Did you hear the refrain in these chapters? “they (or you) will know that I am the LORD.”
The knowledge of God does not come through academic study. The knowledge of God does not come through contemplation.
The knowledge of God comes from his mighty deeds in history.
If all you do is think about what God “should” be like, he will remain a construct of your own brain! The God you wish existed would be at your beck and call. You would ask for him to prove that he existed, and he would show up at your command.
But the sort of God that would do whatever you wanted, would not be worth knowing!
The true knowledge of God comes through seeing his mighty deeds in history.
That phrase “then you shall know that I am the LORD” is used 9 times in Exodus, especially in the context of bringing judgment upon Pharaoh and delivering Israel from slavery in Egypt. It is used twice in Kings – in the context of God coming as the Divine Warrior to deliver his people. Isaiah uses the phrase the same way.
So the idea “then they will know that I am the LORD” is all bound up with the idea of the LORD coming in judgment against his enemies.
That's what makes its use here in Ezekiel so frightening. Because Ezekiel is talking about how God is coming in judgment upon his own people!
We encountered it first at the end of last week: when God vents his anger against Israel – then (Ezekiel 5:13) “they shall know that I am the LORD.”
Of the 88 times the phrase is used in the Bible, 72 are in Ezekiel. Then they will know. Then you will know that I am the LORD, when I come in judgment and fury against my own people.
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