Ezekiel 33:12

The Bible says in Ezekiel 33:12-16, “Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth.[13] When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.[14] Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right;[15] If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die.[16] None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him: he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.” This passage of scripture is a great description of the value of forgiveness, and the need for forgiveness by all people. One of the problems that some people have is that they think they are so good that they do not need to be forgiven. Another problem that other people have is that they think they are so bad that they cannot be forgiven. Both are wrong. Another truth to remember is that this concept that some people are wicked and others are good is a perspective from man’s view of things. God knows that all people are sinners. “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” That is why this passage is so true.

Verse 13 shows the problem of a human being trusting in his own goodness or his own righteousness. It says, “if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.” That is the same problem that the law has. No matter how good you are, you will eventually sin, and then what happens? And then you are a guilty sinner too. Your righteousness cannot fix your sin problem. You need a Savior just like everyone else.

The message to the wicked is, “Thou shalt surely die.” The wages of sin is death. Of course, this is talking about spiritual death. You must be born again, that is, you must get spiritual life from Christ in order to pass from death unto life. There is one advantage to understanding that you are wicked: it should be easy for you to understand how badly you need Jesus as your Savior. You know you are a sinner. What an advantage you have over those who think they are good. But of course, you must have true repentance. And so it says in verse 15 to the wicked, “If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die.” When you truly turn to Jesus, you are not turning just to avoid the punishment of your sins, but you are also turning to start following Jesus in a new life that wants to do the right thing from now on. “Bring forth fruits worthy of repentance.” “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are passed away: behold all things are become new.”

The Bible says in Ezekiel 33:17-20, “Yet the children of thy people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal.[18] When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby.[19] But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby.[20] Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O ye house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways.” After God gave his message that both righteous people and wicked people need to repent of their sins, how did the people respond to that message? They did not like it. They could not understand or accept the message that everyone is a sinner that needs to repent. They thought it was not fair. They thought it was wrong. They argued against God. But God is God. He gets to decide the rules for righteousness and heaven. God has made His decision. Salvation comes through Jesus and through no other. Come to Jesus and be saved, If you do not, then you will be lost. If you argue against this truth, then listen to what the Bible says about you. It says in Romans 9:20-24, “Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?[21] Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?[22] What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:[23] And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,[24] Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?”

The Bible says in Ezekiel 33:21-26, “And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city is smitten.[22] Now the hand of the LORD was upon me in the evening, afore he that was escaped came; and had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more dumb.[23] Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,[24] Son of man, they that inhabit those wastes of the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance.[25] Wherefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Ye eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes toward your idols, and shed blood: and shall ye possess the land?[26] Ye stand upon your sword, ye work abomination, and ye defile every one his neighbour's wife: and shall ye possess the land?” These verses start with the presentation of the fact that Jerusalem has been attacked, and one person escapes and says in verse 21, “The city is smitten.” Evidently, this escapee is astonished and bewildered. He cannot believe that this has happened to Israel. Israel is God’s promised-land. God has always protected Israel in the past. That was part of the problem. The Israelites had begun to take God’s blessings and God’s protection for granted. That was a mistake. Of course, God knew their attitude. They used their own faulty logic to try and have a positive outlook on their future. That is not good to do if you start with ideas that are just not right. Here was their logic which God stated in verse 24: “Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance.” Since God did so much for Abraham and Abraham was just one person, then God would also bless them and the land of Israel because they were many people. But God is holy, and He judges each person on their own merit and on their own actions. By the way, that is why we need a savior.

Concerning what the Israelites during the time of Ezekiel deserved, God said in verses 25 and 26, “Ye eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes toward your idols, and shed blood: and shall ye possess the land?[26] Ye stand upon your sword, ye work abomination, and ye defile every one his neighbour's wife: and shall ye possess the land?” The Israelites were committing many sins in total disregard of what they knew was against God’s will. They were not following the dietary laws that God gave to them. By the way, God gave the dietary laws to Israel so they would be healthy. Obviously, God wants us to take care of our health so that we can serve Him as long as possible on this earth. The Israelites were involved in false religion that they learned from the heathen around them. The Israelites were committing acts of violence against one another. The Israelites were committing adultery against their neighbor. And so God asks the question, “shall ye possess the land?” The answer is obvious. It is not good to be under the law of you are a great sinner.

The Bible says in Ezekiel 33:27-29, “Say thou thus unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; As I live, surely they that are in the wastes shall fall by the sword, and him that is in the open field will I give to the beasts to be devoured, and they that be in the forts and in the caves shall die of the pestilence.[28] For I will lay the land most desolate, and the pomp of her strength shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, that none shall pass through.[29] Then shall they know that I am the LORD, when I have laid the land most desolate because of all their abominations which they have committed.” God is judge of the whole earth. He will punish sin. Yes, the Lord is very patient. He can and will wait a long, long time for people to repent and turn to Jesus. But eventually the opportunity to repent ends. That will be a terrible day for whoever gets judged like this. One of the reasons that God kept warning the Israelites about this destruction that was coming on them is: God wants them to repent and be saved. The work of the Holy Spirit does the same thing. Jesus said about the Holy Spirit in the gospel of John, “When he is come, he will convict the world of sin, and of, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” We would like to see people turn to Jesus and get saved in our work and in our testimony. But it will not happen without the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts to prepare them.

The Bible says in Ezekiel 33:30-33, “Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people still are talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the LORD.[31] And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness.[32] And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not.[33] And when this cometh to pass, (lo, it will come,) then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them.” Often we preachers think it would be good if only more people came to our meeting-places to hear the Word of the Lord. Isn’t that the goal: to have more and more come and hear. But this passage of scripture is an emphasis on quality and not quantity. There was one terrible, terrible problem when they came to hear Ezekiel. God said in verse 31, “they hear thy words, but they will not do them.” Any Christian can also fall into this trap. That is why it says in the New Testament in James 1:22, “Be ye doers of the Word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” We must always study the Word of God, not just to learn it in our minds, but to have it change our behavior.

It also says in verse 31, “for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness.” Another trap that some people fall into has to do with saying one thing, but doing another. In Christianity that is called being a hypocrite. Jesus uttered some of His most severe pronouncements against the hypocrites of His day: the Pharisees. If you are a Christian, whenever you say a good thing, you want to make sure that you follow up saying it with actually doing it. We see the same problem in politics. Some politicians become very good at saying things, but then they never follow up their words with action. That is why voters long for someone who has some practical experience, and who has actually spent their life doing things. God looks for that in Christians too. Yes, come hear the Word of God preached and taught. But make sure you come with the intention of putting into practice what you hear from God’s Word. God’s purpose for preaching is not entertainment, but is for the purpose of changing your life and making it better. He wants believers to be conformed to the image of Christ, and an important part of that is hearing the Word of God and putting it into practice.

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