Ezekiel 14:12

Ezekiel 14:12 says, The word of the Lord came again to me, saying,  God’s word came to Ezekiel again.  As stated before, we need to always be hearing form God as Christians.   

Verse thirteen adds, Son of man, when the land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it:  God told Ezekiel that when the land sinned against Him that He would send a famine on the land.  I believe that this means the people of the land and not the land itself since the land is not capable of sinning.  God may allow or even cause famine to come on a nation today if they do not put their faith in Him.  I believe this is even truer for a nation that professes to be His people but do not put their faith in Him nor obey their commandments.   

Verse fourteen continues, Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord God.  God said that though three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job had been a part of the land of Israel and had been obedient to Him that they could only deliver their souls by their own righteousness, or I believe the righteousness of God imparted to them because of their faith in Him.  We can only deliver our own soul because we put our faith in the righteousness of God and never in our own righteousness.  Matthew Henry points out that Noah and Job were ancients of faith and Daniel more of a contemporary and that we should never put the ancients of God ahead of people who are at work for Him today.  They were just men doing what God called them to do, just as many people are doing now. 

Verse fifteen states, If I cause noisome beasts to pass through the land, and they spoil it, so that it be desolate, that no man may pass through because of the beasts:  God said that if He caused noisome or fearsome beast to keep the people out of the land it would be because of their sin.  If we a kept out of heaven, by whatever way God chooses to keep us out, it will always be because of our sin and our refusal to accept His gift of salvation.   

Verse sixteen adds, Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters; they only shall be delivered, but the land shall be desolate.  God once again refers to Noah, Daniel, and Job, three great men of faith, and says that their faithful obedience to Him could only save them.  We cannot be saved nor even have a country spared by anyone else’s faithfulness to God.   

Verse seventeen continues, Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say, Sword, go through the land; so that I cut off man and beast from it:  God then refers to the possibility of His bringing the sword through Israel or maybe the certainty that it was going to happen.  If or when He allowed this to happen, it would be because of their disobedience to Him and their refusal to acknowledge Him as God. One day, Jesus Christ is going to return in judgment of the world, and those who have refused to acknowledge Him as Savior and Lord will face a fate much worse than death.  They will be sent away to everlasting punishment.   

Verse eighteen concludes, Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only shall be delivered themselves.  God said that when His judgment came, even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were there to proclaim God to them, only those three would be saved because people still wouldn’t believe them.  Once Jesus Christ returns in judgment, it will be too late for anyone to be saved, no matter who might speak to them, but it will be because of their choice to reject Him when they had a chance to accept Him.  Once more, we cannot save anyone else but only ourself.  All we can do is to witness to them as Noah, Daniel, and Job did.   

Verse nineteen says, Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my fury upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast:  God now speaks of sending a pestilence to the people of Israel instead of destroying them and again this would be because of their turning  away from Him.  

Verse twenty adds, Though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.  God once again that even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were there in the land proclaiming God’s word that they would be rejected by the people and could not save them.  Of course, if they did repent and turn to God, it would not be any of these three who saved them. As God pointed out over and over, Noah, Daniel, and Job could only save themselves by their faith in Him and could only witness to other people.  This will always be true.   

Ezkiel 14:6

Ezekiel 14:6 says, Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.  Ezekiel was to tell the people that it was time to repent and turn to God if they expected Him to hear them.  As stated before, until a person comes to God by repenting of their sins and by faith in Jesus Christ, He is not going to hear what they have to say.   

Verse seven adds, For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet to enquire of him concerning me; I the Lord will answer him by myself:  God said that those who came to hear from Him by a prophet but they were worshipping idols and were a stumbling block to those who professed to be His people that He would answer them Himself instead of through a prophet.  This also applied to those who were in the land of Israel, but who were not Israelites by birth.  God is never going to accept anyone, no matter where they are from, until they repent of their sins and come to Him by faith.  If they don’t accept God’s call to repentance and put their faith in Him, He will one day speak to them as their judge.  God calls all people to Him, but unless they repent of their sins and accept His gift of salvation, He will one day speak to them as their judge.   

Vese eight continues, And I will set my face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.  God said He would make an example of those who wouldn’t believe the prophets and who He spoke to Himself and He would cut them off from the land of Israel and they would know that He is God.  Those who do not accept the gospel and turn to Jesus Christ in repentance by faith when the gospel is proclaimed to them will one day face God as their judge and they will be forever cut off from His kingdom in heaven.   

Verse nine states, And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the Lord have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.  God said that if prophets deceived the people, it was because He had caused them to do so.  Though it may seem to imply that God caused them to proclaim lies, it really means that He didn’t prevent them from doing so and that one day God would stretch forth His hand to punish them.  Neither the one who leads people away from God’s word or the one led away can blame God for it.  He will always have called them to Himself, and they will have refused to respond to His call.   

Verse ten adds, And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him;  God said that both the false prophet and those who listened to him would be judged together.  We might think that the false prophet would be judged more harshly, but since both would be sent away to everlasting punishment, the degree of that punishment would be the same.  Still, I wouldn’t want to be either. We can be certain that all sinners who have not repented and put their faith in Jesus Christ will be sent away to everlasting punishment.   

Verse eleven continues, That the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither be polluted any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be my people, and I may be their God, saith the Lord God.  God said that when all the false prophets and those who followed them were removed from the land and only those who continued to put their faith in Him remained that they would no longer be polluted by their transgressions but would be His people.  I don’t believe that this means that they would never sin again, but that when they did, they would always repent and obey Him once again.  Once we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, we are a child of God forever, but this doesn’t mean that we will never sin again, but that if we do, we will repent and return to living by the leadership of the Holy Spirit.