Ezekiel 5:13-17 – How we live matters.

In Ezekiel 5:5-12, we saw three reasons that made God’s judgment on Israel necessary. The three reasons were: their failure to keep His standards, their abominable acts, and their desecration of His sanctuary. Just as these three things brought the judgment, they also made three impacts. God described them in verses 13-17.

The first impact that the judgment made was on God Himself. The judgement confirmed His sovereignty. Just as His mighty acts of deliverance affirm it, so also would His judgment. There would be no mistaking that the calamities that Jerusalem and His people experienced came from His hand. They were intended to vindicate God’s own holy nature and demonstrate that He is zealous for truth and against evil. As a result of what God had done, there would be a deepened appreciation of His sovereignty as well as His holy and just nature.    

The second impact would be on the nations.  God would desolate Jerusalem and make her a reproach to and scorn of the nations. Her ruin would be a warning to the nations that what happened to her could be the nations’ experience too. The truth that God controls history would not be mistaken.   

The third impact would be on the people of Jerusalem.   God would shower calamities on them. They would experience famine and be destroyed. The famine would become increasingly greater and greater until their food supply was totally cut off. As if this was not bad enough, God would send them wild beasts to rob them of their children. Plagues, death, and war would ravage the land and the people. The “sword” that God would bring upon them would come from the Babylonians to destroy them.   

The conduct of the people, whom Ezekiel was addressing, left much to be desired.  They did not live up to the responsibilities God expected of them. Not doing so had impacted their relationship with and their witness to God. Consequences always follow irresponsible living, and they were made to bear with them.  What about us? Our calling as Christians demands that we live responsibly for God. We must find out what’s His will for us and seek to live it out. Responsible living begins with finding out what God wants us to do and then obeying Him. Only when we take accountability for our lives can we fulfill our God-designed destiny!