Good Wednesday July nineteenth as we open Ezekiel’s prophecy of God’s judgment.
Ammonites judged-
In the twenty four chapters we have studied, Ezekiel warned both Judah and Jerusalem that God’s judgment was coming for them abandoning Him. Ezekiel was allowed by God to speak to the people openly, yes there were some moments he was not to speak and keep a silence as when his wife died, but Ezekiel is God’s prophet to the people, what God spoke through Ezekiel the people now saw all that was spoken had come true. We have just read that Babylon led by king Nebuchadnezzar has been used by God to discipline Israel. The temple was completely destroyed then burned to the ground. Ezekiel just after his wife had died was silent, but when Nebuchadnezzar had accomplished the victory Ezekiel’s was then allowed to again speak. Let’s look at verse 26 again, “on that day one who escapes will come to you to let you hear it with your ears.” One escapes from Babylon’s captivity in Israel and finds Ezekiel, a fugitive who travels some eighty miles and tells him that the cities the temple has been destroyed and burned down. When this news is brought to the exiled they mourn quietly as Ezekiel mourned for his wife. Now let’s read together from Ezekiel 25:1-7 “The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face against the Ammonites, and prophesy against them. 3 Say to the Ammonites, ‘Hear the word of the Lord GOD! Thus says the Lord GOD: “Because you said, ‘Aha!’ against My sanctuary when it was profaned, and against the land of Israel when it was desolate, and against the house of Judah when they went into captivity, 4 indeed, therefore, I will deliver you as a possession to the men of the East, and they shall set their encampments among you and make their dwellings among you; they shall eat your fruit, and they shall drink your milk. 5 And I will make Rabbah a stable for camels and Ammon a resting place for flocks. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.” 6 ‘For thus says the Lord GOD: “Because you clapped your hands, stamped your feet, and rejoiced in heart with all your disdain for the land of Israel, 7 indeed, therefore, I will stretch out My hand against you, and give you as plunder to the nations; I will cut you off from the peoples, and I will cause you to perish from the countries; I will destroy you, and you shall know that I am the Lord.” God directs Ezekiel to stand against the Ammonites. The Ammonites were a nomadic people who resided in the areas we know today as Jordan. These were descendants of Lot through his incestuous relationship with his younger daughter. Genesis 19:36-38 “Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father. 37 The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day. 38 And the younger, she also bore a son and called his name Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the people of Ammon to this day.” So the Ammonites are then related to the Israelites. But the Ammonites cheered when Judah was judged and the temple was destroyed, but God saw what Ammon did and now says you will be destroyed as well. The Ammonites had no sorrow that Jerusalem had fallen; that the temple was destroyed and because they did not, judgment was now on them. Are we listening? Remnant
