By: Obed Pineda
Upon reading Ezekiel 7:26, there is a very important disappearance mentioned by God. The Bible reads, “Destruction comes; they will seek peace, but there shall be none. Disaster will come upon disaster, and rumor will be upon rumor. Then they will seek a vision from a prophet; but the law will perish from the priest, and counsel from the elders” (Ezekiel 7:25-26). If you notice the prophet, the priest, and the elder are all used within the same scope of the pericope. This is significant because these three were considered to be the authorities of wisdom, and were known as wisdom’s representatives. The prophet was viewed as the herald of an immediate response from God because when he would speak to God, He would immediately speak to him, giving word to the people. Malachi 2:7 proclaims that “the lips of the priest should keep knowledge, and the people should seek the law from his mouth; for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.” The “elders” refers to those who were aged, had lived a long life of righteousness and had much experience. They were those who had been able to maintain their righteousness throughout their entire life. With their knowledge of life, they were enabled to share words of advice with those who sought them. Yet, according to the Scripture, there would be a time in Jerusalem when they would all vanish. There would be no prophet, there would be no priest, and there would be no elder, thus pronouncing that all wisdom was going to be withheld from the people. When Nebuchadnezzar would arrive (after two prior military campaigns) to finally destroy the temple and the city of Jerusalem, these words would come to fruition. This is a potent lesson being taught to us and it is wise to realize there was a reason why God allowed this to be. Jehovah God declares to Jeremiah that this was in response to the people of Israel willingly seeking out false prophets and believing that they had been approved by Him (Jeremiah 23:30-40). It is valuable to note that because God is immutable, this still holds true today (cf. 2nd Timothy 4:1-4, 2nd Thessalonians 2:9-12). We discover that when they approached the prophet, the priests, or the elders, they were in fact searching for a different answer in regards to their current situation. Their heart’s desire was that maybe one of them would contradict the other and thus change the inevitable outcome. They refused to acknowledge Wisdom’s warning bewailing, “Because you disdained all my counsel, and would have none of my rebuke, I will also laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes…then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently, but they will not find me. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord” (Proverbs 1:25-26, 28-29). The reason Wisdom’s children were going to disappear was because there was no need to continue repeating what they had already heard. They are called Wisdom’s children because the good fruit of their obedient actions would serve as proof of the wisdom of the given advice (cf. Luke 7:30-35). Since they chose to follow the same advice that had been rejected, when the advice proved true they would be identified as children of wisdom and exemplify how it was to be justified. It is vital to accept that regardless of whether you reject, ignore, or deny truth, it will be irrelevant since it will never cease to be true. Hence why it is justified by those who had the foresight of adhering to truth (cf. John 8:31-32). It is also worthy to disclose that God is exposing the people’s superstitious approach to these representatives of wisdom. They solely sought them when it was convenient and because they were afraid due to the calamity that had arrived. Now they needed God; now they wanted to come to Him and were ready to listen. Regrettably, today there is very little difference when it pertains to the little respect man has toward God’s servants. Like in times past, spiritual men and women are only sought after when prayer is needed from them. However, observe the instruction the Master gave His twelve disciples before sending them out on their limited commission: “Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out. And when you go into a household, greet it. If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city” (Matthew 10:11-15, cf. Proverbs 26:4-5)! It is undeniable that God would not give a commandment that He Himself would not follow first. Ergo, God was not about to respond to the fool who had in the beginning rejected His counsel and was now approaching Him superstitiously. A relationship where love is not reciprocated is defined as a toxic relationship. Sadly, this had become the relationship of Judah with God. Judah only sought Him when they were in trouble, but forgot Him when they were doing well. Although it is true that what pleases the Father is for His children to be obedient, it must not be ignored that He, too, rejoices in having loving children. If we never open the Scriptures, we will never allow God’s voice to speak wisdom to us, and thus heavenly wisdom will vanish away. Unless we open His mighty book, God will remain silent in our time because He no longer speaks in dreams, visions, signs, or miracles (cf. Hebrews 1:1-4). If we do not diligently research Holy Writ each and every day, the children of wisdom will remain silent, but she will still be justified because her guidance will prove to be true in the end. Living in a state of futility (cf. Ephesians 4:17-18) produces a life full of hardship and bitterness. Allowing the Word of God to guide us into all truth so that His awesome power may transform us into the best version of us, brings forth joy inexpressible (cf. 1st Peter 1:3-9). Then, and only then, will your life justify Wisdom, thus marking you as one of her children. You will justify wisdom because you will prove that making this decision was the best decision ever made. Yet, one day your voice will also go silent before those who choose not to hear your counsel. Like in the times of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, God will silence the voice of His children today as well. When wisdom vanishes, beware you be counted by Him as one of her children, lest you eternally regret it.