Daily Bread for Sep 7, Eze 25-27

Today's readings are Eze 25-27.

Ammon, Moab, Edom, Sier (part of Edom) Philistia are told of pending judgment. All these nations fought against Israel and Judah or tried to take advantage of them when they were under attack.

Special judgment is reserved for the Phoenician port cities of Tyre and Sidon. They were huge, highly prosperous trade centers with goods and merchandise filtering through them to the entire Western world, hence the reference to Tarshish. These two cities (Tyre and Sidon) had a profound impact on the region, bringing prosperity to all the nations in the Mideast. They also brought the corruption and idolatry of the world to the region as well, particularly to Israel and Judah. As the riches of the world filtered through them, both kingdoms were seduced by all the world had to offer. Tyre is allegorized in the image of a huge ship which will be destroyed, showing that worldly goods and unimaginable riches were valueless without the presence of the one true God.

This is not a condemnation of wealth or commerce. It is a sobering warning not to let either draw you away from God. It is an indictment of pride and a caution to avoid displacing dependence on God with dependence on worldly things.

God has no problem with His children owning things. David and Solomon were two of the richest men in the world as was Job. The problem arises when accumulation and wealth become the focus of our lives and ministries and the worship and reverence of God takes a back seat to prosperity. Judah and Israel relegated God to a lower priority than prosperity in their lives. They may have continued to worship Him for a while. But, eventually, God became more and more of a way for them to achieve their worldly goals. As soon as those goals were achieved, God faded into the background. Their worldly goals had replaced God as their only goal. The result was disastrous.

God will be neither taken for granted nor ignored. One key phrase keeps popping up in these passages. The hardships that are coming to all these nations will occur so that they “will know the He is God.” This drives home the biblical truth that God is the God of all creation, not just the God of those who believe in Him. He is the center and focus of the entire universe. His word is designed as a self-revelation to His creation. As the prophecies in Ezekiel are carried out in detail, those who are the object of His wrath will understand the He is Lord. “Every tongue will confess…” (Isa 45:23; Rom 14:11; Php 2:11).