In the Old Testament, prophets weren’t just sent to tell the future. They were also sent by God to speak truth to power. Prophets confronted false teachers as well as leaders, both civic and religious, and civilizations that had turned their backs on right and wrong. Encouraging all those who had gone astray to turn back to the righteous road, before facing divine justice when it would be too late.
One of the greatest prophets in history was a man named Ezekiel, whose name means “God strengthens.” Ezekiel was called to be a prophet to the people of Israel during a time they were in captivity in Babylon, being punished for disobedience to God. Among the many national sins the Israelites had committed leading to their captivity was replacing reverence for God with a sort of nationalistic pride. Like when another great prophet of old, Jeremiah, warned the people of Israel their faith in relics harkening back to their heritage – such as King Solomon’s Temple – will not save them as long as they keep living immorally and defying God.
All of which sounds vaguely familiar…anyhoo…
Ezekiel is of the generation Jeremiah warned, which by emphasizing their nationalistic heritage over faith and obedience to God lost both favor with God and their heritage. He and his contemporaries are now basically slaves in a pagan land. Ezekiel covers a wide-range of topics during his prophetic ministry, some of which are inspirational and encouraging. But some of them certainly are not.
And I’m guessing given those writings Ezekiel would have a few things to say to the likes of Texas Pastor Robert Jeffress, who has sadly and tragically replaced preaching the Gospel to a dying culture with becoming a shill for Donald Trump.
A few things like:
In this passage, Ezekiel is
– See more at: https://www.conservativereview.com/commentary/2016/03/will-evangelicals-continue-to-be-blinded-by-the-donald#sthash.5qBmxwU4.dpuf
- Discussion
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