Sunday message-the spiritual block

Ever had one of those passages in the Bible that you just couldn't grasp and didn't know why?  Well, I have, which is why you didn't see me here last week.  Once again, this didn't make sense until I applied it to myself, so bear with me.

The genesis of my consternation is in Ezekiel, specifically starting with ch14, v 13.  Here we are introduced to a theme that runs into the next chapter:

Eze 14:13  Son of man, when a land sins against Me, baring a faithless act, then I will stretch out My hand on it, and I will shatter the staff of bread to it, and I will send famine on it. And I will cut off from it man and beast. 
Eze 14:14  And though these three men were in its midst, Noah, Daniel, and Job, by their righteousness they should deliver only their souls, declares the Lord Jehovah. 

First off, you should know that my Bible translates the crime of the land as "persistent unfaithfulness".  I am not sure why, because the concordance doesn't really hit on the concept of persistence, but of its COVERTNESS.  Both of these will become key as we go on.  But the key to what grabbed me was the inclusion of Noah, Daniel, and Job- especially as Daniel was yet alive when the prophesy was given!  So I bent my will to finding the connection between the three men.  And they are many.  They were all three basically alone against overwhelming obstacles, and by great faith were brought past them.  But even they would not suffice against the sin God was discussing.

So I applied the Kalko rule and looked before and after.  Before took me to God explaining to Ezekiel that certain elders of Israel where supposedly servants of the Lord, but were secretly (or COVERTLY) worshipping idols- until the whip came down, and they turned to alleged prophets to of God to tell them what to do.  Which kind of reminds me of what John the Baptist said to the pharisees:

Mat 3:7  But seeing many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, Offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 

And apparently it appeared that way to God as well.  And then I looked after, and saw this in the next chapter:

Eze 15:6  Therefore, so says the Lord Jehovah: As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, it which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give those living in Jerusalem. 

Eze 15:7  And I will set my face against them. They shall go out from the fire, and the fire shall devour them. And you shall know that I am Jehovah when I set My face against them. 

Eze 15:8  And I will give the land to be desolate because they have done treachery, declares the Lord Jehovah. 

And once again, my Bible here used the term "persistent sins".  So I had my bookends.  And in between I had promises of God bring upon the sinful nation famine, wild beasts (which translated to 'hordes of living things'), war and pestilence, and warned the sinful:

Eze 15:7  And I will set my face against them. They shall go out from the fire, and the fire shall devour them. And you shall know that I am Jehovah when I set My face against them. 

Or, as my Bible put it, they would flee from one fire to be consumed by another.  And besides this, in between, I had Noah, Daniel, and Job.  The past (Noah), the present (Daniel), and the semi-legendary (Job).  The ones whose faith had made them fruitful (Noah, the father of everyone after the flood), with reward on earth (Job, who got back double of what he lost), and a clear vision of what lie ahead (Daniel).  The ones who stood alone against Kings, friends, the whole world.  And yet, what was it about them that held them in common in this story?

The answer I searched my mind and their histories for was right there in between the bookends.  THEY WOULD NOT BE SUFFICIENT TO SAVE.  Not in the face of persistent, covert sin.

So I looked around at the "land." is this a lesson about the US of A?, A warning that the ticking time bomb of persistent sin was going to expire soon, as soon as there were no longer any Noahs, Daniels, and Jobs to preserve it?

Nope, this is where I apply it to me.

Amo 8:11  Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord Jehovah, that I will send a famine into the land, not a famine for bread, nor a thirst for water, but rather a famine for hearing the Words of Jehovah. 

Amo 8:12  And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to east; they shall roam about to seek the Word of Jehovah, and they shall not find it. 

I could search Noah, Daniel, and Job all I want, but until the persistent, covert sin in MY life vanishes, I am going to have times when the sin wins and I get "famine".  What do I have to repent from?  Sorry, between God and me, this is not a gossip post?  Ask not what Chris has done... if you are at a sticking point, ask what YOU are doing?