Dean Hardy respond to the "Glory of God Series 9."
So true, I happened to be reading in Ezekiel this morning too.
In chapter 22 God lists His grievances against His people, especially against those who were ungodly leaders (princes/priests/prophets). For the complete list read the whole chapter.
The verses that spoke to me the loudest were ... "Your priests have violated My instructions & defiled My holy things. They make no distinction between what is holy and what is not. And they do not teach My people the difference between what is ceremonially clean & unclean. They disregard My Sabbath days so that I am dishonored among them ... I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn’t have to destroy the land, but I found no one." Ezekiel 22:26, 30 NLT
For example: I wonder how many Christians consider our 'Sabbath' as just another day where we happen to go to church for 1 hour, but we spend the rest of the day (i.e. the other 16-17 hours) in earthly pleasures. It seems that our focus on the Sabbath day is to have a 'holiday' instead of a 'holy day' as God commands (See Leviticus 23:3). Without holiness, there can be no glory of God in our lives. Why? Because God's glory comes out of His holiness (see Isaiah 6) ... I am not one who is legalistic about Sundays, but we do need to consider what our primary focus should be in using our time on this 'day of rest.'
Are we as Christians willing & ready to 'stand in the gap' of our broken walls of righteousness & to rebuild them. We need to stand up for what is right & good, calling God's people back to His holy ways.
Keep on keeping on, Dean
