When God Is Against You

When God Is Against You

Ezekiel 4:1–5:17

Main Idea: When we fail to live as children of God, we deserve every consequence of our rebellion, but even in judgment His mercy is evident.

When I was in fourth grade, I entered into a verbal contract with my sister. At the time we had an oscillating fan that was sitting on the floor, and I was using it as a target for my putter and golf ball. Unsolicited on her part, I offered an agreement: if I missed the fan on my next putt, then for the next year she could call me “Mud.” I can’t remember where I got the idea, but I had confidence it would not matter. It mattered! On my next attempt I calculated and then fired away—missing badly. My sister immediately said, “Good shot, Mud!” Was I upset? You bet. How could she have the audacity to keep her end of the bargain I had arranged? I immediately tattled to my mother.

How many commitments have we made to God? Maybe we made a commitment at a youth camp or marriage conference or even after choosing a besetting sin one more time. I wonder how many of those commitments we’ve kept? I learned early on that one must be cautious when entering into a contract or agreement. As the book of Ezekiel will often remind us, God and Israel had an agreement. It was called a covenant. God always keeps His commitments. We, however, do not. In Ezekiel 4 and 5 God is keeping His end of the agreement, just not in the way Israel wanted.

A Privileged Position

Ezekiel 5:5-7

Being a Child of God Is Something We Should Never Take for Granted (5:5)

God does not owe us anything but what the wrath our rebellion has merited. His grace and mercy are not birthrights of our national citizenship. He could remain cold and distant and still be holy and right. But according to His own counsel, He has chosen to make Himself known and to have a people to the praise of His glory (Eph 1:14). For Israel this meant that out of all peoples on earth, He chose them to be holy to Himself (Deut 6:6-8). He even reminded Ezekiel that He set Jerusalem in the center of the nations (Ezek 5:5; 38:12). What an amazing blessing! They above all others had a unique relationship with Yahweh.

For those of us who have been grafted in by Christ, God’s special relationship with His people continues. All who are in Christ have the privilege of knowing God not just as the Creator but also as their Father (Eph 1:4-5; Gal 4:6-7). Have we become desensitized to such an unmerited blessing? Packer noted, “If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his father” (Packer, Knowing God, 201). As we consider Ezekiel 4–5, I’m not sure which is the greater mystery: why God chose to have a people for His name’s sake or why His people have so often failed to appreciate their privileged position. Without doubt He had a special relationship with Israel, but they failed to demonstrate gratitude for such a gift.

Being a Child of God Brings Both Blessings and Responsibilities (5:6-11)

God did not just choose to have a people but to have a people for His name’s sake (Pss 23:3; 106:8; 1 John 2:12). Reconciliation brings with it responsibilities (Luke 12:48), and God’s plan has always been for His people to be a light to the nations (Deut 4:5-8; Isa 49:6; Matt 5:14; Phil 2:14-16). Israel, however, failed miserably at shining His light. They rebelled against His ordinances with more wickedness than the nations and against His statutes more than the countries that surrounded them (Ezek 5:6; cf. 16:27). If sinning were an Olympic sport, then Israel “won the international contest in wickedness” (Block, Ezekiel 1–24, 107–8). In failing to live up to not just God’s standards but even those of the pagan nations around them, Israel led those who most needed to see the light further into darkness (Duguid, Ezekiel, 100).

Because of Israel’s failure Ezekiel’s first message from God for His people was, “I am against you . . . I will execute judgments within you . . . I am going to cut you off” (5:8,11). How sad. Moses’s worst nightmare comes true (Exod 33:15-16). If you were Ezekiel, how would you like the message of God’s judgment and withdrawal to be your first sermon? I often joke that my first sermon was awful and the rest have steadily gotten worse. But thankfully my first sermon was not the same as Ezekiel’s. To be sure, nothing was lost in translation with the prophet because God would repeat the same message at least 11 more times throughout the book: I am against you.

Israel had likely complained to God that they wanted justice, and they defined justice as God’s judgment against their Babylonian captors. According to the first vision Ezekiel received, God was definitely coming to enact judgment, just not on the Babylonians (at least not yet). For many generations Israel enjoyed covenant blessings without honoring their covenant responsibilities. They wanted God’s protection and provision but withheld their devotion and obedience. Sound like anyone we know?

A Promised Persecution

Ezekiel 5:7-17

Though We May Not Keep Our Word, God Always Keeps His, and He Will Not Leave Sin Unpunished Forever

In formulating a defense against God’s judgment, Israel may have considered many options, but ignorance was not one of them. In Leviticus 26 the blessings for obedience and the punishment for disobedience were clearly communicated when God and Israel covenanted together. God’s people knew what they were supposed to do; they just chose not to do it. Israel would find out “those who claim to be his people may not exchange him for another god without cost to themselves” (Block, Ezekiel 1–24, 217). What’s tragic is that Israel seemed more upset at God’s keeping His word than at their failure to keep theirs.

God’s Judgment on Sin Is Both Deserved and Awful (5:7-11,16-17)

I do not know any healthy parents who love disciplining their children. I know I am grieved each time my children choose rebellion and I have to administer correction. God is indeed slow to anger, but when He arrives there, it is awful. Because of their detestable practices and abominations, God would do to Israel what He had never done before and would never do again. He would consume a third of His people by plague and by famine. The famine would be so devastating that cannibalism would occur in Jerusalem (5:10) and dangerous animals would consume what children were left. Another third of Ezekiel’s peers would fall by the sword. The final third would be scattered in every direction of the wind, and God would draw a sword to chase after them. This may sound harsh, but those who believe the judgments of God are too severe have “not seen sin as God sees it” (Thomas, God Strengthens, 50).

When Our Rebellion Is Public, His Discipline Will Be as Well (5:8,14-15)

On top of the severity of God’s judgment would be the public shame that accompanied it. Israel’s rebellion toward God had not been hidden but was in plain sight. Likewise, God would do His work in the sight of the nations. He would make Israel a ruin and disgrace among the nations and in the sight of everyone who passes by. Why? Why would God do this to His people? Because He wanted Israel to be a warning and a horror to the nations as they witnessed God’s anger, wrath, and furious rebukes.

God never intended our relationship with Him to be just a private matter. In placing Jerusalem at the center of the nations God

staked his reputation on her. Since she has failed publicly, she must also bear her humiliation before the eyes of the world. Through her experience the nations will learn who God is: he is not only gracious but also passionate, demanding absolute and exclusive allegiance. (Thomas, God Strengthens, 50)

One Sunday morning just before a worship service was to begin, two families had a verbal disagreement on the front sidewalk by the main doors of our building. I did not find out about it until after the service, but many of our people witnessed what took place. I immediately contacted the parties involved and arranged a meeting. The Lord graciously provided reconciliation and forgiveness between the parties. On the following Sunday we asked all who were involved to seek the forgiveness of the congregation as well. Some feared utilizing a public form of restoration, but their disagreement had been in plain sight, and there was no way reconciliation could occur privately with each one who witnessed what transpired.

Two noticeable results came from the incident mentioned above. First, a guest in our service sent a comment card to our church office the following week. This person said, by our following through with the public restoration, they knew God and His Word were important to us. The second result was with one of the parties involved. From the point of restoration forward, the wife repeatedly would say, “I’m not doing (whatever the temptation of the day was) because I might have to stand up in front of the whole church again and apologize.” She would share this in humor, but it also proved to be a deterrent for her and for many others. God’s public shaming of Israel because of their public sins was meant to be a deterrent for everyone watching them as well.

A Performing Prophet

Ezekiel 4:1–5:4

The Media of the Message (4:1–5:4)

Few messengers of God have been asked to do more and give more in communicating God’s message than Ezekiel (see 24:15-18). God not only had a specific message for His people but also specific media through which His message would be communicated. Preaching for Ezekiel would include laying siege to a model city, lying on his left side and then right side for a specific set of days, having a certain sustenance, and using a sword to shave his head and beard. I wonder what grade he would have received from his peers at seminary in a sermon delivery course.

Why go to such great lengths? Couldn’t three points and a poem suffice to let God’s people know what He was going to do in light of all their idolatry and rebellion? Unfortunately, one of the most difficult tasks in every generation is convincing people they are sinners. We also rarely learn a truth the first time we see it. God knows not only what His people need to hear but also the exact way we need to both hear and see the message. The fact any message of His is offered more than once is nothing but grace.

Ezekiel’s first sermon would make any Lego enthusiast jealous. Utilizing a brick, dirt, and sticks, the prophet created a model of a siege that would come against Jerusalem. Like insult being added to injury, this message would have been grievous news to Ezekiel’s audience in Babylon. The worst aspect of the model was the iron plate that was to be an iron wall between Ezekiel and the city. The first way God demonstrated to His people that He was against them was to reveal the “cutting off of relationships” between Him and His people (Duguid, Ezekiel, 88).

Lest Israel think God is reacting rashly to something insignificant, Ezekiel’s second sign act was to lie on his left side for 390 days and then on his right side for 40 days. Ezekiel was to be a visible reminder of how long the Lord endured His people’s rebellion and how grievous the burden of their sin was. God would have cords placed on Ezekiel so that he could not turn side to side and he would bear their iniquity. There is much debate about whether he did this continually or only for certain portions of each day. What is not debated is that, unlike Christ, Ezekiel’s bearing the iniquity of his people was no substitutionary atonement that would prevent the impending judgment (Duguid, Ezekiel, 90). Ezekiel’s suffering would not prevent Israel’s.

While on his side, Ezekiel was prescribed a specific diet. God instructed him to take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt to make bread. He also gave the prophet a specific weight of eight ounces of food and a sixth of a gallon of water per day. The meager rations were meant to communicate the impending famine when God would cut off the supply of bread in Jerusalem. Those in Jerusalem would lack bread and water and be devastated and waste away because of their iniquity. The judgment of famine would be awful, but as Thomas notes, “The real famine was a spiritual one. The famine was a reminder of their spiritual starvation. They had forgotten God” (God Strengthens, 48). Interestingly, Ezekiel’s only protestation in the entire book was over which type of dung to cook the bread.

Ezekiel’s final sign act in this set of messages was to shave his head and beard with a sharp sword. He was to take a set of scales and divide the hair. Some of the hairs were to be burned, some of the hairs were to be slashed, and some were to be scattered in the wind, all of which represented the variety of methods God would use to judge His people. From this judgment a fire would spread to the whole house of Israel.

Let’s pause for a moment and take this all in. From time to time I’ve seen pastors use unique illustrations to drive home a point. Once I put my head in a bucket of water during a sermon to demonstrate longing for God as we long for our next breath. So why did God ask Ezekiel to do such outlandish acts? He did so because He was not just aiming at eyes and ears but at the hearts of His people. Ezekiel’s sermons were “not merely to help people see the truth, but to feel the truth” (Duguid, Ezekiel, 93).

As we consider Ezekiel’s visible sermons, we would be remiss if we did not note the greatest sign act ever: the cross of Christ. In the cross of Christ, God communicated in a visual way His deep hatred for sin and His overwhelming love for His people. As we ponder the cross, we not only hear what God is preaching, but we also see and feel the weight of our sin and His commitment to die for us rather than “let us go” (Duguid, Ezekiel, 95).

The Messenger

Hundreds of years after Ezekiel’s day, Paul asked, “How can they hear without a preacher?” (Rom 10:14). Amazingly, Scripture never indicates that Ezekiel was tempted to ask, “Can they hear it from a different preacher?” One of the benefits of studying this Bible book is being challenged by the prophet’s faithfulness to the message given to him and willingness to make whatever sacrifice was necessary to communicate the message. His own reputation was not his highest treasure, which is good since some refuse to celebrate his obedience but believe Ezekiel was psychotic and schizophrenic (LaSor, Hubbard, and Bush, Old Testament Survey, 357).

If we were brutally honest, few of us would want to do what Ezekiel was asked to do and even fewer of us would do it. And whatever we did, we would complain about it loudly. If what the audience thinks is most important, then we might be tempted to change the message. Ezekiel didn’t. If our comfort, ease, and safety are priorities, then we might not take God’s Word to difficult places or endure difficult circumstances to proclaim it. Ezekiel did. As we walk through Ezekiel 4–5, don’t miss the message that is being preached with Ezekiel’s life. Let us pause and consider what our lives are communicating about the message we’ve been given.

A Planned Provision

Ezekiel 5:13

After hearing the severity of the judgments God was bringing on His people and seeing all that Ezekiel was asked to do, you may have a few questions. For instance, “Are God’s judgments too severe?” Or in modern language, “Does the punishment fit the crime?” First of all, we should remember God’s wrath is not out of control but is His focused and disciplined response to sin. Though He intensely hates all sin, He never loses control of His temper (Grudem, Systematic Theology, 206). He warned His people for generations (2 Chr 36:11-16). Second, the only innocent person that has ever been punished was Christ (Rom 3:23). God is the One who put Jesus forward as a propitiation for our sin (Rom 3:25). Third, those who see God’s judgment as harsh are also those who tend to trivialize sin. Bridges exhorts, “We may trifle with our sins or excuse them, but God hates them” (Bridges, Holiness, 28). One of our greatest struggles is that we tend not to see sin as God sees it (Thomas, God Strengthens, 50).

Another question you may be asking is, “Where is the grace in this passage?” or “Is there any ray of hope?” The answer to these questions is found in 5:13 when God says, “When my anger is spent and I have vented my wrath on them, I will be appeased.” There will be an end to God’s judgment on His people. Of course, they should have known this because God made it clear in the very covenant they broke that He would not withdraw from them forever. A time was coming when God would no longer hide His face from them (39:29).

In Leviticus 26:44-45 God said,

Yet in spite of this, while they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject or abhor them so as to destroy them and break My covenant with them, since I am Yahweh their God. For their sake I will remember the covenant with their fathers, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations to be their God; I am Yahweh.

The promise from Leviticus 26 and Ezekiel 5 is “that the Lord’s anger will reach an end before Israel will” (Duguid, Ezekiel, 100). Because God does not change, His people are not consumed (Mal 3:6).

The grace in this passage is that God loves us enough not to leave us in our sin. He may leave us in the consequences of our sin but not the condemnation of it. For believers the end of God’s judgment is heard in the cry of Christ—“It is finished!” Many in Ezekiel’s generation would pass away, but God would return their children and grandchildren to Jerusalem. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be a part of a generation for which God is waiting to die so that He can do something with the next one.

Reflect and Discuss

1. When was a time you made a commitment to God but did not keep it?
2. Why are we so prone to rely on ourselves in seeking to honor our commitments to God rather than relying on Him?
3. As children of God, why are we so prone not to appreciate fully this special position?
4. What can we do to minimize the times in our lives we take for granted being able to call God “Our Father”?
5. Why is God judging His people? What would you say to someone who looked at the judgments of God in this passage and considered them to be too severe?
6. Which of Ezekiel’s sign acts would you have least wanted to do? Has there ever been a time when you felt God wanted you to communicate a message in a way that seemed a little different?
7. As messengers of God, are we willing to say whatever God wants us to say in whatever manner He wants us to say it? What hesitations do you have?
8. We know God’s judgment is coming once again (Ps 96:13; Rev 20:11-14). In what ways is our message similar to Ezekiel’s, and in what ways is it dissimilar?
9. How should we think about God’s judgment on this side of the cross?
10. In what ways does Ezekiel 4–5 cause you to be grateful for the cross of Christ?