Are You Trying to Camouflage Your Pride? (Ezekiel 28-34)
Be loud, be proud!
This is the battle cry of the world and covers many aspects of our lives on earth. Camouflaged deep within it displays it is actually a matter of the heart.
So where does your heart lie?
It’s never too late to start!
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Be loud, be proud!
This is the battle cry of the world and covers many aspects of our lives on earth. Camouflaged deep within it displays it is actually a matter of the heart.
So where does your heart lie?
It’s never too late to start!
Download your first two weeks free by signing up below (or buy Book One of the Family Bible Plan)!
Hard truths...
In these few chapters, Ezekiel speaks words from God that take Egypt down a couple pegs.
There were hard truths he had to communicate but were very much necessary.
The Old and New Testaments both share leaders for God who say hard truths in order to encourage repentance. Without seeing the depth of depravity (of either our own lives or of those around us), we can easily fail to grasp the necessity of a truly repentant heart.
Egypt's failures...
Egypt was called to account. The choices they made were now going to meet their consequences.
- Are those things in and of themselves bad? No, but as Christians we need to be especially aware of the after effects.
- Are those the only places where pride seeps in? No, anything can become a source of pride if we allow it that power. (ie., mastering something in your job, leading a Bible study, playing a sport really well, etc.)
All authority belongs to Him...
Time and time again, the Bible notes that sins are frequently done in secret, assuming God can’t see or that He won’t punish them. Then there are times they are done loud and proud, with zero shame and zero fear for God’s justice.
The Egyptians worshipped false idols but they were about to find out they were also under the authority of God.
The whole world is under His authority. The Old Testament provides a great basis for us to begin to grasp God’s sovereignty. He rules over all!
The rulers and kings are all under His rule whether they accept it or not.
Pride was their downfall...
Pride was at the basis for the Egyptian way of life.
The Israelites heard these 7 oracles against Egypt, yet it seems highly doubtful in context that they saw what was intended.
- Before their exile, they turned to Egypt for help (a flawed nation riddled with arrogance) versus relying on God for help. After all, it is He who causes nations to rise and fall.
- It didn’t matter how long ago their sins were committed, justice would occur.
- It was irrelevant that they did not worship God, everyone is under His umbrella.
- A lust for power, dominion, and wealth were at the root of their pride.
- They were meant to see this as an example.
Did they learn?
It should be of no great surprise to us that the Israelites failed to apply the direct and indirect messages to their own lives.
(And while we can be overly critical reading the story years later… one might consider how others would read our story years later. Would we cause the reader to roll their eyes at our patterns of sin?)
The book takes a shift in focus at chapter 33. The oracles against Egypt have now been uttered for all to hear. A new series of hard truths and comforts for a downtrodden people is being ushered in.
It starts with the reminder that a righteous person is not saved by their righteousness… as in, you can’t ignore your sin and claim you were righteous as though your sins don’t matter.
The other side of that is also taught, for those who were not considered righteous, they had the opportunity to repent and turn their lives around to be called righteous.
The camouflage of the past would neither save them nor condemn them.
Eager to hear...
They were eager to him, that sounds like positive change!
Let’s read the rest of those verses….
And behold, you are to them like one who sings lustful songs with a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument, for they hear what you say, but they will not do it.
The danger in camouflage...
We can tell ourselves that God won’t notice or care about our choices, but that is patently false.
It is made very clear from cover to cover that our sins matter, that we will be held responsible for them (even for sins we don’t know we commit), and that repentance is an option to wipe them away.
When we camouflage over our sins with more lies we pile up our greedy lusts to have our own way. This creates an idol out of who WE want God to be as though we can control Him by what we deem sinful.
Think about the most honest person in your life. Now, how would they interpret your actions and write about your life? Chances are you either cringed or gloated.
If you cringed, keep in mind you are aware of your nature and the Holy Spirit may be prodding you toward repentance.
If you gloated, maybe re-read the chapters to see the downfall of the proud. When we fail to see our pride, we often fail to see our sins. Pride can be a camouflage that leads to destruction.
The camouflage conundrum...
There are two methods to use a camouflage of sin… one is to hide away your sin in private and the other is to use something like pride in self to cover over your sins.
If you are proudly living out your truth and claiming it is of God while disregarding what the Bible calls sin, you are not only hindering yourself but putting a camouflage over sin for others to see. For that, you will be held responsible.
And if you are claiming the name of Christ whilst living this way, you best rethink your camouflage security blanket.
God will not be mocked, that is 1,000% clear.
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
Hard truths? Yes, but necessary.
To live under a camouflage that feeds our sin, we:
- promote our selfish desires as more deserving than God’s mercy,
- discourage other believers, and
- lead the way to our own destruction.
Let us live in a way to practice repentance daily and to encourage others in the household of faith by holding ourselves to Biblical standards when we call ourselves Christian.
Last Week
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Thanks be to God, no camouflage works before God’s eyes!
Even though we try to hide our sin and ugliness, what we all long for is to be seen and loved anyway. So thankful we have this in Jesus!
Becca, what a compelling post. Pausing to reflect here. What a good good Father we have. Blessings.
#2&3
Happy everyday！
人生不如意十之八九，开心最重要！