The Nations Will Know That I Am Yahweh

So what did the people of Tyre do against God and His people? First of all, they saw Israel’s discipline as an opportunity for their own economic gain (26:2). Second, Tyre was full of pride, to the point of declaring, “I am perfect in beauty” (27:3; cf. 28:17). Third, their leader thought he was a god (28:2,6), which is always foolish unless you are God. Fourth, they were proud of their wealth (28:5) and felt secure in it. Lastly, they were filled with violence, sinned, profaned their sanctuaries, and had a magnitude of iniquities (28:16,18).

In judgment God was going to make the “beautiful” Tyre an object of horror (26:21; 27:36; 28:19). He would cause Tyre to cease to exist so they would never be found again by anyone who sought them (26:21). Those they traded with will mock them (27:36). Those who knew them will be appalled at Tyre (28:19).

God had a special judgment for Tyre’s ruler. The Lord said,

Because you regard your heart as that of a god, I am about to bring strangers against you, ruthless men from the nations. They will draw their swords against your magnificent wisdom and will defile your splendor. They will bring you down to the Pit, and you will die a violent death in the heart of the sea. Will you still say, “I am a god,” in the presence of those who kill you? Yet you will be only a man, not a god, in the hands of those who kill you. You will die the death of the uncircumcised at the hands of strangers. For I have spoken. This is the declaration of the Lord God. (28:6-10)

Because of the judgment both the people of Tyre and their ruler would know God is Yahweh (26:6). About Tyre’s fall Duguid notes,

The rapidity with which her demise can be described contrasts starkly with the lengthy description of her beauty. Her beauty and security count for nothing when the storm strikes. (Duguid, Ezekiel, 336)

There is only one safe refuge, and that is the Lord.

Sidon (28:20-23)

Squeezed between the lengthier treatises to Tyre and Egypt is a word for Sidon. Like Tyre the people of Sidon dwelled northwest of Israel and along the Mediterranean Sea. At a minimum we know they, like Israel’s other adversarial neighbors, treated God’s people with contempt (v. 24). What else Sidon was guilty of was not revealed to Ezekiel. In judgment God will display His glory within them and demonstrate His holiness through them. They will receive a plague, and bloodshed will be in their streets. The slain will fall in Sidon, and the sword be against her on every side. When the punishment is executed, they will know God is Yahweh.

Egypt (29:1–32:32)

The last country to receive a judgment prophecy from the Lord was one of the first who should have expected it. Egypt and Israel had an interesting relationship. At one point Egypt held God’s people in slavery making “their lives bitter with difficult labor in brick and mortar and in all kinds of fieldwork” (Exod 1:14). The Pharaoh even commanded all his people to “throw every son born to the Hebrews into the Nile” (Exod 1:22). The Lord would deliver His people from their slavery and destroy Pharaoh in the process (Exod 1:28). The one who was responsible for the drowning of so many Israelite children would himself be drowned.

Despite the brutal history, one of the first places Israel would flee for help in times of trouble was Egypt. Why we keep such short memories or repeatedly return to those who want nothing but our harm I’ll never know. In Ezekiel’s day Egypt had power and resources, and God’s people sought their help rather than His. God considered Israel’s solicitation of Egypt to be adultery and used the most graphic of terms to describe the relationship between the two nations (16:26).

God knew that Egypt was a staff made of reed to the house of Israel (29:6). They were not the crutch on which Israel should have leaned for help in the journey because they were a false support. God told Egypt, “When Israel grasped you by the hand, you splintered, tearing all their shoulders; when they leaned on you, you shattered and made all their hips unsteady” (29:7). Egypt’s lack of support wounded Israel, and God will hold them accountable.

Besides their lack of trustworthiness, God had other issues against Egypt. He could not stand their pride (31:10) or their pharaoh. Like Tyre, Egypt had a ruler who thought he was a god. He would say, “My Nile is my own; I made it for myself” (29:3). If “the fool says in his heart, ‘God does not exist’” (Ps 14:1), then what term should be used to describe the one who thinks he is a god?

God’s judgment of Egypt will be exhaustive (32:15). They and their leader will be given to the beasts of the earth and the birds of the sky as food (29:4-5). Egypt’s wealth and land will be given to Nebuchadnezzar as compensation (29:19-20). Their allies will be destroyed (30:5-6). There will be nowhere for the Egyptians to run for help when God enacts His judgment. Egypt will be a total wasteland (29:8-16; 30:13-19). They will be destroyed (32:12) and sent to Sheol (32:17-32). When all this occurs, they will know God is Yahweh (32:15) and Pharaoh was no god at all.

What Can We Learn About God?

When studying the Bible, we do not ask, “What does this passage mean to me?” but, “What does this passage mean?” We also do not first ask what a passage can teach us about ourselves but what it can teach us about God. After walking through eight chapters of God’s judgment on pagan nations, what can we learn about Him?

God Has No Equal

There is none like Him. He is neither impressed with nor afraid of man’s kingdoms. There is not currently, has never been, and will never be a real threat to His authority. He has been, is, and will forever be in control. He needs no counsel. He does not even need sleep (Ps 121:4). The rulers of Tyre and Egypt “thought” they were gods, but Yahweh knows He is and that He is alone.

God Has Authority over Everyone and Everything Everywhere

We have seen this truth previously in this book, but in Ezekiel 25–32 it is especially clear. He does not reign over just His people. He is not standing at the border of countries and waiting for them to validate His passport. His reign is not determined at the ballot box or in accordance with a congressional bill. Whatever He desired in these eight chapters is what would be done. In the discipline of these nations, He would even use other pagan countries. If that’s not sovereignty, then I do not know what is!

God’s Standards Do Not Change Based on One’s Location

He does not excuse sin based on geographical markers or the borders of countries. He is holy, and He expects all people to walk according to His ways. This is true even for peoples who do not have Scripture in their language. He will judge all peoples for both their attitudes and their actions. In these chapters God did not look past the sins of certain people just because they were not in Jerusalem or had never acknowledged His existence. He also did not punish them for general reasons but for specific causes. Somehow, without the FBI, CIA, KGB, or any other information gatherers, God had detailed knowledge of every nation and what they had done or not done in accordance to His will. He will judge all people based on His holiness. In one sense all religions do lead to God but just not in the way most people think.

God Keeps His Promises

As was already noted, what occurs in Ezekiel 25–32 is God keeping His promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:3. God has little tolerance for those who harm His people or lead them away from Him. Furthermore, no one had to remind God to keep His word. Neither Ezekiel nor his peers suggested that God offer retribution for what the other countries did to them. Without setting an alarm as a reminder, God knows when and how is the best way to honor His promises. He will bless all those who bless His people, and He will curse all those who curse them. We should be careful then in how we treat His other children in our faith families and our biological families.

God Often Uses Human Kingdoms or Governments as His Means of Divine Justice

The pagan nations may not even realize they are being used to accomplish His will. In these eight chapters God was going to use Nebuchadnezzar to be His agent of justice (26:7; 29:19-20; 30:24; 31:11). Scripture nowhere records God asking Nebuchadnezzar to partner with Him or asking his permission to use him. With Nebuchadnezzar and every ruler, God can exercise His sovereignty and “accomplish His will without destroying either their freedom or their accountability to Him” (Wiersbe, Be Reverent, 160).How does God do this without violating a person’s will? He guides them, He strengthens them, and He uses what is already in their heart. When Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery, God did not put the evil in their heart. It was already there. He just had a plan that would turn to good what they intended as harm. Likewise, God did not have to put the desire to conquer other nations into Nebuchadnezzar’s heart. He just used what was already there.

The book of Habakkuk is a great illustration of God’s using pagan nations while simultaneously holding them accountable. Habakkuk is grieved because of the injustice and violence among God’s people (Hab 1:1-4). God tells him to sit tight because He has a plan. He’s going to raise a pagan nation to discipline His people (1:5-11). Any guess which nation God is talking about? You guessed it. Good ol’ Chaldea, or in other words, the home of the Babylonians. Habakkuk has a lot of questions about that plan but asks them humbly (1:12-17). God tells him not to worry because He will hold the pagan nation accountable for its actions as well (2:2-20). Habakkuk determines to trust God no matter what he sees around him (3:1-19).

God Receives Glory Both in Extending Mercy and in Withholding It

God is not obligated to extend mercy at all. God is not obligated to extend mercy to all. He told Moses, “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion” (Exod 33:19). In Ezekiel 25–32 Israel receives mercy. In these same chapters Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, Tyre, Sidon, and Egypt receive judgment. In both cases God receives glory.

While some aspects of how God does things may be difficult for us to grasp, it does not make them less true. What we do not want to miss in these eight chapters is that every single nation including Israel deserved judgment and every single nation except one received it. The choice belongs to God, and He always does what He knows will bring Him the most glory. Israel’s discipline would be for restoration, but all the other nations experienced God’s judgment for ruin.

God’s Discipline of the Nations Is for the Good of His People (28:24-26; 29:21)

His children “will no longer be hurt by prickly briers or painful thorns from all their neighbors who treat them with contempt” (28:24). After God gathers the house of Israel and brings them to their own land, He wants them to live there securely, build houses, and plant vineyards (v. 26). His people will dwell securely after He executes judgments on all their neighbors who treat them with contempt (v. 26). All He does, He does for His glory and our good.

What Can We Learn About Us?

Ezekiel 25–32 contains points of application that we can take with us.

The World Will Often Rejoice When God’s People Struggle

Several of the countries in these chapters rejoiced and gloated over what happened to Israel. They even mocked them. In this world we will have trouble too (John 16:33). We should not be naïve and think everyone is going to love us just because we love Jesus. We should also do all we can to minimize bringing shame on God or causing people to doubt His power or goodness when they look at our lives.

Everything We Look To for Security besides God Will Ultimately Fail Us

Tyre had pride in all it had accumulated (28:5). Egypt took pride in what it had achieved (31:10). Philistia at one time had confidence in its giant. All refuges besides God will be found wanting. Our greatest need for security is from the wrath of God, and this refuge is found only in the cross of Christ. What are you placing your confidence in? Your seminary degree? Your mission trips? Your hours of service to the kingdom? Whatever else we look to for security besides Christ cannot even protect itself from God’s wrath, much less protect us.

Not Everything That Seems Important Now, Really Is

How many coins from Tyre do you think lie on the ocean floor? What lies buried in the sand of Egypt that seemed so precious in Ezekiel’s day? We do not even know the names of the rulers of Tyre and Egypt, though they considered themselves extremely important. What matters above all is knowing God’s will and doing it. We are a mist and a vapor in the timeline of earth’s history. How many plans of Egypt were drowned in one afternoon? It’s only God’s plan that will remain when all other kingdoms have passed away. Are we spending our time on what really matters?

If God Rewarded the Pagan Nebuchadnezzar for His Work, How Much More Will He Reward Those Who Love Him and Walk in His Ways? 3

God compensated Babylon’s king for his work as God’s agent of justice (29:17-21). I fear many of us rarely consider kingdom rewards. C. S. Lewis contended,

If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased. (Lewis, Weight of Glory, 26)

At the same time, Jesus reminds us, “When you have done all that you were commanded, you should say, ‘We are good-for-nothing slaves; we’ve only done our duty’” (Luke 17:10).

We Have Work to Do

Jesus commissioned us to “go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations” (Matt 28:19). We have seen in these chapters that every nation and every person will be held accountable to God’s holy standards. Paul also tells us, “No condemnation exists for those in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:1). After 29 chapters of judgment, let that truth wash over you for just a moment. Actually, strive to let that truth wash over you every moment of every day. Then notice the preposition “in.” Only those who are in Christ are free from condemnation because He was condemned in our place.

For those who are not in Christ, however, there is complete condemnation. How can they know and believe it is “Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath” (1 Thess 1:10)? “Faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ” (Rom 10:17). Indeed then, “How beautiful are the feet of those who announce the gospel of good things” (Rom 10:15).

May we consider these eight chapters and tremble before a holy God. May we consider His judgment on these nations and know we are just as deserving of such treatment. May we then look to the cross and shake our heads in wonder at the substitutionary atonement of Christ. May we in response not go past the gospel but deeper into it, and may the good news of Christ advance in us and through us for the glory of God and the good of others.

Reflect and Discuss