When God Won't Answer

When God won’t answer… Ezekiel 20 Emmanuel Christian Church 2.25.24 INTRODUCTION: When things start going bad, people get frustrated with God. “How could he let this happen?” they say. And then they begin to do something they had previously neglected to do - they seek an audience with God! But, what happens when God is slow to answer? Or, what if His answer isn’t what they want to hear? After all, isn’t God obligated to answer our prayers; quickly and according to our expectations? PROPOSITION: When God fails to deliver according to our clearly expressed desires, there’s only to possible options: either there is something wrong with Him, or there’s something wrong with us. In the case of God’s people living in the last days of the ancient city of Jerusalem, it was certainly a case of the latter! Ezekiel chapter 20 is the true life story of our Righteous God and His rebellious people. It begins with… The Elders of Israel Ezekiel 20:1 In the seventh year, in the fifth month on the tenth day, some of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and they sat down in front of me. Ezekiel 20:2 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 3 “Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Have you come to inquire of me? As surely as I live, I will not let you inquire of me, declares the Sovereign LORD.’

Who were the “elders of Israel”? There are to possibilities:
First, given the fact that Ezekiel is God’s prophet to His people living as captives in the land of Babylon- these might have been the leaders of the people who had first been deported from Jerusalem seven years earlier along with the prophets Ezekiel and Daniel. But given the information revealed later in this chapter, I don’t think this to be the case.
The second possibility (and the more likely, in my opinion) is that these are elders from Jerusalem itself that undertook the 1,000 mile, three month journey to seek out the prophet and inquire of the Lord. But WHY would they do that?
They already had the word from the LORD through the prophet Jeremiah back in Jerusalem. HOWEVER, they didn’t like what he had to say! MAYBE, they were looking for a more positive “second opinion” concerning the future of what was left of the once mighty nation of Israel!
Certainly, they could see that things were NOT going well back home given the fact that they were caught in the middle between the kingdoms of Egypt and Babylon and that they were being torn apart in the process. MAYBE, they thought it was time to seek a delivering intervention from the Almighty before it was too late.
I doubt that they were prepared for the reception they got from the LORD! God flat out refused to give them an audience for their complaints! APPLICATION: We ought always remember that the only perspective that matters in life is God’s. When times get tough we need to STOP asking God, and START listening to what He has already said!Ecclesiastes 5:2 Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.Psalms 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” God was about to speak, it was time for the elders of Israel to LISTEN! Let’s join them and listen to… The God Of Israel
God’s Promises (vs. 4-7) Ezekiel 20:4 “Will you judge them? Will you judge them, son of man? Then confront them with the detestable practices of their fathers 5 and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On the day I chose Israel, I swore with uplifted hand to the descendants of the house of Jacob and revealed myself to them in Egypt. With uplifted hand I said to them, “I am the LORD your God.” 6 On that day I swore to them that I would bring them out of Egypt into a land I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands. 7 And I said to them, “Each of you, get rid of the vile images you have set your eyes on, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.”
God had chosen Israel as his very own people!
God had promised to deliver His people from their slavery in Egypt!
God had promised to bring His people into a beautiful land flowing with milk and honey!
God’s ONLY demand was that they give up their idolatrous worship of the gods of Egypt!
And God was true to His word! But EVEN more, God continued to bless His people. He said: Ezekiel 20:11 I gave them my decrees and made known to them my laws, for the man who obeys them will live by them. 12 Also I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I the LORD made them holy.
God gave His people a wonderful pattern for living- and EVEN a day off for their physical and spiritual restoration! TRANSITION: Now, you’d think after all those promises and blessings, God’s people would respond with devotion and loving gratitude- but NOTHING could be further from the truth! God’s blessings were met with disobedience on the part of His people. Having rejected God’s blessings, it was time for the elders of Israel to hear…
God’s Indictments
For the next 27 verses (the largest portion of this chapter) God unloads on His people for their sinful response to His loving provision.
Three times, God charged “They rebelled against me!” (After all He’d done for them!) APPLICATION: Talk about ingratitude! It’s a wonder God doesn’t strike such people DEAD! But listen to this: Jesus tells us that God is “kind to the ungrateful and wicked”! (Luke 6:25) You know what’s sad about being ungrateful? The person who’s ungrateful! Ingratitude is the thief of joy. Now, the opposite of rebellion is obedience. And of that, Jesus said: “You are my friends if you do what I command.” John 15:14 God’s indictments of His people continued:
Four times, God charged “They rejected my laws!”
Someone has said, there are thousands of laws that will put you in prison, there are 10 that will keep you out!
The Ten Commandments are beautiful! If we simply kept them, we’d be able to defund the police, disband the courts and shutter the prisons! APPLICATION: What a wonderful gift is God’s Law! Psalm 119 (at the center of your Bible) says: “Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.” If only we could keep it! Think of how things might be if we did! The truth is, while no one can be saved by keeping the Ten Commandments, when a person is saved by the transforming regeneration of Christ- they will LOVE to keep those Commandments! Unfortunately, the people of Israel wanted nothing to do with them.
Four times, God charged “They desecrated my Sabbaths!”
Only a crazy fool would refuse a day off!
Plainly, God said: “Six days you shall work”, but on the seventh day, you shall “rest”. APPLICATION: So if six days are focused on “work” what was the purpose of the seventh day of “rest”? Here’s the word: RELATIONSHIP! The seventh day was intended by God to be a time dedicated to the restoration of RELATIONSHIP, between BOTH God and man. Again, God’s people would have nothing to do with it- money, possessions, accomplishments and recreations were more important than those two RELATIONSHIPS. TRANSITION: “Three strikes- YOU’RE OUT!” is the way it goes with man. NO MERCY! But NOT with God!
God’s Mercy Ezekiel 20:39 “‘As for you, O house of Israel, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Go and serve your idols, every one of you! But afterward you will surely listen to me and no longer profane my holy name with your gifts and idols. 40 For on my holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, declares the Sovereign LORD, there in the land the entire house of Israel will serve me, and there I WILL ACCEPT THEM. There I will require your offerings and your choice gifts, along with all your holy sacrifices. 41 I WILL ACCEPT YOU as fragrant incense when I BRING YOU OUT FROM THE NATIONS AND GATHER YOU from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will show myself holy among you in the sight of the nations. 42 Then YOU WILL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the land I had sworn with uplifted hand to give to your fathers. 43 There you will remember your conduct and all the actions by which you have defiled yourselves, and you will loathe yourselves for all the evil you have done. 44 You will know that I am the LORD, when I deal with you for my name’s sake and NOT ACCORDING TO YOUR EVIL WAYS and your corrupt practices, O house of Israel, declares the Sovereign LORD.’” TRANSITION: As beautiful as is the mercy of God, we must NEVER forget that it means nothing apart from the justice of God. For the wicked, rebellious, stiff-necked people of Ezekiel’s day- it was very NEAR the time for…
God’s Judgment Ezekiel 20:45 The word of the LORD came to me: 46 “Son of man, set your face toward the south; preach against the south and prophesy against the forest of the southland. 47 Say to the southern forest: ‘Hear the word of the LORD. This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am about to set fire to you, and it will consume all your trees, both green and dry. The blazing flame will not be quenched, and every face from south to north will be scorched by it. 48 Everyone will see that I the LORD have kindled it; it will not be quenched.’” Ezekiel 20:49 Then I said, “Ah, Sovereign LORD! They are saying of me, ‘Isn’t he just telling parables?’” CONCLUSION: Each of us are and will be either subjects of God’s mercy or His judgment. It ALL depends on one simple question: “Is Jesus Christ your LORD and Savior?”