The Fifth Epistle.
Sunday, November 26, 2000.
God Sees.
By Rev. James R. Bingham
Special to corndancer.com
POSTED FROM Memphis, Tennessee
Ezekiel 9:9-10
9:9 Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth not.
9:10 And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head.
When I was a child I used to play in the dirt. My sister and I would make mud pies and mud cakes. Yes, we would even ask some of the grown ups if they would like to have a piece of our backyard delicacies.
Oftentimes while making the mud pies and mud cakes, we would see little ants going about their business. I was amazed at how the little ants would travel, seemingly without effort, with huge pieces of food and building materials. They would just go about their business, building this and building that, carrying this and carrying that, without the least bit of concern that someone much, much bigger could see everything they were doing.
There are times when we are very much like those ants, just going about our mundane human business. We dress a certain way, we talk a certain way, we act a certain way, yet our thoughts are not visible. Did you know that someone can sit right next to you, smile at you, laugh when you laugh, clap when you clap, seem to get happy when you get happy, while all the time they are thinking about how disturbing it is to be so close to you.
Some of us, most of us, each and every one of us, have our little secrets. They are the skeletons in our psychic closets.
We look back over our lives and we thank God that we made it to this day.
Now and then we meet-up with people who we know would love to rummage about our closet in search of those skeletons. We thank God that they don't have a key!
Be Wary of Creating a Key
To a Place You Don't Want to Revisit.
Then, in a moment of vulnerability, we take the time to tell our closest friend all about our problems. How many of you know that one of the worst things you can do is to tell your secrets to your friend? You have given them the key to a place they shouldn't have the right to revisit. You think, only my friends can reveal my secrets. She is the only one who knows them. Isn't that right?
Yeah, yeah, that's true in the physical realm, but know this: There is someone else in your closet, someone else with a key.
Some of us meet in the late hours of the evening, continue on over into the wee wee hours of the night, scheming and planning against someone who hasn't the slightest idea that we feel about them the mean-spirited way that we do. They might not know, but God knows what you're doing.
Evil, wicked people, who get caught up in their way of thinking to the exclusion of all good, go about their business robbing and killing. They rob homes and they kill dreams. They do all they can to destroy the hopes of others for selfish gains.
The Folly of Pleading
To the Evil Doer to Change Their Way.
You can approach them with the purest principles of humanity that you can muster up. You can say such things as, "It is wrong to kill. God frowns on evil doers." You can plead to them that they don't have to violate someone else in order to get what they want. Listen, you say: If you work with people, you will get what you want anyway. You know the principle is true that when you give, you will receive. Why not give?
Try as you might, you're most likely wasting your breath. You must know that an evil person, who is caught up in his or her way of thinking, will hear what you say, but they just won't be able to see what you are saying.
There are people who suffer all night long. They agonize over the pain in their body, rubbing liniments and ointments on their aching parts. They toss and turn and moan.
Then there are those dear ones who are filled with self-pity, who feel that they are overcome by stress and pressure. They look in their mirror of misery and feel that no one knows the trouble they see. Their frustration can be so great that they feel like giving up. Yet something deep down inside of them says, hold on, don't give up, keep on keeping on. "If I can just hold on a little while longer, then I know I can make it," the quiet voice says to them.
Someone Greater than Self
Hears Your Cries and Groans.
Why do they hear this voice in the depth of their soul? They hear it because someone greater than self hears them! Someone is vigilant to hear your cry and pity every groan. Look at Romans 8:25-27.
8:25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
8:27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
The Spirit is taking notes and entering them in a big Book of Life. Even if you never see them as you go about your business, day to day, the Spirit of God has a plan you to ease your heavy burden.
How much heavier is the burden of the prophet?
Charged with Telling the People
What the People Do Not Want to Hear.
Ezekiel was charged with the responsibility of reminding the entire nation of Israel of their plight and how they had fallen to such depths of misery. Ezekiel had to tell them why they had been carried away into captivity, why they were scattered, some to the hills and others to Babylon, even more to the dividing lines between Judah and Samaria.
Ezekiel, a prophet of God, was charged to be the watchman. His heavy burden was put forth in Ezekiel 3:17.
3:17 Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.
He didn't really appreciate being the watchman, or even being God's spokesman. I think it was because of the way God's message came upon him.
Look at Ezekiel, Chapter 8. The prophet was sitting in his own home and the elders were sitting in front of him when, all of a sudden, the hand of the Lord fell upon him. Now to the elders this was something to see. Ezekiel had no control over the sudden turn of event. It could have been that he appeared to be in a trance, or that he was having some type of seizure; nevertheless, while in this trance or seizure, while he was being taken up in the spirit, he would hear the word of God and see visions.
God would take him into a spirit-type setting where he could see things as jealousy. What does jealousy look like?
8:3 And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.
Jealousy and Perverse Actions
Penetrated to the Heart of the Temple.
This seat of jealousy infected the inner parts of the temple, the sanctuary, where people were performing all kinds of perverse actions. Twenty-five elders were worshipping the sun. They held the branch up to their nose, receiving the life of the spirit for themselves and their own selfishness.
Do you see a vision? Do you see the man in white linen? He is a figure of a priest. The priests are dressed in fine white linen. Their raiment is ordained by God. Revelation 19:14 tells us that we, the elect, will one day wear fine white linen.
Ezekiel 9:11 And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as thou hast commanded me.
Our priest was not wrapped in white linen until he was buried. Yet he had an inkhorn. His inkhorn was not filled with ink, but with blood. It wasn't used for writing, but for blotting out our sins. Each time his blood dripped from his body, he was placing a mark on the heads of those who suffer the indignations of this world.
He blots out our sins, saying, God sees.
For all of those who cheated, he says, My blood is for the remission of sin. God sees.
Through the Blood of the Son,
You Can Realize Freedom.
He sees the backstabber, the night rambler, the liar, the murderer. To each he says, I'm giving you another chance. Yes, because of the blood of my Son, you can realize freedom from your sins.
God is saying, Didn't you know that the ants go where they should not go? Yet I protect and provide for them.
Did you know that the animals trample where they should not trample? Even in Noah's time I provided and protected them that they may have another chance on this world. I see them.
Here is some good news. Not only does God see the insects and the animals, he also sees the birds. He sees the sparrows fly. He tells us, Don't worry about clothes or food, or a place to sleep.
So I say to you, in homage to that great Spirit of God, that in these times of dismay, confusion and deceit, do not be discouraged. Instead, be encouraged that God sees your suffering and offers a way to comfort and shelter.
Don't worry about comfort or home. God's eye is on the sparrow! You should know that, even though you have been where you should not have been, even though you have said things you should not have said, even though you feel that there is no one who cares about you but you alone - even though you've thought about giving up, know that His eye is on the sparrow. For sure He's watching, He's protecting, and He's loving you!
Give God Some Praise!
EDITOR'S NOTE: Rev. Bingham
can be reached by E-mail at
jamesrbingham@juno.com.
His phone number in Memphis is
901.785.5691.
