One of the benefits of committing to preach through books of the Bible, one after the next, is that it forces your hand in discussing certain topics. Perhaps I am simply weaker than other pastors, but if I were planning sermon series on topical arrangement, I think there are a lot of topics I might want to avoid. A sermon series on the disgusting nature of man’s sinful corruption, for example, probably isn’t a sermon series that I would be eager to start. But preaching through the book of Judges paints a picture of sinful corruption so terrible that when I preached through the final chapters of the book, we warned you ahead of time to read through those chapters and see if you wanted your children present in the sanctuary during those sermons. And that’s just one example of many I could come up with.
One of those topics I wouldn’t be eager to plan a sermon series around is judgment. I don’t know anyone that gets really excited talking about judgment. Churches don’t send out notices in people’s mailboxes advertising the upcoming multi-week sermon series on judgment. And if you took a poll from the community, asking what topics they wanted to hear the church address, I’m almost certain that judgment wouldn’t be in the top ten among the topics they were itching to hear.
But the reality is that the bible talks a lot about judgment. God is not ashamed by the harsh nature of judgment. The Bible doesn’t apologize for it or think it’s taboo to discuss. And its severity is stressed throughout the Scripture, in both the Old and New Testaments. But one section of Scripture where it is found consistently is in the prophets. It seems that all of the prophets have strong messages about judgment, and within this, Ezekiel is no exception.
As we started the book last week, I mentioned that the first thirty-two chapters of the book are messages of judgment. After Ezekiel’s calling in chapters 1-3, chapters 4-24 are messages of coming judgment to Judah, and chapters 25-32 are messages of judgment to the nations. And this shouldn’t be surprising when we read in Ezekiel’s call narrative that the message the Lord put in the prophet’s mouth was one of “lamentation and mourning and woe” (2:10).
Therefore, when we turn to our sermon text this morning, Ezekiel 4-7, we shouldn’t be surprised to find that the sermon is going to revolve around judgment. Again, this is not necessarily because I’m eager to preach about the topic or you’re eager to hear it. Rather, it is because as a church we want to be subservient to God’s Word and acknowledge that he is wiser than we are. He knows what we need before we ask for it in prayer, and he knows what we need when we might think we need otherwise. And since so much of the Bible addresses the theme of God’s judgment, it is good for us to acknowledge that we need to hear it. It is good for us to be reminded of judgment. Because of our sinful nature, if we weren’t reminded of judgment, we might be easily deceived by sin than we should be. Therefore, as we consider the Lord’s judgment this morning through Ezekiel 4-7, I want us to see how judgment is cast here and I want to apply these truths directly to us along the way.
First, in Ezekiel 4:5-5:4, we see:
Beginning in chapter 4 and stretching through the first few verses of chapter 5, we see the Lord commanding Ezekiel to picture the judgment that is going to come to Jerusalem. Now, remember that Ezekiel is in exile in Babylon, in the years leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem in 586. So, when he talks or in this case provides signs to show the coming judgment to Jerusalem, he is showing his fellow exiles what is going to come in their beloved homeland that they have been torn away from and where many of their loved ones still dwell.
And the first thing he does is take a brick and engrave on it a map of Jerusalem (4:1). This is probably a brick made of softer clay so that it can be written on easily, so he does. But it doesn’t stop there. The Lord then instructs him to build a siege around the city, building up mounds around it.
Now, before this sounds too weird, I bet that most of you have seen this kind of thing before. You’ve seen it when your children play with toys! That’s basically what Ezekiel is doing here. He’s creating a war scene in the dirt (perhaps somewhere close to his home or in the street), and it is a scene of war taking place in Jerusalem, which is represented by this brick in the middle of his scene. So, Ezekiel draws on the brick, sets it in the middle, and builds up mounds against the city so that people and supplies would be prevented from going in and out. Then, he sets camps against it and plants battering rams around it.
This is an odd scene, but its message most definitely wouldn’t have been missed. Ezekiel was showing that the Babylonians were going to lay siege to the city. But the Lord didn’t want the exiles to think this was simply an accident of history. Rather, this was the work of the Lord. So, he has Ezekiel take an iron griddle, hold it between himself and the city he’s constructed, and stare at it. That is, this siege is going to be because God has turned his face against his people.
And it continues. In verses 4-8 we see that Ezekiel is instructed to lie down on his left side for 390 days. Now, this doesn’t mean that Ezekiel was lying on his side every minute of every day for 390 days. Rather, it means that some part of every day (I don’t know how long) was to be spent lying on his left side.
It seems the significance of Ezekiel lying on his left side is to illustrate the punishment that the northern kingdom of Israel was going to bear in exile. You see, the northern kingdom of Israel had already been conquered by the Assyrians, and they wouldn’t be free to return to their land until roughly 390 years from the time of their initial conquering. Therefore, Ezekiel lies on his side, facing Israel, and he lies there for some part of the day for 390 straight days. For over a year the people would walk by and see Ezekiel, lying on his left side, facing Israel, and showing that Israel would bear their punishment for 390 years.
Now, those in exile with Ezekiel in Babylon would perhaps not have taken this too heavily. They might even have celebrated. After all, Israel was the northern kingdom that they had been at odds with. They might have walked by and seen Ezekiel lying on his left side, symbolizing Israel’s punishment, and thought, “That’s right you treacherous people.”
But then one day they walk by and Ezekiel is lying on his right side, facing the southern kingdom of Judah – their homeland. And he lies there for some part of the day for 40 straight days, prophesying of the judgment that is coming to Judah. And with that, the passers-by wouldn’t have thought the scene and Ezekiel’s playing around with toys and symbols was too funny.
And if they didn’t think this was funny, it gets worse in 4:9-17. The Lord had Ezekiel take a number of elements that you typically wouldn’t use together to make bread – wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and emmer – and make bread with these ingredients. And he would weigh out each day a certain amount and eat it. And with his water, he’d measure out a certain amount and drink it. And he was instructed to cook it over human dung until he protested, and then the Lord allowed him to cook it over cow dung.
Now, why was God telling Ezekiel to do this? Well, the symbolism might have been lost on us, but it wouldn’t be lost on anyone who knew what life was like when an enemy laid siege to the city. You see, when an enemy laid siege to a city, their goal was to starve the people out. You’d surround the city and prevent supplies (including food) from going in and people from going out. Therefore, food would become scarce.
So, what would you do? Well, when supplies got low enough, you’d use whatever ingredients you could find to make bread. But what would you cook it with? Well, perhaps you’d fuel your fire with some kind of oil until that ran out. Then, you’d use whatever you could find. And if there were cattle in the city, you’d use their dung. And once all the cattle died, you’d use the only thing left: human dung. And you’d ration out your food and measure your water each day until you starved. It was a terrible scene. And this is what Ezekiel was saying was coming to Jerusalem.
Finally, in 5:1-4, he shows what’s going to happen to the people of the city. Ezekiel takes a razor and shaves all the hair off his head and his beard. Then, he takes a third of his hair, places it on that brick that represents the city, and burns it. This represents the people who are going to die by famine. He takes a third of his hair and slices it all up with a sword, scattering it around the city. This represents the people who will survive the famine but will be killed by the Babylonian armies once they invade the city (or who are killed when they try to escape). Then he takes a third of his hair and scatters it into the wind. This represents some who will be captured and go into exile. But even among that last portion of hair, Ezekiel is told to keep a little in his belt, which he will later put back into the city and burn. This sends the message that even some who initially escape will be captured and killed.
It is a terrible scene of coming judgment. He mentions in 5:10 that the famine will get so bad that people will begin eating other people. Fathers will eat their sons as they’ve died, and sons will eat their fathers. The Lord says in 5:9, “I will do with you what I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again.” Interestingly, this is the same kind of language Jesus used about the destruction of Jerusalem that would happen again about 650 years later in 70 AD when he said in Mark 13:19, “For in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, and never will be.” Certainly Jesus is echoing this reality from Ezekiel’s prophecy, showing that it will be of the same nature. It is a terrifying scene of judgment that Ezekiel pictures for the people to see.
But why is God going to do this? This brings us to the next note in the text:
The Lord leaves no one to question why this judgment is coming. We read in 5:5-9, “Thus says the Lord GOD: This is Jerusalem. I have set her in the center of the nations, with countries all around her. And she has rebelled against my rules by doing wickedness more than the nations, and against my statutes more than the countries all around her; for they have rejected my rules and have not walked in my statutes. Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you are more turbulent than the nations that are all around you, and have not walked in my statutes or obeyed my rules, and have not even acted according to the rules of the nations that are all around you, therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I, even I, am against you. And I will execute judgments in your midst in the sight of the nations. And because of all your abominations I will do with you what I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again.”
God is bringing judgment against his people because they’ve rebelled against him and disobeyed his laws. Now, this might fall a bit flat on our ears as we think, “Of course.” But verse 5 gives us a look behind the curtain a bit, doesn’t it? The Lord begins by saying, “This is Jerusalem. I have set her in the center of the nations, with countries all around her.”
That is, the Lord had intentionally placed Jerusalem where he had. He placed his people in the center of other nations so that they might be a light to them, and instead, they had been a picture of rebellion. They had profaned the Lord’s name, reputation, and value among the people. In fact, they had rebelled more than the nations around them. They’d been given a great responsibility, a great blessing, and they had greatly dishonored the Lord among the nations.
Now, it’s fitting to think of ourselves at this point. Each of us has been given much, haven’t we? Many of us were born into families where we heard the gospel preached to us. Many others of us had people outside of our family come to us with the gospel at some point so that we believed. And all of us here this morning are hearing the Word of God being preached to us. We’ve been given much. The Lord has been so gracious to us. And one reason he’s graciously given us what he has and poured out his kindness on us in droves is so that we might demonstrate to those around us how worthy the Lord is of our obedience, our trust, our lives.
Are we actually making rebellious decisions that are worse than some of our unbelieving neighbors in whose midst we have been placed? Are we doing things that even they would be ashamed of? Are our pursuits in life any different than theirs? Maybe this morning is an opportunity for us to stop, see our sin, see our failure to light our light so shine before men that they may glorify our Father in heaven, and repent.
And if we are here and have a heart that doesn’t want to repent, it is good for us to be reminded from these chapters of:
There are a number of elements that I want to note about the nature of God’s judgment in these chapters. So, I’ll just number them for the sake of ease in note-taking:
Listen to the Lord’s promise in Leviticus 26:27-33, “But if in spite of this you will not listen to me, but walk contrary to me, then I will walk contrary to you in fury, and I myself will discipline you sevenfold for your sins. You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters. And I will destroy your high places and cut down your incense altars and cast your dead bodies upon the dead bodies of your idols, and my soul will abhor you. And I will lay your cities waste and will make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell your pleasing aromas. And I myself will devastate the land, so that your enemies who settle in it shall be appalled at it. And I will scatter you among the nations, and I will unsheathe the sword after you, and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste.”
Well, we’ve already seen declaration that the people will eat the flesh of sons and daughters. But notice how the other elements are going to be fulfilled perfectly as well. In Ezekiel 6:4-6, “Your altars shall become desolate, and your incense altars shall be broken, and I will cast down your slain before your idols. And I will lay the dead bodies of the people of Israel before their idols, and I will scatter your bones around your altars. Wherever you dwell, the cities shall be waste and the high places ruined, so that your altars will be waste and ruined, your idols broken and destroyed, your incense altars cut down, and your works wiped out.”
Then again, in 6:13, “And you shall know that I am the LORD, when their slain lie among their idols around their altars, on every high hill, on all the mountaintops, under every green tree, and under every leafy oak, wherever they offered pleasing aroma to all their idols.”
This isn’t the Lord just flying off the handle or being quick to anger. This is the Lord’s promised response. It shows his faithfulness to his word, doesn’t it? In fact, it is perhaps most clear in 6:10, where the Lord says, “I have not said in vain that I would do this evil to them.”
The Lord is giving them the punishment they deserve. That is, his punishment is just. We read this again and again. For example:
7:3 – “Now the end is upon you, and I will send my anger upon you; I will judge you according to your ways, and I will punish you for all your abominations.”
7:8 – “Now I will soon pour out my wrath upon you, and spend my anger against you, and judge you according to your ways, and I will punish you for all your abominations.”
7:27b – “According to their way I will do to them, and according to their judgments I will judge them . . .”
This is a just punishment they will receive. And it is a merciless punishment. Notice how the Lord says he will not take pity:
5:11 – “My eye will not spare, and I will have no pity.”
7:4 – “And my eye will not spare you, nor will I have pity.”
7:9 – “And my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity.”
The Lord will not show pity, but he will give the punishment that they deserve.
God wants his people to know that this is his personal, impassioned response to their sin. Notice how clearly he lays out that he is bringing this punishment in his fury and jealousy in these chapters. I’ll give one example from 5:13-17, “Thus shall my anger spend itself, and I will vent my fury upon them and satisfy myself. And they shall know that I am the LORD—that I have spoken in my jealousy—when I spend my fury upon them. Moreover, I will make you a desolation and an object of reproach among the nations all around you and in the sight of all who pass by. You shall be a reproach and a taunt, a warning and a horror, to the nations all around you, when I execute judgments on you in anger and fury, and with furious rebukes—I am the LORD; I have spoken—when I send against you the deadly arrows of famine, arrows for destruction, which I will send to destroy you, and when I bring more and more famine upon you and break your supply of bread. I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will rob you of your children. Pestilence and blood shall pass through you, and I will bring the sword upon you. I am the LORD; I have spoken.”
When the bread is gone and the people are starving to death, eating their sons and daughters, it will be the Lord who is doing that in his fury. This is a personal and impassioned response of the Lord to his people’s sin.
Now, this should cause us to realize a couple of things. One of those being that eternal hell is certainly a reality. God has promised it, and he is faithful to his word. It will be merciless and just. And it will be personal and impassioned. To think that God might somehow not really judge people in the eternal fires of hell in the end is to ignore the clear revelation of God in places like Ezekiel 4-7.
Moreover, it should cause us to fear his discipline. You see, the Lord is a jealous God. If indeed he has called us to himself so that we are his children and we’re not reflecting his character and nature in the midst of the world, then he will grow jealous for our allegiance and discipline us. He has said he would. He disciplines those whom he loves. His heart is broken over the whoring ways of his people (6:9), and he will do what is necessary to bring us to repentance. So, let it be today.
Finally, we see:
We see the purpose of God’s judgment listed again and again in these chapters. Repeatedly we read something along the lines of, “Then you shall know that I am the Lord.” We see it, for example, in 5:13, 6:7, 6:10, 6:13-14, 7:4, 7:9, and 7:27.
The Lord brings discipline and judgment so that we might recognize his presence, character, and claim on our lives.1 The Lord is not absent, he is faithful and holy, and he cannot be ignored. The Lord will not merely pass over sins in the end, but he will cast all those who have not trusted in his Son. Nor will the Lord stand idly by while those of us who profess faith in Christ merely ignore the allegiance he is due. What is best for us is that we give ourselves entirely in obedience, devotion, and love to him, and because he loves us, he refuses to let us do otherwise.
And yet why is there hope for us this morning? After all, we’re more like Israel than unlike them, aren’t we? We have indeed profaned his name. We’ve been put in the center of those around us to be a light and sometimes our rebellion against the Lord’s commands are worse than theirs. Yet, we can be reminded this morning of the grace of our God.
You see, the Lord has not changed from his just nature. He takes sin seriously, and he judges sinners. But he also extends love, grace, and mercy to us. And these two realities collided in the cross. You see, we talk about the death of Christ a lot because it’s a reminder of God’s judgment toward sin. If you want a picture of how terrible your sin is and of how committed God is to judging it, then you need to look no further than the cross, where God the Son incarnate bore God’s wrath, crying out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And if you want a picture of God’s mercy, grace, and love for his people, you need to look no further than the cross, where god the Son incarnate suffered for our forgiveness, crying out, “It is finished,” so that it might be made clear that our sins had been paid for. Therefore, this morning, we can repent and have certainty that we’re forgiven if our faith is in Christ, because the divine judgment for our sin has been paid. And we can repent and ask for strength for obedience, knowing that he who did not spare his own Son will by no means withhold the grace needed for obedience. Let us therefore repent, look to the death and resurrection of Christ as our hope, and live our lives in such a way that our light shines before men so that they may glorify our Father who is in heaven. Amen.