Ezekiel 25-32
Ezekiel
25 to 32
Overview and Analysis:
These
are seven nations who had been enemies and sometimes allies with Israel, but
they were all rejoicing at some level that Israel/Judah had been captured and
destroyed, finally, by Babylon (up to this point they had been secure).
25: 1-7
Ammon: They rejoiced
that Judah was destroyed.
Do not rejoice at the destruction of your enemies.
God’s protection over Israel despite his judgment of them.
Ammon is city in Jordan.
Example: 25:3 The Ammonites say, AHA! when the temple
was profaned
8-11
Moab. Given to
enemies and not remembered. People of the East
Example: 25:8:
Moabites said “The house of Judah is like the others.”
12-14
Edom.
25:12 a reference to II chron 28:17 during the reign of
Ahaz.
15-17
Philistines (where the word Palestine comes from). David fought the Philistines but also worked
with them.
Ez. 26
26:2: Tyre (loosely Lebanon) said of Israel that “she
is turned over to me”
Against Tyre. Who
were they? Coastland empire, very
wealthy and successful in trade.. They
would be forgotten and not found (end of chapter).
The following is from Wikipedia (easy source!)
The commerce of the ancient world was gathered into the warehouses of Tyre. "Tyrian merchants were the first who ventured to navigate the Mediterranean waters; and they founded their colonies on the coasts and neighbouring islands of the Aegean Sea, in Greece, on the northern coast of Africa, at Carthage and other places, in Sicily and Corsica, in Spain at Tartessus, and even beyond the pillars of Hercules at Gadeira (Cádiz)".[16]
The city of Tyre was particularly known for the production of a rare and extraordinarily expensive sort of purple dye, produced from the murex shellfish, known as Tyrian purple. This color was, in many cultures of ancient times, reserved for the use of royalty, or at least nobility.[17]
Tyre was often attacked by Egypt, besieged by Shalmaneser V, who was assisted by the Phoenicians of the mainland, for five years. From 586 until 573 BC, the city was besieged by Nebuchadnezzar II[18] until Tyre agreed to pay a tribute.[19]
In 539 BC the Achaemenids conquered the city, and kept it under their rule until 332 BC, when Alexander the Great laid siege to the city, conquered and razed it.[20]
In 315 BC, Alexander's former general Antigonus began his own siege of Tyre,[19] taking the city a year later.[21]
In 126 BC, Tyre regained its independence (from the Seleucids)[22] and was allowed to keep much of its independence, as a "civitas foederata",[23] when the area became a Roman province in 64 BC.[24] Tyre continued to maintain much of its commercial importance until the Christian era.
End of Wikipedia material
28:24
Sidon judged for despising Israel
Ez 29: prophecy
against Egypt for not being a dependable ally of Israel/Judah—a faulty
reed.
The
Lord tells Ez. In verse 17 that the Tyrian kingdom didn’t fall but Nebuchadnezzar
would go against Egypt. its former glory would be gone, verse 15-16. This is related to the fact in Jeremiah that
some of those left over in Jerusalem wanted to go there, and Jeremiah did get
taken there in Jeremiah 43; in verse 8 and following there is a prophecy about
Egypt that goes along with this
EZ 30: Rest of
prophecy against Egypt, in specifics about cities
Ez 31: More prophecy
against Egypt, with metaphor of a tree.
I think it is saying that just as Assyria was a large protective tree
and fell, so will Egypt.
Ez. 32: Sort of
summary that all of these nations around them will be conquered by Babylon
29:6
Egypt, because they were not a dependable ally; Jeremiah 25:15 ff - he was
preaching the same message; in the mouth of two witnesses it shall be established;
actually Amos preached same
Take-aways
Thought
1: protection of Israel. When God makes a promise, it sticks
eternally. Abraham in Genesis 12 and 15,
other places in Exodus and Deuteronomy
Not
replacement theology - Although Baptist generally have less trouble with this,
we need to be careful because it leads, unknowingly, to anti-semitism and a
misrepresentations of other Scriptures.
Replacement theology says that the church replaced Israel.
Equally,
I think it is important to remember that most or much of the OT is promises to
Israel and we should not misinterpret verses in the OT as pertaining to
us. This is probably where as a Bible
teacher I differ from a lot of others, because I don’t think we can just take a
verse from the Old Testament (which is more likely to be called the Hebrew
Bible now, so anyone reading this, you can make that replacement and just know
that the persons for whom this is written are used to the former designation
and know that I recognize that the term Old Testament is not entirely correct—it
is the older one, not the replaced or obsolete one). This is also not to say I am a proponent of
premillenialism, only that it is entirely clear to me that the Jewish people
didn’t get thrown away in Acts 2 or anywhere else. See below for borrowed material on this
matter.
Question:
"What is replacement theology / supersessionism?"
Answer:
Replacement theology (also known as supersessionism) essentially teaches that
the church has replaced Israel in God’s plan.
Adherents of replacement theology believe the Jews are no longer God’s
chosen people, and God does not have specific future plans for the nation of
Israel. All the different views of the relationship between the church and
Israel can be divided into two camps: either the church is a continuation of
Israel (replacement/covenant theology), or the church is completely different
and distinct from Israel (dispensationalism/premillennialism).
Replacement
theology teaches that the church is the replacement for Israel and that the
many promises made to Israel in the Bible are fulfilled in the Christian
church, not in Israel. So, the prophecies in Scripture concerning the blessing
and restoration of Israel to the Promised Land are “spiritualized” or “allegorized”
into promises of God's blessing for the church. Major problems exist with this
view, such as the continuing existence of the Jewish people throughout the
centuries and especially with the revival of the modern state of Israel. If
Israel has been condemned by God, and there is no future for the Jewish nation,
how do we explain the supernatural survival of the Jewish people over the past
2000 years despite the many attempts to destroy them? How do we explain why and
how Israel reappeared as a nation in the 20th century after not existing for
1900 years?
The
view that Israel and the church are different is clearly taught in the New
Testament. Biblically speaking, the church is completely different and distinct
from Israel, and the two are never to be confused or used interchangeably. We
are taught from Scripture that the church is an entirely new creation that came
into being on the day of Pentecost and will continue until it is taken to
heaven at the rapture (Ephesians 1:9-11; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17). The church
has no relationship to the curses and blessings for Israel. The covenants,
promises, and warnings are valid only for Israel. Israel has been temporarily
set aside in God's program during these past 2000 years of dispersion.
After
the rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18), God will restore Israel as the primary
focus of His plan. The first event at this time is the tribulation (Revelation
chapters 6-19). The world will be judged for rejecting Christ, while Israel is
prepared through the trials of the great tribulation for the second coming of
the Messiah. Then, when Christ does return to the earth, at the end of the
tribulation, Israel will be ready to receive Him. The remnant of Israel which
survives the tribulation will be saved, and the Lord will establish His kingdom
on this earth with Jerusalem as its capital. With Christ reigning as King,
Israel will be the leading nation, and representatives from all nations will
come to Jerusalem to honor and worship the King—Jesus Christ. The church will
return with Christ and will reign with Him for a literal thousand years
(Revelation 20:1-5).
Both
the Old Testament and the New Testament support a premillennial/dispensational
understanding of God's plan for Israel. Even so, the strongest support for
premillennialism is found in the clear teaching of Revelation 20:1-7, where it
says six times that Christ's kingdom will last 1000 years. After the tribulation
the Lord will return and establish His kingdom with the nation of Israel,
Christ will reign over the whole earth, and Israel will be the leader of the
nations. The church will reign with Him for a literal thousand years. The
church has not replaced Israel in God's plan. While God may be focusing His
attention primarily on the church in this dispensation of grace, God has not
forgotten Israel and will one day restore Israel to His intended role as the
nation He has chosen (Romans 11).
Read
more: http://www.gotquestions.org/replacement-theology.html#ixzz3J3B1A0BN
Thought
2: We can know God’s glory through
judgment or through good blessings.
Israel had known the blessings and rejected it, now would know it
through judgment.
Corollary: God’s glory in judgment was shown on the
cross. We like to think and preach that
the cross was about us (even us individually, as people say, if I was the only
person on the planet, Jesus would have died for me, which may be true but also
smacks of fantasy and narcissism—how could an individual be the only person on
the planet?)
The
cross was about the plan and glory of God and we are part of that. Judgment was carried out there and we get the
blessings side of the glory of God.
Thought
3: In this passage today the two
kingdoms/nations/ethnicities that get the most prophecy are Tyre and
Egypt. It is understandable about Egypt,
since they had enslaved Israel and not been the most helpful allies over the
years (as today, interestingly). But why
Tyre, and why so much?
Apparently
Tyre was an incredibly wealthy and therefore proud nation of people. This is seen in the descriptions Ezekiel
gives it, and as a person living in very poor conditions, the wealth of Tyre
must have been well known and well displayed all over the region. While Judah and other nations are suffering
at the hands of Babylon, Tyre is showing off its wealth—but not for long.
The
lesson in the quarterly focuses on this, so I want to talk about pride.
Thought
4: Let’s first discuss what pride
is. Being proud is not exactly the same
as pride. When I say I am proud of my
son or proud of my students who do well, I essentially mean that I am pleased,
happy, full of joy at their success. It’s
an expression of approval to them. It
doesn’t necessarily mean I take credit for it, it’s all about me.
However,
when it crosses the line into “I am the one responsible for this, they wouldn’t
have done it without me, it’s all about me, and let’ leave God’s blessings out of
it” it goes too far and becomes Biblical pride.
The
old saying is “the center of ‘sin’ and ‘pride’ is ‘I.’” I would say self-sufficiency is the core of
pride. I am sufficient, I can do it
without help, I did it without help, and therefore I am better than others are
thoughts related to pride. Donald Miller
wrote in Blue Like Jazz about our “self addiction” and that’s the word I come
back to. It’s our constant going back to
Me, Me, Me and the center of everything.
The
Bible speaks a lot about real pride and its evil consequences, because pride
dismisses God in one’s heart even when the mouth might make religious
references.
The
opposite of pride is dependence and thankfulness.
So,
what does this say about Ezekiel? In a passage that has baffled interpreters,
in 28:11he moves into a description of the king of Tyre that is taken to be
about the origins of Satan.
A
lesson about Satan is outside the realm of today. In this context, the way the king of Tyre
acts is an object lesson or type of how Satan operates and how he went from who
he was to who he is now, and the key sin was pride that lead to rebellion. He took what he was as a creation but
rejected the source of it and believed he was the source of it.
I
am not sure if we are supposed to take this entirely literally in this context,
or figuratively because of its connection to a real king, but the emphasis is
that
1.
Satan
is created being (not a coexistent one), probably an angelic one. He is not equal with God, and has no relation
to Christ (Mormons teach he and Jesus were brothers, which is just plain weird)
2.
His
core is pride and rebellion
3.
He
will be judged
Thought
5: It is interesting to me that the
Middle East today is still very much like this picture in Ezekiel. Some of these people groups still hate Israel
or have tension-filled relations with them. The only exception might be
Edom/Ammon, which would constitute the modern day nation of Jordan, and they
seem to get along all right with Israel, despite its closeness (other side of
the Jordan.) A gentleman I teach with
and who is a Presbyterian minister gave a lunch talk on his trip to Jordan and
Petra and I was fascinated by it. It is
a Muslim democratic country. That being
said, there is plenty, plenty of tension and hatred toward the Jews, much of it
misunderstood in US today and the level of anti-Semitism is rising worldwide,
which is as the Bible indicates.
So,
the takeaways—What do you think they are?
In final burst of honest, these passages are upsetting. Why so much destruction? I find this so disheartening and not
something that draws me to the Christian faith, which seems to have nothing to
do with these prophecies of judgment over whole civilizations because of Israel,
even though Israel/Judah was disobedient.
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