Amen. Let us turn now to the reading of God's word. Ezekiel chapter 25, page 903 in the Blue ESV Bibles. We'll read the 17 verses of Ezekiel 25 and then we'll jump forward to the last four verses of chapter 28. which the verse count is not inspired, the verse numbers were added later, but the section of Ezekiel chapter 25 through 32, there's 97 verses before 28 verse 4, and there's 97 verses after 28 verse 6. It's these three verses right in the middle, which speak directly to the people of Israel, the exiles that Ezekiel was actually among. And they speak to us of the purpose of chapter 25 and of everything else in this section. So we're gonna read Ezekiel 25, and then we're gonna jump forward to that little purpose statement in the middle, those three verses at the end of chapter 28. Well, let us begin our reading at chapter 25, verse 1. The word of the Lord came to me. Son of man, set your face toward the Ammonites and prophesy against them. Say to the Ammonites, hear the word of the Lord God. Thus says the Lord God, because you said, Aha, over my sanctuary when it was profaned, and over the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and over the house of Judah when they went into exile. Therefore, behold, I am handing you over to the people of the east for a possession, and they shall set their encampments among you and make their dwellings in your midst. They shall eat your fruit, and they shall drink your milk, I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels and Ammon a fold for flocks. Then you will know that I am the Lord. For thus says the Lord God, because you have clapped your hands and stamped your feet and rejoiced with all the malice within your soul against the land of Israel, therefore behold, I have stretched out my hand against you and will hand you over as a plunder to the nations. and I will cut you off from the peoples and will make you perish out of the countries. I will destroy you. Then you will know that I am the Lord." Thus says the Lord God, because Moab and Seir said, Behold, the house of Judah is like all the other nations. Therefore, I will lay open the flank of Moab from the cities, from its cities on its frontier, the glory of the country, Beth-Jeshomoth, Bel-Mayon, and Kiriathium. I will give it along with the Ammonites to the people of the East as a possession, that the Ammonites may be remembered no more among the nations, and I will execute judgments upon Moab. Then they will know that I am the Lord." Thus says the Lord God, because Edom acted revengefully against the house of Judah and has grievously offended it in taking vengeance on them. Therefore, thus says the Lord God, I will stretch out my hand against Edom and cut off from it man and beast, and I will make it desolate. From Taman even to Dadan they shall fall by the sword. And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel. and they shall do and eat them according to my anger and according to my wrath, and they shall know my vengeance, declares the Lord God. Thus says the Lord God, because the Philistines acted revengefully and took vengeance with malice of soul to destroy a never-ending enmity, Therefore, thus says the Lord God, behold, I will stretch out my hand against the Philistines and I will cut off the Charithites and destroy the rest of the seacoast. I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes. Then they will know that I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon them." And then let's turn over to chapter 28. It's a little middle section where the exiles are directly addressed. And this is the purpose of everything around it because sometimes the prophecies against the nations, it's at least implied or sometimes more than implied that the prophets went out. There's mention of that for Amos, for example, that he went out and he preached to the nations. We see that with Jeremiah as well, especially with the nations we just read about. He preached to them. But Ezekiel is a six-month journey away. Who is Ezekiel speaking to? He's speaking to the exiles. And so the purpose statement is the statement that's directed directly to the house of Israel. And that's chapter 28, verse 24. to 26. And for the house of Israel there shall be no more a briar to pick or a thorn to hurt them among all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord God. And thus says the Lord God When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered and manifest my holiness in them all in the sight of the nations, then they shall dwell in their own land that I give to my servant Jacob. And they shall dwell securely in it. And they shall build houses and plant vineyards. They shall dwell securely when I execute judgments upon all their neighbors. who have treated them with contempt, then they will know that I am the Lord their God." So far, the reading. Dear congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the New Testament, the Apostle Peter once said these words, 1 Peter 4, verse 17, For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God. And if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? Judgment must begin with the house of God. And then it goes forth, and God's Word speaks to all peoples. And this is The word of the apostle Peter in one verse in first Peter four, verse 17. And it's the general outline of many of the prophets. Certainly it is the general outline of the prophet Ezekiel for the first 24 chapters. The word comes, especially of rebuke of the coming judgment and of the need to repent to the house of Israel. But now we have this section in the middle, and I think we might only spend two weeks in it, but there's a lot going on. But I think we'll try to just take it in two weeks. But now there's this section in the middle from chapter 25 all the way to chapter 32, where the gears change. And judgment has come upon Israel, and now here is the fact that God speaks against all the enemies of God's people. It's a thematic section. It's not chronologically in order with what comes before it and after it. Chapter 25 doesn't give us a time marker, but it gives us hints that it's written right after the destruction of Jerusalem. In other words, chronologically, chapter 25 is after chapter 33. And some of the other chapters give time markers, and they're even many years later. But this thematic section 25 to 32 addresses the nations that surround Israel. But not, as we said a minute ago, not directly, not in the sense that Ezekiel travels over there and preaches to those people. No, it's a word about the enemies of God's people which is still being used to speak to God's people. It's that purpose statement at the end of chapter 28. It is the fact that God has not forgotten His promises and God will still defend His people. Now just a couple more words about 25 to 32 before we get into our points. I said some of it is not all chronological. Some of it is even many years forward. Most of it is either right before or right after the events of Ezekiel 33, the event of the destruction of the temple. In other words, in a time of silent agony, As one commentator, Christopher Wright, once put it, these are the words that filled the silence. Right at that time, when Jerusalem is crumbling, there's this whole series of words about what will happen to the surrounding nations. And God is telling His people even though you are being judged first, even though Jerusalem is crumbling, I still have a purpose for you, because you are My people. I am still defending you. And you will see this in how I Myself act with regards to the nations around you. In short, our theme tonight, God is still defending His people. people. And this is the message to fill that silent agony in the days when Jerusalem is crumbling. Well, we'll have four points looking at the four nations addressed. Judgment on the spiteful, judgment on the naysayers, judgment on the revengeful, and judgment on the warmongers. Chapter 25 begins with these near neighbors of Israel. Each of the four nations mentioned, if you stood on a high enough hill in Jerusalem, you could have seen part of their land with the naked eye on a clear day. These are the near neighbors of Israel. And the order that they're given in starting with Ammon In the first verses it works around the clock. It starts from 2 o'clock in the northeast and then it works down to the Philistines at 10 o'clock in the southwest. And these near neighbors are ancient peoples. They have a long history, often intersecting with the people of God. The first three, are cousins of the Israelites. They have a history that starts before Jacob ever went to Egypt with his sons, a history that continued when the Israelites were coming back into the Promised Land, and a history that has had ongoing interaction in the centuries ever since. There have been some seasons of peace, but it has been a very rocky relationship. And it is likely that Ammon and Moab are mentioned at the very beginning because from the perspective of the exiles those would be the first neighbors you would think about. Now in order to understand that we're going to walk through a few historical details and then we're going to give an illustration of it so that we can grab hold of it. In the 12 years leading up to Jerusalem's crumbling down, the history between the Ammonites, the Moabites, and the people of Judah looked like this. In 598, 12 years before Jerusalem falls down, the Babylonians are attacking Israel and King Jehoiakim. Ammonites and Moabites joined the Babylonian army and helped to defeat the people of Judah. Now, what's the immediate relevance for Ezekiel and his fellow exiles? That's the defeat which led to their exile. They saw Moabites and Ammonites in the army that came in and took them out and brought them to where they are now. And so there's in chapters 25 to 32, again, it's thematic. There's seven nations mentioned in total, which is a thematic number. It represents all of God's enemies. But it starts with the Ammonites and the Moabites. It starts with the people who marched in with the Babylonians to carry off Jehoiachin and Ezekiel and Ezekiel's fellow exiles. That's recorded in 2 Kings chapter 24. A few years after that, the nations of Ammon and Moab, together with the king of Sidon, the king of Edom, and the king of Tyre, all came to a council called by King Zedekiah, where they all talked about how they could stand together against the Babylonians. Now, Jeremiah tells us all about this, and Jeremiah 27 tells us how Jeremiah marched into that council of war and said, what are all of you doing? And he preached against all of them and told them that they should stop and desist. But they had this kind of, well, we just fought against each other, but now we're going to get together so that we can stand against big, bad Babylon. We're all going to get together and we're going to stand against him. Now a few years after that, what happened? The Babylonians march in again. They besiege Jerusalem. Did any of those nations honor any of the treaties and agreements from that council? No, they did not. It was basically, oh, well, we talked about standing together against Babylon. Now Nebuchadnezzar marched in and he picked Jerusalem, so bad for you. We'll just kind of stay out of it. And sometimes even not just stay out of it, they even help the Babylonians as we'll see as we go forward. Now, right, that's a lot of historical details, so let's give an illustration to help us grab hold of this with a playground but not playful illustration. Imagine that there's a big bully. who shows up on the playground with some other boys and they beat you up. One of the boys is named, one of the boys who's with the big bully, one of the boys is named Ammon. And then after the bully beats you up, with Ammon giving some assistance and throwing in some of his own punches, eventually you get together with Ammon and the rest of the smaller boys and you say, you know what, the next time the big bully decides he's going to throw some punches, we should just all stand together because he can't take us all on at once. But then the bully comes in again and he comes to pick a fight again and instead of honoring the agreement, Ammon just stands aside and mocks you, saying, Aha! You must just be getting what you deserve. It's the language of verse 3. Thus says the Lord God, because you said Aha! over my sanctuary when it was profaned, and over the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and over the house of Judah when they went into exile. Therefore. In other words, Even though they had just made agreements and had meetings together, when Nebuchadnezzar actually decided to march against Jerusalem, there was no aid. There was only a spiteful enjoyment of Jerusalem's pain. The Ammonites took pleasure in seeing God's people in pain. Now, this is perhaps why Ammon and Moab are listed first. These were nations very much on the minds of the exiles who were brought into exile by these people. And these were the people who remained in that land and mocked Jerusalem, taking delight at its pain while it was destroyed." Now, what is always essential in the Word of God? God's Word certainly speaks about the pain of human on human sin, but what is ultimately important is what is your attitude against or for God? And this comes out very clearly in the description of Moab in verse 8. So now let's come to our second point. Judgment on the naysayers. Look at the end of verse 8. The Moabites say, Behold, the house of Judah is like all the other nations. In other words, we remember what's the false theology of the day. The false theology of the day says each nation has their own God And when one nation wars against other, it's really kind of the gods warring against each other. And if a nation loses a battle, that means their god has lost the battle and he's not strong. And, you know, you maybe shouldn't worship your god if your god can't defend you in battle. Well, the Moabites are standing there and they're saying, ah, Judah's just like all the other nations. Their god is nobody. He can't stand up against the gods of the Babylonians. Who are the Ammonites and the Moabites? Well, they're descendants of Lot. They're the cousins of God's people. Which means going back to the days of Lot, they have had some knowledge of the one true God. They have some working knowledge of who Yahweh is. of who the Creator God is. But they have largely rejected the one true God. They have worshipped their idols. And when Jerusalem falls, they follow the false theology of the day and they say, well, that must mean that Yahweh's defeated and our idols are still keeping us. Our capital hasn't tumbled. They are the naysayers. They speak against who God is. Now, if we just put it that way, then we can bring it into the context of today very quickly. There's all kinds of naysayers. There's people who think your religion should just do something for you, otherwise it's a useless religion. So they say, well, you're a Christian, well, Your religion doesn't do anything for you. You still get sick. You still fall into poverty. You still struggle trials. What good is Christianity to you? You're just like all the other people. Your religious crutch is no better than anyone else's crutch. You should just not have any God. That's the modern-day version of it. The Moabites would have said it a little bit differently, but it's that kind of attitude. And it's not only speaking against God's people, it's speaking against God. Now what will happen to the Ammonites and the Moabites? They will be destroyed. Look at verse 9 with me. Do you see the military language at the beginning? I will lay open the flank. And then the cities listed. Horace Hummel once noted that, quote, this could trace the route of ascent for an attacking army, end of quote. So those city names, you know, they don't really mean much to us, but if you were someone who lived in Moab and you saw that list of cities, you would have been like, oh, well, that's where the army would march in to conquer us as our flank is laid open. There's then the language of the Ammonites again in verse 10. So they're kind of put together. They are together the descendants of Lot. There's a little more focus on the Ammonites because they were a little more powerful at this time. But the point is that they're both going to be destroyed. There was already language about that for Ammon back in verse 5. Their land is just going to become a grazing land for camels and sheep. The end of verse four, someone else is going to eat your fruit and drink your milk. You are not going to have your land. You are not going to have the fruits of your land. You are going to be destroyed. Now, remember, I've said it a couple of times now. The Ammonites, the Moabites, their origin is that they're the descendants of Lot. They're the descendants of Lot. That means that they have had an existence. as a separate identifiable people group for almost 1,500 years. That is a long time. I looked up how old a couple of nations were and kingdoms. Iceland is about 1,100 years old. If they go 300 years more, they'll almost Catch up to where Ammon and Moab were at this point. That's a long time. Do you know how much longer they lasted after the destruction of Jerusalem? About five years more. In 582, Nebuchadnezzar marches in again. And that time he puts his focus on the other nations. And the Ammonites and the Moabites, especially, are wiped out. And from the year 582 onward, they are essentially erased from the historical record. Never rebuilt the way Jerusalem was in any way. There's still a city called Ammon. Boy, we don't even know who it is that lives there. Their descent cannot be traced in the same way. They're not the nation of the Ammonites. Only five, six years after the destruction of Jerusalem, these very old people groups are wiped out. Now, there is certainly something in this text of the application know that God's judgment is sure and repent and flee to God. Ezekiel is too far away to speak directly to the Ammonites and the Moabites. So his focus is what we read from the end of chapter 28. His focus is on the fact that God is not going to allow the promised land to be overtaken, to be overrun. He's going to defend it. He's going to prepare the land for the people to come back in restoration. God is still defending His people. Even when the church falters, even when the church is not as faithful as it should be, even when the very church community could be described as the righteous surrounded by the wicked, God is still protecting and preserving and defending his people. Indeed, think about that language of security from the end of chapter 28. And remember the context into which this is spoken. The people are thinking Jerusalem is destroyed. There's all these peoples that have wanted our land for so long. Are the Ammonites and the Moabites and the Edomites and the Philistines, they're just going to march in now and take it? And God's saying, no. They're going to be wiped out. They're not going to march in and take over Jerusalem. They're going to be judged in a short amount of time. There will no longer be a briar or a thorn among all your neighbors who have treated you with contempt." The language of verse 24. I, in verse 25, am going to gather you, and you, verse 26, are going to have a secure dwelling. The plans of God for the security of God's people find their greatest fulfillment at the cross of Jesus Christ. And God's word speaks to us beautifully about how God can take very old nations and for his purposes of preserving his people, a nation that's almost one and a half millennia year old, they're going to stand in the way of God's restoring purposes? No, they will not. Our sins. Is this going to stand in the way of God's working out salvation for his people? No, it will not. God is going to send his very own son to die for our sins. God's plans work, not thwarted by very old nations. God's plan works, sending his eternal son into history at a very specific time when the promises needed to be fulfilled and their security for God's people. Ultimately, brothers and sisters, there is security for everyone who repents. Now, remember, Ezekiel, he's focused on what this means for God's people. He can't speak to the Ammonites and the Moabites. They're a six-month journey away. Jeremiah, who's still in Jerusalem, after Jerusalem is destroyed, after all this naysaying and spiteful hatred, after the Treaty was disregarded after they joined with the Babylonians in the first attack 12 years earlier. After all of those things, do you know who preaches to the Ammonites and the Moabites and says, if you repent, God will restore you and you will live? Jeremiah preaches that to the Ammonites and the Moabites and to everyone else. The gospel is for all. Repent and believe. To all who will hear, it comes. There is security for all who repent and trust in Jesus Christ. Now let's come to judgment on the revengeful. And we turn our attention now to the Edomites. And we come to the neighbors who were not just thinking thoughts of malice in their heart who were not just speaking, nay-saying words, but they joined in. They acted with revenge. That's how Ezekiel summarizes it in verse 12. Just to take a couple of details recorded for us by the prophet Obadiah, the Edomites guarded the crossroads to catch the people of Jerusalem who tried to flee. And then they brought those fugitives, the Babylonians, and said, here, here's some people of Judah who tried to get away. And then after the dust settled, the Edomites boasted about how they finally had their opportunity to loot the promised land and to take possessions for their own. And so remember the Boli illustration, which, again, it's just something to try to help us grab hold of all of these historical details. If the Ammonites were the boy who laughed and said, aha, while you were being beat up again. And if the Moabites were the ones who taunted you saying, look how weak you are, you must deserve this. The Edomites are the boy who told the bully where you were when you tried to run away. And then after you were beat up, the Edomites are the ones who went to go steal your lunch. And who are the Edomites? Well, they're not just cousins through Lot, they're closer cousins. They're descendants of Abraham and Isaac through Esau. And so we don't have this detail given to us exactly, but is their mind something like this? We're descendants of Abraham. Shouldn't the promised land be ours? Shouldn't that better land further away from the desert, better, closer to the ports and the rich land, shouldn't that be ours? And now after centuries of waiting, the Babylonians have come in and finally done our dirty work for us. Here, Babylonians, here's some of the Israelites trying to escape. And here's our chance to finally walk in and loot Jerusalem. They were descendants of Abraham and of Isaac, but through their idolatry, the Edomites had forfeited any immediate right to the temple and to the blessings of Abraham's promises long ago. Deuteronomy chapter 23, Moses said that the Edomites were to be treated just like the Egyptians, They could come into full participation with God's people, but just like the Egyptians, they had to wait until the third generation. No, through their idolatry and their failure to worship the one true God, though they knew some of the truths of who Yahweh was, by rejecting the promise, they have forfeited any right They will not be allowed to walk in and to loot the promised land as they think they will be able to. They will also be defeated. They will not stand. Their revengeful acts will go nowhere because finally vengeance belongs to the Lord. God's ways are not our ways. But know that God still protects and defends. And that God protects and defends in the way that He chooses. Now let's come to our fourth point. We're not going to go into as much detail on this point. Just note that the Philistines are another neighboring enemy. They've actually not been able to be as much of a thorn in the side because ever since the time of David, they've suffered a great defeat and they've not been the enemy that they were in the days of Saul. But they still have an ancient malice, a never-ending enmity, it says at the end of verse 15. they will not act it out in the same way as the Edomites. We have a description of the malice of their soul, which brings us back to the language that described the Ammonites earlier at the end of verse 6. It doesn't matter whether you're physically acting with, you know, catching people at the crossroads like the Edomites or whether The malice is just in the heart and the soul. God sees all, God knows all, and God will not stand for any form of rebellion against His holy name and His holy people. Well, at this point, brothers and sisters, let's bring some of these things together by considering three of the things which this text teaches us about the judgments of God. First, judgments of God are purposeful. God acts intentionally. God acts at a specific time when Jerusalem was literally there for the taking. To judge Israel's near neighbors and to leave Jerusalem there for when God would bring back the people for restoration. God acts with a purpose. And we're told at the end of chapter 28 that the purpose was for the security of God's people, the restoration of God's people in the near future. Second, the judgments of God are patient. Remember, and this is chapter 25 is one of the chapters that doesn't have a time stamp, It's very likely that it was given shortly after the destruction of Jerusalem. And so we, again, remember it's in a very short time, Ammonites and Moabites, they're going to be wiped off the pages of history. But God is patient. They have been a rebellious, idolatrous nation and people group from Lot, forgetting Yahweh, for nearly one and a half millennia. God is patient. God is not quick to bring the sword of judgment. Third, and this is something we said just a minute ago, the judgments of God are all-knowing. It doesn't matter if it's the overt actions of the Edomites or the heart attitudes where there's malice in the soul, verse 6 and verse 15. Whatever the form of rebellion against God, God will know it. And God will bring just judgment. And so these truths come out on these pages. There is a warning against any form of rebellion against God. But finally, the purpose is that purpose of securing. God gathers, protects, and preserves a people for Himself. That's the language of the catechism as it summarizes God's care for His church full of imperfect sinners not always being the way it should be. God gathers, protects, and preserves for Himself. Brothers and sisters, that is a truth seen in the record of God's dealing with His people before the time of Jesus Christ, even as it's something that we've seen borne out in the record of history since the time of Jesus Christ. God's salvation is secure, and God will preserve his people securely. Not always in the ways that we think it will happen. Not always with the timing that we think. Why was it five years after this, after waiting for nearly 1,500 years? It's not going to be in a way or at a time that we will always expect or understand. But God will act. And God does hold His people secure. Amen. Let us pray. Lord, our Lord, in all the earth, your name will be glorified. May there indeed be repentance, hearing the good news which goes to all. For wherever there is rebellion, there will be your