God's Ultimate Purposes
In times of personal tragedy,
we must draw on God's supernatural strength
to understand His purpose in our lives
and to experience His love
and grace more deeply.
Here's Gene:
Ezekiel faced a personal tragedy.
It was a tough situation.
And we read about it--I've called it
"A Fatal Blow."
Notice what God says:
Then the word of the LORD came to me:
"Son of man,
I am about to take the delight of your eyes
away from you with a fatal blow. ...
A beautiful woman, a beautiful wife--
the delight of Ezekiel's eyes and his heart.
...But you must not lament or weep
or let your tears flow.
Groan quietly;
do not observe mourning rites for the dead.
Put on your turban
[and] strap your sandals on your feet;
do not cover your mustache
or eat the bread of mourners."
In other words, what God is saying:
Grieve. We all grieve.
But don't go through all of this ritual.
Don't hire professional mourners.
Don't go through all this external stuff
to demonstrate mourning.
Mourn but not in this extravagant way.
Now God had a purpose.
You see, people would
come by Ezekiel's house.
And they would see him groaning quietly.
They would see that his wife was missing.
And God said: Here's what I want you to say:
So I answered them: ...
When they asked the question,
"What happened?"
...So I answered them:
"The word of the Lord came to me:
'Say to the house of Israel:
This is what the Lord God says:
I am about to desecrate My sanctuary,
the pride of your power,
the light of your eyes,
and the desire of your heart. ...
In other words, the tabernacle--
the temple in Jerusalem.
And that was very meaningful to every Jew
regardless of their spiritual condition.
It's going to be destroyed.
I'm going to take it--in a sense, in death.
...Also, the sons and daughters
you left behind will fall by the sword. ...
In other words, here are these ten thousand
that were taken into captivity with Ezekiel
but they left their sons and daughters
in Jerusalem--many of them.
And they're going to be taken in death.
...Then you will do just as I have done:
You will not cover your mustache
or eat the bread of mourners.
Your turbans will remain on your heads
[and] your sandals on your feet.
You will not lament or weep
but will waste away because of your sins
and will groan to one another. ...
In other words, I don't want you
to go through all kinds of extravagant stuff.
All this external stuff in mourning.
Just sit there and realize
you are responsible for what has happened.
And what is going to happen in Jerusalem.
...Now Ezekiel will be a sign for you.
You will do everything that he has done.
When this happens, you will know
that I am the Lord Yahweh.' "
And by the way, that's a phrase
that is repeated again and again in Ezekiel.
The purpose of tragedy here:
"You will know that I am the Lord Yahweh."
Now, Ezekiel's experience is unique.
And this raises some interesting questions.
You see, God is sovereign.
And there are situations where God,
no doubt in His sovereignty, made decisions
that are beyond our comprehension.
But thankfully, that's [not] normal--not the normal--
that's not the norm.
In other words, we cannot blame God
for every death,
everything that happens that is bad.
We cannot say when an innocent child
is destroyed, an accident or death.
I lost my little sister when she was three years old.
I was only four.
I remember her death as if it were yesterday.
In no way do I believe
that God killed her or took her life.
Sin exists in this world
and sin impacts all of us.
And there are situations
that are beyond our control
and beyond our explanation.
I was thinking of one illustration of this.
A good friend of mine, his wife died.
He had three lovely daughters.
I knew his daughters.
One of his daughters, Laura,
had a friend who was coming
from another city with her two children
in the car to come to the funeral
of this friend's mother's death.
And on the way, her husband is in a car
following them.
And all of a sudden, he sees an accident
ahead of him.
It was his wife and his two children
in a head-on collision. And they were killed
on the way to the funeral.
Now explain that.
I can't.
I can't explain that.
Except that evil exists in this world--
when sin entered the world.
We all face unexplained tragedies.
And I think this is where
the Principle really comes in here that--
and it relates to the fact
that bad things happen to good people.
And the reason is that sin exists in this world.
Here's a Reflection and Response question:
How does Ezekiel's personal tragedy
relate to Romans 8:28?
And we all know that verse.
I'll quote it later, but I want to take you back
to another unique situation--
somewhat similar to Ezekiel's situation.
It relates to Joseph.
Joseph was sold into Egypt by his brothers.
Falsely accused. Thrown into prison.
But eventually, after a number of years
from the time he was 18 to 30,
going through all this suffering--
he became the one right next
to the Pharaoh in Egypt.
He arranged to have his whole family
brought down from Canaan.
Saved them from the famine
because of his leadership in Egypt.
When his father died, Jacob,
his brothers got really nervous.
They said: Well he's just
taken mercy on us because of our dad.
Now that our dad's gone,
he's going to turn on us.
Joseph found out about it.
He brought them in, those 11 brothers,
and he said this:
But Joseph said to them:
"Don't be afraid.
Am I in the place of God?
You planned evil against me;
God planned it for good
to bring about the present result--
the survival of many people."
Now try to explain that in human terms:
You meant it to me for evil
but God meant it to me for good.
Now this was a unique moment in history
for Joseph in terms of a very special purpose
that He had for His own people.
Similar to Ezekiel's situation
when he lost his wife.
With a tremendous lesson
for the people that were in captivity.
But beyond the specifics,
there is a universal concept
that applies to every situation
that involves a critical situation:
Sadness, loss.
And it's Romans 8:28,
which simply reads:
...We know that all things...
Now notice, it says "all things."
And I believe that refers to all things.
...We know that all things
work together for the good
of those who love God:
those who are called
according to His purpose.
How do we explain that?
Especially when there are losses and tragedies
that simply relate to the fact
that sin exists in this world.
Where innocent lives are snuffed out
by evil people.
I can't explain that totally
except by faith to say in my own heart
and my own mind: God is sovereign.
I can't understand it.
I can't even explain it.
But someday we will understand
what this verse really means.
As I was reflecting on this on one occasion,
I was reading a book by a Jewish believer.
And he was trying to explain what happened.
How do I reconcile this verse
with what happened to his fellow Jews
in Nazi Germany?
Six million wiped out.
Destroyed under Hitler's regime.
And then he thought: You know,
if there was no Holocaust
there would be no Holy Land today.
There would be no place for Jews to live
that they can call their own.
Now that didn't explain everything.
But at least it gave him a glimmer of hope
that out of this horrible tragedy
came this place called Israel.
For the first time since they were scattered
from the Babylonian captivity
to be back in their own land--
the land of Israel.
A glimpse.
But someday it'll be more than a glimpse.
We'll understand it all.
So here's the Principle to Live By:
In times of personal tragedy,
we must draw on God's supernatural strength
to experience God's love
and grace more deeply.