A Different Response to Ignorance

Scripture: Therefore thus says the Lord God:

Because you have set your heart
    as the heart of God,

therefore, I will bring strangers upon you,
    the most cruel of the nations;
and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom,
    and defile your brightness

Ezekiel 28:6-7

Observation: With Jerusalem now fallen, Ezekiel begins to prophesy against the neighboring nations who celebrated the fall of Israel, Judah, and Jerusalem. He spends limited time describing how Ammon, Edom, Moab, Philistia, and Sidon will be variously cursed and destroyed. However, in the midst of this, he spends almost three full chapters talking about the one city of Tyre. Tyre is different. It did not celebrate against Israel. Instead, it simply has a king who has exalted himself as his own god. As a result, their curse is not the same. They will be brought low and the king killed, but only as a means for properly defining the humanity of the king of Tyre. In addition, in the midst of this judgment against Tyre, Ezekiel has two passages lamenting both the city and the king.

Ezekiel demonstrates that there is a significant difference between promoting one's self, and opposing God. When one opposes God, they will be destroyed. However, when one is ignorant of God and thus promotes one's own abilities and knowledge, that person will be corrected. Correction may be harsh (the king was to die, though the city was to survive). However, that is different than the nations that were to be completely removed from the earth.

Application: There remains the concept that those ignorant of God, while they face hardships, can be corrected and recover. It is also interesting to see that God spends SO much energy on that! In this section, approximately 3/4ths of the time is spent on a single city, and 1/4th is spent on five nations combined.

The Lord is a God of mercy. He judges with might those who oppose him. However, he seeks out and loves those who do not yet know him, who act out of ignorance no matter how arrogantly. As I interact with others - those who appear to be openly opposed to God - I should consider if they are instead acting out of ignorance. There is a different concern for those.

Prayer: Lord, please prepare my heart to serve you at Alpha this season. I wish to see the ignorant, those who do not know or understand your ways and your heart, to discover your love and truth. Keep my heart soft and open to those who do not know. Amen.