5. Turn
from our wicked ways
The
fifth pre-condition of assuring that God will hear us from heaven, and will
forgive us of our sins and heal our land is our willingness to turn from our wicked
ways, which should automatically follow the desire to seek the face of the
Lord, for thus says the Lord; “Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon
Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man
his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him; And to
our God, for He will abundantly pardon. "For My thoughts are not your
thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD. "For as the heavens
are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My
thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:6-9).
God
is longsuffering toward us, He is not willing that any should perish but that
all should come to repentance. On numerous occasions we see where the Lord is
asking people to turn from their wicked ways for example we see where the LORD
testified against Israel and against Judah, by all of His prophets, every seer,
saying, "Turn from your evil ways, and keep My commandments and My
statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I
sent to you by My servants the prophets” (2kings 17:13).
On
another occasion the Lord spoke to the prophet Jeremiah and said, “Now
therefore, speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
saying, 'Thus says the LORD: "Behold, I am fashioning a disaster and
devising a plan against you. Return now everyone from his evil way, and make
your ways and your doings good." And they said, "That is hopeless! So
we will walk according to our own plans, and we will every one obey the
dictates of his evil heart" (Jeremiah 18:11-12).
Again,
the Lord spoke to the prophet Ezekiel and said to him; “Say to them: 'As I
live,' says the Lord GOD, '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 should you die O house of Israel?' (Ezekiel 33:11).
What
we should try not to forget is the fact that, God’s law especially those
regarding the worship of God is spiritual and eternal and this has been the
main downfall of God’s people down through the ages as the Lord explained to
the prophet Ezekiel saying; “And I gave them My statutes and showed them My
judgments, 'which, if a man does, he shall live by them.' Moreover I also gave
them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I
am the LORD who sanctifies them.
Yet
the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness; they did not walk in
My statutes; they despised My judgments, 'which, if a man does, he shall live
by them'; and they greatly defiled My Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out My
fury on them in the wilderness, to consume them. But I acted for My name's
sake, that it should not be profaned before the Gentiles, in whose sight I had
brought them out. So I also raised My hand in an oath to them in the
wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them,
'flowing with milk and honey,' the glory of all lands, because they despised My
judgments and did not walk in My statutes, but profaned My Sabbaths; for their
heart went after their idols.’
“Nevertheless
My eye spared them from destruction. I did not make an end of them in the
wilderness. But I said to their children in the wilderness, 'Do not walk in the
statutes of your fathers, nor observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves
with their idols. I am the LORD your God: Walk in My statutes, keep My
judgments, and do them; hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me
and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God” (Ezekiel 20:11-20).
Any
open minded person can see clearly that, disobeying the laws of God and
profaning His Sabbaths is the main reason why the Lord has allowed so many
calamities to befall His people for it is written; “Notwithstanding, the
children rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My statutes, and were not
careful to observe My judgments, 'which, if a man does, he shall live by them';
but they profaned My Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out My fury on them and
fulfill My anger against them in the wilderness.
Nevertheless
I withdrew My hand and acted for My name's sake, that it should not be profaned
in the sight of the Gentiles, in whose sight I had brought them out. Also I
raised My hand in an oath to those in the wilderness, that I would scatter them
among the Gentiles and disperse them throughout the countries, because they had
not executed My judgments, but had despised My statutes, profaned My Sabbaths,
and their eyes were fixed on their fathers' idols. "Therefore I also gave
them up to statutes that were not good, and judgments by which they could not
live; and I pronounced them unclean because of their ritual gifts, in that they
caused all their firstborn to pass through the fire, that I might make them
desolate and that they might know that I am the LORD” (Ezekiel 20:21-26).
Turning
away from the ways of God to serve idols, profaning the Lord’s Sabbaths, not
just the weekly seventh day Sabbath but also the annual Sabbaths and walking
after the imagination of one’s evil heart and doing what seems right in one’s
own eyes is not something new, this has been the main problem from the time God
introduced His way of life to Israel, because the word of the LORD came to
Zechariah saying; "The LORD has been very angry with your fathers.
Therefore say to them, 'thus says the LORD of hosts: "Return to Me,"
says the LORD of hosts, "and I will return to you," says the LORD of
hosts. "Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets preached,
saying, 'thus says the LORD of hosts: "Turn now from your evil ways and
your evil deeds." But they did not hear nor heed Me," says the LORD”
(Zechariah 1:2-4).
And
so the question is asked, “Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do
they live forever? Yet surely My words and My statutes, which I commanded My
servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? (Zechariah 1: 5-6).
Thus
signifying that the words and statutes which the Lord commanded His prophets
especially the hallowing of His Sabbaths extend beyond human existence and
therefore, turning from one’s wicked ways and returning to the Lord encompasses
obedience to the words and statutes of the Lord and the hallowing of His
Sabbaths.
In
the final analysis turning from our wicked ways is synonymous to what the
prophet Isaiah wrote saying; “Thus says the LORD: "Keep justice, and do
righteousness, for My salvation is about to come, and My righteousness to be
revealed. Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who lays hold on
it; who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and keeps his hand from doing any
evil."
Do
not let the son of the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD Speak,
saying, "The LORD has utterly separated me from His people"; nor let
the eunuch say, "Here I am, a dry tree." For thus says the LORD:
"To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, and choose what pleases Me, and hold
fast My covenant, even to them I will give in My house and within My walls a
place and a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an
everlasting name that shall not be cut off.
"Also
the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to the LORD, to serve Him, and to
love the name of the LORD, to be His servants---Everyone who keeps from
defiling the Sabbath, and holds fast My covenant ---Even them I will bring to
My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings
and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house shall be called
a house of prayer for all nations" (Isaiah 56:1-7).
To
turn from our wicked ways basically means, to keep justice, do righteousness,
keep from defiling the Sabbaths, choose what pleases God and hold fast to His
covenant, which is the New Covenant.
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With brotherly love
Lucius Joseph
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