Ezekiel 9:8-10 (ESV)
And while they were striking, and I was left alone, I fell upon my face, and cried, “Ah, Lord GOD! Will you destroy all the remnant of Israel in the outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem?”
Then he said to me, “The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of blood, and the city full of injustice. For they say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land, and the LORD does not see.’ As for me, my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity; I will bring their deeds upon their heads.”
Ezekiel 11:13 (ESV)
And it came to pass, while I was prophesying, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then I fell down on my face and cried out with a loud voice and said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Will you make a full end of the remnant of Israel?”
This section of Ezekiel is about God pouring out His wrath on Israel for their disobedience to His word. When Ezekiel cries out and asks God if He will destroy all of them or leave a remnant, God responds by saying they have done great sin and full of injustice. They have lived their lives as thought God has not seen them. God will eventually tell the prophet that, yes, He will leave a remnant. But, at first God wants the nation to know that they were wrong, He did see them. God does see our sin. We tend to think that no immediate, outward response to our sin means God missed it. Like a kid who took the cookies thinks he is safe since no one has said anything, But, later his stomach hurts because he ate the forbidden sweats. Eventually it all is revealed. This is the story of Ezekiel. It will all be revealed. In the New Testament the church thought it could get away from being less that God preferred. Yet, decades after it was started at Pentecost the Apostle John writes to each of the seven churches (representing all of Christendom) the following phrase:
Revelation 2:2 (ESV)
“‘I know your works, ....
Revelation 2:9 (ESV)
“‘I know your tribulation ...
Revelation 2:13 (ESV)
13 “‘I know where you dwell, ...
Revelation 2:19 (ESV)
19 “‘I know your works, ...
Revelation 3:1 (ESV)
1 “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.
“‘I know your works. ...
Revelation 3:8 (ESV)
8 “‘I know your works. ...
Revelation 3:15 (ESV)
15 “‘I know your works: ...
God knows are works. In Psalm 139 we know that He knows our sitting down and standing up. He knows the hairs on our head. Israel thought that God did not know. Ezekiel fell on his face and wanted mercy for them. They assumed God did not see. But, God does see and He brings them into account for what He sees. As He said He would to the churches. As He will for each of us ... though delayed ... yet, still seen.
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