Ezekiel 14 to 24
The king of Babylon had taken people several times from Jerusalem before he took the last king and destroyed the city, so, many of them may have been there before Ezekiel. They were men of skill and learning whom the king wanted to help in his land.
It seems that some of those men had sons and daughters left in Jerusalem, and of course they were greatly troubled because Ezekiel said that Jerusalem would soon be destroyed. One day some of those men came to talk to Ezekiel. He told them plainly that because of the great sins of the people there, God would surely let the enemy take the city.
God told Ezekiel to tell the men that even if such righteous men as Noah, Daniel, and Job were there, they could not save others from the troubles. Noah and Job were not alive then, but Daniel was a captive in the same land as Ezekiel and the other men, and all knew he was faithful to God. Yet God said if those three good men could be in Jerusalem, they “could deliver neither son nor daughter.” “They shall but deliver their own souls.” Eze. 14:14,2014Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord God. (Ezekiel 14:14)
20Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness. (Ezekiel 14:20). The sons and daughters must believe God themselves, for Him to save them from death in the city.
Then God told Ezekiel to tell them that some of the sons and daughters would be saved, and brought to their fathers in Chaldea, bfere is the promise:
So a few sons and daughters believed God, yet not many. But what a good hope that would be for the fathers who believed God! They would know that after the sad years away from their children, they would again have them with them, if the sons and daughters believed God. When they carne, they would show that they did not live as those wild did not believe God.
Then the fathers would see that the troubles in Jerusalem had shown the boys and girls that idols could not help them, and that God’s words were true. Even though they would be in the foreign land many years, they would be comforted with their children. Some of those sons and daughters were probably among the people who afterward returned to Jerusalem.
The nation has had many sorrows since then, and God said,
Perhaps you know from the New Testament Who has the right to rule over Israel and over all the earth.
Do you think a good father now can save his sons and daughters from sin? No, they must believe God for themselves.
ML 05/17/1942