Ezekiel 28-30

[wolfpurplemoon]

More prophecies against various neighbouring countries. God continues to think that the best way to make people know him is to destroy everything they have and evict them from their homelands.

Comments

Prejudging...

[shelka73.livejournal.com]

I do appreciate your sharing. I did a little research on the Skeptic's Annotated Bible. I read the preface, and now I understand a little better where you are coming from with your opinions. It seems as if you have found a guide that will take you through the Bible and still keep you on track with your current beliefs. (I admit that I do that, too.) You are on an ambitious journey. You have a road map that will take you from beginning to end. Who and what you take on that journey can also effect the experience of the trip.

For a long time, the God that I knew and loved didn't seem to match the God of the Old Testament. If I had decided to do this before I invited Christ into my life, I think that my journey would have been similar to yours. (God knows that I had a few excursions into the Bible where I felt the same way that you did.) At this time, my prejudices are not getting in the way of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I know them and love them, and I am happy to have them with me. I'm not saying that you HAVE to take Them with you on your journey in order to read the Bible; however, what I am suggesting is that, along your journey, you take sometime to meet and be open to some people who do know this Holy Trinity. Then maybe, you will begin to understand the Bible is all about God’s Love for us. I know that it is hard to see now, but I am excited about all that you can gain from the experience if you are willing to look for the signs.

I hope that you enjoy your journey.

As always, thank you for sharing your perspective.

Re: Prejudging...

[wolfpurplemoon]

I can assure you that my current beliefs are plenty secure enough to not need a guide that matches them while I read the bible and at this point I'm really just skimming the annotations from the SAB and not paying them much mind as they mostly ridicule the KJV way of phrasing things which is unnecessary as I've given up reading the KJV.

I think that letting you and other believers comment and debate with me in this blog gives me a ton of alternative perspective to be getting on with.

Re: Prejudging...

[shelka73.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the clarification. Although I feel secure in my faith, I do not claim to understand everything about the Bible or Christ. I have a lot to learn and rely on others and their experiences to help point me in a good direction. Their experiences help me to understand things better. I am always learning something new and continuing to come up with new questions.

I probably shouldn't have made such a rash judgement about you. I should have asked why you chose the Skeptic's Annotated Bible as a Resource rather than draw my own conclusions. I am sorry. I can see that you are very secure in your beliefs, and I am very glad that you are open to questions and debate. I didn't mean to be insulting.

[zteccc.livejournal.com]

Apparently, the prince of Tyre declared himself a god, or equal to God. Pride of that sort had better be backed by something real or God will let the prideful learn that they are not gods.
Prophecies against Israel's neighbors continue:
Sidon was near Tyre and had a similar history of antagonism to the Israelites. It was conquered and occupied repeatedly from the Persians, through the Romans and was destroyed completely several times during the Crusades fulfilling the prophecy.

Prophecies against Egypt dominate this section of Ezekiel. Egypt was a long opponent of Israel, going back to the Exodus. Egypt's people had brought their idol worship to Israel to tempt the Israelites. God is declaring an end to Egypt's dominance in their area and it is true that Egypt has never since been the powerful and dominant nation that it was.

Sometimes, one must fight one's enemies. That is all that is going on here. God gives the prophecies to Ezekiel so that it will be known that God has predicted what is going to happen and that God's purposes would be served in this fashion. People were going to fight against other people, and God's purposes of removing certain religions and certain enemies were parallel causes, but as with other prophecies that we've discussed regarding Jerusalem, it isn't as if these people were living as good neighbors. They all engaged in wars with each other. They worshiped idols and performed many rites in association with this worship that were horrendous (mutilation, human sacrifice, prostitution, etc.).