086. III. The Stand-Point Of Ezekiel’s Foreign Prophecies
III THE STAND-POINT OF EZEKIEL’S FOREIGN PROPHECIES The predictions of judgments against foreign nations constitute a puzzling feature of Hebrew prophecy until the reader understands the motives which prompted them. If interpreted as expressions of national vanity or jealousy, or as outbursts of vindictiveness, they are grossly misunderstood. Nor are they mere assertions of a just retribution for injuries inflicted upon the Israelitish nation. As in the hot-blooded message of Obadiah, there is always a broader theme than that of mere revenge; it is the certain movement of events in the future under the guidance of Jehovah’s sovereign will that the prophets are forthtelling.
Such prophecies as these are found among the messages of Amos, Isaiah, Nahum, and Jeremiah. They merely voice a standing theme of every prophet, the authority of Jehovah of Israel over all the nations of the world, and the uniformity of his principles of judgment. It is interesting to note that these oracles, although addressed directly to the outside world, are, for the most part, intended for the prophet’s own countrymen. They are often to be described as words of consolation rather than of denunciation. They declare that the evils which Jehovah has condemned in his own people, he cannot fail to punish wherever manifested. As an assertion of the supreme sovereignty of Jehovah, Israel’s God, over the universe, of his attitude to other nations than Israel, and of his one great purpose to redeem the world, they are highly significant. As affording suggestions respecting the geographical knowledge of a student of affairs in Babylonia in the sixth century B. C., these prophecies of Ezekiel are of unusual value. In characterizing the traits of contemporary peoples, they are often apt and witty.
These particular utterances assume that the fall of Jerusalem is known to the nations addressed, which are situated near the land of Judah. They are grouped in a natural arrangement and have evidently been placed, with literary propriety, between the prophecies relating to the downfall of the city and those which have to do with the upbuilding of the exiled nation.