Day 247 – Ezekiel 25-27

Talking Points

• God announces His judgment on the Gentile nations surrounding Judah and Israel. They had opposed God’s people, and, in doing so, had opposed God Himself. God’s judgment of these nations shows us that all sin of all people will be judged.
• A considerable section is dedicated to pronouncing God’s specific wrath against Tyre. This nation, along with Egypt, had been great imposing enemies of Israel. It is a pattern worth noting: no nation has benefitted long-term in their opposition to God or His people.
• Wow! Reading these promised judgments, I was struck by the stark picture of God’s justice, wrath, and even vengeance. It’s easy for us to talk about our merciful, gracious, and forgiving God. We like those qualities. However, these verses show us how His judgment also reveals who He is. You see, our God is all those things. They all make up His character. He is holy in each attribute, perfect and infinite in each aspect. His kindness, grace, and mercy shine the brightest when His wrath and judgment of sin are also in view.

Thoughts

Reading through these chapters telling of God’s judgment on the Gentile neighbors, a statement kept popping up: “Thus you will know that I am the LORD.” The neighbors who watched Israel’s hardships celebrated by gloating and saying, “Aha,” as if to cheer on their terrible plight.

With a lot to consider in these verses, this stuck out: the neighbors are always watching! We can be sure they are. From the very beginning, God’s people were to be different, strikingly so. They were to talk differently, do business differently, live differently. And, these differences were to point to their holy God. Simply, in watching God’s people, the world would be certain that He was certainly the LORD.

Today, it is the same. The neighbors are still watching. And, they are watching with a critical eye. Do we love our spouses differently? Do we spend our time differently? How about how we treat others? Is the God we follow so astoundingly powerful and wise that our lives are radically, noticeably different? Friends, be sure, the neighbors are still watching.

“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” – Jesus – Matthew 5:16