The Sword and the Captivity - Part 1

Just like with Samaria and Jerusalem, the sword of the Lord is coming upon us and this warning must go out! In this generation where the definition of marriage is being debated, our faith and beliefs are weakening each day, evil and wicked practices are considered to be "good", and the divinity of our Lord Jesus and His faithfulness to His Church are being questioned, I believe we as Christians have a serious choice to make. Will we allow ourselves to be deceived and blindly sleepwalk into our captivity and destruction, or will we allow our eyes to be opened by the Truth so that we can escape and walk in the direction of Life and overcome? The Truth has always been there, but we have become too lazy to even read it! The horn of warning is blowing, the alarm is going off – will we listen to it or ignore it?

And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying: 'Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them: When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man from among them, and set him for their watchman; if, when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the horn, and warn the people; then whosoever heareth the sound of the horn, and taketh not warning, if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head; he heard the sound of the horn, and took not warning, his blood shall be upon him; whereas if he had taken warning, he would have delivered his soul. But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the horn, and the people be not warned, and the sword do come, 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. So thou, son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore, when thou shalt hear the word at My mouth, warn them from Me. When I say unto the wicked: O wicked man, thou shalt surely die, and thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way; that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thy hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, and he turn not from his way; he shall die in his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul. Therefore, O thou son of man, say unto the house of Israel: Thus ye speak, saying: Our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we pine away in them; how then can we live? Say unto them: As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? (Eze 33:1-11 JPS)

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink; that justify the wicked for a bribe, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him! (Isa 5:20-23 ASV)

For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of Jehovah, and turned their backs. Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt-offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel. Wherefore the wrath of Jehovah was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to be tossed to and fro, to be an astonishment, and a hissing, as ye see with your eyes. For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this. (2Ch 29:6-9 ASV)

"'Your people say, "The Master's way isn't fair." But it's the way they're living that isn't fair. When good people turn back from living good lives and plunge into sin, they'll die for it. And when a wicked person turns away from his wicked life and starts living a just and righteous life, he'll come alive. "'Still, you keep on saying, "The Master's way isn't fair." We'll see, Israel. I'll decide on each of you exactly according to how you live.'" In the twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth day of the tenth month, a survivor from Jerusalem came to me and said, "The city's fallen." The evening before the survivor arrived, the hand of GOD had been on me and restored my speech. By the time he arrived in the morning I was able to speak. I could talk again. GOD's Message came to me: "Son of man, those who are living in the ruins back in Israel are saying, 'Abraham was only one man and he owned the whole country. But there are lots of us. Our ownership is even more certain.' "So tell them, 'GOD the Master says, You eat flesh that contains blood, you worship no-god idols, you murder at will--and you expect to own this land? You rely on the sword, you engage in obscenities, you indulge in sex at random--anyone, anytime. And you still expect to own this land?' "Tell them this, Ezekiel: 'The Message of GOD, the Master. As sure as I am the living God, those who are still alive in the ruins will be killed. Anyone out in the field I'll give to wild animals for food. Anyone hiding out in mountain forts and caves will die of disease. I'll make this country an empty wasteland--no more arrogant bullying! Israel's mountains will become dangerously desolate. No one will dare pass through them.' "They'll realize that I am GOD when I devastate the country because of all the obscenities they've practiced. "As for you, son of man, you've become quite the talk of the town. Your people meet on street corners and in front of their houses and say, 'Let's go hear the latest news from GOD.' They show up, as people tend to do, and sit in your company. They listen to you speak, but don't do a thing you say. They flatter you with compliments, but all they care about is making money and getting ahead. To them you're merely entertainment--a country singer of sad love songs, playing a guitar. They love to hear you talk, but nothing comes of it. "But when all this happens--and it is going to happen!--they'll realize that a prophet was among them." (Eze 33:17-33 MSG)

Thus says the LORD: "Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it.' I set watchmen over you, saying, 'Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet!' But they said, 'We will not pay attention.' Therefore hear, O nations, and know, O congregation, what will happen to them. Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people, the fruit of their devices, because they have not paid attention to my words; and as for my law, they have rejected it. (Jer 6:16-19 ESV)

You might say, "This message is not for us, we are under the grace of Jesus now and this disaster would never happen to Christians." The truth is - we are dead wrong!

All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, who say, 'Disaster shall not overtake or meet us.' (Amo 9:10 ESV)