I was watching a tennis match the other night when the commentators began talking about all the injuries one of the players had suffered in his career. It was actually overwhelming all the adversity he’d been through. This guy had been on the tour for nine years and I’m pretty familiar with the names of the guys on the tour, but I didn’t know this guy. And the reason was because those nine years of being a professional tennis player had actually translated into only a few months actually playing tennis. Most of the time as a pro he’d spent sidelined with injury after injury after injury. As I said, it was heart-wrenching just to hear them.
But I noticed that as they went through this report of injuries that something was happening. I was really pulling for this guy. Every time he made a good shot, I cheered. When he chased down a ball I didn’t think he could get to, I would get excited. Ironically, the match ended when he was chasing down one ball, hurt his knee, and had to retire from the match. But what struck me is how gripped I was to cheer for this player that I didn’t know. I appreciated his abilities and effort more than most. And the obvious reason is because I was seeing it against the backdrop of the darkness he’d walked through.
It’s the same kind of thing television networks do with the Olympics, don’t they? They don’t just show you the sprinters and then the race. They say something like, here’s Justin in lane four, and then they go into a whole story that begins with something along the lines of, “Justin’s parents would told by doctors that their little boy would never walk.” Then, when they bring you back to the present race, you see it against the backdrop of the adversity the person has faced. His abilities shine more brightly, and you appreciate his talents more deeply. It’s the same reason jewelers display their jewelry against a black backdrop – things shine ever more brightly against a background of darkness.
And I think that’s what we find in Ezekiel 12-24. Through most of these thirteen chapters, we read of the darkness of Ezekiel’s message. It’s full of pictures of disgusting sin and harsh judgment. And this is what we should expect if we think back to Ezekiel’s call where the Lord made him eat a scroll that had “words of lamentation and mourning and woe” (Ezek 2:10) written on it. But in these chapters, sprinkled throughout, against the background of this darkness, are words of hope, promise, and redemption. A design, that I think, is intentional so that God’s promised work of redemption might stand out more clearly and shine more brightly.
Therefore, in keeping with what I think is the design of these chapters, I want to walk us through a few notes of darkness (that of judgment and sin) and then highlight for us the glory of God’s redemptive work and merciful forgiveness. So, let us first consider:
I know that I’ve mentioned something along these lines in almost every message thus far in this series. However, the reason being, this is the content of the first twenty-four chapters of Ezekiel. Remember, in Ezekiel 24, the prophet gets word from the Lord that on that very day the Babylonians had laid siege to Jerusalem. And from chapters 25-32, Ezekiel largely focuses judgment on the nations. But from his call through chapter 24, the message is that of judgment concerning Judah. And if the Lord sees fit to have Ezekiel repeat this message again and again over twenty-four chapters, then it is surely fitting for us to take time to consider it for a few consecutive weeks.
In 12:1-20, Ezekiel begins as we’ve seen him doing throughout the first eleven chapters, with a sign-act. He shows his message through his actions. He begins each day by bringing out the kind of baggage that an exile might carry, and then at dusk each day, he digs a hole in the wall and carries it out again. And this was to signify that Zedekiah, the king that the Babylonians had set up in Jerusalem and yet who rebelled against them, was going to be brought out of the city as an exile and killed. And, of course, if they get your king, they get the people. Ezekiel was once again illustrating that this judgment of the conquering of Jerusalem was going to happen.
But from there, we have fewer sign-acts, if you will, and more straightforward words of judgment. In 12:21-28, the Lord tells Ezekiel that many are telling the inhabitants of Jerusalem that all is well and not to worry about these words of judgment. But God is saying they indeed do need to worry. Thus, we read in 12:27-28, “Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, ‘The vision that he sees is for many days from now, and he prophesies of times far off.’ Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord God: None of my words will be delayed any longer, but he word that I speak will be performed, declares the Lord God.”
And this is largely the message that is repeated throughout these early chapters. In chapter 13, the Lord says that those prophets in Jerusalem who are prophesying of a coming peace are simply wrong and will be condemned. Instead of a message of peace, Ezekiel is to proclaim a message of coming disaster.
In 14:1-11, as Ezekiel sits with some elders who are exiled with him in Babylon, the Lord points out their own idolatry and then in 14:12-23, he shares that this is why judgment will certainly come. In fact, the Lord says that when you realize the deeds that provoked judgment, you will be consoled. Their consolation will be that this was just judgment. Thus, we read in 14:23, “They will console you, when you see their ways and their deeds, and you shall know that I have no done without cause all that I have done in it, declares the Lord God.”
In chapter 15 the Lord uses the parable of a vine that is simply worthless for anything but to be burned in fire, and he declares that this pictures what Jerusalem has become.
Then, skipping over to some of the latter chapters of our section, this truth of certain righteous judgment is repeated. We read, for instance, in chapter 20 that the elders are sitting in front of Ezekiel again, when the Lord shares with them that he will not let them hear what they want to hear. Rather, he will bring judgment, and he will do it because the people have profaned his name. Then, the Lord recounts the history of his people. They were an idolatrous people in Egypt, worshiping the very idols of the Egyptians. Yet the Lord spared them, bringing them out of their captivity into the wilderness. However, the people then continued their idolatry in the desert, worshiping a golden calf. And the Lord was ready to destroy them, but he spared them so that the nations might know that he is their God. Yet, they disobeyed again, refusing to believe that God would give them the land. Therefore, the Lord let an entire generation die in the wilderness. And he would have destroyed the people as a whole, but, the Lord says, “But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out” (20:14). So, even after destroying this one generation, he raised up another generation in order to give them the land so that the nations might know that he is the Lord. And, sadly, even this generation rebelled, but the Lord still gave them the land. And now, those whom he brought into the land, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, what have they done? They profaned the name of the Lord. Therefore, judgment was coming.
You see, the Lord wanted the people to know that there had been several times that he spared them in order to give testimony to the nations surrounding his people that he is their God. After all, how would it look if the Lord delivered his people from captivity and then destroyed all of them? However, now that they have profaned his name again and again in the midst of the nations, his commitment to honor his name means that he must judge them. If he didn’t judge them, then he would be allowing his people to profane his name before the nations without any response. A lack of judgment would suggest that the Lord can be mocked. Therefore, judgment was coming.
In chapter 21 the message is repeated with the imagery of a sword. The Lord is about to unleash his sword of judgment on his people. In chapter 22, the Lord condemns the people for their violence and bloodshed, and he tells them in 22:20, “As one gathers silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into a furnace, to blow the fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and I will put you in and melt you.” The imagery is fitting because the means the Lord was going to use to destroy his people was the Babylonian army. And their first move would be to lay siege to the city so that their walls which had served for protection and security would be their demise. The Babylonians would lay siege, starve them out, and then attack them. Thinking they were protected in their walled city, they would actually be like metals put inside a furnace to be burned.
And, finally, in chapter 24, Ezekiel gets word from the Lord the judgment had begun. The siege had started. We read in 24:1-2, “In the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: ‘Son of man, write down the name of this day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day.” Judgment had begun.
Now, what’s helpful for us in seeing these messages of judgment throughout these chapters is that people in our day think the same thing. We have our own false prophets telling people not to worry about judgment but that this is for another people and another time. We have people thinking they can inquire of the Lord and will be loved by him when they are rebelling against him and thinking their actions will carry no consequences. We have people who think that judgment that is described as an eternal lake of fire can’t be real because our sins really aren’t that bad or that we are safe from judgment for one reason or another. We have others who think that their mockery of God’s name will not carry any consequences.
Do you see? All these thoughts were present in the sixth century B.C. as well. There’s nothing new under the sun. But you know what, Ezekiel 24:1-2 says that there was a day, a day so important that God told Ezekiel to write it down. It came.
You see, it’s probably fitting for us to wade through these chapters and think, “Good grief, this is taking forever,” because there are many who think that with the delay of judgment , the likelihood of judgment is decreasing. But it isn’t. The Lord will uphold his name, he will judge justly, and it is certain. Even though we had to walk from chapters 12 to 24 this morning, eventually we got to chapter 24, didn’t we? It was inevitable, and so is final judgment.
So, what does this mean for us? Well, it definitely means that if anyone has not repented and believed in the crucified and risen Lord Jesus Christ, that now is the time to do that. Don’t wait, for judgment may well come when you least expect it. It also means that we, as believers, need to keep in mind the priority of declaring the gospel to people. It’s always easy to put off sharing the gospel with your neighbor, co-worker, or relative. However, time will not go on forever. Judgment is certain. And, finally, it’s also worth noting that we need to live our lives now in light of coming judgment.
Nate asked a question in Sunday school last week: How would you live your life if you knew you only had one year to live? Well, this is how the Scripture tells us to think. We are to live our lives in light of the end. Do you live your life in light of the fact that judgment is coming, Christ is returning, that this world will not always continue on as it is now? Perhaps this morning is a chance for us to evaluate our lives, repent if necessary, and seek to obey Christ’s commands more diligently.
But if we don’t see the need to turn from our sins this morning at this point, then it’s good for us to see another theme in Ezekiel’s message in these chapters. We also see:
The Lord gives Ezekiel messages whereby he pictures the nature of Israel’s sin in parables and metaphors. The first comes from chapter 16 where the Lord pictures the Israelites as his bride. He first says that she was like a baby abandoned on the side of the road. Her cord was not cut. No one had cleaned her so that she was covered in blood. She was naked. No one pitied her or did anything for her out of compassion. But the Lord saw this child, certain to die, and enabled her to live. We read in 16:6, “And when I passed by you and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’”
So the abandoned baby, left on the side of the road, lived. And she grew into a woman, and the Lord took her and entered into a marriage covenant with her, making her his own. Thus we read in 16:8, “When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love, and I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord God, and you became mine.”
Then, the Lord clothed her with beautiful clothes, gave her nice jewelry, gave her gold and silver, fed her with the choicest of foods, and gave her children. Her response, however, was to turn from her husband and chase after other lovers. She was like a prostitute, the Lord says, but actually worse. At least a prostitute takes money for giving herself to men. But the Lord’s bride wanted foreign lovers so bad that she gave them gifts. And what were those gifts? They were the very things the Lord had given her. She took her clothes, jewelry, food, and even children, and she gave them to her lovers. It’s perhaps best just to hear the words of the Lord. From 16:30-33, “How sick is your heart, declares the Lord GOD, because you did all these things, the deeds of a brazen prostitute, building your vaulted chamber at the head of every street, and making your lofty place in every square. Yet you were not like a prostitute, because you scorned payment. Adulterous wife, who receives strangers instead of her husband! Men give gifts to all prostitutes, but you gave your gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from every side with your whorings.”
It is a terrible picture. And the Lord does not let up on this imagery. In chapter 17 he uses another parable to show Judah’s foolishness. Judah had entered into a covenant of sorts with Babylon. The Babylonians would let them live, but they had to pay tribute to them. So, Judah said okay. The problem is that they then tried to turn from that covenant and enter into an alliance with Egypt against Babylon. This is why Babylon was coming to crush them.
So, the Lord shows the foolishness of this in chapter 17 with the parable of a vine and two eagles. He describes an eagle taking a vine and planting it so that it’s able to prosper. This vine is Judah and the eagle is Babylon. Then, the vine, however, tries to turn to another eagle, directing its roots and branches toward this other eagle for sustenance. This second eagle is Egypt. So, the Lord points out, “Will the first eagle let this vine thrive?” Of course not. Babylon is coming to make Judah pay for breaking the covenant.
But the Lord wants them to see that the real reason for judgment is because they have broken their covenant with him. We read in 17:16-21, “As I live, declares the Lord GOD, surely in the place where the king dwells who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant with him he broke, in Babylon he shall die. Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company will not help him in war, when mounds are cast up and siege walls built to cut off many lives. He despised the oath in breaking the covenant, and behold, he gave his hand and did all these things; he shall not escape. Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: As I live, surely it is my oath that he despised, and my covenant that he broke. I will return it upon his head. I will spread my net over him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon and enter into judgment with him there for the treachery he has committed against me. And all the pick of his troops shall fall by the sword, and the survivors shall be scattered to every wind, and you shall know that I am the LORD; I have spoken.”
Finally, in chapter 23, the Lord pictures Israel’s sin as adultery again. The Lord uses the metaphor of two sisters – Ohalah and Oholibah. The first represents Israel and the second Judah. The first was adulterous with Assyria, looking to them in seasons for help (instead of the Lord) and worshiping their gods, and the Lord used the Assyrians to judge them. Now Judah (the younger sister) has not learned from this example, but she has been even more corrupt. Those in Judah have defiled themselves with the idol worship of the Assyrians, Babylonians, and Egyptians. They have often looked to each of these nations (and their gods) for hope. It has been like committing adultery with these “men.” Now, the Lord is going to turn the nations against them. Babylon will destroy, and the others will not help. They will drink of the Lord’s wrath, just as the northern kingdom of Israel did.
Now, why does the Lord use such disgusting images? I mean, it’s hard to read Ezekiel 16, isn’t it? After all the Lord had done for this little baby girl whom he’d made his wife, to hear of her adulterous acts. I think he gives us this image because it’s hard for us to see our own sin this way, isn’t it?
It’s easy for us to make excuses for our own sin because this is who we are. It’s easy for us to see lust as acceptable because everyone around us seems to understand it. It’s easy for us to see our greed and selfishness as okay because we feel that all around us exhibit these same things. We can excuse our love for this world because everyone else loves it to. We can look past our unwillingness to make self-sacrificial decisions to obey the Lord because it feels like no one else is doing this. But in the end, all of our sin is like Ezekiel 16.
What you may have done this week or even last night that you knew was sinful, it is not just okay. It is not okay to think that it is not that bad. With our pursuit of sin, we are committing spiritual adultery and profaning the name of the Lord before those around us.
And it’s good for us not to just be thinking of those sins right now that feel gross to us. It’s easy for us to think that looking at pornography is like committing spiritual adultery, and it is. But so is trusting in our bank accounts to the degree that we don’t cry out to the Lord for our daily bread. So is having good things happen and then not stopping to give praise and thanks to God but in our minds crediting ourselves and our own abilities. It is good for us to stop at times and ask God if we’ve grown callous toward our own sin. Perhaps things you’re doing now once seemed terrible to you, but now they don’t seem that bad. That’s probably not a sign of growth in maturity but a growing hardness. Let us ask the Lord to show us our sin this morning, in all its darkness, so that we might be driven to repent.
But, as I mentioned at the start of this message, the Lord places something beautiful right in the midst of this backdrop of sin and judgment. In the midst of darkness we see a glorious light. Part of Ezekiel’s message is:
Repeatedly in these chapters you find gems you don’t expect to find. After the horrendous image of Judah’s spiritual adultery in chapter 16, we read in 16:59-63, “For thus says the Lord GOD: I will deal with you as you have done, you who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant, yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish for you an everlasting covenant. Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you take your sisters, both your elder and your younger, and I give them to you as daughters, but not on account of the covenant with you. I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the LORD, that you may remember and be confounded, and never open your mouth again because of your shame, when I atone for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord GOD.”
The Lord is saying to Judah, “I’m going to make you my wife again.” But he is not going to do it on the basis of the covenant made at Sinai. He’s going to make a new covenant whereby they are forgiven, cleansed, and able to live as a faithful wife. And other nations, her sisters, will also be part of his bride.
And this note is again struck in 17:22-24. After the parable of the vine and the two eagles, the Lord promises that he will restore the vine. Thus we read that he will plant it that its branches might grow and birds of every sort will nest – most likely a reference to many nations being caught up in this work of redemption.
Again, in chapter 18, one of the main purposes of this message that each man will die for his own sins is to say that you are not bound to be judged just because your father sinned. In fact, if you’ll turn from your own sins, you can live. One of the most powerful sections is found in 18:21-23, “But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done he shall live. Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live.”
And, finally, as the Lord tells Judah again why judgment is coming, he reveals his heart to forgive, saying, “On account of your unclean lewdness, because I would have cleansed you and you were not cleansed from your uncleanness, you shall not be cleansed anymore till I have satisfied my fury upon you. I am the Lord. I have spoken; it shall come to pass; I will do it. I will not go back; I will not spare; I will not relent; according to your ways and your deeds you will be judged, declares the Lord God.”
Do you see it there? The Lord would have cleansed them. As certain as God’s judgment is for the unrepentant and as disgusting as our sin is, best pictured as adultery, God is actually eagerly willing to forgive us and cleanse us as his people that he loves. So, I want to say to you this morning, if you’ve walked in here immersed in sin and guilt, turn to the Lord Jesus Christ and find forgiveness. If you confess your sins this morning, then through faith in Christ, you’re forgiven. And the Lord’s response isn’t, “Well, okay, I’ll forgive you this time.” It’s a delight. He does not delight in your condemnation, but he does delight in forgiving you. So, let us look to the gospel this morning and delight in forgiveness.
Interestingly, this chapter section with the Lord taking Ezekiel’s wife, the delight of his eyes, in death. Moreover, Ezekiel is instructed not to cry. With that, the Lord proclaims to the people that just as Ezekiel’s delight has been taken, so their delight – the temple and their children back in Jerusalem – will see destruction as well. And, like Ezekiel, they are not supposed to cry and weep publicly. Like Ezekiel, private mourning will be enough. Why? No doubt, part of the reason is that they’ll know the appropriateness of this judge. But perhaps there’s another reason as well. Interestingly, the chapter ends with the Lord saying that a fugitive from Jerusalem will one day make his way to Ezekiel to let him know that the city has been destroyed. On that day the Lord will open Ezekiel’s mouth to speak more than simply these messages of judgment that have largely made up chapters 1-24.
And sure enough, we find that happens in Ezekiel 33. In that chapter, the fugitive comes, reports the news, and Ezekiel’s mouth is opened. And you know what Ezekiel proclaims in the remaining chapters of the book? It is largely messages of hope and restoration.
You see, there is a time for mourning for our sin. We should do that this morning. But as we come to the table and realize our forgiveness is real, there is a time to stop mourning and delight in our holy God who has truly forgiven us, not because of anything we have done but solely because of Christ. Therefore, let us look at our sin, repent this morning, come to the table as we remember the gospel, delight in forgiveness, and then sing praises to our holy God who is faithfully loving and merciful toward us. Amen.