In Ezekiel 4:5 the reckoning of the years of Israel's rebellion may have been assessed from the time of Rehoboam's establishment of the two calves in Dan and Bethel to the destruction of Jerusalem in the eleventh year of Zedekiah: 

In Ezekiel 4:6 the 40 years of Judah's sins may have simply be a subset of the 390 years. The period may refer to the reign of Manasseh, whose sinful reign God explicitly announced was the reason for His judgment on Judah (cf. 2 Kings 24:3).

Friends, these verses demonstrate God's exact reckoning and justice. They have application for us as well, for we read this in Paul's letter to the churches in Galatia:

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life (Galatians 6:7-8).

This principle is taught in a famous parable:

An old grandfather told his grandson: “My son, there is a battle between two wolves inside us all. One is evil. It is anger, jealousy, greed, and resentment. The other is good. It is joy, love, hope, humility, kindness, empathy, and bravery.”

The boy thought about it, and asked, “Grandfather, which wolf wins?”

The old man quietly replied, “The one you feed.”

Friends, let us labor to feed our Spirit-led, righteous self and starve our fleshly, evil self. So we read in Galatians 5:16-17:

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.

Each morning, which wolf are you feeding? By meditation on God's Word and humble prayer are you feeding the good wolf within you? Or by anxious planning and selfish striving are you feeding the evil wolf within you? Then, throughout the day, which beast do we tend to and nurture? May the Lord help us to nurture our Spiritual man, as it is in keeping with our new life in Christ (cf. Galatians 5:24-25).

Go to the exiles, to the sons of your people, and speak to them and tell them, whether they listen or not (Ezekiel 3:11; cf. 2:5,7).

God sent Ezekiel to preach to the exiles, whether they would listen or not. It is clear from previous verses that these exiles would not listen to him:

But I have sent you to them who should listen to you; yet the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, since they are not willing to listen to Me. Surely the whole house of Israel is stubborn and obstinate (Ezekiel 3:6-7).

Why would God send Ezekiel to preach to the people when He knew that they would not listen?Does the absence of this warning absolve the guilt of the sinful? No. For God told Ezekiel elsewhere that if he failed to warn, those he failed to warn would still die for their sins:

Again, when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I place an obstacle before him, he will die; since you have not warned him, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered... (Ezekiel 3:20a)

Now, apart from the judgment of the sinners he was to warn, if Ezekiel failed to speak to them, he would bear some of the guilt of their rebellion:

...but his blood I will require at your hand (Ezekiel 3:20b).

Regardless of how a person might respond to Ezekiel, Ezekiel's responsibility was not to be concerned about this but to simply obey God's command to preach the message.

Friends, it is true that God has chosen some for salvation, and these were chosen from the beginning of the world (cf. Ephesians 1:4; Romans 8:29-30). Therefore, we cannot change what God has decreed. We cannot add to those God has chosen for His kingdom, nor can we take any away from it.

In view of this, some may object to evangelism. Why preach the Gospel when God has already decided who would be saved? Other than the most obvious reason, namely, that God has not put a big sign on every person to show whether they are elect (i.e. chosen for salvation) or not, we are commanded to preach the Gospel:

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19).

He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation (Mark 16:15).

Ezekiel was commanded to preach his message without worrying about how his hearers might respond. God already told him that for the most part the people would reject his message. Thus, his primary motivation for preaching was obedience to God. 

God's commission to Christians is much the same. We have the command to preach the Gospel, but we are not given the divine insight into people's hearts and to the state of their election. It is very possible that none of the ones to whom we preach were chosen, such that no amount of our preaching will affect their salvation. Therefore, our primary motivation for preaching the Gospel should not be the salvation of souls but rather simple obedience to God's command. 

Ezekiel woud not be judged for the response of the people, but he would be judged for his failure to preach the message. Likewise, Christians will not be judged if people reject their Gospel message; however, we will be judged if we fail to obey God's command to preach the Gospel. 

But I have sent you to them who should listen to you; yet the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, since they are not willing to listen to Me (Ezekiel 3:6-7). 

God says that Israel should listen but that they will not listen. 

Thus says the Lord God. He who hears, let him hear; and he who refuses, let him refuse; for they are a rebellious house (Ezekiel 3:27).

God says that if Israel hears, let them hear and if they refuse to hear, let them refuse. Why state the obvious? The latter phrase helps us to understand: "for they are a rebellious house". God declares that the Israelites will refuse rather than hear because they are naturally rebellious toward Him. Then, what about the "He who hears, let him hear." To understand this, we need to wait till Ezekiel 11, where we read,

And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God (Ezekiel 11:19-20). 

And again in Ezekiel 36, where we read,

Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances (Ezekiel 36:25-27).

A day would come when God would give them a new heart and put His Spirit within them. In other words, even though Israel would reject God when left to their own free will, for they were by nature rebellious, God would intervene to give them a heart to believe, a Spirit to obey, even ears to hear. So Jesus would later say to the rebellious Israelites of His day:

He who has ears to hear, let him hear (Mark 4:9; cf. Matthew 11:15).

What did Jesus mean by this rather obvious statement? I believe He was saying what Ezekiel was saying, namely, 'Whoever has been given ears to hear, let them hear'. Thus, Jesus would more plainly say to the unbelieving Jews:

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them... This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them (John 6:44, 65).

Therefore, as his contemporary Jeremiah wrote (cf. Jeremiah 31:31-34), Ezekiel speaks of a New Covenant, whereby what Israel failed to do on their own because of the weakness of their sinful natures, God would do for them.

Jesus would accomplish this by ratifying the New Covenant with His own blood (cf. Hebrews 8-10). He would pay for sins once for all (cf. Hebrews 7:27). By this one sacrifice Jesus would make everyone who believes in Him perfect forever, and no more sacrifices would be necessary (cf. Hebrews 10:10, 14, 18), for He would intercede on their behalf forever (cf. Hebrews 7:25).

Friends, let us understand, our free will means unbelief and self-destruction. However, by God's sovereign grace, He decreed hearing faith in us (Romans 10:17) so that we might believe and be saved (cf. Ephesians 2:8-9).

But the people of Israel are not willing to listen to you because they are not willing to listen to me, for all the Israelites are hardened and obstinate. (Ezekiel 3:7 NIV)

At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me: "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to a wicked person, 'You will surely die,' and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their evil ways, they will die for their sin; but you will have saved yourself.

"Again, when a righteous person turns from their righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before them, they will die. Since you did not warn them, they will die for their sin. The righteous things that person did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you do warn the righteous person not to sin and they do not sin, they will surely live because they took warning, and you will have saved yourself." (Ezekiel 3:16-21 NIV)

Ezekiel is called to be a watchmen over the remnant of Israel (Ezekiel 3:16-27). His primary responsibility is to warn and admonish the people, whether they listen or not. God has already told him that they will not listen because their hearts are hardened and obstinate, but this is not his concern. His responsibility is simply to obey God.

It is interesting that God's message to the wicked is simply, "You shall surely die." This was what God told Adam when He gave the command for him not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This was also Jonah's message to Nineveh, and they repented. And a century later Nahum brought the same message, but they were destroyed. It is not a message primarily of encouragement but admonition and warning. 

It is interesting that there is little expectation for the wicked to repent, only whether Ezekiel will be held accountable for their judgment or not. Even when God speaks of the righteous, God indicates that they will be judged in how they end rather than how they began or persevered over time. If they turn from God in the end, none of their former righteous deeds will be remembered. But again, this is not Ezekiel's concern. He is simply to warn them. Interestingly, the emphasis is again on warning rather than on encouragement. 

There seems to be a distinct difference between how God responds to sin and obedience throughout Scripture. Sinfulness warrants warning and admonition. Obedience warrants encouragement. 

Today, some preachers simply preach encouragement, whether a fellow believer is doing wrong or right. Warning and admonition is re-labeled and denounced as "criticism" and "negative thinking." But this does not represent the Scriptural command, which speaks not only of encouragement but also of warning and admonition, and perhaps one might even say that the latter is more emphasized than the former. 

I realize that I have time to time emphasized encouragement over admonition. I pondered why I do it and why others do it as well. I think its because I am concerned more about the unity and solidarity of my group than I am about its spiritual health and representation of God's Name. As I consider the entire testimony of Scripture I realize that God will even destroy seven billion people save one for the sake of His Name. The history of Israel and the nations are more about God's judgment of sinful people rather than their salvation. In every generation those saved were only a fractional remnant of a much larger population. Even Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount, 

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew 7:13, 14 NIV)

God is more concerned with His Name than the salvation of many. Shouldn't we be more concerned for God's Name?

When we consider the Book of Acts, which gives us a window into the preaching and practices of the early church, we realize that their message and teaching were primarily warnings and admonitions rather than appeals to God's love and mercy or even the positive benefits of trusting in Him. If this was the emphasis of the prophets, Jesus and the apostles, is it right for us to change it?

Again, pastors and leaders emphasize encouragement over admonition for the sake of church or organizational unity, but when taking a longer view of things and a larger perspective, such an approach may create a unity and solidarity around spiritual and moral complacency, the very things God hates and judges. 

Friends, especially those of you that have been studying the Scriptures with me these several years, I want you to consider this sobering thought. Have you been supporting rebellion and sinful complacency by your words of encouragement and "understanding"? When you ought to have been rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, have you found yourself just saying positive things, concerned more about people's feelings, political correctness, and keeping church "unity" rather than upholding the truth and God's Name against the backdrop of our stubborn and rebellious generation?

Even though God knew that they're not going to listen to what He told Ezekiel to say to Israel, He still sent him among Israel to bring them to righteousness. Some of them would hear, but unfortunately not all of them. I got the impression that no matter how much we put our efforts into persuading people to accept Christ, only some will listen. Our job is not to make sure that they are persuaded but to take responsibility to proclaim the goodnews whether they accept it or not. His faithfulness to the covenant promise remain strong even in the course of rebellion of His people. If His plan for our salvation were to be dependent on our whimsical mind in any measure, would we be able to delight in His mercy and grace? The more I read God's Word, the more it becomes plain that we are depraved of goodness that we many times falsely claim as our innate character. I ask for forgiveness for my wrongful pride and indifference! May His Name be praised only!

In Ezekiel 1-4, Ezekiel is given a vision of the judgment of those remaining in Jerusalem. However, he is not giving this message to those being judged but rather the people that are presently living in exile in Babylon. Apparently, even after their exile they remain stubborn and rebellious. They still listen to false prophets and practice idolatry. Now, they will stand afar off and watch as God wipes out the remnant in Jerusalem, destroying the city, the temple, and the people. This is to be an object lesson for the exiles, so that they might not persist in their stubborn rebellion against God.

Friends, the people in exile were given a break. God allowed them to simply observe rather than to experience His judgment. In a very real sense, this is what God has done for us today. We are given a break. How many of us, including pastors and teachers, have said that we are no different from the rebellious Israel of old. If this is the case, we too should have been judged in the same manner as they. But why do we escape? Why did the exiles escape? Let us be clear that it is not because we are more righteous than they. It is simply because of the grace of God that is manifested through His faithfulness to His covenant promises.

Let us not be like the Israelites in exile, who stubbornly refused to listen and persisted in their rebellion. Instead, let us carve out of our busy lives the time we need to meditate on the testimony of Scripture, and let us reflect on the course of our lives. Let us humble ourselves and mourn over our sin (James 4:7-10), having the attitude of the tax collector in Jesus' parable (Luke 18:9-14). Let us remember that what we believe in Christ is more real than what we account as real in this life, for everything that pertains to this world is passing away (1 John 2:17). Let us pursue enduring treasure, treasure that we can enjoy forever (Matthew 6:19-21).

Holy Father, forgive us our sinful preoccupation with ourselves. Forgive us our aversion to self-denial, our refusal to bear the cross, and our half-hearted measures to follow Christ. Forgive us our feel-good philosophy when interpreting and applying the Scriptures, our token acts and gifts of devotion, and our disinterest in speaking out against injustice, corruption, and the prevailing evils of our generation. Teach us again your ways, but also enable us to hear, and mold our wills to obey. Remember, Lord, that apart from the activity of your grace, we are but dust and worms, suitable only for fire. Transform us, Lord, by renewing our minds, according to Your Word. Do it for Your Name's sake. Then our lives will be lived as they ought to be, giving testimony to the good, acceptable and perfect will of God.

Ezekiel 3:16-19 & 3:20-21 warn us of the judgement of keeping God's Word from others.  Simply put these two passages speak to a web of accountability and sharing of right & wrong as a way of life.

It reminds me of the licensing rules and regulation for professional engineers - of which I am one.  About two years ago they tried to define a term that had been in the rules and regs for as long as I can remember.  The term "faithful agent" was often cited when an engineer was found guilty of not acting in the behavior becoming of the profession.  This received criticism and lead to the board trying to define what it meant to be a "faithful agent".  Ultimately a proposed change of the rule containing "faitfhful agent" was expanded upon, officially submitted and went through public review and comment.  During this public review it became clear that the new verbiage touched upon how an engineer was to do business (i.e. "do we simply not lie in what we say?" or "do we reveal the truth about everything, even if not asked?").  The board realized this was not a term that could be defined more clearly due to the conflict that arises when negotiating fees, resolving conflicts and issues of sensitive nature.

What became clear to me is that our world, and specifically the engineering community abides by rules not bound by the same law of God.  There is overlap but the overarching guidelines fall short of conformity.  Even though more teeth weren't added to the term, I do believe that these two passages can be upheld by the intent of the "faithful agent" rule.  Again it comes down to a personal decision on how one views this term.  How we do business & make money do not have to supercede or operate outside of our obedience to God and his laws he provides for us.  With God all things are possible - even doing business contrary to convention and industry standards.

Regardless of what profession you are in the law of God supercedes any law that is written elsewhere when different.  It is here where we make a choice of faith regardless of the cost.  In the end answering to the choices we make is something we must all do.  Blessings.