Ezekiel - Lesson 42

Lesson 42, Yahweh's Guarantee of Israel's Future, a Satire on Gog and Magog and His Allies, Part 2 of Ezekiel 38-39. We may review what we have learned and heard in the last session by reminding ourselves of the structure and flow of Ezekiel 38-39 as represented by our outline. I've outlined the sequence of events like this. You have panel A, chapter 38, the defeat of Gog, four frames, the conscription of Gog, the motives of Gog, the advance of Gog, the judgment of Gog, and then an interpretive conclusion, the last verse of chapter 38. Then panel B, the disposal of Gog, frame 5, the slaughter of Gog, 6, the spoiling of Gog, 7, the burial of Gog, and 8, the devouring of Gog, verses 17-20. And then we come to a rather extended interpretive conclusion which provides the keys to interpreting all of this. In the immortal words of the memorable radio commentator Paul Harvey, and now for the rest of the story, as it is represented by Ezekiel in his final paragraph, 39-21-26, and in our attempt to draw out the enduring significance of this satirical cartoon for God's people. The final word, verses 21-29, Thus I will establish my glory among the nations, and all the nations will see my justice that I have executed, and my power that I have imposed upon them. Then the house of Israel will know that I am Yahweh, their God, from that day onwards. And the nations will recognize that the house of Israel went off into exile on account of their own iniquity. Because they had acted faithless against me, I hid my face from them. When I delivered them into the power of their adversaries, they fell to the sword, all of them. I dealt with them according to their defilement and according to their treachery. Therefore I hid my face from them. Assuredly, thus has the Lord Yahweh declared, Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob. I will have compassion on the whole house of Israel and demonstrate passion for my holy name. They will bear their disgrace and all their acts of infidelity that they have perpetrated against me when they dwell securely on their own land, with no one frightening them. When I bring them back from the peoples and regather them from the countries of their enemies, then I will display my holiness among them in the sight of many nations. And they will know that I am Yahweh, their God, in that, having sent them off into exile to the nations, I will gather them to their own land. I will never again leave any of them out there, nor will I ever again hide my face from them, for I will have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel. The declaration of the Yahweh. Verses 21 to 24 and 25 to 29 are cast as two halves of a whole, displaying remarkable structural balance and symmetry as the synopsis indicates. Each of these has, A, the actions of Yahweh, B, the response of the objects of Yahweh's actions, and B prime, the recognition formula tied to the people's exile, and A prime, the hiding of Yahweh's face. So it's an ABBA pattern. A, the A at the beginning and the end, and the B in the two middle segments. It is a remarkable mirror image. In addition to their parallel structures, each segment is organized internally on a chiastic pattern. Both begin and end with descriptions of the divine action, between which Yahweh sandwiched descriptions of human responses like two kinds of cheese in a sandwich. Each ends with a reference to Yahweh hiding his face, a notion that is otherwise foreign to the book. However, in content, the two parts diverge. The first describes Yahweh's past actions of judgment in response to Israel's rebellion. The second, his saving activity on her behalf and the response this evokes in the nation. In the first recognition formula, it is primarily the nations that recognize Yahweh. In the second, it is Israel that does. In effect, even if not in style, verses 20 to 29 perform the same function in relation to chapter 39 as 38, 23 had served in relation to chapter 38. It's much longer, but it's the same function. Each represents a summary statement of Yahweh's designs in handling his people. So, let's look at these two bits. The impact of Yahweh's activity comes first in 21 to 24.In these verses, the prophet described the impact of Yahweh's judgmental activity on the nations. The nations will experience the justice and power of Yahweh. However, recognizing that Ezekiel's primary audience consisted of fellow exiles and it was their transformation that he sought, the prophet interrupted his observation concerning the nations with a modified version of the recognition formula to announce the implications for Israel of the victory over Gog's military hordes. Then the house of Israel will know that I am Yahweh their God from that day onwards. The defeat of Gog would mark a turning point in the nation's history. Although the statement considers the Gog debacle an event in the distant future, compare this with 38, 8 and 16, it apparently does not occur at the end of time. Rather, it signals the beginning of a new era that will be characterized by Israel's recognition of Yahweh and the full realization of covenant relationship. From the perspective of the battle of Gog, the events described in verses 23 to 24 happened in the distant past. The people of Israel had returned to their land and had lived securely in it for many years. Now, after the defeat of Gog, the nations would realize that all the events preceding this restoration had, in fact, fulfilled the laws of divine justice. Because of the nation's perversion, Israel's, covenantal infidelity, defiling sacrilege, and covenant betrayal, the Israelites had been exiled from their land. The problem was not with God, it was with Israel. They’ll finally get that point. Witnessing Yahweh's harsh treatment of his people, the nations had concluded earlier that Yahweh was either incompetent to defend them against Nebuchadnezzar or he had gone back on his own commitment to them. Because neither of these explanations was true, his reputation had been profaned. Now the nations realized that Israel had brought this fate on herself. Their wickedness had provoked him to hide his face and deliver them into the hands of their enemies, Nebuchadnezzar. As it turned out, neither the devastation of Jerusalem nor the exile of Judah's population was evidence of the superior military strength of the Babylonian forces or a reflection of Marduk's superiority over Yahweh. They were the result of Yahweh's own deliberate action against his own people, and they were deserved. Accordingly, the glory of Yahweh would be established when the nations recognize the justice of Yahweh's dealing with his own people in the past and his dealings with them in the present. In verses 25 to 29, we hear of the impact of Yahweh's saving activity. Having highlighted the justice of Yahweh in his judgmental actions, in verses 25 to 29, Ezekiel's focus turned to the impact of his saving actions. Fortunately for Israel, the judgment could not be the last word. The same covenant that had warned the nation of the consequences of persistent apostasy had also declared that Yahweh would not abandon his people forever. He had promised he would not forget the covenant with his people. Leviticus 26, 44 to 6, Deuteronomy 4, 30 to 31. By now, the connection with Gog had completely disappeared. This paragraph involved a message for Israel, the Israel of Ezekiel's own day, the people sitting in front of Ezekiel. The divine speech opens abruptly with now, with and now, with etah, which snatched the hearer's attention away from the distant utopian future and brought them to the very real needs of the present. Now, Ezekiel's interest was no longer the latter years, 38-7, or the latter days, 38-16, but today, not that day, 38-10, 14, 18, 19, 39, 8, and 11, or from that day onward, 39-22.But now, Ezekiel ended this remarkable oracle with a glorious word of grace for a despairing people, wondering how and when all the events described in the previous six chapters, from 34 to 37 particularly, and then through this one, how they would be fulfilled. Verse 25 is thematic, announcing that Yahweh's mercy, the word necham, occurs only here in Ezekiel. Only once do we have the word mercy, which is why some critical scholars propose, argue that Ezekiel has no mercy, and this verse is stuck in here by a later editor.Of course, if you don't like what the text says, always attribute it to somebody else who spoiled the text. Well, the announcing that Yahweh's mercy, necham, occurs only here in Ezekiel, and his passion, kinah, it would win out over his wrath as he restored the fortunes of Jacob. In the past, he had used terms like to have compassion, chamal, and to pity, chus, but except for 36-21, always in a negative sense, Yahweh had stifled his compassion and his pity. We’ve seen lots of these references. My eye will not pity, and I will not spare. The present reference to divine compassion was novel, celebrating the new reality. Finally, Yahweh's fury, provoked by Israel's rebellion and covenant infidelity, would give way to grace. Ezekiel is being pastoral here, talking to the people sitting in front of him. In verses 26-27, Ezekiel expanded on these two ideas. Far from being a source of pride at having been selected as the objects of divine compassion, Israel's experience of restoring grace will cause them to recognize their own unworthiness. We've seen this notion before. They will bear their disgrace and all their acts of infidelity that they have perpetrated against me, which means they will own it. Ezekiel hereby affirmed that the Israelites will accept they are the problem. They will claim responsibility for the disgrace and the covenantal treachery they had perpetrated. They had shamed the name of God. There would be no excusing the rebellion, no passing off responsibility, no charge of injustice against Yahweh, no blaming him for having abandoned them. As predicted earlier in 16, 61-63, and 36-31, far from causing her to forget her history, the experience of divine grace would sensitize the Israelites to their own guilt. Speaking for Yahweh, in verse 27, the prophet elaborated on the notion of publicly vindicating Yahweh's holy reputation. Yahweh's actions toward his people, both punitive and salvific, were played out before the worldwide audience, and now they understood what was happening. Verse 28 describes the effect of this action on the nations in one final recognition formula, greatly elaborated to highlight the covenantal aspects of the new day of grace. At the heart of the international awareness this time would be not only the knowledge of Yahweh, then they will know that I am Yahweh, but also the recognition of Israel as his covenant people. The Israelites will realize that it was their own covenant Lord that had sent them off into exile among the nations, and it would be as their own covenant Lord that Yahweh would bring them back to their own land, every one of them and permanently. The oracle concludes with one more surprising twist. As Ezekiel transformed what had been for him a stereotypical threat of judgment, I will pour out my wrath. He changes that into a glorious gospel message. I will pour out my spirit. While the idiom, I will put my spirit in, in 3627, had associated the divine action with the rebirth, the revitalization of Israel, the divine spirit poured out upon the nation served as a sign and a seal of the covenant, Yahweh's mark of ownership. This accounted for his intervention on behalf of his people against Gog before the latter could do so much as touch them. We should not miss the significance of this last statement within the book and within the entire sweep of biblical revelation. We need to distinguish what's happening here, the only occurrence of the liquid metaphor regarding the spirit. I will pour out the divine spirit as if it's a liquid. We should distinguish this metaphor from putting the divine spirit in a person. While the earlier idiom had associated the divine action with the rebirth of the nation, the reanimation, her revitalization, 37, 1 to 14, in this context, the divine spirit poured out upon the nation signifies Yahweh's mark of ownership, which accounts for his intervention against Gog on behalf of his people before the feared foe could touch them. The notion of pouring the spirit is rooted in the perception of the ruach as a sort of divine fluid that covers the object. This metaphor occurs with this sense three additional times in the first testament, Joel 3, 1, Isaiah 32, 15, with a different verb, arah, Isaiah 44, 1 to 5, and also Zechariah 12, 10, but there it has different circumstances and different significance. These four instances associate the liquid metaphor with Yahweh's confirmation of his covenant relationship with his people after judgment in each case. Indeed, Yahweh's act of pouring out his spirit on all Israel, which is the motive clause, for I will have poured out my spirit on them, that's why there's security for all. Yahweh's act of pouring out his spirit on all Israel signified the final and irrevocable ratification and sealing of that covenant relationship with his people. This act provided Israel with a guarantee of new eternal life, peace, and prosperity. It served as the definitive event by which Yahweh claimed and sealed the newly regathered nation as his own. In the present context, the causal clause, for I will have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, explains why Yahweh had stood up for the people in the face of Gog's threats. The poured out spirit of Yahweh served as the permanent guarantee, the badge, the seal of the covenant of peace and the eternal covenant mentioned in 3726.However, in the present context, the promise of a permanent new relationship between deity and nation remained just that, a promise. That is, in the world of Ezekiel and his audience, it's still all only words. The function of the Gog oracle was to provide specific and concrete proof for the prophet to pass on to his audience, cynical audience, that Yahweh meant exactly what he said. Once Yahweh had restored the nation to himself and returned them to his land, not even the alliance of all the nations of the earth could threaten their status with their divine patron and redeemer, let alone merely Nebuchadnezzar. Though all the nations of the earth would charge against this people, God was their protector irrevocably and eternally. Let's make some concluding interpretive reflections. By way of summary, Ezekiel's aim in proclaiming this remarkable oracle of Gog and his hordes had been to provide his audience with specific and concrete proof that Yahweh would stand by his eternal and irrevocable commitments. The oracle looks forward to the time when the promises of restoration found in chapters 34 to 7 have all, 37, have been realized and Israel is prospering and secure in her land in the latter days, 38, 6, and 16. Inserting this satirical cartoon image into the pacific and tranquil land, Yahweh deliberately brought these hordes from the north who imagined themselves to be operating of their own free will, 38, 10 to 13.However, like Pharaoh of Egypt in Exodus 7 to 14, Gog came in as an agent called to fulfill the revelatory purposes of Yahweh. That purpose had two dimensions, to declare the transcendent greatness, holiness, and glory of Yahweh's person on the one hand, see that in 38, 16, 23, 39, 7, 13, 21, 25, and 27, and the imminent firmness of his commitment to his people, so the transcendent character and the imminent grace and commitment on the other hand, 38, 14 to 16, 39, 7, and 39, 22 to 29. The defense of this people who in this sequence of events never lifted a sword, vindicated his great name while at the same time confirming his word. The presence of the Spirit of Yahweh poured out upon the returned exiles, guaranteed that he would never leave any of the house of Israel at the mercy of her enemies, and that he would never hide his face from them again. This is eternal security, as the contemporaries of Ezekiel had just witnessed him do. He had hidden his face. In short, Gog became the agent through whom Yahweh declared concretely that the tragedy of 586 would never be repeated. Well, what then should we make of Gog today? What's the lesson for us? Well, now that we've worked our way through this entire passage and we understand a little bit, on the one hand, that this is a single oracle that we must interpret as a whole piece, and on the other hand, that we must let it talk to us on its own terms, rather than make it fit into and support our predetermined theology or systems of interpretation. Some of us are old enough to remember when, although no one spent a lot of time in Ezekiel, in the dispensationalist circles in which we grew up, this text was extremely important, especially in the context of prophecy conferences. These perspectives are preserved in published form in books like Hal Lindsay's Late Great Planet Earth, 1970, or the 1980s Countdown to Armageddon, or the Left Behind series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. I can remember my father, a bivocational farmer minister and very effective preacher, traveling to the churches of Saskatchewan doing week-long conferences on end-time prophecies, in which Gog and Magog figured prominently. In fact, my last conversation with my dad before I left him was about Ezekiel, and as I was leaving, I said, Dad, you will know the answers to all our questions long before I do, and the moment I get there where you are, I will come and ask you, what did the Lord tell you was the answer. In 1996, I was invited back to the fledgling Moscow Theological Seminary to teach a course on Ezekiel. Because of the influence of Russian translations of the Schofield reference Bible on Russian Baptists, their minds were made up about this text. Well, here is the note on 38.1 from that Bible, that the primary reference is to the northern European powers headed up by Russia, Hebrew Rosh, all agree. Gog is the prince, Magog is his land. The reference to Meshech and Tubal, Moscow and Tobolsk is a clear mark of identification. Russia and the northern powers have been the latest persecutors of dispersed Israel, and it is congruous, both with the divine justice and with the covenants, that destruction should fall at the climax of the last mad attempt to exterminate the remnant of Israel in Jerusalem. The whole prophecy belongs to the yet future day of Jehovah and to the battle of Armageddon, Revelation 16, 14 and 19, 19, but includes also the final revolt of the nations at the close of the kingdom age. End of quotation. While some preachers today continue to propagate this approach to these chapters, we rarely hear this sort of preaching in our churches anymore. I haven't heard them for a long time, for 50, 60 years. But this raises the question, if we will not do that with these chapters, what can we do with them? In most places, the answer is nothing. Well, as we have worked through the Gog Oracle, you will notice that I take quite a different approach, which leaves no one happy. Dispensationalist scholars do not like what I do with the last 11 chapters of the book, because from here on, my interpretation is more literary and theological and less literal than theirs. And Reformed theologians do not like my work either, because I cannot imagine the eschaton, climax of history, without a recognizable Israel consisting of physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob inhabiting a recognizable place called the land of Israel. I have many questions regarding the context, the nature of these realities, and the context of their fulfillment. Is this millennial? Is it part of the new heavens and the new earth? In my mind, all those boundaries blur, and I don't have time to solve those problems. I've got other, more exciting things to do. But my hermeneutical method involves two fundamental commitments. First, beginning my study of any biblical text by asking what meaning the author intended to the original audience to get. That's number one. Number two, paying close attention to the rhetorical forms and genres in which those messages are cast. The result of these commitments have forced me to abandon the dispensationalist approach to biblical texts like this. I do not interpret the Gog of Magog oracle as history written in advance, that is, predictions of real events involving real characters. Rather, I interpret this as a sort of literary cartoon revealed by God for pastoral purposes in response to the skepticism of Ezekiel's audience. To answer their questions of the prophet, whether they could rely on Yahweh to protect them should circumstances like the Babylonian invasion of 586 B.C. threaten them again after the nation has been restored and Yahweh has reconstructed the covenant triangle. The question for the prophet and for his audience was, how certain can we be that in the distant future after the judgment has passed, how certain can we be that 586 B.C. will never happen again? Yahweh's answer through his prophet was, let me tell you a story. That story is cast as an impressionistic literary picture like Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy. It involved an imaginative and hypothetical scenario set within a very real historical and geographic context. Through this oracle, Yahweh declared in creative but unequivocal terms what he had repeatedly declared verbally, I am Yahweh, I have spoken, I act in accordance with my word, 1714, 36, 36, 37, 14. Pastors and teachers have found the proto-apocalyptic Gog oracle to be a resource for all sorts of fantastic interpretations, many indebted to Jewish interpretation. The apostle John has demonstrated how its message may be legitimately adapted to new and threatening circumstances. Here we have time for only one illustration. In John's portrayal of the eschatological conflicts in Revelation 9-20, the scene of the birds gathered for the great supper of God in 1917-21 is clearly borrowed from Ezekiel's last Gog frame, Ezekiel 39, 17-20.Then I saw an angel standing in the sun shouting to the vultures flying high in the sky, come, gather together for the great banquet God has prepared, come and eat the flesh of kings, generals, strong warriors of horses and their riders, and of all humanity, both free and slaves, small and great. Then I saw the beast and the kings of the world and their armies gathered together to fight against the one sitting on the horse and his army. And the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who did mighty miracles on behalf of the beast, miracles that deceived all who had accepted the mark of the beast and who worshipped his statue. Both the beast and his false prophet were thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. Their entire army was killed by a sharp sword that came from the mouth of the one riding the white horse, and the vultures all gorged themselves on the dead bodies. Although this passage never mentions Gog by name, the beast certainly represents him. In the prophecy, John fills in several details missing in Ezekiel's prophecy. The person through whom the invitation to the birds was extended is explicitly referred to as an authorized messenger. The agent through whom God wins the victory over the beast rides a horse and is accompanied by a great army. The previous paragraph, verses 11 to 16, proves his messianic character and that his armies are heavenly hosts, not earthly. Ezekiel had made no reference to either the Messiah's or auxiliary forces' involvement in the defeat of Gog. Messiah is not in that picture. John also fills in the gap on how the beast, Gog, had achieved hegemony over the worldwide alliance of forces arrayed against God. He had been accompanied by a false prophet who had charmed the other nations with, would it be miraculous signs? Others acknowledge the beast's overlordship by receiving his mark of ownership, Revelation 13, 16 to 17, and prostration before his image. However, the beast and his prophet do not themselves land up on God's table. They are cast directly into the lake of fire. From the beginning of the chapter, it appears that these earthly events are occurring while preparations are being made for the celebrations of the restored marriage covenant with the Lamb. In a style characteristic of Ezekiel, John resumed the Gog-Magog motif in the following chapter, expounding on the defeat of the beast like this, and when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for a battle. Their number is like the sand of the sea. And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints in the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Revelation 20, 7-10. This description opens with a chronological note, fixing the conflict after a protracted period of time, here referred to in idealized terms as a thousand years. The previous verses had characterized this period of time as a time in which the saints who had been slain by the beast previously for refusing to join his alliance had been resurrected and had been enjoying the reign of the Messiah. The description of their state as blessed alludes to the security and well-being mentioned by Ezekiel. This passage also provides further information on the schemes of the enemy. John referred to him specifically as hosatanos, the adversary. He interprets Yahweh's turning Gog around, putting hooks in his jaws and bringing him out from the remotest parts of the north, compare Ezekiel 38, 4-6, as the release of the adversary from prison. And Ezekiel's merismic reference to allies from the distant north and the distant south and traitors from east and west as coming from the four corners of the earth. Whereas Ezekiel had studiously avoided any reference to Jerusalem or Zion, John has the enemy forces surrounding the beloved city where the saints have sought refuge. The reference to the camp of the saints seems to contradict Ezekiel's picture of unwalled and undefended towns, but consistency should not necessarily be imposed on these texts. These are visionary presentations. The agent of the deceit of the nations who is now identified as the devil, Hadiabalos, is captured and thrown into the fiery lake to join the beast and his prophet. John’s use of Ezekiel's oracle against Gog represents a remarkable adaptation of a first testament tradition for a Christian theme. An event whose timing in the original prophecy was only vaguely set in the latter days is now identified as the penultimate event in human history. The picture of national peace and tranquility is transformed into a portrait of universal peace. The foreign foe becomes a satanic and diabolical force. The divine victory is placed in the hands of the Messiah. The message that had originally been presented to the Jewish exiles to bolster their sagging hopes has been transformed into a message of hope for all Christians. That is the good news here. In adapting Ezekiel's oracle of Gog for Christians of his day, John has invited the faithful in any age to hear the theological lessons of the passage, all of which have been presented in previous oracles. In declaring this word concerning Gog, Ezekiel calls upon all who read it to recognize five themes. First, Yahweh is the unrivaled Lord of history. He raises up nations. He puts them down. Their activities are always subservient to his agenda. Second, Yahweh's reputation is linked to the status and welfare of his people. So long as they are mired in sin and rebellion or in bondage and subservience to alien powers, his holiness and glory stand in question. However, the ultimate vindication of his name is assured and his people will be preserved in accordance with his promise. Third, Yahweh keeps his covenant. He does not forget the commitments he has made to his people and will not abandon the faithful in their hour of need. As the seal of his commitment, he pours out his spirit upon them. The implications of this covenantal interpretation of the pouring out of the spirit that it has for the progress of the Holy Spirit's activity in the book of Acts are tantalizing and deserve one more comment. It's remarkable to me that with every stage of the advance of the gospel in the book of Acts and the incorporation of new groups of people into the church, Luke, the author, a Gentile author, describes the extraordinary manifestation of the Spirit's presence. The first involves Jewish believers in Jerusalem, Acts 2, 4 and 2, 33 and 38. In this instance, Pentecost, a covenantal moment, in this instance, Peter cites the Joel text which may, in fact, have inspired Ezekiel. You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of Yahweh your God, who has dealt wondrously with you, and my people shall never again be put to shame. You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am Yahweh your God, and there is none else, and my people shall never again be put to shame. And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions, even on the male and female servants. In those days I will pour out my Spirit, and I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of Yahweh comes. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of Yahweh shall be saved, for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as Yahweh has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom Yahweh calls, Joel 2, 26 to 32, ESV slightly adapted. While this text is not quoted in the other occurrences of the reports of the phenomena in the book of Acts, accompanying phenomena point to repetitions of the covenantal Pentecostal moment three more times, involving respectively Samaritans of ethnically mixed ancestry with northern Israelites as a critical factor, and with a scripture centered in the Torah, as the word was used in New Testament times, that is the Pentateuch. Compare Matthew 4, 17, 7, 12, and elsewhere. Then of Gentile God, this is Acts 8, 14 to 17.Then of Gentile God-fearers in the land of Israel, Cornelius 10, 44 to 48, and Gentiles far away in Asia Minor, Acts 19, 1 to 6. Each event signaled a new phase and scope in the expansion of the boundaries of the old covenant instituted in Christ. Furthermore, when Paul spoke of individuals being sealed with the Spirit, 2 Corinthians 1, 22, Ephesians 1, 13, 4, 30, he spoke of the reception of the Holy Spirit as the divine confirmation of the covenant. This alone is the basis of the believer's security today, sealed with the Spirit. And this sealing moment happened in four different dimensions in the book of Acts. To Jews alone in Acts, at the first Pentecost, to the Samaritans, half-Jews, and then to Gentile God-fearers in the promised land still, and ultimately at Ephesus way out there. Fourth, above all else, Yahweh is a God of grace and mercy. He reaches out to those who have rebelled against him and offers both forgiveness and the full benefits of covenant relationship. Fifth, for the believer, the experience of divine grace is a humbling experience, far from feeding egotistical ambitions and a misguided thirst for self-esteem, or from blinding one to one's sinful past. It evokes in the recipient intense feelings of unworthiness. How could God be merciful to me, a sinner? But that's what sinful people need, God's mercy. And these people received it.