As discussed above, they cannot fathom that the same God revealed in the Old Testament could manifest love and mercy. Then I will set over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them he will feed them himself and be their shepherd.”Įxplanation: Some undiscerning skeptics like to claim that the Gospel is a New Testament invention. …I will deliver My flock, and they will no longer be a prey and I will judge between one sheep and another. Key Verse: Ezekiel 34:11, 15, 22-23 For thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out… I will feed My flock and I will lead them to rest,” declares the Lord God. How can they access such benevolence? Through the only Way designed by God Himself: His only Son, Jesus Christ. Anyone who turns from their sin and embraces God’s mercy and grace is saved. Even His pronouncements of judgment and His outpouring of wrath-manifestations as they are of His holiness and justice-have as a key motivation the goal of motivating people to repent. There is no change in God’s character from the Old to the New Testament.
Moreover, it negates John the Baptist’s assertion that every person alive (and dead, for that matter) is under either the grace of God or the wrath of God (John 3:36). The host expressed shock that a modern Christian could speak of wrath, because, he insisted, his God “would not hurt a fly.” Such foolishness makes a mockery of Jesus’ repeated warnings about God’s wrath and the horror of hell. Reagan responded from a biblically sound perspective-only to find himself cut off and the interview canceled.
When the host inquired about a comment he made regarding the wrath of God, Dr. Reagan was once scheduled for a radio interview. Key Verse: Ezekiel 18:30-32 “For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” declares the Lord, “Therefore, repent and live.”Įxplanation: Some people have the misguided impression that the God of the Old Testament was vindictive and petulant-given to smiting people for minor infractions without any glimmer of mercy while the God of the New Testament reflects only love and grace-and certainly would not hurt a fly.ĭr. He also proved His power over death in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead-the first-fruits of all who go down to the grave with the blessed hope of resurrection in glorified bodies to eternal life. He is continuing to bring them back to their own Promised Land. God brought Israel’s sons and daughters out of their figurative grave to a new life following the Holocaust. The vision Ezekiel saw so long is being fulfilled before our eyes. Instead he trusted completely in the God who spoke the entire universe into existence-and promised to work all things together for good and His own glory. In that simple answer, Ezekiel demonstrated that he did not merely lean on his own understanding.
But God is not a man that He should be limited in His power.Įzekiel understood that greater truth from firsthand experience, which is why he responded, “Oh Lord, You know.” That is not to become entangled in the philosophical foolishness of suggesting that God could violate His own immutable logic or contradict His perfect holiness as expressed in His omniscient will. However, he realized that he was engaged in a conversation with God, and with God “all things are possible” (Mark 10:27). I don’t think Ezekiel thought for a moment that it was humanly possible-or even conceivable-that those dry bones could become alive again. Leading Ezekiel to a valley filled with dry bones, God asked, “Can these bones live?” Any sane, educated person would have responded, “No!” With two engineering degrees and extensive exposure to modern medical science, my own response would have been, “No, of course not, Lord.”Įzekiel was much wiser in his contemplated response. God presented the prophet Ezekiel with just such an imponderable situation. Some concepts are so unimaginable that modern man still grapples with historical miracles. But in the ancient world, such feats were beyond human comprehension. In our modern era, imaginative minds can create talking animals and singing vegetables and space-traveling toys-and project them on the big screen in such lifelike presentations that they become recognizable characters. An outcome violating the laws of nature that have proven so unchangeably consistent. Beyond the realm of science fiction or utopian fantasy. Try to envision the most unlikely occurrence you can imagine.
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