We have all heard about prayer, and salvation. We know that neither of these which we can do, has an effect or bearing on a situation, unless God says; I will use your prayer to bring about a change in a situation. Hezekiah faced the wall, prayed, situation changed. Moses prayed, to change a situation and God rebuked him- get up, stop crying out. So, God decides if he will use our prayers, or not. And also in salvation, we know we cannot save, yet we are to snatch others from the fire. God chooses to use what we do/say in order to bring about salvation. And yet, he says, pray all you want, do what you want, it has no bearing on the end result. Ours, is simply to comply; to pray, to reach out. The success of our actions are determined by God, according to his pre-set plan Three good men of God, are Job, Noah, Daniel(?). Noah, was in the ark with his family, 8 in all. Job, well, he lost all he had, except the wife. Daniel, we are not really sure, if it is our Daniel in the lion’s den. But we do know the situations of these men. And they were mighty men of God. So what does God say? When he makes his mind up…actually written before the creation of the world...so not on on-going making up of the mind; nevertheless, when God says it happens, it happens. So Ezekiel 14: 13 when God says, something will happen, it will happen. And if these three men prayed, they would save only themselves. No one else. Verse 15 and 16 are difficult. When God would send destruction and desolation- and these 3 prayed, they could save only themselves, not their kids. Can you imagine how angry God is at this point? He did save Noah’s kids. And he was angry then, he flooded the world. But here God says, I am more angry than then, as I won’t save your kids. Now Job’s kids died before, when God was angry- but now, it’s like double angry. Noah’s kids saved, now- no way. Daniel or Daniel we don’t really know. The others are enough to get the point. God is angrier at this point, than before. Again verse 17 and 18, they could save only themselves. And again verse 19 and 20, save only themselves, by their own righteousness. Now, bear in mind all this is in the context of other countries, verse 13. The homeland, Jerusalem is yet to come verse 21, much worse. Many point of reflection; that God does not destroy the word, does not mean he is any less angry at sin. That God deals more severely with believers, than non-believers, is very clear. That a person can only ask for their salvation and save no one else is also very clear. But what is also very clear is verse 20b they can save only themselves by their own righteousness (the mode of salvation then Deut 6: 25). How to tie it all up to us? Well, our righteousness is from Christ. And the fact that we have the righteousness of Christ, is evident by our response to the spirit of conviction and the spirit of repentance. God is still angry at sin, but God responds to righteousness, His righteousness.
MCC Admin
13 Tishrei 5781