It was my observation; to understand the depth of Ezekiel 11:17-20, we need to examine Isaiah 43. This message from Isaiah is connected to the message of Ezekiel. I do not want to take the assessment too far. But I see hints of the mediator in Isaiah 43, the mediator being applied to the plight of the remnant banished to Babylon. Read this passage from Isaiah slowly, then read the passage in Ezekiel. Consider the departure of the shekinah glory from the temple, consider the fury of God demonstrated by 6 angels hammering Jerusalem starting with the leaders in the temple. With that, let us get started.
Isaiah 43:25-28 says — I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more. Review the past for me, let us argue the matter together; state the case for your innocence. Your first father sinned; those I sent to teach you rebelled against me. So, I disgraced the dignitaries of your temple… [NIV]
God makes it clear he, the highest authority existent, has blotted out our transgressions. What a way to start the conversation. Did you notice the place in this quote from Isaiah that tells the reader to think about your history, bring your case before God, argue the matter in the high court, present the facts for your innocence? Consider what this is saying. God is telling us to come to him and make clear in his court we stand in the circle of the Remnant.
There is more. I cannot see any circumstance that would cause me to seek out the courthouse of God without a mediator. I am convinced Jesus would greet us as we approached the court and tell us how to behave during the court proceedings. Finally, Isaiah tells us the people to blame are the leaders God assigned to teach us. They failed in their duties. We were misled. These three verses from Isaiah are profound. Now let us learn from Ezekiel.
Ezekiel 11:17-20 says — “Therefore say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you back the land of Israel again.’ “They will return to it and remove all its vile images and detestable idols. I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God [NIV].
The idols. The thing that stands between us and a vibrant relationship with God. The idols. The thing that distracts our thoughts. The idols. The thing we turn to when we are sad. The idols. The thing we believe makes us better, stronger, wiser. The idols. If you have such things that replace your direct interaction with God, this is spiritual infidelity, those things need to go. The idols. They must go.
When the remnant returns, they will learn to look upon the idols with disgust. They will return standing in God’s mercy with a new heart, they will bulldoze the idols and turn to God. He gave them peace, he will end their troubles, they will be home once more. He will plant good judgement in them, prepare them for proper service, prepare them to glorify God in all things. He resolved to give them a new heart, not divided between the old and the new, but an entirely new heart. A sincere, upright heart. He will put a new spirit within, a guide to enlighten their walk. And a new direction to walk.
For we all know that if any person is a new person, we are made that way by Jesus, by his ransom. He mediates our case before God. He is an excellent lawyer. He has never lost a case. This action is God’s work, this work is a gift from him. A wonderful change that moves us from death to life. I choose Jesus.