Ezekiel 25
COMMENTARY:
: 3 And say unto the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus says the Lord GOD; Because you say, Aha, against MY sanctuary, when it was profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was desolate; and against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity; (4720 “sanctuary” [miqdash] means holy place, chapel, hallowed part, sacred place, of the temple, of the tabernacle, something consecrated, or clean.)
DEVOTION: We have to remember that the Ammonites were descendants of Lot the nephew of Abraham. These are children of his daughter who caused their father to be drink and then had sexual relations with him. These descendants were relatives of the Israelites that treated them poorly.
The children of Israel were supposed to conquer them but they lived with them as well as many people who had lived in the Promised Land. The LORD wanted them completed destroyed because HE knew that they would influence the children of Israel to worship false gods. It happened!
Now they were rejoicing over the fall of the Israelites. They were helping the enemy catch and kill the Israelites. The LORD told Ezekiel to prophecy what was going to happen to them in the near future.
One of the sins of the Ammonites was the fact that they rejoiced over the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. They were having a party and the LORD didn’t appreciate their actions.
Today we have a mixture of groups in the human church. Some of those who are in this category find no problem with some of the social changes in our society. They might even enjoy some of the changes in the requirements for church membership and who can be pastors or leaders in the church today.
God has set down some guidelines that are to be required for those who serve in the position of pastor, deacon and elder. HE has also set some guidelines for all believers in the New Testament.
The group outside the church like the Ammonites were not to be allowed to serve in leadership positions or even be taken into membership in a local church. This has changed. The Ammonites were allowed to rejoice over the fall of Jerusalem. They were rejoicing over the Temple being destroyed.
Today we have people rejoicing over Christian principles being taken out of the courts, schools and society in general. They would like to see all the standards of the LORD taken out of society.
Just like the Ammonites there will be many groups who will be judged by the LORD. Their days are numbered.
CHALLENGE: Our churches should ones that honor the LORD. They should be holy places. All those in attendance should be true to the LORD in their spirit and in truth.
: 6 For thus says the Lord GOD; Because you have clapped your hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced in heart with all your despite against the land of Israel (8055 “rejoiced” [samach] means be merry, to gladden, to express great joy, rejoice arrogantly, exult, be elated, have a feeling or attitude of joy and happiness, or mirth.)
DEVOTION: Our attitude is very important in the eyes of the LORD. If we don’t have the right attitude regarding something that is going on in our life or in the lives of other it might displease the LORD.
Here we find that the Ammonites toward the children of Israel when they were used to defeat them was something that was displeasing to the LORD. It is because of their attitude that the LORD judged them and sent them into a time of judgment.
We should never be happy when the LORD is dealing with someone in a time of rebuke for their attitude. If our attitude is wrong then HE will have to deal with us as well.
Our attitude should be one of compassion when someone or in this case a nation is going through a hard time. We should never rejoice when others are suffering according to the LORD.
We should be ones who are praying for individuals or groups that the LORD is judging to change their actions and attitude toward the LORD. If we pray for them the LORD will bless us for our actions. HE wants us to have compassion as HE has compassion on those who repenting of their sins.
Sin is something in each of our lives. We have to confess our sin and understand why the LORD has to deal with it in our lives and in the lives of others.
CHALLENGE: The LORD uses discipline to help us realize that we are wrong and need to change directions. If we change directions than HE can bless us instead of sending judgment.
: 15 Thus says the Lord GOD; Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to destroy it for the old hatred. (7589 “despiteful” [sh@’at] means contempt, malice, scorn, or state or condition of a feeling of hostility and strife toward an enemy.)
DEVOTION: The Philistines were in the Promised Land when the Israelites came from Egypt. They were supposed to be destroyed but the children of Israel just made servants of them when they were strong.
The book of Judges shows a back and forth relationship between Israel and the Philistines. David defeated their giant in battle. There was always a feeling of hostility between the Israelites and the Philistines.
This verse instructs us that the Philistines treated Israel badly when the Babylonians attacked them. They thought they could get vengeance for all the times that Israel had put them in slavery.
They had nothing but malice toward Israel when they were trying to escape from the Babylonians. They wanted revenge. They had an old hatred. They didn’t want to get rid of their bitterness toward their neighbor.
We are told that we are to love our enemy. We are told that bitterness is a sin. We are told that when we face difficult circumstances we are to grow better rather than bitter.
There are many families, churches and communities that claim to be followers of the LORD but they are bitter toward someone around them. Some Christians want the worse for those who have treated them badly. There are even some Christians that find it hard to pray for those in authority who are using that authority to accomplish things that are against God’s Word.
They might even think that it is righteous anger or bitterness.
We are to be in the forgiving business. We are not to carry an old hatred. If we carry an old hatred from year to year, we are not honoring the LORD. Get rid of any bitterness in your life. We are not to act like the unsaved Philistines. We are to act like Christ. We are to say with HIM “Father forgive them for they know not what they are doing.” What is in your heart????
CHALLENGE: The LORD informed the disciples that if they were not willing to forgive the Father in heaven could not forgive them. Forgive those who hurt you. Then the LORD can forgive us for our sins which are many. This is a matter of fellowship for a believer not salvation.
: 17 And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them. (5360 “vengeance” [naqamah] means avenge, revenge, requital, recompense, punish, or inflict retribution.)
DEVOTION: The Bible instructs us in the fact that the LORD is the only one who should punish. In Roman 3: 5 the question is asked “Is God unrighteous who takes vengeance?” The answer is NO!!
The problem is that we don’t usually want to wait for the LORD to deal with those who hurt us. There are verses that state we should wait for the LORD: Hebrews 10: 30 and Psalm 94:1.
When the LORD deals with other nations regarding their treatment of Israel we wonder why. God has judged Israel because of their sin but HE doesn’t want others to hurt HIS people out of revenge. The nations of Ammon and Moab are condemned for not helping their relatives. They were descendants of Lot, Abraham’s nephew. They should have helped their cousins when they were being invaded by the Babylonians. However, they instead captured them and gave them to the Babylonians.
The last nation in this chapter was the Philistines which have been the enemies of Israel since they entered the land. The Israelites were commanded by the LORD to kill all the inhabitants of the Promised Land when they entered it. They disobeyed the LORD and only asked them for money. This caused the children of Israel to start worshiping their false gods which brought them into disfavor with the LORD. Obedience is a necessary ingredient with the LORD.
Now we find that even we are to not seek recompense on those who mistreat us. We are to leave them to the LORD. If a believer hurts us we are to turn it over to the church and if nothing happens we are to leave it with the LORD. If an unbeliever hurts us we are to turn them over to the LORD and let HIM deal with them in HIS time.
Our problem is that we think God should work faster on those who have hurt us. There are two time frames in our world: our time frame and God’s time frame. Which is better? God’s is better.
We have to deal with bitterness if we don’t trust the LORD to deal with those who hurt us. Bitterness is sin. God doesn’t want us bitter. If we find ourselves in this state we need to go to the LORD in confession and ask HIM to help us deal with this issue.
CHALLENGE: Leave all retribution in the hands of the LORD. Trust HIM to do what is right in HIS timing. We are to wait on the LORD!
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