” ‘ “And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, ‘O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord God: “Because the enemy has said of you, ‘Aha! The ancient heights have become our possession,’ ” ‘ therefore prophesy, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Because they made you desolate and swallowed you up on every side, so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations, and you are taken up by the lips of talkers and slandered by the people” — therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God! Thus says the Lord God to the mountains, the hills, the rivers, the valleys, the desolate wastes, and the cities that have been forsaken, which became plunder and mockery to the rest of the nations all around— therefore thus says the Lord God: “Surely I have spoken in My burning jealousy against the rest of the nations and against all Edom, who gave My land to themselves as a possession, with wholehearted joy and spiteful minds, in order to plunder its open country” ‘ ” ‘ ” (Ezekiel 36:1-5).
Heavenly Father, in all our unworthiness we come before you, acknowledging You as our Lord and our God! Knowing that no one who come to You will ever be cast out (John 6:37). Thank You so much for your everlasting and unconditional love, in the precious Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen!
For the past two devotionals we have been considering why it was necessary for God to impress His Covenant with the children of Israel upon their hearts. In other words, enable them to internalize the principles and precepts of His covenant.
They had heard the words of the covenant declared with trumpet and thunderings and lightnings, and in their fear of God, had promised, Whatever the Lord asks us to do, we will do. Fear, as we usually understand it, is a negative emotion, and can be a rather risky motivator; allowing us to make promises, without thinking, and oftentimes without knowing, if, in fact, we are capable of fulfilling them.
I am always profoundly moved, by the unconditional love, and pity, of the Savior, for His erring children. In our Scripture for today, we see Jesus, once again, defending His people even though it is their sin that has brought these problems upon them.
They had become a byword among the nations. This great nation whose God had done great and wonderful things, for them. Miracles never heard of, or seen, in the land before. But now their possessions were being plundered, and the land that God had given them to possess, the nations had claimed for their own.
Yet, in spite of their stiffnecked condition, God would vindicate His people. And we will hear Him say time and again, “I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went” (Ezekiel 36:22, 32).
You may wonder, if God is not doing this for their sake, can we still see it as God’s love for His people? Of course we can! You see, we are limited in our actions. Even when we claim to be multi-tasking, we are limited in what we can do at any given time. Not so with God!
As God is being merciful to Israel, His eternal purpose is to bless and save even those nations who have harmed Israel. Why? Because “God so loved the WORLD.” Plural! And the way He chooses to do this, is by allowing the nations to know Him, as the One and Only True God! This is what Israel had failed to do, when they profaned His Holy Name among the nations. So God would find the way to do this!
Our conversation continues!