Day 423: Ezekiel 5- Judgement Satisfied

 “And you, O son of man, take a sharp sword. Use it as a barber's razor and pass it over your head and your beard. Then take balances for weighing and divide the hair. 2 A third part you shall burn in the fire in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are completed. And a third part you shall take and strike with the sword all around the city. And a third part you shall scatter to the wind, and I will unsheathe the sword after them. 3 And you shall take from these a small number and bind them in the skirts of your robe. 4 And of these again you shall take some and cast them into the midst of the fire and burn them in the fire. From there a fire will come out into all the house of Israel.
5 “Thus says the Lord God: This is Jerusalem. I have set her in the center of the nations, with countries all around her.6 And she has rebelled against my rules by doing wickedness more than the nations, and against my statutes more than the countries all around her; for they have rejected my rules and have not walked in my statutes.7 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you are more turbulent than the nations that are all around you, and have not walked in my statutes or obeyed my rules, and have not even acted according to the rules of the nations that are all around you, 8 therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, even I, am against you. And I will execute judgments in your midst in the sight of the nations. 9 And because of all your abominations I will do with you what I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again. 10 Therefore fathers shall eat their sons in your midst, and sons shall eat their fathers. And I will execute judgments on you, and any of you who survive I will scatter to all the winds. 11 Therefore, as I live, declares the Lord God, surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things and with all your abominations, therefore I will withdraw. My eye will not spare, and I will have no pity.12 A third part of you shall die of pestilence and be consumed with famine in your midst; a third part shall fall by the sword all around you; and a third part I will scatter to all the winds and will unsheathe the sword after them.
13 “Thus shall my anger spend itself, and I will vent my fury upon them and satisfy myself. And they shall know that I am the Lord—that I have spoken in my jealousy—when I spend my fury upon them. 14 Moreover, I will make you a desolation and an object of reproach among the nations all around you and in the sight of all who pass by. 15 You shall be a reproach and a taunt, a warning and a horror, to the nations all around you, when I execute judgments on you in anger and fury, and with furious rebukes—I am the Lord; I have spoken— 16 when I send against you the deadly arrows of famine, arrows for destruction, which I will send to destroy you, and when I bring more and more famine upon you and break your supply of bread. 17 I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will rob you of your children. Pestilence and blood shall pass through you, and I will bring the sword upon you. I am the Lord; I have spoken.”

Meditation
God’s love for you is so great that in Christ the judgment against your sin is totally satisfied. There is no condemnation in Christ. Jesus was made to be sin so that He can make you righteous.
 
God’s just judgment against sin is difficult to behold. Jerusalem had become more rebellious than pagan nations (7) and God promised to execute judgment in the sight of all nations (8). The picture of judgment is harsh and leaves us wondering if there will be any of God’s people left to receive new hearts (36) and resurrect (37)!
 
Jesus bore the awful judgment we read about in Ezekiel 5. Redemption in Christ removes shame of sin (Isaiah 54:4) because Jesus took our judgment until death, paying the penalty our sin deserves. Jesus was high and lifted up on a cross so after the resurrection He could scatter His disciples among the nations with gospel proclamation- Sinners can be forgiven! Judgment has been satisfied! Repent, believe, and share the hope of the Gospel!
 
God did not send His son to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through Jesus. This is good news for all who believe!
 
Richly Dwelling
-The judgment of God against sin is awful! How does the darkness of this chapter bring light to the love of God displayed in the work of Jesus?
 
-Do you believe you are totally forgiven, justified and made right before the Lord by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ?
 
-Do you live free in forgiveness, focused on sharing the good news among the nations? How can you live free and forgiven today, sharing the news of salvation with everyone you see?

Key Verse
8 therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, even I, am against you. And I will execute judgments in your midst in the sight of the nations.