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.
