Don’t Reject God’s Witnesses – Eze 35
It is fascinating to me to see how often God prophesies and cares about all the nations of the world. Of course, He chose the nation of Israel, but His choosing them was about serving Him and being lights to the world. It was not that God only wanted Israelites to be saved. God wants all people to be saved. That’s why he chose Israel, to carry the message to the whole world.
In Ezekiel 35, we read God’s message to the people of mount Seir, the Edomites, who descended from Esau. His message is that they will be judged for hating Israel (v.5,11), for shedding their blood (v.5-6), and for speaking blasphemous things against Israel and against God (v.12-13). The idea here is that by rejecting and hating Israel they were in effect hating God.
The real goal God wanted to accomplish in bringing judgment on them was so that they would know Him (v.4,9,11,12,15). Their hatred, blasphemy, violence stemmed from rebellion against God. And God’s would bring them to a place of acknowledging that He is the LORD.
Lessons for us:
- God wants all people to know and worship Him.
- God used Israel to be His witnesses and is currently uses the church.
- Those who reject God’s messengers are effectively rejecting Him.
- All sin stems from a failure to acknowledge God as LORD.
- All people will acknowledge God either by choice or by force.