Ezekiel 14:12-23, “Persistent Unfaithfulness”

Ezekiel, as we saw in our last post, was a prophet who frequently used “object lessons” to make clear God’s message.  Part of this aspect of his ministry was, of course, the result of God’s making him mute early in his ministry until the day that Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians.  He would often act out something and then would be allowed by God to speak a related message.  Other than that, he was a quiet man, even when the “object lesson” was the death of his wife.  Read the whole book.  It is a great read and full of applicable truth for today.

Today’s reading has one such truth.  (The entire context is from 14:12-15:8.)  This is the “Noah, Daniel and Job” passage, where God says that even if these great and righteous men were to ask Him to save Israel, He would not do it.  Not even their sons and daughters could be saved.  What is it that has stirred God to such fury?  The answer is at the beginning and end of the passage (14:13; 15:8): persistent unfaithfulness. 

This is an interesting and powerful phrase.  The KJV translates it “trespassing grievously,” the ESV “acting faithlessly,” and the NASB “committing unfaithfulness.”  But actually, what we have is the same word used twice, once in a verb form and once as a noun.  The Wycliffe Bible Commentary hits it right in my view: “by treacherously committing treachery.”  The effect in the Hebrew is to strengthen the action, so the various translations have done well.  There is certainly an emphasis on “faithfulness in committing terrible sins.” 

In the NT we see this in the instructions regarding discipline in the Body of Christ.  In Matt. 18:15-17 Jesus gave instructions for dealing with a sinning brother.  There are three reproofs and if he is still unrepentant then he is to be removed from the fellowship.  Titus 3:10 teaches the same pattern.

In Psalm 19 David sought deliverance from “presumptuous sins” that could “have dominion over” him.  If delivered he would be innocent of “great transgression.”  The noun form is used twice (Josh. 7:1; 22:20) of the sin of Achan, a “treachery” that brought the LORD’s anger against Israel, and that resulted in the stoning of Achan and his family.  In Num. 5:6,12,27 it is used in the testing of a wife accused of unfaithfulness against her husband.  It was used of “the incident of Peor” when Israel committed immorality with the people of Moab (Num. 31:16); this resulted in God’s anger burning against Israel.

In other words, this terminology was chosen specifically by Ezekiel (by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit) in this case.  What the prophet is predicting is that God’s fury is about to fall on Judah and Jerusalem.  God is bringing His four great judgments on the nation: famine, wild beasts, the sword and pestilence.  God had warned in Leviticus 26 of this day, as He predicted one judgment after another, of increasing intensity, if Israel continued to sin and refused to heed His warning.  Ezekiel is saying that Israel has persisted in treachery, and now God will bring about great punishment on His people.

We know God forgives sin.  We should also know that He is merciful.  But we should also know that He judges persistent unfaithfulness.  May we not become so stubborn and rebellious.