Four Purposes for Seeking the Lord: The Duty Neglected

Ezekiel 6:10 confronts a grievous spiritual condition: "They do not return to the Lord their God, nor seek Him for all this." Joseph S. Exell's Victorian homiletic unpacks this indictment with surgical precision.

First, the duty itself. Seeking God encompasses all genuine religion because our principal dependence, expectations, and connections rest with Him alone. We are spiritually separated—having left Him criminally while He has withdrawn penally. Religion begins when we pursue four essential purposes: (1) to know Him—the foundation of faith; (2) to enjoy Him through reconciliation, for His anger blocks His comfort; (3) to serve Him as our Master in obedience; (4) to resemble Him morally, since "the essence of religion" is becoming like whom we worship.

Second, the neglect. Scripture speaks with awful authority: "They do not seek the Lord their God." Five classes of delinquents emerge: infidels denying divine providence; the profligate publishing sin openly; the careless indifferent to religious things; formalists possessing a name but dead in practice; and partial seekers whose devotion flickers like morning clouds, dependent upon external excitement rather than genuine conviction.

Third, the aggravation: this neglect persists "for all this"—despite God's perpetual provision of means to prevent sin and excite holiness. The refusal to seek remains inexcusable.