Why Will Ye Die?

A remarkable and heart-searching question

The question placed above this article may appear somewhat puzzling to you, for who in his right mind wants to die! Under normal circumstances we want to live, and this is especially true for young people. In your estimation you have a future before you in which you anticipate to live life to the fullest. Yet it behooves you to pay careful attention to this question, as this question is being asked by none other than God Himself! God addressed this question in the first place to the people of Israel who, in spite of God’s many warnings and gracious invitations to return to Him in the way of repentance, stubbornly persisted in serving their idols. In doing so the children of Israel were bringing about their own death and destruction, as God’s judgment upon their idolatry would be inevitable. However, while impressing upon them the certainty of His judgment upon their sin, God at the same time wishes to impress upon Israel that He has no delight in their destruction, but rather that they would turn to Him and live.

It is only against this background that we can understand why the Lord exclaims in holy amazement, “Why will ye die?” It is as if the Lord says to this stubborn, sinful nation, “Why do you refuse to heed the warnings and admonitions of My servants? Why do you persist in trampling upon My commandments? Why do you insist in pursuing a lifestyle which will inevitably result in My judgment upon you, which will result in your death and destruction?”

And yet, my dear young friend, this question is not merely directed to Israel, but also to you. You also belong to the house of Israel, to the congregation of the Lord. By birth and baptism God has also sovereignly placed you under the ministry of His Word, by which He personally calls you to turn unto Him in order that you might live. And yet, by nature we are no better than the Israelites whom God addressed by means of Ezekiel. By nature we also do not heed the Word of God, but stubbornly persist in serving the idols of this world, thereby despising God and His precepts. What is so disturbing, however, is that we do this against better knowledge. You know very well that the wages of sin is death, and that God’s eternal judgment awaits those who die in their sins. And yet in spite of that knowledge we go on sinning, either openly or secretly, thereby actively promoting our own destruction. How unspeakably foolish we are by nature, for in Prov. 8:36 the Holy Spirit warns us that “he that sin-neth against Me (= Christ) wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate Me love death.” How incredulous but true; by nature we are lovers of death rather than life!

God’s revelation of His good pleasure

However, what is even more incredulous, is that the God whom we so deeply offend with our sin, who by no means can clear the guilty, and whose wrath we justly deserve, does not desire your death and destruction. How astonishing that God who could have righteously condemned the entire, fallen human race, instead reveals in His Word that He desires the salvation of sinners who by nature have no desire whatsoever to be reconciled to Him. That is the amazing truth expressed in Ezekiel 33:11. In this text God reveals the magnificent truth of His eternal good pleasure towards the children of men. Here God proclaims that He has no pleasure in the damnation of fallen sons and daughters of Adam, but rather that they would turn to Him and live.

It is this eternal good pleasure towards the children of men which motivated God to give His beloved Son over to the cursed death of the cross. God poured out His wrath upon Him in order that in perfect harmony with all His attributes He would be able to invite fallen and hell-worthy sinners to turn unto Him and live. Therefore, as is true of all of Scripture, Christ and His finished work is the key which unlocks the profound riches of God’s grace found in Ezekiel 33:11.

However, my dear young friend, this remarkable revelation of God’s grace has significance for you in a most personal way. In difference with the young people of the world, you have the inestimable privilege of knowing that in this text God addresses Himself to you personally. Perhaps you ask, “How do you know this with such certainty?” The fact that you are baptized in the Name of the God who speaks in this text gives me this certainty! When you were baptized in the Name of a triune God, and when your own name was mentioned in conjunction with God’s glorious Name, God as it were made a public declaration in the midst of the congregation, saying, “As I live, I have no pleasure in the death of this sinful child, but therein that she/he would turn unto Me and live.” What an astonishing truth! God has no pleasure in your death, even though as a sinner you are worthy of death. That is why He sovereignly caused you to be born within the confines of the church; that is why He caused the mark of His covenant to be placed on your forehead; that is why He has placed you under the ministry of His Word; that is why He causes you to hear the gospel of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, which is that faithful saying, worthy of all acceptation; namely, that He came to save sinners.

Young friend, how unspeakably privileged you are! How this profound reality ought to encourage you to seek the Lord who with holy urgency invites you to turn to Him in true repentance. Your baptism, in which God visibly confirms the truth of Ezekiel 33:11, is His own warranty that those who seek Him shall find Him.

God’s oath whereby He confirms His own declaration

Perhaps there is someone who doesn’t quite dare to believe that God also has no pleasure in his or her death. Perhaps you are deeply troubled about your sin and the wickedness of your heart, and are convinced that you are worthy of divine judgment. You dare not believe that God could have any dealings with such a sinful wretch as you are. If this is your concern, let me direct your attention to the unusual manner by which the Lord stresses the truth of these words.

Ezekiel 33:11 begins with these words, “As I live, saith the Lord GOD…” The fact that God, concerning His pleasure, introduces this declaration with these words is very significant. In these words God is swearing an oath; He is swearing by His very own Name, proclaiming that as true as it is that He exists, so true it is that He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. In other words, it is as if God says, “If this is not true, then I cease to exist. However, as true as it is that I am the Lord GOD, so true it is that I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked.” God as it were binds this truth to the eternal existence of His Being. And therefore, my young friend, as true as it is that God lives, so true it is that He also has no pleasure in your death! Even the wickedness of your heart does not stand in the way. The wondrous gospel truth expressed in this text is that it does not say that the Lord has no pleasure in the death of respectable church members, but rather that He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. How this ought to encourage you to seek the Lord who will never cast out the vilest sinner who comes to Him in the way of true repentance.

God’s urgent plea to forsake the ways of sin

However, there may also be some young people reading this article, who have no desire to seek the Lord; who have no genuine concern about the fact that they have sinned against that God who so graciously has placed them under the ministry of the gospel; who value the pleasure of sin far above the service of the Lord. How tragic it is that also among our young people there are some who either openly or subtly display their contempt for God and His Word, and who against better knowledge brazenly indulge in the practice of sin. What an unspeakable wonder, however, that God also addresses you in Ezekiel 33:11! It is especially to you that God speaks with holy urgency, “Turn ye, turn ye, for why will you die?” To you, young friend, indulging yourself in sexual sin, God addresses the question, “Why will you die?” To you, involved in substance abuse (be it drugs or alcohol) God addresses the question, “Why will ye die?” To you, addicted to Satan-inspired rock music, God addresses the question, “Why will ye die?” To you, worshipping the gods of sports and entertainment, God addresses the question, “Why will ye die?” It is as if God asks, “Why are you determined to bring about the damnation of your never-dying soul? Why do you ignore the loving warnings and invitations of my holy Word? Why do you go on in a way which most certainly will result in eternal, unspeakable torment?”

Young friend, if such is your case, what a wonder it is that also to you it applies that the Lord has no pleasure in your death! God, whose law you defy and treat with contempt, addresses Himself even to you and pleads with the utmost sincerity of His Being, “Turn ye, turn ye from your evil way, for why will ye die?” Therefore, turn, oh turn from your sinful way, before God’s Word will be fulfilled, “He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy” (Prov. 29:1).

Conclusion

May God grant that each of us may take the remarkable words of Ezekiel 33:11 to heart. May it encourage you to seek the Lord who so freely and remarkably reveals His good pleasure in this text, and who so urgently invites sinners to turn unto Him and live. Even if you feel no desire to seek Him, or if you are profoundly troubled by your inability to seek Him as you ought, even then flee to Him who not only calls sinners to repentance, but who also has exalted His Son as a Prince and a Savior to give repentance; who, by His Spirit, grants sinners the grace to repent.

Therefore, “Seek ye the LORD while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near” (Isa. 55:6).

The Surrendered Life

Oh, the peace of full surrender!
All my joy to do His will!
Mine to trust His faithful promise;
His the promise to fulfill.

Oh, the glory and the rapture
Thus to dwell with Christ the Lord;
New delight and wisdom gaining
From the study of His Word.

Pleasure’s songs no more entice me,
Nor the bugle note of Fame;
Sweeter far the holy music
Of my dear Redeemer’s Name.

Oh, the glory and the rapture—
Earthly burdens pass away!
Stormy winter turns to summer;
Lonely darkness into day.

Bartel Elshout is presently on leave of absence as evangelist, and is engaged in the translation of orthodox Reformed classics from Second Reformation divines.

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