Israel did not stop worshiping idols even after being delivered from slavery in Egypt. It was only many years later when Nehemiah and Ezra re-built Jerusalem and the temple that they ceased these God-denying acts. Their idol worship was not simply burning incense on an altar or slaughtering a lamb. No, God said “the people have forsaken me and profaned this place by making offerings in it to other gods whom neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have known; and because they have filled this place with the blood of innocents, and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command or decree, nor did it come into my mind—”(Jeremiah 19:4-5).1
It is difficult to imagine such barbarity.
While the prophet Ezekiel was captive in Babylon, the Lord gave him prophesies about Jerusalem, and one I read recently was both distressing and horrifying.
“And because of all your abominations I will do with you what I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again. Therefore, fathers shall eat their sons in your midst, and sons shall eat their fathers. And I will execute judgments on you, and any of you who survive I will scatter to all the winds” (Ezekiel 5:9–10).
Again, it is challenging for modern readers to imagine such atrocities; what desperation a son would experience in order to eat his father or a father his son. One struggles with revulsion. Nevertheless, this was God’s judgment upon them for their horrific worship of idols.
We should be thankful that we in the modern world don’t do such vicious things.
Or do we?
No, we don’t burn our sons in a fire. Instead, we tear their arms and legs off and crush their skulls in the wombs of their mothers. What is horrendous is that we don’t consider these things as brutal but instead label them healthy. Evil is called good. Good is called evil.
However, there is good news for those who have committed such awful acts and perhaps the sexual sins that led to them.
“And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him…” (Colossians 1:21–22).
Who is the “he” in this passage? Whose body of flesh is it?
Jesus, who is the Lord God Almighty Himself. The Creator of all things. It was God Himself who, in the flesh, was punished for the sins we have committed.
“Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool” (Isaiah 1:18).
Have you committed terrible sins? He will forgive you, and you will therefore and thereafter be without guilt before Him. And even though you may experience that guilt returning at certain times, His love for you will never fail.
“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22–23).
In her beautiful hymn, Before the Throne of God Above, Charitie Lees Bancroft wrote:
“When Satan tempts me to despair, and tells me of the guilt within,
upward I look and see Him there who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died, my sinful soul is counted free;
for God the Just is satisfied to look on Him and pardon me.”
There is no god like the Christian God. He is a sovereign King who forgives and is merciful. His children will live for eternity in the kingdom of His love. We have done nothing to deserve any of this. Nevertheless, it is all free for those who turn to Him and believe.
Thank You, Lord God Almighty, for Your wondrous grace.
1All Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (2016). Crossway Bibles.
Gif courtesy tenor.
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