Haftarah V’eira
“God’s Discipline”
Ezekiel 28:25-29:21
excerpted from TorahScope Haftarah Exhortations
The common themes which rise up in this week’s Torah reading, V’eira (Exodus 6:2-9:35), and its connected Haftarah selection, accentuate the first return and the future eschatological return of Israel to the Promise Land—contrasted with the ancient judgments on Pharaoh’s Egypt. The opening verses address what is commonly understood to be, from Ezekiel’s perspective, a distant return of Israel to the Promised Land, after he looked back from what had taken place via the Babylonian captivity. Here, we read how God will not only gather Israel from all the nations where the people had been scattered, but He will also execute judgments upon all who scorn them:
“The Lord GOD says: ‘When I have gathered the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and am shown as holy among them in the sight of the nations, then they will dwell in their own land which I gave to my servant Jacob. They will dwell in it securely. Yes, they will build houses, plant vineyards, and will dwell securely when I have executed judgments on all those around them who have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the LORD their God’” (Ezekiel 28:25-26, WMB).
It is critical to recall that during Ezekiel’s time, when the geopolitical climate had come against Ancient Judah, that God raised up the idolatrous Babylonians as His instrument to judge the idolatrous Judahites. Judah’s king decided to desperately call upon a military alliance with Egypt, in order to avoid what was ultimately God’s punishment. This action neither prevented nor deterred God’s judgment. While much of Ezekiel leads one to consider the judgment upon Israel, Ezekiel’s oracles actually include a series of judgments which God will enact upon those whom He had used to judge His people, or those who may have thought they would benefit from their downfall. Ezekiel chs. 29-30 detail how God will punish Egypt. Ezekiel’s warning—both for then in ancient times, and now as we consider things happening in the Middle East today—is something Believers should contemplate as we look to the Holy One, the only Source for our deliverance and salvation.
This week, as we contemplate the first seven judgments upon the stiffening neck of Pharaoh, which were transferred to Egypt and its people—we are reminded how the consequences of opposing the Creator can be devastating. Pharaoh not only suffered, but the entire country he led also suffered. Can you imagine all of the individuals and families of Egypt, which were affected by Pharaoh’s decisions to prevent the Ancient Israelites from leaving Egypt, for a time of worship outside the confines of Goshen? While the narrative of Exodus focuses on broad subjects in describing the various judgments, if you consider yourself as possibly having been a subject or family ruled by the Pharaoh, think about how you would be personally judged for the actions of your leader. In a similar vein, as you review the history of the Southern Kingdom and its subsequent exile in the timeframe of Ezekiel’s prophecies, we find leaders who depended on outside nations for their protection and survival, rather than the Almighty. Consequently, the chastisement of the Southern Kingdom occurred, as Babylonian hordes sieged Jerusalem and took a substantial number of the people into captivity.
Reading the statements of Ezekiel in the preceding and following verses regarding God’s judgment on the nations, the implication is seen that Israel was not immune from the discipline of God. In fact, as Biblical history and Scripture reflect, God’s people were purposely disciplined as a matter of His love. The principle of lovingly chastising a person, or even a nation for its errant ways, was known by the ancients who believed in the Lord. Consider the thoughts of Job, who certainly understood the concept of being disciplined by the Almighty:
“Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects. Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty” (Job 5:17, WMB).
Job understood God’s perfect plans for His creatures, declaring to his companions this ultimate vow during his many personal trials:
“Though He slay me, I will hope in Him” (Job 13:15a, NASU).
In a like manner, Proverbs echoes this same understanding, about a connection between a loving God and the object of His affection:
“My son, don’t despise the LORD’s discipline, neither be weary of his correction; for whom the LORD loves, he corrects, even as a father reproves the son in whom he delights” (Proverbs 3:11-12, WMB).
The author of Hebrews cited these two verses, as he exhorted his fellow Believers during a time of great trial and tribulation in the mid-to-late First Century. Note in this passage what the end result of this discipline is to be:
“You have forgotten the exhortation which reasons with you as with children, ‘My son, don’t take lightly the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines, and chastises every son whom he receives.’ It is for discipline that you endure. God deals with you as with children, for what son is there whom his father doesn’t discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have been made partakers, then you are illegitimate, and not children. Furthermore, we had the fathers of our flesh to chasten us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days disciplined us as seemed good to them, but he for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness. All chastening seems for the present to be not joyous but grievous; yet afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:5-11, WMB).
Here, readers are told how the profitable yield of discipline is the peaceful fruit of righteousness. While the chastisement might not be seen as joyful, but rather as sorrow and remorse, the ultimate purpose is to draw people into a place of walking right with the Almighty.
In this week’s reading, we see how God uses nations to reprove and admonish His people. As our Haftarah selection winds down, we see that both Egypt and Babylon were pawns in the hands of the Eternal One as He chastised His people, and to a certain extent, gave these pagan nations some temporal rewards. However in the end, after the judgment was concluded, Israel was given hope. The House of Israel will be drawn into a fuller understanding of the Almighty is the Lord of all, despite some temporary “spankings”:
“Therefore the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He will carry off her multitude, take her plunder, and take her prey. That will be the wages for his army. I have given him the land of Egypt as his payment for which he served, because they worked for me,’ says the Lord GOD. In that day I will cause a horn to sprout for the house of Israel, and I will open your mouth among them. Then they will know that I am the LORD’” (Ezekiel 29:19-21, WMB).
In the opening verses of this Haftarah reading, readers are given hope that God will eventually return a scattered people of Israel to their homeland. The concluding verse is that they will ultimately know that He is the Lord. Lamentably in the interim, it appears that the pattern will continually evidence how various nations and the decisions of leaders, bring about the chastisement necessary to draw people to Him. This is a pattern God has faithfully used down through the centuries. As we look at the current landscape of world affairs in our era, it appears He will use it again.
The good news is that if we understand that as a loving Father, His discipline is for our good, we will be changed into sons and daughters who walk in righteousness before Him. In so doing, we will be a light to others (Isaiah 42:6), and people who come into our presence will know we are different. No matter how difficult the judgments become, God will always preserve a righteous remnant who will shine forth His truths—until the Messiah returns to rule and reign from Jerusalem:
“Those who are wise will shine as the brightness of the expanse. Those who turn many to righteousness will shine as the stars forever and ever” (Daniel 12:3, WMB).
May we be so privileged to shine, as we, by example, lead many to righteousness!
