May 17, Ezekiel 33
"As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?" - Ezekiel 33:11
When intelligent people hear a message, perhaps a news story, they decide whether or not the information affects them. Is there some action step they should take? Is there some threat or danger to them that calls for a change?
The text I chose for this chapter is one of the best-known and most often quoted lines in the book of Ezekiel. It's important to realize that these words from God are a response to a question Ezekiel's hearers asked when they heard the message of approaching doom. Ezekiel was a faithful watchman. He warned the people about the devastating punishment God was about to send. The hardhearted and defiant hearers paid no attention to the warning. It did not threaten them. But some of the prophet's audience did hear and understand the urgent message. They realized their sinful condition. They knew they deserved God's wrath, and wanted to know, "How then can we live?"
God's response to their question about survival showed them his own heart, and gave them clear instructions about what they could do to be saved. The Lord did not want to destroy them. It gave him no pleasure to put wicked, impenitent people to death. God wanted them to turn from their idolatry and ungodly behavior and live. He asked a pointed question in return: "Why will you die, O house of Israel?"
God kept his promise to Abraham to make his descendants a great nation. He chose them, redeemed them out of slavery, and made a covenant with them to be his own people. That covenant was conditional. They would be blessed if they obeyed, but cursed if they rebelled and forsook him. Just as he called them in faithfulness to his promise, his perfect justice demanded that he keep his word to punish them for their disobedience. But his desire to be merciful drove him to plead with them to turn from their sinfulness and come back to him.
God told Ezekiel to warn the sinful people of the consequences their sins were about to bring. If Ezekiel warned them and they turned and lived, it was good for all involved. But if he warned them and they didn't turn back to God, they would die but their blood would not be on Ezekiel’s hands. He had done what God called him to do. If he failed to warn them and they went on to their destruction, they would still be responsible for their own sins and die. But God would also hold Ezekiel responsible for failing as his watchman-messenger.
The people who had been left in the land after the first invasion by Nebuchadnezzar were arrogant and prideful. They claimed they were entitled to the land because they were the descendants of Abraham to whom God had given it. The Jewish leaders who opposed Jesus made the same mistake about their own status with God. They trusted their pedigree, but their lives were sinful. They ignored the fact that God's covenant promises to them were both conditional and specific. God made loving and serving him the condition to stay in the land. When they forsook God and disobeyed him, they broke the covenant. God would do what he said, and the consequences would destroy them, not bless them.
Let's resolve to never be like most of the people who listened to Ezekiel. They enjoyed the performance, as if he were an entertainer. But they didn't do what Ezekiel called them to do. Knowing better and not doing it, then being sternly warned and failing to heed the warning brought the wrath of God down on them. When we’re blessed by a warning, we should heed that warning.
When I read about those people who were convicted of their sins and asked how they could live, it reminded me of people in Jerusalem on Pentecost. When they believed Peter’s sermon that convicted them of killing Jesus Christ, they were cut to the heart and asked what they could do? Peter replied that they should repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins. The gospel invitation works today just as God’s gracious answer to the Ezekiel’s hearers would have worked. Whenever we hear a command from God, it’s to our immediate and eternal advantage to obey.
Copyright © 2024 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Today in God's Word—May 2024
East Tallassee Church of Christ
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