Ezekiel 14:12-23 It WILL Happen
The judgment of Jerusalem WILL happen. There is nothing that can prevent it. Even the heroes of the faith can’t save the unrighteous. Each will be accountable for their own actions.
HORRIBLE things are in Jerusalem’s future. It is because of their OWN actions that these things lie in their future; the sword, famine, pestilence, and wild beasts. God used EVERYTHING short of these drastic measures to get their attention and they ignored His call. There will be NO ignoring this!
Ezekiel is probably writing during the reign of King Zedekiah. We know Ezekiel was called by God in the fifth year of exile of Jehoiachin. That left about six years before the fall of Jerusalem for Ezekiel to proclaim what was coming. This time also puts it before the three years siege that cut off the food supply and ability to go in and out of the city. Jerusalem wasn’t a perfect place to live but they were still surviving. By the end, the number of people would be GREATLY reduced and those that survived would be starving.
When God told Abraham that He was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham was able to bargain with God over the people. He got God to agree the forego destruction if there could be found at least TEN righteous people. We know that threshold wasn’t met. For Jerusalem, God won’t relent even for three righteous men. God would give them their own lives only IF they were among those in Jerusalem during this time. Yet, the way He says this tells us that other righteous people will survive this time of judgment. They are the remnant that He promises.
I wonder why God chose these three examples. Noah was the ONLY righteous man left at the time of the flood. But God gave him the lives of his wife, his children, and their wives. Job was the MOST righteous man, at least of his time. He wasn’t able to save anyone but himself with his righteousness. Even though he prayed constantly for his children, they had to stand on their own righteousness for their lives. Daniel was a contemporary of Ezekiel. The stories of Daniel and his faith in God had apparently spread throughout the exiles. I wonder if the story of Daniel’s refusal to stop praying and landing in the lion’s den had made the rounds. I would lay odds on Danile not bowing to Nebuchadnezzar’s statue too. By that time, the king had already recognized that Daniel would follow his God alone. And he valued Daniel enough that he wouldn’t impose his will on Daniel’s faith any more. Daniel’s actions though, only went as far as protecting his life. The three Hebrew men in the fiery furnace had to stand on their own too.
There is something I want to ask about the remnant that God promises Ezekiel that he will see. Were these men, women or children righteous? Did God spare them because of their hearts? I would expect that to be the case but the verbiage has me pondering.
Will the survivors be righteous? God says that “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” (verse 23). Does this mean that Ezekiel will see their horrible behavior and realize that God was JUST in stomping on it? Or does it mean that they will be righteous and be a support to Ezekiel in exile? Either would work here. God saying that each man would be accountable for their own actions leads me to the latter conclusion, but saying that He would ‘show’ Ezekiel WHY He had to be so strong leads me to the first option. When we look back at those who were with Jeremiah after the fall, we see that those who survived were STILL stubborn people. They went EXACTLY where God told them NOT to go. Jeremiah was still faithful to God. The people FORCED him to go with them into Egypt.
Is it possible that those brought into exile were faithful to the Lord and those who ran to other lands were the unrighteous? God told them He would send the “sword” after them wherever they went. I would say that God doesn’t ‘punish’ the righteous, but those who came to Ezekiel had to live in bondage too, until the time was fulfilled. These and their descendants would learn well the lessons God was teaching and return back home a different people.
We face the same individual accountability that Jerusalem faced during that time. We EACH have to make the decision to follow Jesus. We parents can’t make it for our children, even by “dedicating the baby to God” or “christening” and the ceremonial sprinkling/baptism. This is more for the parents than the child. It is a promise we make to raise the child according to God’s commandments. NOT under the Law but under the New Covenant God has given us. The child will still have to choose to follow Jesus on their own when they finally understand the implications of such a decision.
However, we parents do have hope for our children’s salvation. “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). This isn’t the only verse about teaching your children about God but it is the one with the most promise. It is the one that MANY of us parents cling to for our wayward children. I PRAY I’m interpreting the promise the way it was intended!
God WILL judge each of us as surely as He judged Jerusalem. Those who refuse Him will have NO part in His Kingdom or eternal life. They will have eternal torment instead. Guaranteed.
Father God, THANK YOU for giving me the opportunity to choose You. It never would have happened without Jesus’ work of salvation! THANK YOU Jesus for Your gift of PURE LOVE!!!
Thank You also Father for allowing me to care for my children whom You entrusted to me. I KNOW I made mistakes along the way, but I ALWAYS TRIED to show them Your love and ground them in You word. They have wandered from their foundation. I don’t know EXACTLY ALL that Your promise in Proverbs means. I’m PRAYING WITH ALL MY HEART that it means what I was taught; that You WILL bring them back to Yourself no matter how long it takes. Whatever else, I KNOW that You love them even more than I do. So, once again, I place them in Your hands. Bring them back to You Father.
