Hopeless Struggle?
But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity and does according to all the abominations that a wicked man does, will he live? All his righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered for his treachery which he has committed and his sin which he has committed; for them he will die. Ezekiel 18:24 NASB
Abominations – Paul grips us with his commentary in Romans 7 on the seemingly hopeless struggle against sin. “For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.” We’ve all been there, agonizing over things that we didn’t want to do but found impossible to stop. We’ve all thrown up our hands in despair, not understanding how we could be so gullible—and so intentional.
Then we read Ezekiel—and are petrified. Are we like the righteous man who wants to serve his God but commits the same ʿāwel (iniquity, injustice) as pagans? Are we also condemned to die? In order to answer that terrifying question, we need to do some investigation.
We can start by looking at the word tôʿēbot (abominations). The singular (tôʿēbâ) has a wide umbrella.
. . . the abomination may be of a physical, ritual or ethical nature and may be abhorred by God or man. Sharing a meal with a Hebrew was ritually offensive to an Egyptian (Gen 43:32), as was offering certain kinds of sacrifices (Ex 8:22). homosexuality and other perversions are repugnant to God and fall under his judgment (Lev 18:22–30; 20:13). Idolatry (Deut 7:25), human sacrifice (Deut 12:31), eating ritually unclean animals (Deut 14:3–8), sacrificing defective animals (Deut 17:1), conducting one’s business dishonestly (Deut 25:13–16), practicing ritual prostitution (I Kgs 14:23f.), and similar acts of disobedience (for seven more abominations, see the list in Prov 6:16–19) were sure to bring God’s wrath on those who perpetrated them. Twelve times the book of Proverbs uses the phrase, “is an abomination to the Lord.” In Ps 88, a prayer for help written by a man close to death, the physically repulsive appearance of a tôʿēbâ is stressed; the man’s former friends avoid him because they consider him to be a thing of horror (Ps 88:8 [H 9]).[1]
Perhaps we feel a bit better after reading the list. We’re not idolaters. But be careful. We need to notice the connection to Paul. Maybe Paul saw an even bigger threat, that is, the threat of returning to behaviors once-forgiven, not intended to be repeated. Ezekiel’s warning is a stark reminder of the seriousness of disobedience while Paul’s description is a clear exposition of human powerlessness. Both seem to be true. What are we to do now?
It helps to note that Ezekiel speaks about a more-or-less permanent reversal of direction. Ezekiel’s warning isn’t about momentary failures. It’s about returning to a way of life that was once abandoned. In this regard, Paul describes the same thing, but for Paul it isn’t reversal. It’s the condition we found ourselves in before we experienced the grace of God. In other words, these two men provide us with a description of what it was like at the beginning of our spiritual awareness and what it is like if we should turn away from that awareness. Both are serious conditions. Both require serious reflection. Paul spurs us to action. Ezekiel challenges us to diligence.
Is it possible to fall away? Apparently, yes. Does that happen in a single instance or even in a long struggle? Probably not. Why? Because Ezekiel’s view is about people who once knew God’s truth but who turned their backs on Him. Ezekiel’s concern is about those who were following YHVH but for some reason took up the ways of the world and abandoned the fight to stay the course. Paul tells us how miserable that state was before we encountered God. Ezekiel warns us of the horrible fate of rejecting that encounter.
I’m not sure this makes us feel better. It’s still a scary thought. There are consequences—always, every time. Makes me want to cry out, “Lord, I’m trying. Help me!” Of course, there are verses for that too. Thank God.
Topical Index: tôʿēbâ, abomination, Romans 7:15-19, Ezekiel 18:24
[1] Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. tāʿab, 2530 (electronic ed.) (977). Chicago: Moody Press.
“There are consequences—always, every time.” Across the years I have found your shared journey to be messages designed to ensure that someone remembers something. Thank you for the oh-so-many valuable reminders.
I was told long ago that you cannot break just one Commandment, any more than perhaps you can eat just one chocolate, because when you sin, you only have two options: to repent the last action or to justify it. If you repent; end of story. But how many of us aren’t truly sorry? Then, eventually, we will want to “seek it yet again”. How will we do that? By justifying that last time we did it, of course, for that justification gives us the motive power (choice) necessary to defy God’s command. BUT, because sin is an addiction, next time we need just a little more motivation to overcome the heavy curse associated with the last sin, so we rationalize to accompany the justification. This is the very process of “hardening the heart” that Pharoah and the Jewish leaders of Yeshua’s day used. To justify the breaking of one Command, you need to break all the others, and, if you are paying attention, it may shock you to see how seamlessly – and even rapidly – that can happen!
Eventually, that next justifying step will culminate in the decision to follow even the most degraded practices of the heathen. In the case of the Sanhedrin council after the resurrection of Lazarus, they voted, on the advice of Caiphas, to institute the heathen practice of human sacrifice “for the good of the nation”. Eventually, to justify the last choice(s), we, too, may come to the point of choosing to sacrifice ourselves and/or those around us; we will choose practices that culminate in death, whether fast death or slow, for all the practices of the heathen are “practices of death”.
Or, we could just repent.
Hi Laurita 🙂
I have been down this road you speak of. It is astounding to me how many sins I ending up committing until I got to the end of that road and looked back! This was a result of my choices and no ones fault but my own.
Ended up broken and crying out to God to help me. He had mercy on me and did help me learn to make better choices and feel guilt again.
Fast forward years later and I can use my mistakes to help others. I can feel empathy for some folks that others may not understand because of that road I once chose. This is God’s blessing in allowing me to make choices even though many of them were not good ones.
I am not perfect and am still passionate and can be quick tempered but I know who I am. Better still, God knows who I am. Life is such an amazing journey to be taken one step at a time and remembering to look back.
I have great contentment in my life now and want to encourage others that as the seasons change, so can life. Onward!
I will long remember the cruise on which we shared a cabin. I will long remember the seminar we shared in Evansville with Masters. Peace and blessings as you begin a new venture.
This certainly strikes home!