Passage Read: Ezekiel 24-27
Meditation Verses: 25:15-17
Thought
Ammon and Moab, Edom and the Philistines, neighbors of Israel, perpetual enemies, though three of them are related by blood! So they rejoice at the destruction of Israel and Judah. They take advantage of the situation and plunder the edges of the land and take for themselves whatever the Babylonians leave behind. They cut down the refugees instead of having pity on them and offering them shelter. Though He pours out His own wrath on His people, yet He has not entirely rejected them. He is jealous for them, even as He drives them out of His land. He sees the mocking and celebrations of their neighbors and He is furious. He promises their destruction, even wiping some from memory. God's purpose against Israel is her cleansing, not her destruction. She is still His most favored nation, His glory and His crown. He will not abandon her, but will turn her to truth and righteousness and glory. He is not finished with Israel, not even today. He will make her the head of the nations, the praise of the whole earth. And anyone who resists that or opposes that will be opposed.
Application
Not every Jew will be saved, but the nation will be preserved to the end, and then Jesus will return and make the redeemed of Israel, past and present, the head of all nations. To hate the nation, to rejoice over their sufferings is to invite God's special rage. God is still disciplining Israel to this day, to rebuke and correct and purify them of their sin and waywardness. But it is because of His great love that He does so. Anyone who doesn't understand that, doesn't yet understand love and doesn't yet understand the grace by which they themselves stand to this day. The enemy and those who follow him hate Israel and her people, and labor for the humiliation and destruction of Israel. God will take vengeance on all such people. But those who have mercy and compassion on His people, giving them shelter and aid, will enjoy His favor and blessing. It is in Israel's final redemption that I will have mine. I need to pray for that day, long for that day, and witness to Jew and Gentile to speed that day. The hope of redemption for me is the hope of one day serving in their globe-spanning empire.