Then Shall They Know
Ezekiel 7:4 “My eye will not spare you, Nor will I have pity; But I will repay your ways, And your abominations will be in your midst; Then you shall know that I am the LORD!”
Ezekiel 34:27 Then the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase. They shall be safe in their land; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bands of their yoke and delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them.
Israel, the People God Redeemed Loved and Chose
This nation was chosen by God to represent Him on earth. He revealed His plan of salvation through them, He fulfilled His promise to send the Messiah to save them. The Messiah was Himself a Jew. They were indeed a blessed people but they constantly turned away from God as a nation and worshiped the gods of the nations around them. But as I have read through the prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, one refrain keeps being made. That refrain is, “Then shall they know that I am the LORD.” The Lord in this case is the personal God of Israel. It is loosely translated Jehovah in our Bibles. It means the One Who is, and Who was and Who is to come. Jehovah is the ever-existing One. He doesn’t want to share His glory with idols. He wanted Israel as a nation to know Who He was and to trust Him. He wants people today to know Who He is and He wants our trust. But unfortunately, He doesn’t get that trust from most of the people in the world that He Himself has created.
Jehovah is revealed through Calamity
The prophets said that judgment was coming on the nation of Israel because of their idolatry. That judgment had one purpose, "Then shall they know that I am the Lord." With Israel, a day is coming when they will be restored to the land and to their covenant relationship with Jehovah. When they are restored, “Then shall they know that I am the Lord.”
It seems to me that there are nations that are going to know that Jehovah is Lord, but for many of them it will be too late. Their judgments are going to prove that Jehovah was speaking to them. In some cases they will be restored to a place of blessing in the future, but in many cases they will not. But they will know that their punishment came from Jehovah. I believe that those who reject the Lord today and who are condemned eternally for it, will realize that "Jesus was Jehovah or the Lord" and that they could have trusted Him. Knowing that they could have been saved will be one of the torments of their eternal destiny.
Today?
I wonder how many people who call themselves Christians today really know that “Jehovah” or Jesus is really Lord? Many people think they became children of God when their parents “baptized” them. Others think that they have always been Christians. Others think that their good works will save them. Some understand that they need to be saved and they understand that being "saved" or “born again” are a point in time experience but they say that can’t remember the experience. It is true that just like the birth of a baby is a process that ends with a deliverance, the birth of a new born Christian is a process that ends with a deliverance. That deliverance comes when we trust or believe in the Lord Jesus.
When I speak of being saved (delivered from the penalty that we deserve because of our sin) and when I speak of being born again (delivered for a new life in Christ), I am usually challenged by some who say that they know that they are saved but don’t remember the process that led to their deliverance. They tell me that they don’t remember their first birth so why should they remember their “new birth.” They remind me of the Lord’s attitude toward children and how he allowed or suffered them to come to Him. Most will agree however, that children, in their innocence represent the kind of faith the Lord wants adults in their maturity to have. Children do not need to be saved before they are able to make their own decisions about their relationship with the Lord, but after they reach the age where they can accept or reject the Lord Jesus, they need to be saved. John is quite clear in his first chapter of his Gospel that we become children of God only by trusting in the Lord (John 1:12). Paul makes it clear that before salvation we are all children (or offspring) of disobedience (Ephesians 2:2). Children and those who cannot reject the Lord are “safe” but not saved. When people can respond to the Gospel they need to be saved.
Can one be Saved and Not Remember the Experience?
Israel as a nation will remember their experience of repenting and believing before they become the center piece of the Lord’s millennial reign. I hope those who say they are saved but who don’t remember the experience are right. I wouldn’t want people to wake up in the eternal burnings knowing then when it is too late that “I am the Lord.” As a preacher, I cannot be faithful to what I understand salvation and the new birth to be, and overlook the need to preach that we need to know when we found out that “I am the Lord.” Of course we can’t always remember a date, but for me the experience was cataclysmic and I wouldn’t trade places for five minutes with someone who doesn’t remember being lost and confused and convicted of their sin and then getting the peace that comes with truly trusting the Lord.
Bruce Collins
Meditation for the week of November 26, 2017