INTERCESSION

As we continue our study of Ezekiel from Chapter 12 forward, there can be no doubt as to why God was destroying Judah. Ezekiel and God’s other prophets have listed her sins repeatedly: giving credence to false prophets and prophetesses, following evil leaders, a corrupt priesthood, idolatry, worship of foreign gods, profaning the temple and living lives reminding God of the evil He found in Sodom and Gomorrah. This would not stand, and their punishment would be so grievous that it could only come from the Lord. 

God had seen the wickedness of man before. Once it was so overwhelming that He destroyed the world, saving only one man and his family. How great Noah’s faith must have been to live in a world so corrupt and yet remain apart from it and in the favor of God, and then, by faith, dedicate his life to prepare for a calamity that he could not possibly have imagined. 

Daniel also found favor in God. A young man taken captive to a foreign land, caught up in God’s punishment of his people. He too refused to “go along.” He remained faithful to His God without even acknowledging the false gods of Babylon or bowing to their king, even with the threat of death. 

Job’s faith manifested itself in his patience, patience so undying that it became the standard for all generations. He too saw his world destroyed in a way so personal that he appeared to be the punished, not the saved. Satan himself could not bring him down. 

These are three giants of Godly faith, yet even their intercession would not be enough to persuade God to relent in His judgment. The destruction of a nation that God Himself caused to be established and nurtured to greatness was inevitable. Judah’s sins were too many and too severe— Noah, Daniel and Job “could only deliver themselves.” (Ez 14:14 ASV) 

Moses had successfully interceded for Israel when they had refused to enter into Canaan (Nu 14:11-19). Samuel had likewise made an appeal to God, and was heard, when a victory over the Philistines seemed impossible (I Sam 7:5-9). Even their appeals would not save the nation now (Jer15:1). Add to this august list Jeremiah himself because God told him not to pray or cry for them “for I will not hear thee.” (Jer 7:16) 

We as Christians, on the other hand, have an intercessor that is greater than all these. An Intercessor promised by God hundreds of years before His arrival.(Isa 53:12) One who sits at the right hand of God (Mark 14:16; 16:19) and will intercede for us when we pray (Rom 8:26). Our day of judgment is just as certain as was Judah’s but our intercessor can save us. “Wherefore also he is able to save to the uttermost them that draw near unto God through him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” Heb 7:25 (ASV) 

--Joe Bluemel