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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.
“This is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘Because the
Philistines acted in vengeance and took revenge with malice in their hearts,
and with ancient hostility sought to destroy Judah, therefore this is what the
Sovereign Lord says: I am about to stretch out my hand against the Philistines,
and I will wipe out the Kerethites and destroy those remaining along the coast.
I will carry out great vengeance on them and punish them in my wrath. Then they
will know that I am the Lord, when I take vengeance on them.’”
Ezekiel 25:15-17
This ends today’s
reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Perhaps there was no more consistent and persistent enemy of
the Israelites than the Philistines. Read enough of the Old Testament and it
seems there is always some form of combat between the two, even though the
Philistines were born out of the descendants of Noah’s son, Ham.
When the Israelites finished their exodus and crossed over
the Jordan River into the Promised Land, you’ll remember that God commanded
them to eliminate any peoples who were within because He knew that the
worshiping of pagan gods and idols would creep into the Israelite culture if
unchecked (Deuteronomy 20:16-20). Among the nations that Israel failed to drive
out was the Philistines and it would be a failure the Israelites would regret
many times over.
Go back to the days of the Judges and you will find a man
named Shamgar who defeated the Philistines in conflict (Judges 3). Ditto for another
judge, one better known, whose name was Samson (Judges 15-16) and Samuel, the
last judge of Israel who rallied the Israelites to defeat the Philistines at Mizpah
(1 Samuel 7).
The Philistine forces weren’t ready to give up. They
challenged Israel’s first king, Saul and were defeated by his forces who
included his son Jonathan (1 Samuel 13 and 14). But the scriptures tell us that
the Philistines would engage Israel in a “bitter war” all the days of Saul’s
reign.
This would include a classic confrontation between David,
the soon-to-be King of Israel, and the Philistine giant, Goliath. You’ll
remember the deal. The people on the side of the winner-take-all battle would
rule over the losers and we all know that David won that confrontation with one
very skillfully placed smooth stone (1 Samuel 17). And before he became king,
David would again defeat the Philistines at Keilah but not before inquiring of
God who promised that He would hand the Philistines over to David (1 Samuel
23:1-6).
Once David gained the throne (ironically, after the
Philistines killed Saul and his sons), Israel’s perennial enemy came back for
more and David and his forces were ready, defeating the Philistines not just
once but twice in succession (2 Samuel 5, 1 Chronicles 14). The scriptures tell
us the end result was David’s fame spreading and God causing the nations to
fear him. But of course, that didn’t mean the Philistines stopped hating the
Israelites and gave up causing problems. 2 Samuel 21 documents multiple wars as
the Philistines and Israelites clashed over and over again.
You get the point. The nations of Philistia and Israel were
not big fans of one another but each shared one other commonality:
They both were victims of God’s judgment, attacked and
conquered by the Assyrians and Babylonians, albeit for different reasons.
The Israelites suffered punishment at the hands of God for
their detestable idolatry and our scripture passage for today details God’s
issue with the Philistines. Look again at these words here:
“This is what the
Sovereign Lord says: ‘Because the Philistines acted in vengeance and took
revenge with malice in their hearts, and with ancient hostility sought to
destroy Judah, therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am about to
stretch out my hand against the Philistines, and I will wipe out the Kerethites
and destroy those remaining along the coast. I will carry out great vengeance
on them and punish them in my wrath. Then they will know that I am the Lord,
when I take vengeance on them.’” Ezekiel 25:15-17
The Philistines were not able to let go of their hostility
toward God’s people. They assailed the Israelites over and over and over again,
no matter how many times God had given His people the victory. You see, the
Philistines believed they were warring against the people of Israel when in
reality they were warring against God and that was a war they were never going
to win because finally, God just decided to put an end to the people of Philistia.
I wonder how many of us are holding onto hatred for someone
else, so much so that we can’t just let go of our resentment and move on. It’s
happening more than you may imagine and that’s why this word of God is so
important for us today. Because if we don’t decide to end our bitterness with
someone on our own, God just might opt to end it for us in a way that will not
be pleasant.
Just ask the Philistines.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
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