Insurmountable, not Impossible - Ezekiel 36:22-27

Introduction

God calls Ezekiel to be his prophet in the most dramatic way possible. It’s reminiscent of how He called Isaiah in Isaiah 6. In chapter 1, God peels back the floor of heaven just a bit so that Ezekiel can glimpse the edges of his glory. It comes to him as a stormy wind filled with light too bright to look upon. Lightning was flashing and four figures were flying. They had four human faces and four wings. With two of their wings, they connected themselves together, and with the other two they, the heavenly beings, sheltered their bodies from the potency of God’s glory. They were figures of fire above whom was a sea of crystal giving way to a sapphire throne. Everywhere he looked, Ezekiel saw the colors of a blinding rainbow, and in an instant Ezekiel finds himself on his face, because that’s the only reaction to a true encounter of the glory of God.

God stands him up in chapter two and shows him a different picture. After an encounter with true holiness and true glory, God shows to Ezekiel his people. And, in the blinding light of the glory of God, what becomes clear is that God’s people are nothing like him. He is holy, and they are rebellious. He is glorious, and they are blind to see it. And, in spite of who they are, this glorious God has chosen them, and they respond by rejecting him. So, God calls his prophet by showing him the problem. There is an unassailable chasm between God and his people, but his people don’t see it and don’t care. Creatures of light hide themselves from his presence, but these creatures of the dirt have the audacity to reject him and boldly run after every god that gives them a wink.

God’s Word

So, what we have in Ezekiel is God’s response to the problem followed by God’s solution to it. God’s going to respond by showing his people what life will be like without his presence. In Ezekiel 10, God’s presence — long ignored and taken for granted — will withdraw from the Temple in Jerusalem, and God will allow his people to see how well they make without him. And, the situation becomes dire. But, in the midst of the dire straights of enduring life without God, the Lord shows the prophet how He’s ultimately going to resolve this problem with his people, and we see The Good News of God’s Problem: (Headline)

God will solve an “insurmountable problem.”

God’s words to Ezekiel are a shock to the sensibilities of our therapeutic faith. The Lord is placing the defibrillator upon dead, self-serving Christianity to electrocute it back into reality. He says, “It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name”. That is, God is not preeminently focused upon our happiness, and Jesus did not come preeminently for that purpose. God is preeminently concerned with his own glory, and this is the preeminent reason for Christ’s coming.

This isn’t how we like to think of God. We like to think of God like a grandpa who hopes his children stop by, waiting on his doorstep trying to think of ways to show us He’s still relevant. To hear otherwise is offensive to us. For God to say that He is concerned about his own glory and renown sounds narcissistic to us, doesn’ it? And, there’s no one we like less than the narcissistic. But, For God to have as his chief concern any other desire would be idolatry.  It is his omnipotence and omniscience and omnisapience that holds the universe together, not ours.  It is Him that never sleeps nor slumbers, not us.  It is him who knows the purpose and plan of every organism and every circumstance, not us.  It is at his throne before whom all creatures bow.  If you consider him narcissistic, before whom should He bow?

At the center of his existence is himself, for He is the only good, the only holiness, the only constant.  He is supreme in beauty and glory and majesty.  He cannot defile himself with a lesser glory.  God is not narcissistic; we are. And, there is nothing that shows more clearly the narcissism of the modern church more than our immediate and natural discomfort with passages like this. So, there are two seemingly insurmountable problems that God says He’s going to solve to vindicate his own Name:

God appears “unable.”

Ezekiel 36:22 ““Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came.”

The first, and foremost, problem that God has in mind here is what I would call the question of the nations. Do you remember why God chose Israel to be his people? God elected Israel as his chosen nation that the world might see his hand upon this tiny, little nation and know there was no God like him. That is, they only existed by his grace for the sake of his glory. You see, during these times there was an unbreakable bond between a nation and its god. And, whoever won in battle and prospered as a people was understood to have the greatest god. So, when God allowed judgment to fall upon his people and for Babylon to succeed against them, it wasn’t seen primarily as a military failure. It was understood as a theological failure. Their God had failed them.

So, you see, the problem is that the nations would look at the subjugation of Israel, and they’d believe that Yahweh was the idol. They’d believe He was the impotent, little false god who had no power. God appeared unable to save his people, unable to protect his people, and unable to overcome. Thus, God appeared unworthy of any devotion and allegiance.

God’s own people had served to undermine their very reason for existence. They made the nations less likely extol God, not more likely. You know, God’s purpose for his people hasn’t changed. And, we ought to stop for a second and ask if people are more likely to praise God because they know us or less. When people witness our lives and hear us talk and spend time with us at work, are they being drawn to light of God’s glory, or are we driving them away because of a lifestyle that makes God look weak? Does your life make God look like another superstition or the blazing center of the universe?

God appears “unjust.”

Ezekiel 36:23 “And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.”

Proverbs 17:15 “He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the Lord.”

The second problem is what I’d call the question of holiness. You’ll notice that God says in verse 23 God says He will “vindicate (his) holiness before their eyes.” “Their” referring to the onlooking nations. That is, God isn’t just concerned that the nations would think that He’s without power, but without holiness. God recognizes that the nations will see the unholiness of his people and believe that it’s because of the unholiness of their god. After all, people derive their conscience from their God — our culture should teach us that.

And, this is where our insurmountable problem reaches critical mass. If God demonstrates his great power by rescuing his people from Babylon, He will still appear unholy, for He will be rescuing people who aren’t worthy of rescuing. His rescue will appear as approval for their sin. He will become an abomination unto himself for Proverbs 17:15 “He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the Lord.” It’s a perfect storm. To make clear his power He must deliver them from their enemies. To make clear his holiness, He must deal with their sin. How in the world can one of these problems be resolved without creating yet another problem?

So, God doesn’t just tell his people that He’s going to solve these problems. He tells them how He will solve them.

God will solve an “insurmountable problem” through “impossible means.”

So, how is God going to overcome the insurmountable problems facing his reputation and holiness? He’s going to use the most unthinkable and impossible means possible. The essence of God’s problem, namely us, is going to become the means by which He overcomes it. I want you to notice two phrases. First, notice “I will”  In just 10 verses God says that “I will” 12 times. God is making it clear that this salvation is not going to be a self-rescue. The change, the impossible change, that’s coming is going to be by his initiative. He’ll do it all. Then, notice “Through you.” Notice where He tells Israel that “through you I vindicate my holiness.”  So, they are the reason his holiness is in question, but God still chooses, by his own sovereign grace, to work through them to prove his glory. The most remarkable words in this whole passage may just be the words "through you!"

That is, God is going to prove that He is able by saving his people in such a way that preserves his holiness. He will deliver them while dealing with their sin. Now, think of how that relates to the tension we felt with the centeredness of God. God’s central aim here is not grace or mercy; it is the vindication of his name.  But, He’s so good in his nature that, through the vindication of his name, his grace and mercy shine through.  Is this not a picture of sovereign grace?

And, He tells us how He will overcome nature to vindicate his name “through us.”

He will “clean” us “entirely.”

Ezekiel 36:25 “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.”

Last year, I spent a Friday in the woods with Josiah. We went fishing and hiking and mud-riding. It was awesome! When Megan came home, I decided to run up to the dealership to get an oil change, and I was just going to sit outside since I was filthy and smelled like fish. So, I drop off a 4Runner that the dirt is just falling off of, and I make a joke to cover my embarrassment before I get away from everybody. And, of course, I hear, “Pastor Cody!” And, there is one of my pastor friends, dressed to the nines of course, wanting to have a conversation. I literally can’t hear anything he’s saying because all I can think about is: “I smell like fish, and he’s a close talker.” When you’re around someone clean and you’re filthy, you become aware of how repulsive dirt really is, don’t you? And, the cleaner the person you meet, the more self-aware you become about your dirt.

It shouldn’t be difficult then for us to understand how this translates morally and spiritually. When we compare ourselves to one another, we can feel okay about ourselves. But, that’s because we’re all covered in filth. We all smell like fish and body odor. But, when we, like Ezekiel, come to recognize God’s glory and holiness, you can begin to understand how unfit you are for his presence, how offensive you are to his perfection.

But, God says that He will solve the problem by “sprinkling clean water on (us).” He’ll clean us from “all (our) uncleannesses.” That is, God, rather than being repulsed and turning away, will take the initiative to make us clean and fit for his presence. And, by doing so,

The emphasis there is on the word 'ALL.' And, He uses that word to say two things: First, you are thoroughly filthy. “All” means you’re not just a little sinful. It means you are sinful all the way through. You have big sins you hate and little sins you don’t sweat. You have public sins everyone sees and private sins only you know of. You have sins of commission and sins of omission. You have in your life an accumulation of sin. But, though you are thoroughly filthy, you will be thoroughly washed. No remnant of sin filth will remain. You haven’t been righteous, but God will make you righteous. You haven’t been holy, but God will make you holy. God will, by his own initiative, take away everything that is repulsive and offensive in you.

So, we’re beginning to see what God is doing. He’s going to vindicate his name “through” us by doing the impossible. He’s going to exert his power and demonstrate his holiness by making us what we could never be — holy. He will demonstrate that He is so powerful that He can wash the soul of a man and so holy that a man’s soul must be washed to survive him. And, He’ll do it all by his own provision. Oh, the cross is coming into view, isn’t it?

He will wash us entirely and...

He will “transform” us “completely.”

Ezekiel 36:26 “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”

God isn’t just going to change the status of his people. He’s going to change the very nature of his people. The problem isn’t just their behavior. It’s the source of their behavior. It’s not just what they do; it’s who they are. His people aren’t just covered in filth because they’ve sinned. They’re covered in filth because they are, by nature, sinners. Their problem is in the heart.

So, God is going to perform a heart surgery. They’ll have “a new heart and a new spirit.” He’s going to change how they think, what they want, AND how they live. He’s going to change their very will so that their ambitions and allegiances and devotions change direction. What we’re talking about here regeneration. It’s rebirth. It’s doing the impossible and changing nature.

Oh, we take it for granted! We need the spirit of Nicodemas. Jesus told Nicodemas that if anyone were to receive eternal life, they had to be “born again.” And, do you remember how Nicodemas responded? “Uh, there’s not enough therapists on earth to unravel me going back into my mother’s womb. It’s impossible! It’s not natural.”

And, it’s not! It’s supernatural! It’s a work of God to transform his people that He might vindicate his Name. It’s becoming clearer and clearer what God is doing. He isn’t just cancelling our debt. He’s transforming our character. He isn’t just changing our situation. He’s changing our tastebuds and our appetites. He’s transforming what we like and what we want so that we do what is right in the sight of God because we actually want to do it.  That’s where the freedom comes in.  You may do what you’re supposed to do because you have to, and you feel like a slave.  But, if you do what you’re supposed to do because it is your desire and passion to do it, then that is freedom.  This is reading your Bible out of delight, not obligation.  It’s giving from a cheerful heart, not a guilty one.  It’s living a life of sexual fidelity because it brings you joy, not constraint.

Do you see how He’s resolving his problem? How can God prove both his power and his holiness? He’s doing it “through” his people by making them NEW people. He’ll overcome what’s natural with what’s supernatural. Have you experienced this? Have you experienced the transformation of your desires and allegiances? Do you have a desire to walk with God and bring glory to his name? It’s not natural. It’s supernatural! Oh, the cross is coming into view!

He will “fill” us “permanently.”

Ezekiel 36:27 “And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”

Now, the question we should begin to ask is: How do we know it will last? What if it’s like it was with King Josiah and just another flash in the pan? How many times before have God’s people changed their path only to fall away again? God is going to prove himself once and for all to be the Almighty by making a provision so that the transformed condition of his people is permanent. He’s going to restore his presence among them forever.

Remember in chapter 10, God’s Spirit vacates the temple. His people were to look to the Temple and remember they were safe. They were to look to the Temple and remember that He was with them. And, they were to look to the Temple and remember that the Lord was to be feared and they were to be holy. But, his presence is no longer there. But, you can’t keep God away from his people. So, He says that a New Covenant is coming where his people will not have to go to him, but where He will actually reside within them. They will become his Temple themselves.

And, the result is that He will “cause (them) to walk in (his) statutes and obey (his) rules.” And, this gets to the fundamental problem of the Old Covenant. God's people were completely incapable of fulfilling the Old Covenant. But, the New Covenant would be impossible to break because He was going to be the One dwelling in them keeping it himself. That is, you will receive the Holy Spirit who will make you holy — not because you have to, but because you want to. That’s the work of the Holy Spirit.

So, how would God vindicate his name though us? He would come to us himself. He would live the holy life that none of us have lived. He would prove the holiness of his name by pouring out the wrath that our sin had accumulated upon his very own Son, and He would vindicate the power of his Name by raising his Son three days later. He would cover his people in the blood of his Son, washing away their filth with his righteousness. He would “cause” them to be righteous by giving them his own righteousness. He would “cause” them to obey his rules by giving them his Spirit and his heart so that they would want to obey him.

Oh, He overcame the most insurmountable problem through the most impossible means. And, if He can do that, He can do anything.