Mercy in the Midst

Series on Ezekiel

II. The Foreign Nations

D. Fairness or Favoritism, Text:33:1-33

Title: Mercy in the Midst

Introduction

Here we have a reiteration of Ezekiel’s call and commission as a watchman for Israel. What makes this timely is that in pronouncing judgments on the foreign nations and traditional enemies of Israel there is likely to be a reaction in which the Jewish people say that it’s about time that they got theirs. They might forget that God was judging them for their sin and unbelief. So there is laid down again the basis on which God is dealing with the nation. It is Ezekiel’s job, indeed the job of every prophet and every pastor, to make clear the terms of God’s dealing and to demonstrate that they are fair. The inclination of Israel to think of itself as God’s favorite is revealed clearly in verses 24 and 25 where God countermands their argument, Son of man, the people living in those ruins in the land of Israel are saying, “Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land. But we are many; surely the land has been given to us as our possession.” Therefore say to them, “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Since you eat meat with the blood still in it and look to your idols and shed blood, should you then possess the land?” So confused and distorted was their reasoning that they said because we are children of Abraham and he got the land then because there are more of us we surely will get the land. But God was expelling them. They claimed God was not fair but they really didn’t want fairness. They wanted favoritism. In a way Christians are often guilty of the same thing. We are very legalistic sometimes and we look at the success of others and think that we deserve more because after all we are God’s children. In fact the whole prosperity gospel taught by some evangelists and preachers, a frequent phenomenon on T.V. rests in this mistaken notion of being God’s favorites. The chapter makes clear what the rules are and it is the prophetic message that Ezekiel is to bring. Consider the watchman, the way, and the warning.

I The Watchman

The watchman’s job was to sound the trumpet. He stood on the city wall and when danger or enemy approached he would blow the trumpet. The trumpet in the Bible is always associated with judgment. In Revelation 11:16-18 when the seventh and last trumpet blows we read, And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign. The nations were angry; and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great” This sort of allusion is found also in I Corinthians 15:50-54, and I Thessalonians 4:16 and 17. Ezekiel had been warning the nation and indeed on this occasion there was a new influx of the last refugees which had come in verse 21, In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month on the fifth day, a man who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me and said, “The city has fallen!” The issue is clearly stated in verse 10, Son of man, say to the house of Israel, “This is what you are saying: ‘Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?’” The people were saying that they could not survive because the terrible burden of their guilt was still upon them. This is the way they interpreted Ezekiel’s preaching of judgment and the situation, “How Shall We Then Live?” This is the passage Francis Schaeffer used for the title of his great work on the history of western civilization. It is very relevant to us as he points out because we lie at the juncture or turning point in the history of that civilization. Are we going to say it’s too bad, it’s too late, there’s no hope, or are we going to say God is merciful, let us turn from our evil ways. This passage has often been given a very legalistic interpretation as if God’s point here is strictly a reign of law, do bad and die or do good and live. This misses the whole point. What God is offering here is mercy to a people who had been disobedient and been judged. This brings me to our second point, the way.

II The Way

In the midst of their confusion God sets before them the way mercy. It is a very sobering thing to the captives who probably expected a speedy return to Judea. With the fall of the city and its complete destruction the spell of the delusion is broken. Far from being a discourse on salvation by works this is, as we have said, an invitation to mercy. Two categories are described: those who are wicked and turn from their wicked ways, and those who are righteous and turn from their righteous ways to wickedness. If you read carefully you discover that the first category the wicked are really being invited to repent as described in verses 14-16, And if I say to the wicked man, “You will surely die,” but he then turns away from his sin and does what is just and right-if he gives back what he took in pledge for a loan, returns what he has stolen, follows the decrees that give life, and does no evil, he will surely live; he will not die. None of the sins he has committed will be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right; he will surely live. God is not suggesting that the wicked can do this all on their own. Repentance and faith are the result of God’s help and the change in lifestyle that occurs is the product of his grace. In the same way God is not suggesting that the righteous of verses 12 and 13 are truly righteous in the same sense as those who repent for he says in verse 13 that they trust in their own righteousness, If I tell the righteous man that he will surely live, but then he trusts in his righteousness and does evil, none of the righteous things he has done will be remembered; he will die for the evil he has done. In other words Ezekiel is using the word righteous in exactly the same way that Jesus used it when He said, I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. Verse 12 also makes this clear for it reminds us that the issue here is not a lot of righteousness and a little wickedness and you’re OK but rather repentance is the only thing that will help, Therefore, son of man, say to your countrymen, “The righteousness of the righteous man will not save him when he disobeys, and the wickedness of the wicked man will not cause him to fall when he turns from it. The righteous man, if he sins, will not be allowed to live because of his former righteousness.” So just as we have seen the relevance of the question, “How shall we then live?” so here we see the relevance of the answer “By repentance alone.” All the self-righteous charades of America will not help it in the day of judgment. II Chronicles 7:14 seems to be so appropriate here, If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

III The Warning

Look at verses 30-33 where we are reminded that the people are inclined to ignore the prophet’s real message, As for you, son of man, your countrymen are talking together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, saying to each other, “Come and hear the message that has come from the LORD.” My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to listen to your words, but they do not put them into practice. With their mouths they express devotion, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice.” When all this comes true-and it surely will-then they will know that a prophet has been among them. These are like people that go to church but make no change, no commitment, and display no repentance or faith. Basically this is describing the way the majority of the escaped captives along the river Chebar had been reacting to Ezekiel’s ministry. What God is telling the prophet here at the end of this recommissioning is that because Jerusalem has fully fallen all their vain hopes have been dashed and now they are ready to listen. It gives him new impetus in his ministry. Eventually God’s Word proves to be true. The word of the Lord is pure like silver purified seven times. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, and the thoughts of his heart to all generations. the Lord brings the counsel of the heathen to nothing and makes the devices of the people of none effect. Now it is clear from reading the book of Ezekiel that most of what must shortly follow are prophecies of revival, revival, restoration, renewal and reunification, and what is further clear is that God would not bring these promises of blessing to them until they were ready. They were not ready as long as they clung to their vain hopes and as long as they treated Ezekiel the way described in verses 30-33 because that was the way they were treating God. Thus we are taught that sometimes it takes judgments and the fulfillment of threats in order to make us listen, and then we repent, and then we have the answer to the question how shall we then live?