Compare Ezekiel 20:26 with Romans 1:24-25 on God allowing sinful desires. The passages in focus “I pronounced them unclean through their gifts in the sacrifice of every firstborn, that I might devastate them so that they would know that I am the LORD.” “Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is forever worthy of praise! Amen.” A pattern of God’s permissive judgment • God’s holiness remains unaltered; His wrath is revealed when people persistently reject Him (Nahum 1:2; Psalm 5:4–6). • Rather than compelling sin, the Lord withdraws protective restraint and lets hard-hearted people taste the bitter fruit of their own desires (Psalm 81:11–12; Hosea 4:17; Proverbs 1:24–31). • This “giving over” is itself an act of judgment, meant to expose the emptiness of idolatry and provoke repentance (Acts 7:42; 2 Chronicles 15:2). Insights from Ezekiel 20:26 • Historical backdrop: Israel adopted Canaanite child-sacrifice rituals (Leviticus 18:21; 2 Kings 16:3). • Divine response: “I pronounced them unclean” signals judicial abandonment—not approval—so the horror of their own choices would “devastate” them. • Goal: “that they would know that I am the LORD.” Even judgment serves a redemptive purpose: awakening covenant awareness (Ezekiel 6:7; 37:13). Insights from Romans 1:24–25 • Context: Gentile humanity suppresses revealed truth (vv.18–23). • Threefold refrain (“God gave them over,” vv.24, 26, 28) shows escalating moral collapse—sexual impurity, degrading passions, debased mind. • Root issue: idolatry—trading the Creator for created things. Sinful desires are not innocent cravings; they are worship disorders. Shared theological truths • Persistent rebellion invites God’s judicial release: He lets sinners have what they insist on having, and their desires become instruments of discipline (Galatians 6:7–8). • Sin carries its own punishment; separation from God’s moral order leads to uncleanness, dishonor, and devastation (James 1:14–15). • Yet mercy still calls: even in judgment God leaves a pathway back through repentance and faith (Isaiah 55:6–7; 1 John 1:9). A sobering warning and hope • The same holy God who “gave them over” in Ezekiel and Romans still rules history. Choosing sin may feel like freedom, but it is bondage that ends in ruin (John 8:34). • Christ bore the penalty of our rebellion, offering deliverance from both guilt and the grip of corrupt desires (Titus 2:11–14). • Real freedom is found in submission to the Creator, whose Spirit empowers a new heart that delights in His will (Ezekiel 36:26–27; Romans 8:1–4). |
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