Ezekiel 11:14-17 - I will gather you from the nations

11:14,15

There is probably a section heading here in your Bible, but it is good to remember that this comes in response to Ezekiel’s desperate plea in 11:13. “Will you completely destroy the remnant of Israel?” To which the answer is a resounding no! We need to understand that judgement and salvation go together with God. Where there is a judgement plan there is also a salvation plan. There is another aspect that we should also get a hold of: there are many who suffer under judgement. We can cope with God forgiving everyone, we can cope  (intellectually) with God punishing everyone. But the Biblical reality, painted again and again, is of judgement and salvation going together. Some suffer judgement, some receive salvation. We find it very difficult to “get our heads round this” (I hate that phrase, but it will do for now!), yet we need to do so for it is the Biblical message. 

To add to Ezekiel’s woes from the vision he has just experienced, the people of Jerusalem thought the exiles were a write-off. The thinking was that since the exiles were far from Jerusalem, they were far from God’s plans or concern. Nothing could be further from the truth.

11:16,17

So God now begins to correct the wrong thinking that was going around, and that was affecting Ezekiel. And these words are highly relevant to the exiles. Yes, God had sent them far away, and this was because of their sin, but He was a sanctuary for them in the far away land. “For a little while” is there because this exile, while being a stepping stone in God’s plan, is not a permanent state of affairs. The longer term plan is for Him to gather them back. The land of Israel would be given back to the exiles.