I already shared a post about Daniel, but I thought I'd add Ezekiel just for good measure. Ma props to anyone who actually has the patience to read either of these - I just wanted to put it out there for anyone who's actually interested. Plus, I get a lot of personal revelation from doing these so I think it's something people should try doing on their own if you ever want to take the time to. It only takes an hour or two to read it and highlight these verses (unless you pick an obscenely long book like Genesis) EzekielContext:
Ezekiel, son of Buzi, was from a priestly family that had been exiled to the land of Babylon. He had been carried off into exile along with many of his people during the second exile at the hands of king Nebuchadnezzar in 597 BC. (Nelson’s, pg 219) He was 30 years old, the age when priests would have begun their service in the temple, when God called him into service as a prophet instead. Based on his response to God asking him to eat defiled food, it also appears as if his family was one of the few that had remained faithful to God. (Kerry Neve Ast) This call came in the year 593 BC, and he continued serving God as a prophet until about 571 BC. (Source View, pg 1054) During this time, he lived among the community of exiles in Babylon and spoke out only what God gave him words and signs for. During this time, the Jewish exiles eagerly awaited and expected that they would get to go back to Judah soon, but Ezekiel warned them otherwise. When Jerusalem was finally destroyed and the temple burned in 586, the people probably realized that this was never going to happen. At this time, the words Ezekiel gave shifted from warning the people to giving them hope that there would be restoration eventually. After they failed to repent and the city was destroyed, his call for hope would have seemed ridiculous yet welcome. The thought of true restoration would have seemed beyond unlikely, yet Ezekiel and the other prophets had been proved right and so there was good reason to believe them. Nevertheless, they still had to stay and wait in Babylon until the determined 70 years had passed. Summary: The purpose of Ezekiel’s prophecies was to warn the people that they needed to repent – both the people in exile with him and the people still in Jerusalem. The people were still living in rebellion against God, even as they were being judged for their sins. There was still a chance to avoid complete destruction, and so he was calling for complete repentance at the last minute. After that did not work, he began preaching of hope of restoration to remind them that they had not been abandoned by God. In this, he repeats themes like the rebellious house of Israel, individual retribution, and that God does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked. The main idea is to bring awareness of God’s kingdom to people who were too far into sin to know what was true or not. Ezekiel was the voice of God’s plans speaking into a backwards and upside down world. “Like the books of Daniel and Revelation, Ezekiel belong to the genre of “apocalyptic” writings.” (Nelson’s, 220) “The book of Ezekiel can be broken into four sections:” -The call and commission of Ezekiel (chs. 1-3). In this section, Ezekiel gets called as a watchmen to warn his people. His tongue is also bound so he can only speak the words God gives him. -The judgement on Judah (chs. 4-24). During this time, Ezekiel has a vision about the atrocious sin going on in the temple in Jerusalem. He also enacts many different symbols that God gives him to do, such as laying siege to a clay city and digging a hole through the wall of his house. -The judgement on the Gentiles (chs. 25-32). In Jewish mindset, the fact that there are 7 chapters of judgement symbolizes the number of completion and the complete judgement upon their enemies. This is a section that would give them comfort and hope. (Kerry Neve Ast) The nations that are judged in this section are Tyre and Egypt. It also gives an allegory of the king of egypt being like an eagle and Judah being a lofty cedar tree. Chapter 28, which talks about the king of Tyre, has also been interpreted by some to describe Satan. -The restoration of Israel (chs. 33-48). Also in this section, the armies of Gog and Magog assemble against the righteous ones of God, but God defeats them. Ezekiel also sees a vision of the temple yet to come, which is very different than the temple they had known previously. (Nelson’s, pg 220) Character and Nature: “But look, I have made you as obstinate and hardhearted as they are. I have made your forehead as hard as the hardest rock!” (Ezekiel 3:8-9) I think this is one of my favorite verse in the Bible. (I just laugh so hard!) God knew who He was sending Ezekiel to talk to and He knew that they were going to give him a hard time, so he prepared Ezekiel for everything he would encounter. This preparation came in the form of giving him the words to say, yes, but it was also a preparation of the quality of his heart. God doesn’t want to send His children in before He gives them the tools they will need…in Ezekiel’s case, this meant being the most stubborn Jew he could possibly be (which is saying a lot!). “Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for Israel.” (Ezekiel 3:17) God knew His people needed as many warning as possible, so He put people in place to be those voices of warning. A watchman’s job was to see disaster coming and give the people a heads up. God didn’t want to give them any excuse that they didn’t know what was going to happen. He’s a God who doesn’t want to catch us off guard. “I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be speechless and unable to rebuke them, for they are rebels. But when I give you a message, I will loosen your tongue and let you speak.” (Ezekiel 3:26-27) This is actually a verse God has spoken over me an multiple different times in my life. I think for us to truly speak purely from God, we need to learn not to speak from ourselves. For Ezekiel, this was much more literal than for most. God wants His messengers to be reliable and consistent, so He will enable us to speak only His truth by whatever means necessary. “They will recognize how hurt I am by their unfaithful hearts and lustful eyes that long for idols.” (Ezekiel 6:9) I could go on and on about this, but I think the meaning is pretty easily understood. YHVH is a God of deep, passionate emotions, and He felt their betrayal and rejection deeper than we could ever understand from our own heartbreak. The people didn’t realize that, but He wanted to show them. “I will turn my eyes from them as these robbers invade and defile my treasured land.” (Ezekiel 7:22) God cannot stand the sight of evil being done where He intended good. His precious and treasured possession is still important to Him even when they are being disciplined, and He still did not want to see this disaster befall them even when it was so deserved. “Although I have scattered you in the countries of the world, I will be a sanctuary to you during your time in exile.” (Ezekiel 11:16) SO MUCH GRACE!!! God is the place we can run to no matter what. Even in the midst of receiving a completely due punishment, we can run to Him and be guaranteed His covering. “So I, YHVH, will give them the kind of answer their great idolatry deserves. I will do this to capture the minds and hearts of all my people who have turned from me to worship their detestable idols.” (Ezekiel 14:4-5) Nothing He does is truly out of anger. Even His discipline is out of love and a desire for restored relationship. YHVH is not a vengeful, spiteful God like the pagan Gods. He is so far above that, and He proved it every way possible. “As surely as I live, says sovereign YHVH, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live.” (Ezekiel 33:11) God does not delight in seeing us suffer, even when we have rejected Him completely. Even the wicked were originally made in His image. He dreamed about them and their futures too, and He loves them from that place even when they grieve His heart so much. “But I judge each of you according to your deeds.” (Ezekiel 33:20) God is just. He does not play favorites. He uses the same measure to weigh every single human heart and we can know that whatever the result, it is entirely fair. GRP: “I, sovereign YHVH, will gather you back from the nations where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel once again.” (Ezekiel 11:17) Even when He is sending them out, He is already planning their welcome home party. Even when they don’t deserve to live, He is planning on building them back up to be strong and healthy. However much pain they have to go through, He wants to give them even more blessing after that. “And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them. I will take away their stony, stubborn heart and give them a tender, responsive heart, so they will obey my decrees and regulations. Then they will truly be my people, and I will be their God.” (Ezekiel 11:19-20) As a people that had been so divided and had such a broken past within their own house, this is restoration beyond anything they had ever had. He isn’t just going to bring them back to their former height, He is going to bring them into a place they never even had before. That’s the result of true loving discipline – positive growth. “Then at last my fury against you will be spent, and my jealous anger will subside. I will be calm and will not be angry with you anymore.” (Ezekiel 16:42) His anger will never last forever. Even when He’s fed up and uses big words like “never,” He always follows it up with “but.” “Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you when you were young, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you…And I will reaffirm my covenant with you, and you will know that I am YHVH.” (Ezekiel 16:60, 62) God takes covenants seriously, even though they had forgotten how to. He is a God who remembers even when we forget, and even when we have desecrated the covenant beyond recognition, He will just make a new one. “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols.” (Ezekiel 36:25) He is the water that cleans us. Our sin is just gunk on top of the creation He made and loves, so He is the one who has the power to rinse us off and reveal His beautiful sculpture beneath. “Look! I am going to put breath into you and make you live again! I will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am YHVH.” (Ezekiel 37:5-6) YEESSS!!! God can even bring the bones of a broken life back to life! There is do death too final for God’s resurrection power – either in our own lives or for a nation. “I will bring them home to their own land from the places where they have been scattered. I will unify them into one nation on the mountains of Israel.” (Ezekiel 37:21-22) Say what you will, but nothing is impossible for God. I believe that He can and will bring all 12 tribes back from the corners of the earth to stand before Him as the re-unified body of the nation of Israel. If God’s heart is to see us unified as the body of Christ, then that same desire applies just as strongly to the first people to bear His covenant. We have all been grafted into the ancient vine that He planted so long ago, and His heart will not rest until He sees every branch restored. Making Him Known: “Son of man, do not fear them or their words. Don’t be afraid even though their threats surround you like nettles and briers and stinging scorpions. Do not be dismayed by their dark scowls, even though they are rebels. You must give them my messages whether they listen or not.” (Ezekiel 2:6-7) Fear of man requires us not to fear God, and that is not a place we can live from if we are to be His representation to this world. No threat should be menacing enough for us to fear them more than God, because as soon as we do that means we believe that their power to harm us is stronger than God’s power to protect us. That’s the opposite of what we are supposed to be proclaiming (both in words and in actions) to a world that needs to see how much better He is. “Son of man, eat what I am giving you – eat this scroll!” (Ezekiel 3:1) What God gives you to take, take in fully! You can’t halfheartedly live in your destiny or the gifts He has given you. If He has given you a message to preach, you can’t only sort of proclaim it. We need to take it in and make it a part of everything we say and do. “Whenever you receive a message from me, warn people immediately.” (Ezekiel 3:17) In other words, delayed obedience is disobedience. *not original* While there are cases in which that statement may not always be true, I think we only need to look at our hearts to see if it’s applicable. If God has given me something to speak out and I hesitate, it’s because either I’m not sure in what He has given me to say or I’m more afraid of that person’s reaction than I am of God. Either way, that heart posture is not one that gives Him glory. “So I spoke the message as he commanded me, and breath came into their bodies.” (Ezekiel 37:10) I LOVE that Ezekiel was a partner in this process. God could have just brought the bones to life and it would have made the same point of His resurrection power, but I think the point He was trying to make was bigger than just His ability to bring life from the dead. I think God wanted Ezekiel to know that he was God’s partner. He wants us to partner with Him to bring new life into those dead areas in the world around us. He can do anything on His own – He doesn’t need us for any of it – but He wants us to be a part of the process! His restoration is so much sweeter when we can get His heart for it and have an inheritance in the fruit of His healing. So don’t be afraid to step in where He opens that door, even when it feels like something way too big for you to handle.
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