Scripture Text: Ezekiel 25:1-28:26
Memory Verse: “And there shall no longer be a pricking brier or a painful thorn for the house of Israel from among all who are around them, who despise them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord God.” Ezekiel 28:24
Introduction:
The prophecies of Ezekiel move into a new section: oracles against the nation’s surrounding Judah. Six oracles are contained in Ezekiel 25-29, with a huge seventh oracle against Egypt in Ezekiel 30-32. It’s rather interesting that the prophesies against the nations surrounding Judah are arranged in clockwise fashion: Ammon, in the Transjordan to the northeast, then moving south to Moab and Edom, then west to Philistia in the southern coastal plain, and then north to the coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon.
When we recall that Ezekiel was primarily addressing the exiles from Judah, we might wonder what is contained in these oracles for the Judean audience. First, the oracles give assurance that God doesn’t have a double standard, judging only Israel’s sins while other nations are left alone to behave as they desire. While judgment begins at the House of God, it certainly doesn’t end there. All nations, kindreds, and tribes are held to strict accountability. All of them must come to “know that I am the Lord,” accepting Him as the only true God. Romans 14:11-12 states clearly: “For it is written: ‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.’ So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.”
Secondly, despite the outpouring of God’s wrath on His people, they still remain His people. They are eternally precious to Him. The charges declared to each of the foreign nations in Ezekiel 25 are because they have persecuted and/or insulted God’s chosen people, and thereby have insulted God Himself.
Thirdly, the Judean hearers are reminded that God has His own consistent designs behind all the events of history: most importantly, to bring glory to Himself through all peoples.
Studying the Word
Lesson Study
- What reason did God give for the judgment of the Ammonites? (Ezekiel 25:3, 6)
- What reason did God give for His judgment on the people of Moab? (Ezekiel 25:8)
- For what reasons was Edom brought to judgment? (Ezekiel 25:12)
- Why did God pronounce judgment upon the Philistines? (Ezekiel 25:15)
- What was Tyre’s offense against the Lord God? (Ezekiel 26:2)
[Editorial comment: The total destruction of the city of Tyre is actually accomplished as is written in Scripture, but there is a gap of time between Ezekiel 26:11 and Ezekiel 26:12 of 240 years. The Babylonian army began the smiting judgment when the city of Tyre was destroyed on the mainland in around 573 B.C., after a siege of 13 years. The city was rebuilt by the Phoenicians on an island, but it was also destroyed in 332 B.C. by the Grecian Army led by Alexander the Great. The Greeks actually laid the stones and timber of the city in the water (Ezekiel 26:12b) to build a causeway across the sea to allow conquest of the island city. Catching the sand carried by the ocean tides, the causeway that was constructed allowed the water level to rise, and even today fishermen spread their nets over what were once the city’s beaches!] - How was Tyre’s power and wealth characterized by Ezekiel? (Ezekiel 27:1-25) What exactly would happen to Tyre’s “unshakable” economic stability and military might? (Ezekiel 27:26-36)
- Compare and contrast the similarities and differences between the “prince” and the “king” of Tyre. (Ezekiel 28:1-19)
- What would be the important result of God’s destruction of Sidon? (Ezekiel 28:22-23)
- At the end of these judgment oracles, what positive Message does Ezekiel share with the exiles? (Ezekiel 28:24-26)