Ezekiel 14:17-23: a reflection

17“Or if I bring a sword on that land, and say, ‘Sword, go through the land, so that I cut off from it man and animal’— 18though these three men were in it, as I live,” says the Lord GOD, “they would deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only would be delivered themselves. 19“Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my wrath on it in blood, to cut off from it man and animal— 20though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live,” says the Lord GOD, “they would deliver neither son nor daughter; they would deliver only their own souls by their righteousness.” 21For the Lord GOD says: “How much more when I send my four severe judgments on Jerusalem—the sword, the famine, the evil animals, and the pestilence—to cut off from it man and animal! 22Yet, behold, there will be left a remnant in it that will be carried out, both sons and daughters. Behold, they will come out to you, and you will see their way and their doings. Then you will be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought on Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought on it. 23They will comfort you, when you see their way and their doings; then you will know that I have not done all that I have done in it without cause,” says the Lord GOD.

God speaks a sobering word through Ezekiel. Even if three of the most righteous men imaginable, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were present in a land under judgment, they could not save others by their righteousness; they would deliver only their own souls. It is a stark statement of personal responsibility before God. No one can lean on another's goodness to escape the consequences of their own choices; each stands before God on their own.

Yet even in this severe passage, God holds out a note of mercy. He promises that a remnant will be left, sons and daughters brought out of the judgment, and that seeing them will bring a kind of comfort. Even amid judgment, God preserves a people. His severity is not the whole story; he keeps a remnant, and his dealings, however hard, are not without purpose or cause. Mercy runs even through the judgment.

Two truths meet here. First, righteousness is personal; you cannot rest on the faith of a godly parent, spouse, or friend to stand before God. Each of us must come to him ourselves. And yet, second, there is a righteousness that does save, not our own, but Christ's. What Noah, Daniel, and Job could not do for others, Christ has done for all who trust him: he covers them with his own righteousness. So take your own standing before God seriously, come to him yourself, and rest not on any human righteousness but on the righteousness of Christ, which alone can save.

Lord, you taught through Ezekiel that even the most righteous cannot save others by their goodness; each of us must stand before you on our own. Help me not to lean on the faith of those around me but to come to you myself. And thank you that there is a righteousness that saves, not mine, but Christ's, which covers all who trust him. I rest not on any human goodness but on him. Amen.