June 30, 2024

Passage Read: Ezekiel 36-39
Meditation Verses: 36:33-36

Thought

These prophecies of Israel being restored to their land have been partially fulfilled: They have been restored to their land and it is miraculous. But they have not had wickedness removed far from them. They have been blessed and they have made the desert bloom, but it is still a far cry from the garden of Eden. And the Israelis have done it, not the Lord. Some may credit the Lord, but man is ingenious and able to accomplish much when he puts his mind to it. That's why God confused the language at Babel, because man is able to do mighty things, as if to compare with the power of God. So to look at what Israel has done in their land and to say it is amazing is true, but the credit goes to men, not God, and the land is not yet like the garden of Eden. To think that what Israel has done fulfills this prophecy is to think too little of the power of God. He promises to turn the whole land into a fruitful place so that men compare it to the garden of Eden and recognize that this is the work of God. It will be so completely transformed that it is no longer thought of as a desert, one that blooms, but as a garden, as the Garden of Eden! It will be a transformation that only God could do, so that all nations are forced to admit that it was God Himself who did it.

Application

Men are capable of great feats and even of great good. That does not mean that God should receive the credit. God didn't take credit for the Tower of Babel, and neither would we give Him that credit. We give Him credit for confusing the languages, because that is a miracle that only He could do. To see the amazing feats of individuals or groups of men and automatically credit God is neither wise nor necessarily true. It is ignorant to do so, and denies credit where credit is due. Men are responsible both for their feats of greatness and for their feats of wickedness. God gave us everything, and deserves honor, glory and obedience as the Author and Lord of all Creation, but we choose how we use His gifts and His creation, whether for good or ill. As great as man's power is, God's is far greater, and to credit God for the works of men is an insult both to men and to God. To men because it denies what they can do with their God-given resources; to God because it makes His power seem so small. What God is capable of its so much greater than what man is capable of, and that's the awe I should have toward God and the expectation I should have when He promises to do something. Credit God with the things He truly does, and look for Him to do far greater things than man could do, extraordinary things, supernatural things, when He promises to do something.