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Devotional thoughts (Monday through Thursday mornings) from the pastor of Exeter Presbyterian Church in Exeter, NH // Sunday Worship 10:30am // 73 Winter Street

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Ezekiel 25

How is it that the God of one nation ever had anything to say against any other nation? Nations that were on the rise might assert that their gods were more powerful than the gods of other lands, and that this gave them a military advantage over their enemies. Sometimes the human rulers of powerful empires took titles of divinity upon themselves and then asserted their authority over the gods of those lands that they would conquer. All of this proud behavior requires that a nation be on the rise. During the time of Ezekiel the northern tribes of Israel had already been decimated. The southern kingdom of Judah was certainly far from her glory days. How then did the God of Israel have something to say to the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Edomites, the Philistines, and any other neighboring nations?

The answer has to do, not with greatness of Judah or her kings. They were about to see Jerusalem destroyed and the temple on Mount Zion left in a heap of rubble. What allowed the Lord God to speak to these other nations was the fact that He is the God of everything and everyone, and not just the God of Israel? In fact He is the only real God. He created the heavens and the earth. There are no boundaries for his authoritative Word. If He has something to say to the nations of the world, He requires no one’s permission to do so. This is part of His glory and majesty.

The Ammonites lived to the east of Israel. The Lord’s case against them is based on their celebration at the time of Judah’s trouble. They rejoiced at the profaning of the temple of God in Jerusalem and in the exile of the Lord’s people. For this reason they would have a punishment that would fit their offense. They would be turned over to the same empire to their east and would suffer the kind of trouble that they had seen Judah face. They rejoiced in her trouble, but now they would feel the very same problem coming upon them. This judgment would be a revelation of God. Through His just response to their offense, they would know something about Him as He came in wrath.

Moab would also receive a word from Israel’s God through His prophet Ezekiel. Their offense was their claim that Judah was just like the other nations. People could have looked at the events that had taken place and come to the conclusion that there was really nothing special about Israel or about the God of Jacob. Many nations had fallen to the hands of the Assyrians and yet Jerusalem had escaped this fate. But now she was falling to the Babylonians, who had themselves replaced the Assyrians. Perhaps they had thought that there might be something special about Judah, but now they concluded that she was just like all the other nations. In fact, Judah’s trouble had nothing to do with her relative strength or weakness when compared with other nations. Her trouble had to do with her God. Now this same God announces His judgments upon Moab.

The message to Edom and Philistia is similar. They have taken vengeance on Israel, as if they had the power of God in their hands. It is one thing for God to discipline Israel through the use of the Babylonians. It is quite another for their neighbors to presume to come against the Lord’s people in judgment. The Lord will judge His people in His own way. Their neighbors would want to wipe them off the face of the earth. God may chastise them severely, but He will never change the fact that the coming Messiah will be a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, and David. God will defend His Name, and He will fight for His people.

When the world sees the church in disarray or trouble, she should not assume that the Lord of the church has utterly rejected His people. She should not celebrate when she observes that we are being disciplined by the Lord our God. Judgment does begin with the household of God, but it will not end there. The Lord who gave His life for us will never abandon us. He disciplines those He loves.

Many people assume that You can judge the favor of God for a church or for an individual based on how things seem to go for them. Such a standard cannot be used to make sense of what happened to Christ or how the Apostles were persecuted by their enemies. Did God not love His Son when Jesus went to the cross? We read in John 10:17; “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.” Did God not love the apostles when they were put to death by their persecutors? According to Psalm 116:15 “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.” You cannot rightly conclude that the church is hated by God because she is facing trials in this life.

God will never forsake His church. They are the new Israel of God, and the recipient of the Lord’s covenant promises. His Son died for their sins, and is coming again for their salvation. There is no safety in Ammon, Moab, Edom, or Philistia. But there is safety in Jesus Christ. It is never wise to ridicule or attack the Lord’s elect. God has made them precious promises in Christ that will never be taken away. The best thing for anyone in the world to do is to find a place in the body of Christ. Those who are children of God through faith in Christ are told in Romans 8:17 that we are now “heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”

posted by Pastor Magee @ 7:00 AM

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