When We Think God Has Failed Us Series

WHY DID GOD FAIL US? Israel was shocked that God had let them down.

- Ezekiel 33:21-24.

- This passage as a whole is God giving an explanation to Israel of what’s going on because they are nowhere near an accurate understanding of the situation.

- Verse 21 opens the passage with the reality of the situation: Jerusalem has fallen.

This is a shocking reality to the inhabitants, who presumed that God would keep them safe.

- Verse 22 simply speaks to God’s eagerness to speak to Israel on this issue. They aren’t going to have to wait years in uncertainty before God explains everything to them.

- Verses 23-24 shows their view, which is entrenched in their heritage. The gist of their argument is “God promised the whole land to Abraham and he was only one person - now we, his descendants are many, so how much more is God going to fulfill His promises about the land to us?”

- “We are children of the promise!” “We are the sons and daughters of Abraham!” “We are in the Promised Land!” They were living in and relishing their honored status as God’s chosen.

- When we read v. 24, I think it’s important to understand that it’s likely that this was something they were telling themselves on a regular basis, not something that God makes up to characterize them. It was likely something they would have used to hype themselves up about their special status to God.

- All of this creates a crisis for the people of Israel and it is precisely what God is addressing in this passage.

Reading between the lines, the people of Israel were feeling that God had abandoned them. They had great confidence that the God of Abraham wouldn’t allow them to be conquered. He would keep them safe and secure in the land. So when a foreign army threatened them, they could face that moment with the confidence that God wouldn’t allow anything bad to happen to them.

- And then, unbelievably, the foreign army won. The four words of v. 21 were shocking to all of Jerusalem: “The city has fallen!” How could that have happened? How could God have let them down?

GOD'S RESPONSE: “I didn’t disappoint - you disobeyed.”

- Ezekiel 33:25-26.

- Verse 25 begins with God focusing His message.

- “Therefore say to them . . . .” This is what they’re thinking, says God, so I want you to deliver this rebuke to them.

“This is what the Sovereign Lord says . . . .” This is My message, says God, and I want them to know why I am doing what I’m doing.

- This is an unequivocal response from God. He is making His thoughts clear.

- Verses 25-26 give God’s rebuke. He doesn’t go into the length of accusation that He does in some other similar Old Testament prophet passages. He is brief and to the point.

- He brings up examples of how Israel is not obeying the Mosaic Law. They aren’t doing the things that God says He expects from His people.

- It’s telling that the conclusion of each sentence has to do with possessing the land. That seems to be their focus, as we discussed in the last point. They are focused on the blessing of the Promised Land that God had given to them. Their identity is “we are the people God gave the land to.” But it’s not “we are the people who are faithful to God’s Law.” In sum, they want the blessing of God without acting like the people of God. They don’t want their behavior changed. They don’t want to obey God’s commandments.

- This, of course, is not a problem limited to their time. It’s happened through history. Many today are in a similar spot - they expect God’s blessing, safety, and provision even though they are not trying to follow God. They want God for what He can do for them.

HOW GOD WILL CONVINCE THEM: Broader punishment is coming.

- Ezekiel 33:27-29.

- Obviously that message we just discussed is not a message that Israel wants to receive. They might even push back against it to Ezekiel.

- But God goes on to share with them how He will convince them that this is in fact from Him.

- He is not going to limit the punishment to the fall of Jerusalem. We might think of that happening and then God, like an indulgent parent who has given the initial punishment, immediately backs off it as being more than enough.

- Verses 27-28 indicate that God intends the punishment to radiate out. From the fall of Jerusalem, it will expand to the countryside. The punishment will be broader than the starting point.