God is God: let us never forget that
God’s people will be united. One nation under one king. To show this in a visual way, Ezekiel is to take one stick to represent Judah and one stick to represent Israel – when he holds them together in one hand, they will become one.
One nation, one land, one faith, one king. one God.
They will be my people, and I will be their God. Ezekiel 37:23
And one shepherd – a king like King David.
And one covenant. A covenant of peace. An everlasting covenant.
My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. Ezekiel 37:27
God is stronger than all the surrounding nations. At that time in the future when God’s people will be attacked on all sides again, God will defeat them. At that time when God’s people are living in safety and the enemy advances, God will protect His own. God predicts an earthquake where every living thing will tremble at His presence. God will execute judgement on the invader.
And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord. Ezekiel 38:23
There will come a time when God will make His holy name known among the people and no one will profane His holy name. For seven years, the enemies’ weapons will be used as firewood. It will take seven years to cleanse the land and dispose of the dead.
I will display my glory among the nations, and all the nations will see the punishment I inflict and the hand I lay on them. From that day forward the people of Israel will know that I am the Lord their God. Ezekiel 39:21-22
God will restore the fortunes of His people.
He will have compassion on them.
He will be zealous for His holy name.
He will gather His people.
He will be proved holy.
He will no longer hide His face from them.
He will pour out His spirit on them.
Then they will know that I am the Lord their God. Ezekiel 39:28
God is God. That fact never changes. Whatever else happens in our lives, God is always God. Whoever else hurts us or lets us down, God is always God.
I’ve picked out the same verse over and over and over again as we have travelled through this book of Ezekiel.
Then they will know that I am the Lord their God.
It’s not that God ever steps up and suddenly becomes God. It’s that His people forget. They turn and walk away. They choose to live life their way. They think they know best. They forget that God is God. And so God reaches out time and time and time again to remind them that He is their God and they are His people. Everything He’s doing here is to remind them that He is God. Even the destruction of their city and their years in exile. God yearns to restore relationship, to open their eyes to who He is, to who He’s been all along.
God is with us.
God loves us.
God is God.
He’s simply waiting for us to remember this, to live in the reality of this. To open the eyes of our hearts and really recognise and accept that God is God.
And that He is the Lord our God.
