Thoughts on Christian Living Book #2 by Dr. W. A. Dillard - HTML preview

A RIGHTEOUS CASE AGAINST JERUSALEM

In the general theme of it, no one is better qualified to lay out a case against God’s people than God Himself. When He does so, it is brutally frank. An example is found in Ezekiel 16. The kingdom of Judah was in captivity in Babylon, the people bitterly downcast (Note Psalm 137) and Jerusalem, their city of Zion, in ruins. Perhaps they were in a little better position to listen to God than they were before the captivity began. So, God laid out the case against them in terms no one could misunderstand, and in terms that should shock them to repentance. Jerusalem is animated in the case, and the city and the people of it are one.

God said it (the city and its people) was born in the land of Canaan (the land of servants to servants, the descendants of Canaan, son of Ham, son of Noah). Your father was an Amorite (descendant of Canaan), and your mother an Hittite (also a descendant of Canaan). In the vernacular, Jerusalem was nothing more than a servant of servants (of the color of Canaan and Ham). God described it as a rejected birth thrown out into a field, devoid of all love, compassion and care.

God pitied Jerusalem and caused it to live. Moreover, He blessed it with holy love and care. He raised it to the height of human prosperity, and the envy of other nations around it. But loving popularity and the plaudits of men, Jerusalem polluted herself repeatedly, playing the harlot more than harlots do. Harlots receive gifts from their lovers, but conversely, Jerusalem gave gifts to her lovers to assure continued practice. God said Sodom and Samaria were her sisters whose judgment came for less sinfulness than that of Jerusalem.

Nevertheless, God’s message to His people is more than blistering revelations of truth. It is one of mercy, grace, and of appreciation for what that means. God would restore Jerusalem, and give Samaria and Sodom to her for daughters, but not their covenant. God would restore Jerusalem to know Him, the true and living God. In so doing, Jerusalem would remember, and be humbled, and keep her mouth shut because of her shame in remembrance of former, evil practices. So, God will be pacified, and Jerusalem reconciled. What a glorious day that will be!

Meanwhile, His people of covenant today enjoy the tender loving care of the gracious, loving, heavenly Father. But while that is present reality, it is also sad and repugnant that some churches that claim to be His, busy themselves much more with gaining the plaudits of men than the commendation of the Lord. Moreover, some flirt with, and prefer the world rather than the strict instructions of the Lovely Lord. Do they not know that the natural branches of God’s olive tree (Romans 11) were cut off that they might be grafted in? Such are warned forthrightly to take heed, because they might be cut off as well. It just seems the lesson so

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