Latest / Dwelling Place: The Bible for Moms / #172. Turn and Live: Does God Enjoy Punishing Sin + The Spiritual Legacy We Give Our Children | Ezekiel 13–18

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#172. Turn and Live: Does God Enjoy Punishing Sin + The Spiritual Legacy We Give Our Children | Ezekiel 13–18 · Dwelling Place: The Bible for Moms

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  This is The Dwelling Place from Entrusted Ministries.
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  I'm Stephanie Hickox, and in today's reading of Ezekiel 13 through 18, we get some resounding clarity regarding God's intentions and His heart for all people.
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  If you've ever questioned if God enjoys disciplining and punishing you've come to a portion of scripture that will remove any doubt from your mind This episode will be best for mom ears alone.
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  In chapter thirteen, God uses Ezekiel to condemn the false prophets and prophetesses of the day.
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  They've been telling the people peace when there is no peace.
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  The people do not have security as long as they're dwelling in sin, and these deceitful reports are preventing people from coming to the Lord in humility.
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  In chapter fourteen, God points out that if the righteous intercessors, Noah, Daniel, and Job, lived in Jerusalem, even their prayers would not be able to save Anyone except themselves.
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  In chapter fifteen, God picks up the analogy of comparing Israel to a vine, saying, "If a vine doesn't bear fruit, it's worthless.
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  If Judah was a tree that didn't bear fruit, it could be cut down and something could be built of it.
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  But a fruitless vine is worthless, and it will be burned up."
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  When we approach chapter 16, it is the longest chapter in all of Ezekiel And it contains quite graphic language and content.
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  In this chapter, god gives an allegory of the nation's story God does not hold back from describing how far his people have strayed from him.
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  And because God's mercy and forgiveness is going to shine all the more brightly if we take a moment to dwell on the people's sin, I'm going to pull out several passages here that might feel uncomfortable to hear, but
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  help us understand the depth of the wickedness occurring in the nation.
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  At the beginning of the analogy, God says, As for your birth, on the day you were born, your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt or wrapped in swaddling
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  cloths.
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  No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you out of compassion for you.
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  But you were cast out on the open field, for you were abhorred on the day that you were born.
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  And when I passed by you and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you in your blood, "Live!"
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  I made you flourish like a plant of the field, and you grew up and became tall and arrived at full adornment.
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  These were common customs to cleanse a baby at birth, but unfortunately, another common custom was to abandon babies in fields and streets.
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  God is saying, "Even though you didn't do anything and no one else set their heart on you, I loved you and chose you for myself."
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  This portion of the story relates to the age of the patriarchs, specifically Abraham.
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  Though Abraham was a pagan living in a pagan city of Ur, God called him to start a new line.
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  In verse eight, God continues When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love, and I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness.
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  I made my vow to you and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord God, and you became mine.
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  Then I bathed you with water and washed off your blood from you and anointed you with oil.
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  I clothed you also with embroidered cloth and shod you with fine leather.
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  I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk.
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  And I adorned you with ornaments and put bracelets on your wrists and a chain on your neck.
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  And I put a ring on your nose and earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head.
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  Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen and silk and embroidered cloth.
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  You ate fine flour and honey and oil.
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  You grew exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty, and your renown went forth among the nations because of your beauty.
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  For it was perfect through the splendor that I had bestowed on you, declares the Lord God.
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  God is referring to the covenant that he made with Israel at Mount Sinai.
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  He adorns his bride with gifts commonly given to royalty At this point in the allegory, it's the time of David's reign.
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  But beginning in Solomon's reign, the people began worshiping the false gods of the surrounding Canaanite nations.
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  In verse fifteen, But you trusted in your beauty and played the whore because of your renown, and lavished your whorings on any passerby; your beauty became his.
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  You took some of your garments and made for yourself colorful shrines, and on them played the whore.
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  The like has never been nor ever shall be.
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  You also took your beautiful jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself images of them, and with them played the whore.
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  And you took your embroidered garments to cover them.
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  A few verses later, God continues, And you took your sons and your daughters whom you had borne to me, and those you sacrificed to them to be devoured."
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  Were your whorings so small a matter that you slaughtered my children and delivered them up as an offering by fire to them?
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  And in all your abominations and your whorings, you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, wallowing in your blood This contained some very vile descriptions, and it continues that the women were
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  creating inappropriate male statues and taking exactly the blessings that the Lord gave them and offering them to other gods.
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  But far worse was their sacrificing of their children, whom God says, "My children," in the burning flames to Molech.
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  God continues to rebuke the way they have been prostituting themselves but it can't even be considered prostitution because they're not even taking payment.
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  They're actually bribing the other nations to come commit adultery with them.
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  Some of this refers to the way that they were relying on the nations around them, such as Egypt, even though God had strictly forbade them from doing so God says, "Because of your lewdness, you have brought punishment upon
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  yourself."
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  He even states that Jerusalem has become worse than Sodom and Samaria.
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  Not only are they breaking all the commandments in regard to their walk with the Lord, they're also acting corruptly, neglecting the poor and the needy I wanted to ensure I included much of Chapter 16 because of the humbling,
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  merciful way that it ends.
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  In verse fifty-nine and sixty, For thus says the Lord God, 'I will deal with you as you have done, you who have despised the oath in breaking my covenant.
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  Yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish for you an everlasting covenant.'
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  And in verse 62, I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the Lord that you may remember and be confounded and never open your mouth again because of your shame when I atone
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  for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord God.
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  God's people had broken the Mosaic Covenant Which was conditional.
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  They needed to hold up their end of the bargain for God to hold up His.
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  But God promises, "I will still be faithful to the Abrahamic covenant that I made to use your line to bless all the people of the earth and send a righteous seed through."
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  The Moody Commentary says it beautifully and clearly, The unfaithfulness of people does not change the faithfulness of God."
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  Next, Ezekiel has another parable to deliver as he talks about a swift eagle coming from the north, which represents the king of Babylon.
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  But there's another eagle coming that refers to Egypt and how Zedekiah chose to rely on him despite God's warnings.
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  Thankfully, there is a better image to cling to, as the Lord will take a shoot and grow it into a tree and plant it high on a mountain.
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  this is that familiar root of Jesse that represents the Messiah He will bear fruit and every kind of bird will come nest in the shade of his branches.
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  This indicates that Jesus will have a global reign, and every nation will know that he is the Lord.
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  But the chapter I'd like us to meditate on most today is chapter eighteen, because it's beautifully astounding to read about the grace and mercy of God, to give every individual a chance to choose Him for themselves.
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  And it's an incredibly important chapter as we think about how our spiritual heritage affects us And as we do our best to pass on a rich spiritual legacy to our kids, we'll be reminded that no matter what you're
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  born into, Each individual has a before the Lord And in the beginning of this chapter god says, "All souls belong to me."
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  Whether it's a child in the womb or an elderly person on their deathbed The Lord, the maker of heaven and earth, the creator of every living person is the rightful owner of our souls And each of us has
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  a choice for how we will handle that reality Chapter 18 begins, The word of the Lord came to me.
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  What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel?
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  The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.'
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  As I live," declares the Lord God, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel.
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  Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine.
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  The soul who sins shall die.
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  If a man is righteous and does what is just and right, if he does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor's wife or
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  approach a woman in her time of menstrual impurity, does not oppress anyone but restores to the debtor his pledge, commits no robbery, gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment, does not lend at
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  interest or take any profit, withholds his hand from injustice, executes true justice between man and man, walks in my statutes and keeps my rules by acting faithfully, he is righteous, he shall surely live, declares the Lord God.
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  If he fathers a son who is violent, a shedder of blood, who does any of these things, though he himself did none of these things, who even eats upon the mountains, defiles his neighbor's wife, oppresses the poor and
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  needy, commits robbery, does not restore the pledge, lifts up his eyes to the idols, commits abomination lends at interest and takes profit, shall he then live?
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  He shall not live.
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  He has done all these abominations.
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  He shall surely die.
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  His blood shall be upon himself.
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  Now suppose this man fathers a son and sees all the sins that his father has done.
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  He sees and does not do likewise.
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  He does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor's wife, does not oppress anyone, exacts no pledge, commits no robbery, but gives his bread
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  to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment, withholds his hand from iniquity, takes no interest or profit, obeys my rules, and walks in my statutes, he shall not die for his father's iniquity.
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  He shall surely live.
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  As for his father, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother, and did what is not good among his people, behold, he shall die for his iniquity.
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  Yet you say, 'Why should not the son suffer for the iniquity of the father?'
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  When the son has done what is just and right and has been careful to observe all my statutes, he shall surely live.
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  The soul who sins shall die.
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  The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son.
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  The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.
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  But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live.
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  He shall not die None of the transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him.
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  For the righteousness that he has done, he shall live.
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  Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?
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  But when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice and does the same abominations that the wicked person does, shall he live?
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  None of the righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered.
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  For the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed, for them he shall die.
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  Yet you say, The way of the Lord is not just.
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  Hear now, O house of Israel, is my way not just?
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  Is it not your ways that are not just?
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  When a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it.
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  For the injustice that he has done, he shall die Again, when a wicked person turns away from the wickedness he has committed, and does what is just and right, he shall save his life.
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  Because he considered and turned away from all the transgressions that he had committed, he shall surely live.
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  He shall not die.
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  Yet the house of Israel says, "The way of the Lord is not just."
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  O house of Israel, are my ways not just?
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  Is it not your ways that are not just?
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  Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord God.
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  Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin.
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  Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.
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  Why will you die, O house of Israel?
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  For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God.
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  So turn, and live.
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  This beautiful message is exactly what you and I place our trust in.
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  We are sinful, but we serve a God who is merciful and has Himself paid the payment for our sins.
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  Regardless of what you did before Christ, or even regardless of what you did before this moment, we have an opportunity to receive grace and mercy from the throne of God because the perfect blood of Jesus in John chapter
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  five, verses twenty-eight and twenty-nine, Jesus said, For an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have
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  done evil to the resurrection of judgment."
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  Revelation twenty reiterates this.
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  Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it.
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  From his presence, earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.
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  And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened.
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  Then another book was opened, which is the book of life.
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  And the dead were judged by what was written in the books according to what they had done."
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  And in verse fifteen And if anyone's name was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
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  At this point in Ezekiel, forgiveness was available because of the sacrifice Jesus was coming to give, God graciously welcomed all who were repentant and humbled themselves before Him.
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  It wasn't because of their own righteousness or character.
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  It was because they understood that the God they served called them to be holy as He is holy.
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  but they were aware that they had fallen short of His perfection.
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  And I know that you, more than anything, want your families to make this same choice, and to bow the knee to the only way, the only truth, and the only life, Jesus Christ.
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  So let's pray.
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  Heavenly Father, it is undeniable that you are fully just, fully holy, yet fully merciful Once again, we are astounded that your forgiveness extended to the wicked acts that we read about today.
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  and we take comfort in this because we know we are also so far from your righteous standard We thank you that you judge us individually and that you discern and look to the soul of each person help us
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  to be mothers that would also see through to the heart.
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  Help us to be consistent, following through on what matters.
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  Make us diligent even from the time they're little, so we can avoid sinful patterns from taking root in their hearts.
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  Lord, we pray over every one of our children and every family member.
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  We pray they would choose life and acknowledge there is no greater satisfaction than to serve the most glorious risen King We love you, Lord, and we thank you that while we were yet sinners, you died for us.
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  may we spend our lives responding to your never-failing merciful grace.
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  and if there are any moms that are continuing to carry sins that you have already died to forgive, Lord, we ask that this moment would be a turning point for them help them to lay the sin at your
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  feet And to know that with you it is finished.
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  Jesus, it's in your name we pray.
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  Amen