Pay Back Part 2 Series

Ezekiel 7: 1 – 27

‘Pay back’ Part 2

19 ‘ They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be like refuse; Their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD; They will not satisfy their souls, nor fill their stomachs, because it became their stumbling block of iniquity. 20 ‘ As for the beauty of his ornaments, He set it in majesty; But they made from it the images of their abominations— Their detestable things; Therefore I have made it like refuse to them. 21 I will give it as plunder into the hands of strangers, and to the wicked of the earth as spoil; and they shall defile it. 22 I will turn My face from them, and they will defile My secret place; For robbers shall enter it and defile it. 23 ‘ Make a chain, for the land is filled with crimes of blood, and the city is full of violence. 24 Therefore I will bring the worst of the Gentiles, and they will possess their houses; I will cause the pomp of the strong to cease, and their holy places shall be defiled. 25 Destruction comes; They will seek peace, but there shall be none. 26 Disaster will come upon disaster, and rumor will be upon rumor. Then they will seek a vision from a prophet; But the law will perish from the priest, and counsel from the elders. 27 ‘The king will mourn, the prince will be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the common people will tremble. I will do to them according to their way, and according to what they deserve I will judge them; then they shall know that I am the LORD!’”

Throughout mankind’s existence there has been the sinful desire to become rich. Look at the various types of disasters that we face today – hurricanes, tornados, fires, floods, earthquakes, and terrorists strikes – when these occur, money has no value whatsoever. You can have all the money you want, but if there isn’t any food or water available what good is it when you are stuck just like everyone else.

Like us, the Israelites had allowed their love of money to corrupt them. This is just another category of idolatry. I Timothy say this in verse 10,

“10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

And we learn a valuable lesson from our Lord Jesus when He described this sinful nature as listed in the Gospel of Luke 12: 15 – 21,15 And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” 16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ 18 So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ 21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

The more I dwell on this fact the more I see our depravity. Our God has allowed us the wisdom to use money for good purposes. It is one of His abundant amounts of gifts showered on us. So, knowing this, what do we do with our money? We use it to buy things that separate us from the very God Who loves us and was the Giver of these gifts. Wow! We wind up spending so much time and energy trying to find satisfaction for ourselves instead of seeking the One Who Is the Source of Satisfaction.

20 ‘ As for the beauty of his ornaments, He set it in majesty; but they made from it the images of their abominations— Their detestable things; therefore I have made it like refuse to them. 21 I will give it as plunder into the hands of strangers, And to the wicked of the earth as spoil; and they shall defile it. 22 I will turn My face from them, And they will defile My secret place; For robbers shall enter it and defile it.”

Our Lord loved His city and the Temple dedicated to Him. We read in the book of 1 Kings chapter 9 verses 1 through 9 our Lord’s answer to king Solomon after the Temple was dedicated.