A Privileged Position

As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, I am studying through the Book of Ezekiel, and one of the first things that struck me was the frequency with which we find the phrase "know that I am the LORD." Clearly, a key message that God is communicating through the prophet is his identity.

Whenever we see the word "LORD" printed in all caps (as it is in 67 of the 72 times "know that I am the LORD" appears in Ezekiel), that alerts us to the fact that the Hebrew word that is being translated is actually the divine name, YAHWEH. Jews had such respect for the name of God, and so feared misusing it (in violation of the third commandment), that instead of speaking it, they actually said, "adonai," the Hebrew word for "LORD."

So it is, that when we see God so emphasizing throughout Ezekiel his desire that people would "know that I am the LORD," it is more than a job description he is a talking about; it is his very identity. In light of this, it is interesting to note a slightly more specific phrase that appears four times in the Book of Ezekiel: "Know that I am the LORD their God." In each instance where we find this phrase, it is in the context of Ezekiel's prophetic words specifically to the house of Israel.

Make no mistake about it: YAHWEH is no tribal deity; he is God over all creation. Regardless of whether people bow their knee before him, he is God. But what we see here is that he is God of his people in a special way peculiar to their relationship. He is not just the LORD. He is not just the LORD God. He is the LORD, their God, and as such, they are in a position of amazing privilege.

Now we must be careful to realize that this doesn't mean that the people of God were (or are) necessarily better than the other peoples, nor have they have in any way earned this privileged relationship. Throughout the Book of Ezekiel, the prophet chastises the people of God for their sin just as he does the other nations (actually, even more so). Their special standing as God's particular people is a product of nothing but his grace and his steadfast love toward them.

The New Testament picks this idea up in Jesus' teaching that we should pray to God as "Our Father." This is not a prayer for all people, but rather the prayer of a disciple, one who has been conferred the benefits of adoption. May we, as Christians, never fail to exult in the fact that we are in a special relationship with God. And may we always do so humbly, knowing that it is nothing but the work of Christ that has established this relationship for us.

The Gospel According to Disney (Part 4)

When we went to the Magic Kingdom, the thing that my six-year-old daughter most looked forward to was the opportunity to meet the princesses and get their autographs. I suppose that meeting royalty is always special, but it’s even more special for little girls at Disney because it comes with the promise that you too can be royalty! I heard it proclaimed more than once while we were there: “Every little girl can be a princess.”

Cinderella even called my daughter a princess. If Cinderella says it is true, who am I to argue? After all, Cinderella is the expert on ordinary girls becoming princesses. There was nothing spectacular about her. She didn’t benefit from royal birth, but rather was born into the drudgery of a scullery maid. Ultimately she became a princess not because of anything she did, but because she was chosen by the prince to become his bride.

It is the same with us. We too, on our own, are nothing spectacular. Let’s be perfectly clear. There’s not a one of us about whom God is saying, “Wow! I sure am lucky to have him on my team!” As Paul mentions in Romans 3:10, “None is righteous, no, not one.” And the prophet reminds us in Isaiah 64:6 that whatever deeds we might account as ‘righteous,’ God considers to have all the purity of a polluted garment.

Even so, because those who trust in Christ are united with him and find their identity in him, we are considered by God to be sons of the king! Galatians 3:28 tells us that we have sonship (and with it, the privilege of inheritance) no matter what our status was before. All of the barriers that would have kept one from being a son of the king are now abolished. You can be a son whether you are Jew or Gentile, whether you are slave or free, whether you are male or female.

And as sons of the king, the inheritance that is ours is no ordinary inheritance. Rather it is “an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time,” (1 Peter 1:4-5).

One chapter later (1 Peter 2:9), we find a wonderful affirmation of the church’s identity: “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession.” This of course is nothing new. It is merely a reaffirmation God’s purpose for his people as it had always been. In Exodus 19:5-6, God proclaimed to the people of Israel, “you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”

It has always been God’s intention to make his people royalty. And we look forward to that day when “the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,'” (Matthew 25:33).

Other Posts in This Series:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3