Latest / Journey Elgin / Journey Through Scripture - Ezekiel 25-28, 32, Ps 137 & Obadiah
Transcript
- Phillip Thomas: It's good to see you today. My name is Philip Thomas, pastor of Journey here in Elgin, Texas, and welcome to our Journey Through Scripture. ⁓ We are going to be finishing up kind of the talk of the exile. We're kind of going to be ⁓ moving into ⁓ kind of a new direction and talking more about the people returning to Jerusalem or eventually returning to Jerusalem. So today we're going to be finishing out kind of this section and beginning with another one soon. Remember, we're going chronologically throughout Scripture. So today we're going to be in Ezekiel chapters 25 through 28 and Ezekiel chapter 32. And then we're also going to read Psalm 137 and the Book of Obadiah. It's just one chapter. So we're going to go pretty quickly through here. ⁓ Remember, there's been lots of proclamations against Judah ⁓ for what they have done wrong and how God is going to punish them. know, were Jeremiah did that, Ezekiel did that, ⁓ Isaiah, ⁓ and of course, most people did not listen. And so now these... ⁓ chapters that we're going to be looking at today are God reminding all of the other countries that have harassed ⁓ Judah and harassed Israel that they too will receive judgment. And so as you read through, it's lots of different places. So Ezekiel chapter 25 is the proclamation against Ammon. ⁓ Verse 6, for thus says the Lord God, because you clapped your hands, stamped your feet, and rejoiced in heart with all your disdain for the land of Israel, indeed therefore I will stretch out my hand against you, give you as plunder to the nations, I cut you off from the peoples, I will cause you to perish from the countries, I will destroy you, and you shall know that I am the Lord. ⁓ Proclamation against Moab, it ends, and I will execute judgments on Moab, and they shall know that I am the Lord. Proclamation against ⁓ Edom says, fury, see, they shall fall by the sword. will lay my vengeance on Edom by the hand of my people Israel that they may do and Edom according to my anger and according to my fury and they shall know my vengeance says the Lord God. ⁓ Philistia, they shall know that I am the Lord says that. on all of them. And then you get to chapter 26, you get a proclamation against Tyre. Tyre was kind of in Phoenicia. It says in verse 2 of chapter 26, son of man, because Tyre has said against Jerusalem, aha, she is broken and was the gateway of the peoples. Now she has turned over to me. I shall be filled. She is laid waste. So they were taking this opportunity to enrich themselves. And was apparent that Judah and Israel had ⁓ a strong relationship with Tyre. ⁓ Tyre was very wealthy. They had access to the sea. ⁓ so now they are going to be able to take advantage of ⁓ Judah falling, and they're kind of excited about that. And so there's quite a bit about how they are going to receive ⁓ judgment. can read through on chapter 26. Then in chapter 27 continues, it's a lamentation for Tyre. It says, word of the Lord came to me again. Now, son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyre and say to Tyre, you are situated at the entrance of the sea, merchant by the coastland. You have said, am perfect in beauty. And then it goes, why? tire is perfect in beauty. Verse 12, Tarshish was your merchant because of your many luxury goods. So a lot of the wealth that ⁓ was used in the temple probably came through this area. Verse 33 of chapter 27 says, When your wares went out by sea, you satisfied many people. You enriched the kings of the earth. with your many luxury goods and your merchandise, but you are broken by the seas and the depths of the waters. Your merchandise and entire company will fall in your midst. All the inhabitants of the Isles will be astonished at you. Their king will be greatly afraid and their countenance will be troubled. The merchants among the peoples will hiss at you. You will become a whore and be no more forever." So they are a prominent trader and they think that they are above. ⁓ reproach, but God is going to remind them that they are not. Chapter 28 is kind of a proclamation against the king of Tyre. It says, because your heart is lifted up and you say, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God's. ⁓ Verse 5, by your great wisdom and trade, you have increased your riches and your heart is lifted up because of your riches. Because you have set your heart as a heart of a God. Behold, therefore, I will bring strangers against you." ⁓ Verse 9, will you still say before Him who slays you, I am a God? But you shall be a man and not a God. In the hand of Him who slays you, you shall die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of aliens. For I have spoken, says the Lord God. So, the leader, a ruler of Tyre, ⁓ Phoenicia was usually kind of ⁓ connected with being a God, ⁓ you know, that they were God's right-hand person. They were ⁓ equivalent to God in many cases, so many times they considered themselves to be God. And so, the one true God is reminding them that they will be humbled and that they are not indeed a God. ⁓ Verse 25, again, is that look at Israel's future blessing. When I have gathered the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered and am hallowed in the sight of the Gentiles, then they will dwell in their own land, which I gave to my servant Jacob, and they will dwell safely there, build houses, plant vineyards. Yes, they will dwell securely when I execute judgments on all those around them who despise them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord their God." ⁓ is Lamentations for Pharaoh and Egypt, ⁓ because they too are going to receive ⁓ judgment. You can read through that. ⁓ Psalm 137. I want to look at Psalm 137 just for a minute. ⁓ The writer is ⁓ writing at a time of despair and of anger for what has happened, The temple has been destroyed, Jerusalem has been destroyed, the people are in exile, and they are wanting vengeance. They are wanting God to come and make things right and hold accountable the Babylonians and things like that. so that's the context of Psalm 137. says, For those who carried us away captive, ask of us a song. And those who plundered us requested mirth, saying, sing us one of the songs of Zion." And kind of mocking them in a sense. How shall we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill. If I do not remember you, let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth. If I do not exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy. So they are trying to be intentional about remembering who God is. Then it says, remember, O Lord, against the sons of Edom, the day of Jerusalem, who said, raise it, raise it to its very foundation. So they're wanting God to hold accountable to exact vengeance for what has been done. Now, next passage, remember, this is not God writing this. This is a human and what they're experiencing and what they're wanting God to do. It says, daughter of Babylon, who are to be destroyed, happy the one who repays you as you have served us. Happy the one who takes and dashes your little ones against the rock. So very, very violent. It shows the depth of anger and despair and hurt that the people are experiencing. And they want God to come in and just destroy. ⁓ Babylon. ⁓ And so you see that humanness speaking through ⁓ the psalm. ⁓ The Book of Obadiah ⁓ is probably written somewhere in this time frame. This is a similar kind of theme. ⁓ It's focused on ⁓ Edom, the people of Edom. Remember, they kind of came from Esau, but ⁓ they kind of turned and were a constant Thorn in the side of Judah of Israel says, I thought this was an interesting verse too, Behold, I will make you small among the nations. You shall be greatly despised. The pride of your heart has deceived you. You who dwell in the clefts of the rock whose habitation is high, you who say in your heart, who will bring me down to the ground. Though you ascend as high as the eagle and though you're you set your nest among the stars, for there I will bring you down," says the Lord. that the people of Edom will be brought down. Verse 17 says, "'But on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance and there shall be holiness. The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. The house of Jacob shall be a fire and the house of Joseph a flame. But the house of Esau shall be stubble. They shall kindle them and devour them.'" and no survivor shall remain of the house of Esau, for the Lord has spoken." So ⁓ there is going to be God making everything right, like He's going to hold everyone accountable. And that's important for us to remember that God will hold His own people accountable, but He also holds others accountable. And that the more that we turn our back on Him, and mock him with our behavior. There will be payment for that. God does hold us all to account. All right, that kind of finishes this little section. And so now it's going to start turning a little bit and looking more at the people returning from exile back to Jerusalem. So if you'll read Ezekiel chapter 33 through 37. So Ezekiel 33 through 37. All right? Well, we will see you.