Ezekiel 7:15-22: a reflection

15“‘The sword is outside, and the pestilence and the famine within. He who is in the field will die by the sword. He who is in the city will be devoured by famine and pestilence. 16But of those who escape, they will escape and will be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, everyone in his iniquity. 17All hands will be feeble, and all knees will be weak as water. 18They will also clothe themselves with sackcloth, and horror will cover them. Shame will be on all faces, and baldness on all their heads. 19They will cast their silver in the streets, and their gold will be as an unclean thing. Their silver and their gold won’t be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD’s wrath. They won’t satisfy their souls or fill their bellies; because it has been the stumbling block of their iniquity. 20As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in majesty; but they made the images of their abominations and their detestable things therein. Therefore I have made it to them as an unclean thing. 21I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a plunder; and they will profane it. 22I will also turn my face from them, and they will profane my secret place. Robbers will enter into it, and profane it.

In the day of reckoning Ezekiel foretells, the people find that their silver and gold, in which they had trusted, cannot deliver them, but are cast away as worthless when it matters most. Their silver and their gold won't be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD's wrath, Ezekiel says; they will cast their silver in the streets, and their gold will be as an unclean thing. The people had trusted in their wealth, in their silver and gold, as their security. But in the day of reckoning, that wealth proved unable to deliver them; it could not save them, satisfy them, or protect them when it mattered most, and they cast it away as worthless. The riches they had trusted failed them in the day that mattered. This shows that wealth we trust in cannot deliver us in the day that matters most. Wealth we trust in cannot deliver us when it matters most. Do not trust riches to save you; they fail in the day of reckoning. Silver and gold cannot deliver in the day of God's wrath. What we trust for security may prove worthless when we most need it.

Notice what happened to the wealth the people had trusted. They had made their silver and gold their security, trusting in their riches to keep them safe and satisfied. But in the day of reckoning, that trust was exposed as false: their silver and gold could not deliver them from the day of wrath; it could not save them, could not satisfy them, could not protect them when it mattered most. And so they cast it away in the streets as an unclean, worthless thing, for it had failed them utterly. This holds a searching warning about trusting in wealth. We can be tempted to make wealth our security, to trust in riches to keep us safe, to satisfy us, to protect us against trouble. But wealth cannot finally deliver us; in the day that most matters, the day of reckoning before God, silver and gold cannot save us, cannot satisfy the soul, cannot buy off death or judgment. What we trusted for security proves worthless when we most need deliverance. We do well, then, not to trust in wealth to deliver us, but in God, who alone can save; not to make riches our security, which will fail us in the day that matters, but to seek the security that God alone gives. Do not trust wealth to deliver you; it fails in the day that matters most. Silver and gold cannot save you in the day of reckoning. What you trust for security may prove worthless when you most need it. Make God, not riches, your security.

That is worth taking to heart, for wealth we trust in cannot deliver us in the day that matters most, and we do well to trust God rather than riches, as the people's silver and gold could not deliver them. We can make wealth our security, trusting riches to keep us safe; but in the day of reckoning, silver and gold could not deliver, and were cast away as worthless. Riches fail. Do not trust in wealth to deliver you, which fails in the day that matters; make God, who alone can save, your security. Do not trust in wealth to deliver you, for it cannot save you in the day that matters most, but trust in God, who alone can save, as in the day of reckoning Ezekiel foretold the people found that their silver and gold in which they had trusted could not deliver them but were cast away as worthless, their silver in the streets and their gold as an unclean thing; for the people had trusted in their wealth as their security, but in the day of reckoning that wealth proved unable to deliver them, unable to save, satisfy, or protect them when it mattered most, and they cast it away as worthless, the riches they had trusted failing them in the day that mattered, which holds a searching warning about trusting in wealth, since we can be tempted to make wealth our security and trust in riches to keep us safe and satisfied and protected against trouble, but wealth cannot finally deliver us, and in the day that most matters, the day of reckoning before God, silver and gold cannot save us or satisfy the soul or buy off death or judgment, so that what we trusted for security proves worthless when we most need deliverance, and we do well not to trust in wealth to deliver us but in God who alone can save, not making riches our security which will fail us in the day that matters but seeking the security that God alone gives.

Lord, in the day of reckoning Ezekiel foretells, the people find that their silver and gold, in which they had trusted, cannot deliver them, but are cast away as worthless when it matters most. Their silver and their gold won't be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD's wrath, Ezekiel says; they will cast their silver in the streets, and their gold will be as an unclean thing. The people had trusted in their wealth as their security. But in the day of reckoning, that wealth proved unable to deliver them; it could not save them, satisfy them, or protect them when it mattered most, and they cast it away as worthless. The riches they had trusted failed them in the day that mattered. Show me what happened to the wealth the people had trusted. They had made their silver and gold their security, trusting in their riches to keep them safe and satisfied. But in the day of reckoning, that trust was exposed as false: their silver and gold could not deliver them; it could not save them, satisfy them, or protect them when it mattered most. And so they cast it away as an unclean, worthless thing, for it had failed them utterly. This holds a searching warning about trusting in wealth. I can be tempted to make wealth my security, to trust in riches to keep me safe, to satisfy me, to protect me against trouble. But wealth cannot finally deliver me; in the day that most matters, silver and gold cannot save me, cannot satisfy the soul, cannot buy off death or judgment. What I trusted for security proves worthless when I most need deliverance. Take that to my heart. Keep me from trusting in wealth to deliver me, which fails in the day that matters; help me trust in you, Lord, who alone can save, making you and not riches my security, and seeking the security that you alone give rather than the wealth that will fail me when I most need it.