Ezekiel 14:12-20: Your Grandma Can’t Save You, But Jesus Can

“...even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in [Jerusalem], they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness declares the LORD GOD.” Ezekiel 14:14

This morning we turn our eyes to an eternally true, sovereignly wise, and infinitely righteous truth: your grandma can’t save you. What do I mean by this? Well, stick around, and you’ll see.

This morning we take our first look at the book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel was one of the three major prophets of the LORD and perhaps the most interesting. Whereas Isaiah and Jeremiah’s role was to “call out” against the nations of Israel and Judah for their coming destruction, Ezekiel did a bit more than “calling out.” He did prophesy against the nation (a lot, in fact!) but he also was called by the Lord to do some funky “illustrations” that would portray the destruction of Israel. There are a lot of them, but for a quick example: one time the Lord called him to roast all his food over cow dung for 390 days in order that he might show the nation of Israel how they would have to eat their food after the Lord had destroyed them and delivered the remnant of them into Babylon (see Ezekiel 4). Interesting, is it not?

Yet aside from cow dung campfires, there is much more to the book of Ezekiel, which we see here in chapter 14. As Ezekiel had been prophesying greatly against the nation of Israel, the Lord brought to him another oracle, saying thus (Ez. 14:13-14):

"“Son of man, when a land sins against me by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out my hand against it and break its supply of bread and send famine upon it, and cut off from it man and beast, even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness, declares the Lord GOD."

In these short verses, we find something interesting: the Lord here speaks of how the city of Jerusalem would not be saved even if three righteous men lived in it. Our minds immediately refer back to the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, where God promised to save the city if even five righteous persons were in it. Yet we find that both in the stories of Sodom and Gomorrah as well as Jerusalem, the Lord did not save the city on behalf of the righteous remnant. Utter destruction was called for both times, no matter the presence of righteous men amidst the evildoers of the land.*

Yet, let us pause and look at the three men pointed out here. They are truly three of Israel's best: Noah, Daniel, and Job. We all remember Noah from Genesis, when he trusted in the Lord and built a boat to save his family from a world-wide flood. Next, Ezekiel lists Daniel, who we all know was courageous enough to go to the lion's den because of his faith in God. And last, but certainly not least, Ezekiel mentions Job, who was perhaps the most righteous of them all, remaining faithful to God amidst the worst of trials. Yet, God tells Ezekiel, he would not spare the city of Jerusalem even if these three men were in it. Though they would save themselves, their righteousness would not account for the rest of the city.

God's point through the prophet of Ezekiel was this: each man is accountable for his own actions. As we will find later in Ezekiel, this theme is very prevalent throughout the entire book. Although there was a very small remnant of Jews who were still faithful to God, God's point is that those Jews were unable to save the rest. The iniquity of each man was too great, a righteous remnant (even an "exceedingly righteous" remnant such as Noah, Daniel, and Job) could not save the rest of the people. Each man was accountable for his own actions.

Thus, we find our application today. That no man, not the most righteous you could think of--not even Noah, Daniel, Job, or your God-fearing, Bible-thumping grandma--can save you...save one, that is, Jesus Christ. Although the most faithful prophet of the Old Testament could not save me, by the grace of God the Father, One did come who had the power to save me. And the very thing that was not true of Noah, Daniel, and Job became true of Christ: his righteousness could be imputed on our accounts through his perfect death and resurrection. Thus, those who have called upon the Lord (Rom. 10:13) are able to stand before God and say this: "The righteousness of another has indeed saved me. 'Twas not Noah's, nor Daniel's, nor Job's, nor Moses', nor Abraham's, but it was Christ's, and that is all the payment that my good God needs." Amen!

*Though, let us point out that, as argued by RC Sproul, the point of the Sodom and Gomorrah narrative is that there was no one righteous in the entire city. If there was, God would have saved them (just like he did for Rahab), for our God is just.