Ezekiel 33:21

Ezekiel 33:21 says, And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city is smitten.  Ezekiel said that one day after almost thirteen years in captivity, a person who had escaped from Jerusalem came to him telling him that the city had fallen.  What he had prophesied was now becoming a reality, just as one day God’s promise that Jesus Christ will return in victory will come to pass.   

Verse twenty-two adds, Now the hand of the Lord was upon me in the evening, afore he that was escaped came; and had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more dumb.  Ezekiel said that the morning after the man who had escaped from Jerusalem came to him that the hand of the Lord was upon him and he could speak once more.  Now that his prophecy about the destruction of Jerusalem had come to pass, Ezekiel was once more empowered to speak God’s word to the people.  We already know that God’s judgment is coming, so we should be emboldened to proclaims His word, no matter how many prophesies have yet to be fulfilled.  The main one was the coming of Jesus Christ to redeem mankind, and that has already been fulfilled.   

Verse twenty-three continues, Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,  God's word once more came to Ezekiel, and until God’s word came to hm, he didn’t proclaim it to the people around him. When we share God’s word with people, we need to make sure that it is His word that we are sharing and not just ours.   

Verse twenty-four concludes, Son of man, they that inhabit those wastes of the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance.  God said that the remnant of the people of Israel living in the land were speaking about Abraham and God’s promise to him.  They said Abraham was but one man when God made His promise to him, but now they were many and the promise wasn’t being fulfilled.  Of course, it was because of their sin that this had happened, but it seems they were still questioning God.  They needed to live up to their part of the covenant that God made with Abraham for it to be fulfilled.  They believed that they were entitled to the land because they were descendants of Abraham instead of because of their relationship with God.  God’s promise of redemption is still in effect, but it will always come by faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord and not by any other means.

Ezekiel 33:14

Ezekiel 33:14 says, Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right;  God then had a word of hope for the wicked, which we are all until we accept Jseus Christ as our Savior and Lord.   

Verse fifteen adds, If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die.  God said that if the wicked restored what they had robbed to its owner, or took responsibility for their actions in other words, lived by His word, and no longer sinned, that they wouldn’t die.  Though we do need to take responsibility for the consequences of our sins that are spelled out by the God's and we should do our best to sin no more after we do, all this will not matter if we don’t accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord.   

Verse sixteen continues, None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him: he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.  God said that the wicked who did repent and who did the things mentioned in the last verse would live because they had done what was lawful and right.  I believe this means that if they had done these things while putting their faith in God alone that they would live spiritually as a part of His kingdom.  I do know that we cannot become righteous and live spiritually with God forever by any action we take other than accepting God’s gift of salvation.   

Verse seventeen states, Yet the children of thy people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal.  God said that the children of the people of Israel would say that God’s ways were not equal to all people.  I believe they were saying that they were somehow more important to God than other people, but they were only more important because God had chosen to work through them to call everyone to Him.  It was their relationship to God that set them apart from the rest of the world, but all people were sinners in need of redemption and equal in God’s sight.  We as citizens of the America are no better or worse than anyone else in God’s sight just because we were born here.  We are no better spiritually than our worst enemy simply because of where we were born, but we are only better spiritually when we are born again.   

Verse eighteen adds, When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby.  This would seem to imply that people who were righteous could fall from righteousness and die spiritually without being a part of God’s kingdom.  We know that God also tells us that none is righteous of their own merit, and we are only made righteous by accepting the righteousness of Jesus Christ, which will never fail, so once we have accepted Him as our Savior and Lord, we will never die spiritually.  Of course, if we are depending on our own righteousness to redeem us, we will always fail.   

Verse nineteen continues, But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby.  God said that if the wicked turned from their wickedness and lived by His laws that they would live.  Of course, we all fall short of living up to God’s commandments, so we cannot live with Him forever by our own righteousness.   

Verse twenty concludes, Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O ye house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways.  God then said that even though the people of Israel might say that not everyone was equal in God’s sight that they were wrong. God said then and it is still true today that each person would be judged for their own sins, no matter where they might have been born. 

 

Ezekiel 33:10

Ezekiel 33:10 says, Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live?  This was stated before in Ezekiel 18:20 but is expounded on more here.  God’s word for Ezekiel to speak to the house of Israel was to ask how they thought they could live in sin and yet live.  They still hadn’t changed their ways.  God has been warning people since the fall of Adam and Eve that they must repent and come to Him for salvation, but too many still don’t listen.   

Verse eleven adds, Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?  God said that He had no pleasure in the death of wicked men but only had pleasure in their turning to Him by faith for forgiveness so that they might live spiritually with Him forever.  He then called on the house of Isreal to turn from their evil ways and put their faith in Him.  People sometimes ask how God can send people to hell, and He doesn’t.  Their refusal to accept His gift of salvation is what sends them there, so they are responsible.   

Verse twelve continues, Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth.  I believe that basically God was saying that our righteous will not save us and our sins will not condemn us if we repent of them and put our faith in God, beginning with accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.  The people of Isreal had begun to think that they were special because of who they were and not because of Who God is.  There are still people today who think that they are special to God because of who they are or where they were born, but unless they have put their faith in Jesus Christ and live by faith, they will one day find out how wrong they were.   

Verse thirteen concludes, When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.  God said that He would say to the righteous, those who had put their faith in Him, that they would live, but that to the self-righteous who had put their faith in themselves or the world that they would die. I believe this means spiritually more than just physically, and it is still true today.