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Ezekiel 33-36
New Covenant
Elaborated
Psalm 99:1-9 Holy God Who Forgives
1.“Yahweh reigns! Let the peoples tremble. He sits enthroned among the cherubim. Let the earth be moved.2.Yahweh is great in Zion. He is high above all the peoples.3.Let them praise your great and awesome name. He is Holy!4.The King’s strength also loves justice. You do establish equity. You execute justice and righteousness in Jacob.5.Exalt Yahweh our God. Worship at his footstool. He is Holy!6.Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel among those who call on his name; they called on Yahweh, and he answered them.7.He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud. They kept his testimonies, the statute that he gave them.8.You answered them, Yahweh our God. You are a God who forgave them, although you took vengeance for their doings.9.Exalt Yahweh, our God. Worship at his holy hill, for Yahweh, our God, is holy!“Observations
99:1-3.God's holiness, praised three times, ties this Messianic psalm together. Remember that the root idea of holiness is being separate or distinct, and in the case of God, emphasizes that He is separate from all other gods, in being the sovereign ruler of heaven and earth. For this alone, He should be praised, especially as He rules for the benefit of His people, and will rule over all when the Messiah comes.
99:4-5.
God's holiness is also seen in His love and establishment of justice and righteousness on the earth, setting things right, rewarding good, and punishing evil. This is another cause for praise, particularly when demonstrated in Yahweh's care of the descendants of Jacob.
99:6-9. God's holiness is not only seen in His mighty nature, and just character, but in His relationship with His people, who call upon Him in prayer. Yahweh answers those rightly related to Him, as He did for Moses and Samuel. Aaron's mentioned to represent the priesthood. Verse 8 is worth meditating on, because it contains an important truth about God that flows from His character and justice, and is often forgotten today: God forgives sin against His word (given in verse 7), yet punishes or takes vengeance against their disobedient deeds. God covers over or atones for the death penalty of our sin, but lets us reap His mandated consequences so we'll stop rebelling against His holy word.
Application
Sin against a Holy and Just God has consequences, avoid them by doing what He revealed, including praising Him.
Prayer
Amen.
Proverbs 23:10-11 Defender for Hire
10.“Don’t move the ancient boundary stone. Don’t encroach on the fields of the fatherless:11.for their Defender is strong. He will plead their case against you.“Observations
23:10.The major reason many people don't engage in evil is because they don't think that they can get away with it. Widows and orphans are especially vulnerable to predators, who might encroach on the inheritance/fields of the defenseless.
23:11.
But God is their strong defender. He will take up their cause against the wicked who seek to oppress them.
Application
In times of injustice, remember that God is our Defender, and seek His intervention.
Prayer
God, You are my Defender and Protector, please bring about justice in the cases where I'm being treated unfairly by those who don't fear You. Thanks. Amen.
Ezekiel 33-36 New Covenant Elaborated
These chapters seek to lay the groundwork for God regathering and rebuilding His people after the exile. The Watchman passage is reiterated to emphasize the role of corporate reproof and individual responsibility in developing a holy nation. False shepherds and selfish sheep are lambasted, and God portrays proper shepherding, promising future care. The New Covenant is elaborated upon, specifying the behavior God desires in His people. Pride gets humbled, and God will exalt Himself as He restores His people.
Ezekiel 33 Warnings for God's People
1.The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,2.Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and tell them, When I bring the sword on a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and set him for their watchman;3.if, when he sees the sword come on the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;4.then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet, and doesn’t take warning, if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be on his own head.5.He heard the sound of the trumpet, and didn’t take warning; his blood shall be on him; whereas if he had taken warning, he would have delivered his soul.6.But if the watchman sees the sword come, and doesn’t blow the trumpet, and the people aren’t warned, and the sword comes, and take any person from among them; he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.7.So you, Son of man, I have set you a watchman to the house of Israel; therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.8.When I tell the wicked, O wicked man, you shall surely die, and you don’t speak to warn the wicked from his way; that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at your hand.9.Nevertheless, if you warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, and he doesn’t turn from his way; he shall die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your soul.10.You, Son of man, tell the house of Israel: Thus you speak, saying, our transgressions and our sins are on us, and we pine away in them; how then can we live?11.Tell them, As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn, turn from your evil ways; for why will you die, house of Israel?12.You, Son of man, tell the children of your people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his disobedience; and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turns from his wickedness; neither shall he who is righteous be able to live thereby in the day that he sins.13.When I tell the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his righteousness, and commit iniquity, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered; but in his iniquity that he has committed, therein shall he die.14.Again, when I say to the wicked, you shall surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is just and righteous;15.if the wicked restore the pledge, give again that which he had taken by robbery, walk in the statutes of life, committing no iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die.16.None of his sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him: he has done that which is just and righteous; he shall surely live.17.Yet the children of your people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal.18.When the righteous turns from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, he shall even die therein.19.When the wicked turns from his wickedness, and does that which is just and righteous, he shall live thereby.20.Yet you say, The way of the Lord is not equal. House of Israel, I will judge every one of you according to his ways.21.It happened in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one who had escaped out of Jerusalem came to me, saying, The city has been struck.22.Now the hand of Yahweh had been on me in the evening, before he who was escaped came; and he had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more mute.23.The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,24.Son of man, they who inhabit those waste places in the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance.25.Therefore tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: you eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood: and shall you possess the land?26.You stand on your sword, you work abomination, and every one of you defiles his neighbor’s wife: and shall you possess the land?27.You shall tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: As I live, surely those who are in the waste places shall fall by the sword; and him who is in the open field will I give to the animals to be devoured; and those who are in the strongholds and in the caves shall die of the pestilence.28.I will make the land a desolation and an astonishment; and the pride of her power shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, so that none shall pass through.29.Then shall they know that I am Yahweh, when I have made the land a desolation and an astonishment, because of all their abominations which they have committed.30.As for you, Son of man, the children of your people talk of you by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, everyone to his brother, saying, Please come and hear what is the word that comes forth from Yahweh.31.They come to you as the people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but don’t do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goes after their gain.32.Behold, you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they don’t do them.33.When this comes to pass, (behold, it comes), then shall they know that a prophet has been among them.Observations
33:1-13.The watchman principles are reiterated from chapter 3. Pay special attention to 33:5 a wicked hypocrite (Ps 50) is warned by the watchman speaking the word of God; if he paid attention to the warning, he would have delivered/saved his soul from God's discipline of death. God gets no pleasure from the death of the wicked, and would much rather see them repent and live, but it's their choice. The righteous who sins will die if he/she doesn't repent. Trusting in one's former righteousness doesn't deliver from disciplinary death.
33:14-20.
God has consistently called for His people to live justly and righteously (Isaiah 1:16-18,27). That encompasses being rightly related to God and others, and dealing with others as you would have them deal with you. God will judge everyone according to their ways, and we will reap what we've sown.
33:21-29.
This is the simple record of the announcement of the fall of Jerusalem. The emphasis shifts to living righteously. The remnant thought they should surely possess the land because they were numerous, and Abraham was only an individual. What they're missing is that Abraham was righteous, and they violate the law and covenant, shedding innocent blood, eating blood, worshiping idols and being sexually immoral. These are the activities God curses rather than blesses.
33:30-33.
God's people loved to gather and hear lovely songs and pleasant words, but they didn't obey them. When they reap judgment they will know that a prophet speaking for God had been in their midst.
James 1:21Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. 22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
Application
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
Prayer
God, thanks that Your word provides warnings so I can turn from the path of cursing to that of blessing; don't let me deceive myself, but show me what You want me to do. Thanks. Amen.
Ezekiel 34 Selfish Shepherds and Showers of Blessings
1.The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,2.Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and tell them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Shouldn’t the shepherds feed the sheep?3.You eat the fat, and you clothe yourself with the wool, you kill the fatlings; but you don’t feed the sheep.4.You haven’t strengthened the diseased, neither have you healed that which was sick, neither have you bound up that which was broken, neither have you brought back that which was driven away, neither have you sought that which was lost; but with force and with rigor you have ruled over them.5.They were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and they became food to all the animals of the field, and were scattered.6.My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill: yes, my sheep were scattered on all the surface of the earth; and there was none who searched or sought.7.Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh:8.As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, surely because my sheep became a prey, and my sheep became food to all the animals of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my sheep, but the shepherds fed themselves, and didn’t feed my sheep;9.therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh:10.Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my sheep at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the sheep; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; and I will deliver my sheep from their mouth, that they may not be food for them.11.For thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out.12.As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered abroad, so will I seek out my sheep; and I will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.13.I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited places of the country.14.I will feed them with good pasture; and on the mountains of the height of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie down in a good fold; and on fat pasture shall they feed on the mountains of Israel.15.I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will cause them to lie down, says the Lord Yahweh.16.I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but the fat and the strong I will destroy; I will feed them in justice.17.As for you, O my flock, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, the rams and the male goats.18.Does it seem a small thing to you to have fed on the good pasture, but you must tread down with your feet the residue of your pasture? and to have drunk of the clear waters, but you must foul the residue with your feet?19.As for my sheep, they eat that which you have trodden with your feet, and they drink that which you have fouled with your feet.20.Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh to them: Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.21.Because you thrust with side and with shoulder, and push all the diseased with your horns, until you have scattered them abroad;22.therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.23.I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.24.I, Yahweh, will be their God, and my servant David prince among them; I, Yahweh, have spoken it.25.I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause evil animals to cease out of the land; and they shall dwell securely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.26.I will make them and the places around my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in its season; there shall be showers of blessing.27.The tree of the field shall yield its fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be secure in their land; and they shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have broken the bars of their yoke, and have delivered them out of the hand of those who made slaves of them.28.They shall no more be a prey to the nations, neither shall the animals of the earth devour them; but they shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid.29.I will raise up to them a plantation for renown, and they shall be no more consumed with famine in the land, neither bear the shame of the nations any more.30.They shall know that I, Yahweh, their God am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, says the Lord Yahweh.31.You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, says the Lord Yahweh.Observations
34:1-16.God pronounces woe on the shepherds of His sheep who let them be scattered, and destroyed. They only looked out for their own interests, and not those of the sheep. God's sheep wandered on every high hill (engaged in sensual pagan idolatry), and were judged for it. It should be clear that God didn't view those disciplined and even destroyed in the exile and fall of Jerusalem as depraved pagans, but His own sheep, whom He would seek again and restore. The fault was laid at the feet of the greedy shepherds who didn't feed the sheep with God's word so they would live. Some of the tasks of the shepherd are listed: protection, healing, guidance to good pasture/food, and seeking the wandering/lost. God will perform these tasks for His sheep and then set up a shepherd, David over them (next section).
34:17-31.
God will judge His flock, between those sheep who live for themselves, without regard for the welfare of the other sheep, and those who trust in Him. God will save and regather His flock, and put David as prince over them. David is meant literally and will be resurrected, or a Davidic descendant is intended, or this is a reference to the Messiah. The former is probably more in line with the context (prince, rather than shepherd or King; in 45:22 the prince there offers a sacrifice for his own sin, which would rule out the Messiah if Ezekiel is talking about the same prince.). God will make a covenant of peace with His sheep, and they will dwell securely in Jerusalem, under showers of blessings. This is yet future.
Application
Self-centered living, without regard for the welfare of others will not escape judgment by the Great Shepherd.
Prayer
God, may I have Your heart towards others, knowing You will judge me based upon how I've reflected Your love to them. Amen.
Ezekiel 35 He Who Gloats First, Grieves Last
1.Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,2.Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it,3.and tell it, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir, and I will stretch out my hand against you, and I will make you a desolation and an astonishment.4.I will lay your cities waste, and you shall be desolate; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.5.Because you have had a perpetual enmity, and have given over the children of Israel to the power of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time of the iniquity of the end;6.therefore, as I live, says the Lord Yahweh, I will prepare you for blood, and blood shall pursue you: since you have not hated blood, therefore blood shall pursue you.7.Thus will I make Mount Seir an astonishment and a desolation; and I will cut off from it him who passes through and him who returns.8.I will fill its mountains with its slain: in your hills and in your valleys and in all your watercourses shall they fall who are slain with the sword.9.I will make you a perpetual desolation, and your cities shall not be inhabited; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.10.Because you have said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas Yahweh was there:11.therefore, as I live, says the Lord Yahweh, I will do according to your anger, and according to your envy which you have shown out of your hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I shall judge you.12.You shall know that I, Yahweh, have heard all your insults which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they have been given us to devour.13.You have magnified yourselves against me with your mouth, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard it.14.Thus says the Lord Yahweh: When the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate.15.As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do to you: you shall be desolate, Mount Seir, and all Edom, even all of it; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.Observation
35:1-15.God singles out Mount Seir in Edom for judgment for their perpetual enmity against Israel, and Himself. With insolent pride, anger, envy, and hatred, they rejoiced over Israel's destruction and magnified themselves against God. When the rest of the world rejoices, they will be desolate.
Application
Those who fight against God and His people will always lose in the long run.
Prayer
God, may I be humble in my dealings, with even my enemies, knowing that You are the one who settles the final score. Amen.
Ezekiel 36 New Covenant Elaboration
1.You, Son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, you mountains of Israel, hear the word of Yahweh.2.Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because the enemy has said against you, Aha! and, The ancient high places are ours in possession;3.therefore prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because, even because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that you might be a possession to the residue of the nations, and you are taken up in the lips of talkers, and the evil report of the people;4.therefore, you mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Yahweh: Thus says the Lord Yahweh to the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the cities that are forsaken, which are become a prey and derision to the residue of the nations that are all around;5.therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the nations, and against all Edom, that have appointed my land to themselves for a possession with the joy of all their heart, with despite of soul, to cast it out for a prey.6.Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and tell the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my wrath, because you have borne the shame of the nations:7.therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: I have sworn, saying, Surely the nations that are around you, they shall bear their shame.8.But you, mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people Israel; for they are at hand to come.9.For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn into you, and you shall be tilled and sown;10.and I will multiply men on you, all the house of Israel, even all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited, and the waste places shall be built;11.and I will multiply on you man and animal; and they shall increase and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited after your former estate, and will do better to you than at your beginnings: and you shall know that I am Yahweh.12.Yes, I will cause men to walk on you, even my people Israel; and they shall possess you, and you shall be their inheritance, and you shall no more henceforth bereave them of children.13.Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,16.Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,17.Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by their way and by their doings: their way before me was as the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity.18.Therefore I poured out my wrath on them for the blood which they had poured out on the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols;19.and I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them.20.When they came to the nations, where they went, they profaned my holy name; in that men said of them, These are the people of Yahweh, and are gone forth out of his land.21.But I had respect for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations, where they went.22.Therefore tell the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I don’t do this for your sake, house of Israel, but for my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations, where you went.23.I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am Yahweh, says the Lord Yahweh, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.24.For I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land.25.I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.26.a I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; b and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.27.a I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, b and you shall keep my ordinances, and do them.28.You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.29.I will save you from all your uncleanness: and I will call for the grain, and will multiply it, and lay no famine on you.30.I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that you may receive no more the reproach of famine among the nations.31.Then you shall remember your evil ways, and your doings that were not good; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.32.Nor for your sake do I this, says the Lord Yahweh, be it known to you: be ashamed and confounded for your ways, house of Israel.33.Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be built.34.The land that was desolate shall be tilled, whereas it was a desolation in the sight of all who passed by.35.They shall say, This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.36.Then the nations that are left around you shall know that I, Yahweh, have built the ruined places, and planted that which was desolate: I, Yahweh, have spoken it, and I will do it37.Thus says the Lord Yahweh: For this, moreover, will I be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them: I will increase them with men like a flock.38.As the flock for sacrifice, as the flock of Jerusalem in her appointed feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.Observations
36:1-15.God has Ezekiel prophesy to the land that some thought was the cause of Israel's undoing. God says that Israel will be regathered and prosper in the land, so it isn't the land's fault.
36:16-38.
The cause of Israel's demise was their uncleanness of their ways in God's sight, shedding innocent blood and idolatry. For His name's sake, to magnify His reputation (which Israel had profaned) in the eyes of the nations: 24 God will regather and replant Israel in the land; 25 Then He will cleanse them from the defilement of their sin and idols; 26a General to Specific: Give/assign them a new heart and new spirit (general statement elaborated in the next two specific statements, followed by the results): 26b Heart: He will cause (Hiphil) their stony heart to depart and give them a sensitive heart; 27a Spirit: He will put His Spirit in them and cause them to walk in His statutes (Phil 2:13); 27b Result: They will keep His commands and do them; 28 Result of 27b: They will live in a loyal covenantal relationship with God 29-30 Result of 28: God will save them from all their uncleanness and bless them. 31-32 Result of 29-30: They will kick themselves for their rebellion. A hallmark of the New Covenant is that Israel, as a nation, will keep God's law, something which only a few did previously. Those who have God's Spirit in them should will and do His pleasure, keeping His law (Phil 2:13). See other comments on a new heart in Ezekiel 11:19, 18:31, and the New Covenant (Isa 59:21; Jer 31:31). The promises of the New Covenant for Israel are yet future, when they will grieve for their sin and be permanently blessed by God.
Application
When God's Spirit has free reign in one's heart, they will walk according to the law.
Prayer
Lord, may my heart be sensitive to You and Your will, so that I will walk in Your ways, rejoicing in Your blessings, rather than grieving over my stupid sin. Amen.
Digging Deeper
Picture: Hieronymus Bosch's Seven Deadly Sinsand the Last Four Things
{Death, Judgment, Hell, Glory}).
From Wikipedia
“Attributed to Hieronymus Bosch, completed around 1500 or later. The painting is oil on wood panels. The painting is presented in a series of circular images.
Four small circles, detailing "Death of the sinner", "Judgement", "Hell", and "Glory", surround a larger circle in which the seven deadly sins are depicted:
wrath at the bottom, then (proceeding clockwise)
envy, greed, gluttony, sloth, extravagance (later, lust), and pride in scenes from everyday life rather than allegorical representations of the sins.
At the centre of the large circle, which is said to represent the eye of God, is a "pupil" in which Christ can be seen emerging from his tomb.
Below this image is the Latin inscription Cave Cave Deus Videt ("Beware, Beware, God Sees").
Above and Below the central image are inscription in Latin of Deuteronomy 32:28-29, containing the lines "For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them," above, and "O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!"”
God in a nutshell: God will bring Himself glory in the sight of the nations by regathering, resettling, and restoring Israel to the Promised Land, and blessing them there in the future. He will do heart surgery on Israel, through His Spirit, in making their heart tender to His word, so they will obey it. He will judge pride both outside Israel, and within her leaders and people. He holds individuals responsible for their sin, and others in the community responsible to warn them. He will shepherd His flock and bless them as promised.
Us in a nutshell: We can be incredibly selfish and brutish in seeking to get our needs met, rather than seeking to meet the needs of others (our needs have to be met by God for that to happen). We will be judged for using others to meet our needs, rather than having a relationship with God in which He meets our needs. When the Spirit is in a person's heart, and given free reign, that person will walk in God's ways, keeping the law as God desired. Those who dabble in sin, will totally regret it, loathing themselves after God cleans up their act.
Where to go for more
Truthbase.netDeadly Desires I: A Subway Named Desire
Study guide and seven outlines on Biblical Unity