Ezekiel 25. They ignored him, mocked him and gave excuses. They dismissed the warnings

Transcription

1 Welcme t chapter 25 and t the secnd half f Ezekiel and the third majr divisin f the bk Up thrugh chapter 24, we ve fllwed the circumstances f the prphet Ezekiel living in exile in Babyln with his fellw Jews Ezekiel jined the exiles fllwing a secnd invasin by Nebuchadnezzar s army He s been in the land fr several years already, prphesying t the peple f Israel And his message during thse years has been ne f unrelenting judgment As the Lrd directed, Ezekiel tld the natin ver and ver again that their natin was abut t suffer a great destructin The natin s centuries f misdeeds have nw cme hme t rst, and Gd s wrath upn was abut t be pured ut n His peple The natin wuld experience ne final destructive siege and defeat by Nebuchadnezzar The peple in exile heard Ezekiel s warnings and refused t accept their circumstances They ignred him, mcked him and gave excuses They dismissed the warnings And then after nearly a decade, the date f judgment finally came As the battle cmmenced, Ezekiel narrated events t the exiles in real time As the Babylnian army advanced n the city sme 500 miles t the west, Ezekiel tld the exiles the day f judgment had finally arrived The siege n the city began n January 15, 588 BC, and lasted three years until January 8, 585 BC And during that time the peple f Israel suffered unimaginably 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

2 2! f! 18 And as the city fell fr the final time and the remaining Jews were either killed r enslaved, Israel s enemies celebrated Fr all wh witnessed these events, the end f the natin seemed at hand Wh culd recver frm such a devastating defeat? Hw culd the peple f Israel survive much less regain their place in the land? Certainly, that s what Israel s enemies thught and it s als what many f the exiles believed as well As the reader reaches the end chapter 24, we re als left wndering fr the fate f the natin? The prphet has set up the prspect f Israel s end at the hands f an angry Gd Yet he s als alluded t future glry accrding t the prmises made in the cvenants S which will it be? Devastatin r glry? As it turns ut, the answer is bth: devastatin then glry But because the battle last three years, the prphet spends that time speaking prphecies against Israel s enemy s wh mcked her judgment That s the sectin we enter int nw, and it runs frm chapters It s a bridge between the messages f judgment and visins f Israel s glry in the Kingdm t cme And it answers a fundamental cncern fr the Jewish peple Hw can Gd deal with His wn peple in this way while leaving Israel s enemy s untuched? S t fill the time between the beginning and end f Israel s destructin, Ezekiel reassures the exiles that Israel s enemies wn t escape As the Lrd was at wrk enfrcing the terms f Israel s cvenant, He was als fulfilling His cvenant t Abraham Specifically, the Lrd tld Abraham in Genesis 12:3 that He wuld curse thse wh cursed Israel 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

3 3! f! 18 In fact, the Law itself prmises that as Gd brings Israel ut f exile and int glry, He will als mve against Israel s enemies Deut. 30:4 If yur utcasts are in the uttermst parts f heaven, frm there the LORD yur Gd will gather yu, and frm there he will take yu. Deut. 30:5 And the LORD yur Gd will bring yu int the land that yur fathers pssessed, that yu may pssess it. And he will make yu mre prsperus and numerus than yur fathers. Deut. 30:6 And the LORD yur Gd will circumcise yur heart and the heart f yur ffspring, s that yu will lve the LORD yur Gd with all yur heart and with all yur sul, that yu may live. Deut. 30:7 And the LORD yur Gd will put all these curses n yur fes and enemies wh persecuted yu. Deut. 30:8 And yu shall again bey the vice f the LORD and keep all his cmmandments that I cmmand yu tday. S the Lrd cnnects three majr events in His plan fr Israel First, the natin will be regathered int her land Secndly, the entire natin f Israel will fr the first time have hearts that perfectly bey the Lrd And thirdly, the natin will live in peace and prsperity having seen all its enemies cnquered All f these things happen at a pint in time and bring t t fulfillment all f Gd s prmises Overall, the Bible lists 11 natins r peple grups wh were enemies f Israel and will be judged fr their rle in ppsing Gd s peple Thse natins were Ammn, Mab, Edm, Philistia, Tyre, Sidn, Egypt, Damascus, Babyln, Ethipia, and Assyria Ezekiel speaks against six f these, while the rest are cvered by ther prphets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, r minr prphets In fact, f all the prphets in the Bible, nly Hsea says nthing abut Israel s enemies S Gd s prmises t deal with Israel s enemies is a majr part f prphecy 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

4 4! f! 18 Ezekiel and Jeremiah each prphesy against Israel s enemies, thugh each deals with nly seven f the 11 That makes sense when yu remember that the number 7 in Scripture is the number fr cmpleteness (i.e., 100%) S by listing seven, the Lrd prmises He will judge 100% f Israel s enemies Interestingly, Ezekiel s treatment f Israel s enemies differs smewhat frm ther prphets First, Ezekiel desn t speak a prphecy against the mst bvius enemy f his day: Babyln Why didn t the Lrd give him a prphecy against the cuntry hlding Israel captive at the time? Perhaps it was meant t prtect Gd s peple Speaking a prphecy f judgment against Babyln while in captivity might have been dangerus fr the exiles Secndly, Ezekiel desn t mentin any pprtunity fr future repentance and redemptin fr the peple f these natins But we knw frm ther Scriptures this des happen The Lrd will save sme peple ut f all these natins and in many cases the natins are re-established in the Kingdm In the first chapter, the Lrd hands ut judgment t fur f the seven natins Ammn, Mab, Edm and Philistia are mentined in rder, which is a clckwise pattern arund Israel prceeding frm east t west The remaining three natins Tyre, Sidn and Egypt get substantially mre text in chapters These differences in treatment in the text generally reflects the relative imprtance f each enemy in crrupting Israel The crruptin f Egyptians and the Philistines were far mre damaging t Israel than that f the Ammnites r Mabites See Map attachment 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

5 5! f!18 Turning t chapter 25, each f the fur natins judged in this chapter fllw a cnsistent pattern Each has an intrductin, the Lrd s charge r indictment, a declaratin f punishment and the result f the judgment And the list begins with Ammn 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

6 6! f! 18 Ezek. 25:1 And the wrd f the LORD came t me saying, Ezek. 25:2 Sn f man, set yur face tward the sns f Ammn and prphesy against them, Ezek. 25:3 and say t the sns f Ammn, Hear the wrd f the Lrd GOD! Thus says the Lrd GOD, Because yu said, Aha! against My sanctuary when it was prfaned, and against the land f Israel when it was made deslate, and against the huse f Judah when they went int exile, Ezek. 25:4 therefre, behld, I am ging t give yu t the sns f the east fr a pssessin, and they will set their encampments amng yu and make their dwellings amng yu; they will eat yur fruit and drink yur milk. Ezek. 25:5 I will make Rabbah a pasture fr camels and the sns f Ammn a resting place fr flcks. Thus yu will knw that I am the LORD. Ezek. 25:6 Fr thus says the Lrd GOD, Because yu have clapped yur hands and stamped yur feet and rejiced with all the scrn f yur sul against the land f Israel, Ezek. 25:7 therefre, behld, I have stretched ut My hand against yu and I will give yu fr spil t the natins. And I will cut yu ff frm the peples and make yu perish frm the lands; I will destry yu. Thus yu will knw that I am the LORD. Yu may remember back in chapter 21 Ezekiel gave an earlier judgment against Ammn when he spke abut the sng f the swrd That chapter explained hw the destructin f the city was nt a randm act f Israel s enemies Rather it was the cnscience chice f Israel s Gd t bring judgment against His peple It was as if His swrd was falling n them And at the end f the chapter, the Lrd added that it wuld als fall n Ammn fr their part in rejicing ver Israel s fall and plundering the land That racle f judgment was added t the text f 21 because f the Ammnite s unique cnnectin t the fall f Jerusalem They were standing by in the midst f the city s destructin t pick up the pieces And s they were the first natin judged by Gd The Lrd says they said Aha against the sanctuary f Gd Their statement is ne f trump and glating 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

7 7! f! 18 It suggests pprtunity fr the Ammnites t gain frm Israel s lss And s the Lrd says in their desire t prfit frm Israel s misery, the Lrd wuld take away the natin altgether The Lrds says this natin will be verrun by the sns f the east, referring t the Babylnians Sure enugh, the Babylnian army destryed the natin in the curse f Nebuchadnezzar s reign Leaving it t Beduins t settle, as the Lrd describes in v.4 In fact, the Jrdanians wh ccupy the territry tday are the descendants f thse Beduins The capital f Jrdan, Amman, is lcated n the site f ancient Rabbah, mentined in v.5 And in the centuries after Israel captivity, the city f Rabbah lay in ruins and was nthing mre than pasture In these things, the survivrs f Ammn in Ezekiel s day culd say that Israel s Gd is the Lrd The natin became spil fr ther natins Nw there is mre t be said abut Ammn histrically, because thugh the natin was destryed in Ezekiel s time, the natin will return again In a shw f mercy t the Ammnite peple, the Lrd tells us in Jeremaih that He will bring a remnant int the Kingdm Jer. 49:3 Wail, O Heshbn, fr Ai has been destryed! Cry ut, O daughters f Rabbah, Gird yurselves with sackclth and lament, And rush back and frth inside the walls; Fr Malcam will g int exile Tgether with his priests and his princes. Jer. 49:4 Hw bastful yu are abut the valleys! Yur valley is flwing away, O backsliding daughter Wh trusts in her treasures, saying, Wh will cme against me? 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

8 8! f! 18 Jer. 49:5 Behld, I am ging t bring terrr upn yu, Declares the Lrd GOD f hsts, Frm all directins arund yu; And each f yu will be driven ut headlng, With n ne t gather the fugitives tgether. Jer. 49:6 But afterward I will restre The frtunes f the sns f Ammn, Declares the LORD. After the destructin that Ezekiel describes, the Lrd alludes t a time when the frtunes f the Ammrites will be restred The Lrd says a similar thing abut Ammn and thers f Israel s enemies in Jeremiah 46 Jer. 46:25 The LORD f hsts, the Gd f Israel, says, Behld, I am ging t punish Amn f Thebes, and Pharah, and Egypt alng with her gds and her kings, even Pharah and thse wh trust in him. Jer. 46:26 I shall give them ver t the pwer f thse wh are seeking their lives, even int the hand f Nebuchadnezzar king f Babyln and int the hand f his fficers. Afterwards, hwever, it will be inhabited as in the days f ld, declares the LORD. Ntice again the Lrd says afterwards the peple f Amn (alng with thers) will return as in the days f ld That is a reference t the Kingdm, in which Israel lives in the land as d the cuntries that were frmally her enemies Mving n the next enemy, Mab Ezek. 25:8 Thus says the Lrd GOD, Because Mab and Seir say, Behld, the huse f Judah is like all the natins, Ezek. 25:9 therefre, behld, I am ging t deprive the flank f Mab f its cities, f its cities which are n its frntiers, the glry f the land, Beth-jeshimth, Baal-men and Kiriathaim, Ezek. 25:10 and I will give it fr a pssessin alng with the sns f Ammn t the sns f the east, s that the sns f Ammn will nt be remembered amng the natins. Ezek. 25:11 Thus I will execute judgments n Mab, and they will knw that I am the LORD. The Mabites lived directly east f Israel n the ther side f the Jrdan in present day Jrdan The destiny f Ammn and Mab are linked in Scripture 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

9 9! f! 18 Bth riginated frm the incestuus relatinship between Lt and his daughters Bth ppsed Israel frm the beginning, and here we see them sharing a similar fate Their ffense in this case was in viewing Judah as n mre imprtant than any ther natin When Judah fell, they didn t get the message that the Lrd had acted against His wn peple They simply cncluded that Judah was a victim f Babyln like the rest f the wrld Like Ammn, they tk delight in Judah s dwnfall Yet they f all peples (Ammn, Mab and Seir which is Edm) shuld have appreciated better than anyne else that Gd s peple were unique Because these three peple grups were unblessed branches f Abraham s family Edmites came frm Esau while Ammn and Mab came frm Lt Yet they refused t see hw the Lrd rk pride in Judah as His peple S as judgment, the Lrd takes away the pride f their Mabites, which were their cities n the brder with Israel Beth-jeshimth lay in the Jrdan Valley and guarded the eastern ascent t the Medeba Plateau Baal-men std farther t the east and suth in nrthern Mab Kiriathaim, meaning glry f the land, was anther nrthern twn n the Medeba Plateau Ntice the Lrd used similar wrds in v.9 t mck the Mab s pride and t cnfirm t this natin that Yahweh is the Lrd Like Ammn, this prphecy was fulfilled during the time Israel spent in exile Babyln als wiped ut the natin f Mab, while Beduins tk their place 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

10 10! f! 18 And like Ammn, this natin will t return t the land in the time f the Kingdm Jer. 48:46 We t yu, Mab! The peple f Chemsh have perished; Fr yur sns have been taken away captive And yur daughters int captivity. Jer. 48:47 Yet I will restre the frtunes f Mab In the latter days, declares the LORD. Thus far the judgment n Mab. The natin f Mab will see it s frtunes restred in the Kingdm What peple will inhabit these natins? In many cases, it will be Jews because these lands are actually within the brders f Israel in the Kingdm In ther cases, the lands fall utside the brders f Israel, in which case the lands will be ccupied by Gentile believers Thse Gentile believers may include thse believers wh nce lived in the land during their lifetime Or perhaps the Lrd will ppulate the land with ther Gentiles based n His rewards fr thse individuals We ll cme back t that questin in later chapters dealing with the Kingdm The next natin the Lrd judges is Edm, the natin that descended frm Esau Ezek. 25:12 Thus says the Lrd GOD, Because Edm has acted against the huse f Judah by taking vengeance, and has incurred grievus guilt, and avenged themselves upn them, Ezek. 25:13 therefre thus says the Lrd GOD, I will als stretch ut My hand against Edm and cut ff man and beast frm it. And I will lay it waste; frm Teman even t Dedan they will fall by the swrd. Ezek. 25:14 I will lay My vengeance n Edm by the hand f My peple Israel. Therefre, they will act in Edm accrding t My anger and accrding t My wrath; thus they will knw My vengeance, declares the Lrd GOD. Edm is lcated sutheast f Israel in present-day suthern Jrdan The Edmites have the lngest histry f any enemy f Israel, ging all the way back t Esau himself wh ppsed his brther Jacb 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

11 11! f 18! Later, the natin f Edm jined in the battle with the Babylnians t fight against Judah Ntice in v.12 Ezekiel says they tk vengeance which is a reference t fighting Israel when it was already dwn Ams describes it this way Ams 1:11 Thus says the LORD, Fr three transgressins f Edm and fr fur I will nt revke its punishment, Because he pursued his brther with the swrd, While he stifled his cmpassin; His anger als tre cntinually, And he maintained his fury frever. Ams 1:12 S I will send fire upn Teman And it will cnsume the citadels f Bzrah. Ams says the Edmites pursued their brthers with the swrd Here again, the Edmites shuld have been sympathetic t Judah since they had a bld relatinship thrugh Isaac That made their treachery all the wrse And their sin f pursuing Judah with the swrd was als mre grievus than the Ammnites r Mabites wh merely glated S the Lrd says He will cut ff all living things frm this land, bth man and beast This is a different judgment than the first tw we ve seen In the case f Ammn and Mab, the natins were destryed but Beduins tk ver the land Yet int eh case f Edm, nthing wuld inhabit the land again It wuld becme a deslate wasteland This judgment has yet t happen, which tells us that it remains in the future And when we cnsult ther Scriptures, we cme t find that this punishment will be handed ut in the Kingdm 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

12 12! f! 18 That is this land will be uninhabited in the time f the Kingdm n man nr beast shall live there nly demns Jer. 49:17 Edm will becme an bject f hrrr; everyne wh passes by it will be hrrified and will hiss at all its wunds. Jer. 49:18 Like the verthrw f Sdm and Gmrrah with its neighbrs, says the LORD, n ne will live there, nr will a sn f man reside in it. Once again, the cntext f Jeremiah 49 is speaking f the times f the end f the age S this is a prphecy f the nature f these lands in the time f the Millennial Kingdm Isaiah 34 gives us the details t explain hw the land is judged in that day Is. 34:1 Draw near, O natins, t hear; and listen, O peples! Let the earth and all it cntains hear, and the wrld and all that springs frm it. Is. 34:2 Fr the LORD S indignatin is against all the natins, And His wrath against all their armies; He has utterly destryed them, He has given them ver t slaughter. Is. 34:3 S their slain will be thrwn ut, And their crpses will give ff their stench, And the muntains will be drenched with their bld. Is. 34:4 And all the hst f heaven will wear away, And the sky will be rlled up like a scrll; All their hsts will als wither away As a leaf withers frm the vine, Or as ne withers frm the fig tree. Clearly the chapter pens speaking f the events f the last days and the end f this age, specifically the end f Tribulatin Crpses everywhere (v.3), muntains drenched in bld In v.4 the sky will be rlled away, the hsts f the sky (sun, mn, stars) wither These are details that cnfirm that the timing f judgment Gd prmised fr Edm is at the end f Tribulatin 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

13 13! f! 18 This is when the judgments previusly prmised cme t pass Is. 34:5 Fr My swrd is satiated in heaven, Behld it shall descend fr judgment upn Edm And upn the peple whm I have devted t destructin. Then we read descriptins f what the land will be like in that day Is. 34:8 Fr the LORD has a day f vengeance, A year f recmpense fr the cause f Zin. Is. 34:9 Its streams will be turned int pitch, And its lse earth int brimstne, And its land will becme burning pitch. Is. 34:10 It will nt be quenched night r day; Its smke will g up frever. Frm generatin t generatin it will be deslate; Nne will pass thrugh it frever and ever. The land itself resembles descriptins f Hell itself Nn-stp burning, unquenched day and night Smke ging up frever, remaining deslate And nne passing thrugh it, meaning nne can leave Finally, Isaiah says there are inhabitants in that land, but they are neither man nr beast Is. 34:14 The desert creatures will meet with the wlves, The hairy gat als will cry t its kind; Yes, the night mnster will settle there And will find herself a resting place. Is. 34:15 The tree snake will make its nest and lay eggs there, And it will hatch and gather them under its prtectin. Yes, the hawks will be gathered there, Every ne with its kind. At first it sunds like the land des have animals after all 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

14 14! f! 18 But remember ther Scripture tells us that this is nt the case, s we must recncile these tw passages withut cntradictin In this case, the Hebrew wrds Isaiah uses helps us slve the riddle Isaiah mentins hawks, wlves, hairy gats, a night mnster, and a snake in a tree Three f these animals have clear links t demns First, the Hebrew wrd fr hairy gat actually means demns in gat frm literally translated And it s n cincidence that satanist wrship a symbl f a hairy gat with hrns And the wrd translated night mnster culd be translated night demns als Finally, the tree snake seems like an allusin t Satan himself, brding ver his demn angels The ther references t wlves and hawks culd like likewise be seen as symblic fr demns that hunt fr prey thugh we have n cnfirmatin f this Since we knw that there will be n beasts in the land, these animals must refer t Satan and his demns This makes sense because we knw that Satan and his agents will nt have free reign during the Kingdm Rev. 20:1 Then I saw an angel cming dwn frm heaven, hlding the key f the abyss and a great chain in his hand. Rev. 20:2 And he laid hld f the dragn, the serpent f ld, wh is the devil and Satan, and bund him fr a thusand years; Rev. 20:3 and he threw him int the abyss, and shut it and sealed it ver him, s that he wuld nt deceive the natins any lnger, until the thusand years were cmpleted; after these things he must be released fr a shrt time. At the beginning f the Kingdm, the Lrd binds Satan (and by extensin, his demns) in a place called the Abyss The Abyss is lcated in the earth like Hell, and als like Hell, the Abyss is a place f cnfinement 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

15 15! f! 18 The Abyss is the place the Lrd cnfines especially wicked demns while they await their final day f judgment Just as Hell is the place Gd cnfines the spirits f unbelievers until the day f their judgment The devil and his demns will be set free fr a shrt time at the end f the Millennial Kingdm And therefre, the Abyss will have sme channel r prtal n the earth giving passage fr the devil t exit the Abyss That passage way will vent smke, Isaiah says, thrughut the time f the Kingdm, pinting the way t the Abyss And Revelatin cnfirms that detail At a pint in time near the middle f Tribulatin, the Lrd allws sme f the demns cnfined in the Abyss t exit As the Abyss is pened, we see smke rising just as Isaiah described Rev. 9:1 Then the fifth angel sunded, and I saw a star frm heaven which had fallen t the earth; and the key f the bttmless pit was given t him. Rev. 9:2 He pened the bttmless pit, and smke went up ut f the pit, like the smke f a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smke f the pit. S based n Revelatin s and Isaiah s descriptins, the lcatin fr the entrance t the Abyss during the Kingdm will be in ancient Edm And in that place we find the hme f demns and n ne else The initial destructin f the land takes place at the hands f the Jewish peple in armed cnflict This has never happened in histry, s it must refer t a mment in Tribulatin at the Secnd Cming f Christ Finally, the furth peples t be judged: Philistia r the land f the Philistines 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

16 16! f! 18 Ezek. 25:15 Thus says the Lrd GOD, Because the Philistines have acted in revenge and have taken vengeance with scrn f sul t destry with everlasting enmity, Ezek. 25:16 therefre thus says the Lrd GOD, Behld, I will stretch ut My hand against the Philistines, even cut ff the Cherethites and destry the remnant f the seacast. Ezek. 25:17 I will execute great vengeance n them with wrathful rebukes; and they will knw that I am the LORD when I lay My vengeance n them. The area f Philistia ccupies the Mediterranean cast in an area tday called the Gaza Strip and a little nrth t the prt f Jppa (Jaffe tday) The Philistines riginated in Crete and were knwn as Cherethites They settled alng the castal plains and ccupied five key citystates They were a warring peple and drve the Israelites ut f that regin leaving Israel t hld the shephalah fthills and muntains f Judea They trmented Saul and David and were respnsible fr causing the Danites t migrate nrth They effective cut ff half f Israel by barring access t the sea cast fr S the Lrd says he will cut them ff frm the land, which is a play n wrds with their name The rt f the wrd Cherethite means t cut ff As the Lrd prmised, the Philistines went extinct There is n recrd f them after the secnd century BC Only the names f their cities remain tday, include Gath and Ashdd and Ashqeln, all mdern Jewish cities There is n mentin f them in the Kingdm, because their lands lay entirely inside Israel s land S they can have n territry in the Kingdm The Lrd says He des all these things t demnstrate He is the Lrd t these peples Ultimately, that demnstratin will be knwn in eternity 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

17 17! f! 18 Bth thse under the judgments and thse wh receive mercy will see the impact f the Lrd s wrk Obviusly, thse wh suffered His judgment will have n chice but t acknwledge that the Lrd is Gd and they are under His wrath And thse wh receive His grace will see evidence f His judgment in the ge-plitical bundaries f the Kingdm Even the rising smke in Edm will remind us f their ultimate judgment S what d these judgments teach the natins f ur wrld, especially as it relates t ur treatment f the natin f Israel? Obviusly, the Lrd take nte f hw any grup f Gentiles appraches Gd s peple, Israel These certain natins have been singled ut in Scripture fr their histrical relatinships t their neighbr But in light f Gd s wrds spken t Abraham, it wuld make sense t cnclude that the same principle is at wrk in the wrld That thse wh respect Israel, wh murn when she murns and rejice when she rejices, are pleasing Gd s heart And if we respnd therwise t the plight f the Jewish peple, we risk incurring the wrath f Gd as well But it s als imprtant t distinguish between Biblical Israel and the current plitical state f Israel Biblically speaking, the natin f Israel are all Jews in general, wherever they live And certainly that includes Jews living in the mdern plitical state f Israel But by the same tken, the mdern plitical state des nt define what supprting the Jewish natin means Supprting Gd s Israel des nt necessarily mean supprting every plitical decisin made by thse wh gvern the state f Israel tday That s especially true if plitical cmprmise decided t return Jewish land t Arabs, etc Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

18 18! f! 18 We knw the Lrd will eventually bring all Israel int the land and give His peple what He prmised In the meantime, we shuld slidarity with the Jewish peple in the same way that Rahab cmfrted the spies And in the way Ruth attached herself t the future f Israel Obviusly, thse wh have faith in Christ receive n cndemnatin, regardless f hw they behave tward Israel But we still must cnsider ur treatment f the Jewish natin as part f ur Christian testimny I believe mst (if nt all) wh believe in Jesus will find lve in their hearts fr the Jewish natin But as the Lrd made clear in His testimny tnight, He will make thse wh ppse His peple int testimnies ne way r anther He wants the wrld t knw that the One true Gd is the Gd f Israel Let us be testimnies f bedience t His wrd by ur lve fr the Jewish peple rather than as testimnies f Gd s wrath 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.