Ezekiel 11:13

The Bible says in Ezekiel 11:13-16, “And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then fell I down upon my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel?[14] Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,[15] Son of man, thy brethren, even thy brethren, the men of thy kindred, and all the house of Israel wholly, are they unto whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Get you far from the LORD: unto us is this land given in possession.[16] Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come.” Back in verse 2 we were told about Pelatiah, “these are the men that devise mischief, and give wicked counsel in this city.” Pelatiah was an enemy to the truth about God. He opposed God’s message, which is what made Him evil. The word “antichrist” means “against Christ.” If you are against Christ, you will also be against Christ’s message. God’s message to Israel was that the nation would be conquered and the people would be either killed or taken captive. Obviously, that would not be a popular message. Think of people who are not close to God, and who want good things to happen to their nation. They think that their plans that they make will work out without seeking the will of God. They were wrong then, and they are wrong now, those who have all kinds of plans for their country, but no plans to get right with God.

The reason that the best laid plans of mice and men do not work out so well is because God has plans and His plans are going to work. The wise person finds out which way God is going and goes with Him because God’s plans are going to work out. Sometimes, as in the case of Israel, God has a plan that will take a very long time to be fulfilled. The Bible says in Ezekiel 11:17-20, “Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.[18] And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence.[19] And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:[20] That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.” God’s plan is to make a people for Himself, both with the nation of Israel and with the Gentiles. In the age in which we live both Jew and Gentile become the people of God by putting their trust in Jesus Christ. And in the age to come, God will put the final piece in place to fulfill the great promise made to Abraham. The Jewish people who are true believers will be regathered into the land that God has given to them and reserved for them. God looked into the future and promised even as He was allowing Israel to go into captivity, “I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.”

The problem is the heart of man. You will never convince your enemies through your great intellectual arguments. The heart must change, and only Jesus can change a heart. That is why it says in verse 19, “And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh.” People have hard hearts: they are hard to the gospel. How can they possibly be reached? Only God can reach the. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” The problem is a sinful heart, and the answer to that problem is a heart that turns to God, and then God makes it a pure heart by His mercy and forgiveness.

In verse 19 when God said, “I will put a new spirit within you,” He described what happens to a person when they come to know Christ as Savior. Concerning being born again through faith in Christ, Jesus said to Nicodemus, “That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of spirit is spirit.” One of the things that happens with this spiritual birth is that the Spirit comes and dwells within you. During the transitional period from the Old Testament to the New Covenant, Jesus said to His disciples, “Receive ye the Holy Spirit.” Paul writing the great doctrinal book of salvation, the book of Romans, said in chapter 8, “If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.”

At the end of verse 20 God said, “and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.” Once they had been given a new heart and the Spirit of God came within them, they started following the way of the Lord. True belief always results in a better life. “If any man be in Christ old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new.” But what about those who do not repent? The Bible says in Ezekiel 11:21-25, “But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord GOD.[22] Then did the cherubims lift up their wings, and the wheels beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.[23] And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city.[24] Afterwards the spirit took me up, and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up from me.[25] Then I spake unto them of the captivity all the things that the LORD had shewed me.” God gives people freedom of choice and then He holds them accountable for the choices that they make. God said, “I will recompense their way upon their own heads.” Make sure that you choose Jesus, and then you will receive the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. You do not want to have to pay for your own sins.

In verse twenty-five Ezekiel said, “Then I spake unto them of the captivity all the things that the LORD had shewed me.” That is the job of any preacher. You spend years and years and years following the Lord, learning from the Lord, and learning the Word of God; and then you teach others what you have learned from God. That is one of the reasons that He taught you what He taught you: so you would teach it to others.

The Bible says in Ezekiel 12:1-6, “The word of the LORD also came unto me, saying,[2] Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a rebellious house.[3] Therefore, thou son of man, prepare thee stuff for removing, and remove by day in their sight; and thou shalt remove from thy place to another place in their sight: it may be they will consider, though they be a rebellious house.[4] Then shalt thou bring forth thy stuff by day in their sight, as stuff for removing: and thou shalt go forth at even in their sight, as they that go forth into captivity.[5] Dig thou through the wall in their sight, and carry out thereby.[6] In their sight shalt thou bear it upon thy shoulders, and carry it forth in the twilight: thou shalt cover thy face, that thou see not the ground: for I have set thee for a sign unto the house of Israel.” The problem that the ungodly Israelites had is a very common problem in all the world concerning those who do not believe. It says in verse 2, “which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not.” They can see the beauty of God’s creation, yet they do not believe. They can the Gospel of Christ stated clearly and truly for them, yet they do not grasp its importance. Why? What is the problem? What happened that resulted in the unbelievers being in such a state of unbelief? The answer is given very clearly. It says at the end of verse 2, “for they are a rebellious house.” God offers His truth to everyone, but those who are rebellious against God will never know the truth. Rebellion against God is a great sin. When a person gets saved by surrendering to Christ, all rebellion is over.

God told Ezekiel to get up and move in order to symbolize to the Israelite people that they would be uprooted and moved in spite of their plans to be established and settled. It is not wise to make plans to do anything without considering what is God’s will. Jesus is the one who shuts the door that no man opens, and opens the door that no man shuts.

The Bible says in Ezekiel 12:7-15, “And I did so as I was commanded: I brought forth my stuff by day, as stuff for captivity, and in the even I digged through the wall with mine hand; I brought it forth in the twilight, and I bare it upon my shoulder in their sight.[8] And in the morning came the word of the LORD unto me, saying,[9] Son of man, hath not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said unto thee, What doest thou?[10] Say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; This burden concerneth the prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel that are among them.[11] Say, I am your sign: like as I have done, so shall it be done unto them: they shall remove and go into captivity.[12] And the prince that is among them shall bear upon his shoulder in the twilight, and shall go forth: they shall dig through the wall to carry out thereby: he shall cover his face, that he see not the ground with his eyes.[13] My net also will I spread upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare: and I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Chaldeans; yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there.[14] And I will scatter toward every wind all that are about him to help him, and all his bands; and I will draw out the sword after them.[15] And they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall scatter them among the nations, and disperse them in the countries.” Ezekiel said in Verse 7, “I did so as I was commanded.” That is exactly what every believer should do. God has a plan, and we do not know everything about His plan. Whatever He wants us to do has a purpose that is important to God. You must follow God’s leading in order to have the blessing of being used by Him. God’s plan for Israel is stated very clearly in verse 15, “I shall scatter them among the nations, and disperse them in the countries.” If you are looking for an explanation for what has been happening to the Jewish people for many centuries, this statement that God made is why, at least as far as the Jewish people living in so many different countries. God scattered them among the nations. God took away the great kingdom that He once had given them. By the way, the great kingdom of Israel will not be restored until the King comes back. The King is Jesus Christ.

What happened to Israel should always be a reminder to the fact that God is in charge of the nations. God decides when a nation is lifted up or cast down. God decides when a leader is successful in the decisions that are made for a certain nation. The leaders of Israel failed because God made them fail. This is all the more reason that we should pray for our country. God will decide what happens to America. Let’s pray that freedom will endure for the sake of the Gospel of Christ.

In Ezekiel 12:16 the Bible says, “But I will leave a few men of them from the sword, from the famine, and from the pestilence; that they may declare all their abominations among the heathen whither they come; and they shall know that I am the LORD.” God always has a remnant. Even though the majority of people turn away from the Lord, there will always be at least a few who turn to the Lord Jesus. Even Sodom and Gomorrah had Lot, the nephew of Abraham, in their midst. Even though the children of Israel became so evil that God had to punish them, they still had Ezekiel and other prophets who remained faithful to the Lord. God is able to protect us even in this crazy world. In the case of the Jewish people, God did not destroy all of them because God is not done with them. God has a plan for the Jewish people and the nation of Israel and God will complete that plan no matter how great are the failures and sins of human beings. One of the benefits of believing in Jesus is that we can become a part of God’s plan for the world.

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