36 lines
1.7 KiB
Markdown
36 lines
1.7 KiB
Markdown
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title = "Ezekiel 25:1–7"
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date = "2023-05-08"
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### [Read the passage.](https://biblia.com/bible/esv/Ezekiel25.1-7)
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The book of Ezekiel can be divided into three main sections. The first as we
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have seen are judgements against Israel and Judah. We now come to the second in
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which the nations surrounding Israel are judged. The final section concerns the
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hope for blessing of God's people and the restoration of His temple.
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The first of the nations to be judged is Ammon. Ezekiel had already prophesied
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against them in chapter 21, in which the king of Babylon cast divinations to
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decide to which city to send his armies first. While Babylon had its own
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reasons for destroying Ammon, the Lord spells out His reasons for sending this
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judgement upon them.
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Ammon had often been in conflict with Israel, so even though they had allied
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against Babylon in these last few years, there was much rejoicing among the
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Ammonites when they heard that Jerusalem had fallen. Yahweh's temple was
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destroyed and the land of Israel was emptied of inhabitants, so Ammon clapped
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their hands and stamped their feet in gleeful malice. Because of this attitude,
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the Lord sends Babylon to do the same thing to Ammon and its cities. The people
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of Ammon shall be removed, its capital city will be a camel pasture, and the
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fruit of the land will go to the besieging Babylonians.
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_Shadenfreude_ is not an emotion that God's people should allow themselves. To
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see judgement fall on an individual or a group should give us satisfaction that
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justice is served and evil is punished, but it should also sober us because it
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is only by God's mercy that such a fate has not fallen on us as well.
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* * *
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You search the hearts of men and know all their intentions.
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