Without a doubt, we live in a world that is vastly different from the one in which the prophet Ezekiel did his work. And I do not mean just the technological advancements and the constant distractions of our fragmented lives. He lived and worked in a world that presumed the existence of a transcendent God. While we may spend our time arguing for the existence of God, their entire world was already oriented toward it. Ezekiel did his work among the exiles in Babylon, the Israelites who had been taken from their homes, taken from the Promised Land, taken from the temple, now living as prisoners of a people who worshiped Marduk, the god of the Babylonians. So, the ancient people of God struggled with their connection, their assurance of the presence of the true God in their lives. Did He know of their plight? Did He care about their suffering? Would He do something about it? These questions hung in the air. It was part of their daily thoughts, part of the ethos of a captured people in a foreign land. And these thoughts made their way into their words, words that cried out, not words of unbelief but of opposition to God, words that accused God of being unjust.
And it is here, in their cries, that we find a connection with God’s ancient people. Now, we usually do not allow our voices of discontent to be heard. Living among a people who do not assume the reality of God, we shy away from being loud about our opposition. We are too concerned with defending our God to ever speak publicly against Him. Yet, the same fears and concerns remain: Does God know our suffering? Does He care about our pain? Will He do something about it? Will He at least speak? Will He end His silence in the face of our tragedy? Will He address the turmoil of our hearts?
Sometimes these internal struggles, these deeply guarded desires, make their way out of our mouths. When we feel safe enough among our brothers and sisters, we might risk giving voice to our accusations against God. I remember our sister Sheila, a few years before she died. She was in Bible study one Sunday morning with everyone else and we had begun a discussion about God’s love. I cannot recall which book we were even studying, but I remember a conversation in which a few people spoke about how God’s love for them had been a source of great comfort and assurance in their lives. To which Sheila shocked us all by speaking out loud those secret and troubled thoughts of the heart. She brought the discussion to a halt by stating, rather matter-of-factly, that she did not believe God loved her. Her prayers were left unanswered. Her pain and suffering continued unabated. She did not reject Him, she just did not think He cared about her.
Of course, such moments cannot be passed over lightly. They cannot be pushed aside. For if there is no Word of God spoken into that moment, if there is not time for the embrace of your brothers and sisters in Christ, then such cries of anguish can lead us to fill God’s silence with our own sense of things, with our own lies and fantasies. We can find ourselves very much like the ancient people of God, exiled in a foreign land, who say, “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” They were saying God had punished the children for the sin of their fathers. This leads them to conclude that the ways of the Lord are not just. And they soon find that, instead of rejecting God, they are standing over Him in judgment, demanding He answer.
In our text today from Ezekiel 18, we hear part of the Lord’s reply and let us just say it is more than they bargained for. It reminds me of God speaking to Job out of the whirlwind as He thunders, “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?” This is the Almighty God, the maker of Heaven and Earth, and He reminds them of this fact as He ends His silence with a terrifying word. He says, “Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine. The soul who sins shall die.” Each one is guilty in their own right, guilty and held to account by God, not because of what their father has done but because of what they have done.
They demanded God justify Himself. Instead, He calls out their failure. He says, “The house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ O house of Israel, are My ways not just? Is it not your ways that are not just? Therefore, I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord God. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin.” And He will go on for chapters highlighting the injustice of the people of Israel. They will be called out for their continued rebellion against God and their ongoing cruelty toward one another. Slowly, the false identity they have created for themselves as the grieved party begins to crumble. Sin is not just a thing they do from time to time. It is part of who they are. They are guilty.
And so are we. Here, we are no different than the ancient people of God. There is no hope in ourselves, no way out, no ability to justify ourselves before the Almighty. Therefore, the words spoken to them are spoken to you: “I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so, turn and live.” Your hope is located in the desire of God Himself. He wants you to live. He graciously gives the opportunity for repentance, to turn and live. This hope comes in the form of a promise, and this promise takes shape in our Lord Jesus Christ. To turn from your sin is to be turned toward something else, and that something is the one who takes your sins upon Himself. To turn is to cease trying to justify yourself and receive the justification given by the pure sacrifice of the only Son of God.
Later on in chapter 22, as God is continuing to lay out His judgment of Israel, He says, “And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.” There was no one able to stand in the breach before God and save His people. So, God Himself would do it. The God who takes no pleasure in the death of anyone would stand in the breach to take the judgment on Himself. This was the hope given to Sheila that day as we spoke about the gifts of Holy Baptism, the embrace of the Lord’s Supper, and the declaration of forgiveness. This is the hope of God’s ancient people, not in themselves but in His great deeds. And it is your hope this day. It is in the one standing in the breach, the incarnate Son of God who offers Himself as a sacrifice to the judgment of the Almighty. So, turn, turn to Him and you will live.
