MONSTER: Reading "tannin" (or "dragon") for MsTx
"tannim" (or "jackals") (see Lesson, Leviathan -- "OT History").
Eze 32:15
THEN THEY WILL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD: "The oracles
against the nations in Eze 25 -- 32 were originally delivered to the people of
Judah. Although the words written seem to be solely for those particular
nations, they are foremost for the people of Judah in Jerusalem and Babylon and
serve at least three purposes. First, these oracles reveal God's judgment
against the nations that either mocked or aided in Jerusalem's fall [cf Gen
12:3: "whoever curses you I will curse"]. Second, as with both the king of Tyre
and the Pharaoh of Egypt, God would throw them down from their self-elevated
positions of power -- there is no room for such arrogance and pride in God's
creation. Third, the oracles are essentially a dismantling of the gods of the
nations, which is in turn a dismantling of the gods Judah had begun to rely
wrongly upon, and the proclamation that Yahweh is the one and only true God for
all nations... the phrase 'know I am the LORD' occurs nineteen times. The
primary purpose of these oracles is that everyone should come to 'know the LORD'
" (David Cooper, cited in Const).
Eze 32:19
ARE YOU MORE FAVORED THAN OTHERS?: Yet again pride is
the great stumblingblock. They felt they were of great "beauty", but now they
are to be treated the same way as the rest by God. Abasing the proud is a
regular feature of God's dealings with men. How often this particular side of
human nature works against God; man must order his life not in pride, but in
humility -- confessing always his unworthiness and leaning on God's mercy:
"Better to be lowly in spirit and among the oppressed than to share plunder with
the proud" (Pro 16:19).
"Let us remember, as we read of God's judgements on these
nations, that pride is not just the puffing up of self, but also the despising
of others. Whilst we may be happy that we do not do the former, I wonder how
sure we could be of the latter. The very idea of being called of God gives us
the very greatest potential to consider ourselves to be above others. Let us not
fall into this trap. Judgement is God's, not ours" (PC).