LIFE-STUDY OF EZEKIEL
Message 15
GOD’S JUDGMENT UPON THE NATIONS
WEEK 7 - SUNDAY
Scripture Reading: Ezek. 25:7, 11, 17; 26:6; 28:13, 24; 29:2-9; 31:9, 14, 16; Matt. 13:22; 1 Cor. 3:17
Read and pray: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and may have it abundantly.” (John 10:10)
TYRE AND SIDON
Tyre typifies those who are seeking worldly riches, those who desire to make a great fortune and become rich. They will sacrifice everything related to the Lord because of their business. They do not care for the Lord’s interest but are concerned only with their wealth, prosperity, and business.
People of Tyre can be found among unbelievers and also among believers. Some of your unbelieving relatives, colleagues, and friends may be “Tyrians.” If you speak about Christ, the church, or the Lord’s testimony, they do not understand what you are talking about. They are interested only in what will help them have a better life, make more money, or obtain a higher position.
Some genuine Christians are also “Tyrians.” If you speak with them about the Lord’s recovery, they may think that you are foolish and say that you spend too much time attending meetings, having fellowship, and reading the Bible. They may think that you do not care enough about making money. Therefore, both believers and unbelievers may be the “Tyrians” of today.
According to the record in the book of Ezekiel, the people of Tyre declared that Jerusalem would fall, and they were happy about it. The situation is the same today. Those who are seeking worldly riches would be happy to see the church finished and would be happy if the doors of the meeting place were permanently closed, because they think that attending church meetings is a waste of time.
Perhaps even some among us in the church life may maintain such an attitude. Desiring to make more money and secure a better life for themselves, they do not care for the church or for the Lord’s interest. They care only for their business, riches, and position in the world. When they hear about some who are backsliding, they are happy.
Along with Tyre is Sidon. Ezekiel says that Sidon was a pricking thorn and a painful briar to the house of Israel (28:24). The Lord Jesus said that the deceitfulness of riches and the anxiety of the age are like thorns that choke the growth of life (Matt. 13:22).
If Tyre is present, Sidon is nearby. If there are “Tyrians” among the saints, there will also be “Sidonians.” This means that if the saints love the world and care for worldly riches, they will become thorns and briars. Many Christians have become pricking thorns and painful briars that damage the church life.
EGYPT
According to the Bible, Egypt is a nation that does not depend on God but on its own resources. Egypt had the Nile River as the source of its riches. In this way, the Egyptians did not depend on the rains from heaven but on the water of their Nile.
Furthermore, they practiced their wisdom to develop their natural resources in order to become rich and have a sufficient supply. Whenever the people of Israel lacked food, they went down to Egypt to seek provisions.
From all this we see that Egypt represents people who use their natural wisdom to develop their natural resources in order to be rich and have supply. In Ezekiel’s time Israel turned to Egypt and leaned on Egypt, trusting in Egypt as a staff. But the Lord said that Egypt was a staff made of reed, easy to break (Ezek. 29:2-9).
When Ezekiel spoke about Tyre and Egypt, he compared them to the garden of Eden (28:13; 31:9, 16). With their riches and resources, Tyre and Egypt made their contemporary world “a garden of Eden.” This was not a garden of Eden prepared by God but “a garden of Eden” made by those who did not care for God but only for their earthly wealth and enjoyment.
However, God said that He would send Egypt, with its “garden of Eden,” to Hades, to the abyss, to the depths of the earth. This reveals that God will judge those who care only for earthly happiness and pleasure but have no need of God.
In this message we have considered seven types of people who can damage the church life. Some are against the church and hate Christ, God’s salvation, and God’s grace. These are the “Ammonites.”
Others creep into the church and try to bring the church into association with the world and make the church the same as the world. These are the “Moabites.”
Then there are the “Edomites,” the old man, and the “Philistines,” the natural man. The “Tyrians” seek worldly riches, and the “Sidonians” become thorns and briars to the church because of the pursuit of riches.
Finally, there are the “Egyptians,” those who, independent of God, seek worldly riches by developing their own resources to be rich in supply and to be a source of supply to others.
These are the various types of people who can cause damage to the church life. We all need to be alert so that none of us becomes these kinds of people.
GOD’S JUDGMENT
Now we must go on to see how God executed His judgment upon these seven nations.
God executed judgment in four ways: by destroying these nations, making them desolate, humiliating them, and delivering them to the lower parts of the earth, that is, to the lowest parts of the earth (31:14).
Where are those of the Roman Empire who hated the church? They are in the lowest parts of the earth, the place to which every persecutor of the church will eventually go.
It is crucial that we deal with our old man. If we do not judge our old man, God will execute His judgment upon us, making us weak and “cast down” in spirit. If we judge our old man, not caring to be the first or to have any position in the church, we will have the greatest enjoyment in the church life, we will be “lifted up,” and our spirit will be “uplifted.”
To be “cast down” means that we are under God’s judgment. Because we go along with our natural man, in His judgment God sometimes will even destroy us and make us desolate. When we are desolate, we have nothing fresh, new, living, or growing. Instead, we are like a desert.
Desolation is the result of going along with our natural man. The more we exercise our natural wisdom, the more desolate we become. But if we judge our natural man, our spirit will rise up and will be fresh, living, and fruitful.
Our old man and our natural man certainly need to be dealt with by God. We cannot be responsible for the “Ammonites,” the “Moabites,” the “Tyrians,” the “Sidonians,” and the “Egyptians,” but we can, and must, be responsible for the “Edomites” and the “Philistines,” who typify our old man and our natural man.
By the grace of God, we must deal carefully with the old man and the natural man, not allowing them to carry out a destructive work in the church. First Corinthians 3:17a says, “If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him.” If our old man and our natural man destroy God’s church, God will destroy us with our old man and with our natural man. In this matter we must learn to fear God.
THE RESULT OF GOD’S JUDGMENT
UPON THE NATIONS
The first result of God’s judgment upon the nations was that all the nations (and also Israel) knew that He was the Lord. “That they may know that I am the Lord” is an expression used many times in the book of Ezekiel.
Again and again the Lord seemed to be saying, “I will destroy you so that you may know that I am the Lord. I will lay you waste so that you may know that I am the Lord. I will humble you so that you may know that I am the Lord. I will place you in the lowest parts of the earth so that you may know that I am the Lord” (25:7, 11, 17; 26:6; 29:6).
All those who opposed the Lord and who are now in the deepest parts of the earth, such as the emperor Nero, Hitler, and Mussolini, now know that Jesus is the Lord. Eventually, all those who still oppose God and persecute the church will be placed in the lowest parts of the earth, where they will know that Jesus is the Lord.
The second result, or outcome, of God’s judgment upon the nations was that God’s purpose was carried out and fulfilled.
🌿Enjoy more:
Hymn: Praise the Lord – “His Exaltation”
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