“Thus My anger will be spent and I will satisfy My wrath on them, and I will be appeased; then they will know that I, the LORD, have spoken in My zeal when I have spent My wrath upon them” (Ezek 5:13).
Ezekiel 5:13 is the first of fifty-six occurrences of the phrase “then they will know that I [am] the LORD” in the book of Ezekiel. Everything God does in the book, whether judgment or salvation, has one goal in mind: that Israel will know the LORD. God is not interested in long-distance relationships. He does not appreciate when His people visit Him only on the holidays. In all the blessings He gives, in all the disasters He allows, and in His righteous judgments, we see a God whose heart aches for us to know Him personally. We see a God who longs to share His goodness with His people.
How it must hurt Him when we only thank Him for what He gives and fail to worship Him for who He is. Please forgive us, God!
One can only imagine the depth of pain in God’s heart when we treat Him like an ATM machine, or when our prayer life looks more like ordering off a menu at our favorite restaurant. We complain when our “Heavenly Server” delivers our food late. And when He tells us that things we really want are no longer on the menu, we get angry. How it must hurt Him when we only thank Him for what He gives and fail to worship Him for who He is. Please forgive us, God!
Oh, that our life’s goal would be in harmony with God’s greatest desire: knowing Him and enjoying Him forever. And oh, that our life’s mission would be for Israel and the nations to know God too!
“Thus says the LORD, ‘Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,’ declares the LORD” (Jer 9:23-24).
