“SOUNDING A HARSH WARNING”

Ezekiel                                                                                                                                 Chapter 33:11-20

 

Language is used when people communicate with one another. When someone says something, people usually hear the words that are used. Yet, it is important to understand that other dynamics add or detract from a person’s attempt at communication. What a listener is thinking of (at any moment in time) usually alters what is being heard. Sometimes one doesn’t know how a person is using a word. Meanings might differ between how people use words. Without spending a great deal of time highlighting the frustrating situation if someone says one thing and people hear something completely different; suffice it to say, that people have learned ways to bring about more urgent attention to things they say . They can raise their voice. They can use “body language”. They can also say things more than once to show the importance of what they are trying to communicate. God does this as well. He accommodates His message to our way of communicating.

 

Today we turn to Ezekiel 33. In the first half of this chapter we find God repeating the same word picture and message He gave Ezekiel to share with the people of Judah in the second half of Chapter 3. God uses the same imagery and words to repeat the lesson He wants to communicate. He does this because they are close-minded to His word. He wants to stress the importance of what He has to say. Thus, we return to an idea we heard from God a couple of weeks ago. But, this time, we 21st Century A.D. Christians have lessons to learn from this repetition, as well.

 

God shows that He knows people understand the role of “a watchman”. We are talking about a sentry, a security guard, a lookout, if you please. God specifies that people recognize how crucial such a responsibility is for their survival. But, the circumstances of Ezekiel’s message have changed. God adds an update to His word for the captives in Babylon. God knows that Jerusalem will quickly fall to the Babylonians. The news has not yet reached the captives, but is right around the corner beginning in verse 21. And so, God asks His “watchman” to share a warning with them to set the stage for the upcoming information.

 

Why does God go the extra mile in communicating with His people? It is because He knows that they will blame Him for being “unjust” or “unfair”. His prophet needs to address such false accusations with a disclosure of how God sees things. Two things jump out at us in this latest input from the mind of God. (1) HE WANTS HIS PEOPLE TO SEE HE TAKES NO DELIGHT IN JUDGING THEM, and (2) HE DESIRES FOR HIS PEOPLE TO REPENT.

 

1.)  GOD TAKES NO DELIGHT IN JUDGING HIS PEOPLE!

God’s people during Ezekiel’s ministry recognized that the misery they were going through is because of their sin and against God. (Verse 10) Later, God tells Ezekiel that He knows they have come to the conclusion that “the way of the Lord is not just”. God’s response is that, in reality, “It is their way that is not just.” (Verse 17)

 

We need to ask who God is speaking about in this section of Scripture. Notice that it has to do with those who have the truth and belong to God, yet disobey and go their own way.” In Verse 13 God says, “If I tell the righteous man that he will surely live, but then he trusts in his righteousness and does evil, none of his righteous things he has done will be remembered; he will die for the evil he has done.” In Verse 18 God states, “If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does evil, he will die for it.” Clearly the people referred to here are those who have a relationship with God and then willfully sin and disobey their God. In verse 13 the key definition is a believer who “trusts in his own righteousness” or in other words “trusts in his own ability to live life his way”! We call it backsliding, self-sufficiency, independence from God’s authority, carnal Christianity, etc., etc., etc.

 

The verses here use the word “death” referring to the dismal present life of a sinful person. They belong to God, but life does not work. In this context such a “death” speaks of impending judgment. The Israelites who were captives in Babylon didn’t lose their lives physically, while in captivity. They were living lives they, on their own, identified as “wasting away”. They were the ones who concluded “How can we live?” Their experience told them that life was miserable Instead of having a life of fulfillment, it was existence only. So it is with those who belong to God and choose to disobey Him by running life themselves. In 1 Corinthians 3 we read that those who have the foundation of Jesus Christ can have the same misery. Being in God’s family, those who choose to build on the foundation of Jesus with cheap worldly pleasures, will remain saved but great will be their loss. Life will once again be only survival. God never designed life for survival only!

 

Notice the main emphasis God shares concerning those who blatantly disobey Him. He tells Ezekiel to get the word out that “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked.” (Verse 11) The great God of the universe tells His people that if they live lives of disobedience, His judgment will be chaos and confusion, with lack of peace and fulfillment in life. God knows the human race is tainted with evil. He knows evil stains everything! His provision in Jesus Christ (who comes later in human history than Ezekiel) is the solution. In response to what I just shared with you, I can hear people saying, “Then there is no hope for me! I might as well live in disobedience for I had my chance and God is here talking of death.” I have good news for you in this same section of Biblical verses.

 

2.)  GOD DESIRES FOR HIS PEOPLE TO REPENT!

God’s people who come to their senses, acknowledge their sinful disobedience and repent, are spoken about right here. God says to Ezekiel, 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 not evil “anymore”(my word) 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 right and he will surely live.” (Verses 14-16) This is a practical argument from real life in the “here-and-now”. This is not a theological argument leading one to think justification can be lost. The context of this presentation of Ezekiel does not lend itself to such a conclusion.

 

The clear meaning of this statement refers to God’s own people, then and now, who belong to Him, yet actively sin. They are seen as being disobedient, choosing deliberately not to live life God’s way. They get to choose whether to live a life of victory OR live a life of wasting away in a hopeless mess. These people are captives in Babylon, as Ezekiel addresses them at this writing. When the news hits their ears that their families have perished (later in this chapter) and the fall of Jerusalem is announced, God knows their lives will only get worse. This is what might be described as a “living death”.

 

I have a message for each of us today. If you are even thinking of being disobedient toward God and His word: DON’T GO THERE! It will be miserable for you as God brings down the full weight of His judgment in every aspect of your life. God will not be pleased to bring misery and judgment into your life.  But bring it, He will!

 

With that in mind, if you have been disobedient toward God and His word, but you acknowledge you have been in such a moral mess; if you turn from your wicked ways, I have good news for you! God says that such a person “will live; he will surely 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.” (Verses 15-16) God’s people today add to this clear, urgent call of the Lord the knowledge that they have the indwelling Holy Spirit with them. He continually wrestles with their human spirit to adopt a position of humility before God and confession of sin when they are disobedient. If they want freedom from sin and a life of fulfillment and victory it comes through the ongoing pursuit of obeying God and allowing Him to be in control. That lifestyle is completely different than what Ezekiel found in his audience. Tragically, it is often completely different from what we find in churches today.

 

There is an urgency concerning open disobedience and willful sin on the part of God’s people. God does NOT desire to bring His judgment on unconfessed sin. BUT, BE ASSURED HE WILL BRING IT! The person who is responsive to the Spirit’s conviction and repents of sin, along with the person who lives actively seeking to be obedient to the Lord, discovers the secret to life. We all have a choice every moment of every day to determine how we will live our life.

 

The Old Testament tells us, “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 I will hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14) the New Testament tells us, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness”. (1 John 1:9)

 

There is nothing as urgent for Christians today as to make sure their hearts and lives are pure, clean and righteous before a Holy God! The watchman has spoken! May we be people who hear and respond to the message of a God who does not delight in the punishment of His children!