S5: Day 251: Ezekiel 28–30

0:00Hey, you're listening to a year in the Bible with daily grace. This is Shelby and CJ. In the book of Ezekiel, we're going to be talking about chapters 28 through 30 today. Sure that you're following or subscribed wherever you're listening or watching. That just ensures that you don't miss an episode with us. Okay, CJ, Ezekiel 28 through 30. What is happening in these chapters? I've gotten used to you saying, well, today we have more judgment. Is that the case today? That's of course the case today. Yes, it is. Yesterday we started with the Oracles Against the Nations and today we read more Oracles Against the Nations in 28 through 30. And yesterday we also mentioned the two major functions of the Oracles Against the Nations to demonstrate God's sovereignty and to demonstrate how God judges the nations. And we're going to kind of focus on that second one today. So in these chapters, Tyre and Egypt are the center. Tyre is described as a glorious cherub.

1:02Like one of those described in Ezekiel 1 and Ezekiel 10, those majestic creatures that are underneath God's throne are described as cherubes, which is just an angelic creature. And the description of Tyre as a cherub is kind of tongue in cheek. And it's meant to emphasize how even though Tyre thinks they're hot stuff and they're very prideful, they're going to be brought down and judged. And of course, this idea of the pride, the prideful being brought down is a theme that we've talked about a lot on the podcast. I'm thinking about again, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel and how the prideful of brought down like Saul, but the humble like David are lifted up. Same thing here, but on the world stage. And then in Ezekiel 29, Egypt is described as a mighty river snake who's going to be crushed by God. So we have these two majestic creatures, a mighty river snake in Egypt. And then we have this glorious cherub and Tyre and they're both going to be destroyed all because God said so and because God is going to judge them. And the way that they're going to be judged is through Babylon.

2:05So in the same way that God is using Babylon to judge Judah, God is going to use Babylon to judge Tyre in Egypt. So in other words, God is looking at all of these different nations and all of the evil they're committing. And he's not necessarily favoring Israel just because they're his people. And he's not necessarily ignoring the other nations because they're not his people, but both are being judged for what they've done. Okay. So this is, I think it shows God's mercy and impartiality might be a way to look at it. And then ultimately we see still God's sovereignty, even though we're kind of focusing on his judgment, we see how again, God is using these world empires to do his bidding. And I think that's just a powerful image. Yeah. Okay. As we continue going through the Oracle of nations, what do we take away from these chapters that might apply to our lives personally? So when I think of God's sovereignty, I think of an image in Revelation 4 through 5 where

3:09Christ who humbled himself came down and because he humbled himself, he did the will of the Lord, he died. He rose again. He was lifted up the opposite of Ty or the opposite of Egypt who were prideful and brought down. Christ is the ultimate humble one who has then lifted up. And now he's ruling above over all nations. And it says in Revelation 5, 9 through 10 that these 24 elders are singing a song. And this is what they say to Jesus. You were slaughtered and you purchased people for God by your blood from every tribe and language and people and nation. And you made them a kingdom and priest to our God and they will reign on the earth. So we kind of see in this image in Revelation 4 and 5 come full circle. In Ezekiel, we have these oracles against the nations. We have God judging the proud, using world empires to do his bidding and judge people. But then we have the ultimate humble one in Christ come down, live a perfect life and

4:15elevated over all the nations. Now he's drawing them to himself, the faithful from among those nations. He's drawing to himself. So again, Ezekiel, even though it feels strange and it feels foreign, which it is, when we read it in light of the New Testament and the work of Christ, it's sort of all is brought together and I think is made really clear for us. Yeah, I think that's such a great example of what we say when we say all scripture finds its fulfillment in Christ. And so I'm really thankful that you broke that down for us, pulled in those other passages. For me, I'm going to pull my takeaway from a recent, some recent survey results that came out from Ligonier. And in that survey, I know I'm trying to tie this in because I think it's important. In that survey, 56% of evangelicals that were surveyed in this group said that they believe that God accepts the worship of all other gods. So they believe that you could worship other gods and that may mean that you're actually

5:20worshiping the one true God. You just misguided or something? Yeah, you're just misguided. And so they're in their might, the survey didn't go into a ton of depth. I think in passages like what we're seeing here in Ezekiel where there's condemnation for serving gods of other nations, we can see that no, there is only one God who is deserving of worship. And so a different maybe take away than normal, but seeing that statistic that 56% of people who claim to be evangelicals, I think we need to, there's some theological correction that needs to happen. I think this passage can maybe do a bit of that for us because God is the only God that should and is worthy of worship. So okay, thanks for walking us through these chapters. CJ will be in chapter 31 tomorrow. Great.