Bow Now or Later—June 26 Bible Reading Plan

Bow Now or Later

We will all bow before God. He is LORD over all and the One perfect Judge we will be accountable to. Bow now or later.

Judgment is coming . . . ready or not. Will you be ready? Will you help others be ready? No one likes the judgment word, right? But judgment is on our heads if we don’t warn people. May God give us wisdom to reach this generation so they can hear. Friends, let’s live what we say we believe and bring many with us! We will all know Jesus is LORD in the end. Bow now or later.

Ezekiel wrote of the judgments of God coming. So we need to warn people, as well. For everyone will know God is the LORD . . . better to know now rather than later. for every knee will bow now or later.

Ezekiel shared laments, prophesies and judgments against nations.

This is from the Easy English Bible commentary:

“In the ancient world, all the nations had different gods. People often thought that their gods were only powerful in their own nations. Really, their gods had no power. The LORD is the only real God. He created heaven and earth. So, he is the judge of every nation. And he told Ezekiel to declare his judgement against the nations that were near Judah.”

The Judgment of Ammon – Ezekiel 25:1-7

Sin: God punished Ammon because in about 600 *BC, Ammon joined Babylon to fight against Judah (2 Kings 24:2) and the Ammonites rejoiced in Judah’s defeat.

Judgment: The *Lord would send the *Babylonians to destroy Ammon. It would not exist as a country again. This happened in the year 582 *BC. This was about 5 years after the *Babylonians had destroyed Jerusalem. The *Babylonians would either kill the *Ammonites or they would take them away as *exiles. People from the east would come and they would live in the country. What the *Lord says will happen. This shows that *Israel’s God is the only real God.

The Judgment of Moab – Ezekiel 25:8-11

Sin: This was the sin of Moab. They said that Israel was like all the other nations. In effect, they said that Israel’s God was like any other god. And the Moabites laughed when the Babylonians defeated Judah (Jeremiah 48:27). Because of these insults, the Lord would allow Moab’s enemies to destroy it.

Judgment: The *Babylonians attacked Moab in the year 583 *BC. They killed the *Moabites or they took them away into *exile. People came from the east and they lived in the country. From that time, the nation called Moab did not exist. By this punishment, people will know that the *Lord is the only real God.

The Judgment of Edom – Ezekiel 25:12-14

Sin: The roots of Edom’s sin emanate from the strife between Jacob and Esau. Isaac had two sons, Esau and Jacob. Esau was the ancestor of Edom. Jacob was the ancestor of Israel. There had always been trouble between Edom and Israel. Edom (also called Seir) wanted to possess Israel and Judah (Ezekiel 35:10). Edom had attacked Israel often.

Judgment: The Babylonians attacked Edom and they destroyed much of Edom. But it remained as a nation. Then in the year 126 *BC, John Hyrcanus led *Israel in the defeat of Edom. Since that attack, Edom has not existed.

The Judgement of Philistia – Ezekiel 25:15-17

Sin: Philistines were constant enemies of God’s people.

Judgment: The *Babylonians may have destroyed Philistia. Philistia has not existed as a nation since that time.

The Judgement of Tyre and Sidon – Ezekiel 26:1-28:24

Sin: Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem in the 11th year of the exile – April 587 to March 586 BC. Tyre celebrated the destruction of Jerusalem.

Judgment: Nebuchadnezzar decimated Tyre.

Nebuchadnezzar besieged Tyre from 585–572 BC. Alexander the Great conquered Tyre in 322 BC, completely destroying the city. The Persian king Artaxerxes conquered Sidon. In short, God’s prophesied judgment came to pass. Later, both cities became prosperous provinces of Rome.

From GotQuestions.org:

“Jesus mentions Tyre and Sidon in Luke 10:13–14 (see also Matthew 11:20–24), comparing them to several cities in which He had performed miracles. These cities of Israel had been blessed with Jesus’ presence, preaching, and power, yet they had not repented. Jesus pronounces woes on them, stating that Tyre and Sidon, given the same opportunity, would have turned from their wickedness and been saved: “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. Jesus used the pagan cities of Tyre and Sidon to highlight the way God’s chosen people refused Him.”

Evil Will Be Judged

In Ezekiel 28, 11-4, there is a comparison between Satan and the King of Tyre.

“Satan (the devil) had been in Eden, the Garden of God. The first chapters of Genesis describe the Garden called Eden. It was not possible that a king of Tyre could have been there. In the garden, there were Adam, Eve, and the snake, which was Satan.

Ezekiel thought about the king of Tyre. In that man, there was an evil power. That power caused the king to be an enemy of God. Ezekiel saw the work of Satan (the devil) in the king. Because Satan was proud, God punished him. And God would punish the king of Tyre because he was proud, too.

The king of Tyre also did evil things. So, God would punish him and his people. The city called Tyre would burn with fire. And, after its final punishment, nobody would ever rebuild it.”

Scripture of the Day: Ezekiel 28:25-26

25 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: The people of Israel will again live in their own land, the land I gave my servant Jacob. For I will gather them from the distant lands where I have scattered them. I will reveal to the nations of the world my holiness among my people. 26 They will live safely in Israel and build homes and plant vineyards. And when I punish the neighboring nations that treated them with contempt, they will know that I am the Lord their God.”

There’s that phrase again. “they will know that I am the Lord their God.” Right now we need to be sharing God’s word with people so they can know, but many will not believe. Better to know Him now than later.

The phrase, “they will know that I am the LORD” appears 32 times in 4 different translations of the Bible. And the phrase, “you will know that I am the LORD” appears 38 times. Then I did a search on the phrase, “know that I am the LORD” because there were different nations God spoke this phrase to, and that was 86 times.

Most of these were in the book of Ezekiel.

10 – Exodus

1 – Deuteronomy

1 – 1 Kings

2 – Isaiah

1 – Joel

71 – Ezekiel

Punishment of Egypt – Ezekiel 29:1-32:32

“Ezekiel’s next prophecy was against Egypt. Judah trusted Egypt to provide protection against the Babylonian army. But Egypt had disappointed Judah. God would punish Egypt. But the punishment would not be permanent. However, it would last for 40 years. Never again would Egypt be a great nation. Egypt would become a weak kingdom. It would not rule other nations. Israel would learn that it must never depend on Egypt again for help. They would remember their *sin. They had trusted Egypt instead of the Lord. But Israel will know that the Lord is God.” (Easy English Bible Commentary).

Application

• We will all know that God is LORD. Better to know now than later.
• Every knee will bow. Better to bow now.
• God is the perfect Judge full of grace. His judgment is sure. May we live in such a way that people around us can come to know God now.

7-Fold One-Year Bible Reading Plan

Day #178: Ezekiel 25-30

Scripture of the Day: Ezekiel 28:25-26

Listen: https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/niv/Ezek.25

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