“They will loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations” (Ezekiel 6:9). We can understand those kinds of regrets, can’t we? Whether it’s the victim of lung cancer who wishes he’d never touched a cigarette, the alcoholic who has lost his job and his health, the junkie in prison for stealing to get a fix, or the husband who threw away his wife and family for the sake of a fling, it’s easy to see how poor choices can lead to all sorts of misery.
But God wants us to see that all our sin is self-destructive. After all, human beings were designed to worship God, to live in fellowship with Him, and to manage His creation for His glory. And so, whenever we pull our hands out of His, whenever we focus our worship on anyone or anything else, whenever we set ourselves up as the ultimate arbiter of right and wrong, we are throwing away our owner’s manual. We are ignoring our Manufacturer’s instructions, and yet expecting the machinery of our lives to run smoothly.
No, we shouldn’t be surprised when our thoughts and feelings begin to break down under the stress of trying to live without God. We shouldn’t be surprised when our self-focused actions become erratic. We shouldn’t be surprised when our leaders vilify each other and our streets are filled with violence. In these, and many other ways, God often allows us to experience the consequences of our selfish decisions. He brings this kind of suffering into our lives to bring us to our senses.
It took God’s Old Testament people almost complete destruction before they learned their lesson. I hope we can learn our lessons more quickly, turning back to the God Who loves us so much and Who is so hurt when we turn away from Him (Ezekiel 6:9). Otherwise, we’ll only find more reasons for regret.
Ezekiel 6:1-10 (NASB)
And the word of the LORD came to me saying,
2 “Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them,
3 and say, ‘Mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the Lord God! Thus says the Lord God to the mountains, the hills, the ravines and the valleys: “Behold, I Myself am going to bring a sword on you, and I will destroy your high places.
4 “So your altars will become desolate, and your incense altars will be smashed; and I shall make your slain fall in front of your idols.
5 “I shall also lay the dead bodies of the sons of Israel in front of their idols; and I shall scatter your bones around your altars.
6 “In all your dwellings, cities will become waste and the high places will be desolate, that your altars may become waste and desolate, your idols may be broken and brought to an end, your incense altars may be cut down, and your works may be blotted out.
7 “And the slain will fall among you, and you will know that I am the LORD.
8 “However, I shall leave a remnant, for you will have those who escaped the sword among the nations when you are scattered among the countries.
9 “Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations to which they will be carried captive, how I have been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes, which played the harlot after their idols; and they will loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations.
10 “Then they will know that I am the LORD; I have not said in vain that I would inflict this disaster on them.”‘
