Even the ancient prophet can help us see what the world needs now

By Dean Collins

It is dangerous to try and apply many Old Testament Scriptures to our situation as we live under the new covenant in Christ. Some passages of Scripture had specific relevance only in the context of the times. However, from these historical events, we can see how God worked and how our ancestors of faith both failed and at times succeeded in their faithfulness. We can find great examples of faith and spiritual principles to help guide us in our current moment.

Only Jesus

I may lose some readers with this comment, but here in the United States, we need to be very careful not to see ourselves as God’s chosen people group who will save the world. There is no biblical passage that suggests what sadly some tend to perpetuate to the contrary. The entirety of the New Testament shows that Jesus is the central figure in the redemption and restoration of every person and every place in his vast creation.

The instruction Jesus gave to his disciples was to go into all the world make disciples, baptizing in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and teaching to observe God’s commandments and to continue this plan until Christ returns. We are called to lead people to Jesus and to the ways of Jesus and certainly not to a particular political system, party, or platform.

Challenge from Ezekiel

These thoughts came to me as I considered a passage in Ezekiel I had never noticed in previous readings. In the middle of Ezekiel’s description of the sins of Israel and why further punishment was coming to Jerusalem, the prophet said this:

“ …even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver, but their own lives by their righteousness, declares the Lord God” (Ezekiel 14:14).

In this chapter of Ezekiel, the prophet is challenging the elders of Israel about their stubborn clinging to their idols and not just molded statues. They idolized their self-reliance and chose to listen to false prophets who said things they wanted to hear. As the prophet addresses their sin, he reminds them that even legends of faith like Noah couldn’t save the world from evil. God saved Noah and his family and, from this remnant of faithfulness, started over with his plan to save the world.

God used Noah, Daniel, and Job in unique ways, and each serve to teach us spiritual truth about our need to rely on God’s plan and never our self and certainly not on our preferred leaders we think might be able to save the world. Only Jesus can forgive sins, including the sin of individual and political idolatry. 

Final day

What the world desperately needs to see is the church in full bloom living out the ways of Jesus that he taught us in the Gospels. Our ways will never save the world, just as our stubborn self-will cannot save even ourselves. But when the people of God unite in love and in surrender to Jesus as Lord, we will see the final day of redemption and restoration appear in glory!

Father, forgive us for thinking there is any way forward except through Jesus. We surrender to him today and ask that you fill us with love that reaches even our enemies so that they too would come to know the love, mercy, and peace that is available in Christ. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Your time with God’s Word
Ezekiel 14:13-14; Matthew 28:18-20 ESV

Photo by Gift Habeshaw on Unsplash
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