Duck and Cover

In the fifties and sixties children endured civil defense training in the classroom; and most homes had civil defense manuals outlining what to do in an emergency. At least that was the practice in North Dakota where hundreds of ICBM missile silos were nestled beneath the wheat fields of the plains. The instruction came in response to fears about a nuclear war. We had plans, we practiced procedures, and every home had a small stockpile of supplies. Looking back, the plans and preparations were pretty futile in light of what we now know about the devastating power of nuclear weapons and, of course, their residual radioactivity.

The prophet Ezekiel was given the task of preparing the people of Israel for very difficult times. Unfortunately, few were willing to listen.

And he said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with my words to them. For you are not sent to a people of foreign speech and a hard language, but to the house of Israel—not to many peoples of foreign speech and a hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, if I sent you to such, they would listen to you. But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me: because all the house of Israel have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart. (Ezekiel 3:4-7 ESV)

Early on in the prophecy of Ezekiel we encounter a recurring phrase, “[Then] you [they] will know that I am the Lord.” It is an ominous theme throughout the book as preceding that particular phrase, there is always a specific promise of judgment. For example,

I will bring the worst of the nations to take possession of their houses. I will put an end to the pride of the strong, and their holy places shall be profaned. When anguish comes, they will seek peace, but there shall be none. Disaster comes upon disaster; rumor follows rumor. They seek a vision from the prophet, while the law perishes from the priest and counsel from the elders. The king mourns, the prince is wrapped in despair, and the hands of the people of the land are paralyzed by terror. According to their way I will do to them, and according to their judgments I will judge them, and they shall know that I am the LORD.” (Ezekiel 7:24-27 ESV)

Three things stand out from Ezekiel. First, God didn’t think Ezekiel would be successful in convincing the people to return to Him. Secondly, God’s goal seemed simple enough: that His people would “know that I am the LORD.” The third observation suggests that this simple goal was a frustrating one for God, and the only redemptive means left to Him was judgment.

Have you ever asked a friend or child to do something and watch them mutter “yeah” and not move? Do you notice that every time you repeat the question it tends to get louder? By Ezekiel’s time, the people of Israel had already endured some judgment. Ezekiel was, after all, prophesying from exile in Babylon. But, apparently God’s voice wasn’t yet loud enough: the hardships and devastation visited on Israel and Judah were not having lasting effect. And, thus, the hearts of the people were not moving in response to God’s call.

In Ezekiel 7:24 we learn part of the problem: in judgment God wanted to “put an end to the pride of the strong.” Pride was one of the major factors keeping the people from “knowing”—in other words, acknowledging and therefore worshiping-- God as “the LORD.”

But, in fairness, the people of Israel had not stopped worshiping God. Unfortunately, they were worshiping other gods as well. And when trouble befell them, they were seeking political solutions instead of spiritual ones. What prompted God’s sadness and kindled his wrath was that He had become a symbol, a ritual, a cultural custom. He was not revered, honored, depended upon, sought out, or listened to as in the days of King David. The people of Israel and Judah had grown worldly, sophisticated, and “wise.” They had moved beyond dependence on God. Ezekiel, like many prophets, spoke words that no longer seemed relevant to them.

Several hundred years later, the spiritual climate remained essentially the same. As Jesus began His ministry, the very ones who should have recognized Him became His fiercest opponents. Jesus described them quite critically:

Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.” As he went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard and to provoke him to speak about many things, lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say. (Luke 11:52-54 ESV)

Often when people hear things they do not want to hear, their first response is to become defensive--deny the issue; secondly, they may go on the offensive seeking to discredit the observation or the observer. The passage above depicts a classic "kill the messenger” response. Like Ezekiel’s audience, the religious elite of Christ’s time, were in no mood to take God’s message to heart.

It’s pride again. Have you ever noticed that some people can never be wrong? They are rarely at fault, mistakes are rarely their doing. They argue when they should listen. They react to hurtful truth hoping if they can prove the messenger wrong, perhaps they will kill the message, too. Change? Change is the furthest option from their minds. “Right” people don’t have to change. Unfortunately, the people Ezekiel addressed learned their lesson the hard way.

Our town had a civil defense siren to warn us of imminent nuclear attack. As a child I was taught to find shelter and “duck and cover” if the siren were ever to call. But even I knew that the siren was not the thing to be feared; the siren was designed to protect me and warn me of immediate danger.

God’s siren has been blaring for centuries now. Pride convinces men and women that the siren is the problem, not them. The siren is malfunctioning, and/or history has proven its voice irrelevant. But God (in His love), will not allow His creation to miss its most important message—and He will bring judgment to the many in hopes of getting the attention of a few.

God is a loving God, "not wanting any to perish." He is longsuffering and patient. God has always taken the "long view." But, if I were a betting man, I would wager that we are approaching times like that of Ezekiel. And if God desires for all the world to learn and know that He is LORD, then we should understand that He has demonstrated a willingness to bring hardship and judgment in order to foster such revival. America is now looking for another political solution for its woes even as we did four years ago. Have things improved? Will they? It all depends upon the solutions we choose. We are far from God and accelerating in the wrong direction. Revival is the answer. What precedes revival? Well, it isn't affluence and political stability . . .  

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you,

because he trusts in you.

Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock. Isaiah 26:3-4 ESV