“You are Republican,” your Facebook algorithm whispers in your ear. “You are a Democrat,” your social circle chants. “You don’t just believe in those political ideas; they are who you are,” the world murmurs. Taking a side and defending it has become the norm in our society. Being with others like us feels safe, comfortable, protected from critique. But when we’re in a place where we separate from others, where we only hear, “Yes, you’re right,” we stagnate and fail to grow. Our political substitute identities leave us self-righteous, angry, and unable to cope with life’s reality: not everyone is like us, sees things the way we do, or wants the same things we do. If our happiness depends on being isolated from differing opinions, it is a false happiness.

In 2016, data scientists Eitan Hersh and Yair Ghitza analyzed data among registered voters to determine how often Democrats and Republicans married. They learned that 30 percent of couples were politically mixed, meaning they did not share the same party identification. However, most of those mixed marriages were between Independents and a spouse registered as Republican or Democrat. Only 9 percent of marriages were between Democrats and Republicans. That number has worsened. In 2020, the American Family Survey saw that only 21 percent of marriages were politically mixed, and fewer than 4 percent were between Democrats and Republicans. The indications are that we tend to only have deep friendships with those who share our political ideology.
In 1958, Gallup Research asked respondents, “‘If you had a daughter of marriageable age, would you prefer she marry a Democrat or Republican, all other things being equal?’ The results: 18% of Americans said they would prefer their daughter to marry a Democrat, 10% preferred a Republican, and the majority didn’t care.” When Gallup asked the same question in 2016, the number of those who cared nearly doubled: “28% of respondents said they preferred their child to marry a Democrat and 27% a Republican.”
In 2017, after Trump won the presidential election, 10 percent of Americans ended a romantic relationship because of different political views.
Politics are divisive no matter what country you live in. England has been split over Brexit (leaving the European Union). France has been divided over immigration policies. And South Korea has massive political division between its younger and older residents and between those in urban and rural environments.
Let’s make this personal. What would your reaction be if you learned a close friend of yours voted for a different presidential candidate than you in each of the past three elections? How would you feel if you walked into a new friend’s home and MSNBC was on the TV in their living room? How about Fox News? How would it impact your friendship?
We long to be around those who validate our opinions and share our worldview. It’s not surprising, then, that our political allegiances have a significant impact on our friendships.
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One of the primary reasons in Scripture that God pours out His wrath—and accomplishes salvation for us—is to show us and the world who He is.  Observing His judgment and mercy should leave us in awe of His nature and of the Gospel, keep us humble in remembering our sin, and be forever grateful that He has elected us to be His people rather than His enemies.  So let us stand in awe of God’s nature as displayed by His mercy and judgment and take comfort in His sovereignty, knowing that while He is satisfied in His justice, He truly delights in His mercy.

“Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.
-Ezekiel 36:22-23, ESV
Why does God do what He does?  In one sense, this is a dangerous question.  God’s ways and thoughts are as high above us as the heavens are above the earth (Isaiah 55:8-9).  But while the secret things belong to God alone, what He has revealed in His Word belongs to us (Deuteronomy 29:29)—and He has actually revealed much about why He acts as He does.  One reason appears 72 times in Ezekiel: that both God’s people and enemies would know that He is God.  Many of these are in the context of judgment on the Jews and their neighbors, but some are in the context of blessing as well.
The Theme of Ezekiel
Many parts of the Old Testament are challenging for various reasons, but when it comes to comprehension, the prophets have an unparalleled level of difficulty.  This is especially true of Ezekiel, who prophesied during the Babylonian exile.  The exile happened over many years before coming to its climax with the destruction of Jerusalem.  Thus, many who were left doubted that God would actually cause the city to be destroyed, so it is to them that God speaks through Ezekiel.  The book begins with a startling vision of God’s glory that has puzzled commentators for centuries.  In this vision, he is called by God to go and prophesy to His stubborn and rebellions people (Ezekiel 2:3).  Then God gives a string of prophecies against the Jews, calling out their sins and warning of the coming siege and ultimate destruction of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 4-7) before showing Ezekiel a vision of Jerusalem and its sin culminating with the departure of God’s glorious presence from the Temple—first out of the Holy of Holies then out of the Temple complex and finally from Jerusalem entirely via the Mount of Olives (Ezekiel 8-11 cf. Zechariah 14:4).  The prophecies then focus on the sins of the people and their leaders as well as the coming destruction of Jerusalem and complete exile of the people (Ezekiel 12-23).  When the siege of Jerusalem begins, Ezekiel’s wife dies (Ezekiel 24) and the focus of prophecy shifts to judgment against Israel’s neighbors: Amon, Moab, Edom, and Philistia (Ezekiel 25) then Tyre and Sidon (Ezekiel 26-28) and Egypt (Ezekiel 29-32).  God then returns to judgment against Israel when Jerusalem falls (Ezekiel 33-34) before condemning Edom again (Ezekiel 35).  The focus of the prophecy then shifts to the restoration of God’s people with the promise of their return from exile and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (Ezekiel 36) that would be a mass spiritual resurrection in which God would dwell with and unify His people (Ezekiel 37).  God then decrees destruction against Gog (Ezekiel 38-39), ending with the last “they shall know” of the book:
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for my holy name. They shall forget their shame and all the treachery they have practiced against me, when they dwell securely in their land with none to make them afraid, when I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them from their enemies’ lands, and through them have vindicated my holiness in the sight of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the LORD their God, because I sent them into exile among the nations and then assembled them into their own land. I will leave none of them remaining among the nations anymore. And I will not hide my face anymore from them, when I pour out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD.
-Ezekiel 39:25-29, ESV
The book ends with God showing Ezekiel a detailed vision of a new Temple (Ezekiel 40-42) with the glory of God returning in a mirror of its earlier departure (Ezekiel 43).  The vision then details a restored priesthood and a righteous Prince (Ezekiel 44).  This Prince would rule a restored Holy Land centered on the Temple, complete with a river flowing from the Temple and trees bearing fruit year-round with leaves healing the nations (Ezekiel 45-48 cf. Revelation 22).  It is within this context that God repeatedly declares that He will both judge Israel and their neighbors and restore Israel so that everyone will know that He is the LORD.
The Sin of Israel…and Us
Before we look at the ways that people will know that the LORD is God, we need to pause to consider the sins of Judah that bring God’s condemnation throughout Ezekiel.  We have previously seen how Judah sinned by choosing to obey some of God’s commands while disobeying others.  Judah would ultimately commit the same sins as Israel, listed in Ezekiel 22.  They shed much innocent blood, treated parents with contempt, extorted foreigners, wronged widows and orphans, despised the Sabbath, slandered others, and worshipped idols.  They were sexually promiscuous, took bribes, extorted others, and ultimately forgot God.  This brought about God’s wrath through the Babylonians who ultimately destroyed Jerusalem, killing most of the Jews and carrying the rest into captivity.  Four centuries later, they would add to this sin by murdering Jesus Christ and then persecuting His Church.  God promised to destroy anyone who destroys His Church (1 Corinthians 3:17), so Jesus decreed that God’s wrath for every drop of innocent blood spilt in the Old Testament would fall on the Jews (Matthew 23:35) who had forgotten how God had restored them from the Babylonian exile and instead made themselves enemies of God and His true People.
Now, before I am accused of antisemitism, I must make one thing very clear: I am not talking about the Jews of today.  The Jews of the First Century murdered Jesus and persecuted His Church, thereby putting themselves under the curse of God’s wrath.  Throughout Scripture, we see that God shows extraordinary patience in delaying His wrath, but also that it will come.  God’s wrath builds to a climax, after which point it is complete.  So God tells Ezekiel that He will spend (Ezekiel 13:15, 20:8) and satisfy (Ezekiel 16:38) His wrath.  The First Century Jews were destroyed when God poured out His wrath on them with the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD.  Just as the Jews of today have no special blessing since they have been replaced by the Church as the visible representation of God’s people, they also have no special curse.
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In the Proverbs Solomon spends much time helping us to see that walking in the paths opened by God for us is the only means by which we can flourish. The goodness of God is what we are denying when we choose a different path. We are saying to the Creator that His plan is wrong and that we have a better idea on how to get to Point A than the one who made the map. 

If we were to name the number one problem amongst all men, but especially Christians who should know better it would be: sin. Why is sin such a problem? Because we are sinners. Why are we sinners? Because Adam sinned. Why do we refuse to deal with sin? Because we love sin. Why do we love sin? Because there is no fear of God in our eyes. We are the captains of our own desires.
That little syllogism matters due to the fact that we, and obviously unbelievers, forget the reality of the subject of our Larger Catechism question and answer for today. Eternal damnation by its very definition is forever. Whatever enjoyment/blessing/gift we receive from sin will never last that long, nor will it actually provide what we desire for the time period we want. We know that, or at least we should, in our heads. So how do we keep the truth of the consequences of sin in the forefront of our mind in order that we might be wise to its pain? The Bible tells us that each and every transgression of the law is equally deserving the full and complete condemnation by God of the individual who sins. We know this, but continue to do it anyway. Why?
It is a good question, one that every human being needs to be able to give an answer to. Today’s Q/A will be taken up with providing a workable and straight-forward solution that as usual has its grounding in the Lord’s triune nature. Let’s get to it:
Q. 152. What does every sin deserve at the hands of God?
A. Every sin, even the least, being against the sovereignty, goodness, and holiness of God, and against his righteous law deserves his wrath and curse, both in this life, and that which is to come; and cannot be expiated but by the blood of Christ.
While last week we talked about the gradations of sin in regard to their heinousness we should not allow that simple fact to get in the way of how all men should revolt at the idea, let alone the act, of sin. We should hate sin with a perfect hatred. In the WLC above the first item that the writers bring up as an assistance in this matter is the concept of God’s sovereignty. How does this provide help in remembering why we should not sin? First it humbles us. Our desire to sin usually arises from our hope to organize our life according to our own wisdom, aka pride. In Ephesians 1:4 the word says, “. . . just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” Notice in the construction of the verse by Paul that our divine election is the source of our obedience.
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