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The Bible Breakdown
Ezekiel 35: Bitterness Be Gone
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The More We Dig. The More We Find.
Well, everybody, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown podcast with your host, pastor Brandon, today, ezekiel, chapter 35, and today's title is Bitterness Be Gone Bitterness Be Gone. We're going to talk about the subject of bitterness and forgiveness and what I think, and maybe you would agree. Maybe the reason why we struggle with this so much is because of our definition of what it is, and we'll get into all that in just a moment. But if you have your Bibles, open up with me to Ezekiel, chapter 35. While you're doing that, if you wouldn't mind, I'd love for you to go and rate us on whatever podcast app you're listening to. Please leave us a five-star review. If it's not a five-star review, nevermind, don't worry. Don't try to rate us at all, but also make sure you go to the YouTube channel like share, subscribe to those, because a lot of people really enjoy doing the YouTube stuff rather than the podcast and make sure you're going to the Bible Breakdown Discussion on Facebook. There's an amazing group of people doing wonderful work there every day and we would love for you to be part of our community. And, as we always say, the more we dig, the more we find. So if you have your Bibles, want to open up with me and be ready.
Speaker 1:In Ezekiel, chapter 35, don't forget the overall focus and goal of Ezekiel, as he is helping the nation of Israel grapple with what's going on in their life, what they're having to do, the consequences is, yeah, owning the consequences, owning what we have done, but still understanding that God has a promise of renewal for all of us, and I love that idea. Today, we're going to talk about this idea of letting bitterness go, letting God take control of things and just letting him deal with it as he sees fit, and so we're going to enjoy this today, and then I want to talk about the idea of forgiveness and bitterness at the end. So first let's dive into Ezekiel. Chapter 35, verse 1 says this again this message came to me from the Lord, son of man. Turn, face Mount Seir and prophesy against its people. Give them this message from the sovereign Lord I am your enemy.
Speaker 1:Oh, mount Seir, I will raise my fist against you To destroy you completely. I will demolish your cities and make you desolate, and then you will know that I am the Lord. Your eternal hatred for the people of Israel led you to butcher them when they were helpless, and I have already punished them for their sins. As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, since you show no distaste for blood, I will give you a bloodbath of your own. Your turn has come.
Speaker 1:I will make Mount Seir utterly desolate, killing off all who try to escape and any who return. I will fill your mountains with the dead. Your hills, your valleys and your ravines will be filled with people slaughtered by the sword. I will make you desolate forever. Your cities will never be rebuilt, and then you will know that I am the Lord, for you said the land of Israel and Judah will be ours. I will take possession of them. And what do we care? That the sovereign Lord there or that the Lord is there? Therefore, as surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I will pay back your angry deeds with my own. I will punish you for all your acts of anger, envy and hatred. I will make myself known to Israel by what I do to you, and then you will know that I, the Lord, have heard every contemptuous word you have spoken against the mountains of Israel, for you said they are desolate and they have given us food to eat. In saying that, you boasted proudly against me, and I have heard it all this is what the sovereign Lord says. The whole world will rejoice when I make you desolate.
Speaker 1:You rejoiced at the desolation of Israel's territory, so what's been going on here is the people of Edom that lived on Mount Seir. They have been in this bitter struggle with Israel and they have beaten up, they've slaughtered Israel and then they have also celebrated the demise of Israel. And what God is saying is yeah, I've dealt with my people, but I didn't forget about you. I'm gonna take care of you myself. And when my people see that my justice extends to all, they will know that I am the Lord. And the reason why this is important is imagine the nation of Israel. Imagine them having to deal with all the things that they have been through and they've lost Jerusalem, they've been exported to all these other lands and slavery and all these different things that's happened to them. And then they look at one of their arch rivals, edom, and going well, god, what about them? Why are they still okay? Why is all this going on? All this, all this, all this. And God is saying listen, I got them, you take care of you, I'm going to take care of them. And then God is telling Edom I see you, I'm going to get you.
Speaker 1:And so the lesson for us is don't try to seek vengeance yourself, and don't be bitter, because it appears as though God is watching you closely, but not watching other people closely. God is watching everybody and he's watching over us, not looking to drop the hammer on us, but looking for mercy, looking to send us his goodness. But there comes a time when God judges fairly. God judges justly, and so the difficult thing there is we get bitter because we think that God should judge people according to our standard, according to our timeline and according to our measurements. The reality is that's not what God does. God has more mercy than we do, he has more justice than we do, and he has his timing is different than ours.
Speaker 1:So just because someone who did you wrong is not suffering the consequences that you deem just, it doesn't mean that God's not dealing with them. That's where trusting the Lord comes in. If you imagine, if the nation of Israel heard this, how many of them would have probably been going? Finally, finally, and if so, that's still the wrong answer, because the answer is God, you do what only you can do. I'm just going to trust you with it and I'm going to let it go.
Speaker 1:That letting something go is not saying that it didn't hurt. Choosing to forgive is not saying it didn't hurt. It's not saying it wasn't horrible. It's not saying that you still deal with the ramifications and that you're never gonna trust them again. That's not what forgiveness is saying. Forgiveness is saying I am no longer gonna let what you did determine who I am. I'm no longer gonna let what happened to me determine my future. Instead, I'm giving you to the Lord and, as we can see from this chapter, when we give them to the Lord, god takes care of it. God don't miss a thing. And so when we trust the Lord to do what only he can do, we can let our bitterness go, not because we're saying God don't deal with them justly. It's saying, god, I trust you to deal with them justly and I'm going to get about the business of healing for myself.
Speaker 1:Let's pray together right now. God, thank you that you take care of all things. You see us. You don't miss anything. You don't miss us and you don't miss our enemies. You don't miss any of it. Lord, we trust you. We trust that, even if you don't do it the way that we want you to. You're going to do it. We trust, lord, that no matter what happens, you're in control and that you're doing more than we can imagine, and so we're not going to spend another moment worrying about our enemies. We're going to spend all those moments focusing on healing and allowing you to have your way, for you are just and you have proven yourself trustworthy. In Jesus' name, we pray Amen, amen, amen. What God's word says in Ezekiel 34, verse 14, I love you, I'll see you tomorrow. For Ezekiel, chapter 36.
