What about them, Lord?

Series on Ezekiel

II. The Foreign Nations

A. Four Bad Neighbors, Text: 25: 1-17

Title: What about them, Lord?

Introduction

As we continue our study of Ezekiel we come to a major turning point in the book. Up to now there have been 24 chapters of rebuke and threats against God’s own people, except for one brief mention of the Ammonites. In this present section which lasts through chapter 39 we have judgments on surrounding nations. This is preparatory to the last section which will deal with the restoration of the covenant people. Those nations judged include the four in our present chapter: Ammon, Moab, Edom and Philistia, and besides them Tyre, Sidon, Ethiopia, Libya, Lydia, Arabia, Chub, Assyria, Elam, Meshach and Tubal. The purpose here is to provide food for faith and hope to the homeless as they see that God has not forsaken them or His promises, because He is judging their enemies. It is also to prepare a place for them to return to their land by eliminating their traditional enemies and those on whom they previously depended instead of depending on God. So in chapter 25 we begin with those who are the oldest and closest neighbors, and therefore are the most immediate threat. These prophetic oracles are organized around a pattern which provides our outline for this message: the address, the attitude, the action and the application.

I The Address

Only the first contains the formula of address in 25:2, but it is intended to apply to each of the four prophecies in this chapter, Son of man, set your face against the Ammonites and prophesy against them. The prophet is to set his face against these traditional enemies whom Israel encountered in the promised land. This simply means he was about to pronounce a judgment on them. If you stand in the center of Palestine facing south these are the bordering nations in rotation moving from east to west. They encircle the southern half of the promised land in this exact order. Therefore one can almost see Ezekiel standing in this posture and turning from left to right as he pronounces these judgments, one by one, against these nations.

II The Attitude

The attitude is in the form of an indictment. Here God tells them why they are to be judged. It is because of their attitude. There are basically two attitudes represented here. In the first two nations in verses 3 and 4 we have an attitude of mockery, scorn and derision from Ammon, Say to them, “Hear the word of the Sovereign LORD. This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because you said ‘Aha!’ over my sanctuary when it was desecrated and over the land of Israel when it was laid waste and over the people of Judah when they went into exile, therefore I am going to give you to the people of the East as a possession.” In verses 8 and 9 we see Moab dancing on the grave of Israel or so they think, This is what the Sovereign LORD says: “Because Moab and Seir said, ‘Look, the house of Judah has become like all the other nations,’ therefore I will expose the flank of Moab, beginning at its frontier.” Because Israel has been destroyed by the Babylonians, they conclude that the God of Israel is impotent, that their enemy is vanquished, and they celebrate. This reminds me of Jesus at the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler whose little daughter was dead. When the Lord came to that home he said, “Stop wailing, she is not dead but asleep,” and they laughed him to scorn. Jesus took her hand and raised her from the sleep of death. So here too God will raise his people from the dead and the dancing on their grave and the scorn is premature. The second attitude portrayed here is one of vengeance. Of the second two nations, Edom and Philistia we read in verses 12,13,15 and 16, This is what the Sovereign LORD says: “Because Edom took revenge on the house of Judah and became very guilty by doing so, I will stretch out my hand against Edom and kill its men and their animals”…This is what the Sovereign LORD says: “Because the Philistines acted in vengeance and took revenge with malice in their hearts, and with ancient hostility sought to destroy Judah…I am about to stretch out my hand against the Philistines.” Seeing their opportunity they rebelled against their conqueror Israel and reclaimed lost territory, but God says vengeance is mine i will repay and we read in verse 17, I will execute great vengeance on them with furious rebukes.

III The Action

As we have just seen in the case of Edom and Philistia God executes vengeance, for when he brings back his people from Babylon Judah ultimately retakes all the territory it lost to the Edomites and so completely dominates and submerges the Edomite nation that in the time of Christ we find that the king, Herod, is of Edomite origin. Also the Philistines, even though they gave to the region its name, Palestine, are so wiped out that there is no record of any Philistine civilization after the time of the Maccabees in the second century before Christ. The last vestige is gone. In the case of the first two nations Ammon and Moab, because they were located towards the east they were vulnerable to the desert dwelling Arabs, the descendants of Ishmael, and are ultimately overrun by them and disappear as we read in verses 10 and 11, I will give Moab along with the Ammonites to the people of the East as a possession, so that the Ammonites will not be remembered among the nations; and I will inflict punishment on Moab. Then they will know that I am the LORD.

IV The Application

In each of these instances the end result is stated in verses 5, 11 and 17 it is said and they shall know that i am the Lord, and once in a similar vein God says in verse 14 they shall know my vengeance. The point is the same. God demonstrates the fact that he is the true God who controls all things and shows that he is not the object of men’s imaginations but the one who is there. For these ancient peoples it meant a discrediting of their idols and false gods, but it really goes beyond this. The background you remember is that God is doing all of this to restore his people and when he restores them to the land it is only that he might restore them perfectly in Christ. When they return from captivity and are settled in the land the scene is set for the fulfillment of all His promises in the coming of the Messiah. This is the message brought by the prophet Isaiah in chapter 66: 6- 8, that the hand of the Lord will be made known to his servants but his fury will be shown to his foes, Hear that uproar from the city, hear that noise from the temple! It is the sound of the LORD repaying his enemies all they deserve. Before she goes into labor, she gives birth; before the pains come upon her, she delivers a son. Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children. Zion has a future after her enemies are destroyed. That is the same message as here in Ezekiel and it demonstrates God’s reality. Israel is reborn so that she can bring birth to the Messiah and the time when God sent his only Son who by the cross and resurrection overcame his enemies. In the cross there is the same judgment upon the enemies and salvation for his people. In Christ we find the fulfillment of all God’s threats and all God’s promises, for he shall save his people and judge his enemies. God has appointed him both savior and judge as we read in Philippians 2: 6-11, Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. In the cross, therefore, we see the same thing that these nations saw in the fulfillment of these prophecies, namely that Jahweh the God of the Bible is the only true God.