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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 Moab and
Seir said, “Look, Judah has become like all the other nations,” therefore I
will expose the flank of Moab, beginning at its frontier towns—Beth Jeshimoth,
Baal Meon and Kiriathaim—the glory of that land. I will give Moab along with
the Ammonites to the people of the East as a possession, so that the Ammonites
will not be remembered among the nations; and I will inflict punishment on
Moab. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’”
Ezekiel 25:8-11
This ends today’s
reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Yesterday, in the first of a series of devotions on
judgments associated with the punishment God unleashed on His people in Israel
and Judah, we found the nation of Ammon annihilated for rejoicing in the misfortune
of the Israelites. Today, we look at the fate suffered by the nation of Moab, a
nation with several historical connections to the Israelites.
First, the very progenitor of the Moabites, Moab himself,
was born out of an incestual relationship between Lot and one of his daughters.
Go back to the 19th chapter of Genesis (verses 30-38) to read about the account
as Lot’s daughters felt they would meet no man to allow them to preserve the
family line and so they conspired to get their father drunk so they could sleep
with him. Both succeeded in getting Lot into bed and getting pregnant with the
older daughter bearing a son who was named Moab. Of interest, the younger
daughter also has a son who was named Ben-Ammi. He became the father of the aforementioned
Ammonites.
The second major connection to the Israelites came in the
way of a well known Old Testament female figure, Ruth. You may recall that she
was a Moabite, coming from a society who worshiped pagan gods (chief of which
was Chemosh), before she encountered the God of Israel and was changed forever.
How much so?
So much so that Ruth is one of only five women who Matthew
lists in the genealogy of Jesus.
Perhaps the rest of the Moabites should have followed Ruth’s
lead but they didn’t. Instead, they snubbed the God of Israel and held onto
their false gods, making them no less sinful than the Israelites were for we
know idolatry was their primary downfall.
How obvious was the disdain that the Moabites had for the
one, true God?
The answer can be found in today’s scripture passage as we
continue to look at Ezekiel, Chapter 25. Look at those words again here:
“This is what the
Sovereign Lord says: ‘Because Moab and Seir said, “Look, Judah has become like
all the other nations,” therefore I will expose the flank of Moab, beginning at
its frontier towns—Beth Jeshimoth, Baal Meon and Kiriathaim—the glory of that
land. I will give Moab along with the Ammonites to the people of the East as a
possession, so that the Ammonites will not be remembered among the nations; and
I will inflict punishment on Moab. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’” Ezekiel 25:8-11
The Moabites made a statement they would soon regret, making
the inference that Judah, a once revered and holy country, had become like “all
the other nations” which was akin to saying that the God the Israelites served
was not really any better that any other god worshiped by other nations. It was
an obvious slap at the Jewish religious practices and God would not let Moab
get away with slighting Him that way.
And so Moab would face a judgment similar to Judah and
Ammon. They would get a taste of the Babylonians themselves in the way of
punishment God would inflict through them. Thus, Moab would know that the Lord
God Almighty is real, very much alive, and far superior to any god they were
committed to.
Today, we find a world scene similar to the one in Old
Testament times as there are any number of religions and related followers of
those religions who would proclaim that their practices are superior to any
other, religions that not only mock God but His word and His Son, Jesus. And as
if that wasn’t bad enough, practitioners of some religions even persecute and
kill believers who have placed their hope in God and the Son He sent to save
all mankind.
Given this, we need to know and trust this:
The Lord God Almighty, the Master and Maker of all mankind, the
same God today that ruled and reigned more than 2,000 years ago, can and will
still send judgment on any nation who has turned away from Him, choosing to
mock and disrespect Him and all He stands for.
The world would be well served to pay attention to the
scriptures and the fate of Moab.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
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