Free to Fall
Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 20:10-26
10 “Therefore I made them go out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness.
11 And I gave them My statutes and showed them My judgments, ‘which, if a man does, he
shall live by them.’ 12 Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and
Me, that they might know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them. 13 Yet the house of Israel
rebelled against Me in the wilderness; they did not walk in My statutes; they despised My
judgments, ‘which, if a man does, he shall live by them’; and they greatly defiled My Sabbaths.
Then I said I would pour out My fury on them in the wilderness, to consume them. 14 But I
acted for My name’s sake, that it should not be profaned before the Gentiles, in whose sight I
had brought them out. 15 So I also raised My hand in an oath to them in the wilderness, that I
would not bring them into the land which I had given them, ‘flowing with milk and honey,’ the
glory of all lands, 16 because they despised My judgments and did not walk in My statutes, but
profaned My Sabbaths; for their heart went after their idols. 17 Nevertheless My eye spared
them from destruction. I did not make an end of them in the wilderness.
18 “But I said to their children in the wilderness, ‘Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers,
nor observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols. 19 I am the LORD your
God: Walk in My statutes, keep My judgments, and do them; 20 hallow My Sabbaths, and they
will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God.’
21 “Notwithstanding, the children rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My statutes, and
were not careful to observe My judgments, ‘which, if a man does, he shall live by them’; but
they profaned My Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out My fury on them and fulfill My anger
against them in the wilderness. 22 Nevertheless I withdrew My hand and acted for My name’s
sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the Gentiles, in whose sight I had brought
them out. 23 Also I raised My hand in an oath to those in the wilderness, that I would scatter
them among the Gentiles and disperse them throughout the countries, 24 because they had
not executed My judgments, but had despised My statutes, profaned My Sabbaths, and their
eyes were fixed on their fathers’ idols.
25 “Therefore I also gave them up to statutes that were not good, and judgments by which
they could not live; 26 and I pronounced them unclean because of their ritual gifts, in that they
caused all their firstborn to pass through the fire, that I might make them desolate and that
they might know that I am the LORD.”’
This is an account of the rebellion of Israel. YHWH says that He gave His statutes
and showed them His judgments ‘which if a man does, he shall live by them’. For me
that means that they were good for them. If they had done the things that He had
commanded, it would have been well with them. Like for instance, the way that God
has created my body, if I get twenty minutes to a half hour of vigorous exercise daily I
will be healthy. If I don’t, I will be fat. Does it make sense that I would be upset with
God because I get fat? Or is it because of my own choice to rebel against what I
know I should do? I believe that answer is obvious. Israel knew what they should do.
Deuteronomy 30:11-16
11 “For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it
far off. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend into heaven for us and
bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say,
‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 14 But the
word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.
15 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, 16 in that I command you
today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His
statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the LORD your God will bless
you in the land which you go to possess.
YHWH tells us that that He hasn’t made things too hard to understand or
unattainable. He has given them His Word and He tells them that it should be in their
mouth and in their hearts. In other words, they should be speaking what God says
(not what the world says). Their desire (hearts) should be what the Word of God
says (not what the world says). Then, for those who are a little slow, He makes it
crystal clear. He has set out the options for us to choose; life and good, death and
evil.
And later in this chapter He says plain as day that we should choose life. He’s not
going to force us to choose life. If He forced us, we wouldn’t really have free will now
would we. We were discussing this a while back and my 9 yr old son asked
something profound. He said, “Why would anyone choose death?” The fact is that
most don’t consciously say, “Hey, I’m going to choose death”, but it’s their actions
that choose it for them. For example, if you know that drinking alcohol and then
driving is dangerous, but you do it and end up causing an accident that kills
someone, can you really say you didn’t choose it. Although, you might say it, every
choice you made to have another drink and then to get behind the wheel of the car
instead of calling a cab or a friend to pick you up, those choices are that which made
the choice. Since you are the one who made those choices; you are the one
responsible for all the consequences that come from it.
But see, here’s the thing. Let’s say that happens several times, you getting drunk
and driving home, and nothing horrible happens. You may get to a point where you
really believe that drinking and driving is not dangerous. This is what happened to
Israel. They seemingly were getting away with it. As God goes through this account
of their rebellion, you can hear how much He just want them to do what they’re
supposed to so they can do well. As a parent I can understand His heart in a way
that I never could before. We make rules for our children and give them
punishments for breaking those rules but we don’t want to spank them or punish
them. We really just want them to make good choices so things will go well with
them. And here’s what goes back to Cameron’s question. If we really trusted Him
then we would do the things that He says to do.
1 John 5:2-4
2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His
commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His
commandments are not burdensome. 4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world.
And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.
This passage make’s it clear that, first of all, His commandments are not so difficult
and burdensome that we can’t do them. But more importantly, that if it is not our
desire to do them, maybe we haven’t really been born of God. That’s a hard thing to
consider but if we’re still walking in the flesh and being led by our flesh, it’s
something that we have to consider. Rebellion is not a good thing. I was having a
discussion about the scripture that says that we are to obey those put in authority
over us (Romans 13:1-2). In our discussion we decided that yes we were to obey
authority as long as that authority did go against God because God is the greater
authority. For example, if you lived in Germany under Hitler you were expected to
obey authority until that authority went against God by telling you that you are not to
love your neighbor who is a Jew. So, as this discussion went on something came up
that I wasn’t expecting. Someone mentioned that this country was born from
rebellion. We had to consider if that was a good thing or not. Does anyone know
what the colonists were rebelling against? Taxes. The whiskey tax, the tea tax, the
stamp tax; the rebellion was about taxes. Yet Yeshua tells us that we are to give to
Caesar what is Caesar’s (Matthew 12:21, Mark 12:17, Luke 20:25). So, does that
mean that we should still be under British rule? Well, look at Canada. They were a
British colony and their national independence came without a bloody war. Did you
know that over 100,000 soldiers died, most from disease, during the American
Revolution? Then, almost a hundred years later, the country had to deal with its own
rebellion when the South ceded from the North. In that conflict almost one million
Americans were killed; all for the sake of rebellion. You do reap what you sow.
So, let’s get back to Israel’s rebellion. Time and time again YHWH restrains from
destroying them for the sake of the kingdom, for His Name’s sake. Israel probably
felt like that drunk driver. Thinking they could do anything they wanted and there
would be no consequences. Then we get to verse 25. God gave them over to bad
statutes and ordinances. What does that mean? In the KJV it say He gave them bad
statutes but I don’t believe that means the same thing in Hebrew. I was reading and
came across another scripture that I believe puts this verse into perspective.
Romans 1:24-25
24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor
their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped
and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
As a good parent who has given your children good advice and good rules, there
comes a point that if they continue in rebellion, you have to just back up and let them
fall. I’ve done this to some extent with all of my children. It’s a difficult thing to do, as
a parent, but sometimes it’s the only way they will learn. It would be easier on them
to learn by trusting in your words and in trusting that the rules you give them are for
their own good but if that doesn’t work, sometimes you just have to let them fall.
They have to learn that rebellion is not good. They have to learn that you do not
give rules to be harsh but to benefit them; for their good. They need to learn that
you do not want to force them to do this or that but that what is important is that they
want you to desire to do good. It’s about the heart. With God it has always been
about the heart.
Jeremiah 4:3-4
3 For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:
“ Break up your fallow ground,
And do not sow among thorns.
4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD,
And take away the foreskins of your hearts,
You men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
Lest My fury come forth like fire,
And burn so that no one can quench it,
Because of the evil of your doings.”
This is where Israel missed much of what God had intended for them. It has always
been God’s intention for us to desire to do that which is righteous. They missed that
because they chose not to hear directly from Him.
Exodus 20:18-21
18 Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the
trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar
off. 19 Then they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak
with us, lest we die.”
20 And Moses said to the people, “Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear
may be before you, so that you may not sin.” 21 So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew
near the thick darkness where God was.
They were so focused on the flesh that they missed that which is of real importance,
the spirit. It is from the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks (Matthew 12:
34). It is our desires that are going to dictate what we do and say. It’s not what we
decide to do in our head. Our head may tell us to do what is right but if that is not
what our heart desires, make no mistake, the flesh is going to lead us away from
what the word says.
Mark 7:6 - He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it
is written:
‘ This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
Yeshua was speaking of the Jews here but how many believers would fall into that
category now? They talk a good talk but you don’t see the evidence of Him in their
walk. The media loves to pounce on the story when a minister of the Gospel falls
into temptation.
Romans 2:21-24
21 You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man
should not steal, do you steal? 22 You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit
adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who make your boast in the law,
do you dishonor God through breaking the law? 24 For “the name of God is blasphemed
among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written.
We are ambassadors for the kingdom so what we do reflects on Him. Verse 24 says
that the name of God is blasphemed among the unbelievers because of you.
Another moderator on the message board has a signature that we were discussing.
It says – There is no unity outside of holiness. What it means is that we must strive
for holiness in all that we do. The television and movies we watch, in the books and
magazines that we read, in the music that we listen to. If anything we allow into our
heart is not holy, it will ultimately affect our holiness.
1 Peter 1:13-16
13 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace
that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 as obedient children, not
conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; 15 but as He who called you
is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
Let us desire within our hearts to be holy. Not because people are watching but
because it is the right thing to do. Many times after high school a good student may
have trouble in college. The statistic is that two thirds of those who start college
never finish. Part of the reason is that in secondary school there is someone there
who job is to keep you from failing; to remind you that there’s a project due or a test
coming. Whereas in college there’s no one getting paid for you not to fail. The one
who should be most concerned about you not failing, even more than parents, is
you. They will give you a sheet on the first day of class that lists certain projects and
due date or certain books you are to read. Then they will not mention it again until it
is due. You are given freedom to fail. That’s what free will is for us. We are given
the rules, we are told what will make us prosper and what will make us fail and we are
allowed to chose. Let us make the wise choice; life.
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date August 12, 2007
Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 20:10-26
10 “Therefore I made them go out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness.
11 And I gave them My statutes and showed them My judgments, ‘which, if a man does, he
shall live by them.’ 12 Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and
Me, that they might know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them. 13 Yet the house of Israel
rebelled against Me in the wilderness; they did not walk in My statutes; they despised My
judgments, ‘which, if a man does, he shall live by them’; and they greatly defiled My Sabbaths.
Then I said I would pour out My fury on them in the wilderness, to consume them. 14 But I
acted for My name’s sake, that it should not be profaned before the Gentiles, in whose sight I
had brought them out. 15 So I also raised My hand in an oath to them in the wilderness, that I
would not bring them into the land which I had given them, ‘flowing with milk and honey,’ the
glory of all lands, 16 because they despised My judgments and did not walk in My statutes, but
profaned My Sabbaths; for their heart went after their idols. 17 Nevertheless My eye spared
them from destruction. I did not make an end of them in the wilderness.
18 “But I said to their children in the wilderness, ‘Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers,
nor observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols. 19 I am the LORD your
God: Walk in My statutes, keep My judgments, and do them; 20 hallow My Sabbaths, and they
will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God.’
21 “Notwithstanding, the children rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My statutes, and
were not careful to observe My judgments, ‘which, if a man does, he shall live by them’; but
they profaned My Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out My fury on them and fulfill My anger
against them in the wilderness. 22 Nevertheless I withdrew My hand and acted for My name’s
sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the Gentiles, in whose sight I had brought
them out. 23 Also I raised My hand in an oath to those in the wilderness, that I would scatter
them among the Gentiles and disperse them throughout the countries, 24 because they had
not executed My judgments, but had despised My statutes, profaned My Sabbaths, and their
eyes were fixed on their fathers’ idols.
25 “Therefore I also gave them up to statutes that were not good, and judgments by which
they could not live; 26 and I pronounced them unclean because of their ritual gifts, in that they
caused all their firstborn to pass through the fire, that I might make them desolate and that
they might know that I am the LORD.”’
This is an account of the rebellion of Israel. YHWH says that He gave His statutes
and showed them His judgments ‘which if a man does, he shall live by them’. For me
that means that they were good for them. If they had done the things that He had
commanded, it would have been well with them. Like for instance, the way that God
has created my body, if I get twenty minutes to a half hour of vigorous exercise daily I
will be healthy. If I don’t, I will be fat. Does it make sense that I would be upset with
God because I get fat? Or is it because of my own choice to rebel against what I
know I should do? I believe that answer is obvious. Israel knew what they should do.
Deuteronomy 30:11-16
11 “For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it
far off. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend into heaven for us and
bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say,
‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 14 But the
word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.
15 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, 16 in that I command you
today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His
statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the LORD your God will bless
you in the land which you go to possess.
YHWH tells us that that He hasn’t made things too hard to understand or
unattainable. He has given them His Word and He tells them that it should be in their
mouth and in their hearts. In other words, they should be speaking what God says
(not what the world says). Their desire (hearts) should be what the Word of God
says (not what the world says). Then, for those who are a little slow, He makes it
crystal clear. He has set out the options for us to choose; life and good, death and
evil.
And later in this chapter He says plain as day that we should choose life. He’s not
going to force us to choose life. If He forced us, we wouldn’t really have free will now
would we. We were discussing this a while back and my 9 yr old son asked
something profound. He said, “Why would anyone choose death?” The fact is that
most don’t consciously say, “Hey, I’m going to choose death”, but it’s their actions
that choose it for them. For example, if you know that drinking alcohol and then
driving is dangerous, but you do it and end up causing an accident that kills
someone, can you really say you didn’t choose it. Although, you might say it, every
choice you made to have another drink and then to get behind the wheel of the car
instead of calling a cab or a friend to pick you up, those choices are that which made
the choice. Since you are the one who made those choices; you are the one
responsible for all the consequences that come from it.
But see, here’s the thing. Let’s say that happens several times, you getting drunk
and driving home, and nothing horrible happens. You may get to a point where you
really believe that drinking and driving is not dangerous. This is what happened to
Israel. They seemingly were getting away with it. As God goes through this account
of their rebellion, you can hear how much He just want them to do what they’re
supposed to so they can do well. As a parent I can understand His heart in a way
that I never could before. We make rules for our children and give them
punishments for breaking those rules but we don’t want to spank them or punish
them. We really just want them to make good choices so things will go well with
them. And here’s what goes back to Cameron’s question. If we really trusted Him
then we would do the things that He says to do.
1 John 5:2-4
2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His
commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His
commandments are not burdensome. 4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world.
And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.
This passage make’s it clear that, first of all, His commandments are not so difficult
and burdensome that we can’t do them. But more importantly, that if it is not our
desire to do them, maybe we haven’t really been born of God. That’s a hard thing to
consider but if we’re still walking in the flesh and being led by our flesh, it’s
something that we have to consider. Rebellion is not a good thing. I was having a
discussion about the scripture that says that we are to obey those put in authority
over us (Romans 13:1-2). In our discussion we decided that yes we were to obey
authority as long as that authority did go against God because God is the greater
authority. For example, if you lived in Germany under Hitler you were expected to
obey authority until that authority went against God by telling you that you are not to
love your neighbor who is a Jew. So, as this discussion went on something came up
that I wasn’t expecting. Someone mentioned that this country was born from
rebellion. We had to consider if that was a good thing or not. Does anyone know
what the colonists were rebelling against? Taxes. The whiskey tax, the tea tax, the
stamp tax; the rebellion was about taxes. Yet Yeshua tells us that we are to give to
Caesar what is Caesar’s (Matthew 12:21, Mark 12:17, Luke 20:25). So, does that
mean that we should still be under British rule? Well, look at Canada. They were a
British colony and their national independence came without a bloody war. Did you
know that over 100,000 soldiers died, most from disease, during the American
Revolution? Then, almost a hundred years later, the country had to deal with its own
rebellion when the South ceded from the North. In that conflict almost one million
Americans were killed; all for the sake of rebellion. You do reap what you sow.
So, let’s get back to Israel’s rebellion. Time and time again YHWH restrains from
destroying them for the sake of the kingdom, for His Name’s sake. Israel probably
felt like that drunk driver. Thinking they could do anything they wanted and there
would be no consequences. Then we get to verse 25. God gave them over to bad
statutes and ordinances. What does that mean? In the KJV it say He gave them bad
statutes but I don’t believe that means the same thing in Hebrew. I was reading and
came across another scripture that I believe puts this verse into perspective.
Romans 1:24-25
24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor
their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped
and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
As a good parent who has given your children good advice and good rules, there
comes a point that if they continue in rebellion, you have to just back up and let them
fall. I’ve done this to some extent with all of my children. It’s a difficult thing to do, as
a parent, but sometimes it’s the only way they will learn. It would be easier on them
to learn by trusting in your words and in trusting that the rules you give them are for
their own good but if that doesn’t work, sometimes you just have to let them fall.
They have to learn that rebellion is not good. They have to learn that you do not
give rules to be harsh but to benefit them; for their good. They need to learn that
you do not want to force them to do this or that but that what is important is that they
want you to desire to do good. It’s about the heart. With God it has always been
about the heart.
Jeremiah 4:3-4
3 For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:
“ Break up your fallow ground,
And do not sow among thorns.
4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD,
And take away the foreskins of your hearts,
You men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
Lest My fury come forth like fire,
And burn so that no one can quench it,
Because of the evil of your doings.”
This is where Israel missed much of what God had intended for them. It has always
been God’s intention for us to desire to do that which is righteous. They missed that
because they chose not to hear directly from Him.
Exodus 20:18-21
18 Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the
trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar
off. 19 Then they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak
with us, lest we die.”
20 And Moses said to the people, “Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear
may be before you, so that you may not sin.” 21 So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew
near the thick darkness where God was.
They were so focused on the flesh that they missed that which is of real importance,
the spirit. It is from the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks (Matthew 12:
34). It is our desires that are going to dictate what we do and say. It’s not what we
decide to do in our head. Our head may tell us to do what is right but if that is not
what our heart desires, make no mistake, the flesh is going to lead us away from
what the word says.
Mark 7:6 - He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it
is written:
‘ This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
Yeshua was speaking of the Jews here but how many believers would fall into that
category now? They talk a good talk but you don’t see the evidence of Him in their
walk. The media loves to pounce on the story when a minister of the Gospel falls
into temptation.
Romans 2:21-24
21 You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man
should not steal, do you steal? 22 You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit
adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who make your boast in the law,
do you dishonor God through breaking the law? 24 For “the name of God is blasphemed
among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written.
We are ambassadors for the kingdom so what we do reflects on Him. Verse 24 says
that the name of God is blasphemed among the unbelievers because of you.
Another moderator on the message board has a signature that we were discussing.
It says – There is no unity outside of holiness. What it means is that we must strive
for holiness in all that we do. The television and movies we watch, in the books and
magazines that we read, in the music that we listen to. If anything we allow into our
heart is not holy, it will ultimately affect our holiness.
1 Peter 1:13-16
13 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace
that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 as obedient children, not
conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; 15 but as He who called you
is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
Let us desire within our hearts to be holy. Not because people are watching but
because it is the right thing to do. Many times after high school a good student may
have trouble in college. The statistic is that two thirds of those who start college
never finish. Part of the reason is that in secondary school there is someone there
who job is to keep you from failing; to remind you that there’s a project due or a test
coming. Whereas in college there’s no one getting paid for you not to fail. The one
who should be most concerned about you not failing, even more than parents, is
you. They will give you a sheet on the first day of class that lists certain projects and
due date or certain books you are to read. Then they will not mention it again until it
is due. You are given freedom to fail. That’s what free will is for us. We are given
the rules, we are told what will make us prosper and what will make us fail and we are
allowed to chose. Let us make the wise choice; life.
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date August 12, 2007
