Year 3, Day 162: Ezekiel 36

Vindication

In the first few verses of Ezekiel 36, we hear about God’s vindication.  Yes, the Hebrew people went into captivity.  But as we discussed in the prior chapter, that captivity was to teach a lesson.  It wasn’t as though God was telling them that they had lost out on the covenant completely.  Rather, God was saying that they needed to be brought to judgment for their prior actions.  But God would restart the process again.

The problem is that the world doesn’t see it that way.  The world often looks upon people who are being corrected by God as though they are an opportunity for advancement.  It’s the old, “Kick ‘em while they’re down” approach.  The world wanted to kick the Hebrew people while they were down.  God is telling the Hebrew people not to worry about that.  They need to focus on learning the lesson God is teaching them.  God will take care of their vindication when the time is right.

Mountains of Israel

When we get to verses 8-15, we have a really neat dialogue happening.  Literally, this passage is God speaking to the mountains of Israel.  God isn’t speaking to the people; He is speaking to the creation!

This is actually pretty cool.  It gives us a perspective into God’s eyes.  God sees creation being fulfilled when the people living among creation are fruitful and productive.  The purpose of creation is to help the people be productive.  Creation is fulfilled when people are using creation to live righteously according to God’s design.

As I read through those words, I had to think about all the barren planets out there.  How many planets are like Mercury – so hot from proximity to the sun that they can’t sustain life?  Or how many are like Venus – so toxic that they can’t sustain life?  Or perhaps like Mars – having an atmosphere so thin that it can’t sustain life?  Or perhaps they are like Neptune and Pluto – so far from the sun that they are too cold to sustain life?  How many planets in the universe will not know life atop their soils?

How blessed we are to live here.  How blessed we are to have a God that created a world that finds fulfillment by having us live righteously atop its soil.  What a wonderful relationship we should miraculously and undeservedly find ourselves in.

God’s Name is Holy

After reminding the people – and specifically the land – that there will be restoration, God also reminds them about why there needs to be restoration.  The people profaned the Lord.  They profaned His name.  Even when they went among the nations in exile they continued to profane His name.  The Hebrew people did not live up to their end of the covenant.  They did not proclaim the holiness of the Lord to the nations. 

This is also a great reminder to hear.  God is primarily concerned with His holiness.  Life is about God.  Life is about recognizing that there is only one perfect and righteous being in the span of the whole universe.  Life is about being in relationship with that being and inviting others to see His righteousness.

So often, life is about anything but that.  Life is about our own agendas.  Life is about our own problems.  Life is about our own issues.  Life is about our own celebrations.  Life is about anything except declaring God’s holy and righteous name to the nations.  Yet as we hear in this chapter, that is one of God’s primary concerns.  This point is rather humbling.

Restoration

For the sake of God’s name, God will restore His people.  He will take away their heart of stone and give to them a heart of flesh.  He will take away their unrighteousness.  He will put His Spirit within His people and deliver them from their uncleanness.  But He will do it for the sake of His name.

As I read these verses, I cannot help but think of the work of Jesus Christ.  Yes, I understand that the land was restored prior to Christ.  Yes, I understand that the cities became inhabited prior to Christ’s coming.  But this passage makes the most sense when looked at from the perspective of the work of Christ on the cross.

When did God truly put His Spirit in all people?  When the Lord breathed upon His disciples and sent them forth in Pentecost.  When did the uncleanness of the people truly become dealt with?  At the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.  When does the stone heart of man become living flesh?  When the Spirit of the Lord enters into us and creates us anew.

When was it that the nations finally heard about the name of the Lord?  When Christ’s followers had the full message of God’s grace and were driven across the face of the globe by persecution!  When do the followers of God truly become aware of the holiness of God’s name and the desire grows within His followers to promote His holiness to the nations?  After Christ, when the fullness of God’s grace comes to mankind.

We are indeed blessed.  As I mentioned earlier, we are blessed to live in a creation that is fulfilled by our presence as we live righteously in God.  We also have been blessed to be in a relationship with a Creator who can take our moments of unrighteousness and turn them around.  We are blessed indeed.

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Year 3, Day 161: Ezekiel 35

Edom

Ezekiel 35 deals primarily with Mount Seir.  Seir was Edom’s geographical name.  This chapter returns us to a prophetic announcement against Edom.  Yes, we’ve already had one of those.  However, this prophetic announcement comes in the midst of hearing about the Hebrew people and God’s restoration of them.  This is a clue that the prophetic announcement here might be more than the announcement we had earlier.  Earlier God was pronouncing Edom’s destruction alongside the judgment of His own people.  But while God will lift His people up and restore them, Edom will continue in judgment.

The Hand of the Lord

In verses 1-4 we have the first of the four prophetic statements made by God against Edom.  In this first one, God’s point is simple and clear.  God will stretch out His hand against Edom.  The destruction that comes will be at the hand of God.  God will make the cities a wasteland.  ‘God will bring them low.  God’s wants the people of Edom to hear and understand that there is a price to pay for continually being a thorn in His side.

Bloodshed

In verses 5-9 we have the second of the prophetic announcements.  This section is a little more deep that the first announcement.  In this section we hear again and again about the love of bloodshed on behalf of the people of Edom.  God tells them upfront that it is because of their love for bloodshed that blood shall pursue them.

I think this section truly falls into the self-fulfilling prophecy section of scripture.  Think about it.  Have you ever heard the expression, “You are what you eat?”  Perhaps you’ve heard it said that “You are the sum of the friends you keep.”  Each of those expressions speaks to exactly the same kind of wisdom that God is giving to the Edomites in this section.

If you have a people who are constantly engaging in violent pursuits, they are going to become a violent culture.  If you have a people who settle differences violently, then violence will become the norm.  If you have a people who entertain themselves in violent pursuits, they will learn to appreciate violence.  When you add up all of those things, you get a violent culture.  God is telling the Edomites that because their culture was set up to appreciate and encourage violent behavior, they will always be pursued by the results of living in a violent culture.

I can’t help but think about our own culture as I read through these words.  Television is a horribly violent set of entertainment.  An alarming percentage of the popular movies are filled with scenes of violence.  Even the cartoons that our children watch are filled with violence towards one another.  Our sports are violent, and the athletes who participate in those sports are often violent in their behavior on and off the court.  {Although I am speaking in generalities.  I do acknowledge there are athletes who do not fit the mold I’m creating in these words.}

We can’t get away from it.  Our culture – like the culture of the Edomites – is growing increasingly violent.  The world is becoming increasingly violent.  I personally think that we are already seeing the effects of living in a culture that has a developing appetite for violence.  Like the Edomites, when we thirst for bloodshed we shall be pursued by blood.

Usurping God

In verses 10-12 we hear about Edom’s lust to control the Promised Land.  When God brought the Assyrians against Israel, Edom was greedy and wanted control of the land.  When God brought the Babylonians against Judah, the Edomites saw their opening.  They vied for control of the land.

Here’s the problem.  Yes, God was judging His people.  Yes, God was sending them into bondage.  But that does not imply that God had abdicated the promises made to Abraham.  God was not abdicating the covenant.  He was merely disciplining within the covenant.  The Edomites had no right to claim land that had not yet been forfeited!  In claiming the land of God’s people for themselves, the Edomites were usurping God’s authority and claiming to be more powerful than God.

Of course, this leads me back to our modern world.  How much fighting in the world goes on today because people continue to fight over control of the Promised Land?  It would seem that we still haven’t learned this lesson.  We still want to usurp God’s authority.

Judgment

In the closing verses we have a return to the basic idea of God’s judgment.  In these verses, it boils down to pride.  The Edomites have puffed themselves up before God.  They have been prideful in their boasting at the downfall of their neighbors.  Once more we see that God will give what the people have given.  God is an expert at turning the tables.  As the Edomites boasted over the fall of the Hebrew people, so the world will boast at the downfall of the Edomites.  What goes around comes around, especially when God is involved.

  

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Year 3, Day 160: Ezekiel 34

Shepherds

We come off of such a great chapter of watchtowers into a chapter of shepherds.  Because of the modern use of the symbol of the shepherd, we always anticipate the use of the word shepherd to mean “religious leaders.”  Certainly it could.  But in this context, shepherd would simply mean any kind of leader.  We’re talking largely about the political leaders (kings and their court, primarily).  Of course, in ancient Israel we would also be talking about the religious advisors to the kings.  So I’m not giving a pass to the religious leaders.  I’m merely broadening the net from what we typically think of as shepherds.

The main problem with the shepherds is that they haven’t done the job that was asked of them.  They were supposed to protect the people.  They were supposed to keep the flock from scattering.  For the record, these are largely the function of government.  It was the poor governmental decision and the weaker military that literally allowed the Hebrew people to be dominated and taken into several waves of exile.

We also hear that the shepherds did not bind the injured, seek out the lost, or feed the sheep.  This would be largely the more religious dynamic of leadership.  The Hebrew people were allowed to graze and be fed wherever they wanted.  They orphans and the widows were not cared for.  People were not being encouraged to find spiritual food from God where it would be satisfying.

Religious or spiritual, the shepherds weren’t doing their job.  The people weren’t safe.  The people weren’t being cared for.  They weren’t being spiritually fed.  Wave after wave of Hebrew people were being dragged into exile.  The shepherds would find judgment at the hand of God because they would not do their job.

Here again we hear the warning of the watchman that we heard in the past chapter.  If the shepherds refuse to do the job for which they were appointed, God will exact recompense.  What good is a shepherd who doesn’t do what a shepherd is supposed to do?

God’s Action

Something really neat happens in the middle section of the chapter.  God takes over.  God assumes control.  God’s chosen human element could not do the role of the shepherd all that well.  So God Himself will take over.

God says that He will seek them out.  He will among the nations and call out His people.  God is going to judge one sheep from the next.  God will find His sheep from all over the entire world in all kinds of different geographies.  God will rescue His flock so that they will no longer be prey.

 Two really neat thoughts come to me as I think about this passage.  First, I don’t often think of myself as prey.  But I really am.  So are you!  Those who truly desire to follow God are prey in the hands of the world.  The world would rise up against us.  The world would seek our destruction.  The world would consume us if it could.  Like it or not, I really am prey in the jaws of the world.

The second really neat idea is just how much this passage points us to Christ.  In Christ – and the subsequent coming of the Holy Spirit – we do have people being called by God from all walks and all nations.  God is rescuing His flock wherever they happen to be.  It is God who is doing the work, not any of us!

So That They Shall Know

As we bring this chapter to a close, we absolutely see the point of all of this.  Why will God bring His true people back?  Why will God take an active part in calling His people home?  All of this will happen so that they will know that God is sovereign.

This is precisely what didn’t happen under the old shepherds.  The rulers of the people after David simply didn’t cut it.  They didn’t rule in such a way that demonstrated the sovereignty of God.  They didn’t rule at all in a way that pointed people to God.  So God will come in and take charge.

Again, I think this point is extremely profound.  It speaks volumes to the focus of the New Testament.  What is the biggest effect of Jesus’ life and death?  We shall know God.  The whole point of being called by Jesus and receiving the Hoy Spirit is so that we will know God and be able to be used by God to bring Himself to others.

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Year 3, Day 159: Ezekiel 33

Watchman

I love this chapter of the Bible.  This is a chapter of the Bible that has always spoken to me.  This is a chapter that just makes sense.  In a highly symbolic book like Ezekiel, chapters like this are rare!

You see, God tells Ezekiel that He is going to set up a watchman.  Every once and a while, things are going to come along and the watchman will see what God is telling him to see.  The sole job of the watchman is to relay the message to the people.  It is the job of the people to listen.  If the watchman does his job, he will not be accountable for those who did not listen.  The accountability for listening falls upon the people if the watchman does his job.

On the other hand, if the watchman doesn’t do his job, then he will be held accountable for the downfall of the people.  The people can’t be held accountable for listening if there is no message to which they can listen!

I love this passage for a number of reasons.  First, it is clear in the allocation of assignment.  The watchman is in charge of watching and looking at the world.  When danger comes and God alerts the watchman, his sole job is to alert all who will listen.  That’s it.  It’s so simple.  Watch.  Listen to God.  Speak.  Seek those who listen and respond.  Hearing this chapter is like a wave of refreshment flowing over my spirit.

Second, it is clear in the allocation of accountability.  So long as the watchman does the job, each person is accountable for their own life.  That is the way that it should be.  We all – especially those of us in the developed world – have opportunity after opportunity to listen to a watchman.  We have a plethora of watchmen from which we can choose!  Every single one of us has watchmen to whom we can listen.  To stand before God and say, “I never heard you” simply won’t cut it.

Third, I love this passage because it is this passage that absolutely puts forth what I see in Christ.  Jesus came.  He taught the crowds in parables.  Those few who came seeking to learn more about what He was teaching became true disciples.  Jesus taught them deeply and richly.  The rest of the people – those who didn’t come and follow and inquire more deeply of Jesus – were not pursued by Jesus.  Everyone who met Jesus had the same choice: follow or not.  Jesus did not pursue.  Jesus let accountability rest where it naturally resided.

I want to be guided by this principle.  I believe God wants all of us to be guided by this principle.  Spread the message of God everywhere you go.  Look for those who are listening.  Teach them deeply.  Be their watchman!  Give unto them the message that God would have them hear!

Let accountability fall where it may.  Be the watchman.  Speak where God tells you to speak.  Let others decide for themselves whether or not they want to listen. 

Grace

The middle section of Ezekiel 33 is a wonderful explanation of grace.  Here it is in a nutshell.

First, nobody is righteous; we all sin.  Second, because we all sin, we deserve to hear God’s judgment that we shall surely die.  Third, if we are willing to turn in our sin and be obedient to God then He promises to save us and remember our sins no more. Even though we sin, He will make our unrighteousness turn to righteousness.  That is the story of grace.  It is the story of the Old Testament.  It is the story of the New Testament.

However, we should not be a people who only proclaim grace.  We are to be a people that proclaim Law and Grace.  Here’s the law in this section of the chapter.  If the righteous should turn from their righteousness and instead turn to be governed by sin once more, their righteousness will not be remembered.

Life is always that delicate balance, isn’t it?  We are always sniffing out sin in our life.  We are always in need of repentance.  We are always running back to the cross.  We – at least, I – always seem to be on that verge of being ruled by sin once more.  Thanks be to God that His Spirit is within.  Thanks be to God that He continues to call us as we tread upon the precipices of life.

A Prophet Among Them

As we close this book, we hear a stark message.  Jerusalem has fallen and Ezekiel hears the message.  But that really isn’t the focus.  The focus is on the people who come to Ezekiel.  God says that those who come before Ezekiel come thirsting as though Ezekiel is pronouncing a lustful message.  They come to hear Ezekiel, but they don’t come to actually listen and obey.  They come just to hear.  It’s like a person who reads the newspaper out of some excitement at all the chaos in life.  Such a person enjoys the gossip, but doesn’t feel motivated to actually do anything about it.

I wonder how many people fall into this category?  How many people come to listen to sound doctrine but really have absolutely no desire to be obedient to it?  How many people come to God asking to be saved but have absolutely no desire to humble themselves before Him?  How many people come to God to speak praises of His name but don’t have any desire to have those praises be anywhere in their life except upon their lips?

This is a dark end of the chapter.  It is a bit of a scary end of the chapter.  It is an ending that reminds us of where this chapter began.  It’s not good enough to have the watchman speaking in your midst.  It’s just not good enough.  We have to listen to the watchman and respond!  The message of God will change our life if our hearts are open.

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Year 3, Day 158: Ezekiel 32

Egypt’s Downfall

The dating of the prophecy contained in chapter 32 is exactly two months after the news of Jerusalem’s downfall reached those who had already been exiled.  At this point, Egypts downfall was a certainty in Ezekiel’s mind. God had dealt with Jerusalem.  He would deal with Ammon.  Then He would deal with Tyre and Sidon.  Then Egypt would fall.  There was going to be no stopping this Babylonian regime now that it had gotten going.  Until God said stop, nothing would stop it.

Crocodile Hunt

Egypt is pictured as a monster of the waters.  What better image for Egypt than a crocodile.  But what is neat here is how the Lord says that He is going to deal with Egypt.  A host of many people will throw the net of the Lord over the Egyptians.   It will start with the Babylonians – who were themselves a host of many Mesopotamian tribes.  The Persians would follow suit.  Then the Greeks would dominate over Egypt.  Then the Romans.  A host of many nations will throw the net over the Lord over Egypt.  A host of many nations will bring them down and hold them down.

It’s like an old-fashioned crocodile hunt.  How do you hunt a crocodile?  Not alone, that’s for sure!  You hunt a crocodile by getting a big group of people together.  Then you throw a net over the crocodile to confine his thrashing.  Then you eventually pile on and pin the beast down until you can secure him.  Quite literally, this is what God plans to do to Egypt.  God will bring them down low and humble them with nation after nation after nation.

Throwback to the Plagues

As we go through these verses, I could help how many times I felt like the plagues were being referenced.  Rivers flowing like blood.  Blotting out the sun.  Darkening the stars.  Destruction of the animals.  Darkening out the day.  It feels like a minor recapping of the first exodus.

While certainly not all the plagues are mentioned again, I think God is indeed making a point here.  The Egyptians got a taste of God’s power once.  They did not humble themselves.  So they will taste the same cup of wrath once more.  This time, Egypt will be brought low.  God isn’t just going to pull His people away from their influence; God is going to bring the nation of Egypt low.

These are words to heed.  God often gives us multiple opportunities to confess and repent.  God often gives us chance after chance to seek Him and follow Him.  When we don’t we can expect judgment.  We can expect Him to allow us to get what is truly coming to us.  Sometimes it does take multiple attempts to actually learn the lesson.  But you can be assured that the process of learning the lesson will be a humbling one.

Speaking of Being Made Humble

In the second half of the chapter, Ezekiel is given a great message to give to Egypt.  God asks if Egypt believes itself to be grander than all of the other nations.  God asks if they are surpassing the splendor of the other nations.

Then God brings out the boom.  God consigns Egypt to Sheol.  God tells Egypt to go lie down among the other nations.  The truth is, Egypt is no different.  It is no more grand.  It is deserving of no special treatment.  It is to go and take its place among the dead just like all the other nations.

Yes, Egypt may have lasted longer.  It may have cradled civilization longer.  It may have had a large block on the timeline of the world than most other countries.  But that doesn’t make it any more special.  It doesn’t make it any more grand.  It is a nation full of human beings just like all the other nations.  What is important is not how long they thrived or how much they accomplished.  What is important is whether or not they humbled themselves before God.

For the record, like all nations they didn’t.

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Year 3, Day 157: Ezekiel 31

Egypt and Assyria

Many scholars of the Old Testament choose to change the reading of the opening verses of Chapter 31 from Assyria to “cypress tree” or even “pine tree.”  While they may not seem related, in Hebrew the words are only a few vowels separated.  The scholars who do this argue that it makes more sense to compare Egypt to a strong and productive tree than to a kingdom that was clearly not of God’s creation.  After all, reading through these verses Ezekiel says some pretty incredible things about Assyria.  Ezekiel says that Assyria rivals even the trees in the garden of God.  For a student of the Old Testament, that is a hard description to swallow.

However, as difficult as that expression is to swallow, I think there is more evidence to accept the description as written and not try to explain it away as a Hebrew misspelling.  After all, Assyria was the last nation to enter into Egyptian territory and have military dominance.  Assyria was probably the only nation that Ezekiel could lift up in the presence of the Egyptians and have them actually think that Ezekiel may have a point.

Furthermore, Ezekiel is speaking to the judgment of the Egyptians.  Who better to compare the Egyptians to than someone who was already beaten by the Babylonians?  Isn’t that God’s overarching point in these chapters?  Egypt will fall to Babylon in the judgment of the Lord.  This is probably the greatest reason to understand that Ezekiel truly does mean Assyria in this chapter.

Moving past this point, what purpose does it serve Ezekiel to use Assyria here?  Well, Ezekiel says that Assyria was an incredible nation.  Their splendor was unrivaled.  Their might was unchallengeable - until God lifted up the Babylonians in judgment against them.  Even the greatest nations in the world shall be capable of being humbled by God.  This was a message Egypt needed to hear.  Their splendor had a match.  In fact, their splendor would be outdone and undone by God.

Pride

In fact, one might even say that we can go further according to verses 10-14.  Not only was God able to overcome their splendor, He overcame them because of their splendor.  Their national pride was simply too much.  Assyria thought too highly of themselves.  Assyria thought too much of their greatness.  Their pride was what truly needed to be brought low.  It wasn’t that God had an issue with their splendor; it was that their splendor evoked an insatiable pride and self-reliance.  They became too proud for their own good.  They had to fall.

For Egypt, this is a two-fold message.  We’ve already spoken about one of those messages: their pride will be challenged by God.  The Egyptians will be brought low in judgment.

The second message is a particularly interesting one.  As Ezekiel describes at the end of this chapter just how God brought Assyria deep into the pit of Sheol and closed the grave over her, He is sending a message to Egypt about the longevity of nations.  Egypt had been a nation before most of the current nations had come into existence.  Egypt was trying to continue to be a powerful nation even while these nations rose and fell.  Egypt believed that they could stay relevant forever.  Egypt believed that they could outlast the ebb and flow of nations that it saw around them.  God is telling them that they are wrong.  Quite simply, they will not remain as a power.  Sure, they might remain as a nation.  But they would not continue to be relevant.  God would bring them and show them what it felt like to be a normal nation.

Humbleness

I can’t help but think that there is a powerful message in here for just about any nation.  God is more powerful than any nation.  God will outlast any nation.  One’s power and prestige is nothing compared to the power and prestige of God.  No matter how hard we try on our own might, we cannot stay relevant forever.  Tides turn.

Historically speaking, think about this.  What nation has continued to be relevant throughout all of history?  Sure, some nations have existed throughout all of history – Egypt being one of them.  But what nation has truly been relevant throughout all of history?  There is none.

So what is it that causes a nation to think that they can be different?  What is it that causes a nation to think that they can be relevant forever?  Self-centered pride.  Refusing to look at history from a true perspective.  Arrogance.  Making the assumption that we’re actually different.

The reality is that Egypt will learn that nothing lasts forever.  It is a lesson that all nations would be wise to learn.  You can’t be a global power forever.  So rather than throw your weight around and dominate for a few years, make friends in the shadows and last for a long time.  Live humbly among the nations.

The alternative is judgment.  The alternative to humbleness among the nations is pride and arrogance.  We see in this whole book of Ezekiel what happens to those who arrive at nationalistic pride and arrogance.

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Year 3, Day 156: Ezekiel 30

Clouds

As we hear another prophetic message against Egypt, I found it interesting that the word “cloud” would be attached to judgment.  Of course I understand why.  Ancient cultures knew that the sun was needed for plants to grow.  Thus, clear days were always desired over cloudy days.  This is why people often worshiped the sun instead of the clouds.

Furthermore, clouds often bring rain.  Where there is rain there is often thunder and sometimes even lightning.  Storms just feel like judgment whereas sunny days just feel like grace.  It completely makes sense why the clouds would be paired with judgment.

However, look at this from the perspective of the Egyptians.  They lived in a desert.  Everywhere they were was in need of water.  They understood the need for rain so much that they based their religion largely off of the swelling of the Nile River that would bring the minerals necessary to make the soil fertile in the vicinity of the Nile.  For most Egyptians, clouds were a good thing.  Clouds mean rain.  Rain meant the flooding of the Nile.  The flooding of the Nile meant fertile ground.  Fertile ground meant a harvest.  The harvest meant life.

What Ezekiel has done – intentionally or unintentionally – is to give us a moment to understand the human perspective.  God often sees things from a completely different perspective than we do.  Whereas the Egyptians saw the clouds and the rain as a blessing, God saw it as judgment.  This may seem like a small and insignificant example, but it points us to a great truth.  So many things in life we regard as problem-solvers.  How many of us just want more money?  Or more friends?  Or more popularity?  How many of us just want more status?  More notoriety?  More center of attention?

Yet, how many of those things are really good for us in the long run?

League

Verses 5-9 talk about those in league with Egypt.  Cush, Put, Lybia, Arabia, Lud.  And then there is this really neat mention of “the land that is in league.”  That is what the Septuagint (Old Testament written in Greek) says.  Our copies of the Old Testament written in Hebrew typically say “the land of the covenant.”

I believe the Hebrew in this instance.  God is speaking to those Hebrew people who have fled to Egypt thinking that they would actually be able to escape God’s judgment upon them through the Babylonian empire.  They will not outrun God’s wrath.  In fact, in other chapters of the Bible we can’t help but wonder if God’s judgment doesn’t come to Egypt at least partially because those Hebrew people fled to Egypt and Egypt received them.

Again, I think the message is clear.  If God is handing out punishment and you get between God and the target, watch out.  God doesn’t care to have His plans interfered.  It’s one thing to not help God.  It is another thing to get out of God’s way.  But it is bad news when you ally yourself with those that God is trying to punish.

God’s Will Be Done

Verses 10-19 give us another clear set of verses about God’s authority.  Again and again in these verses we hear Ezekiel declare that God will bring about this judgment on Egypt.  God will bring foreigners into Egypt and produce judgment.  It is at God’s hand that all of this will happen.  There can be no doubt.  The calamity brought upon Egypt is the doing of their own rebellion, but it is at God’s hand.

This naturally leads into a section on Egypt’s idolatry.  Of course they worshiped foreign gods.  But they were active about promoting their gods into the cultures of the people around them – even the Hebrew people.  Since the influence of the Egyptians caused the religious structure of the Hebrew people to become corrupt, God will do the same to Egypt.  He will bring low their places of worship.  He will destroy what the Egyptians helped destroy among His own.

I actually think this thought is deeper than I’m prepared to accept right now.  As I process this section of scripture I keep coming back to Mark 9:42.  If you go after any of God’s people, you’ll wish a millstone was hung around your neck and you were tossed into the sea before God is done with you.  Egypt will see the recompense for the role they played in leading the Hebrew people away from God.

They Shall Know…

Again we hear those famous words.  This will happen so that the people will know that the Lord is the Lord.  Again we see that it comes back to authority.  It comes back to God putting people in a place where they have to understand that the world does not actually revolve around themselves.  We all need a good humbling session once and a while.  We all need to remember that God is God.  I am not.

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Year 3, Day 155: Ezekiel 29

Egypt

This last prophecy against the nations deals with Egypt.  It is actually a series of prophecies along the lines of what we saw with Tyre.  It makes sense that Egypt is saved for last for multiple reasons.  First, Egypt was the first nation to truly oppress the Hebrew people.  The enmity between God and the Egyptians is old.  Second, Egypt is the stereotype in the Bible for the place that the Hebrew people longed after other gods.  Third, Egypt is the nation time and time again to which the Hebrew people turned for help against enemies from the north and east.  They were the beginning of the trouble and they were the consistent path of turmoil throughout the life of the Hebrew people as an independent nation.

Who Is God

Like the people of Tyre, God has an issue with the Egyptians over the identification of their leader as a god.  The Egyptians believed Pharaoh was a god.  They believed that their Pharaohs were responsible for all the benefits of Egypt.  They denied the Creator His place.  The denied the Creator His generosity.

I love the imagery used here to describe the Egyptians.  Some translations say “the great dragon,” but I really like the translation “great lizard.”  The crocodile was an Egyptian symbol of strength and ferocity.  God acknowledged that this was a part of their identity and based a punishment around it.  This strong and ferocious beast would be dragged out of the Nile and cast among the wilderness.  The monster called Egypt would be taken out of its element and humbled.

God said that the Egyptians would also be drawn into captivity.  We do know that Nebuchadnezzar does dive into Egyptian land and push back the armies of Pharaoh.  Pharaoh is tamed by the Babylonians and for a time becomes a vassal of the Babylonian Empire.

A Staff That Breaks in the Hand

God then condemns Egypt for being a staff or reed that breaks in the hand when grasped.  Such a tool only serves to splinter and harm the person who has grasped it.

Now, don’t get me too wrong.  I don’t think Egypt set about saying, “We’ll show those Hebrew people.  We’ll promise them help but we really know we’re not capable of fulfilling our obligations.”  Actually, what I think the Lord is getting at is that they were proud and arrogant.  They didn’t know their limitations.  They promised things they couldn’t deliver – but thought that they could.  They promised help and protection and never came through.  God despises the Egyptians because they were unable to grasp a true and real picture of who they really were and what they could really accomplish.  They were unable to be honest with themselves.

I think there is a really neat lesson in this passage.  God desires us to be real.  God desires us to true about ourselves.  And in doing so, we should realize that when people come to us for help we need to point them to God rather than make unhealthy promises we cannot keep.  We can be the tool in God’s hands, but we need to realize that only God can help the people around us.  We cannot promise them anything.  We can point them to the God who can.

Grace

As we continue to look at this chapter, we discover that God will drag them into captivity.  But it won’t be forever.  God does not desire to destroy Egypt for all ages.  Egypt will share the same fate as the Hebrew people.  After all, they wanted to be allies in war; they should be allies in judgment, too!

But this is such an interesting point.  As much as God resented Egypt for being a perpetual stumbling block to His people, God does not destroy them.  God will allow Egypt to continue to exist.  There is grace even for the long-standing enemy of God’s people.

However, this grace is not an unlimited grace.  Egypt will not rise again to the power of the nations.  Egypt will be able to collect themselves and regroup when the Persians defeat the Babylonians.  Egypt will be held in check and largely dominated by Greece.  Rome would likewise dominate the scene as far as Egypt was concerned.  The Egyptians would continue to exist, but their humble position among the nations would be a reminder to the Hebrew people regarding the judgment of God and His expectations of repentance and righteousness.

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Year 3, Day 154: Ezekiel 28

Against the Prince of Tyre

Ezekiel now focuses in on the leadership of Tyre.  Leaders, be warned.  God holds leaders accountable.  It is one thing for plans to fall in spite of good leadership.   That just happens sometimes.  It is another thing entirely for plans to fail because of poor leadership.  Then God really has a reason to bring judgment down upon the leaders.

I don’t think this point can be over-emphasized.  When Israel fell, where did the mantle of blame fall first but on the kings who led the people astray?  When Judah fell, where did the mantle of blame fall but on the kings and religious leaders who didn’t lead?  When Babylon falls, who will god blame but the corrupt leaders?  {You can read God’s opinion of Belshazzar in Daniel 5 pretty easily.}  The truth is that leadership is called upon by God.  God needs leaders.  He calls leaders.  He equips people to lead.  When they don’t lead, judgment will come.  It will come – deservedly so.

Who Is God

The leadership of Tyre had begun to believe and teach that the kings were gods.  It wasn’t so much that the people believed the kings couldn’t die – they could see that clearly.  Rather, they people of Tyre believed that the kings of Tyre encompassed the wisdom of the gods.  They were infallible.  After all, just look at the empire of prosperity that they were able to create!

There are a couple of neat points here.  First, remember from the perspective of the Old Testament that wisdom is the greatest gift that God could give.  For a person to say that they encompassed the wisdom of the gods was to challenge God’s wisdom.  It was to put oneself on a level plane with God.  Clearly God would take issue with this fact.  Nobody is naturally on any kind of playing field with God – much less an even playing field!

As proof of this concept, the prince about whom Ezekiel is prophesying was named Ethba’al III (According to the Hebrew spelling).  That name means, “Ba’al is with him.”  Literally, “god with him.”  In some respects it could be seen as a pagan synonym to Emmanuel, “God with us.”  Even in his name this ruler of Tyre is claiming infringement on God’s territory.

The second neat point here is that you will notice the mention to the wisdom of Daniel.  I think it is likely that this is the Daniel of the Bible that is being referenced.  By this point in history, Daniel would have made a name for himself in Babylon under King Nebuchadnezzar.  Ezekiel would no doubt have been familiar with Daniel.  It makes sense that Ezekiel would talk about a contemporary like Daniel as his peers would also know of him. 

So why is this neat?  Well, think about it.  The kings of Tyre considered themselves wiser than Daniel.  Yet, Daniel was in the service of King Nebuchadnezzar.  The Babylonians come and defeat the Phoenicians.  Nebuchadnezzar, who has Daniel on his side, defeats the kings who are supposedly wiser than Daniel and like gods.  Arrogance gets them nowhere except to the judgment seat of God.

The King of Tyre

In the middle of this chapter, Ezekiel changes vocabulary.  Instead of speaking about the princes (or rulers, which is another fair translation) Ezekiel talks about the king of Tyre.  Here’s the problem, though.  If we take this passage literally, we have words that don’t make sense.  Was the king of Tyre in the Garden of Eden?  Was the king of Tyre granted full access to the mountain of God?  Of course not.  So what’s really going on here?

This is really cool.  Actually, this is beyond cool.  I believe that Ezekiel is making a bold statement about who is really king in Tyre.  The answer is simple.  The true king in Tyre is Satan.  The Devil.  Lucifer.  The one who fell from heaven.

If you think about it, it really all makes sense.  Was Satan not once a part of God’s court?  Did not Satan have full access to God?  Was Satan not in the Garden of Eden?  Was Satan not blameless until God found unrighteousness within?  Was not Satan cast from the mountain of God?  Was not the great sin of Satan his pride?  Are not people appalled at Satan’s fall?  Has he not come to a dreadful end?

I think Ezekiel’s point is incredibly deep.  The ruler of Tyre is Satan.  Satan has led Tyre away from God.  Satan has placed all of its pride, success, economy, and abundance before Tyre simply to distract them from God.  Satan is their ruler, and the people of Tyre have drunk the kool-aid.  That is profound, and I love the way Exekiel uses the imagery to get the point across about who is the king of much in this world.

Sidon

This prophecy against Sidon is short – especially when compared to Tyre.  Remember that Sidon and Tyre were sister cities in the Phoenician empire.  So it is likely that Ezekiel is attaching this little addendum to the end of Tyre’s prophecy to essentially say, “ditto for y’all.”  Notice, however, that again we return to the idea that these acts are being done so that they will know who is God.  It is about identity.  It’s about authority.  It’s about God.

Back to the Hebrew people

In the closing verses, we hear that God will have completed judgment on the neighbors of His people.  In other words, God is going to take care of what the Hebrew people could not do in the time of Joshua and the Judges.  God will remove obstacles.  When they return from exile, they will have no excuse.  They will dwell securely.  Of course, what they do with that security is up to them!

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Year 3, Day 153: Ezekiel 27

Problem of Titanic Proportions

In this chapter, Tyre is compared to a proud ship.  The people of Tyre basked in their splendor.  They considered themselves unsinkable.  They viewed their domain as anywhere that there was water to traverse.  Sound like any modern sailing story to you?  Like the story of the Titanic, God tells Ezekiel that Tyre is going to sink as well.  They are a beautiful sailing vessel headed on a course of destruction.

Let’s take a look at what God has to say about Tyre in the first two-thirds of this chapter.  Notice that the structure of Tyre seems to be in its connections to other nations.  The fact that Tyre trades with all of these other nations and has access to all of the good of these other nations seems to be a good foundation upon which Tyre is built.  They have access to all the best goods that the nations surrounding the Mediterranean Sea have to offer!  The people of Tyre genuinely believed that the backbone of their stability was in their connections to other nations.

Interestingly enough, this is very similar to the sins of Judah that we talked about a few days ago.  Judah was also a major state built on the economy of trade.  Judah was always seeking alliances with partners all over the known world.  Yet it got them into trouble because as they turned elsewhere for help they abandoned the God who was the greatest source of help that they could ever want.  The people of Tyre – admittedly, Gentiles – are guilty of doing the same thing.  They see their strength as being built upon the nations and do not acknowledge one bit the role that God has had to play in their nation.

East Wind

They simply got too big for their own britches.  They swelled with national pride.  They saw themselves as invincible.  They believed they could overcome anything.  Well, that is, until an east wind would come.

This mention of the east wind in verse 26 is doubly symbolic.  Any traveler on the Mediterranean Sea knew that western winds made for fairly safe sea travel.  However, a wind from the east or north east typically meant that the weather patterns were messed up because a storm system was moving through.  So the people of Tyre would know about the literal interpretation of Ezekiel’s words here.

Before I move on to the other symbolic interpretation, let’s pause for a second and remember a particular story from the book of Acts.  Remember in Acts when Paul is headed to Jerusalem to seek trial for his so-called crimes?  If not, read Acts 27.  Here is a story about a captain who out of pride and arrogance ends up experiencing a shipwreck because of a nor’easter.  I find it interesting that we have two major chapters in the Bible that deal with sailing, shipwrecks, pride, arrogance, and refusing to be humble to God.

Back to the east wind of verse 26.  Certainly the other symbol of the east wind is the Babylonian conquest.  Babylon has been identified elsewhere in Ezekiel as a wind or storm coming out of the east.  Certainly it is Babylon who will take the first major step in bringing the trading empire of the Phoenicians to their knees.

Tyre’s Neighbors

For two chapters in a row, Ezekiel ends his prophetic message with the reaction of Tyre’s neighbors.  As we heard yesterday, they will weep, wail, and mourn.  They will cover their head with dust.  They will be affected by Tyre’s downfall.  Economies will suffer.  Availability of good will lessen.  Babylon will throw a huge wrench into the economy of the Mediterranean.

However, notice another way that the reaction of the nations to Tyre’s downfall is different than Tyre’s reaction to the downfall of Jerusalem.  Yes, the nations mourn whereas Tyre didn’t.  But the nations also learn the lesson.  They “whistle through their teeth” – or hiss, as some translations put it – at what Babylon will do to Tyre.  One of the reasons that I like the whistling translation as opposed to the hissing translation is because the whistle doesn’t carry a negative connotation.  Ever hear a person whistle when they hear something big?  Or maybe they sit back, whistle, and say, “Whoa!”  The trading partners of Tyre will realize that if Babylon can bring down the mercantile empire of the Phoenicians then they better watch out. 

The nations won’t seek to step in and take over from Tyre.  The nations will use this opportunity to step back, re-evaluate their circumstances, and do a gut-check.  Whereas Tyre got caught up in their invincibility, the other nations will have this be a moment of reality.

I think that this is a really neat truth with which we can end this passage.  It ties beautifully back to yesterday’s theological exploration.  When we see the fall of people around us, how do we respond?  Are we compassionate or exploiting?  Do we use it as an opportunity to do a gut check or do we step up in pride and assume we’re invincible?  This is a good teaching for us to remember as individuals, congregations, ministries, and Christ’s church in general.

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Year 3, Day 152: Ezekiel 26

Tyre

After four short prophesies of destruction against the ancient enemies of the Hebrew people, we now turn to a series of prophesies against Tyre.  Tyre and Sidon were leading cities of the Phoenicians.  These cities were the principle powers north of Judah.  We know historically that the Phoenicians we incredible sailors.  They reached far and wide as they built their empire based on trade with culture around the Mediterranean Sea.

What is interesting about this prophecy is that it comes in the eleventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin.  We know that the prophecy happens on the first day of the month, but we are not told which month.  The reason that this is interesting is because the eleventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin was 587-586 B.C.  We know Jerusalem fell permanently to Babylon in 586 B.C.  Therefore, it is likely that the imminent collapse of Jerusalem – or perhaps the actual collapse of Jerusalem – brings about the prophecy.  It is as though God is saying through Ezekiel, “What I promised would happen to Jerusalem has happened.  So Tyre, you’re up next.”

I find it fascinating to know that God can speak to us and through us anytime He wants.  Yet, He always picks precisely the right time to send precisely the right message.  Now, if only we could hear that message as clearly in foresight as we can in hindsight!

Prophecy Against Tyre

 Notice that Ezekiel continues in the “because,” “therefore,” “so that” style that we spoke about yesterday.  Because the people of Tyre rejoiced when Jerusalem fell, God would tear her down so that the people will know that God is the Lord.

The question is, what is the great sin of Tyre other than rejoicing at the calamity of another?  The answer lies in economics.  I’ve already mentioned that Tyre was the elite merchant on the water.  The Phoenicians were incredible sailors and they made a huge profit transporting goods all around the Mediterranean.  However, they always played second fiddle to Judah with respect to land trade.  The land of Judah provided a very natural trading route from the Middle East (Babylon, Persia, Assyria) to Africa (specifically Egypt).  The Hebrew people were quite skilled at making money off of land based trade through the Promised Land.  In fact, this is one of the primary reasons that Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon were so interested in conquering the land!  It is also why the Greeks and the Romans were so interested in controlled the land as well.  The Promised Land was a natural route for caravans of trade heading north to south.

So, when Judah is conquered by Babylon the people of Tyre see their opportunity.  They know that it is likely that their sea trading will increase due to the turmoil and unrest – and more likelihood of bandits along the way.  They also think that it might be possible to expand their land based trade further south and take over what the people of Judah had been doing.  For Tyre, the downfall of Jerusalem is seen as a huge potential for economic gain!

Greed.

It’s the old enemy of humanity.  We want.  The more we have, the less we’re satisfied.  The less we’re satisfied, the more we want.  Soon it doesn’t matter who we have to step on or over to get it.  That is why the people of Tyre are guilty.  They saw the destruction of Jerusalem and didn’t even mourn.  They were there, ready to pounce.  They skipped human decency and went straight for the bottom dollar.

Of course, I now have to think about the modern era.  How quick are we to capitalize on the failure of another?  How quick are we to step in and prosper rather than be concerned over the loss of another?  I’m not saying we should go the opposite route and bail out bad decision after bad decision.  But I am saying that we do need to take time and allow human decency to run its course as well.

Wrath

So what would happen to Tyre?  Well, for one thing, the people on the mainland would be ravaged.  Tyre was really a split city.  It had a mainland harbor as well as a town on an island about a half mile off of the coast.  Like modern cities, the town on the mainland had many satellite suburbs.  We know historically that Nebuchadnezzar did ravage the mainland of Tyre.  He attacked the island, but it surrendered and became a vassal state to Babylon before it could be completely destroyed. 

The people of Tyre saw the destruction of Jerusalem as a time for their personal gain.  They didn’t realize that it meant that Babylon could focus on them next.

In fact, the destruction of Tyre continues on through history much as Ezekiel says.  When Alexander comes through the region claiming it for the Greeks, he builds a causeway from the mainland out to the island so that he could destroy the fortress and plunder the land.  Literally, Alexander threw stone and lumber into the sea as verse 12 indicates.  While the town and the people were not obliterated, Tyre never regained the splendor that it once had.

Tyre’s Neighbors

You will note that Tyre’s neighbors will mourn the destruction of Tyre, unlike how Tyre treated the destruction of Jerusalem.  They will mourn the loss of naval trade.  The destruction of Tyre would not only mean judgment on Tyre but also a diminished ability for people to trade all across the Mediterranean coast.

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