NO PROXY SALVATION
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Opening Prayer
Thank you, Gracious God, that you always welcome me when I come to be with you. I ask for a sense of your presence now, as I read your Word.
Read EZEKIEL 14
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Idolaters Condemned
14 Some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me. 2 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 3 “Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all? 4 Therefore speak to them and tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: When any of the Israelites set up idols in their hearts and put a wicked stumbling block before their faces and then go to a prophet, I the Lord will answer them myself in keeping with their great idolatry. 5 I will do this to recapture the hearts of the people of Israel, who have all deserted me for their idols.’
6 “Therefore say to the people of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Repent! Turn from your idols and renounce all your detestable practices!
7 “‘When any of the Israelites or any foreigner residing in Israel separate themselves from me and set up idols in their hearts and put a wicked stumbling block before their faces and then go to a prophet to inquire of me, I the Lord will answer them myself. 8 I will set my face against them and make them an example and a byword. I will remove them from my people. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
9 “‘And if the prophet is enticed to utter a prophecy, I the Lord have enticed that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel. 10 They will bear their guilt—the prophet will be as guilty as the one who consults him. 11 Then the people of Israel will no longer stray from me, nor will they defile themselves anymore with all their sins. They will be my people, and I will be their God, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”
Jerusalem’s Judgment Inescapable
12 The word of the Lord came to me: 13 “Son of man, if a country sins against me by being unfaithful and I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its food supply and send famine upon it and kill its people and their animals, 14 even if these three men—Noah, Daniel[a] and Job—were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign Lord.
15 “Or if I send wild beasts through that country and they leave it childless and it becomes desolate so that no one can pass through it because of the beasts, 16 as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if these three men were in it, they could not save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved, but the land would be desolate.
17 “Or if I bring a sword against that country and say, ‘Let the sword pass throughout the land,’ and I kill its people and their animals, 18 as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if these three men were in it, they could not save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved.
19 “Or if I send a plague into that land and pour out my wrath on it through bloodshed, killing its people and their animals, 20 as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if Noah, Daniel and Job were in it, they could save neither son nor daughter. They would save only themselves by their righteousness.
21 “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem my four dreadful judgments—sword and famine and wild beasts and plague—to kill its men and their animals! 22 Yet there will be some survivors—sons and daughters who will be brought out of it. They will come to you, and when you see their conduct and their actions, you will be consoled regarding the disaster I have brought on Jerusalem—every disaster I have brought on it. 23 You will be consoled when you see their conduct and their actions, for you will know that I have done nothing in it without cause, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 14:14 Or Danel, a man of renown in ancient literature; also in verse 20
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
‘… you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’ 1
The elders who came to Ezekiel were guilty of idolatry, which is condemned throughout the Bible.2 The idea of God enticing a prophet and then holding him guilty (vv. 9, 10) is difficult. While we may recall God hardening Pharaoh’s heart3 or the lying spirit sent by divine permission to mislead Ahab’s prophets,4 such episodes have to be balanced by and interpreted in the light of statements like ‘God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone.’5 Ezekiel, with his Old Testament perspective, would have seen God’s intervention in national life in a different way from most twenty-first-century Christians. As New Testament Christians, we can see a fuller picture.
Based on the belief that their God would not act in judgment against his own people, the elders may have argued that the community would be saved on account of a righteous few, citing Abraham’s successful intercession for Sodom and Gomorrah6 or Noah’s righteousness saving his family.7 The elders are told in no uncertain terms that Jerusalem’s plight is now so desperate that even the presence of the most righteous men cannot save it from judgment. We need to remember, however, that the purpose of divine judgment here is the reestablishment of the covenant between God and the people (v. 11).
The idea of the unrighteous being shown the way of salvation by the righteous is at the heart of the Christian gospel. The angel’s message to Joseph was that Jesus would ‘save his people from their sins,’8 repeated later in the gospel in the statement that the Son of Man came ‘to give his life as a ransom for many.’9 We can be thankful that Jesus came, not as judge, but as our Savior.
Apply
We might not have a physical idol in our home—but what kind of idols are we tempted to set up in our hearts?
Closing prayer
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for dying in my place and for suffering the punishment that I deserved. Help me to live my life in a manner that is worthy of the gospel. (Philippians 1:27)
1 Matt 1:21 2 e.g., Lev 26:1 3 e.g., Exod 4:21 4 1 Kings 22:20–23 5 James 1:13 6 Gen 18:16–33 7 Gen 6:8, 9 8 Matt 1:21 9 Matt 20:28
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