“And they shall recompense your lewdness upon you, and ye shall bear the sins of your idols: and ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD” (Ezekiel 23:49).
TEXT — Ezekiel 23:36-49
Message
Daniel Webster, former United States Secretary of State and a great statesman, attended a public luncheon toward the end of his life. One of the people asked him a question: “What was the greatest thought to ever pass through your mind?” to which he replied, “My accountability to God.”
Today’s text reminds us that the day of accountability will arrive when divine judgment will be delivered against idolatry, flagrant disobedience, and despicable acts against natural justice and divine precepts. Using symbolism and metaphor of the sins of Aholah and Aholibah, God vividly describes and laments the grievous sins of unfaithfulness and idolatry of the people of Israel. He warns that the consequences will surely come.
This inescapable accountability to God played out in the story of the Babylonian kingdom, around 539 BCE. King Belshazzar of Babylon hosted a grand feast where he and his guests drank from the sacred vessels stolen from the temple in Jerusalem. During the feast, a mysterious hand appeared and wrote on the wall, pronouncing judgment against Belshazzar’s sacrilege and arrogance. That very night, Babylon fell to the invading Persian forces, and Belshazzar was killed.
As we draw some valuable lessons from this narrative, we see God’s hatred for sin, the consequences of straying from God’s path, and the necessity of seeking forgiveness and redemption. The danger of sliding back into the ways and practices of non-believers around us stares us in the face daily. No Christian should feel too comfortable to mix with the world and seek to learn their ungodly practices. Although our God is a God of love and mercy, he demands accountability, justice, and obedience from us all. We must, therefore, live and conduct our lives in the light of the imminent day of accountability when God’s wrath will be unleashed against all ungodliness of humanity. Salvation through Christ remains the only way of escape.
Thought for the day
There’s a nasty payday at the end of heydays of sin.
Listed among “500 most powerful people on the planet” by the Foreign Policy magazine in 2013, Pastor (Dr.) William F. Kumuyi is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry (DCLM) headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. DCLM started in 1973 as a 15-member Bible study group right in Kumuyi’s apartment at University of Lagos where he was a lecturer. His revolutionary Bible teaching on personal holiness and commitment to evangelism soon gained so much traction and resulted in a widespread revival.
