Lessons From Ezekiel – Lesson 16
The answer for some things are simple. How to get to heaven for example. Faith. Believe you are a sinner with no way to work your way to heaven, admit your sin and believe that Jesus died for your sin and was raised again proving the payment was accepted and simply call upon him with a repentant heart. Simple.
It can be phrased different ways and presented with different verses and examples but it is the same simple truth. One truth, one way, no exceptions. There is only one answer why every person in hell is there. They did not accept Jesus.
There are other things that are not so simple. And the answer to some questions is not the same for everyone in every situation. For example the question, why is my prayer not answered?
If you think back over the last few weeks we have covered a couple of them.
We looked at those Elders coming before Ezekiel for the 3rd time. And for the 3rd time God refuses to be inquired of by them. And then they are given an earful, a long history lesson similar to the 2nd time they came, and at the end they are told that they are doing the same things.
What we have there is unrepentant hearts seeking God. The Elders came to inquire of God while still holding on to their sin.
And then we looked at some other examples in the Word of God. In Acts chapter 14 Paul heals someone and the people there where worshipping false gods. And they were saying that Paul was one of their gods come down to them. And Paul responds with you need to turn from these things.
Acts 14:15 And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein:
Preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities and turn unto the living God. The real true only God that created everything. That is repentance. Realize and admit your error; that you need to change. This is humbling yourself. Admitting your mistake.
And then turn from it and when you turn from it don’t turn to some other like error. No turn unto the living God. That is how you have to come to God. In Acts chapter 14 they needed to turn from and turn to God to get saved. These are of course lost people worshipping false gods.
And people who will not do that do not get anywhere with God. Just like those Elders in Ezekiel. Not coming to God in repentance will stop your prayers.
After you are saved you will never go to hell. However, having a non-repentant heart will stop your prayers from being answered.
Isa_59:2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
We see this in the N.T. also. In 1st John it covers the fact that we are all still sinners. We all still mess up. And we are given instructions about what to do about it when we do.
1Jn 1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
1Jn 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
That should be really clear. God is light and in him is zero darkness. He will not walk in darkness with you down in the gutter. If you are walking in darkness, you are still saved, however, you can’t say you are walking with God. If you say that you are lying.
Your fellowship with God is broken. In this state you are not going to get a favorable audience with God.
Caution. Remember He still loves you, He still cares about your problem. He still wants to answer your prayers. But the answer you will get is, let’s deal with this problem first and then we will deal with your prayer requests.
1Jn 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
The answer is turn, get out of the gutter, leave the darkness you are walking in and start walking in the light again. And of course we have to confess it to God.
1Jn 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1Jn 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Why are prayers not answered?
- Unrepentant heart as in not getting saved like those Elders.
- Saved people having an unrepentant heart about walking in some darkness. Refusing to turn from it and confess it to God.
And last week we looked at a 3rd reason. You have not because you ask not.
We looked at how Jesus out of compassion fed the multitude and immediately sent His disciples out into the lake, knowing the storm was coming. And they are out there all night and we are told why. Because they considered not the miracle of the loaves for their hearts were hardened.
Jesus was watching all night waiting for them to pray but they did not. In the last watch of the night Jesus goes out and walks close enough to get their attention but would have walked by. He will not force people; they had to voluntarily turn their attention upon Him.
Jesus is not a dictator. He did not make us all mindless robots. He will not force you to pray and ask. Once they did Jesus solves their problem. They could have had that as soon as the storm hit them. But they had not because they asked not.
They did not consider Jesus’ compassion and how that moved Him to action to be a help and solve a problem. They did not consider the miracle of the loaves for their hearts were hardened.
If they would have considered his compassion and considered that He is their Lord and thought about His great love, then they would have called out and saved themselves a lot of trouble.
There are many things that cause prayers to not be answered and a hard heart is at the top.
- Unrepentant heart as in not getting saved like those Elders.
- Saved people having an unrepentant heart about walking in some darkness. Refusing to turn from it and confess it to God.
The 3rd reason is not asking.
The 4th reason we find in James chapter 4. This is wrong asking.
Jas 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
Jas 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
Jas 4:5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
Jas 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
I could start lusting for a 61 corvette. I have no business wanting a 61 corvette; I have no need for it. The cost would be a burden for my family, not to mention the amount of time it would consume that would take away from my responsibilities and most important time away from getting out the Word of God.
If I get lusting after that and start praying God has every right to tell me no.
And in these verses we see that praying with the friendship of the world is actually enmity with God.
So asking wrongly, according to our lusts and according to wicked worldly thinking is an absolute sure way to not get prayers answered.
- Unrepentant heart as in not getting saved like those Elders.
- Saved people having an unrepentant heart about walking in some darkness. Refusing to turn from it and confess it to God.
The 3rd reason is not asking.
The 4th reason is wrong asking.
We covered a 5th reason almost 2 years ago. With the parable that Jesus taught of the unjust judge.
A 5th reason is not asking enough. Not persevering. There is a need with some prayers to not only have but to exercise faith and patience and perseverance.
Today we look at a 6th reason. We see a hint of it in Ezekiel Chapter 20.
Before we read chapter 20 I want to remind us about when Ezekiel was overwhelmed with an instruction. If you remember God is giving Ezekiel instructions about building his model of Jerusalem and laying siege against it.
Eze 4:12 And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight.
Eze 4:13 And the LORD said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them.
Eze 4:14 Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! behold, my soul hath not been polluted: for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth.
Eze 4:15 Then he said unto me, Lo, I have given thee cow’s dung for man’s dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread therewith.
Ezekiel cries out to God. A type of praying and tells God how he feels. It is too much. Ah Lord God! And God hears it, and is patient with it and answers that request. Ezekiel gets to use cow chips instead.
Now move ahead to chapter 20.
Eze 20:45 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 20:46 Son of man, set thy face toward the south, and drop thy word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the south field;
Eze 20:47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.
Eze 20:48 And all flesh shall see that I the LORD have kindled it: it shall not be quenched.
Eze 20:49 Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! they say of me, Doth he not speak parables?
Ezekiel chapter 1 thru chapter 20 is a little over 2 years. And it has been object lesson after object lesson. And when Ezekiel was not digging thru a literal wall as an object lesson the messages that God gives him are full of visuals.
Like the two eagles and the unfaithful vine. Or the lion who has two cubs and teaches them to destroy. And now God tells him to go preach to the forest of the south. He done something just like that before and did not complain.
But now. Eze 20:49 Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! they say of me, Doth he not speak parables?
What does that tell you? Ezekiel has been getting ridiculed. Push back. Teased. However you want to put it. And it obviously was getting harder to take.
So in like matter as the complaint almost 2 years earlier Ezekiel cries out Ah Lord God!
The first time God answered. The plan was changed. God does care. He does listen. So what about this time. What does God say in return? Nothing.
Nothing. This prayer is not answered. In fact God stays the course with Ezekiel. First it is the illustration of a sword.
Eze 21:3 And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of his sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.
Eze 21:4 Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh from the south to the north:
Eze 21:5 That all flesh may know that I the LORD have drawn forth my sword out of his sheath: it shall not return any more.
And then the object lesson of sighing.
Eze 21:6 Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of thy loins; and with bitterness sigh before their eyes.
Then comes the smiting of his hands together.
Eze 21:14 Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thine hands together, and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the slain: it is the sword of the great men that are slain, which entereth into their privy chambers.
We will not read it all but the message and the method does not change at all. All thru chapter 21 and chapter 22.
Chapter 22 is about why they deserve the punishment that is coming and in it is you guessed it more objects. More visuals.
Eze 22:18 Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross: all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver.
Chapter 23 is a parable. It is about two sisters. One more wicked than the other. The one sister stands for Sodom and the second more wicked sister stands for Jerusalem.
Enough of the people were not being nice about Ezekiel’s messages and were vocal about it and Ezekiel prays.
Eze 20:49 Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! they say of me, Doth he not speak parables?
And there is no answer. And then here comes the messages and instructions one after the other and there is no change. It is object lesson and visuals and parables.
So the obvious answer is no.
Here is something to learn. God has every right to say no. And He has every right to just let the obvious answer be obvious. He does not have to explain it.
Since the obvious answer is no, then we should like Ezekiel accept it by faith. Without faith it is impossible to please Him.
And I love Ezekiel here. The request is denied and the instructions and methods do not change and Ezekiel just sucks it up and keeps being faithful and just keeps delivering object lessons and parables.
Why did God answer the first time and make a change for Ezekiel and then obviously say no the second time.
This is the 6th reason prayers are not answered. Why? Basically it is because God knows best.
Remember Paul asked 3 times for God to remove the thorn in his flesh and God said no and that His grace is sufficient for thee. God had a purpose for the thorn in Paul’s life. God knew better than Paul. God had a reason for it. The thorn was there most likely for several reasons.
1 It was there so that Luke the doctor would travel with Paul and because of that we have two books of the Bible. Luke and Acts.
2 It increased the need for Paul to accept help from and rely upon others. Many of the books Paul wrote will have a note at the end saying penned by and give the name.
3 Paul had a history of pride. He was a Pharisee of the Pharisee’s of the stock of Benjamin. People who have a serious problem being lifted up in pride can humble themselves and repent and get saved, and then later they can let that old pride get ahold of them again. The thorn would help Paul stay humble.
4 The thorn would help Paul stay dependent upon God’s grace.
So the request from Paul was fine in and of itself. There was no sin in Paul asking. It was a good thing to want some hardship removed.
God has shown many other times where He is willing to grant such a request. But here God knew better. It was needed. More good would actually come by saying no.
Ezekiel was unique. God used him in a unique way. O’ He used others with parables and object lessons, but none with the concentration of them like Ezekiel. And yes the adults were putting him down about it.
But God knew best. Who is watching? Who are going to be the ones who will listen and turn and come back to God and in about 70 years go back. A few of the children and their children.
Children watch and need visuals. And when they grew up they taught their children the object lessons and visuals and parables of Ezekiel.
God was giving Ezekiel the best method and the best visuals and parables for the best impact on the audience he was sent for.
So the answer was no. I am not changing anything about the messages or method. More good would come by saying no.
Number 6 in the reason for prayers not getting answered is God knows best. He has a reason for saying no and more good will actually come from saying no to some requests.