A Bit on the Academic Side

  “And I (God) will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.” Ezekiel 36:26-27

  I have to think that God, in talking to His people through the prophet Ezekiel, would use language they would understand. Their lives were lived under the Law. Keeping the Ten Commandments would have been their standard of faith. They wouldn’t have understood how God could get rid of the Law that was such a fundamental part of their lives. They would have understood the concept of obeying God.

  It was a very different world.

  But I am gifted with knowing the future for all God’s people. There’s nothing mysterious about this gift. I have everything written down in black and white on the pages of my Bible. I am gifted with knowing that Jesus didn’t come to abolish the law but to fulfill it.

  “Don’t misunderstand why I (Jesus) have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose.” Mathew 5:15

  So I’ve read that particular phrase a number of times. What does it mean?

  I think God’s chosen people found it was impossible to live by all the rules without breaking any. That’s why they had animal sacrifice to atone for their sin. In a way, God set them up for failure because He would send His Son to show them a better way. The Old Testament is full of signposts pointing to the coming of Jesus.

  This passage in Ezekiel is one of them. Again, hindsight gives me the ability to see it!

  Had I lived in those days, would I have recognized Jesus as the Messiah? Or would I have been someone in the crowd crying, “Crucify Him!”

  I would have only known what the men in my life would have taught me.

  But Jesus changed that rule as well the moment He allowed Mary (in the Lazarus story) to sit at His feet and learn.

  I have to admit, reading this passage without knowing Jesus would make God appear to be a God of decrees and rules to live by. He would appear to be distant and judgmental.

  But here’s the crux of this meandering exploration…Jesus came because our God is a God of relationship. He always has been! He walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden before the fall. It’s why He involved Moses in freeing His people from Egypt. It’s why He involved Ezekiel in calling the dry bones to life.   

  Yet, He is grace filled enough to meet us where we are at.

  It’s why He appointed Kings over the Jews: because they asked Him to!

  So how does this concept apply today?

  He has kept His promise, found in the prophetic words given to Ezekiel so long ago, through the life and death of His Son. And that promise is meant for everyone.