Ezekiel 21 -- I Tremble For My Country

When we usually think of God drawing His sword, it’s done to rid the world of unbelievers.  Here, God was telling Ezekiel to let the captives know that He was drawing it against the land of Judah, the city of Jerusalem, and the holy place of the Temple.  They were so proud of the fact that they were God’s chosen people, but they couldn’t imagine that God would attack those same people, even when they rebelled against Him.  He’s longsuffering, but He is also just.

His sword in this case was the Babylonian army.  And at that moment, God told Ezekiel that army was at a fork in the road, and they were inquiring of their gods which way to proceed – to Rabbath to attack the Ammonites, or to Jerusalem.  God used their feeble attempts to determine the will of nonexistent gods to send them where He wanted.  My commentary said, “If His own people won’t obey Him, at least the pagan nations will!”  It also said that in these chapters we get “ … a fresh realization of the tragedy of rebellion against the Lord.  Israel had a long history of rebellion against the Lord, but the other nations weren’t any better, except that Israel was sinning against the light of God’s Word and His providential care over His people.  If any nation had the obligation to obey and serve the Lord, it was Israel, for the Lord had blessed them abundantly.  Instead of becoming a holy nation to the glory of God, she became like all the other nations and failed to be God’s light to the Gentiles.”

Thomas Jefferson wrote something similar, it noted, about our country:  “Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just.”

Father, we as a nation sin against the light of Your Word.  You have formed us and blessed us, planning for us to be the shining city on a hill that would show the world the value of living by Christian principles.  For decades, we fought against evil.  Now, we have allowed it to erode us from within.  Help us, O God.  Turn our nation back You.  I tremble to think what You may already be doing to get our attention.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford