The book of Ezekiel can be a depressing read because it is heavily weighted with God’s anger and grief over Israel’s return to paganism and licentious lifestyles. The four dominant failings of His formerly devout people were sexual perversion, idol worship (including child sacrifice), cruelty (and indifference) to others, and greed (love of money, in particular).
The detailed punishment for each of these betrayals of God’s life-giving commands is varied and highly appropriate. It makes for some dismal but essential reading. It’s essential because the profane behavior of the fallen Israelites of the prophet’s time mirrors precisely the moral atmosphere of today’s world,
On matters of sexual perversion, there is no need to define it further. We all know and are appalled by our country’s current Hollywood-driven belief that anyone of any age is welcome to have as much sex as they want with anyone or anything at any time or in any place they choose. Even ‘family hour’ media now describe dating as automatically including sex upon first contact and at any age (literally, even children). Once-verboten bedroom scenes are prominently featured as ‘family-fare’ on nearly all TV channels.
How is it that very young people with partially-developed brains are allowed to undergo horrible, disfiguring sex alterations with or without parental intervention? Families were established by God as fortresses of protection, but are now warping into denizens of wickedness.
Modern forms of idol worship are far more prevalent than even those of Ezekiel’s time. You don’t believe it?
How about the athletes, movie and entertainment ‘stars,’ the business mega-billionaires, high-society celebrities and media-dominant social/political activists? How many of these do we idolize and seek out? How deep is our envy of their wealth and glamorously extravagant lifestyles?
We no longer burn our babies in the arms of a stone idol, Moloch, choosing instead to murder millions of children in the backrooms of the world’s abortionists. Abortion is nothing but a widespread form of birth control in a licentious society.
There will be a hell to pay far fiercer than the trials of Ezekiel’s narrative (See Daniel 12:1… “a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then.”)
The love of money is a pandemic spread worldwide. It is the god/demon of all society rendering millions in need while a smaller set is bathed in an ocean of wealth and absurd lifestyles featuring wanton self-indulgence. Dire is their future… if only they knew.
We are told the soon-coming Armageddon will cause Ezekiel’s narrative to devolve into a relatively restrained severity. We need but one reading of Revelation 16 to see exactly how it is that this final outpouring of God’s wrath exceeds any before it… and any that might ensue in the future (re. Satan set free at the end of the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ).
First Peter 4:7: “The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray (effectively).” {eoa}
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Ron Dee Mallett studied business, journalism, economics and mass communications at Denver, Colorado and Stanford Universities (on a Ford Fellow grant). An 85-year-old Air Force veteran and retired multinational corporate executive, he later served as director of jail, prison, nursing home and Mexico outreaches, as well as intercession ministries for over 21 years. He writes for several media outlets and occasionally for Charisma Media.
