The Righteous Ones

Ezekiel 13-18

Through the prophet Ezekiel, the Lord calls out three men who were more righteous than others... Noah, Daniel, and Job. But Ezekiel had a somewhat different message for the Israelites. No matter the righteousness of these three, if the Lord were going to bring calamity down upon Israel and these three were there, their righteousness would not even save their own children, much less the nation of Israel, only themselves. God's message was that the sins of the fathers would not condemn the sons, nor would the sins of the son condemn the father, but the same would hold true for righteousness. Each would be judged based on their own righteousness. The choice of the three is also unexpected. Daniel was a contemporary of Ezekiel, but Job and Noah were more than 1000 years in the past. Some would have us believe that the Book of Job is fiction, but if that were so, why would God tell Ezekiel that he was righteous? Hmm...