JUDGMENT-FREE ZONE: Many people like to think of God as a kindly grandfather.
- Ezekiel 5:1.
- There is a popular conception of God as a kindly (and slightly senile) grandfather in the sky. He’s not going to rebuke you for anything you’re doing. He’s going to ask if everyone had a good time. And He’s just going to smile and say it’s good to see you, no matter what you’ve been up to.
- There is obvious appeal to this image. It’s nice to think that there is “Someone Up There,” as long as He’s just watching over us. We like the affirmation that is implied: He likes us and just wants to see us having fun. He’s our “Good Buddy.”
- Lots and lots of people have an image of God that bears resemblance to this idea. Many people believe in God, as long as He is something like this.
- In contrast, we have in v. 1 of Ezekiel 5 a God who instructs His prophet to act out an object lesson of judgment to come. Explain the analogy.
- I want to delve into the specifics that we learn from this passage, but we need to simply start with this fundamental truth: God is a God of judgment. He is not a kindly, senile grandfather. It is God who initiates this whole passage with all its challenging truths. This passage – and others like it – are an antidote to the “kindly grandfather” image of God.
LESSONS TO LEARN FROM GOD'S MESSAGE HERE:
1. The specifics of judgment may differ but they are equally from God’s hand.
- Ezekiel 5:2, 12.
- God commands Ezekiel to divide his hair up into three sections. A third of the people will die by fire within the city. A third of the people will die by the sword. A third of the people will flee and either be killed later by the sword or by the elements. All will not die the same way but (other than the remnant) all will die.
- God’s judgment may look different in different lives. But God’s judgment will be accomplished.
2. God’s judgments are deserved.
- Ezekiel 5:5-8.
- We are incredibly creative in find ways to justify our sins. There is always an excuse why it isn’t a sin or why we aren’t guilty if it is a sin.
- The importance of this point is why Paul starts Romans with the call to repentance. We can’t really understand the importance and need for Jesus’ death if we don’t first grasp our absolute sinfulness. We often do all we can to deny that but it’s a spiritual truth.
- In this passage God makes it clear that Jerusalem and Israel were not just sinners like the other nations but were actually worse sinners than the other nations. That’s an extraordinary outcome for a nation given all the blessings of the covenant.
- It leads God to make a statement that some might find unbelievable: that God is against Jerusalem (v. 8). This, of course, does not undo the ultimate work that God intends to do through Israel but it is a clear rebuke within the immediate context of this moment. They have sinned horribly – even worse than the pagan nations – and God intends to bring judgment.
- This is something we need to ponder in light of the “kindly grandfather” image of God many have. When you pair that image with the prevalent belief that each of us get to decide for ourselves the standards of right and wrong, you end up with a dangerous situation.
- There are some of you listening to this message who just need to pause for a minute and consider the idea that God judges and that His judgments are right and deserved. It’s an idea with enormous consequences.
- Please note that I am not making a power play and saying that I am the arbiter as the preacher and everyone needs to bow to my statements. I am not the judge – God is. We all need to passionately seek to know His truth and incorporate it into our lives.
- When you grasp this truth, it makes the Bible an incredible gift. If I believe that I am going to be judged by God, it is enormously good news that God has clearly laid out what His standards are and what His provision is. Read it and hold to it like your life depends on it . . . because it does.
3. Sin takes you to places you never thought you’d end up.
- Ezekiel 5:9-10.
- The sinfulness of Israel is going to lead them to a place of horror and depravity.
- It is striking how often sin takes you places you never thought you’d end up:
a. A parent having to live without their child in their house because of an affair. That same parent once would have said, “Nothing would ever separate me from my kids – I love them so much.”
b. An addict willing to do anything to score another hit.
c. You end up estranged from your siblings because you can’t control your anger and they cut you off.
- There are a couple things worth saying about this:
a. One is that the horror of God’s judgment. It truly can get ugly.
b. The second is that often the horror of the judgment is tied back to the type of person that you’ve allowed yourself to become. There are many people who in a situation of starvation would simply die. It is an unusual situation to be willing to pursue the horror that is mentioned here. But, again, you’ve allowed yourself to become someone you originally wouldn’t have recognized.
4. It is a fearsome thing to have God withdraw from you.
- Ezekiel 5:11.
- The idea of the “favor of God” is an interesting one. When we are the chosen of God, He desires to bless us. We may see amazing answers to prayer or surprising open doors because we are living in His favor. Some Christian circles misuse this idea to veer over into crass materialism but that abuse shouldn’t discredit the whole idea.
- Israel, as God’s chosen nation, should have lived in the favor of God. But here God explicitly tells them that they are losing His favor.
- Sometimes we have been protected by God even in our stupidity. The New Testament speaks of God disciplining His own children the way a good parent would. Romans speaks of God “giving people over” to their sin. That is, allowing any protection He was giving them to be pulled aside and the natural consequences of their sin to begin to hit them.
- We need to think about the idea of experiencing the favor of God versus reaching the place where we are experiencing the consequences of our sin.
5. Sometimes judgment follows judgment.
- Ezekiel 5:13-17.
- The late verses in this passage don’t have the note of hope that many similar passages have. The way it often shows up is that God gives the verdict that judgment is falling, explains the punishment (which may be quite lengthy), but then the closing verses provide words of eventual redemption and renewal.
- This passage does not have that at the conclusion. There is a brief note early about a remnant (which we will discuss in a moment) but no hope at the end.
- Sometimes judgment follows judgment. That’s what we see in vv. 13-17.
- The main thing this makes me think of is hell. We want to believe in endless second chances (like a video game you can always reboot). God does delight in giving second chances (and many more than that). But there is in each life a point where the chances run out. Final judgment that leads to hell is a situation without additional chances. It’s a permanent verdict.
6. Even being in the remnant doesn’t guarantee physical safety.
- Ezekiel 5:3-4.
- As we close, I want to go back to the only flicker of hope in this passage, which shows up in vv. 3-4. But even there, it’s not without pain.
- First, in the hair analogy that Ezekiel is to play out, God gives a symbol of a remnant. What is a remnant? In most situations of destruction and judgment concerning Israel, God has a few people who have not given over to sin. There are times where it’s only one; there are times when it’s a surprising number of people who have not bowed down. But it’s those standing against the current of their society and looking to God.
- We do have that here: the few strands of hair.
- Verse 4 is not completely clear. It does tell us that some of the remnant also suffer. This doesn’t necessarily mean that they are guilty. It can just mean that the punishment comes to even those folks. What does v. 4b mean? It’s possible that it means those deaths will have a spiritual impact (“fire”) that has an impact.
- It’s a reminder that standing for God can be difficult.
