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To: ADSUM
Ezekiel 38:1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, 3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: 4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords: 5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: 6 Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.

Sounds pretty "compelling" to me.
16 posted on 03/07/2022 4:17:47 AM PST by j_guru
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To: j_guru

I don’t see that God compels anyone to do evil or sin.

Show your rational that God compels evil.

We all face God’s Divine Justice when we die.

Ezekiel then goes on to preach about personal responsibility and everything it implies in the case of the exiles. What he teaches marks an advance on the revelation contained in previous books. People took it as normal for a city or a whole nation to be punished collectively—just men as well as sinners—and for the sins of parents to be visited also on their children. Ezekiel speaks of individual responsibility: A man’s salvation or condemnation depends on him alone, on his personal attitude to God, that is, his response to the grace he has been given, as it was in the beginning.

Ezekiel therefore explains the meaning and purpose of divine punishment and teaches that it is possible for each individual to be reconciled with God, going on to explain further about individual retribution. Since man is responsible for his actions, he must suffer the consequences of his unfaithfulness, although—even in exile—he can recover lost grace by being converted, which is the true purpose of any punishment God metes out:

“But if a wicked man turns away from all his sins which he has committed and keeps and my statutes and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness which he has done he shall live. Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?” (Ezek. 18:21-23).
https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/ezekiel

Ezekiel concludes his prophecies, as we have seen, by announcing that there will be a New Covenant:

“I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will bless them and multiply them and set my sanctuary in the midst of them for ever more” (Ezek. 37:26).

The book closes with a description of the future city:

“The circumference of the city shall be eighteen thousand cubits, and the name of the city henceforth shall be, ‘Yahweh is there’” (48:35). This prophecy looks to the reconstruction of Israel as symbol of the messianic kingdom, the Church.


22 posted on 03/07/2022 4:46:10 AM PST by ADSUM ( )
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