Tag: Ezekiel 18

God Speaks on Deconstruction

In today’s world, deconstruction has become a common response to the discomfort many feel when confronted with aspects of the Christian faith that challenge modern sensibilities. Often, people begin to question, and eventually reject, core doctrines or moral teachings because they believe God’s ways don’t align with what they perceive to be loving, just, or fair. This mindset assumes that God is somehow flawed, outdated, or wrong—leading people to attempt to remake Him in their own image, according to their own standards.

But this approach is nothing new. In Ezekiel 18:25-29, God directly addresses the Israelites’ complaints that His ways were not just. The people argued that their understanding of justice was superior to God’s, but the Lord responded with a sobering truth: it is not God who is unjust, but humanity that fails to understand His perfect ways.

Ezekiel 18:25-29 (NLT):

“Yet you say, ‘The Lord isn’t doing what’s right!’ Listen to me, O people of Israel. Am I the one not doing what’s right, or is it you? … And yet the people of Israel keep saying, ‘The Lord isn’t doing what’s right!’ O people of Israel, it is you who are not doing what’s right, not I.”

Deconstruction promises a “better” version of God—one who aligns more closely with our own ideals, a deity built in our image rather than the other way around. However, this pursuit is nothing more than a false promise. Instead of leading to greater freedom or understanding, it ultimately leads to confusion and spiritual disillusionment. The tragic irony is that, in attempting to make God more palatable to our modern tastes, we strip away the very essence of who He is—His holiness, justice, and truth.

When we find ourselves at odds with God’s commands or character, the problem isn’t with God; it’s with our limited understanding. The call for every believer is not to reshape the faith to fit our preferences but to submit ourselves to God’s perfect will, trusting that His ways, though often mysterious, are always right.

Deconstruction may offer the allure of a more accommodating faith, but it is a hollow promise. A God remade in our image is powerless to save, transform, or offer the eternal life we seek. Instead, we must cling to the true God, whose ways are higher than our ways and whose thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:9). Only in Him do we find the fullness of life, grace, and truth.

Does God Delight in Destruction?

Today’s devotional is a brief apologetic note.

It comes from the blessings and cursing section. The the blessing that is pronounced features some pretty noteworthy warnings, and the curse the is pronounced is… long. Very long. And quite descriptive. And both the blessing and the cursing are conditional on the actions of the people. And before I get to the apologetic note, I want to point out that God is not a blustery wind-bag. He means what He says. So we should expect that if Israel is disobedient in the ways described, the consequences described should come to pass. Moses himself said that this is how you will know a true prophet, right? So let’s keep our eyes on Deuteronomy 28 as we continue to read through the Old Testament together.

It shall come about that as the LORD delighted over you to prosper you, and multiply you, so the LORD will delight over you to make you perish and destroy you; and you will be torn from the land where you are entering to possess it. 

Deuteronomy 28:63(NASB)

Does the Lord really DELIGHT in the destruction of the disobedient? Most people will cite Ezekiel and say that this cannot be true:

Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” declares the Lord GOD, “rather than that he should turn from his ways and live?

Ezekiel 18:23 (NASB)

It’s worth noting that these are two different words in Hebrew, even though they are the same English word. The word in Deuteronomy means “to be glad or rejoice“. The one in Ezekiel means “to be pleased in or inclined toward“. The latter is indicative of God’s will, desire, or preference. The former shows that God is pleased when justice is done. A worker earns his wages (1 Timothy 5:18), so the question is this: what are you earning? What wage will be paid to you?

It is God’s desire that all should be saved, but He will still rejoice when justice is done. We were told earlier in Deuteronomy to “have no pity for the guilty”. God won’t.

Deuteronomy 26:1-29:1 | 078/365