Spring Harvest’s ‘Route 66 Through the Year’ is designed to take readers on a tour through each of the 66 books of the Bible over the course of a year, with each day’s reading featuring a short passage and comment written by a variety of Spring Harvest speakers.
I have contributed notes for this week on Ezekiel, looking today at 25:1-17.
Read: Ezekiel 25:1-17
Ezekiel, like the other long prophetic books, has a section devoted to sayings of judgment against nations surrounding Israel (chs. 25-32). Four nations – Ammon, Moab, Edom and Philistia – are spoken about briefly in chapter 25. Tyre and Egypt are dealt with at greater length in Ezekiel 26-32.
Sadly, this section of Ezekiel describes what we know all too well – our propensity to value political superiority, oppress each other, exercise injustice, and exploit others for economic gain. And so, Ezekiel’s message is significant for us in the same way it would have been significant to those who first received it, as he declares the rule of the Lord over the whole of world history, that the ultimate destiny of all things is in his hands.
At the very least, these chapters demonstrate a strong belief that God was not just the national God of Israel but was Lord over all the nations of the world. They’re a valuable reminder of the global dimension to our faith, that God’s concerns stretch to the far corners of the world – in mercy and in judgment. Somehow, in a way that might always remain a mystery to us, God repeatedly tells Ezekiel that he was acting so that the nations would know he is the Lord.
Lord God, help us to trust in you and bless you for your supremacy over all things.
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