Year 6, Day 156: Ezekiel 30

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Character

• Character: Having the interior life that is necessary to support the work that God sets before a person.  It is hearing from God and obeying.  It is doing the right thing when nobody is looking.

It makes sense to have a good look at character while we’re in the chapters about Egypt.  The whole of the Old Testament gives a clear impression about Egypt.  It is a corrupting influence.  It is the center of most of the external evil that the Hebrew people encounter.  Yes, the Hebrew people are human and are fully capable of sinning all on their own.  But Egypt is active in assisting the Hebrew people in their sin.

How do we see the character of the Egyptians in this chapter?  Notice the verses in the middle of the chapter that talk about how Egypt has influenced the nations around them with their gods.  They Egyptian people brought their faith into the Hebrew people – and other foreigners, too.  The Egyptian nation was active in promoting an alternative to God.

Furthermore, notice the section of this chapter that talks about the league of nations.  Many nations came to Egypt for protection against Assyria and Babylon.  The refugees of many nations fled to Egypt, believing in their ability to protect them.  God sent Babylon and Assyria into the world to force people to face the consequences of their rebellion against God.  Egypt allowed people to escape the very judgment that God desired them to face.

In the end, we can see that Egypt’s character is contrary to God’s character.  But what is really scary is that if we paint these actions in a slightly different light Egypt sounds like a really good nation.  They are active about promoting their faith.  They are willing to welcome the refugees or war.  In the right light, these are good things.  But they are in opposition to God’s will.  What this really tells us is that character cannot be reduced to external appearances and a black-and-white list of “good things” and “evil things.”  Character is about our orientation with the Father and our alignment to His will.

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