May 9, Ezekiel 25
”For thus says the Lord GOD: Because you have clapped your hands and stamped your feet and rejoiced with all the malice in 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. “ - Ezekiel 25:7-8
I'm pretty sure you know from personal experience what it means to learn something "the hard way." I certainly do. We use that expression to describe someone who comes to understand something from bitter, painful experience. We say, "I tried to tell him. He should have known better. He could have listened and saved himself some grief. But no, he had to learn the hard way."
The nations bordering Israel had been perpetual enemies of God's people throughout the history of their existence. Some of those neighbors were ancient kinfolks of the Israelites. They perpetuated the animosity of their forefathers throughout their generations and across centuries. Ammon and Moab were descendants of Lot, Abraham's nephew. The Edomites descended from Esau, Jacob's brother. Along with the people of Seir and Philistia, these nations fought against Israel throughout their common history.
These nations were pagan idolaters. They did not recognize the God of Israel as the true God. Like other nations of the ancient world, they worshiped the sun, moon and stars, and made idols of wood and stone.
When God poured out his wrath on Israel for their rebellion and disobedience, these neighbors were delighted to see their old enemy suffer such ruin. They celebrated the deaths and destruction among the people of Israel and Judah. From their pagan point of view, the God of Israel had not been able to save his people from the Assyrians or Babylonians.
After judging Israel for their idolatry and rebellion, God turned Ezekiel's prophetic focus on these neighbors with declarations of their own impending doom. Israel was guilty of the same sins that characterized the hearts and lives of the surrounding nations. But Israel knew better. They had a covenant relationship with God and a law from him. Israel failed to be the light to the world that God called them to be. But these neighbors were still accountable to God. As Paul described in Romans, these people did not live up to what they could have known about God. They rejected any knowledge that was available to them. They followed their own lusts and made their own gods. They rejoiced to see Israel's suffering and attributed Israel's fall to the superiority of their gods over Israel's God. So God told Ezekiel that these nations would be the next to feel his wrath. They would be so thoroughly defeated and conquered that they would cease to exist as nations.
The repeating chorus of these announcements was, "Then you will know that I am the LORD." They could have learned it earlier and the lesson could have been more pleasant. But they had to learn the hard way.
The lesson for you and me is quite obvious, isn't it? We are blessed with the privilege to know God and surrender to him as God. This gracious God loved us even while we were in rebellion against him. He loved us so much that he gave his son Jesus to die for our sins and reconcile us to himself through that death. He wants us to obey him for our own good. But when we ignore the love of God and refuse the gospel of his grace, we make our lives harder and do nothing to prepare ourselves to face him in judgment.
It is so much better for us to acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord and bow before him now. One day, everyone will see him, bow before him and confess that he is Lord. I do not want to be among those that day who finally acknowledge him as Lord after ignoring or denying him all their lives. I do not want to face the Lord on Judgment Day and be forced to acknowledge then what I could have freely acknowledged here and now. That is the ultimate lesson to “learn the hard way.”
Copyright © 2024 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Today in God's Word—May 2024
East Tallassee Church of Christ
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