Last week we learned a few escaped the Lord’s sword of judgment.
God always preserves a remnant for Himself. 
“Your people will fall slain among you, and you will know that I am the Lord. But I will spare some, for some of you will escape the sword when you are scattered among the lands and nations” (Ezekiel 6:7-8).
- Those who remained would know I AM is the Lord—they would learn, perceive, experience, and confess His sovereignty.
- Their “escape” carries the concept of a refugee or survivor.1
- They did not escape to a life of ease, however.
- The remnant escaped the sword because God scattered them into exile.
Regarding God’s remnant, Paul wrote to believers living in Rome,
“So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace. … Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. … some of the branches have been broken off, and you… a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root… Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness” (Romans 11:5-6, 11, 17, 22).
*Why does God preserve a remnant for Himself?
*How did Israel’s exile point them to God?
*How are we also part of God’s remnant?
“Then in the nations where they have been carried captive, those who escape will remember me—how I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts, which have turned away from me, and by their eyes, which have lusted after their idols. They will loathe themselves for the evil they have done and for all their detestable practices” (Ezekiel 6:9).
- God said those who escaped would “remember” Him—they would think about God and all He had done.
- Jeremiah encouraged the remnant to remember the Lord in their captivity,
“You who have escaped the sword,
leave and do not linger!
Remember the Lord in a distant land,
and call to mind Jerusalem” (Jeremiah 51:50).
- They learned the lessons God wanted them to learn.
- Their idol worship grieved God.
- The word for “grieved” is broken.2
- Even as God cut down Israel with the sword of judgment, at the same time, it broke His heart.
- Their hearts turned away from the one true God in spiritual adultery and this greatly grieved the Lord.
- In their inmost being, in their sin they chose to depart from God’s presence.
- Again, this word for “idols” is always plural.3
- I wonder if this implies that once we have one idol—something that replaces God in our lives—we will always have more than one.
- John described our wayward hearts well in his letter to believers –
- “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world” (1 John 2:15-16).
- God didn’t have Ezekiel write that the remnant repented.
- He said they would be disgusted by the evil they had done.4
- Their sin included moral (individual sense of right and wrong), ethical (group rules of conduct)5, offenses against the law, and every form of evil regardless of external circumstances.
- As Paul wrote,
- “…they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. …” [and the list goes on] (Romans 1:28-29ff).
*How can we “remember” God this week?
*How do we grieve God with our idols?
*What does it mean to depart from God’s presence in our sin?
*How might disgust for evil actions lead to repentance?
“And they will know that I am the Lord; I did not threaten in vain to bring this calamity on them” (Ezekiel 6:10).
- Captivity, grieving the Lord, their acknowledgement of sin and evil deeds—all this brings those who escaped a new understanding of God.
- They know, perceive, understand, and confess He is Lord.
- God had a purpose; His severe judgment was not in vain.
- It brought about His desired result, that His people would know Him more.
*What do we learn about God’s character in this passage?
*How might knowing God more in this way affect how we live?
- Warren Baker, D.R.E., Eugene Carpenter, Ph.D. The Complete WordStudy Dictionary: Old Testament. (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2003). 902
- Ibid., 1097
- Ibid., 203
- Ibid., 986
- Oxford Learning College. “Ethics vs Morals – What’s the Difference?” https://www.oxfordcollege.ac/news/ethics-versus-morals/