Ezekiel 25
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The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against the Ammonites, and prophesy against them;
3 And say unto the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord God; Thus saith the Lord God; Because thou saidst, 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 Behold, therefore I will deliver thee to the men of the east for a possession, and they shall set their palaces in thee, and make their dwellings in thee: they shall eat thy fruit, and they shall drink thy milk.
5 And I will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the Ammonites a couching place for flocks: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.
6 For thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast clapped thine hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced in heart with all thy despite against the land of Israel;
7 Behold, therefore I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and will deliver thee for a spoil to the heathen; and I will cut thee off from the people, and I will cause thee to perish out of the countries: I will destroy thee; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.
8 Thus saith the Lord God; Because that Moab and Seir do say, Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the heathen;
9 Therefore, behold, I will open the side of Moab from the cities, from his cities which are on his frontiers, the glory of the country, Bethjeshimoth, Baalmeon, and Kiriathaim,
10 Unto the men of the east with the Ammonites, and will give them in possession, that the Ammonites may not be remembered among the nations.
11 And I will execute judgments upon Moab; and they shall know that I am the Lord.
12 Thus saith the Lord God; Because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended, and revenged himself upon them;
13 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; I will also stretch out mine hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; and they of Dedan shall fall by the sword.
14 And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel: and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger and according to my fury; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord God.
15 Thus saith the Lord God; Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to destroy it for the old hatred;
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will stretch out mine hand upon the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethims, and destroy the remnant of the sea coast.
17 And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them.
Public Domain KJV text from Wordproject.org
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Commentary
How do you treat the vulnerable? Do you offer help or do you see their crisis as an opportunity to take advantage of them, to kick them when they are down? As I write, we are in the midst of a worldwide crisis caused by a deadly virus. This makes it easier to see what kind of person one is, what kind of nation one has. Sadly, too many have seen this crisis as an opportunity to exploit others and make a profit off of their dire need for care, medicine, and other limited resources. Society is breaking apart into factions. People are aligning themselves for truth or for error, for aid or for advantage.
Out of the midst of this chaos, God is still looking for people that reflect His character and do not take joy in the destruction of the vulnerable. He is still denouncing those who exploit the vulnerable as he denounced Ammon, “You were delighted to see my Temple profaned, to see the land of Israel devastated, to see the people of Judah go into exile. Because you were glad, I will let the tribes from the eastern desert conquer you.” Ezekiel 25:3 , 4 GNB.
Karen D. Lifshay
Hermiston SDA Church Communications Secretary, Oregon USA
