The Supreme Mistake
W. Clarkson Ezekiel 35:10-13 Because you have said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas the LORD was there: The two striking and significant sentences in this passage are in the tenth and thirteenth verses: "And Jehovah was there" (ver. 10); "I have heard" (ver. 13). They bring out - I. EDOM'S GREAT MISCALCULATION. No doubt Edom had its princes, its statesmen, its warriors, of whom it was proud, on whose sagacity and prowess it was leaning. But however astute her ministers may have been, they made one great and fatal mistake - they left out of the account one factor, the presence of which made all the difference to the issue. Under their false guidance Edom thought itself more than a match for Israel, which, with its pastoral and agricultural pursuits, was less warlike than itself. And Edom said to itself, "These two nations... shall be mine, and we will inherit it" (ver. 10). "And Jehovah was there," interjects the prophet, with burning indignation. Edom, forsooth, going to appropriate Israel, and swallow it up as a dainty morsel, as if it had only to stretch out its hand and take it "And Jehovah was there" - that One in whose presence all Edom, with all its civil and military power, was but the dust of the balance, was nothing and less than nothing and vanity; that Holy One who held Edom responsible for its enmity and its cruelty; that Mighty One at the breath of whose mouth all its proud soldiery would go down as saplings before the storm! What senseless infatuation! what infinite presumption! to remember and to covet Israel's well-watered meadows and well-cultivated fields, and to forget that "Jehovah was there! to resolve to go up and possess its pleasant places, and occupy its strong cities, and plant its flag on Mount Zion without taking into the account that "Jehovah was there!" Edom was entertaining proud, ambitious schemes, and it was making "scornful speeches against the mountains of Israel, saying, A desolation, to us they are given for fire," and was thus "magnifying itself against" the Lord. But what depth of meaning, and what vigor of action, and what certainty of doom lies in those simple words of Jehovah, "I have heard!" Those disdainful words of theirs have entered the Divine ear, and they will move that mighty hand to its work of righteousness and judgment. II. OUR OWN SUPREME MISTAKE. We never commit so great and so ruinous an error as when we leave out of our account the presence and the handiwork of God. We are never so utterly and so perilously in the wrong as when we lay our plans and make our speeches, forgetful that God is near us, overruling all we do, and hearing every word we speak. We make this supreme mistake: 1. When we think we can sin without his banning. If we lay our schemes to injure our brethren, or if we design to enrich or indulge ourselves in any forbidden way, without smarting for our sin, we shall find, sooner or later, that "Jehovah is there," with his penalty in his hand. 2. When we think we can succeed without his blessing. To succeed without the favoring presence of God and the co-operation of his gracious power is as hopelessly impossible as it is to sin without encountering his Divine displeasure and rebuke. If we prosper in our toil, if we find joy and gladness in our life, it will be only because "Jehovah is there;" because he makes our land to yield its increase, because he fills our soul with the blessedness that abides. 3. When we think we can be wise without his teaching. Neither workman in the field of nature nor student in the realm of truth can leave out of his account the presence and the aid of the Divine. There is nothing sadder than the sight of men seeking and straining after the wisdom that they want for life and for death and for eternity, trying to find their way by the light of the sparks of their own intelligence; this will they have of God - "that they will lie down in sorrow" (Isaiah 1:10, 11). But blessed are they who take into their account the fact that "Jehovah is there," that God is speaking to us in his Word, by that Son who was and is the Eternal Word of God; for they who are wise in his wisdom shall enter the kingdom of truth, the kingdom of God, and they shall rise up in everlasting life and joy. - C. Parallel Verses KJV: Because thou hast said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas the LORD was there: WEB: Because you have said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas Yahweh was there: