Ezekiel 31 – 36

Verse 32:18 describes the fate of Egypt:

Son of man, grieve for the vast population of Egypt. Deliver Egypt and her foreign allies to the lowest regions of the earth, to the pit where they may join the rest of the dead.

The Hebrew word is Sheol which is unclear to the exact meaning. We have interpreted it as a pit or place where we go when we die. The actual translation is “to ask a question” since no one is really sure what happens after death. The Jewish people often believed there was this pit that we go until the final days when we’d be united with God. I have heard many call Sheol “the pits of hell”. The verses that follow imply this is not the greatest place. It’s a dark and shadowy place where the dead souls hang out until final judgment.

Verses 33:4 & 5 describe our inaction to God’s call:

and if someone hears the alarm and ignores it, allowing that army to come and capture him; then it is his own fault for not taking appropriate action. His blood will be on his own hands. If he had done something, he could have saved his life and the lives of others. 

This is true to this day, we have heard the call to Jesus and the consequences if not followed. God has made the individual responsible for their action. Interesting how this verse appears to be a move from corporate (nation of Israel) to the individual. Often we would see the nation punished as a whole, now it appears to be getting personal.

As you notice also, the person sounding the alarm is responsible to sound it, if he does not and the people die because of this that individual bears the responsibility for the corporate loss. This is critical about professing the salvation Jesus; we need to sound the alarm. Assume you know someone who has never heard the love of Jesus and we have lunch with them. They have a piano drop on their head and die leaving the restaurant, where is their salvation? Will you be punished for this inaction? I don’t believe so with the grace of Jesus, but it is possible and we should not surrender the responsibility of evangelizing.

Verse 34:8 implies that we are the sheep in need of a shepherd:

As surely as I, the Eternal Lord, live, because My sheep are without a shepherd, because they have become prey for all the wild beasts to feed upon, because my shepherds have not gone in search of My sheep but have only looked out for themselves and not watched after and cared for My flock;

Although we are individually responsible to accept the salvation offered by God through the blood of Jesus, the shepherds are responsible for guiding God’s people. We have seen time and time again how one can quickly twist and pervert the word of God, so we need to ensure we have a good shepherd. They need to be true to the word of God without twisting the word.

Again I tend to beat this example into the ground, but will use it again. Joel Osteen is the leader of one of the largest churches in the world. I decided to watch one of his sermons which was wonderful about Zerubbabel rebuilding the temple. It all steamed around him saying “begin again”. I decided to search that verse and over 3 more reads of the Bible and a detailed search on BibleGateway through all the English versions, I have not found that verse. What does this mean in the long run? Is Osteen evil and needs to be silenced? I don’t know, just know he embellished the truth in the Bible to make a good sermon, that was advertised as Biblical, but had no foundation in scripture.