A Fair Judgment – Ezekiel 14

God is always fair, good, and loving. And because of His goodness, His mercies toward us never fail.

¹⁸ And I will be a father to you,
And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,”
Says the Lord Almighty. 2 Corinthians 6:18 (NASB)

Some of us have lived our lives believing that God is unfair and punishing, often carrying with us a ready example of His unfairness to justify to ourselves and others why we should not bother giving attention to the Lord in our lives.  I have heard several of these reasons mentioned: a bicycle never received after praying for it as a child, the early loss of a parent through death or divorce, the absence of money, suffering, especially among children, or a painful situation we observe others going through, or have experienced ourselves. Surely each one of these and others breaks the tender heart of our loving Creator.

Some of these tragic situations were brought about through the sinful acts of other people, others are consequences of living in a fallen world, which one day will be restored to God’s holy state of perfection. Yet, God usually gets assigned the full blame. And sometimes, if He does step in to address it, others can be quick to criticize Him as being a punishing and unloving God for His actions.

No question about it, God DID deliver a very harsh judgement on Jerusalem and Judah in Ezekiel’s time. He lifted His protection to allow their defeat and exile by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.  It was a time of serious chastisement and pain for the suffering nation.  Many of its people had previously been taken into exile in Babylon, having been sent there by God, in judgment, but also for their own protection.  Among these were the prophets Daniel and Ezekiel. 

Many of those who remained behind in Jerusalem to continue fighting Nebuchadnezzar had been living a life of idolatry, not believing God nor heeding His abundant warnings to surrender, for their own preservation.  They had been relying on false gods and idols to save them, not realizing that by fighting, they were actually opposing God.

Ezekiel told his fellow exiles what was happening back home in Jerusalem, and shared God’s message that many of the survivors from there would soon be joining them in Babylon.  God spoke this message through Ezekiel to both to defend His name and to point out the fairness of His judgment.  The Lord wanted to make it crystal clear to everyone that those who ignored His warnings and were going through this trial were doing it by their own choice, and were only reaping what they had sown. Yet, even many of these would be pulled from the fire of trial and redeemed because of His abundant grace and mercy.

²¹ For thus says the Lord God: “How much more it shall be when I send My four severe judgments on Jerusalem—the sword and famine and wild beasts and pestilence—to cut off man and beast from it? ²² Yet behold, there shall be left in it a remnant who will be brought out, both sons and daughters; surely they will come out to you, and you will see their ways and their doings. Then you will be comforted concerning the disaster that I have brought upon Jerusalem, all that I have brought upon it. ²³ And they will comfort you, when you see their ways and their doings; and you shall know that I have done nothing without cause that I have done in it,” says the Lord God.  Ezekiel 14:21-23 (NKJV)

It is in our nature to make judgments without having all the pertinent information available to us.  We actually need to do this at times, to make interpretations without having all the necessary data in hand.  But with God, we will never have all the information that He has.  At some point, we will encounter something we do not understand, and will be tempted to think that God is either unfair or unloving. Here, we can either faithfully trust His in goodness until we do get to see the big picture, or we can decide to turn our backs on God and reject Him, based upon our interpretation of this limited evidence. As always, the choice is ours.

God is in the saving business.  He has done everything He can to extend life, hope, joy, and peace to us.  Jesus Christ even went to the cross to suffer a brutal and painful death in our place. He knows what it is like to experience suffering! Yet, many are still quick to criticize, condemn, or ignore God’s loving nature, and choose instead to walk away from Him.

Even the hardest atheist must admit that judgment is sometimes necessary.  For example, someone who commits a horrible crime such as murder, if caught and convicted, will spend most of the rest of their life in prison, or worse.  If the evidence against them is clear and their trial was fair, most people will agree that judgment is necessary.

Similarly, God’s judgment is always completely fair.  And just as the remnant in Jerusalem later joined the exiles in Babylon, He will not give up on people, even when judging them. Even this judgment is meant for their ultimate good.

The number of redeemed lives in incarceration is known only to God. It may be a small remnant of the entire prison population, or it may be large, but each inmate is still vitally important in God’s eyes.  These are among the Lost Sheep that Jesus was seeking. For many, if they had not been judged and incarcerated, they would likely have been killed out on the street, given their dangerous lifestyles and pursuits. Many have shared that belief.

We may not have done anything to deserve a long prison sentence, but because of our sin, we are still ALL deserving of God’s judgment.  Yet, He bore all of our punishment, Himself.

²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 6:23 (NASB)

Because of His great love for us, Jesus Himself bore the punishment we deserve on the cross at Calvary, including a sentence of death.  After three days, the Father raised Him to life, to live and reign in glory, with His believers at His side, forever and ever. Our judgment was fair, but the sentence was paid by Him, if we choose to receive Him in faith. Are you willing?

Reflection

We are able to see a more complete picture of God’s heart and love for the lost in Jesus’ parable of the Lost Sheep, in Luke 15 (shown below). Who among us has never been lost? Some may find themselves there right now. The Lord is always here, searching for us, waiting for us to reach out to Him. He loves you very much.

Father, thank You for searching me out to rescue and redeem me.  I am not deserving of Your great love, rather, deserving of judgment. But I am so thankful that instead of punishment, You grant me total forgiveness, grace, mercy, patience, and an eternal life in Christ.  Help me to walk with You today and to do the next right thing according to Your will.  Teach me to love and forgive others. May You be glorified and worshiped forever.  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Have blessed and beautiful day in the Lord today.

The Parable of the Lost Sheep, from Luke 15:

¹ Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near Jesus to listen to Him. ² And both the Pharisees and the scribes began to complain, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

³ And so He told them this parable, saying, ⁴ “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the other ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? ⁵ And when he has found it, he puts it on his shoulders, rejoicing. ⁶ And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost!’ ⁷ I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.  Luke 15:1-7 (NASB)