When Things Don't Work Out Like I Thought They Would

This morning I was reading Ezk 17.  It is an interesting chapter as God has Ezekiel prophetically speak an allegory to Israel, and it is about The Babylonian exile, and the King put in place to rule Israel by the King of Babylon.  The placed King decides to make an entreaty to Egypt to try and break away from Babylon and God is not for this at all!  Here are the verses where God explains the situation and His response -

Ezekiel 17:11-21 NIV:

[11] "Then the word of the Lord came to me: [12] “Say to this rebellious people, 'Do you not know what these things mean? ' Say to them: 'The king of Babylon went to Jerusalem and carried off her king and her nobles, bringing them back with him to Babylon. [13] Then he took a member of the royal family and made a treaty with him, putting him under oath. He also carried away the leading men of the land, [14] so that the kingdom would be brought low, unable to rise again, surviving only by keeping his treaty. [15] But the king rebelled against him by sending his envoys to Egypt to get horses and a large army. Will he succeed? Will he who does such things escape? Will he break the treaty and yet escape?

[16] “ 'As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, he shall die in Babylon, in the land of the king who put him on the throne, whose oath he despised and whose treaty he broke. [17] Pharaoh with his mighty army and great horde will be of no help to him in war, when ramps are built and siege works erected to destroy many lives. [18] He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Because he had given his hand in pledge and yet did all these things, he shall not escape.

[19] “ 'Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: As surely as I live, I will repay him for despising my oath and breaking my covenant. [20] I will spread my net for him, and he will be caught in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon and execute judgment on him there because he was unfaithful to me. [21] All his choice troops will fall by the sword, and the survivors will be scattered to the winds. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken."

The interesting thing to me is that viewed from Israel's perspective (being His chosen people), God's plan doesn't seem to make sense.  How could taking away their sovereignty, removing their leading families, and having a king put in place by a foreign conquering king be God's plan?  Yet that is exactly what God is saying here.  In verse 19 God talks about the placed king "despising my  (God's) oath and breaking my (God's) covenant".  God would not have spoken an oath or made a covenant if it was not in His plan - He doesn't negotiate, He is in total control!

From a human perspective, this king was trying to break away from the Babylonian influence, trying to re-establish Israel's sovereignty and create an alliance with Egypt, which seems right.  It is interesting that this would have been written after the book of Isaiah which speaks in Chapter 19 of a relationship that gets established between three nations, Assyria, Egypt and Israel.  That being said, one could have come up with a prophetic word, based on the prophecies of Is 29, confirming the idea to reach out to the Egyptians, as a relationship with Egypt was prophesied, and the Kingdom of Babylon was going to fail according to similar prophesies found specifically in Isaiah 21 & 47 and Jeremiah 51, both which were likely written before the book of Ezekiel.

My point being this, we can make the Bible say what we want prophetically, for there are allegories and parables, and so many verses where God addresses His people, both historically and covenantly that we could come up with some mix to support our ideas and opinions.  There are types of understanding and thought that go in and out favor in our human circles, but God's word is perfect, and His ability to enact His will perfect.  We have at best a limited perspective, as described by Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:8-10, 12 NIV:

[8] "Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. [9] For we know in part and we prophesy in part, [10] but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears."

[12] "For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."

Thus, I am always a bit leery of those who speak prophetically about seasons we are entering into, based on scriptures pulled together, and non-historical understandings of specific verses.  I am not saying that God doesn't speak prophetically to the Church, what I am saying is that our understanding before the fulfillment of prophetic word is most likely always imperfect.  There have been many times where the Holy Spirit has quickened something in my heart, and I think it means a particular thing, and I begin to pray for this to occur, believing God's word and my interpretation of His Word.  More often then not, when His word is revealed it is often very different than I thought.   I could get angry with this disparity or I could learn from it.

There are other times where my life takes a direction change and doesn't taker a path I thought it would, and I am surprised by the Lord.  I can get myself all worked up, start fighting against the change, which I don't think fits in God's plan for my life, or take a different approach.  I have decided my only (and best) recourse is to entrust myself fully to God, to believe in His goodness and His perfect will!  I believe that He loves me, has a plan for my life and is in complete control, regardless of how things look around me circumstantially.  He is a compassionate, loving and merciful God who has saved me!

So whether I understand, think I understand, or haven't a clue why my direction has changed and things didn't work out like I thought they would, I will trust God who loves me.

Amen!