Ezekiel 5:5

Midst of the nations. Here is set forth the strategic position of Jerusalem, situated as it was in the midst of the nations of the Near East and at the crossroads of ancient travel. Its unique location constituted one of the great opportunities for Israel. To the south lay Egypt; to the northeast Assyria and Babylon, and to the north the Syrians. On the coast were the Philistines, and farther north the Phoenicians. Nearby to the east were the Moabites and Ammonites, and to the south the Edomites.

God placed His people in the “midst of the nations” and purposed that they should constitute a great evangelizing force through which a knowledge of the true God was to spread to the whole world. It was His desire that the nation of Israel be a clear demonstration of the superiority of true religion over all false systems of worship. The experience and prosperity of Israel were to be exhibited as so attractive that all nations would seek after the God of Israel (see pp. 26-30).

The lesson is for us. As individual Christians, God has placed us as a light to our neighbors. He expects of us also a demonstration of the vast superiority and advantages of Christianity. He desires us to make our religion so attractive that others will seek after it.