Special Mid-Summer 3-Night Series on Hard Sayings of the Bible (Answers to Questions 1 and 2)

The participants in the discussions were asked to consider the questions individually and share thoughts with others. We were also asked not to judge or criticize a person's response, nor declare the person's response wrong (if doctrinally very wrong, then gently suggest another way to look at the matter). We are all learning and will hopefully continue to do so until we are translated. Look to the Holy Spirit for final say.

 July Study Moderator's Answers -- Questions 1 and 2

1.    Ezekiel 3:1-20 - Do you believe in the above statement? How do you reconcile the popular saying “Once saved always saved”?  in reference to the second half of verse 20?
-Important to understand context. And the context of this chapter in Ezekiel is two-fold. But first, a brief background on the prophet Ezekiel and his mission: a prophet to the exiled Jewish people now living in Babylonia along the river Chebar in a settlement called Tel-abib. These Jews were those who had been captured and taken from Judah when the Babylonian armies under King Nebuchadnezzer had laid siege on Judah and Jerusalem, destroying much of what was familiar.

The context of the Jewish culture and belief system during that era still had elements of the Mosaic law structure, however, given their now foreign surroundings, keeping kosher so to speak, i.e., strict adherence to the original ceremonial system has been altered. Yet, for many who survived the Babylonian conquest, they were torn as to why their Protector God subjected them to such extreme circumstances. Some held to the tradition that said if you ‘faithfully’ obey the ten commandments and the body of laws contained in the Old Covenant, you could consider yourself a righteous person. The legal system promised blessings for obedience. (similar to what some Christians believe today) Many would begin to worship the blessings and nationalistic identity instead of Elohim Yahweh. They worshiped Gentile gods and often mixed such worship practices with those iterated in the Law of Moses. They’re unfaithfulness and rejection of Yahweh led to God’s punishment of Israel and Judah at the hands of the Assyrians and Babylonians – foreign empires that God used as a rod - as the covenant warned against. (see Deuteronomy 27 and 28)

Ezekiel’s prophetic ministry was both a “forth-telling” and a “foretelling” of messages from the LORD of hosts to the exiled Jews. Where we are in the third chapter, Ezekiel has been charged by God with forth-telling the many sins that led up to the Jewish defeat and exile. Ezekiel had lost his wife some time before this mission, yet God warned, commanded Ezekiel not to mourn for her, as a way of showing what God’s relationship with Israel and Judah had become, i.e., so broken that God no longer mourned for His people as they experienced the consequences of their rebellion. In his humanity, Ezekiel was very challenged in this complex role. As you see when you read verses 1-21 of chapter 3. He was overwhelmed in contemplating what His God was calling him to (v. 15), the way He called him, and how this mission was to happen. It was a lot. So, he just sat there among the residents of Tel-abib for seven days stunned, paralyzed by the emotional and psychological rollercoaster he was on. Until God arouses him once again with the words beginning in verse 17 where He frankly and graphically explains what God is calling him to do.

As noted above, the “righteousness” was the perceived “right” keeping of the Ten Commandments and all of the Law – a perfect standard which, in reality, was one that no one could achieve, yet, keeping those that they did keep gave them a feeling of being right before God. (see Jesus’ encounter with the rich young ruler who was certain of his righteousness in keeping of some of the commandments – Matt. 16:19-22; Mark 10:17-22; Luke 18:18-23. Also see Jesus’ statement on righteousness – Matthew 5:19-20.) Confirmation of their perceived righteousness was when God would bless them with a good harvest, rain, children, etc. and forgive them their misdeeds. To turn from their “righteousness” was intentionally breaking the laws and commands. The role of a prophet or priest was that of speaking God’s truth to the offender or “telling forth”, admonishing them to repent and return to God’s ways. Their repentance could bring forgiveness from God and reposition them from law breaker to law keeper. However, the Mosaic Law could not give them eternal life (Prov. 19:16 as do other passages notes that obedience to God gives us a good life and may bless us with a long life (“so that it may go well with you”). but eternal life was not promised under the law, as Paul shows in Romans 7 and Galatians 3:21, but it was to act as a disciplinarian until Christ came.

And so with that backdrop we come to verses 18-20. God instructs Ezekiel on admonishing the ‘righteous’ – that a prophet or priest or anyone called to witness to others on God’s account who fails to warn a ‘righteous’ person about their sin, and they die/perish as a result, then the person – whether it be prophet, priest, or one who has been given the commandment to love one another – that person shall be accountable for the death of the ‘righteous’ person.

The righteous person – one who perceives him/herself to be right because of being a standard-keeping, legally responsible in their own eyes child of God, does not simply by the term ‘righteous’ has received the guarantee of eternal life with Christ. Jesus says in Matthew 7 such persons would come to Him in the judgment and say, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. ²² On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ ²³ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you who behave lawlessly.” Such a person may do “works”, even good works, and justify those works as deserving of salvation, but the One who reads hearts will determine if there are works of faith- works that emanate from a heart full of desire to serve their Heavenly Father and that are submitted to Him and His will. So it is important to read the context of some passages to identify what is the righteousness that is being claimed compared to a saving faith. No such thing as “saving works”.

 

2.    Does Genesis 22:12 contradict God’s omniscience – His all-knowing ability?
So this is one with which I struggled for years. Some Bible scholars explain this by saying that God chose not to know what Abraham was going to do. Which sounded a little sketchy, but for a minute it sounded good since God is powerful. Some others say that of course God knew, but Abraham did not know, and so God was really saying that “now you, Abraham, know that you fear God…”. That sounded a little more reasonable, but there were still gaps in that premise because a reader would have to assume that God switched the awareness from Himself to Abraham. Even though it was thin ground I tried to stand on that one and it just did not set well with me. Like walking across a floor with a partially rotted subfloor, I anticipated that under a brighter light that explanation would also fail.  But God! I was listening to a minister and reading and re-reading the passage a few times. Notice verses 10-12: “¹⁰ Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. ¹¹ But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ¹² He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”  The Angel that God had appointed for this event is the one who did not have foreknowledge, was not all-knowing. It was he who did not know what the outcome of Abraham’s obedience would be; compare verses 1-2 where God speaks directly to Abraham. Further along the chapter beginning at verse 15, we see the same Angel speaking and identifying at that juncture that he was repeating what the Lord had instructed him post-sacrifice; verse 15 says that the Angel of the Lord  called to Abraham from heaven, this time, adding the phrase “says/declares (KJV “saith”) the Lord … Therefore, the answer is “no” for the reasons noted above. Plus, doesn’t understanding this truth reaffirm your faith in the Lord’s omniscience and sovereignty?!!