Ezekiel 28:20-26: a reflection

20The LORD’s word came to me, saying, 21“Son of man, set your face toward Sidon, and prophesy against it, 22and say, ‘The Lord GOD says: “Behold, I am against you, Sidon. I will be glorified among you. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have executed judgments in her, and am sanctified in her. 23For I will send pestilence into her, and blood into her streets. The wounded will fall within her, with the sword on her on every side. Then they will know that I am the LORD. 24“‘“There will no longer be a pricking brier to the house of Israel, nor a hurting thorn of any that are around them that scorned them. Then they will know that I am the Lord GOD.” 25“‘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. 26They 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.”’”

After pronouncing judgment on the nations that had scorned his people, God gives Israel a tender promise. There shall be no more, he says, a pricking brier or a painful thorn for the house of Israel among all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. And he goes on: when God has gathered his scattered people, they will dwell securely in their own land, building houses and planting vineyards, living in safety, once he has executed judgment on those who scorned them. The thorns that had pricked and pained his people will be gone, and they will dwell in security.

Notice the two-sided promise. On one side, God will deal with the thorns, the neighbors who had treated his people with contempt, the persistent sources of pain and scorn. And on the other, he will settle his people in security, in a peace where they can build and plant and dwell safely, no longer harassed. The God who had allowed his people to be pained by thorns promises a day when the thorns are removed and his people dwell secure.

That promise reaches toward the final hope of God's people. In this life, there are often thorns, sources of persistent pain and scorn, that we cannot remove ourselves. But God promises a day when the thorns will be gone and his people will dwell securely, when what has afflicted and scorned them is dealt with, and they live in lasting peace. If you are pained by thorns you cannot remove, take heart in this promise: God will one day deal with what afflicts his people and settle them in security. The thorns will not prick forever. Long for the day when God removes them and gives his people a secure dwelling at last.

Lord, you promised your people a day when the thorns that pricked and pained them would be gone, and they would dwell securely, building and planting in peace, once you had dealt with those who scorned them. When I am pained by thorns I cannot remove, sources of persistent hurt and scorn, take heart in me with this promise. You will one day deal with what afflicts your people and settle us in lasting security. Help me long for that day, when the thorns are gone and your people dwell secure at last. Hold me until then.