ONE of the most frequent sentences in the book of the prophecy of Ezekiel are the words: ―
“Then shall they know that I am the Lord,” or
“They shall know that I am the Lord.”
Have you ever gone through this wonderful book and counted the times these words are written in it? I think you will be astonished to find they are repeated fifty-six times! (56!) This should make us THINK. There must be some great meaning in them, and I find that there are two meanings to “They shall know that I am the Lord” — one in mercy, the other in judgment — reminding us of the two seats in God’s kingdom, the mercy-seat and the judgment-seat. Do you remember Psa. 101 begins with, “I will sing of mercy and judgment”? Ah! it must be one or the other: the mercy-seat, sprinkled with the blood of atonement; or the judgment-seat of God’s wrath against unforgiven sin.
Our Lord Jesus, in His high-priestly prayer, says, “This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.” Specially mark the words, “and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.” Through Him we are permitted to claim forgiveness and righteousness through faith in His precious sprinkled blood.
In the Book of Ezekiel we find “They shall know that I am the Lord” sometimes in judgment and sometimes in mercy. I will give you the list at the end of this paper. You will find the first time the prophet says “Ye shall know that I am the Lord” is in judgment (ch. 6:7), when God judges Israel for their idolatry; and the last time this sentence is proclaimed is in mercy, when God brings back Israel from captivity and sets them in their own land (39:28). I cannot help thinking that our God is judging our own beloved land with war, one of His four sore judgments, because we, like Israel of old, have forgotten Him as a nation, and when we acknowledge our sin and repent will He not turn again and have mercy on us? and say, “Then shall they (England) know that I am the Lord,” and say, “Neither will I hide My face any more from them, for I have poured out My Spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God,” “for all shall know Me, from the least to the greatest” (Heb. 8:1111And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. (Hebrews 8:11)) “And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord” (Isa. 54:1313And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children. (Isaiah 54:13)).
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6:7, 10, 14.
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25: 5, 11, 17.
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7:27
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26:06:00
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11:10, 12.
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28:23, 24, 26.
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12:15, 16, 20.
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29:16, 21.
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13: 9, 14, 21, 23.
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30:19, 25, 26.
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14:08
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32:15:00
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15:07
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34:27, 30.
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0.709722
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35:4, 9, 12, 15.
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17:21
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36:11, 23, 38.
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20:20, 26, 38, 42, 44.
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37: 6, 13, 14.
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22:16
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38:23:00
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23:49
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39:6, 7, 22, 28.
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24:24, 27.
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Fifty-six times reiterated in Ezekiel, “They shall know that I am the Lord.”
EMILY P. LEAKEY.