12 And the word of the Lord came to me: 13 “Son of man, when a land sins against me by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out my hand against it and break its supply of bread and send famine upon it, and cut off from it man and beast, 14 even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness, declares the Lord God.
15 “If I cause wild beasts to pass through the land, and they ravage it, and it be made desolate, so that no one may pass through because of the beasts, 16 even if these three men were in it, as I live, declares the Lord God, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters. They alone would be delivered, but the land would be desolate.
17 “Or if I bring a sword upon that land and say, Let a sword pass through the land, and I cut off from it man and beast, 18 though these three men were in it, as I live, declares the Lord God, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they alone would be delivered.
19 “Or if I send a pestilence into that land and pour out my wrath upon it with blood, to cut off from it man and beast, 20 even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, declares the Lord God, they would deliver neither son nor daughter. They would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness.
21 “For thus says the Lord God: How much more when I send upon Jerusalem my four disastrous acts of judgment, sword, famine, wild beasts, and pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast! 22 But behold, some survivors will be left in it, sons and daughters who will be brought out; behold, when they come out to you, and you see their ways and their deeds, you will be consoled for the disaster that I have brought upon Jerusalem, for all that I have brought upon it. 23 They will console you, when you see their ways and their deeds, and you shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, declares the Lord God.” Ezekiel 14: 12-23 ESV
Ezekiel 14: 12-23 Jerusalem Will Not Be Spared
“In all the procedures of divine judgment the principle of individual responsibility can never be relaxed. Hence the need of personal piety – the absolute necessity that men and women should pray for themselves-that each one should repent for himself, that each one should believe for himself; and that each one should in his own proper person be born again by the effectual operation of the Spirit of God. No proxy in these matters is possible.” (Spurgeon)
When a land sins against me - It is not the earth obviously, itself, but rather those given dominion of it, that bring the stain upon it. Israel's sins were national sins, the leaders were but a representation of the overall general condition. The matter is more grievous here, because unlike Sodom and Gomorrah which met with a rapid destruction, Jerusalem had been given much light.
…25God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that crawls upon the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 26Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness, to rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, and over all the earth itself and every creature that crawls upon it.” 27So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.… Genesis 1: 25-27
…27For the men who were in the land before you committed all these abominations, and the land has become defiled. 28So if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it spewed out the nations before you. 29Therefore anyone who commits any of these abominations must be cut off from among his people.… Leviticus 18: 27-29
And send famine upon it - This will happen during the siege most notably, Jerusalem will be cut off from outside supply, and the people will turn to cannibalism. Now, this also corresponds well with the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse mentioned in Revelation 6. Keep in mind that the first horse, the white horse, is given a crown, this is to bring the world into a time of global peace. This is the first half of the Tribulation, and much like Ezekiel's time it is a promise of peace, when there will actually be destruction. It is a time of false prophets and antichrists. The black horse is easily distinguished as famine.
I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!” 2 I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.
3 When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other. To him was given a large sword.
5 When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. 6 Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “Two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages, and six pounds of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!”
7 When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8 I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth. Revelation 6: 1-8
4Jesus answered, “See to it that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in My name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. These things must happen, but the end is still to come.… Matthew 24: 4-6
Noah, Daniel and Job were in it - Noah was a preacher of righteousness, who for 120 years built an ark and defied the whole of humanity to follow God's command in the saving of his house.
…6And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. 7By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in godly fear built an ark to save his family. By faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. Hebrews 11: 6-7
Daniel - He was a contemporary of Ezekiel, and it is interesting that He is already known for his righteousness. Daniel is actually elevated while in Babylon, and he comes to hold a very prominent position, but this is a cause for his peers to hate him. Jealousy is an ugly thing. Daniel, the greatest citizen of Babylon, commits an act of civil disobedience because the law that is made contradicts the truth. He is told not to pray to God, but rather to a king that was made by God, but Daniel instead follows God and ends up being thrown into the lion's den.
Job - Job loses everything, including his children, his wealth and his health, yet he refuses to give up his integrity, he refuses to curse God. If all three of these men were in Jerusalem, it wouldn't matter, God would save them for the sake of their righteousness, but He would still destroy the nation for it's sin and unbelief. They love the idea of ancestry, being related to Abraham, having the religious symbols of the temple, the feasts and the sacrifices, but God is letting them know that their hopes are misplaced. Abraham negotiated with God, interceding on behalf of Sodom, but the small number of 10 righteous could not be found, yet God removed a few for the sake of His friend Abraham, and God's own divine plan and good pleasure. God allowed Job to mediate on behalf of three of his friends, those who had accused him falsely, yet God will not accept such prayers on behalf of Jerusalem, not even from these 3.
Some of the better sort of people in Jerusalem might perhaps think that, if Daniel (of whose fame in the king of Babylon's court they had heard much) had but continued in Jerusalem, it would have been spared for his sake, as the magicians in Babylon were. "No," says God, "though you had him, who was as eminently good in bad times and places as Noah in the old world and Job in the land of Uz, yet a reprieve should not be obtained." In the places that are most corrupt, and in the ages that are most degenerate, there is a remnant which God reserves to himself, and which still hold fast their integrity and stand fair for the honour of delivering the land, as the innocent are said to do, Job 22:30. - Matthew Henry
…21The troops took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of the things devoted to destruction, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal.” 22But Samuel declared: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams. 23For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance is like the wickedness of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has rejected you as king.”… 1 Samuel 15: 21-23
If I cause wild beasts to pass through the land - Locust have come and destroyed crops before, adding to famine conditions. Rats have been associated with the spread of disease as well as mosquitos. I have read somewhere before that mosquitos are actually the number one man killer of the animal world. In Israel's early period going into the land of Canaan, God had them go in measures, and He even sent the hornets before them, but He didn't give them more area than they could handle at once, lest the wild animals be too much for them. I live in Florida, and I hear a lot of people say really dumb things, like, "alligators won't bother you if you don't bother them, they won't eat humans." That's stupid, I admire alligators, was terrified of them when I was a kid, but I loved fishing a lot so it put me around them. I didn't get over my fear by pretending that their was no basis for it. I acknowledged that this creature had all the tools necessary to take me down. My reaction time would be too slow, he was stronger than me, faster in the water, had teeth and an incredible bight force, a thick hide, stealth, and could hold his breath under water longer than me. I have only had two bad instances with gators that wouldn't back off, but I am amazed at the stuff that comes out of people's mouth and they think it's science, "this is the swimming area", oh, like the gator reads that sign and doesn't pass through that part of the river. It would be like me explaining human relationships to crocodiles by showing the video of Pocho to a group of people who had never seen or heard of crocodile's, then saying go have fun with some crocs. That would be ignoring a lot of history, and also a lot of negative interactions that have occurred over time. In Florida, alligators were hunted very heavily up until about the middle of last century, and then still in rural areas where they come in contact with people's animals. I love them, I think they are beautiful, but I also respect their power and can't ignore the macro historical aspect of human interactions. Their fear of man has come from hunting, and that doesn't happen nearly as much now, especially in wildlife preservation areas. I have often wondered, watching them, how long did it take for them to gain that fear of man, and how many generations would it take for them to lose it? What would it take for humans to be added back to the general menu, to view our paddle boards, kayaks and canoes as platters on which we were bringing lunch? Just pondering.
…21If you walk in hostility toward Me and refuse to obey Me, I will multiply your plagues seven times, according to your sins. 22I will send wild animals against you to rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and reduce your numbers, until your roads lie desolate. 23And if in spite of these things you do not accept My discipline, but continue to walk in hostility toward Me,… Leviticus 26: 21-23
…2If they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you are to tell them that this is what the LORD says: ‘Those destined for death, to death; those destined for the sword, to the sword; those destined for famine, to famine; and those destined for captivity, to captivity.’ 3I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the LORD: the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away, and the birds of the air and beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. 4I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of Judah did in Jerusalem.… Jeremiah 15: 2-4
…28I will send the hornet before you to drive the Hivites and Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. 29I will not drive them out before you in a single year; otherwise the land would become desolate and wild animals would multiply against you. 30Little by little I will drive them out ahead of you, until you become fruitful and possess the land.… Exodus 23: 28-30
Or if I bring a sword through the land - This is coming with Nebuchadnezzar; Jerusalem, contrary to what the false prophets are saying, will not escape judgement. God rules over kings, directs them to do His work. Above we see that He rules over the animal kingdom, and is where are food truly comes from. He designed it, spoke it into being, and that we can observe in that everything is coded with language.
Or if I send a pestilence - Everyone is dying already, death has entered the world through sin, and here it seems is the pale horse, coming with disease to take another part of mankind, cut off before his hoped for years. Look how the world was shaken by covid19, which is small in comparison to some diseases, yet the reaction brought food shortages, inflation and almost made toilet paper into a black market industry.
When you see their ways and their deeds - He mentions Noah, Daniel and Job as known for their righteousness, and this is brought up several times. In contrast here, Ezekiel refers to those that are left alive in Jerusalem, by their ways and their deeds. There is a positive affirmation of Noah and the other two faithful men mentioned, but of these God says, "you shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done." The evidence will be overwhelmingly in God's favor. When they see these survivors, and come to know of their ways and deeds, God will be seen as not only just, but more patient than any man.
“Most recent commentators recognize that the context demands that these words refer to ‘unrighteous doings’ for which due punishment has been meted out, and Cooke points out that in Ezekiel doings always has a bad sense. So the remnant of the fugitives would be wicked men.” (Taylor)
ii. “This ‘unspiritual remnant’ will provide evidence of Yahweh’s justice in annihilating the nation. Instead of responding to their narrow escape with a change in behavior, their pattern of impious conduct will be on display for the entire exilic community to observe.” (Block)
…9The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? 10I, the LORD, search the heart; I examine the mind to reward a man according to his way, by what his deeds deserve. 11Like a partridge hatching eggs it did not lay is the man who makes a fortune unjustly. In the middle of his days his riches will desert him, and in the end he will be the fool.”… Jeremiah 17: 9-11
…9So we aspire to please Him, whether we are here in this body or away from it. 10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive his due for the things done in the body, whether good or bad. 11Therefore, since we know what it means to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is clear to God, and I hope it is clear to your conscience as well.… 2 Corinthians 5: 9-11
…11It is written: “As surely as I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow before Me; every tongue will confess to God.” 12So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God. 13Therefore let us stop judging one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way.… Romans 14: 11-13
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