Gods Covenant In My Life - Ezekiel 36:16-30
The Story of Florence Chadwick
In the 1950s one of the most famous athletes in the world was a long distance swimmer named Florence Chadwick. In 1950 she swam the 18-mile wide English channel going from France to England, in 13 hours and 26 minutes setting a new world record for women. A year later she swam from England to France, this time the 18 miles took her 16 hours and 22 minutes due to conditions and current. That made her the first woman to ever swim the channel in both directions.
In 1952, Florence set out to swim the 26 miles between Catalina Island and the California coastline. As she swam, she was accompanied by a team in small boats that watched for sharks and were there to pull her out if she got hurt or too tired. After swimming for 5 hours a thick fog set in. Florence couldn’t seen anything but could only swim in the thick fog and it seemed as if she was not moving at all. In the dark conditions of the fog she began to doubt she could make it. Even though she had swam for 16 hours in the rougher waters of the Channel. Finally, she told her mother, who was in one of the boats, that she did not think she could make it. She swam for another hour before asking to be pulled out, still unable to see the coastline due to the thick fog.
As she sat in the boat, the fog lifted and she found out she had quit just one mile away from her goal but she didn’t realize that and had lost hope that she would make it and she failed that day.
Background
The Book of Ezekiel is about two overall very opposite subjects doom and hope, and both these things were because of God word and promise. I want to avoid God’s promise of Doom and I want to possess His promise of Hope. Ezekiel’s writings are a guide to that goal.
The book of Ezekiel comprises two portions: chapters 1–24, a series of messages delivered before the fall of Jerusalem, the general burden of which is “doom”; chapters 25–48, delivered after its fall, with the underlying theme of “hope.” The book is more appropriately studied under four headings: chapters 1–24, Prophecies of Judgment on Judah and Jerusalem; chapters 25–32, Prophecies Against Surrounding Nations; chapters 33–39, Prophecies of the Restoration of Israel; chapters 40–48, Visions of the New Temple and the New Law for the Redeemed People. - Charles F. Pfeiffer, The Wycliffe Bible Commentary: Old Testament, (Chicago: Moody Press, 1962), La 5:19.
Our scripture today is in the restoration and hope section of Ezekiel and takes place after Jerusalem has fallen. Babylon has breached the walls, sacked the city, raided the Temple, taken the king captive and made slaves or killed those who were within the walls of the city.
What they needed now was hope. The worst had happened, and it must have seemed that even God had forgotten them or no longer cared. Yes, they had sinned as a nation. Yes they had worshipped other Gods. They deserved their punishment, but Ezekiel’s message was that God had not discarded, His people, Israel. That even in such dark times, there was hope. God had Ezekiel a prophecy of a covenant that would never be broken, and would bring with it the light of a new and blessed people and time.
For Israel’s Failure - Ezekiel 3:16-21
16 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 17 Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way and by their doings: their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman. 18 Wherefore I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they had polluted it: 19 And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them. 20 And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of the LORD, and are gone forth out of his land. 21 But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went.
The Problem of Israel
They had disobeyed God, broken their covenant with Him and been sorely punished for their sin. Nor was this the first time. The history of Israel under the Covenant of the Law is a history of their failing time and time again. This was the Covenant they had agreed to keep in a face-to-face meeting with God when they stood beneath the glory of God at Mt. Sinai.
Israel had promised God they would obey and keep the covenant. Exodus 19:5–8 5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: 6 and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. 7 And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the Lord commanded him. 8 And all the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord.
“All that the Lord hath spoken we will do.” But they did not, sin after sin, failure after failure, idol after idol until they were taken from the land of Promise. The prophets like Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Habakkuk warned and watched as the punishment of God drew closer and then is measured out upon their beloved nation and city.
The Problem of Me
What can I learn from Israel’s failure and not being able to keep the covenant of the Law? How can such a tragedy, that took place so long ago, help me today in my life and in my walk with God?
To fully understand this I must know something of the covenants of God. There are 7 covenants that we find in the Bible
Of all the covenants only two are conditional or dependent upon what man would do, the Adamic and the Mosaic. All the other covenants were unconditional and relied solely on upon God’s power and word. I probably don’t have to tell you which covenants failed. Those which relied on man’s power and promise failed. Those which were solely dependent upon God never failed and are still in effect today.
Here is the lesson I should learn. If my relationship with God, my walk with God, is dependent upon me, then it will fail. We can look with disdain at Israel’s failure but mine is just as complete. I can blame Adam for all the problems in this world, but had I been in the Garden, I would have failed just as badly.
The problem is not in the Covenant of the Law but in us. Paul stated it this way in Romans 7:14-20 14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. 16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. 17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
When it comes to my spiritual life, when it comes to my moral life, when it comes to my eternal life, if I am depending on my strength, or goodness or power at all, then I will fail, just as Israel failed.
If you are trusting in your goodness to save your soul from hell, you will fail. If you are trusting in your own ability or willpower to not sin after salvation, you will fail. If you think you can do any of the things God requires of us, on your own then you will fail. And in that failure, you will fail your family, your church and those in the future who needed you to not fail.
Paul concluded his struggle with the law by saying, Romans 7:24 “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” and if we don’t learn the lesson we need to learn from Israel’s failure or Paul’s struggle then that same plea will be ours, “O wretched man that I am!”
No Problem for God
If it depends on me, then it will fail. How then can anyone not fail especially in the most important, eternal things of life?
Remember the story of Jesus trying to get the rich young man to follow him? When the man walked away, Jesus made an astonishing statement and that is the very word the Bible uses to describe it.
Look at Mark 10:25-27 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. 26 And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved? 27 And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.
That is the answer for us as well, with me success in these
spiritual, eternal things is impossible, but not with God, for with God all
things are possible. Now look at what God tells Ezekiel in vs 22-24. It is time
for God to act and God will not fail.
For My Name’s Sake - Ezekiel 36:22-24
22 Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went. 23 And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. 24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
God Acts Because He Is God
God tells Ezekiel in vs. 22, Therefore. Because of Israel’s sin and failure, therefore He must act, not because they deserved it but “for His name’s sake.”
Israel’s failure, their sin reflected on God. The pagan nations saw Israel’s God as nothing, less that one of their pagan god. So God would act to glorify Himself through them, and in spite of them. Though they had failed Him, He would not fail.
The Power of God
When man sinned in the Garden, it may have seemed that Satan had succeed in corrupting and distorting all of creation and especially the one creature made in the image of God. God was not taken by surprise, He knew that giving man freewill could and would result in man’s sin and so God would act to redeem and reclaim His creation. He would act because He was God and God does not fail.
Ecclesiastes 3:14 I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.
Where God’s name is involved, where God's word is involved, God will act and He will not fail.
Daddy, Why Do You Work? Because You are my Son.
One early morning about 4am when it was cold and dark, I was stepping out the kitchen door to go work the sunrise shift at UPS. I told LeeOra goodbye and I was just getting ready to step out into the black chill of another winter workday in North Texas, when down the hall I heard socked feet running on the wooden floor. My little 3-yr. old son, Jason, fresh from a warm bed, with sleep still in his eyes and spikes in his hair ran into my lowered arms. As I picked him up and hugged him through my thick coat and work clothes, Jason asked me, "Daddy why do have to go to work?"
I looked down at his little face, to answer, but he was already falling back to sleep pillowed on my coat’s thick pile collar. But I thought about that question, “Why do I work?”
"I work, " I thought, "because this house is my home, because LeeOra is my wife and because you are my son. I work because I am the Dad and Dad’s work.”
On a much larger scale, that is why God acts because we are his creation, we are his people and always because God is God and God does not fail us, even if we fail Him.
How then would God act for His name’s sake and for Israel sake and yes for our sake as well? He would place his people under a new covenant, one that was dependent only upon Himself. Look at vs. 25
For The Future - Ezekiel 36:25-29
25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. 26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. 28 And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.29 I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you. 30 And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen
Future Secured by God.
God would act by bring forth a “New Covenant.” It would replace the covenant of the “Law” which was begun at Mt. Sinai and was broken by man’s weakness and sin even before Mose came down from the mount. But this covenant could not be broken, because it was by His plan and by His power alone. It would not depend on man to keep but only upon God, the father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
This covenant would cleanse vs. 25 the people of their sin, it would give them a New Heart vs. 26, and a New Spirit vs. 27, and a New Relationship vs. 28
For Israel it meant God's Provision of the Promised land would not be lost vs. 29-30 and they would be blessed in that land and protected from their enemies.
Entering The New Covenant
The New Covenant began when Christ came as Israel’s Messiah but was rejected by the nation He came to redeem. Israel rejected their promised Christ. Another failure, the worst sin that they could commit, but still God, for His name’s sake, would not reject His people, even though they had rejected His son. Now was the time when He would bring for the New Covenant.
A New Covenant that those in Israel who did believe could enter into and even more incredible, even those who were never a part of Israel could also enter in. This covenant is why the Gospel came to us as Gentiles and it is still in effect and cannot fail for any and all those who would accept Christ as their Savior
Hebrews 9: 15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament (covenant), that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
By faith, we can enter into this New covenant of Grace with God. We do not keep this Covenant by our power, for we cannot, but we can by simple faith and trust come under its protection, promises and blessings.
We can experience cleansing of our sin by the renewing of forgiveness. We can have a new Heart, a new life source of God’s love. We can have a new Spirit. The Holy Spirit indwells us and everything is changed, everything is made new. We will have a new relationship with God, growing stronger and renewing itself each day. We can rest in God's Provision, trusting God to meet the needs of our life today and promises eternal life with God forever.
Knowing that God for His name’s sake has acted to save me. Knowing that I will fail but that God will never fail. Knowing that by believing His promise, accepting Jesus as my savior means that I cannot be lost again, cannot be returned to a fatherless, heartless, hopeless reject.
God has claimed me as his child and whatsoever God doeth he doeth it forever. If that doesn’t apply to my salvation by the shed blood of Jesus Christ then it doesn’t apply to anything promised by God in the Bible.
Conclusion:
The Difference is Hope and Faith In the Finish
In the introduction we talked about Florence Chadwick, one of the greatest and most famous distance swimmers in history. We left her in a boat in the thick fog, just one mile short of the finish. But that isn’t the end of the story.
Two months later, she tried that 26 mile swim to Catalina Island again and again the same thick fog set in, but this time she didn’t stop, she didn’t quit in exhaustion and defeat. This time she kept going despite the same or worse condition. This time she succeeded in reaching the goal. When they asked what was different this time, how she was able to finish, she said that she kept a mental image of that shoreline, her goal in her mind while she swam. Knowing that the finish was ahead of her gave her the strength to finish.
We as the children of God’s New Covenant have something much more powerful than a great athlete’s mental image of the finish line. We have something much more powerful and sure, we have the Word, the promise, the power of the omnipotent God of creation, Our God. Knowing what He has promised us, knowing that with God all things are possible and knowing that God cannot fail, we know we have a hope that also will not fail.
Do you have that hope this morning? If you have that hope then are you looking forward to the finish, knowing that whatever lies between now and then God has promised you’ll reach the goal. If you don’t have that hope, if you haven’t entered into the new Covenant of God’s grace then listen and respond as we sing “Softly and Tenderly” for Jesus is still calling you to a new heart, a new spirit and a new relationship this morning.
