Ezekiel 14:12-23
Jerusalem Will Not Be Spared
12 And the word of the Lord came to me: 13 “Son of man, when a land sins against me by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out my hand against it and break its supply of bread and send famine upon it, and cut off from it man and beast, 14 even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness, declares the Lord God.
15 “If I cause wild beasts to pass through the land, and they ravage it, and it be made desolate, so that no one may pass through because of the beasts, 16 even if these three men were in it, as I live, declares the Lord God, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters. They alone would be delivered, but the land would be desolate.
17 “Or if I bring a sword upon that land and say, Let a sword pass through the land, and I cut off from it man and beast, 18 though these three men were in it, as I live, declares the Lord God, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they alone would be delivered.
19 “Or if I send a pestilence into that land and pour out my wrath upon it with blood, to cut off from it man and beast, 20 even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, declares the Lord God, they would deliver neither son nor daughter. They would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness.
21 “For thus says the Lord God: How much more when I send upon Jerusalem my four disastrous acts of judgment, sword, famine, wild beasts, and pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast! 22 But behold, some survivors will be left in it, sons and daughters who will be brought out; behold, when they come out to you, and you see their ways and their deeds, you will be consoled for the disaster that I have brought upon Jerusalem, for all that I have brought upon it. 23 They will console you, when you see their ways and their deeds, and you shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, declares the Lord God.”
This is a hard passage, one of those that we could label "I’m God, and you’re not" passages where the sin of the people is laid out before us. There are repeated examples of the Lord describing a disaster and mentioning that if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in the midst of the judgment and disaster, only they would survive. These three outstanding men of faith would be unable to rescue anyone, not even their closest relatives. At the end of the passage is the key thought that God wasn't doing this at random; it happened because the people brought it on themselves.
God patiently and repeatedly warned and called His people to repentance, but they were “a rebellious house” (verses 2:1-7 tell us just how far the people had fallen). At the end of the passage, we learn of some survivors who were brought out. The word brought is important because the people were not saved. Saved would imply that they were good or righteous in some way. Using the term brought out implies that they come out as prisoners of war rather than as an act of grace. They were still rebellious. Ezekiel felt some consolation, but not because some survived, but because he knew that the Lord acted justly with His people. They would recognize just how bad the people had become (remember, they set a standard for a new low), and just like the Lord used Joshua to deal with the sin of the people in the Promised Land, the Lord used the Babylonians to deal with the sin of His people.
So, what does this mean to us? There is an obvious connection to God’s standard for justice in that the standard is not applied arbitrarily or unfairly. The standard applies to all people, Christian and non-Christian alike. That makes me think about our responsibility as followers of Jesus, both corporately and individually.
Corporately, as Christians, we have the responsibility to live and act as a people for the Lord. Especially as members of a community of faith, we need to encourage each other daily to pursue Jesus.
As individuals, we have the same responsibility. This is not some requirement that we must fulfill; it’s about our relationship with Jesus and loving and following Him. If we do that, we will naturally want to be with Him. It's one of those upward spirals: the more you know Jesus, the more you love being with Him; the more you want to be with Jesus, the more you want to be like Him; the more you are with Him, the more you want to know. It just spirals upwards.
So, really, what’s holding you back from starting on that upward journey today? I can’t encourage you enough in this regard. Just take a step or two of faith, baby steps, that’s all, and see where the journey takes you. I guarantee that you won’t look back with any kind of regret at all. Jesus will make you a better person through and through: the best parent, spouse, boss, employee, student, friend - you get the picture.
However, that’s not to say life will be easy or everything will be perfect (my own life and relationships are a testimony to that fact, and if you need more, look at Ezekiel’s life!). But your life will be good because the Lord is God, and He is with you and will send others to encourage, comfort, and urge you to live for Him as you press on in your journey.
So, what are you waiting for? Just be with Jesus.
God bless you and have a great day. Know that you are prayed for this morning.
Scott