Angered at the ongoing rejection of his gifts and the refusal to heed his prophets, God handed the people of Israel over to invaders. Not benevolent occupiers, but the worst of the worst.

I will pour out my indignation upon you; I will blow upon you with the fire of my wrath, and I will deliver you into the hands of brutish men, skillful to destroy.

God delivered Israel to abhorrent men. In rejecting the One who delivered them from Egypt, they opened the door to savage, vicious, accomplished masters of destruction. Orcs overwhelmed the land.

The people of Israel earned this retribution as they continually rejected God year after year. By burning their children alive to appease demons in the guise of gods, they exhibited brutal behavior of their own. These people destroyed a culture based on the law of God. They grew cruel and hostile long before the invasion. The people of Israel sowed the wind and reaped the whirlwind.

How is our culture any different?

Not that we live in a theocratic era, but if we sow savage behaviors will we not reap a similar whirlwind of destruction? Do we not also destroy children on the alters of expediency and convenience? If history is our guide, a storm will eventually appear.

I cannot snap my fingers and change the world. But I can sow to the ways of the Lord. I can attempt to love my neighbor as myself, including children both born and unborn. In so doing I stave off the brutish and destructive a little longer, and help others discover the grace and mercy of our amazing God.

Ezekiel 21:31

Photo by Jade Koroliuk