The Nations

[OneAccord]

I have spent much time in the books of the prophets this summer and have been intrigued by certain passages in Ezekiel and elsewhere about God's dealings with the nations.

Not only does He speak to Israel/Judah/Jerusalem but He speaks to the nations over and over again. Notice He is speaking TO them, not merely ABOUT them.

His messages of warning of His wrath to come are often similar to those He gives to Israel. He uses the sword, the pestilence, etc to judge. He speaks of making their lands a desolation. He is showing no partiality either to Israel or the nations in these warnings.

So a lot of questions arise for me when I read these prophecies about the nations. I just throw some of then out and see where the discussion goes with it:

#1 Did God communicate with the nations besides through Israel's prophets?

Example: In Dueteronomy 2 we see the children of Israel getting ready to cross through the lands of the Edomites, Moabites, and Ammonites. God tells them:

2:5 Meddle not with them; for I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as a foot breadth; because I have given mount Seir unto Esau [for] a possession.

2:9 And the LORD said unto me, Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle: for I will not give thee of their land [for] a possession; because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot [for] a possession.

2:19 And [when] thou comest nigh over against the children of Ammon, distress them not, nor meddle with them: for I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon [any] possession; because I have given it unto the children of Lot [for] a possession.

It would seem here that not only did God give land to Israel for a possession, He also gave land to these other nations.

Dueteronomy 32:8,9 When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.

Through whom did God speak to give these nations their boundaries? This supposes that God was dealing directly with these nations.

Can we suppose that God covenanted with these nations as well?

#2 In Ezekiel 16, the Lord compares the iniquity of Jerusalem with that of Samaria and Sodom. He even calls them her sisters:

Ez 16:46 "Your elder sister is Samariawho dwells to the north of you with her daughters, and your younger sisterwho dwells to the south of you, is Sodom and her daughters

then in verse 53:

When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then [will I bring again] the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them:

Vs 55: When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate.

Vs 61: Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger: and I will give them unto thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant.

Wow. This implies that there are captives from the nation of Sodom and Samaria. Who are these captives and are they with us today?

This tells us these alien captives will also be brought back to their former estate at the same time that Jerusalem is brought back to her estate.

Here again God has apparently been dealing with the nations, and a remnant has survived that will claim an inheritance.

Jeremiah 48:46, 47 Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh perish; for your sons and daughters have been taken captive.

Yet I will bring back the captives of Moab in the latter days, says the Lord.

Jeremiah 49:6 But afterwards I will bring back the captives of the people of Ammon, says the Lord.

Jeremiah 49:39 But it shall come to pass in the latter days: I will bring back the captives of Elam, says the Lord.

Here we see God's plan to restore a remnant of the nations, captives. Who are these captives? If you notice, Moab, Ammon, and Elam are the same nations that He had given land to in Dueteronomy.

So again I would ask, what is the extent of God's dealings with the nations?

#3 Who are these nations today? Is Egypt, Moab, Ammon, Elam in existence today? Literal interpretations say these nations were wiped out of existence, but these verses in Jeremiah imply that there are captives from these nations who will come back in the latter days.

Do the prophecies for the nations have a signifiance for us today, are they yet to be fulfilled in the endtimes or are we to look at them in just the historical sense?

Looking forward to some feedback and insights......

[Dad Ernie]

Greetings OneAccord,

It sure gives new meaning to the verses:

Acts 10:34-35 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: 35 But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.

Before Jacob came along, the Hebrews were considered "of the nations". So it might be a worthwhile study to look "back" in history from Jacob. The "nations" were built from the various tribes and perhaps the first start of the nations as we know them today began with Noah and his sons.

There are many promises God made to others that were not of Israel. Adam, Cain, Joseph, Ishmael, Esau, even Abraham were all "of the nations", as God had not yet focused His attention upon Jacob, the final example for all the nations. And of course Methuzelah was "of the nations", and it appears God had very special dealings with him.

The scope of your study is pretty awesome, when you think about it. It offers clues into understanding the NT as well as helping glean more out of prophecy.

Blessings,

Dad Ernie

[ted]

Good stuff, OA.

I wonder about the same stuff, at times.

The Bible gives us all we need for Salvation and I believe all scripture was for that reason, but it is not a history book in the sense that it records all of history. Many things are not there, concerning other nations that didn't have a direct bearing on God's plan for us.

I think that God used men to write the Bible (KJV, of course) in such a way that it would provide the instruction in all aspects of our lives needed to serve him. Mostly, I think, God doesn't really want us to be too concerned with history that wasn't preserved in the scriptures, but it still interests me.

I'll have to throw my vote on the "yes" side. Since all of everything was created by Him, it seems to me that God would speak to other "nations" as well. We are all created by Him for His purposes, but not all will answer His call.

In Love,

t.