Judgment, Sacrifice, and a Glimmer of Hope

God’s judgment is awful. For those in Jerusalem, He was going to “make the pile of kindling large” (24:9). In essence they would feel the full heat of His wrath. He instructed, “Pile on the logs and kindle the fire! Cook the meat well and mix in the spices! Let the bones be burned! Set the empty pot on its coals so that it becomes hot and its copper glows” (vv. 10-11).

Jesus taught us a lot about the intensity of God’s judgment. He used phrases such as “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt 13:42) to describe what those who experienced it would be doing. He said those who are judged would be thrown into “outer darkness” (Matt 8:12; 22:13; 25:30), and it will be like they are blind forever.

Jesus taught us the most about God’s intense judgment, however, around three o’clock on the afternoon He was crucified. It was then He “cried out with a loud voice, ‘Elí, Elí, lemá sabachtháni?’ that is, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’” (Matt 27:46). The most intense part of God’s wrath will not be the fire but the forsakenness. The soul God judges will be cut off from His mercy, grace, and love forever. The day is coming when God’s wrath will be released in its full capacity, and it will never be diminished. His fire will not be extinguished, and His sword will not be sheathed.

God’s Judgment Is Deserved

God never punishes the innocent. His judgment is always deserved. For those in Jerusalem, God was going to judge them according to their ways and deeds (v. 14). Those who questioned His fairness (18:25) will find His judgment is unquestionably right. God’s people were guilty of bloodshed (24:6,7,9), indecency, and uncleanness (v. 13). They were like a pot whose thick rust will not come off (vv. 6,12). They were not even concerned with covering their sin (v. 7).

Innocent people have nothing to fear from God. The problem is, there are no innocent people. All have sinned and fall short of His glory (Rom 3:23); therefore, all should fear His judgment. But there is hope because “He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor 5:21). Many phrases will be cried from hell, but “innocent” is not one of them.

God’s Judgment Can Be Avoided

At one point God’s judgment in Jerusalem was avoidable. He reminded them, “I tried to purify you, but you would not be purified from your uncleanness” (v. 13). For generations He sent prophets to warn His people, but His people killed His prophets (1 Kgs 19:14). The opportunity to repent and live had been given, but now it was gone. All that was left for Jerusalem was judgment without pity.

Though we know the Lord’s judgment is certain, it can be avoided. Our problem is we often look for security in all the wrong places. Edwards warned, “Men’s hands cannot be strong when God rises up. . . . There is no fortress that is any defense from the power of God” (Edwards, Sinners, 18). There is only one place we can flee from the wrath of God, and that is to the One who has already faced it. John said, “The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who refuses to believe in the Son will not see life; instead, the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36). Let us then “seek the Lord while He may be found” and “call to Him while He is near” (Isa 55:6).

God’s Message Is Never Without Cost

Ezekiel 24:15-24

Up to this point Ezekiel has preached difficult sermons through difficult means. In Ezekiel 24, however, God asks His prophet to preach his costliest sermon. Ezekiel’s wife is going to die, and he will not be allowed to display the customary signs of grief and mourning.

In these verses we see a side of Ezekiel that has not been revealed previously. Taylor notes, “While not wishing to romanticize Ezekiel in any way, it is worth commenting that often a man is seen for what he really is only when he is seen in conjunction with his wife” (Taylor, Ezekiel, 177). For Ezekiel his wife was the delight of his eyes. She was precious to him. He loved her.

What right does God have to ask Ezekiel to preach this sermon? What right does God have to take Ezekiel’s beloved wife? God has every right. He is the sovereign and holy King. Without question this is a painful providence, but God’s holiness ensures that His ways are always right and good. God is free to use His people in the way He knows is best. For Jeremiah this meant not marrying. For Hosea this meant marrying an unfaithful wife. For Ezekiel this meant the sudden loss of the one he deeply loved.

Speaking honestly, this would be a brutal price to pay for ministry. The disobedience of the Israelites now will cost Ezekiel his wife because God wants to use this drastic measure to get through to them. How does Ezekiel not resent them or, worse, God? How does he still deliver messages to them, knowing that had they and their families repented earlier, his wife would not have been taken?

There is a great teaching point here: not all suffering is punishment. Sometimes our “best life now” actually involves suffering—not because suffering is good but because God is good and He uses our pain to produce a good result. Ezekiel’s wife is being taken not because of his or her disobedience. Up to this point Ezekiel has done everything the Lord has asked Him to do in the way He asked the prophet to do it. God is not disciplining Ezekiel. He will use Ezekiel’s suffering to preach a sermon like no other.

Several years ago a couple in the first church we served suffered numerous miscarriages. Others, outside our faith family, told them the death of these babies was due to disobedience in their lives. In October of 2006 my wife and I lost a baby in the second trimester of pregnancy. Through tears I preached Proverbs 3:5-6 the following Sunday.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

and do not rely on your own understanding;

think about Him in all your ways,

and He will guide you on the right paths.

My wife and I felt God allowed us to experience this pain for many reasons, but discipline or consequences were never one of them. We believed He was sanctifying us to minister to the previously mentioned couple like never before.

For Ezekiel and his wife, there would be no long good-byes. As a matter of fact, he could not say anything to her and had not been able to for a while (3:26-27). That his wife is still with him after all the “crazy” sign acts he was asked to perform says a lot about her. We know she did not sign up to be a prophet’s wife when they were first married, since Ezekiel was a priest, but she had stuck with him through this new ministry in exile. All of this makes it more amazing that Ezekiel says, “I spoke to the people in the morning, and my wife died in the evening. The next morning I did just as I was commanded” (v. 18). May the Lord strengthen us as He did Ezekiel, that we might be as obedient and sacrificial for the sake of the gospel.

The good news is that Ezekiel’s actions were not lost on his audience. They responded to his peculiar behavior by asking, “Won’t you tell us what these things you are doing mean for us?” At least by now they know that when Ezekiel does something strange it’s not because he is crazy. No, the Lord has something He wants to say to them, and they now know enough to ask, “What are you trying to say to us?”

Ezekiel would provide the reason behind his actions. He told them,

The word of the Lord came to me: “Say to the house of Israel: This is what the Lord God says: I am about to desecrate My sanctuary, the pride of your power, the delight of your eyes, and the desire of your heart. Also, the sons and daughters you left behind will fall by the sword.” (v. 21)

The Lord’s people would respond to their loss just as Ezekiel did to the loss of his wife: “You will not lament or weep” (v. 23).

Ezekiel knows now that his suffering has spoken to God’s people in a way that no other sermon could communicate and that it will achieve its purpose. The people will come to know that God is Yahweh. God’s plan is never arbitrary or “just for kicks.” He always knows what He is doing, why He is doing it, and the best way to do it. He also knows the measures He has to take to speak into the depths of our depravity.

Sadly, God’s people had replaced love for God with love for God’s temple (Jer 7:4). The place of God was more precious to them than the person of God. Perhaps they felt secure as long as the building was standing, but the temple itself could do nothing to protect them. They cared more about the building’s destruction than the Lord’s departure.

Ezekiel is not the only one paying a price in Ezekiel 24. God is going to allow His sanctuary to be desecrated. He does so because “nothing, not even the temple, is more sacred to God than a sanctified people” (Block, Ezekiel 1–24, 797). For some reason God’s people often have the “propensity to transform legitimate religious symbols into idolatrous images” (ibid.). Our generation is no different. Sometimes we worship musical worship instead of the One to whom the song is sung. There are times we can be enamored with a great sermon rather than a great Savior. We can even make our church building or church family an idol. Thankfully, God often steps in and reminds us we are missing the main point—Him!

Seeing what Ezekiel sacrificed and the purpose for which it was intended should lead us to assess whether we are “all in” for the sake of the gospel. Ezekiel is not the only messenger of God to sacrifice a spouse during the course of ministry. John Paton, Adoniram Judson, and William Carey all buried their wives while sharing the gospel in difficult places. Paton even dug his wife’s grave with his bare hands.

As we consider these sacrifices, we should bear in mind that no one will be asked to give more than God has given for the cause of the gospel. God willingly offered His Son in whom He delighted (Matt 3:17). In addition, we have been “bought at a price,” and we are no longer our own (1 Cor 6:20). All we have belongs to Him, and He is free to use everything as He sees best. Sacrifice and suffering provide an opportunity for us to entrust ourselves to a faithful Creator (1 Pet 4:19).

God’s Hope Is Never Without Comfort

Ezekiel 24:25-27

With the death of Ezekiel’s wife and the destruction of the temple, Ezekiel 24 is indeed full of doom, but there is a glimmer of hope. The Lord told Ezekiel,

“Son of man, know that on the day I take their stronghold from them, their pride and joy, the delight of their eyes and the longing of their hearts, as well as their sons and daughters, on that day a fugitive will come to you and report the news. On that day your mouth will be opened to talk with him; you will speak and no longer be mute. So you will be a sign for them, and they will know that I am Yahweh.” (vv. 25-27)

Almost three years to the day after Ezekiel was given this word, everything happened just as the Lord said it would (33:21-22). Though the fall of Jerusalem and the temple would be devastating to God’s people, it would also mark a turning point in their exile. Instead of discipline, the message would now be one of hope and deliverance. Ezekiel’s mouth would no longer be bound just to communicate God’s judgment, but now he would be able to speak of God’s blessings. God’s wrath will be satisfied (24:13), and the people will know He is Yahweh.

Just as the destruction of the temple seemed like the darkest moment for God’s people, so did the death of God’s Son. God would lay our sin on His Son and pour out the full measure of His wrath. The darkness of the crucifixion, though, would soon give way to the light of the resurrection. What seemed like defeat would ultimately be victory.

Unlike Ezekiel we do not have to wait three years to see how everything is going to turn out. We know that in the cross of Christ the wrath of God was satisfied. Our tongues have been set free to proclaim a message of deliverance. The discipline has passed. Hope has come.

Reflect and Discuss