Even though Noah, Daniel and Job were in its midst...

Ezekiel 14:12-23 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

The City Will Not Be Spared

Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, ¹³ “Son of man, if a country sins against Me by committing unfaithfulness, and I stretch out My hand against it, destroy its supply of bread, send famine against it and cut off from it both man and beast, ¹⁴ even though these three men, Noah, Daniel and Job were in its midst, by their own righteousness they could only deliver themselves,” declares the Lord God. ¹⁵ “If I were to cause wild beasts to pass through the land and they depopulated it, and it became desolate so that no one would pass through it because of the beasts, ¹⁶ though these three men were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord God, “they could not deliver either their sons or their daughters. They alone would be delivered, but the country would be desolate. ¹⁷ Or if I should bring a sword on that country and say, ‘Let the sword pass through the country and cut off man and beast from it,’ ¹⁸ even though these three men were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord God, “they could not deliver either their sons or their daughters, but they alone would be delivered. ¹⁹ Or if I should send a plague against that country and pour out My wrath in blood on it to cut off man and beast from it, ²⁰ even though Noah, Daniel and Job were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord God, “they could not deliver either their son or their daughter. They would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.”

²¹ For thus says the Lord God, “How much more when I send My four severe judgments against Jerusalem: sword, famine, wild beasts and plague to cut off man and beast from it! ²² Yet, behold, survivors will be left in it who will be brought out, both sons and daughters. Behold, they are going to come forth to you and you will see their conduct and actions; then you will be comforted for the calamity which I have brought against Jerusalem for everything which I have brought upon it. ²³ Then they will comfort you when you see their conduct and actions, for you will know that I have not done in vain whatever I did to it,” declares the Lord God.

Today’s text begins saying:  Then the word of the Lord came to me saying,  “Son of man, if a country sins against Me by committing unfaithfulness, and I stretch out My hand against it, destroy its supply of bread, send famine against it and cut off from it both man and beast, even though these three men, Noah, Daniel and Job were in its midst, by their own righteousness they could only deliver themselves,” declares the Lord God.   As a nation, we have sinned against God and been unfaithful. Even if Noah, Daniel and Job were in the midst of our nation, by their own righteousness they could only deliver themselves. Our nation cannot be delivered by any politician or political party. It cannot be delivered by any great spiritual leaders or even by the church. What then of 2 Chronicles 7:14, where God says:  If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land?  God will not respond to the righteousness of people concerning the deliverance of other people, but He will respond to the prayers of repentant people.  1 Peter 4:17-18 says:  It is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the godless man and the sinner?   What the outcome will be for the godless man and sinners, should bring us to our knees. If we want God to heal our land, we must begin by compassionately praying for the hearts of sinners to be saved. There is only one whose righteousness can deliver others. He is Jesus Christ. Now more than ever we need to pray that people would have an encounter with Him. 1 Timothy 2:1-5 says:  I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.  What better way; what other way is there for our nation to be healed and our lives to become quiet and tranquil than for those in authority to come to the knowledge of the truth; to come into alignment with God’s desire and be saved? Rather than condemning those we disagree with, we should pray that the Holy Spirit would convict them.

The text says:  “If I should bring a sword on that country and say, ‘Let the sword pass through the country and cut off man and beast from it,’ even though these three men were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord God, “they could not deliver either their sons or their daughters, but they alone would be delivered. Or if I should send a plague against that country and pour out My wrath in blood on it to cut off man and beast from it, even though Noah, Daniel and Job were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord God, “they could not deliver either their son or their daughter. They would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.”   If Noah, Daniel and Job were unable to deliver their sons and daughters, then what of us?  We cannot save our children or our grand-children by our righteousness, but then we ourselves are not saved by our righteousness. Ephesians 2:8-10 says:  By grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.   Our good works of righteousness are not the source of God’s grace on our lives, but rather they are our response to His grace. We walk in  His righteousness by grace. In Matthew 5:14-16 Jesus says:   “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”   None of us can be the savior of another person, but if we shine His light through our good works, we can point them to the one who can save them. Romans 2:4 says:  Do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?  Demonstrating God’s kindness, tolerance and patience to sinners, may lead them to repentance. It is not though that we are patient or tolerant of sin. In Matthew 5:17-20 Jesus says:  “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them. For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”   Far from being able to save others, we need to walk in Christ’s righteousness, the righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees, if we ourselves would enter the kingdom of heaven.

In the end it is because:  “Even though Noah, Daniel and Job were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord God, “they could not deliver either their son or their daughter. They would deliver only themselves by their righteousness,”  that God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)  In John 14:6 Jesus says:  "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”   If there was any other way that we could be saved, if by works, righteousness or birthright, then Christ would not have needed to offer Himself for us, but because there is no other way, He did. In Luke 23:34 Jesus says:  “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”   In John 19:30 He said: “It is finished!”  Acts 4:12 says:  There is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved. 

Amen. Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit. Amen.