INESCAPABLE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, if a country sins against me by being unfaithful and I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its food supply and send famine upon it and kill its people and their animals, even if these three men—Noah, Daniel and Job—were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign Lord.”

“Or if I send wild beasts through that country and they leave it childless and it becomes desolate so that no one can pass through it because of the beasts, as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if these three men were in it, they could not save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved, but the land would be desolate.”

“Or if I bring a sword against that country and say, ‘Let the sword pass throughout the land,’ and I kill its people and their animals, as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if these three men were in it, they could not save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved.”

“Or if I send a plague into that land and pour out My wrath on it through bloodshed, killing its people and their animals, as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if Noah, Daniel and Job were in it, they could save neither son nor daughter. They would save only themselves by their righteousness.”

Ezekiel 14:12-20

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Let’s review three primary things we know about the God who created us, the God who is the Master and Ruler of us all.

First, He is omniscient, a fancy sounding word that simply means God is all knowing.

Second, He is omnipotent or all powerful. There is nothing beyond the works of His hands and no one can stand against the might He possesses.

Finally, and third only for the purpose of this devotion, He is omnipresent which means He is everywhere. There is nothing that is concealed from His sight and no where someone might go where He can’t find them. In other words, God is inescapable when He chooses to act against us, a point which is central to today’s devotion as we continue our study of Ezekiel 14. Look at today’s scripture passage again here:

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, if a country sins against me by being unfaithful and I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its food supply and send famine upon it and kill its people and their animals, even if these three men—Noah, Daniel and Job—were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign Lord.”

“Or if I send wild beasts through that country and they leave it childless and it becomes desolate so that no one can pass through it because of the beasts, as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if these three men were in it, they could not save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved, but the land would be desolate.”

“Or if I bring a sword against that country and say, ‘Let the sword pass throughout the land,’ and I kill its people and their animals, as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if these three men were in it, they could not save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved.”

“Or if I send a plague into that land and pour out My wrath on it through bloodshed, killing its people and their animals, as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if Noah, Daniel and Job were in it, they could save neither son nor daughter. They would save only themselves by their righteousness.” Ezekiel 14:12-20

To drive the point home that no one can get away from His judgment when He deems it appropriate, we find four very specific examples given. Let’s look at each of the four now.

1. No escape after being unfaithful toward Him.

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, if a country sins against me by being unfaithful and I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its food supply and send famine upon it and kill its people and their animals, even if these three men—Noah, Daniel and Job—were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign Lord.”

We know the Lord is speaking through His prophet Ezekiel and the message is clear. Any country who chooses to be unfaithful to the God who created it and the all the people within would find the hand of the Lord stretched out against it, cutting off the food supply and bringing a famine to the land. With no food, the people and animals would all perish. Note that even the most revered men of God from the Old Testament – Noah, David, and Job – would be held accountable with the rest of the people but they would be saved by their righteousness. They would be the only ones to escape.

2. No escape from losing children at the hands of wild beasts.

“Or if I send wild beasts through that country and they leave it childless and it becomes desolate so that no one can pass through it because of the beasts, as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if these three men were in it, they could not save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved, but the land would be desolate.”

We don’t have any specific idea about the beasts except for the fact that they were wild and a danger to children. It’s hard for any of us to envision the loss of one child let alone a multitude of sons and daughters but this isn’t the first time in the Old Testament scriptures when we find that the punishment for sin impacts more than just the sinner. Often those closest to the sinner are impacted as well. In the case of the Israelites, no children would escape the beasts who would kill them and leave the land desolate.

3. No escape from the sword.

“Or if I bring a sword against that country and say, ‘Let the sword pass throughout the land,’ and I kill its people and their animals, as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if these three men were in it, they could not save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved.”

We know this promise came true as the Babylonians were sent to attack the Israelites, destroy their land, and haul any survivors from the onslaught into a seventy year exile. No one would be free from this assault.

4. No escape from plague.

“Or if I send a plague into that land and pour out My wrath on it through bloodshed, killing its people and their animals, as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if Noah, Daniel and Job were in it, they could save neither son nor daughter. They would save only themselves by their righteousness.”

The Israelites were well aware of God’s ability to bring plagues. When they were in Egypt, they witnessed it first-hand as God brought ten of them on Pharaoh and the Egyptian people. Now they would get to experience what that must have been like as the Lord promised to send a plague into their land and pour out His wrath on His people through bloodshed. No one would be excused from it.

These verses are not easy for us to digest. We like to see God as the God of mercy and grace and love but there is no escaping the fact that God is also a God of judgment and will exercise that judgment on anyone who chooses to sin against Him and reject His word, will, and way.

Question: How does knowing God is inescapable change the picture when we think about sin and its consequences?

My hope is that scripture passages like the one today serve to deter us from even thinking about wickedness so that we might place ourselves in the company of Noah, David, and Job, people who God honored and singled out because of their faithfulness unto Him and their pursuit of His righteousness.

Amen

In Christ,

Mark

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