Living With Consequences Ezekiel 34:1-6, 11-16 July 9, 2006
1. How do we deal with consequences? The law of physics states that “for every action, there is an
equal and opposite reaction.” In other words if you play with fire, someone will get burned.
2. Do you recall what company has for it’s slogan, “Good to the Last Drop?” No, not Chevron,
Folgers Coffee Co. What company has for it’s slogan, “Not a Drop?” No, not Exxon, but the State
Office of FAS. (turn on overhead) One drop of C2H5OH, or ethyl alcohol, whether in the first, second
or third trimester of a woman’s pregnancy can result in permanent birth defects in the fetus, called
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. It doesn’t take a six pack of Bud Light to produce FAS, nor a fifth of vodka
or a gallon of Mogan David. Just one drop of C2H5OH, alcohol. If you play with fire, someone will
get burned. You say, how can one drop of alcohol cause physical damage? C2H5OH is a solvent and
is related to the gasoline family. One drop of it will dissolve paint as well as human tissue.
3. What are the consequences of our sin? Is there an equal and opposite reaction for every act of
sin? Just as we have the law of physics, is there a law of the spirit? Look at Ezekiel 18:4. It’s a very
simple matter of fact statement. And it states this. . .“The soul that sinneth, it shall die.”
4. The Hebrew word for soul is “nephesh.” It embraces everything that makes up who a person is:
emotions, passion, memories. When a soul sins, this passion, this essence, dies a little each time.
Until there is nothing left.
5. Like the episode in the Twilight Zone television series, where this mother receives a deadly credit
card. She is able to get things she never dreamed of, but when she is unable to pay, persons in her
life just disappears. First her husband, then her children. Finally when she tries to cut up the
credit card, why, she disappears. Sin, like C2H5OH, is also a solvent. It dissolves relationships. It
dissolves your “nephesh.” And little by little erodes who you are, until there is nothing left.
6. We know that in 586 B.C. Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians. One of the reasons it fell was due to
poor leaders. In the Bible, a shepherd is often a metaphor for Israel’s leaders. In the Middle East, a
king is often compared to as a shepherd of the people, and just as it should be. David is the classic
example of a shepherd who became king.
7. Ezekiel 34:1-6 gives us the consequences of sin in a shepherd-leader. (Let’s read 1-6) In this
passage, a leader is appointed by God with the duty of caring for His flock. Instead, he robs those
entrusted into his care. He rules over them harshly and with an iron fist, instead of tending to their
needs. The kings of Israel reflected the type of leadership we sometimes see in business,
government and even church organizations. People are treated as a means to an end, rather than
the end in itself. The weak are discarded, and the wounded ignored.
8. Elie Weisel in his book “Night” recounts an event in 1942, when a train filled with deportees
were boarded and taken over by the Gestapo. The deportees were ordered out of the train and led
into the Galican forest in Poland. There they were ordered to dig huge trenches. And then when
they had finished their work, the Gestapo began theirs. One by one the deportees were forced to
approach the trench and were shot. Some did not die immediately. One young girl named Malka,
lay dying for three days in the trench. Weisel writes, “Infants were tossed into the air and used as
targets for the machine guns.” In times of war, people are treated as a means to an end. The weak
are discarded, and the wounded ignored. (turn off overhead)
9. Israel’s leaders discarded and ignored the people they were supposed to care for. But they also
felt the consequences of God’s judgment. Like to share the sad story of a man named Zed.
Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king of Judah. Perhaps he was a hot head.
Maybe the power got to him. But he did not listen to Ezekiel and Jeremiah and the other prophets
who spoke the word of the Lord. . . He refused to repent of his ways and return to the Lord.
(2 Chronicles 36:11-13). Instead he did what he wanted to do. Are there times when you and I are
like Zedekiah? Not wanting to listen?
10. It was during his watch when the enemy laid siege to Jerusalem. Was he ready? No. Was he
prepared? No. There was a famine in the city and the people had nothing to eat. Did Zedekiah,
king of Judah do try to find food for his people? No. Did he suffer along with them? No. Instead of
staying with his people, Zedekiah ran away. But he was caught by Nebuchadnezzar, king of the
Babylonian army. Zedekiah was forced to watch as his sons were put to death, and then both of his
eyes were put out. He later died a broken man, in a dungeon in Babylon, far away from home. The
weak are discarded, and the wounded ignored.
11. How about your life this morning? Is the enemy laying siege to your heart? Are the fiery darts of
Satan being thrown your way? Where are the shepherd-leaders to rescue you from suffering?
Ezekiel spoke of a time when God Himself would be the shepherd. In Ezekiel 34:23, “The Sovereign
Lord says. . .” “I will place over them one shepherd.” Over 500 years after Ezekiel said this, Jesus
fulfilled this prophecy when He said, “They will listen to My voice and become one flock with one
shepherd.” (John 10:16). What are some of the qualities of a shepherd of God? One is found in
Ezekiel 34:12, “The Sovereign Lord says. . .”
1.) “I will rescue them, from where they have scattered.” When a predator comes into the fold, the
sheep try to flee and run in every which direction in order to escape the danger. The shepherd
knows where his sheep have scattered. He knows the environment and how it will affect his flock.
He senses and anticipate events. There’s an old saying that goes, “Red sky at night is the
shepherd’s delight. Red sky in the morning is the shepherd’s warning.” The second quality of a
shepherd of God is found in Ezekiel 34:16, “The Sovereign Lord says. . .”
2.) “I will search for the lost and bring back the strays.” The shepherd is a seeker of the lost. We
have a new outreach ministry at the Anchorage Corps called Project Timothy. The Project Timothy
coordinator will do outreach to the young adults between ages 18 – 24 years. We are looking for
someone who has the heart of a shepherd and who is burdened with the passion to reach the lost.
The third quality of a shepherd of God is found in Ezekiel 34:16, “The Sovereign Lord says. . .”
3.) “I will bind up the wounded and strengthen the weak.” In other words, a true shepherd is no
Zedekiah. He doesn’t try to run away when his sheep are starving and dying of thirst. The true
shepherd is there with his flock through thick or thin. Jesus said in John 10:11, “I am the good
shepherd, who is willing to die for the sheep.”
12. Elie Weisel in his book “Night” recounts an incident in the Nazi death camp when the Gestapo
arrested a little child for conspiring to bring in weapons for the Jewish resistance. All the prisoners
were forced to witness this youth being hanged. When the stool was yanked from under him, he did
not die immediately, as he was so light, just skin and bones. And so he struggled for some time.
Every prisoner stood silent, as they witnessed the death throes of this brave youth. Someone
whispered to Elie Weisel, “Where is God now?” Elie said, “Look at the gallows,” pointing to the
dying child, “There is God, dying for you and I.”
“O Lamb of God, sweet Lamb of God. I love the holy Lamb of God. O wash me in His precious blood.
My Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.” Shall we pray.
Altar Call: Lamb of God