Verses 8&9 show us how a person is saved. That was true for Cain and Abel and it is still true for us today. Abel trusted in God and Cain did not. Abel demonstrated his trust in God by acting in a manner that proved he believed in God. Cain demonstrated his rejection of God in a manner that proved he did not believe in God.
Ephesians 2:10 tell us that at salvation, we are created in Christ Jesus unto good works. We are changed so that we can do good works. It is required of true believers to do good works. Good works do not save. They demonstrate the fact that the person has been saved.
In verse 15 of our text, God gave further details of this future assault. This army will come out of the north and it will be with many people and they will ride upon horses. We know that modern armies have quite sophisticated equipment. We also know that sometimes that sophisticated equipment can let the army down. We know that the technology is at the place now where one group can affect the operations of another group just by messing around with the technology. In the civilian world, it is now possible to shut down the operation of a vehicle with the right equipment. There are continued concerns about an EMP attack on our power grid. It is possible for governments and others to mess around with the Internet and with cell phones.
We are not given all the details, but God knows what will be going on at that time, and He declared that the armies would come down on horses. We do know that Russia still has a large number of horses to this day. It would be a large army and they would be ready to take a great spoil.
Even in Canada, the police used horses to help drive the protesters off of Parliament Hill. They did not use tanks. They used those horses to intimidate and even to do harm to the people.
In verse 16 God tells us this army will come against Israel in the latter days. Again we are reminded of the general time frame. It did not happen in Ezekiel’s day. It did not happen in the time that Jesus Christ was on this earth. It has not happened yet today. However it will happen.
God further declares that He is going to bring this massive army against Israel. He also tells us why He will do this. God is going to teach the heathen an important lesson. The heathen are those who reject the true and living God. Notice that through this event, God will be sanctified in Gog and the alliance that is formed at that time.
The word translated as “sanctified” speaks of “being set apart and be made majestic”. Russia and her allies have no use for God. Iran has their own pagan god. They reject the true God. However, God has a way of exalting Himself even when others reject Him. Israel, at that time will not be exalting God. However, God will prove to them as well as to this invading army, that they are up against a power that is greater than all that man can assemble. No one wins against the true God. That is something that we need to be reminded of today as well. False religions abound. There is such a drive to bring religions of all kinds together. There are various conferences that are being used for this purpose. Most people lack discernment and they assume these conferences are of God even though they smell of compromise all the way around.
True Christians are called to glorify the true God. The true God does not compromise. Jesus interacted with the Pharisees and Sadducees of His day. They hated Him because He would not endorse them. He exposed them for who they really were. He proclaimed Himself to be the truth and He boldly taught the truth. He did not change the Old Testament prophecies nor the law. He came to fulfil the law and He taught the truth. He exposed the distortions of the false teachers and gave the people the opportunity to understand God’s Word as it was given.
The apostles would continue that work and complete the written Word of God. We find nothing at all of God endorsing compromise to reach a broader audience. Truth and error cannot co-exist. Today is the Lord’s Day. It is another day to go to a Bible-believing local church to hear the teaching and preaching of God’s truth.
Follow God’s way and know His blessing today. Let God be sanctified before your eyes today!
Pastor Bartel