Ezekiel 28:6-10 - “Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God; Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness. They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas. Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? but thou shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee. Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.”

The message was to the seaport stronghold of Tyrus in the days of Nebuchadnezzar’s expansion of the Babylonian Empire. But doesn’t it befit any city, country or civilization in which people exalt themselves in their own eyes to a height that (they think) doesn’t need God? We know what God did to Tyrus. He hasn’t said what He will do with other countries who have the God-not-needed attitude, but He has clearly shown by many examples that He is God and His way will ultimately prevail with all souls. Be smart. Acknowledge eternal truth (Psalm 19; Romans 1). Acknowledge God, and walk in His way.

Ezekiel 33:31-33 - “And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness. And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not. And when this cometh to pass, (lo, it will come,) then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them.”

Israel listened to their prophets (preachers) because the sound of their speaking was a lovely thing to their ears. They heard the words, but they didn’t do them. An old Beetle Bailey comic strip showed the chaplain greeting people as they left the chapel. As Beetle came by he said, “You really zinged them today, chaplain.” The last panel showed the chaplain dejectedly wondering, “Why is it that the ones I’m trying to zing always say ‘them’?” Sometimes when people tell the preacher that a sermon was good, they mean that it didn’t appear to require any change in their lives. It’s human nature not to want to hear reproof or rebuke (II Tim. 4:2). Israel didn’t - but when their peaceful home life was gone, then they knew. When the truth of today’s preaching of the gospel is finally clear to the eyes, we won’t have a 70-year wait before going back to get it right: we will be in eternity. Let Israel be an illustration to you: believe the word now, and just do it.