Noah, Daniel, and Job: Only would be delivered

 

The Lord explains in Ezekiel 14 to His servant, the priest Ezekiel, that God’s judgment on a person is a personal judgment, and salvation is also something personal.
That is, no wicked person will be saved by the righteousness of a righteous person.
Therefore, He says:

Son of man, when a land sins against Me by persistent unfaithfulness, I will stretch out My hand against it; I will cut off its supply of bread, send famine on it, and cut off man and beast from it. Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness, says the Lord God” (Ezek 14:13–14).

After this, similar examples follow about God’s judgment on the wicked in Jerusalem — sending evil beasts, or sword, or plague — strikes from God.
But can the land be saved by the godliness of Noah, or the wisdom of Daniel, or the uprightness of Job?
Let us read the passage together if you are not aware of the issue:

12 The word of the Lord came again to me, saying: 13 “Son of man, when a land sins against Me by persistent unfaithfulness, I will stretch out My hand against it; I will cut off its supply of bread, send famine on it, and cut off man and beast from it. 14 Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness,” says the Lord God. 15 “If I cause wild beasts to pass through the land, and they empty it, and make it so desolate that no man may pass through because of the beasts, 16 even though these three men were in it, as I live,” says the Lord God, “they would deliver neither sons nor daughters; only they would be delivered, and the land would be desolate. 17 “Or if I bring a sword on that land, and say, ‘Sword, go through the land,’ and I cut off man and beast from it, 18 even though these three men were in it, as I live,” says the Lord God, “they would deliver neither sons nor daughters, but only they themselves would be delivered. 19 “Or if I send a pestilence into that land and pour out My fury on it in blood, and cut off from it man and beast, 20 even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live,” says the Lord God, “they would deliver neither son nor daughter; they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness (Ezek 14:12–20)

Explanation of the Problem

The idea here lies in three elements:

1. A land that sinned

2. A severe punishment for leaving the Lord

3. No savior exists

And God comments on this judgment, saying:

“You shall know that I have done nothing without cause” (14:23).

Here He speaks about God’s judgment that happened to Jerusalem because of the sin of Israel, who were in covenant with God but betrayed that covenant (v13).

So, is there anyone who can stop God from His judgment on Jerusalem?
God answers that even if the righteous men — Noah, Daniel, and Job — were in it, they would not save sons or daughters:

“They would deliver neither sons nor daughters; only they would be delivered, and the land would be desolate” (v16).

So the salvation here is personal, a relationship between God and the individual who is righteous and godly.

Why Noah, Daniel, and Job?

1. Each represents the highest example of righteousness and wisdom in Israel’s mind

A. Noah
“Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God” (Gen 6:9).

B. Daniel
“There is in your kingdom a man in whom is the spirit of the holy gods… and in the days of your father were found in him light, understanding, and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods” (Dan 5:11).

C. Job
“There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, fearing God and turning from evil” (Job 1:1).

The idea:
The righteousness of the righteous returns to him alone for salvation and deliverance from divine judgment.

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2. They represent different times and backgrounds

A. Noah — A man before the Abrahamic covenant, representing righteousness before any covenant.

B. Job — A man from the East, representing righteousness outside Israel.

C. Daniel — A Jew living in exile, living a godly life among his people.

The point:
The blessings of the covenant belong to the righteous person individually.
Israel’s covenant was given to bring the Savior, not to automatically save those in the covenant without repentance.

3. Each one, in his generation, could not save anyone else but only himself

Noah:
He survived the flood by his righteousness, and his family survived because they believed
(1 Peter 3:20).

Daniel:
His righteousness did not stop the exile.
He lived through that punishment included famine, plague, and sword (Ezek 12:5).

Job:
He understood that his righteousness could not save his children.
That’s why he offered sacrifices for them (Job 1:5).
He himself found no human savior in his suffering.

Theological Application: Sin and the Need for Salvation

When humanity disobeyed God and ate from the tree, no human or angelic being could save mankind from sin and its punishment.

So God promised immediately the “seed of the woman” who would crush the serpent’s head (Gen 3:15).

But sin spread:

“Death passed to all men because all sinned” (Rom 5:12).

Is there salvation?

Yes — through the promised One: Jesus Christ.

No human — not Job by righteousness, nor Noah by blamelessness, nor Daniel by wisdom — can stop God’s judgment or give life to sinners.

Peter summarized it:

“Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Even the righteous of old knew they had to turn from their ways and seek God alone in order to live.

Jesus said:

“ He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still” (Rev. 22:11–12).

Paul says:

“Each one of us will give account of himself to God” (Rom 14:12).

When man cannot save himself, he finds in Christ the righteousness he needs:

“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor 5:21).

In Christ alone we receive salvation and God’s free righteousness.

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Rev. Dr. Nathan Awad