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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, set your face
against the Ammonites and prophesy against them. Say to them, ‘Hear the word of
the Sovereign Lord. This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because you said
“Aha!” over my sanctuary when it was desecrated and over the land of Israel when
it was laid waste and over the people of Judah when they went into exile, therefore
I am going to give you to the people of the East as a possession. They will set
up their camps and pitch their tents among you; they will eat your fruit and
drink your milk. I will turn Rabbah into a pasture for camels and Ammon into a
resting place for sheep. Then you will know that I am the Lord. For this is
what the Sovereign Lord says: Because you have clapped your hands and stamped
your feet, rejoicing with all the malice of your heart against the land of
Israel, therefore I will stretch out my hand against you and give you as
plunder to the nations. I will wipe you out from among the nations and
exterminate you from the countries. I will destroy you, and you will know that
I am the Lord.’”
Ezekiel 25:1-7
This ends today’s
reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Have you ever rejoiced in the misfortune of others?
People do you know. It happens all the time.
Sometimes that celebration comes when we think a person gets
what they deserve when it comes to their hardship. We even have a phrase, “poetic
justice”, that simply means that we think justice has been served through the
adversity someone has come under. Others might simply use the age-old saying, “What
comes around, goes around”, which implies that if someone wrongs somebody, a
wrong will eventually come back onto the wrongdoer.
But this matter of being merry over someone else’s calamity
doesn’t necessarily have to be a result of that certain someone having done
anything wrong. For people have exulted another person’s downfall when it has
led to their gain. Maybe a person losing their job has resulted in another
person getting a promotion. An athlete may be happy a competitor suffered an
injury that gave them the victory. These are just a few examples.
Well, as we turn to today’s devotion, the word of God, as it
so often does, lends caution to a certain life attitude and, in this case, it is
the matter of being joy-filled over another’s failing or falling, even if it
seems they deserve it. As we read the scripture from the opening verses of
Ezekiel 25, pay close attention to the heart condition of the people of Ammon:
The word of the Lord
came to me: “Son of man, set your face against the Ammonites and prophesy
against them. Say to them, ‘Hear the word of the Sovereign Lord. This is what
the Sovereign Lord says: Because you said “Aha!” over my sanctuary when it was
desecrated and over the land of Israel when it was laid waste and over the
people of Judah when they went into exile, therefore I am going to give you to
the people of the East as a possession. They will set up their camps and pitch
their tents among you; they will eat your fruit and drink your milk. I will
turn Rabbah into a pasture for camels and Ammon into a resting place for sheep.
Then you will know that I am the Lord. For this is what the Sovereign Lord
says: Because you have clapped your hands and stamped your feet, rejoicing with
all the malice of your heart against the land of Israel, therefore I will
stretch out my hand against you and give you as plunder to the nations. I will
wipe you out from among the nations and exterminate you from the countries. I
will destroy you, and you will know that I am the Lord.’” Ezekiel 25:1-7
The Israelites deserved the judgment God sent upon them.
There is no arguing this point.
They were to be His people and that meant being faithful and
obedient to Him, following His word, will, and way. But the Israelites seemed
to do everything but that. Instead, they chose to violate God’s most
fundamental order, the order to have no other gods before Him. They openly and unashamedly
worshiped and bowed down to pagan gods and idols, even going as far as doing it
within the confines of God’s holy temple.
Of course, this wasn’t their only sin but it was the one
that led to many others, something that will always happen when we choose to
turn away from God, trading Him in for the ways of the world.
As we read from Ezekiel 25, we find that the people of Ammon
were throwing a party as they watched the once divine and holy people of God
going down and going down hard at the hands of the Israelites. There was no
compassion for the Israelites, no empathy for being in the midst of God’s
judgment. Rather, the Ammonites clapped their hands and stamped their feet
while they rejoiced “with all the malice” of their hearts against the land of
Israel. They were having a good time while the Israelites suffered loss.
But the Ammonites seemed to forget one important fact: They
were as much sinners as the Israelites were.
You see, God is an equal opportunity judge, a judge who
shows us that no one is beyond His punishment when they sin against Him.
Not His people in Israel.
Not the Ammonites.
And so the people of Ammon would soon see their joys turn
into sorrows, their celebration into mourning. For God promised the following
through His prophet:
1. The Ammonites would too get a visit from the Babylonians.
“I am going to give
you to the people of the East as a possession. They will set up their camps and
pitch their tents among you; they will eat your fruit and drink your milk. I
will turn Rabbah into a pasture for camels and Ammon into a resting place for
sheep.”
The Babylonian empire expansion program would not stop at
Israel for God promised to add Ammon to the mix. King Nebuchadnezzar would be
able to roll in with his forces and take possession of everything the Ammonites
owned to include their land, their food, and drink.
2. The Ammonites would see their nation plundered.
“I will stretch out
my hand against you and give you as plunder to the nations.”
It was bad enough that the Babylonians were going to invade
and inhabit Ammon but as we see, God was promising that they were going to do
more than just set up residence. They were going to rob the people of their
possessions in the process of moving in.
3. The Ammonites would not just displaced but exterminated.
“I will wipe you out
from among the nations and exterminate you from the countries. I will destroy
you, and you will know that I am the Lord.”
How severe could the penalty be for gloating over another’s
misfortunes?
Severe enough that you may never ever do it again.
That was the fate of the Ammonites as they would be wiped
out “from among the nations” and never be heard from again.
Friends, we had better be paying close attention to this
judgment promise, a judgment associated with the Israelite judgment. For before
we start to revel in the disasters of others, we had better remember that we
might just be next.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
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