Know That I am the Lord
Notes
Transcript
Scripture Intro:
Scripture Intro:
The prophet Ezekiel...
during the time of the exile to Babylon.
Ezekiel Overview Outline
Judgment (ch. 1-32)
For Israel (ch. 1-24)
For the Nations (ch. 25-32)
Hope (ch. 33-48)
God’s People Restored (ch. 33-39)
God’s Worship Restored (ch. 40-48)
In order to make sense of this passage,
we have to look at a map.
These are prophecies against the nations surrounding Judah.
Starting Northeast of Judah...
moving clockwise around the map.
Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, Tyre & Sidon
And then Egypt… even further west of Israel.
Scripture Reading (“Please stand…”)
The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, set your face toward the Ammonites and prophesy against them.
Say to the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord God: Thus says the Lord God, Because you said, ‘Aha!’ over my sanctuary when it was profaned, and over the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and over the house of Judah when they went into exile,
therefore behold, I am handing you over to the people of the East for a possession, and they shall set their encampments among you and make their dwellings in your midst. They shall eat your fruit, and they shall drink your milk.
I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels and Ammon a fold for flocks. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
For thus says the Lord God: Because you have clapped your hands and stamped your feet and rejoiced with all the malice within your soul against the land of Israel,
therefore, behold, I have stretched out my hand against you, and will hand you over as plunder to the nations. And I will cut you off from the peoples and will make you perish out of the countries; I will destroy you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
“Thus says the Lord God: Because Moab and Seir said, ‘Behold, the house of Judah is like all the other nations,’
therefore I will lay open the flank of Moab from the cities, from its cities on its frontier, the glory of the country, Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim.
I will give it along with the Ammonites to the people of the East as a possession, that the Ammonites may be remembered no more among the nations,
and I will execute judgments upon Moab. Then they will know that I am the Lord.
“Thus says the Lord God: Because Edom acted revengefully against the house of Judah and has grievously offended in taking vengeance on them,
therefore thus says the Lord God, I will stretch out my hand against Edom and cut off from it man and beast. And I will make it desolate; from Teman even to Dedan they shall fall by the sword.
And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel, and they shall do in Edom according to my anger and according to my wrath, and they shall know my vengeance, declares the Lord God.
“Thus says the Lord God: Because the Philistines acted revengefully and took vengeance with malice of soul to destroy in never-ending enmity,
therefore thus says the Lord God, Behold, I will stretch out my hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites and destroy the rest of the seacoast.
I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I lay my vengeance upon them.”
In the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me:
“Son of man, because Tyre said concerning Jerusalem, ‘Aha, the gate of the peoples is broken; it has swung open to me. I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste,’
therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will bring up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves.
They shall destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers, and I will scrape her soil from her and make her a bare rock.
She shall be in the midst of the sea a place for the spreading of nets, for I have spoken, declares the Lord God. And she shall become plunder for the nations, and her daughters on the mainland shall be killed by the sword.
Then they will know that I am the Lord.
Pray...
Intro:
Intro:
“Then they will know that I am the Lord”
72 times in Ezekiel
In 25-32:
25:5
25:7
25:11
25:17
26:6
28:22
28:23
28:24
28:26 (their God)
29:6
29:9
29:16
29:21
30:8
30:19
30:25
30:26
32:15
Know that I am the...
Lord Over the Nations
Lord Over the Nations
(Timer: 20 minutes left)
This section of Chapters 25-32 play an interesting role in Ezekiel.
These are spoken to the people of Israel who are in exile.
Yet, they are prophecies of judgment against the other nations.
So Ezekiel is speaking the word of God to those nations,
but the ones hearing the prophecies are the people of Israel in exile in Babylon.
That begs the question of “Why?”
Why speak to God’s people about other nations?
Why not speak to those nations directly?
To make sense of that,
we have to recognize the careful structuring of these chapters.
There is a triple use of sevens.
Seven - the number of completeness.
Used in Israelite rhetoric.
Seven nations are targeted.
In the prophecies against Tyre and Egypt (which are both quite lengthy)...
they each is comprised 7 internal sections.
Oddly enough,
one nation is missing...
Babylon.
The ones who have Israel in exile.
There similar collections of prophecies against the foreign nations
in Amos 1–2; Isaiah 13–23 and Jeremiah 46–51.
“Then they will know that I am the Lord”
ESV Study Bible:
Thus the primary purpose of Ezekiel’s message was to restore God’s glory before the people who had spurned it in view of the watching nations. (ESV Study Bible)
Ammon
25:1-7
Bringing Babylon against them (“people of the East”)
Why?
For thus says the Lord God: Because you have clapped your hands and stamped your feet and rejoiced with all the malice within your soul against the land of Israel,
They celebrated when Israel fell.
to move against God’s people is to move against God.
“Then they will know that I am the Lord”
Moab
“Thus says the Lord God: Because Moab and Seir said, ‘Behold, the house of Judah is like all the other nations,’
The Moabites had failed to perceive that Judah’s downfall was an act of judgement
“Then they will know that I am the Lord”
Edom
“Thus says the Lord God: Because Edom acted revengefully against the house of Judah and has grievously offended in taking vengeance on them,
Philistia
“Thus says the Lord God: Because the Philistines acted revengefully and took vengeance with malice of soul to destroy in never-ending enmity,
“Then they will know that I am the Lord”
Tyre
“Now you, son of man, raise a lamentation over Tyre,
and say to Tyre, who dwells at the entrances to the sea, merchant of the peoples to many coastlands, thus says the Lord God: “O Tyre, you have said, ‘I am perfect in beauty.’
Chapter 28 tells what they thought of themselves...
“Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord God: “Because your heart is proud, and you have said, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of the gods, in the heart of the seas,’ yet you are but a man, and no god, though you make your heart like the heart of a god—
Chapter 27 recounts all of their trading partners (business/commerce)
All around the Mediterranean Sea
So the judgment cut out their greatest confidence
Your riches, your wares, your merchandise, your mariners and your pilots, your caulkers, your dealers in merchandise, and all your men of war who are in you, with all your crew that is in your midst, sink into the heart of the seas on the day of your fall.
and they go from the nation to be admired and emulated to...
The merchants among the peoples hiss at you; you have come to a dreadful end and shall be no more forever.’ ”
“Then they will know that I am the Lord”
Egypt
One important point to note in Egypt’s judgement is its theological nature. God is jealous to safeguard his honour; he will share it with no one else. Thus, the Egyptian god, Sebek (‘the crocodile god’, 29:3–4) is to be destroyed. Here again, God says, ‘I will destroy the idols and put an end to the images’ (30:13). Man’s religions have been his greatest crimes.
Chapter 29
speak, and say, Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lies in the midst of his streams, that says, ‘My Nile is my own; I made it for myself.’
“My Nile is my own. I made it for myself”
They didn’t aid Israel...
Then all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord. “Because you have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel, when they grasped you with the hand, you broke and tore all their shoulders; and when they leaned on you, you broke and made all their loins to shake.
“Then they will know that I am the Lord”
In Ezek 5.8, God says he is against his own people.
therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, even I, am against you. And I will execute judgments in your midst in the sight of the nations.
“The rhetorical strategy of the prophets was deliberately as simple as it was shocking: Israel, the covenant people of Yahweh, was now to be counted among the enemies of Yahweh and must be addressed as such.” (Christopher Wright)
All nations are under God’s dominion and authority.
He is the King of Kings
He is the only true God.
And all nations will one bow before him.
“Day of the Lord”
For the day is near, the day of the Lord is near; it will be a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations.
This is the first time in Ezekiel that we see the phrase, ‘the day of the Lord’ (30:3; cf. ‘The day is near’, 7:7).
While the ‘day of the Lord’ can sometimes refer to an event which is in the near future, it usually describes the consummation, the end of all time, when God will come to judge the world.
Four particular features of the ‘the day of the Lord’ are worth noting.
1. It is a day of darkness (clouds, dark)
With the storm this morning,
how did you feel?
Were you somewhat bracing for impact?
Interestingly, you knew that you were out of control.
Our confidence melts away.
And we know that the Lord is God.
2. The ‘day’ is imminent
‘The day is near’ (30:3). While the primary reference here is to an event which was only a few years away, all of these judgments were precursors of the ‘the Day of Judgement’.
3. It is a day of judgement
Ezekiel calls it ‘a time of doom …’ and says, ‘Wail’ (30:2), for ‘Anguish will come’ upon them (30:4).
4. No one can escape the effects of this day
In a widely sweeping arc,
Lord Over History
Lord Over History
(Timer: Hopefully, 10 minutes left)
therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will bring up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves.
“many nations against you”
They shall destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers, and I will scrape her soil from her and make her a bare rock.
In the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre. Every head was made bald, and every shoulder was rubbed bare, yet neither he nor his army got anything from Tyre to pay for the labor that he had performed against her.
Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he shall carry off its wealth and despoil it and plunder it; and it shall be the wages for his army.
Against Tyre
As it turned out, Nebuchadnezzar’s siege of Tyre lasted for thirteen years
until everybody was absolutely worn out by it—
including the Babylonian soldiers,
What this means is that the original prophecy against Tyre...
was not fulfilled completely by the Babylonians.
With the hoofs of his horses he will trample all your streets. He will kill your people with the sword, and your mighty pillars will fall to the ground.
They will plunder your riches and loot your merchandise. They will break down your walls and destroy your pleasant houses. Your stones and timber and soil they will cast into the midst of the waters.
It is the eventual conquering of Tyre by Alexander the Great.
In 332 BC he built a massive causeway...
out from the coast to the island in order to press his siege and attack.
App. Every event in the course of history is under the control of God.
He orders not only his own people, but the course of history itself.
Even in the midst of judgment on Egypt,
“On that day I will cause a horn to spring up for the house of Israel, and I will open your lips among them. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
Lord Over His People
Lord Over His People
(Timer: Hopefully, 5 minutes left)
One commentator regards these verses as...
“the key that unlocks the entire unit”.
Christopher Wright,
“They make clear that the purpose of the surrounding oracles against the nations is indeed to provide ‘a backhanded message of hope’ for Israel. Yahweh’s action against their enemies will ultimately mean that their own future will be secure, in spite of the catastrophe happening at the very time the oracles were delivered.” (Christopher Wright)
This section is very balanced in its length.
97 verses from chapter 25 to 28:24
97 verses from chapter 29-32.
This offer of hope to Israel is the definite middle...
Meaning that the judgment on the nations is pointing to an even greater purpose...
the well-being and restoration of God’s people.
Said even more clearly (ESV Study Bible),
“the subduing of God’s enemies will result in the well-being of God’s own people.”
“And for the house of Israel there shall be no more a brier to prick or a thorn to hurt them among all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord God.
“Thus says the Lord God: When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and manifest my holiness in them in the sight of the nations, then they shall dwell in their own land that I gave to my servant Jacob.
One of the judgments on Israel,
especially in the Assyrian dispersion and the exiles of Babylon.
they were “scattered”...
so “gathering” is distinct saving actions of God.
And they shall dwell securely in it, and they shall build houses and plant vineyards. They shall dwell securely, when I execute judgments upon all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God.”
“Then they will know that I am THEIR God.”
Similar to the other statements of God’s grace.
All throughout Ezekiel
(11:17; 20:34, 41–42; 29:13; 34:13; 36:24; 37:21; 38:8; 39:27)
This section ends with the fate of Egypt (chapter 32).
“No matter how sorry for themselves Ezekiel’s compatriots might have felt at their lot in Babylon, the fate of Egypt and her associate nations was worse.” (Derek Thomas)
“There is coming a day when their pride will be broken and, instead of occupying the glory and limelight that they now enjoy, they will inhabit the pits of ‘hell’.” (Derek Thomas)
How should we respond to wrath of God falling on the nations?
“Son of man, wail over the multitude of Egypt, and send them down, her and the daughters of majestic nations, to the world below, to those who have gone down to the pit:
We ought to be gripped with grief and sadness.
While we enjoy the grace and favor of God,
they will bear up under his wrath.
And that ought to break out hearts.
** On Communion Sunday...
If after 10:30,
go straight to the Lord’s Supper.
Close in Prayer
Close in Prayer
Closing Song:
Closing Song:
“We Will Feast in the House of Zion”
“we will dwell secure”
Benediction:
Benediction:
