Preaching to the Exiles

May 23, 2021 Background Scripture: Ezekiel 18 Lesson Passage: Ezekiel 18:1 – 9, 30 – 32 The responsibility of preaching is too great a burden to think about without becoming overwhelmed by the weight of it. If the hearers include the unsaved, then the outcome has eternal consequences—Heaven or Hell. If the hearers include the saved, then it is important that the people of God receive the message God sent to them. Complicating both scenarios is the realization of the inadequacy and imperfections of the preacher. Once the preacher gets pass that, then delivering “good news” to the people of God who know that they are “blessed and highly favored” can be exciting! There is nothing like increasing the joy of happy people. However, the responsibility hits a little different when one must speak to the people of God who are living in an unfavorable situation that God is using as punishment. Such was the case for Ezekiel in our lesson for today. Ezekiel had the responsibility to preach to the people of God while they were in exile. They were forewarned that the day of reckoning would happen; and now the time had come to pass. But God does not leave His people comfortless. Even during punishment, God continues to console, or scold, His people—whichever is appropriate. God demands personal accountability, and His justice is meted out accordingly. Even in exile, God expected righteous living from His people. Even in exile, God promised to punish the wicked among His people. God rebuked the misguided proverb that was being used among the exiles. Some said, “The fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” One must tread lightly when using a proverb such as this. Sin has many consequences and some of those consequences affect generations. However, the effect of those consequences does not take away the personal responsibility of those who may be living with those consequences. All individuals are morally accountable to God for their own behavior. This accountability is the same whether the person is living in a palace or is locked up in prison. No people should understand this better than Israel. One of their patriarchs, Joseph, was delivered from a foreign prison and promoted to second-in-command of that foreign nation because of his character. Can you imagine being promoted from inmate to National Vice President in one day? God is omnipresent. He is to be honored in the prison in the same way that He is honored in the public square. In every situation, God administers His justice on an individual basis. God does at times choose to punish a nation. But during those times, He continues to hold individual citizens accountable for their moral behavior. It’s not complicated. When a person can blame their situation on others, then it is easier to excuse their own actions. God always watches over His people no matter what situation they are in. God knows where we are, and He knows what we are doing. This is the message Ezekiel preached to the exiles. God is immutable. Therefore, the same message is just as relevant for today’s church as it was for the exiles then. It would have been easy to tell the exiles that their situation was the result of what their forefathers had done. This would have taken the pressure off the preacher and the hearers. Their request to God could have been, "Give us what our parents had, and we will live differently before You.” The truth is a person’s character is not determined by what he possesses. His character is determined by Who possesses him. This is the message Ezekiel had to deliver to the exiles. Robert C. Hudson April 17, 2021