is that God has truly blessed my seeking.  I went on to read Jeremiah, Lamentations and then Ezekiel.  After a few chapters of Ezekiel, I thought, “Ok, I guess the excitement’s over.”  Again, God began blessing me with truths about Him I had not considered before.  There are several in chapter nine alone.  My next several posts will come from this chapter.

Acceptance is something that every human desires and seeks.  I have no official documentation for that statement.  It comes simply from experience and observation.  But I believe I’m right!  And for the believer, everything in life revolves around acceptance.  But true acceptance comes from one source: Jesus Christ.  Ephesians 1:6 “To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved.”  WOW!  Love the feeling of that phrase!  So much hope, so much security, belonging, joy, peace…

And where does Ezekiel fit in?  God has been giving Ezekiel visions right and left.  Ezekiel is finding out many disturbing situations going on with the Israelites.  God is going to pour out His wrath.  He has had enough.  “The LORD said to him, ‘Go through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst.”  (more about sighs, groans and abominations in another post)  But to the others He said in my hearing, “Go through the city after him and strike; do not let your eye have pity and do not spare…but do not touch any man on whom is the mark….”  Reading that last phrase, “any man on whom is the mark”, I thought immediately of the phrase from Ephesians, “accepted in the Beloved.” 

What hope comes from knowing that as believers in Jesus Christ, trusting in His shed blood on the cross, we are marked for eternity from the wrath of God!  First Corinthians puts it another way, “confirmed to the end”(1:8).  I’d say that it doesn’t get any better than that!!!