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Dickson Teacher’s Bible1 Ezekiel

Dickson Teacher’s Bible, www.africainternational.orgEzekiel - Roger E. Dickson, © 2010, 2017: Africa International Missions, Hutchinson, Kansas U.S.A., Cape Town, South Africa

Dickson

Teacher’s Bible

EZEKIEL

Roger E. Dickson

2017



WRITERThere is no question that Ezekiel, the priest, was the writer of this book (1:3).

The meaning of his name is, “God will strengthen.” His father’s name was Buzi(1:3). He was a priest who descended from Zadok, of the family of Eleazer, the sonof Aaron (1:3; see 40:46). He was born in 622 B.C. during the time of King Josiah’sreform. When he was twenty-five years old he was taken with the first captives andKing Jehoiachin to Babylon in 597 B.C. This was the first Babylonian captivitywhen Nebuchadnezzar took 10,000 of the most prominent of the people to Babylon(2 Kg 24:14-16). His home in Babylonia was Telabib that was located by the RiverChebar, about one hundred kilometers south of Babylon.

Ezekiel was called to be a spokesman for God at the age of thirty, the age atwhich priests assumed their duties. The Lord came to him through a great visionwith a personal destiny that he had to fulfill (1:3 – 3:11). It was his mission toencourage the Israelites in captivity by helping them to understand that God was incontrol of all things. Their captivity was in the plan of God, and thus they shouldresign themselves to the fact that God would eventually restore them to their land ifthey repented of their idolatry. The children of the original captives did return toGod, and thus they were allowed to go to the promised land.

Ezekiel was a married man, though he lost his wife in the 9th year of his captivityand the 4th year of his ministry (24:15-18). She died at the same time the Babylo-nians began their siege of the city of Jerusalem (24:1,15-18). Contemporary withEzekiel was Daniel, who prophesied in the city of Babylon. While Daniel livedthrough the period of seventy years of captivity, Ezekiel probably died before 536B.C., the date of the release of the captives.

DATEKing Josiah died in 609 B.C. at the hands of the Egyptians who were on their

way to Carchemish to help the Assyrians defend themselves against the Babylo-nians. The Israelites selected Jehoahaz, Josiah’s son to reign in his place (2 Kg23:30). However, he reigned only three months before the Egyptians replaced himwith Jehoiakim (2 Kg 23:34). Jehoiakim subsequently became a vassal to the Egyp-tians. But he died and Jehoiachin his son became king. In 597 B.C. Nebuchadnez-zar, the king of Babylon, humbled Jerusalem. Jehoiachin reigned only a short timebefore he and 10,000 Israelites were taken into Babylonian captivity (2 Kg 24:8-16).Though he was taken into captivity, he was still honored as the king of Judah.

Zedekiah was then placed on the throne in Jerusalem, and subsequently becamea vassal to the king of Babylon (2 Kg 24:17). Zedekiah eventually rebelled against

EZEKIEL



the Babylonians, which rebellion led to the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.Jeremiah was God’s prophet in Jerusalem before and after the fall of the city. Ezek-iel was in Babylon by the River Chebar. Daniel was in the city of Babylon. Therewere false prophets both in Jerusalem and in Babylon. The false prophets in Baby-lon were giving the people the false hope that they would in their lifetime return toPalestine (Jr 28:1-4). Before the fall of Jerusalem, they were preaching that the citywould never fall (13:16,19). Before the fall of the city, therefore, both Ezekiel andJeremiah were preaching to the people that God was carrying out His promise thatthey would go into captivity if they continued in their idolatry. The captives werethus to settle into their captivity until a new generation of Israelites grew up, knowingonly the God of heaven (Jr 29:4-10). It was during these years of internationalturmoil that Ezekiel was called. His ministry extended from 592 to 570 B.C., duringwhich time his oracles were transcribed in this book.

BOOKWhen approaching a study of this book, in different contexts one must often

reverse the normal procedure for biblical interpretation. The general rule for biblicalinterpretation is to understand a text literally, unless the context and style of writingsuggests that we must interpret the text figuratively. But many contexts of this bookmust first be understood in a figurative sense. This is the most unique of all books ofthe Old Testament. Symbolism and metaphors run throughout the book in proverbs,parables, allegories and dramatically portrayed prophecies. Many contexts werewritten as apocalyptic literature with cryptic symbols (See intro. to Rv).

The reader must always remember that Ezekiel’s message was directed to theIsraelite captives. The oracles of the book were given in order to pronounce the endof Israel’s independent state in Palestine, with hope for the future restoration, andeventually the Messianic age that would be introduced with the coming of the Mes-siah. Ezekiel carefully dates his material, and thus the book is systematic and thematerial orderly outlined according to the historical events through which the Israel-ites were going at the time.

The Call And Commission(1:1 – 3:27)

Outline: (1) The call (1:1-28), (2) Thecommission (2:1 – 3:27)

THE CALL1:1-3 Thirtieth year: It is not

known from which event this accountingof years was measured. It has been sug-

gested that this was the thirtieth year ofthe life of Ezekiel when he was called tobe a prophet. In this call, the ministry ofEzekiel as a priest was changed to that

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of a prophet. The reason for God callinghim was to minister to those who were incaptivity. It also had specific referenceto his ministry among the people whowere being given a false hope by falseprophets of an immediate restoration toPalestine. The false prophets, who wereamong the captives, were proclaiming tothe people that there would be a return toPalestine in the immediate future (Seecomments Jr 23 & 29). However, God’sprophets were saying that there would bea captivity for seventy years. This meantthat the generation to whom Ezekiel min-istered would never return to the land.Only their children and grandchildrenwould return. In the fourth year of thereign of Zedekiah, Jeremiah had sent aletter to the captives explaining this (Jr51:59). One year after Jeremiah sent theletter, God called Ezekiel. Visions: Avision was a mental picture of an eventor action that was so real to the prophetwho experienced it that he could not dif-ferentiate it from reality. Jehoiachin’scaptivity: This captivity took place in 597B.C. River Chebar: This tributary tothe Euphrates was located south of thecapital, Babylon. This was the locationof the ministry of Ezekiel (3:11,15,23;10:15,20,22; 11:24,25). Hand of theLord: See 3:14,22; 8:1; 33:22; 37:1; 40:1.The hand of God was for comfort anddirection with reference to the faithful.But for the unfaithful, it meant destruc-tion.

1:4-28 This vision pictured the workof God in bringing judgment upon the re-mainder of the Israelites through theproxy of the Babylonian army. Ezekiel

saw a stormy wind, a wind of judgment.As the army of Assyria that God used todiscipline the northern kingdom of Israelcame from the north of Palestine, so cameGod’s judgment by proxy through theBabylonians. Since Nebuchadnezzar’sarmy had to follow the Fertile Crescentin order to circumnavigate the ArabianDesert to come into Palestine, they wouldthus need to approach Israel from thenorth. Six years from the time of thisvision, God would send the Babyloniansto Palestine. The presence of God wasin the cloud that appeared. Four livingcreatures: The four arms, or possiblyarmies, of the Babylonian forces wouldbe unleashed on Judah and Jerusalem.Wings: The forces of Nebuchadnezzarwere sent by God, and thus could not bestopped by any earthly army. Joined oneto another: This could represent theunity of the forces of Nebuchadnezzar,or a coalition of other armies that werefighting together with the Babylonianswho were under the command of KingNebuchadnezzar. Straight forward:Nebuchadnezzar was resolute in his mis-sion to destroy Jerusalem. Each had theface of a man: Though commissionedby God, the destroyers were armies ofmen. Lion: Power and terror. Ox: Un-yielding strength. Eagle: Swiftness. Thespirit: The army of Nebuchadnezzar wascommissioned to be God’s judgment byproxy upon the land of Palestine, and spe-cifically, Jerusalem. Wheel: God waswith the Babylonian army in order to ac-complish His purpose in terminating Is-rael as an independent nation. The Lordwas thus empowering the forces of Baby-



lon to destroy Jerusalem. They could notbe stopped. Eyes: The eyes of Godwere on the rims. He could see in alldirections. Beryl: A deep green or bluegreen color. Firmament: Over theheads of the creatures was the arch ofthe sky. The throne, or authority of God,was over the marching Babylonian armyas it carried out God’s judgment onJerusalem. Likeness ... of a man: Thiswas the revelation of hope in the vision,possibly taking our minds beyond the na-tional calamity of the time, to the ascen-

sion and reign of the Son of Man. Rain-bow: The rainbow was given to human-ity as a symbol of God’s continual pro-tection (Gn 9:13-17). After the calamityof the destruction of Jerusalem, and theend of Israel as an independent state, Godwould continue to protect His people, andthus continue their existence. Fell uponmy face: When any man encounters thepresence of God, even in such an awe-some vision as this, the natural responsewould be the total submission of man.

THE COMMISSION2:1-5 Son of man: There are

eighty-six references in this book to Ezek-iel as the “son of man” (See Nm 23:10;Jb 25:6). Reference to him as the son ofman was meant to point out that Ezekielwas a man, with all the fallibility of a manwithout the Spirit of God who would di-rect him in his ministry as a prophet. Thereference was also used by both Davidand Daniel in reference to the Christ (Ps8:4; Dn 7:13). However, when used inreference by Jesus throughout His min-istry, He designated Himself as the Sonof Man. Ezekiel, David and Daniel werereferred to as the son of God in order toemphasize the fact that their mission andministry originated from God. I am send-ing you: Ezekiel was personally calledby God and personally filled with the Spiritin order to deliver a designated messageto the Jews in captivity. Rebellious na-tion: They were a hardheaded genera-tion that would not humble themselves be-cause of their calamity of captivity.

2:6-10 Do not be afraid: They haddigressed so far away from God that any-one who came with a message from Godwas opposed, even to the point of threatsof death. In some cases, God’s prophetswere killed by the ones to whom theywere sent (Hb 11:32-40). Briers ...thorns ... scorpions: They were the off-spring of their fathers who had rebelledagainst the will of God. They were apeople who had digressed from pricklyneedles of briers, to hurtful thorns, andthen to deadly scorpions. Whether theyhear or ... refuse: The preaching of theword of God does not depend on whetherpeople listen or refuse to listen. It wasthe work of the prophet to deliver God’sword to the people, and in doing such, Godwould stand just for His condemnation ofthem. If the prophet failed to speak whatGod had given him to say, he would havebeen rebellious. Roll of a scroll: Themessage that was written on both sidesof the scroll was not good for the cap-tives. There were lamentations over their

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predicament, mourning as a result of theirplight, and woe if they did not repent and

submit to the Lord.

3:1-3 Before Ezekiel could go to thepeople with the word of God, he had toconsume it. Because it was sweetnessin his mouth, he was motivated to tell oth-ers. When one is filled with the word ofGod, it becomes fire in his bones, and thushe is moved to preach the word. One’sbelief that the word is from God moveshim out of necessity to preach it to others(See comments At 4:20).

3:4-11 Speak with My words:When one speaks for God, he must speakGod’s word, not his own feelings or imagi-nations (1 Pt 4:11). If one speaks fromhis own feelings or imagination, then heis leading the people by his emotional ex-periences, not the word of God. Theywould have hearkened: Ezekiel’s com-mission was to all Israel, specifically tothose of the captivity. The predicamentin which they found themselves at thistime in history was the result of their stub-born attitude against God’s direction.Though the nations would have listenedto what he had to say, the people of Is-rael would reject the word of his preach-ing. However, Ezekiel had to understandthat the ministry of preaching was notdependent on people listening to the wordof God. Prophets were sent to preach,regardless of the receptivity of the people.If the preaching of the word of God movespeople to repent, then the people whorepent because of the word have a sin-cere heart for God. When people stopbeing drawn by the preaching of the word

of God, they digress to being drawn bythe charismatic personalities of man (Seecomments 2 Tm 4:1-4). Your foreheadstrong: In order to accomplish his min-istry, Ezekiel had to be an astringent per-sonality. He was to preach what thepeople did not want to hear, but neededto hear. He sought to lead them wherethey did not want to go, but needed to go.Nevertheless, he had to preach and lead.Astringent leadership is not determinedby the wishes of the people who often donot want to listen to the word of God.Good leaders are determined by their mo-tivation by the word of God, not by thedesires of the people (Compare com-ments At 20:32; Hb 4:12). When peoplerefuse to hear the word of God, thepreacher must become more determinedthan the people in delivering the word ofGod. A preacher must never be discour-aged by those who have no desire to hearthe word of God.

3:12-15 In order to emotionally pre-pare for his mission, Ezekiel had to takethe traditional seven days to think throughhis calling and ministry (See Jb 2:13). Wemust keep in mind that he was a marriedman, and thus he may have wanted toconsider also the stress that his missionwould have on his family. He had a tre-mendous mission before him, and thuswith great prayer and fasting, it was hisdestiny as a called prophet of God to goforth with the message of God (Comparecomments 2 Tm 4:1-5).

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3:16-21 This text reveals the per-sonal accountability of all men in refer-ence to their free-moral response to theword of God. Watchman: Ezekiel hadbeen made a sentry over the people inorder to guard them from lies and decep-tions (See Is 56:10; Jr 6:17; Hk 2:1). Asa watchman, he was given the responsi-bility to proclaim the word of God. Hearthe word from My mouth: A watch-man for God does not determine the stateand direction of the people with his ownword, but with the word of God (Jn 12:48;1 Pt 4:11). Preachers who do not knowthe Bible seek to lead by their own cha-risma or ability to speak. God’s leaders,on the other hand, know and obey Hisword, and thus communicate His wordto the people. Die in his iniquity: Ifone knows the truth, but does not speakto others what he knows, then he will beheld accountable for those to whom hedid not preach the word of God. If thewicked are not warned, they will still diein their sins. They will die in their igno-rance. The Bible nowhere teaches sal-vation by ignorance (See comments At4:12; 2 Th 1:6-9). His blood: If thewicked person dies without warning, thenthe one who had the message that wouldhave given him the opportunity not to diein his sin, would also be guilty. It was theresponsibility of Ezekiel to warn the un-righteous. It was not his responsibility tosave them. God’s people are the mediumthrough whom He seeks to warn all men.But God is the one who will render deathto the disobedient. A righteous manturns from his righteousness: There isno such thing as once-saved-always-

saved. The righteous man can turn fromhis life of righteousness, and then lose hissoul (Rm 11:22; see comments Rv 2:10).Stumbling block before him: God willtake responsibility for allowing free-moralindividuals to live in a world wherein temp-tation exists. He will allow one to sin, butjudge him for his sinful way of life be-cause he free-morally chose to sin (2 Th2:10-12).

3:22-27 Hand of the Lord: Bold-ness to go forth with the word of Godcomes when one knows that God ispresent in his life (See Mt 28:20). Arise,go: After seven days of contemplation,it was time to go to work. They will putbonds on you: Anyone who would preachthe truth of God, must expect retributionfrom those who do not want to hear (At9:16). The retribution here would comefrom the people of God, not from the un-believers. Religious people who are ig-norant of the word of God are those whopersecute those who preach the word(Compare comments Mt 5:1-12; Mk 7:1-9). Cleave to the roof of your mouth:God wanted to frustrate Ezekiel by notallowing him to preach to Israel for a pe-riod of time. Once the word of Godburned in his inner soul while he was shutup in his house, then he would be readyto go forth with determination to warn thepeople.

Prophecies Before The Fall(4:1 – 24:27)

Outline: (1) 5th year prophecies: Sym-bolic acts (4:1 – 7:27), (2) 6th year proph-ecies: Discourses of Judah’s destruction(8:1 – 19:14), (3) 7th year prophecies:



Abominations of the people (20:1 – 23:49),(4) Prophecy before the fall (24:1-27)

5TH YEAR PROPHECIES:SYMBOLIC ACTS

The prophecies of this text wereacted out in a dramatic display before thepeople. Visual aids were used in order toportray the meaning of the prophecies.

4:1-3 This was a prophecy of thesiege of Jerusalem. The siege beganabout four years after this prophecy andlasted for thirty months. The city even-tually fell in 586 B.C. The clay tabletcould have been a clay brick on whichEzekiel inscribed the city of Jerusalem.The iron plate symbolized the walls ofJerusalem, which walls were torn downwhen the city fell to the Babylonians.

4:4-8 This prophecy was an actedout drama. Ezekiel laid on his left sidefor 390 days for the northern kingdom ofIsrael, and on his right side 40 days forJudah, for a total of 430 days. Accordingto verse 6 each day was to represent ayear. In this prophecy, it is difficult todetermine the meaning of the 430 years.It may be that God’s actual siege againstIsrael and Judah began when the Israel-ites asked for a king on earth to reign overthem. This succession of Israelite kingsbegan with King Saul which was about430 years before the termination of Is-rael as an independent state. If this iswhat is signified here, then it at least con-forms to the 400 to 500 year period ofhistory after which a sociological para-digm shift took place in the history of Is-rael, which period would have begun from

the time of Jacob’s initial entry into Egyptto begin the 430 years when Israel wasin Egypt. Israel was in the wildernessand land of promise from 1,445 until about1,000 before they asked for a king. Fromthe time of King Saul to the terminationof Israel’s earthly kings in 586 B.C., Godlaid siege against their desire for an earthlyking. In 586 B.C. God terminated theIsraelite kings on earth (Jr 22:30). Fromthe time of their captivity to the time ofChrist, 536 years, they were without aGod-anointed king. And now, Jesus is theGod-anointed King of kings (1 Tm 6:15).Regardless of our understanding of theperiod of time that is designated in thisprophecy of Ezekiel, the meaning is thatGod punished His people for turning awayfrom Him in order to serve earthly kingsand worship idol gods.

4:9-17 Food ... water: Ezekiel wasto ration to himself a small portion of foodand water throughout the time he laid onhis side. This depravation of food andwater symbolized the rationing of food andwater that took place during the siege ofJerusalem (Jr 37:21). Bake it over dung:In order to manifest the deplorable con-ditions that existed in Jerusalem duringthe siege, and the deplorable nature ofIsrael’s sin, the food was to be cookedover man’s dung. Ezekiel complained toGod that he had not defiled himself byeating abominable things since his youth.He had been a young man with principles.God relinquished to his desire after test-

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ing his commitment to the law of God,and thus allowed him to cook his food overcow’s dung. God was not insensitive tohis personal convictions. However, inwriting this prophecy, we understand thedeplorable nature of the sinful state into

which His people had fallen because ofthe original instructions that were givento Ezekiel. The Jews had greatly defiledthemselves with idol gods and unrighteousbehavior.

5:1-4 Ezekiel was commanded toshave his head and his beard, and thendivide the shavings into three portions.With each of the portions he was to dem-onstrate what was to happen in the de-struction of Jerusalem.

5:5-17 Jerusalem had become thephysical symbol of Israel’s existence. Itwas the last symbol to signify Israel asan independent nation. In order for Godto mold His people again, He had to de-stroy every symbol of nationhood. Hetook them from their land, and now Hewas taking away Jerusalem and thetemple, their symbols of existence and Hispresence. More than the nations: Be-cause they had the privilege of being giventhe oracles of God directly, they hadgreater responsibility (See Rm 3:2).Since they had the privilege of God beingmanifested so many times in their past,they fell away from Him more than thenations. Their opportunity of having Godwork directly in their history made themmore responsible to be faithful to Him.One-third portion: The portions of hairrepresented what would be the fate ofthe Israelites who were still held up inJerusalem. One third would die from dis-ease and famine. One third would be

killed. One third would go into captivity.Only a few of the poorest would be leftin the land. But even these would suffergreatly. Once this judgment had beenrendered to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,then God would have completed His pun-ishment for all Israel that had gone deeplyinto idolatrous worship. Fathers will eattheir sons: The conditions during thesiege of Jerusalem would be so deplor-able that the people would resort to can-nibalism. God would allow the situationto digress to such a point in order to teachthe nations that since Israel claimed tobe His people, then it had to be mani-fested that when they forsook Him, Hewould punish them. We must keep inmind, that the extent to which the calam-ity went for their punishment, their resto-ration would manifest the greatness of themiracle of their rebirth. In their apos-tasy, the Jews were a reproach to thename of God among the nations. How-ever, the nations would later wonder con-cerning their rebirth after 539 B.C. whenthe Medo-Persians allowed former cap-tives to return to their homelands. Ex-cept for Egypt, the other nations that re-joiced over Israel’s fall went out of exist-ence.

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6:1-7 In this chapter the silence ofEzekiel is broken, and thus, through himGod delivered a stern rebuke in referenceto Israel’s idolatrous ways. The condem-nation of idolatry is addressed to all Is-rael, including those who had been takeninto captivity by the Assyrians in 722/21B.C. The mountains: The high placesto which they went to worship their idolgods were here brought under condem-nation. The worship of false gods splittheir loyalty between the false gods oftheir imagination and the true God ofheaven. They manifested in their behav-ior this dichotomy in their religion. When-ever man makes an idol god, whether fic-titious in his mind, or when he worshipsof things of this world, he cannot give histotal commitment to God. The idolater,therefore, has committed spiritual adul-tery (Hs 1:2; Js 4:4). The extremity intowhich Israel went in idolatry determinedthe extremity of punishment to be handeddown to her in order to cure the peopleof their idolatrous spirit.

6:8-10 A remnant: Though Godwould bring the Jewish state to a conclu-sion, He would spare some of the people.From this remnant, He would begin againto build a nation from which the Messiahwould come. Remember Me among thenations: God would take away theiridolatrous spirit by placing them in landswhere they would refuse to worship thegods of their captors. In this way, theywould return to remembering the God ofheaven. I have been hurt: Idolatry is ataunt and rejection of the one God. Godis a God of feelings, and thus men should

never think that it does not hurt God tosee His children turn from Him (Js 4:4).Loathe themselves: The time wouldcome when the Jews would totally abhoridol worship. They would look back ontheir idolatrous behavior and loathe howthey were. The last generation that wastaken into captivity would give birth to anew generation that would learn from theerror of their fathers. They would real-ize that the great calamity that befell Is-rael was the result of hurting God throughidolatry. The Jews would never againbecome an idolatrous people as they werewhen they existed as an independent na-tion in the land of Palestine. Not said invain: God had told them that they wouldbe taken into captivity if they turned toidolatry. We must be assured, therefore,that God will bring eternal calamity onthose who do not obey the gospel (2 Th1:6-9).

6:11-14 Then you will know: Theirnational calamity was the fulfillment ofprophecy. God had warned them whatHe would do if they went into apostasy.The fulfillment of the prophecy concern-ing their idolatry would prove that Godhad spoken through His prophets. Slainmen will be among their idols: The pic-ture here is graphic. During, and imme-diately after the destruction, there wouldbe dead bodies lying among their idols,on their idol altars, on the high places oftheir idol worship, on the tops of moun-tains, and under the trees where theycommitted acts of fornication in worshipto their idol gods.

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7:1-9 Four corners: The end hadcome for all the land. According to yourways: See 2 Co 5:10. Repay: See com-ments Gl 6:7,8. You will know: Theywould know that God was at work in thecalamity that He would bring upon thembecause of these very prophecies thatwere made concerning the destruction ofJerusalem. Joyful shouting: The joyousshouting at harvest time will pass away.

7:10-15 Pride has budded: Theirpride had resulted in the doom that wascoming upon them. No one would feelsorry for them because of their past ar-rogance. The seller: Reference herewas to the property laws in Israel. Onecould sell his inheritance to another. How-ever, all property was to be restored tothe original owner every fifty years in theyear of Jubilee. In this case, those whowere taken into captivity would not re-turn. The first captives would die in cap-tivity. Their captivity would last beyondthe fifty years of Jubilee. No one goesto battle: The famine that existed withinthe city of Jerusalem before its fall wasso severe that no one had enough energyto fight. Fighting the well-nourished Baby-lonians, therefore, was useless.

7:16-22 Though some will escapeinto the mountains, they will mourn be-cause they realize that the calamity cameupon them because of their iniquity.Shame ... baldness: They will shavetheir heads because of their shame. Thestumbling block of their iniquity: Sincetheir materialism had led them into beingan unjust society, they would discover thatthey could not buy their way out of the

impending doom. This statement enlight-ens us concerning the real problem thatlead Israel into idolatry and their down-fall. Solomon introduced a wealthy life-style. The people followed after his life-style until it led them into being an unjustsociety that oppressed the poor. Used itto make the abominable idols: Sincethere was no banking system, the peoplemolded their gold and silver into idols.Thus the wealth that was represented bytheir idols became the focus of their lives.The more idols one had, the richer he was(See comments Cl 3:5). In the time oftheir calamity, however, their gold and sil-ver would mean nothing, for they wouldfear for their lives. My secret place:The result of their iniquity will result inthe Babylonians’ entrance into the templeand taking all the utensils and furniture ofbronze, silver and gold.

7:23-27 Prepare chains: It wastime for captivity. Psalm 74 seems to havebeen written immediately after the fall ofJerusalem by one who had fled to themountains of Judea. Seek a vision:They will seek God, but He will not befound. What they deserve: They hadrendered unto others that which they willreap. Their iniquity was within their ownJewish society. Their wickedness, there-fore, was carried out upon themselves.They were a society that was morally ina state of self-destruction. Before theycompletely brought themselves to an end,God brought the invasion of the Babylo-nians in order to save a remnant fromthemselves.

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6TH YEAR PROPHECIES:DISCOURSES OF

JUDAH’S DESTRUCTION8:1-6 This vision took place in the

sixth year of the imprisonment of KingJehoiachin (591 B.C.). The Spirit tookEzekiel in vision by the hair of his head tothe city of Jerusalem. The Spirit broughthim to the idol that had been placed atthe entrance of the temple (See 2 Ch33:7,15). It was an idol that provokedjealousy in God, for the people were spiri-tual idolaters. They were halfheartedreligionists who compromised their totalcommitment to God.

8:7-12 Hole in the wall: What thepeople thought was concealed from theeyes of God, was actually known by Him.Wicked abominations: When Ezekielwent into the inner part of the temple, hesaw images of animals that were dis-played around on all the walls of thetemple. Those who were carrying outtheir idol worship led themselves to be-lieve that God did not know their detest-able works. They denied the omniscienceof God.

8:13-18 Tammuz: This was a godof vegetation and fertility that the Baby-

lonians had adopted from the Sumerians.The sun: There was symbolism in thefact that they turned their backs on thetemple, the representation of the presenceof God. They did so in order to worshipthe sun. The sun was an object of theworship of the Canaanites, which wor-ship was also adopted by the Assyrians.Putting the twig to their nose: This is aliteral translation of a figure of speech thatmeans the people were throwing their ob-scenities in the face of God. I will nothear them: They had digressed so faraway from God, that they had no rever-ence for Him. Since God is real, and theiridol gods and worship were false, thenthe conclusion would be that the peoplewere no longer representatives for God(Compare comments Rv 2 & 3). Theprogression of their religion led them tothe point of this great digression awayfrom the God who brought them forth asa nation out of Egyptian captivity. In theirsin, therefore, God would not hear theirpleas for His help. God could not helpthem simply because if He did, they wouldnot represent Him on earth as their onlyGod.

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9:1,2 It was time for judgment. Thesix angelic beings stood ready to executeslaughter of the people who had giventhemselves over to false gods. The sym-bolism is of Nebuchadnezzar who wouldcome to Jerusalem with his army fromthe northern part of Palestine. One an-gelic being with a writer’s kit would first

place a mark on those who were to sur-vive. These would be those who weretrapped among those apostates who wererebellious against surrendering themselvesto the Babylonians.

9:3-7 There was mercy manifestedbefore the slaughter. Before the slaugh-ter was to begin in Jerusalem, those who

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mourned over the abominations that hadbeen brought into the temple and prac-ticed among the people were to bemarked and spared (Compare Rv 7:3,4;22:4). Those who had given themselvesover to idol worship were to be slaugh-tered. Once the mournful righteous wereidentified, the slaughter was to begin.Defile the temple: When a persontouched a dead body, he was unclean fora designated period of time. In this pic-ture, the temple would be defiled by thepresence of so many dead bodies.

9:8-11 In the vision, Ezekiel was inawe of the number of people who wereslaughtered, wondering if there would beany who would be saved. He cried outfor mercy. Israel and Judah: The de-struction of Jerusalem was the finality ofGod’s judgment on all Israel, both for the

northern and southern kingdoms. Thenorth went into Assyrian captivity in 722/21 B.C. The destruction of Jerusalemsignalled the end of the southern kingdom.The angelic being with the writer’s kitreported that all was carried out accord-ing to the instructions of the Lord. Thisannouncement indicated that those whowould be saved out of the destruction hadbeen identified, and thus the slaughtercould begin. In reference to Ezekiel’sconcern of a total destruction, the answerwas that there were those who weremarked for salvation. There would beno total destruction of the people. Manywould go into captivity. Their punishment,however, would be both captivity anddeath in captivity, for they would neverreturn to Jerusalem.

10:1-5 In this vision Ezekiel seessimilar things to what he saw in chapter1. Cherubim: See Is 6:1-6. Clothedwith linen: This was the angelic beingwho had the writer’s kit in the previouschapter. In chapter 9 he marked thosewho would be spared. Here he is com-manded to set fire to the city. The pres-ence of the cherubim was a sign that judg-ment was coming upon Jerusalem. As aresult of the judgment, there was cleans-ing of the temple, signifying a restorationof the presence of God in the hearts ofthe people.

10:6-22 This vision corresponds tothe vision of chapter 1, though there aresome added details. It is difficult to un-derstand the meaning of every detail of

the vision. For this reason, the interpretershould be cautious about inventing spuri-ous thoughts that are out of harmony withthe immediate application of the visions.In this vision, the splendor and awesome-ness of those who bring judgment onJerusalem must not be questioned. SinceGod is the one who is commanding thejudgment to take place, then we mustconclude that He is doing so for good rea-sons. Though there are some new de-tails in this vision, the message is the sameas the previous visions, that is that God’sjudgment on Jerusalem was just becauseof the iniquity of the people. The nationhad digressed to the point that it was nolonger useful for His purpose of bringingthe Messiah into the world. Although all

CHAPTER 10



Israel had not gone after idols, the vastmajority had. It was a time in the historyof Israel, therefore, that the majority wasabout to overcome even those few whoremained faithful. The purpose of the de-struction and captivity, therefore, was to

give birth to a new Israel that could beidentified as the people of God. It wouldbe through this restored and identifiablepeople that God would fulfill His prom-ises to the fathers that the Redeemerwould come into the world.

11:1-13 This is a prophecy of judg-ment on Jerusalem. This prophecy is apicture of 25 leaders at the temple whowere advising rebellion against Nebuchad-nezzar. In their rebellion, they looked toEgypt for support, for Egypt too was fear-ful of the Babylonian domination of theregion. Contrary to the prophecies of bothJeremiah and Ezekiel, these leaders re-fused to believe that the end of Jerusa-lem had come. They thus sought to re-buke the prophecies of both Jeremiah andEzekiel. They saw the fortified city ofJerusalem as a caldron that would pro-tect the people from all enemies, includ-ing Nebuchadnezzar. But Ezekiel proph-esied that they would not be protected.God would subject the Israelites through-out their borders, for the entire land wouldfall to the Babylonians. Jaazaniah andPelatiah were two leaders among the 25leaders at the time. While Ezekiel was inthe vision, Pelatiah fell dead. His deathseemed to shock Ezekiel, for he ques-tioned whether God would destroy theentire nation of Israel.

11:14-23 These verses are the an-swer to Ezekiel’s question concerning thefate of all Israel. The majority of thepeople had moved far away from theLord. However, there was a remnant offaithful among the people. For their sake,

God would not destroy all the people. Thefaithful remnant did not side with the un-faithful leadership who were giving thepeople a false hope that the city wouldnot fall. Many of the faithful remnantwere already in captivity, and thus werenot living in the doomed Jerusalem. Thesewere those who gave heed to Jeremiahand Ezekiel, and thus resigned themselvesto captivity. Jerusalem would indeed be-come a caldron, but the rebellious wouldbe the meat cooked in it. Those who hadalready gone into captivity, however,were in the protection of their captors,and thus they would survive. I will gatheryou: No matter where the Israeliteswere scattered among the nations, Godwould gather a remnant of them to theland. Take away all the detestablethings: Upon their return to the land,they would never again give themselvesover to idols. A new spirit: The spiritualcharacter of the returnees would be dif-ferent than the rebellious heart of theirfathers. One heart: They would be to-tally dedicated to the one God. Their loy-alty would never be divided between Godand idols. It would never again be di-vided between a king on earth and a Kingin heaven. If we would infer that thereare Messianic implications in these words,then we would be looking for the one body

CHAPTER 11



that would be of one mind (At 4:32; 1 Co1:10). It would exist as one body becauseall would submit to the one head and King.A heart of flesh: The stony heart of re-bellion and stubbornness would be re-placed with a heart of compassion andobedience (See Dt 30:6). What Ezekielsees in the vision here, and in 36:26,27, issimilar to what was revealed to Jeremiah(Jr 31:31-33). A time was coming for anew covenant, which covenant would befor a people who came into a covenantrelationship with God through their obe-dience to the gospel. Both Jeremiah andEzekiel used the illustration of the return-ing remnant of Israel after the Babylo-

nian captivity to picture the beginning ofa new heavens and earth that would be-gin in A.D. 30 (See comments At 2). Theglory of the Lord went up: God figura-tively removed Himself from the city inorder that His punishment be enacted onthe inhabitants. Both the city and thetemple were to be destroyed. East side:The Mount of Olives was to the east ofthe city.

11:24,25 Ezekiel was brought backto Chaldea at the end of the vision. Hethen spoke to the exiles in order to con-firm what Jeremiah was speaking to thosein Jerusalem. The city would in a fewyears fall to the Babylonians.

12:1-6 This is another action proph-ecy. Ezekiel dramatized what would hap-pen in the near future concerning the fallof Jerusalem. Do not see: They disre-garded his previous spoken prophecy inchapter 6. Prepare your baggage:Ezekiel acted out that which would takeplace concerning one going into exile. Inthe evening, he was to dig a hole in thewall of his house. Then he was in thedaylight to crawl through the hole with acover over his eyes. He was to stumblethrough the hole and away from hishouse. The symbolism was that thosewho did dig a hole and escape to theBabylonians, would live. Those who didnot, would die from the slaughter thatwould take place as the Babylonians en-tered the city.

12:7-16 What are you doing:Since they did not ask, God instructedEzekiel to prophecy in word what he had

acted out. They will know: The proph-ecy was being made at this time beforethe fall of the city. Once the city fell,then they would know that the prophecycame from God. It seems that the Jewswere so certain that the city would notfall, that it astonished them when it did. Iwill leave a few: A few would be sparedfrom the destruction in order to tell oth-ers what had happened. The 30-monthsiege of Nebuchadnezzar against the citywould turn the inhabitants into cannibals.Others needed to know the fulfillment ofthe prophecies of both Jeremiah andEzekiel. They needed to know in orderto confirm that the prophecies were ful-filled in every detail. Cover his face:Zedekiah tried to escape when Jerusa-lem fell. However, he was captured. Hissons were killed before his eyes, then hiseyes were put out and he was marchedto Babylon (2 Kg 25:4-7; Jr 52:7-11).

CHAPTER 12



12:17-20 Ezekiel was to dramatizelife in Jerusalem before it fell. Both foodand water would be scarce during thesiege, so scarce that the people would turnto cannibalism. Many of the people diedfrom the famine within the city, othersfrom pestilence.

12:21-28 Days are prolonged: Be-cause they did not believe the city wouldfall, it became a customary saying thatGod’s judgment on the city would onlycome in the far future. The false proph-ets were preaching peace and safety,though doom was near. Every visionfails: The visions of the false prophetswould fail when the city fell, for they weresaying that it would not fall. Whenpreachers preach peace when it is timefor judgment, they will go into captivitywith those they did not warn concerningimminent doom. Fulfillment of everyvision: The visions of the true prophets

of God would be fulfilled when Jerusa-lem fell. The false prophets, with theirfalse visions of peace and safety, wouldpass away. What God had said wouldhappen. It would not be prolonged. Itwould take place only a few years afterthis prophecy was made. Therefore, ifone interprets these prophecies, that havereference to the history of Israel, asprophecy in reference to the end of time,he has misunderstood the prophecies. Hehas stolen from the people of God at thetime these prophecies were made, hopefor their future restoration. The prophe-cies were directed to the people of Godwho were suffering through great nationalcalamity. One thousand years as a na-tion were coming to a close. The proph-ecies, therefore, were given in order togive the people of God hope for a restoredIsrael that would wait for the Messiah.

13:1-7 Everyone who would pre-sume to be a spokesman for God shouldcarefully study through this chapter (SeeJr 23:9-40). There are many religionistsin the world today who presume to speakfor God, but they know nothing of Hisword. This was the case of the falseprophet. He spoke what the peoplewanted to hear (See comments 2 Tm 4:1-4). He even sought to add authenticity tohis statements by saying, “The Lordsays.” But because he was speaking out-side the word of God, he was speakingfalsehoods to the people. He was a falseprophet because he would not tell thepeople the truth about the impending

doom that awaited the people. There-fore, whenever one would say, “The Lordsays,” he should be following the state-ment with a quotation from the word ofGod, not his own dreams and supposedvisions. Followed their own feelings:Those who do not preach the word ofGod validate their own message for them-selves through their feelings. They willpreach feel-good lessons in order to re-tain the favor and support of those towhom they preach. They are as Balaamwho preached for money (See 2 Pt 2:15;Jd 11).

13:8-16 They will not be in the as-sembly of My people: Those who would

CHAPTER 13



speak contrary to the word of God havevoted themselves out of the company ofGod’s people. They cannot be of God’speople simply because they are not lis-tening to God. Those who are not stu-dents of the Bible are not disciples, forthey are not listening to God who speaksthrough His word (See comments At20:32). Seduced My people: They haveprophesied what the people wanted tohear in order to maintain the following ofthe people (2 Tm 4:1-4). There was fi-nancial security in their motives, for theywere supported by the people. They didnot want to endanger their support bypreaching the word of God. Whitewash:They whitewashed it. It looked fine untilthe rains came and washed away thewhitewash. The false prophets were asdishonest builders who presented a finelooking house to the new owner. How-ever, the house was weak and vulnerableto the summer storms.

13:17-23 Prophesy out of their ownheart: They were spiritual frauds, pre-sumptuously assuming that their emotionswere some revelation from God. Theseprophetesses preached for money, ahandful of barley or piece of bread. Be-ing driven by their desire for sustenance,

they would speak anything that was pleas-ing to the ears of the people in order tomaintain their support from the people.When people in poverty assume to speakfor God, they are tempted to speak onlythat which their supporters want to hear.They are often as Balaam who preachedfor hire (See Jd 11). The souls: In thiscase, they reversed the messages of bothJeremiah and Ezekiel. The people whowere to die, were the ones they saidwould live, and the ones whom Jeremiahand Ezekiel said would live, they saidwould die. Magic bands: They gaveout “magic charms” in order to give thepeople a false sense of hope. However,the righteous who believed Jeremiah andEzekiel were made sad by the influencethe deceptive women had over the people.And indeed it was a sad time when falseprophets were speaking contrary to thatwhich God had spoken through His proph-ets. The time was coming, however,when the false prophets would all die inthe destruction of Jerusalem. God’sprophets would be confirmed to be Hisprophets because their prophecies wouldhave been fulfilled. The people wouldthen know that God was to be the Lordof their lives.

14:1-11 Some elders among the cap-tives came to sit before Ezekiel. Theywere idolaters in heart, and thus wouldon this occasion reap the rebuke of theLord. Should I be consulted by them:The hypocrisy of the elders was in thefact that in their hearts they still boweddown to their idols. On this occasion, they

had the audacity to seek council from Godthrough His prophet Ezekiel. Repent:This was God’s message for all those whostill clung to their past idols. Estranged:When one idolizes something in his heart,he cannot give his full commitment to God(See comments Mt 6:24). I ... have de-ceived that prophet: See comments 2

CHAPTER 14



Th 2:10-12. Israel may no longer goastray from Me: God had disciplinedIsrael by taking them through the destruc-tion of the land and Jerusalem. Through-out the destruction, idolatrous priests andprophets died. Such was the first cleans-ing of the people from idolatry. Thosewho placed themselves in spiritual lead-ership for the sake of gain had to be takenfrom among the people before the peoplecould be turned again to God. Now thatthe captives were in captivity, there stillremained some of the false prophets andidol worshipers among the people. In thiscontext, God said that He would destroythis remnant of idolaters from among thepeople. When the time for the restora-tion came, therefore, Israel would havebeen cleansed of all idol worshipers.

14:12-20 The primary theme of thiscontext is individual obedience to God.Righteous living, therefore, was the onlyguarantee of being delivered from thejudgments of God. The righteousness ofone person cannot save another, and thusone is accountable for his own life be-

fore the Lord (See comments 2 Co 5:10).Even if one were as righteous as Noah,Daniel and Job, his righteousness couldnot save neither son nor daughter.Daniel: Daniel was also a prophetamong the captives in Babylon. His righ-teousness was well-known among thecaptives, and thus God used him as anexample of standing firm for the word ofGod (See comments in intro. to Dn).

14:21-23 You will be comfortedconcerning the calamity: The righteousare comforted by those who are like-minded. When God delivered the righ-teous from the destruction of Jerusalem,He brought them to Babylon. It was agreat comfort to Ezekiel to meet theserighteous people who had surrendered toNebuchadnezzar according to the instruc-tions of Jeremiah, who was preaching inJerusalem during the destruction. Oncethe righteous were delivered, Ezekiel un-derstood why God brought doom upon thecity. He understood that God wanted tocleanse Israel of all those who were un-righteous.

15:1-8 The vine: Israel was oftenreferred to as a vine that should bring forthgood fruit (Gn 49:11; Is 5:1-7; Jr 2:21).In this context, however, reference to Is-rael as a vine was a metaphor that re-ferred to the nation as useless before God.Vines are not good for wood to make ob-jects that are useful to man. One cannotmake a peg from a vine in order to hangobjects. Therefore, except for bearing

fruit, a vine is useless. Israel had turnedinto a wild vine, and even her fruit wasuseless. The prophecy was of the de-struction of Jerusalem. They would beconsumed because they were not profit-able for the purpose for which God hadcreated the nation. When they were con-sumed, then the people would know thatthe Lord was working through the de-struction.

CHAPTER 15



16:1-5 This chapter is a sad alle-gory of the history of Israel. It is a storyof an unfaithful wife who went into har-lotry, regardless of all her innocent ori-gins and care. The allegory begins withthe birth of Israel from Egyptian captiv-ity, and follows the history of the peopleto the destruction of Jerusalem. Thenorthern kingdom would first reap thejudgment of God, then Judah, the south-ern kingdom, and finally, Jerusalem. Godbrought forth Israel from Egyptian cap-tivity. However, regardless of His careover her, she ran after other gods of herown making. At the time of her deliver-ance from Egypt, no nation of the worldcared for her since she was viewed as agroup of rebellious slaves who had re-belled, and thus gained their freedom fromthe Egyptians. The nations abhorred herthroughout the years of her wildernesswanderings and conquest of the land ofPalestine. Salted ... swaddled: Saltingthe newborn was for the purpose ofcleansing and dedication to God. Swad-dling was for the purpose of protectingthe newborn from the elements.

16:6-14 Newborn Israel was as anewborn babe that just came from thewomb. The babe struggled in its own bloodwithout anyone to help. But God reacheddown in order that Israel might live, de-velop and become a beautiful nation to Hisglory. As was common in pagan nations,as a newborn female, she would have beenleft to die. But God reached down withgrace and compassion. He declared thatshe should live. Entered into a covenant:

As in a marriage covenant, at Mount SinaiGod entered into a covenant with Hispeople. He made promises of blessing tocare for them. I washed you: In theceremony at Sinai, God cleansed the peoplewith the sprinkling of blood in order to ratifythe covenant. I adorned you also withornaments: God brought Israel into theland of milk and honey. He prosperedthem, even to the zenith of their glory dur-ing the reign of King Solomon. Your fame:God blessed Israel so much that the fameof the kingdom went unto all nations. Froma small nation of captives who had comeout of Egyptian captivity, to the grandeurof the kingdom during the days of Solomon,Israel was blessed exceedingly above allnations.

16:15-22 Played the harlot: WhenIsrael became appealing to the nations asan influential nation, then she gave her-self over to the idols of the nations forthe sake of economic gain. Her bless-ings, therefore, became her curse. Sheused the beauty that was given to her byGod as an opportunity to make trade alli-ances with the nations. And in doing so,beginning with Solomon, she gave her-self over to the gods of the nations. Thevery silver and gold that was given to herby God was used to make the idols of thegods she had created after her own imagi-nation. Everyone who passed by: Is-rael was given the major trade route be-tween the northern nations of the NearEast and the nations of Africa. It wasGod’s original intention that when trad-ers passed through Palestine, the Israel-

CHAPTER 16



ites would have an opportunity to talk tothe traders about the one true and livingGod. However, instead of being the in-ternational influence for God that wasoriginally intended by God, she adoptedthe gods of the nations. She compromisedthe God who gave her birth for the sakeof trade with the nations of other gods.Sacrificed them to idols: They morallydigressed to the point of offering theirchildren in sacrifice to gods they had cre-ated after their own imagination.

16:23-34 Israel digressed to be mor-ally worse than the nations around her.She could not be satisfied with her idola-try. After all that God had done for her inthe past, which things He had not donefor the idolatrous nations around her, shebecame skilled in the art of idol worship,even to the point of offering her childrenas sacrifices. In order to be constantlyreminded of her fictitious gods, she madeand placed idols in every public place. Sheadopted so many idol gods from the na-tions around her that even the pagan na-tions, who were loyal only to their nationalgods, were alarmed at her idolatry. Theidol gods of the nations were a symbol ofpatriotism. But Israel adopted the sym-bols of patriotism of the other nations forthe sake of maintaining trade relationshipswith the nations. Her strategic trade routein Palestine led her to adopt the patrioticgods of any nation that would bring herwealth. She thus sold the God of her ori-gin for the gods of any nation that wouldbring her prosperity.

16:35-43 Filthiness: This was theHoly Spirit’s term to define false religion.This was the reason for the judgment that

God would pour out on an apostate people.Lovers: These were the nations withwhom Israel had formed alliances, bothfor trade and protection, which nationsGod would turn against her. Israel wouldbe subjected to the same judgment asadulterous wives. She would be publiclyshamed before the nations, and stoned.Make My fury toward you to rest: Godwould unleash just judgment upon themuntil the full measure of His punishmentwas completed. It would be completedonly when they had completely given upidolatrous religion.

16:44-52 Your sister Sodom: Be-cause Israel had received great attentionand love from God, she had greater re-sponsibility, and thus would be judged withgreater judgment. Samaria: This wouldbe the northern kingdom that had alreadysuffered the Assyrian captivity. Judahwas arrogant when the northern kingdomfell, and was self-righteous in referenceto the destruction that came upon Sodom.But in her arrogance and pride, she hadto bear her own shame for being a womanof harlotry.

16:53-59 There was a message ofhope in a sad story of betrayal. Thepeople were going into captivity. Incaptivity they would be cleansed of theiridolatry. They would be returned to theland, not as an independent nation, but onlyas an identifiable people, the Israel of God.

16:60-63 Ezekiel concludes the al-legory with a message of a new covenant.It would be a new covenant that wouldextend to all nations (See comments Jr31:31-34). It would be a covenant thatwould include all people.



17:1-6 Riddle ... parable: A riddlewas embedded in this parable. By doingthis, God wanted the people to draw theirown conclusions, which conclusionswould be obviously correct. The parablewould be so clear that they could not missthe application. The riddle would be ex-plained after the occurrence of the eventsthat were set forth as a parable. Greateagle: The king of Babylon, Nebuchad-nezzar. Different colors: Nebuchadn-ezzar led an alliance of nations that wereunder his command. Highest branch:King Jehoiachin. The seed: Zedekiahwas appointed by Nebuchadnezzar as theking in Judah. Low stature: Zedekiahwas a subject, or vassal, to Babylon.

17:7-10 Another great eagle:Egypt would rise up to help Judah againstthe attack by Babylon. Wither: Duringthe siege of Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzarleft the siege for a short period of time inorder to squash the approaching Egyp-tians. And then again in 582/581 B.C.,he invaded Egypt and sacked the coun-try. East wind: The Babylonians whowere east of Palestine.

17:11-21 Rebellious house: Ezek-iel was in Babylonia prophesying to thosewho were already in captivity. The ex-iled Jews were rebellious in that theythought that they would soon return to theland of Palestine. They did not acceptthe fact that they would die in captivity.

Taken its king: This occurred in 597B.C. when Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoi-achin and the princess into captivity. Theking’s seed: Zedekiah. Subjected:Nebuchadnezzar subjected Judah toBabylonian dominance. Zedekiah re-belled against Babylonian control, and thenwent to seek help from Egypt. This sub-sequently infuriated the Babylonians, whoin turn came and destroyed Jerusalem.Given his hand: Zedekiah agreed to bea vassal king to Babylon, but he went backon his word and rebelled. He broke hiscovenant with Nebuchadnezzar. My oath... My covenant: When Zedekiah sworean oath to Nebuchadnezzar, the oath wasbefore God, and thus, it was binding asan oath with God. So when he broke theoath, he was breaking an oath he hadmade before God (See Jr 21:1-10). Tres-passed against Me: When one brokehis oath to another man, it was a sinagainst God, for oaths were laws thatone binds on himself in reference to hisobedience to God.

17:22-24 This conclusion to the pre-ceding parable was a prophecy of theMessiah to come (Is 53:2; Jr 23:5; Mc4:1-3). Once all the national turmoil ofthe nations among whom the precedingevents had taken place, then God wouldsend forth the King of kings who woulddraw people from all nations to find pro-tection under His wings.

CHAPTER 17

18:1-18 Fathers have eaten sourgrapes: This was a proverb that wascommonly spoken among the captives

(See Jr 31:29,30; compare Lm 5:7). Theproverb was false in reference to the guiltof sin. The children were not considered

CHAPTER 18



unrighteous because of the personal sinsof their fathers. The guilt of sin was neverhanded down from father to son. How-ever, in reference to the consequencesof the fathers’ sinful behavior in refer-ence to idolatry, the sons did suffer fromthe results of the fathers’ sins. In thehistorical context here, the fathers werean idolatrous generation who turned fromGod. God subsequently condemned themto captivity (See Ex 20:5). The sons whowere born in captivity, therefore, sufferedfrom the consequences of the fathers’sinful idolatrous behavior. The soul thatsins, it will die: It must be kept in mindthat in the context of this chapter thephrase “surely die” is used first in refer-ence to physical death. Those who hadlived immorally after the idolatrous religi-osity of the day would be punished withdeath. They would either die during thecalamity that was brought upon Israel, ordie in captivity. Their punishment for notrepenting of their wicked ways would bephysical death, which punishment wouldeventually end in their second death andseparation from God. In life, they hadsinned against God’s law. Because oftheir sins, each individual would give ac-count of his own sin (2 Co 5:10). We willindividually be held accountable for ourown sins, and thus die in our sins if we donot repent. The Bible nowhere teachesthat the children inherit the guilt of theparents’ sins. Ezekiel gave a list of ac-tions that identified unrighteous behavior.Eaten to shrines: This was part of theirworship to idol gods on the high places(Is 65:7). Neighbor’s wife ... menstru-ous woman: Reference here is to adul-

tery and having sexual intercourse with awoman when she was in her period ofuncleanness during the month. Pledge:Restoring the property that was given asa pledge for a loan. Plundered: Notstealing another man’s property by force.Given his bread: Being benevolent to-ward the hungry. Covered the naked:Guarding the modesty of oneself and oth-ers. Interest: See 22:25; Lv 25:36; Dt23:19; Ps 15:5.

18:19-24 The son ... will surelylive: This must be understood in the his-torical context of the first generation ofcaptives among whom Ezekiel wasprophesying. God swore that they woulddie in captivity. However, their childrenand grandchildren would be restored tothe land after the seventy years of cap-tivity had been completed. It was thisgeneration of exiles who were cleansedof unrighteous behavior, and thus wereallowed to return to the land. But thosefathers who brought on Israel the wrathof God through their idolatrous behaviorand wicked living would never see theland again. They would suffer from theguilt of their own sins. If the wickedwill turn: This exhortation would havebeen to the fathers, that they focus ontheir repentance for their own sins. Ifthey repented, they would save their souls.They would then pass on to their childrena life-style of repentance and righteous-ness that would allow the children to re-turn to the land. The soul who sins willdie: Israel ended up in captivity becausethey sinned against the law of God. Inthis context, the nation as a whole wascomposed of sinful individuals. Disobe-



dient individuals developed a collectiveculture of sin. However, each individualwas responsible for his own disobedience.Neither father nor son passed the guilt oftheir personal sins to the other. Eachperson would be held accountable for hisown sin, regardless of whether they livedin a sinful culture where everyone wasliving according to sinful ways. Whenthe righteous turns away: There is nosuch thing as once saved, always saved.The apostate has turned away from righ-teousness. He was first righteous, andthen he turned away from righteous be-havior. And because he turned away, hebecame lost. All his righteousness:One’s good deeds do not atone for one’ssins. The obedient life-style is what con-stitutes righteousness before God.

18:25-32 The way of the Lord isnot fair: This was a complaint. Godwas fair and just to mete out judgmentupon those apostate fathers who hadturned to idol gods. He was fair to bringon them the consequences of their sinful

behavior. Though the sons had to sufferthe consequences of the wicked behav-ior of the fathers, God was still acting fairlyto bring judgment in time upon the un-righteous behavior of the fathers. Theexhortation in this context is that the sonsdo not adopt the idolatrous and wickedbehavior of their fathers that led to theircaptivity. Make for yourself a newheart: Each person will be held account-able for his own sin (2 Co 5:10). Sinceeach person was created a free-moral in-dividual, then each person must be heldaccountable for the guilt of his own sin.God is a fair God because it is man whochooses to sin. When one is condemnedfor his own sin, then God is fair and just.He is fair and just because He gave manlaw by which to live, and declared to manthe consequences of his violation of thelaw. It is the responsibility of each per-son, therefore, to voluntarily obey the willof God, and thus create a new heart witha spirit of obedience.

19:1-9 This is a lamentation for theprinces (kings) of Israel. Their mother,the nation of Israel, gave birth to theirexistence when they asked for a king torule over them (1 Sm 8). Lion: The royalfamily (See Gn 49:9; Nm 23:24; Mc 5:8;Rv 5:5). Two cubs: In the historical con-text, reference here was probably toJehoahaz and Jehoiachin. Jehoahazreigned only three months before he wastaken by Pharaoh-necho and put in prison(2 Kg 23:33). Jehoiachin reigned afterJehoahaz, but he was taken into Babylo-

nian captivity in 597 B.C. (2 Kg 24:8-16).Israel had gone from God-anointed kingsthat they wanted during the end ofSamuel’s life, to foreign powers appoint-ing kings for them. A king on earth wasnever in the plan of God for Israel. Whenthe people cried out for a king, God gavethem this concession (1 Sm 8). How-ever, the kings would eventually leadthem into apostasy.

19:10-14 The poem turns to the na-tion of Israel. She was a nation that wasplanted in the land of milk and honey. She

CHAPTER 19



prospered because of the work of God.She produced great kings to rule over her.And she was exalted among the nations.However, because of her apostasy fromher creator, she was plucked up by the

Babylonians from the east and planted ina desolate land. Her kings were brokenand no more. They withered in the wil-derness of Babylonia. Israel would neveragain have a God-appointed king on earth.

7TH YEAR PROPHECIES: ABOMINATIONSOF THE PEOPLE

20:1-4 Seven years after Ezekiel’scaptivity in 597 B.C., or 590 B.C., someof the elders came to inquire of the Lordthrough Ezekiel. This was about oneyear after the previous prophecies of 8:1.Based on Ezekiel’s answer to these el-ders, we would assume that they cameto inquire about setting up idols again inthe temple of Jerusalem, to which theybelieved they would be returned in thenear future. But Ezekiel’s answer wasfar from what they expected. He paral-leled Israel’s existence in the wilderness,that resulted from their rebellion after theycame out of Egyptian captivity, with theirrebellion at the end of their existence priorto the destruction of Jerusalem that wouldoccur in 586 B.C. The destruction tookplace about four years from the time ofthis encounter.

20:5-9 Lifted up My hand: Godtook action to deliver Israel from Egyp-tian captivity. His first proclamation tothem was that He was the only Godamong all the false gods of the Egyptians.He then gave them a land from whichthey were to eradicate all beliefs in falsegods. They rebelled: Because of theirrebellious spirit, they did not give up theiridol culture of Egypt, which culture first

made itself known when they molded thegolden calf at the foot of Mount Sinai. Iworked for My name’s sake: God’s useof Israel among the nations was evange-listic. He meant for them to be a mono-theistic nation, proving them to be Hispeople by His mighty works. They ex-isted, therefore, only because God mi-raculously worked to bring them out ofEgypt.

20:10-17 I caused them to go out:They could not deliver themselves fromEgyptian captivity. When God deliveredthem from Egyptian captivity, the nationsthen understood that Israel’s God waspowerful enough to deliver them. He willlive in them: God gave Israel command-ments and statutes in order to changethem from a culture of idolatry to a mono-theistic culture of belief only in Him. Thepurpose for the law, therefore, was tochange and direct their culture towardHim. If they would have continued tolive according to His law, therefore, theywould have remained a monotheistic cul-ture. Sabbaths to be a sign: Their keep-ing of the sabbaths was an indication thatthey were a people who were in a cov-enant relationship with God. Their keep-ing of the sabbaths was a conscious ac-knowledgment before the nations thatthey were the people of God. Pour outMy fury ... to consume them: Because

CHAPTER 20



of their rebellion at the foot of Mount Si-nai, God was going to destroy the entirenation and start again to build another na-tion through Moses. But Moses inter-ceded for the people. For Moses’ sake,God held back His hand of destruction.However, those who rebelled were notallowed to enter into the land of promise.The same would happen to those elderswho came before Ezekiel. Because oftheir rebellious and idolatrous spirit, theywould not be allowed to return to the landof Palestine. The elders were assuredthat they would die a natural death in thewilderness of Babylon, but they would notbe allowed to return to Palestine becausethey had rebelled against the statutes ofGod and profaned His sabbaths.

20:18-26 Throughout their 38 yearsof wilderness wanderings after their idola-trous rebellion at Mount Sinai, the rebel-lious fathers died. The children weretrained to be a monotheistic culture, serv-ing only God through obedience to Hisstatutes. Sanctify My sabbaths: Whenthey kept the sabbaths, they were signal-ling to God that they were obedient to Hisstatutes. They were also signalling to thesurrounding nations that they had a cov-enant with God. But the people rebelledagain. However, God did not destroythem completely, for He continued to bepatient with them for the sake of Hisname and the salvation of mankind. IfGod did not fulfill the promises made tothe fathers, then His name would beblemished. I would scatter them: Thisstatement would refer back to the timewhen they were scattered throughout theSinai Peninsula during the 38 years of

wilderness wanderings. They came to-gether as one nation of people only whenthey gathered on the east side of the Jor-dan River in order to begin the conquestof the land. At the time Ezekiel wrote,they were scattered in the same wayamong the nations of the world, whichscattering started with the Assyrian cap-tivity in 722/21 B.C. Statutes that werenot good: The law was good and holy(See Rm 7:7-12). The law was not goodin reference to salvation and a good con-science before God. No man could keepthe law perfectly (Rm 3:9,10,23; see com-ments Gl 2:16). One’s honest recogni-tion that he cannot keep law perfectlyshould move him to trust in the grace ofGod (See comments Gl 2:1-16). But inIsrael’s case, they created idol gods af-ter their own imagination and laws ofthese gods that they could legally keep inorder to justify themselves before thesegods. Pass through the fire: They of-fered their children in sacrifice to theiridol gods in order to feel good before theirgods. Instead of trusting in the grace ofthe God who brought them forth out ofEgypt as a nation, they sought to appeasetheir own guilt by obedience to laws theymade for themselves. This was the spiritof idolatry that could not be removedfrom their culture by the commandmentsof God.

20:27-29 Every high hill ... thicktrees: Their idolatrous spirit moved themto build high places of worship, or Asherahon the tops of the hills. They also madeshrines in the groves. What was to be ablessing to them, became an opportunityto continue their idolatrous worship to



false gods. Bamah: The meaning is“high place.”

20:30-32 As representatives for theexiles, the elders were told that God wouldnot listen to their pleas to return immedi-ately to the land. They were still a gen-eration of idolaters, seeking to identifywith the Babylonian culture through theiridolatry. If their children were to be can-didates to return to the land of Palestine,they must put away their idol gods.

20:33-38 They had to submit toGod’s rule over them. When this wasaccomplished, then He would bring themout of their captivity as He brought themout of Egyptian captivity. God would bringback to the land only those who weresubmissive. A spirit of submission, notrebellion, would characterize those whowould enter the land of Israel. Pass un-der the rod: When the shepherd broughtthe sheep into a boma (protected area)at night, they would be counted as theypassed under his staff. He thus knewthat each sheep was brought into his pro-tection. Yoke of the covenant: Theirsubmissive spirit would bring them againunder obedience to the conditions of thecovenant.

20:39-44 Those who would continuein idolatry were let go by God. Theywould no longer be of Israel. But theobedient Israel would be called again toreturn to the promised land where theywould no longer profane the name of Godthrough idolatry. These would again gounto the holy mountain of God’s kingshipover them. All the house of Israel:There are many promises throughout theprophets that all twelve tribes of Israel

would be represented in the return toPalestine to reestablish the identity of Is-rael. There would be no lost tribes. Ifthere were, then God’s promises to thecaptives that all Israel would return to theland would have been false. Then youwill know: The fulfillment of the proph-ecies that a remnant of all Israel was re-stored to Palestine after the Babyloniancaptivity was historical evidence that Godwas working in Israel. Psalm 83:4 is sig-nificant in reference to this historicalmiracle of God. The oppressing nationssought to destroy the identity of Israel,which they tried to accomplish throughthe Assyrian and Babylonian captivities.Israel lost her identity as an independentnation with her own land. They becameonly captives of conquering world em-pires. The historical miracle of God wasthe restoration of their identity as a people,as well as their restoration to their home-land, though their homeland was governedby the Medo-Persians when they re-turned. It was then governed by theGreeks, and finally by the Romans. Butthey were restored as the people of God,ruled by their King from heaven and gov-erned by the law of the covenant theyhad with their King.

20:45-49 Because the Babylonianarmy would approach Judah from thenorth, the prophecy here was to Judah tothe south. It was a message of fire anddestruction. In the allegory, Judah wasthe forest that would be consumed by thearmy of Nebuchadnezzar. Parable:Though the Hebrew word is here trans-lated “parable,” it can also be translated“allegory.”



21:1-7 The destruction of the landand Jerusalem will come through Neb-uchadnezzar, who is used as the swordof the Lord. Righteous and the wicked:In this case, the righteous will suffer be-cause of the sins of the wicked. Whennational calamity comes, the righteous arecaught in the calamity that they did notproduce. Sword ... will not return: Thedestruction will not stop until God has ac-complished His purpose.

21:8-13 Sharpened: The swordwould do its work effectively. Polished:It will come upon the people as a strikeof lightning. Since such was to take place,it was not a time for mirth, that is, rejoic-ing. Despises the rod: Because theydid not repent as a result of former disci-pline through famine and calamity withinthe land, they had to be taken from theland. Strike ... thigh: This was a NearEast gesture of showing despair (Jr31:19).

21:14-17 Strike your hands: Thiswas a gesture that signalled activity tobegin. The decision in the court of Neb-uchadnezzar had been made to take ac-tion against the rebellious in Palestine.Even as Ezekiel spoke these words, itwas probable that the Babylonian armywas making preparations to march onJudah and Jerusalem.

21:18-23 Nebuchadnezzar was tomarch against the Ammonites and Judah.In the calamity that befell Judah, theAmmonites also suffered defeat (25:1-7;Jr 49:1-6). Rabbath: The capital ofAmmon. In order to make his decision

concerning who to strike first, Nebuchad-nezzar consulted the diviners. When thedecision was made to strike Ammon first,the Jewish exiles assumed that Judah andJerusalem would be spared. But the sug-gestion of the diviners that Ammon shouldbe taken first was considered false divi-nation by the Babylonians, and thus theymarched on Jerusalem instead. Look atthe liver: This was a futile action on thepart of the diviners in their attempt to fore-tell the future. We are not told how thesoothsayers performed this action.

21:24-27 Zedekiah’s rebellion wasremembered by Nebuchadnezzar. Neb-uchadnezzar was thus determined to pun-ish Jerusalem for the rebellion that wasled by Zedekiah. Remove the turbanand take off the crown: Ezekiel proph-esied that Zedekiah take off the symbolof kingship. Since he had been appointedking by Babylon, and not anointed by God,he had no right to be the king of Israel.The prophecy here tells him to get offthe throne, for he had no right to reign.Until He comes whose right it is: Theonly one who would have a right to reignas king of God’s people would be theMessiah who was to come (See com-ments Lk 1:31-33).

21:28-32 The extent of the destruc-tion of Ammon was that the Ammonitenation was terminated. After the destruc-tion by the Babylonians, it went out ofexistence, never to be restored again asa nation under the sanction and purposeof God.

CHAPTER 21



22:1-16 In this first of three pro-nouncements of judgment upon the cityof Jerusalem, the sins of the city arenamed. It was a city of blood becausewithin it innocent people died without justcause. The righteous were even sub-jected to the intimidation of the wickedleaders at the time the city was undersiege. They would not allow anyone toleave the city, and thus innocent peopledied from famine and pestilence. Ezek-iel pronounced judgment on the kings whoremained leaders through murder andoppression. They had no respect for theirfathers and mothers. They oppressed thefatherless and widows. They did not spiri-tually lead the people. The leaders hadno moral character, and thus led thepeople to moral degradation. In all theirdealings, the leaders were corrupt andimmoral. They served for their own ex-istence, subjecting the people in order tosatisfy their own greed and thirst forpower. Consume your filthiness out ofyou: God would send the people intocaptivity until those of their culture ofwickedness had died. Once they cameto their moral senses in captivity, then theywould understand that all the calamitythrough which they were taken was thework of God to cleanse them of theirapostate behavior.

22:17-22 In this second pronounce-ment of judgment, Ezekiel portrayed thenation as metal melted down to dross.The wickedness of the people had stirred

up the anger of God, which anger waspoured out in wrath upon the city in orderto consume it.

22:23-31 This third pronouncementof judgment upon the city focused on theprophets, priests and princes who had ledthe people in a conspiracy against God.The end of the tragedy was that Godsought for someone who could intercedefor the city, but no one could be found.And since He could find no one to inter-cede for the city, He had to continue withHis plan to destroy the city. If one per-son could have been found to intercedefor the people, then God would haveturned His wrath from the city (CompareGn 18). Her priests: The priests wereso ignorant of the law of God that theydid not know the difference between rightand wrong according to the law. Theydid not know what was clean or unclean.Her princes: The kings and leaders ex-ploited the people, seeking gain throughany means. Her prophets: The falseprophets claimed to speak for God. Theyclaimed to have either a vision or dream.But their visions or dreams were theproduct of their own imaginations. Thepeople: The population turned on itself,neighbor against neighbor. Stand in thegap: Only one person could have stoodin the gap between God and man, andsubsequently through prayer turn thewrath of God away from the city. Butnot one righteous person was found.

CHAPTER 22



23:1-10 This oracle came around590 B.C. (20:1), after the northern king-dom of Israel, represented by Samaria(Aholah), her capital, had already goneinto Assyrian captivity. The southern king-dom, represented by Jerusalem(Aholibah), would go into Babylonian cap-tivity in 586 B.C., about four years fromthe date of this prophecy. The northernkingdom had committed spiritual harlotryby signing alliances with foreign nationsthroughout her history. She was eventu-ally taken into captivity by one with whomshe had signed an alliance. She went intoAssyrian captivity in 722/21 B.C. Fromthe time in Egypt: While the Israeliteswere in Egyptian captivity, they weregreatly affected by the idolatry of theEgyptians. Though their desire for idolssubsided in the years of their early his-tory, Solomon reintroduced idolatrythrough his trade deals and foreign wives.His influence over the people throughouthistory was perpetuated to the point thatit led to their captivity by the Assyrians.

23:11-21 In reference to their di-gression into idolatry, Judah became worsethan her northern sister. She made analliance with the Babylonians, into whosehands she would eventually be given incaptivity (See 2 Kg 20:12-21; 24:1). Be-cause the Israelites were located in themajor trade route of the ancient world(Palestine), she continually had dealingswith nations to the north who traded withEgypt and the northern nations of Africa.The temptation was too great to remainculturally separate from these nations, for

traders passed through Palestine on acontinual basis. Instead of influencing thetraders for good, and teaching them ofthe one true and living God, she was in-fluenced to accept their national gods inorder to establish trade relationships. So-lomon began this economic culture of idolsand trade, and the kings after him simplycontinued making alliances with foreignnations, which nations (Assyria and Baby-lonia) eventually took control of the traderoute. The captivities of the Israelites,therefore, was more than the mere con-quest of one people over another. Thecaptivities were national conquests of themajor trade route of the ancient world.After the Babylonians, came the Medo-Persians, then the Greeks, and then theRomans. All these empires wanted tomaintain control of the Palestinian traderoute in order to control the trade of theNear East.

23:22-31 Chaldeans, Pekod andShoa and Koa ... all the Assyrians: TheBabylonians were able to muster the al-legiance of mercenary peoples in orderto conquer the land of Palestine. Thoughthe Babylonians had overthrown Ninevehin 612 B.C., and finalized the AssyrianEmpire at the battle of Carchemish in 609B.C., the Assyrians were assimilated intothe Babylonian war machine. Make yourlewdness and your harlotry ... to cease:The Jews’ involving themselves in a cul-ture of idolatrous worship, and all that itentailed, would eventually be forsaken.Their captivity would see the end of thegeneration of idolaters who generated the

CHAPTER 23



wrath of God against them. A new gen-eration would be born in captivity andwould not follow after the idolatry of theirfathers. Cup: The cup was symbolic ofsuffering. As the northern kingdom suf-fered captivity, so would the southernkingdom.

23:32-35 Judah became arrogantwhen her northern sister was taken intocaptivity. Her arrogance led her to gofurther into apostasy. She would drinkall the cup that was handed to her north-ern sister, and thus suffer the horrors thatcame with Nebuchadnezzar’s 30-monthsiege against Jerusalem that finally fell in586 B.C.

23:36-49 To pass them throughthe fire: Their religious behavior wasvoid of righteousness. That which wouldhave been morally common sense, wasabsent from their religious behavior, evento the point of offering their children assacrifices to the gods they had createdafter their own imagination. It was tothis moral level of degradation that God

allowed them to go before He destroyedthem with famine, pestilence, the sword,or death during the captivity. They havesent for men: Both Samaria and Jerusa-lem sent for foreigners with whom theycould commit spiritual adultery throughthe making of alliances. Their allianceswith their lovers eventually led to theirruin. God allowed their lovers to con-quer their territories, and thus bring to anend Israel’s control of the land of Pales-tine for the remainder of her history as anation. Israel ended when she was dis-solved into the spiritual kingdom of Christ(Gl 3:26-29). Even when the Israeliteswere allowed to return to the land afterthe Babylonian captivity, it was controlledby the Medo-Persian Empire. Thus thefall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. resulted inan irrevocable loss of Israel’s autonomyin the promised land. In every way, there-fore, they had to bear the sins of theirpast by giving up their possession of theland.

PROPHECY BEFORE THE FALL24:1-14 This pronouncement came

in January, 588 B.C., about two and a halfyears after the previous oracle. This wasthe date that Nebuchadnezzar laid siegeto the city of Jerusalem (See 2 Kg 25:1;Jr 52:4). What Ezekiel was commandedto do here was interpreted in verses 6-14. The pot symbolized the city of Jerusa-lem, and the rebellious house of Israel wasin the pot for cooking. Because thepeople within the city did not surrenderto the Babylonians, they would suffer the

30-month siege of the city. The righteousand unrighteous would suffer together.Because the city was surrounded, no onewould be able to escape the siege. Somedid escape to the Babylonians, but theyhad to secretly leave the city in order togive themselves over to the Babylonians.Her blood is in the midst of her: Mur-derers were in Jerusalem, as well as allthose who had defiled every symbol thatrepresented the righteousness of God.The city was sealed up by the Babylo-nian army, and made ready for the dev-

CHAPTER 24



astation of famine and pestilence thatwould ravage the population before it fi-nally fell. Let the bones be burned:Once the flesh was cooked well, Ezekielwas to pour out the broth and burn eventhe bones. He was also to empty the potand set it directly on the fire in order thatthe bronze might burn red hot. It was tobe melted with its rust. The city was tobe thoroughly cleansed of all sin, whichmeant that all its inhabitants were to bekilled or taken away into captivity.Jerusalem was to cease as a city.

24:15-27 God took Ezekiel’s wifeas His people were taken from Him bytheir idol gods. When Ezekiel’s wife died,God commanded Ezekiel not to mourn herdeath, for her death was a prophecy ofthe death of their sons and daughters inthe city of Jerusalem. When his wife died,Ezekiel was to carry on with his work.Doing so stirred the people to inquire con-cerning the meaning of his actions. Whenthe people eventually received news that

Jerusalem had fallen, Ezekiel instructedthem that they were not to mourn for thecity, for its fall was the plan of God. Otherthan prophesying concerning the judg-ment of God against the nations, Ezekielwas to keep silent until he heard wordthat the city had fallen. This came abouttwo years later (33:21). When the cityhad fallen, the event would be a sign thatall prophecies concerning its fall wouldhave come to pass. All the true prophetsof God would have been confirmed true,and all false prophets judged to be false.

Prophecies Against The Nations(25:1 – 32:32)

Outline: (1) Prophecy against Ammon(25:1-7), (2) Prophecy against Moab(25:8-11), (3) Prophecy against Edom(25:12-14), (4) Prophecy against Philistia(25:15-17), (5) Prophecy against Tyre andSidon (26:1 – 28:26), (6) Prophecy againstEgypt (29:1 – 32:32)

PROPHECY AGAINST AMMONThe time for these prophecies against

the nations that surrounded Israel camebefore the announcement of the fall ofJerusalem. All these nations were relatedin some way to Israel through Abraham.Throughout their history, they seem to havemanifested their envy that Israel was con-sidered the chosen people of God, and nottheir forefathers from whom they origi-nated. Because they possibly dealt in anenvious manner toward their relative, Is-rael, they rejoiced when she was humbledthrough destruction and captivity.

25:1-7 When Nebuchadnezzar fi-nally brought an end to Judah through thedestruction of Jerusalem, Ammon re-joiced. Ammon rejoiced when the templewas defiled and the land laid waste. Shepossibly saw Judah’s demise as revengefor what had formerly transpired whenIsrael conquered her many years beforewhen the Jews were entering the prom-ised land (See Jg 10:9 – 11:40). Whenthe northern kingdom of Israel fell in 722/21 B.C., the Ammonites reclaimed theterritory that was formerly taken fromthem (Jr 49:1). She then attacked the

CHAPTER 25



southern kingdom of Judah in 600 B.C.Because of her resentment and evil ac-tions toward Judah, the judgment thatwould be brought on her would result inher termination from history as a nation.The Ammonites would be assimilated intothe world powers that would control theNear East, and thus go out of existenceas a nation of people.

PROPHECY AGAINST MOAB25:8-11 Israel was arrogant in the

fact that she was the chosen of God.When she went into apostasy by adopt-ing the idol gods of her neighbors, thenher neighbors said that she was no dif-ferent than them. When Jerusalem fell,and the temple was destroyed, the na-tions mocked Israel, reaffirming theirclaim that she too was only another na-tion of the world like them. Since Israelcould no longer claim to have the specialprotection of her God, then she could nolonger claim to be the special people ofGod.

PROPHECY AGAINST EDOM25:12-14 From the day that Israel

came out of Egyptian captivity, theEdomites were antagonistic against Israel.These descendants of Esau seemednever to forgive Abraham for allowingtheir forefather to be cast out of his camp

(Gn 35:22 – 36:43). Their hatred of Is-rael led them to work against God’s planthrough Israel. Because of their workagainst the plan of God, they brought judg-ment on themselves, which judgmentmeant their extinction from history (Seecomments Ob; see also Ez 35:1 – 36:15).Their hatred went so far as to murderthe Israelites who escaped from Jerusa-lem when it was under siege by the Baby-lonians.

PROPHECY AGAINSTPHILISTIA

25:15-17 From the time Joshua ledthe Israelites into the land of promise, thePhilistines were the continual antagonistagainst Israel’s possession of the land (Jg3:31; 14:1-16; 1 Sm 4:1-6; 2 Ch 26:6,7).Because the Israelites had throughouttheir history defeated the Philistines onmany occasions, they harbored an ongo-ing hatred of Israel. When Israel fell, theyrejoiced over her demise. Because oftheir actions against Israel, God’s proph-ets pronounced their certain demise andextinction from history (See Is 14:29-32;Jr 25:20; Am 1:6-8). Cherethims: Thiswas another name for the Philistines. Thisname was possibly given to the Philistinesbefore the Israelites arrived in Palestine,for they had migrated from Crete, orCaphtor (See Dt 2:23; Jr 47:4; Am 9:7).

PROPHECY AGAINSTTYRE AND SIDON

26:1-14 Tyre and Sidon were promi-nent gateway seaport cities. Palestine,and the nations immediately east of Pal-

estine, were able to trade with all theMediterranean port cities through the portsof these two cities. I will be filled now:The Israelites evidently functioned as“customs control” when nations as Syria,

CHAPTER 26



Ammon and Moab to her north, and cit-ies to the east and south, traded with thecoastal cities of the Mediterranean Sea(See 27:5-25). But when Judah fell, thetraders had free access to these nations.However, such was not to be for Godwanted to destroy both Tyre and Sidon inorder to desolate the land of Palestine andpunish those neighboring nations of Israelwho sought her demise. Because of theirstrategic location and trade with many na-tions, the people followed after the prideof their King Ithobaal II (28:12). Theylifted themselves up, but they would bebrought down. According to Josephus,Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Tyre forthirteen years. Once he conquered thecity, the port came under Babylonian con-trol, but never functioned as it did prior tothe Babylonian destruction. Years laterAlexander the Great also besieged thecity. During the siege by the Greeks, aremnant of the people of Tyre fled fromAlexander to a small island off the coastof the mainland city. In order to com-pletely devastate the city, however, thearmy of Alexander built a causeway withthe remains of the coastland city by throw-

ing stones into the sea. A causeway wasthus made in order to access the smallisland. The city was never rebuilt in an-cient times to its former glory that it en-joyed prior to its destruction by the Baby-lonians.

26:15-21 Troubled by your depar-ture: The kings of all the Mediterraneancoastal nations would lament the fall ofTyre simply because they would lose avery strategic trade port to the Near Eastnations. They would be economicallydevastated by the demise of a greatamount of trade. Descend into the Pit:Not only would the city fall, but the un-righteous would be brought down to Sheol.What is symbolized in verse 20 is not alocation of the dead, but a metaphoricalunderstanding in reference to the beliefsof the people. Shrines and temples werebuilt on high places because of the peoples’belief that God could be better accessedon hills and mountains. The opposite ofsuch locations would be the depths of theearth. This was the location, therefore,where it was believed that demons ex-isted.

27:1-36 Judgment upon Tyre wasindirect judgment upon all those nationswho traded through her ports. Her trad-ing partners extended even to the portsof Spain and all northern Africa. TheNear East trade that went through theport city of Tyre is often ignored whendealing with the judgment of God uponthe nation of Israel. When Israel cameout of Egyptian captivity, God gave to the

Israelites all the territory that extendedinto the land of the Hittites to the north(modern-day Turkey), to the border withEgypt to the south. He even gave themthe territory to the east of the Jordan Riverwhen they defeated the Ammonites. Theterritory that He gave them was the heartof all the Near East trade. If they wouldhave remained faithful to Him, they wouldhave developed into one of the most glo-

CHAPTER 27



rious empires of the world with the op-portunity to influence the world for God.One wonders what the world would havebeen like today if they had remained faith-ful to God. They had the opportunity, butthey foolishly turned their back on God.The emphasis on the greatness of Tyrein this chapter manifests just a portion ofthe international trade and opportunity thatIsrael could have had if she would haveconquered all the land that God gave her,and then remained faithful to Him. Justhaving this one city within her borderwould have given her the opportunity topreach the name of God throughout all

nations of the world. As Bible historians,therefore, we see in the words of thisprophecy concerning the fall of Tyre thefall of a great opportunity for Israel thatthey could have had if they would havecontrolled their rebellious attitude andstiffnecked behavior. There is thus moreto the words of this prophecy againstTyre than a condemnation of the city. Wemust not forget that the city and port couldhave belonged to the people of God, whoin turn could have had a great impact onthe world through their monotheistic be-liefs.

28:1-10 “I am a god”: Any manon earth who would set himself up as oneto be worshiped, has declared his owndoom (See comments At 12:18-23). OnlyGod is to be worshiped, for it was Hewho created all things. The city of Tyre,therefore, was to pay the price for thearrogance of their king. We would as-sume, however, that they would not havebeen punished because of their innocencein this matter. They evidently acceptedhim as a god, and thus gave him worship.Wiser than Daniel: Daniel was but aman, but wiser than the king of Tyre. Thisstatement was a mockery of the king forhis arrogant presumption that he wouldbe as wise as God. If the king claimed tobe a god, then he would have to be omni-scient, and thus no secret could be hid-den from him. Acquired riches: Theking’s self-deception was that his greatacquisition of treasures led him to believethat he was as wise as Solomon. But he

went one step further. He thought he wasas wise as a god. His worldly wisdom toacquire riches was not a qualification forclaiming to be a god. So because heclaimed to be God, God would send a ruth-less army against him in order to bringhim down. And once he was broughtdown, he was asked if he would still claimto be a god.

28:11-19 God had set the king ofTyre in his position as the king (Comparecomments Rm 13:1-4). But because ofhis sin, God would bring him down. Hewas a leader that God raised up in orderto accomplish His purpose among Hispeople. But when the sin of materialismtook control of his life, he was taken outby God. The people will be astonished:The people would actually learn a lessonfrom the fall of the king of Tyre. He ex-alted himself among the people as a god.However, he was brought down. Thoughthey may not have recognized that it was

CHAPTER 28



God who brought him down, they certainlylearned that one as the great king of Tyrecould be no god, for he was brought downby another king who was more powerfulthan he.

28:20-26 Since Tyre and Sidonwere sister cities, they were consideredin prophecy together. What affected one,affected the other (See Is 23:1,2; Mk 7:24-26; At 12:20). Ezekiel and the otherprophets spoke against both Tyre andSidon. They proclaimed that they wouldfall. Once they fell, God’s prophets wereproved to be sent from God, who onlycan know the future. Prickling brier:The nations that surrounded Israel con-tinually plagued them throughout their his-tory. But this would come to an end, forthese nations would be terminated by God.

This was done when the Medo-PersianEmpire assumed control of all the formerpossessions of the Assyrians and Baby-lonians. When God brought His peopleback to the land of Palestine, the peoplewho were already in the land, and theterritory of all neighboring nations, wereunder the authority of the Medo-PersianEmpire. They could not rise up againstthe returned remnant of Israel, lest theybe seen as rising up against the Medo-Persian authority that was in control ofall Palestine and surrounding regions. Forthis reason, the Jews dwelt safely in theland when they returned, for they wereunder the protection of the Medo-Persians(See comments Er & Ne). Sanctifiedin them: God would be set apart in theirminds as the only true and living God.

PROPHECY AGAINST EGYPT29:1-7 This oracle of Ezekiel was

delivered during Nebuchadnezzar’s siegeof Jerusalem. It is specifically directedtoward the Pharaoh of Egypt. Becausethe Pharaohs of Egypt thought that theywere the descendants of the gods, theywere arrogant and pompous. My river:The Nile River was the source of foodfor Egypt, and thus the foundation of theirexistence. The crops of Egypt wereplanted along the silted banks of the Nile,which made it possible for Egypt to havefood even in the worst of famines. Greatmonster: Pharaoh wallowed in thewealth of the Nile. But God would bringhim up from the Nile as a fish caught ona hook. As scales are attached to thefish, the people would cling to the big fish

Pharaoh, which would result in all of thembeing cast into the wilderness. Not begathered and buried: It was abhorrentto the Egyptian not to be buried, espe-cially for the Pharaoh who would enjoy agreat entombment at the time of his death.Because they would not be buried, ani-mals and birds would eat their discardedbodies. Staff made of reed: Israel hadleaned on Egypt in the past for help, butEgypt crumbled as a staff that was madeof flimsy reeds.

29:8-12 Egypt would be laid wasteby the Babylonians from the small townof Migdol in the north (See Ex 14:2; Nm33:7), and to Syene (modern-day Aswan)in the south. This was the totality of theheart of Egypt. Forty years: This timemay be symbolic, taken from Israel’s

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forty years of wandering in the wilder-ness (Nm 14:33; Ps 95:10). It would re-fer to the time when the Medo-PersianEmpire extended into Egypt from 525 to487 B.C. I will scatter the Egyptians:As Israel was scattered among the na-tions, so would the Egyptians be scatteredduring their period in the wilderness.

29:13-16 I will gather the Egyp-tians: Only the Egyptians were prom-ised to be restored to their land. All theother nations against whom prophecieswere made, were destined for termina-tion. God seems to make this promise tothe Egyptians because they were the na-tion that housed His people during theiryears of development as a nation. A lowlykingdom: Though the Egyptians wouldemerge as a nation, they would not bethe dominant and glorious nation that theywere in their former years. No longerbe the confidence of ... Israel: In herapostasy, Israel turned to Egypt for help.But Egypt would never again be a strongnation to which Israel would be tempted

to again turn for help.29:17-21 Nebuchadnezzar laid siege

against Tyre for thirteen years. How-ever, he took little spoil from the city. Itwas at this time in history that God wasusing the Babylonian Empire to bringjudgment on Assyria for arrogantly strik-ing against the people of God in the north-ern kingdom, and then against Judah. Inorder that the Babylonian army continueto be God’s proxy judgment against theapostate people of God, they needed tosurvive. For this reason, therefore, Godallowed Nebuchadnezzar to conquerEgypt. The horn of the house of Is-rael: Reference here could be to the timewhen God would open Ezekiel’s mouthonce again to speak concerning Israel andher future. At this time his mouth wasclosed, for he could speak only concern-ing the destiny of the nations around Is-rael. But when God once again allowedhim to speak, he would speak of the res-toration of Israel, as well as the comingof the Messiah.

30:1-9 The day of the Lord: Inprophecy, this phrase meant that judgmentand destruction were coming. The dayof the Lord meant deliverance of the righ-teous by the destruction of the wicked(See comments 2 Pt 3). In this historicalcontext, Egypt and all nations who werein alliance with her, were to suffer thedestruction that would be coming fromthe Babylonian Empire. When Egypt andits alliance countries fell to the Babylo-nians, the neighboring Ethiopians to thesouth of Egypt, would also suffer.

30:10-12 I will make the riversdry: The Nile River would not com-pletely dry up, but it would be so low thatthe irrigation canals would not feedthrough to the crops. However, most ofthe small rivers that dispersed from themouth of the Nile in the land of Goshenwould dry up.

30:13-19 The cities herein men-tioned are the principal cities throughoutEgypt. Memphis was the capital ofLower Egypt (the northern region) andPathros was the capital of Upper Egypt

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(the southern region). No: Thebes.Aven: Heliopolis. Pi-beseth: Bubastis.Tehaphnehes: Or, Tahpanhes.

30:20-26 The date of this oracleagainst Pharaoh was 586 B.C., the yearthat Jerusalem fell. While Nebuchadn-ezzar was besieging Jerusalem, the Egyp-tians came up to help Judah. But Neb-uchadnezzar temporarily left his siege of

Jerusalem, and engaged the Egyptians,whom he defeated and sent back toEgypt. Then again in 582/81 B.C., Neb-uchadnezzar took his army into Egypt andravaged the land. The prophecy heremade by Ezekiel possibly refers to the582/81 B.C. attack of Nebuchadnezzaragainst Egypt.

31:1-9 This oracle is dated abouttwo months after the previous oracle(30:20). The prophecy here was directedto Pharaoh. However, Assyria is used toillustrate that no matter how great a king-dom might be, it can be brought down byGod. Cedar: In order to exemplify thegreatness of the Assyrian Empire, it wascompared to a great cedar of Lebanon.The Assyrian Empire became extensivethroughout the Near East. Other nationsfounded their security on its existence,trusting that it would never fall. Throughits far reaching governance of the NearEast, nations could trade in peace. Thekings of the Empire were arrogant be-cause of the greatness of the kingdom.God had raised up this empire for thepurpose of using it to discipline His peopleof the northern kingdom of Israel.

31:10-14 Though the Assyrian Em-pire was so great, the Babylonian Em-pire overcame it. Assyria was broughtdown. And when it was brought down,

all those who depended on her existencecame down with her. The most ruthlessof the nations: The Babylonian armywas composed of a coalition of forcesthat were of a warrior culture. They ex-isted off the plunder of other nations.Their survival, therefore, depended ontheir plunder of those cities they con-quered. The Assyrians could not standagainst such an army. They were thusbrought down to the pit of death.

31:15-18 Assyria was broughtdown. And when it fell, it fell as a greattree to the ground, causing a tremorthroughout the nations that depended onher existence. Such would be the fate ofEgypt. Egypt was never the extensiveempire that Assyria was. And since As-syria was brought down by the Babylo-nians, Ezekiel wanted the Egyptians toknow that they did not have a chance.They too would come crumbling down inorder to find their place among the uncir-cumcised.

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32:1-10 This oracle against Pharaohwas delivered in March 585 B.C. It wasdelivered a year and nine months afterthe oracle of 31:1. This prophecy is spe-

cifically against Pharaoh. He made him-self fierce like a lion, and like a greatmonster—possibly a reference to awhale—among the nations. Spread out

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My net: No matter how fierce and largePharaoh presumed himself to be, hewould be caught and entangled in the netof God (See 29:3-5). Pharaoh would bebrought out of his protective waters, andlaid out on the ground. The wild birdsand beasts would then come and devourhis flesh. He would not be allowed thehonorable burial that was traditionallygiven to Pharaohs. I will cover the heav-ens: When Pharaoh fell, all his gover-nors, princes and leaders of the land fellwith him. Their influence was darkened.They were as stars and the moon that nolonger reflected light. When Pharaoh (thesun) was covered, the Egyptian leaders(the moon), could no longer reflect theinfluence of the Pharaoh throughout theland. Trouble the hearts of manypeople: When Pharaoh was broughtdown, all those nations that depended onEgypt were troubled. They would seethat if Egypt could not stand against theinvasion of the Babylonians, then surelythey could not stand.

32:11-16 Death and destructionwould not stop with Pharaoh. The Baby-lonians would strike the population ofEgypt. Since God meant for the Babylo-nian army to be replenished with the spoilthey would take from Egypt, the treasuresof the country would be taken. The ani-mals and crops would be taken for food.The country would be plundered of its

goods, and thus the people would be leftwith nothing to eat. Those who fled intothe desert would starve.

32:17-32 Though the Egyptians con-sidered themselves a distinct people fromthe rest of the Gentile nations, they wouldgo down to death and join all the uncir-cumcised in Sheol. Pharaoh, and all hispeople, would be laid in the grave amongall the other nations. Sheol: All the spir-its of the dead would go to the realm ofdeparted spirits. This is not the eternalpunishment, but the abode of the dead.Asshur: Or, Assyria. All the nations thatwere mentioned in this context were for-midable military states. They all fell tosucceeding nations, and thus Egypt wouldbe no different. Meshech and Tubal wereremnants of the Hittites who dwelt northof Palestine. Though all these nationswere a terror to the populations of theNear East, they were all gone, buried withtheir populations. The grave silenced theirterror, and the world continued on a bet-ter place without them. Pharaoh wouldsuffer the same disgrace and the worldwould carry on.

Restoration And Reconstruction(33:1 – 48:35)

Outline: (1) Return of the glory of theLord (33:1 – 39:29), (2) Restoration ofworship and civic life (40:1 – 48:35)

RETURN OFTHE GLORY OF THE LORDBeginning with this chapter, and ex-

tending throughout the remainder of the

book, the primary focus of the prophet ison hope for the future. Except for a briefinterjection of prophecy in reference tothe nations (36:7; ch 38 & 39), the pro-

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nouncements of these final chapters areto the people of God.

33:1-9 Watchman: The prophetsof the Old Testament were the watch-men of God (3:16-21; Is 21:6; Jr 6:17; Hk2:1). They were called in order to callIsrael back to God. Their work was towarn the wicked, that they turn from theirwicked ways. The Major and MinorProphets existed for the purpose of warn-ing God’s people during the era of apos-tasy that they should repent, and returnto God. Wicked man: In this context,Ezekiel turned from the sins of the nationto the sins of the individual. Though thenation had to suffer the calamity of de-struction and captivity, the individual wouldbe saved through individual repentanceand obedience of God’s law.

33:10,11 How should he then live:The people knew that they had to pay fortheir sinful ways. Their question was howcould they survive the present calamity.The answer was that they had to repent.They had to turn from their idolatrousbeliefs and behavior and return to the lawof God.

33:12-16 Righteousness ... will notdeliver: This context of teaching arguesagainst the concept that one is once saved,and then he is always saved before God.The word “if” places a condition on one’ssalvation. If one does not continue in hisobedience to the word of God, then hewill fall from his state of salvation (See 1Co 15:2). It is true that our works (righ-teousness) do not guarantee our salva-tion. We are saved by grace, regardlessof the works that we do in response toGod’s grace (See comments 2 Co 4:15).

However, if one claims to be righteousbecause of his works, and then workswickedness, then God’s grace will notcover his wicked behavior. If the wickedman turns from his wicked ways, then hehas thus changed his eternal destiny. Hewill be saved. His eternal destiny, there-fore, is determined by his obedience tothe will of God.

33:17-20 Their way is not fair: Inorder that the justice of God stand un-challenged, each free-moral individualmust be held accountable for his ownsins. His eternal destiny cannot be un-conditionally determined by God beforehe is born. God’s justice stands becauseeach person will be held accountable forhis own sins (See comments 2 Co 5:10).Because of the many exhortationsthroughout the Bible in reference to theteaching of this context—that one mustcontinue to be faithful—individual respon-sibility for one’s behavior is necessary inorder that God stand just in judgment (SeeMt 10:22; Cl 1:23; Hb 3:6; 2 Pt 1:10).

33:21,22 One who had escaped:The normal journey from Jerusalem toChebar would have taken over threemonths (See Er 7:9). Because of the de-tention of the captives after the fall ofthe city in 586 B.C., we would assumethat the journey of this refugee took oversix months. Ezekiel’s mouth had beenclosed by God in giving any further oraclesconcerning the city after the statementsof 24:26,27. During the interim period,he spoke only of the nations (chs 25 –32). But now God opened his mouth andhe could speak concerning the future ofIsrael.



33:23-29 Many residents of Jerusa-lem had scattered throughout the landduring Nebuchadnezzar’s 30-month siegeof the city. They were reasoning that ifGod had given the land to one man, Abra-ham, then certainly they should be grantedthe land as a group. In their reasoning,however, they had forgotten their idola-trous beliefs and behavior that had led totheir loss of the land. In this oracle, Godreminded them of their sinful ways thatled to their loss of the land. Eat withblood: They ate blood in reference toidol worship (See At 15:20). Shed blood:They had offered their children as sacri-fices to their idol gods. Stand upon yoursword: They trusted in their own mili-

tary strength, and not in God. They livedby plunder and murder. Defiles hisneighbor’s wife: They were an immoralculture. Fall by the sword: Those whoremained in the land after the destructionof Jerusalem would be hunted down andkilled by the Babylonian army.

33:30-33 They will not do them:They came to hear the word of God fromthe preacher, but they would not take ac-tion. They were hearers of the word, butnot doers (See comments Js 2:14-26). Aprophet ... among them: WhenEzekiel’s prophecies were fulfilled, hewas then confirmed without doubt to bea prophet of God.

34:1-6 This is a picture of a self-centered leadership that was concernedonly with their own well-being. Shep-herds: The shepherds in this contextwere the kings, princes, priests and el-ders of Israel. When Jerusalem fell, thepeople of God were scattered as captives,not only throughout the land of Palestine,but also throughout the Babylonian Em-pire. They were scattered because theirleaders had led them into the apostasy ofidolatry. In the preceding chapter, theleaders simply wanted to come beforeEzekiel and hear a word from the prophet.They should have been inquiring of theLord as to how they could gather thescattered flock of God. You have domi-nated them: Leaders who are concernedfor their own well-being, and do not leadby service and example, control by domi-nation. The less they care for the flock,

the greater the severity of their domina-tion in order to maintain their base of sup-port and control over the people. Theythus use the sheep as an opportunity tosatisfy their own thirst for power andcontrol. These shepherds failed to servethe flock of God. God’s shepherds shouldlead by service, not command (Comparecomments Mk 10:35-45; 1 Pt 5:1-4).

34:7-10 No shepherd ... search forMy flock: A shepherd is no shepherd atall if he has his own interest at heart.Since in the context the shepherds werethe civil and religious leaders of the people,then in this statement, God said He wouldtake them away. He would take awayany further earthly kings in Israel. Theemphasis of what God states in this con-text is that He will restore His originalplan for His people, that He only wouldbe their king, reigning over them from

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heaven. His kingship would continue withthe coming King, the Messiah, who wouldreign over the people from heaven (Lk1:31-33; At 2:21-36).

34:11-16 God would seek out Hissheep from among the nations to whichthey had been taken into captivity. Oncethey were gathered, He would bring themagain into their land that He had giventhem. This would happen when theMedo-Persian Empire, under the kingshipof Cyrus, would allow the captives to re-turn to their land in 536 B.C. (See com-ments Er & Ne). Destroy the fat andthe strong: The wicked kings and lead-ers of former Israel would be taken away.God would never again allow His peopleto have royal authorities on earth to domi-nate His people. All authority would re-main in heaven where it has always ex-isted (See comments Mt 28:18).

34:17-19 Male goats: God wouldtake away those who sought to dominateamong the flock. These had formerlyconsumed the wealth of the land for theirown selfish ends. They had no consider-ation for the people, and thus seized andmaintained control of the people for thepurpose of maintaining their own life-styles. When religious leaders take ad-vantage of the people in order to guaran-tee their own life-style, they have stolenthe flock of God.

34:20-22 Fat sheep: One was de-termined to be a self-seeking shepherdby his fatness that had resulted from hisexploitation of the flock. Scatteredthem: Their behavior resulted in the scat-tering of the flock, for they led the peopleinto idolatry. Save My flock: The un-

godly and self-centered leaders of Israelhad scattered the flock. God was nowtaking control of His flock and bringingthem back to Him. No longer would Herelinquish the flock to man in order that aking reign over them. Their rejection ofHim had led to their destruction as a na-tion. His direction would lead them backto Him, and the Servant that was to come.They would regain their identity as apeople, but not regain their independenceas a nation in Palestine.

34:23-31 In order to understand thefollowing context, the interpreter mustconclude that the prophet is speaking ofthe Messiah. I will set up one shep-herd over them: About 500 years be-fore the time of this statement, Israel hadcried out for a king on earth to rule overthem. This system of governance led totheir destruction, for the kings led in theiridolatry. In this context, God was layingthe foundation for restoring His sole king-ship over His people. Through the cap-tivity, their shepherds were taken away,and God was enthroned in their hearts.They were thus being prepared for a so-cial paradigm shift that would last for an-other 500 years, which would bring themto King Jesus. God would set up Hisanointed King who would come from thelineage of David (See comments Ep 1:20-23). He would be the Good Shepherd(Jn 10:11,14). Covenant of peace: Seecomments Jr 31:31-34. My hill: Seecomments Is 2:1-4. Showers of bless-ing: See At 3:19. Delivered them: Godwould deliver the captives from the bond-age from which they could not deliverthemselves. Their physical deliverance



from Babylonian captivity would be typi-cal of their deliverance from sin underthe reign of the coming Servant. Oncedelivered, God’s sheep would be in His

protective hand. They would no longerfear those who could kill the body, butcould not kill the soul (Compare Mt 10:28;Rv 21:4).

35:1-9 Mount Seir: Edom. Stretchout My hand: God will influence theevents of history in order to bring Edomto a close. Perpetual hatred: Beingthe descendants of Esau, the twin brotherof Jacob, the Edomites were continuallythe antagonists of Israel. From the timethe Israelites came out of Egyptian cap-tivity, to the time of their demise in thedestruction of Jerusalem, the Edomitesshed the blood of the Israelites (Nm20:18). When Israel was coming to aclose with the destruction of Jerusalem,the Edomites murdered many Israeliteswho escaped from the destruction ofJerusalem and fled toward Edom (Seecomments Ob). The Edomites rejoicedover the doom of Israel (See commentsOb 12). Because they showed no mercyfor God’s people, God would show nomercy toward them (Js 2:13). Edom asa nation would be terminated from his-tory. They lived by the sword, and by thesword they would die. They were a cruelrace of people. Herod the Great was an

Edomite. Centuries after this prophecyof Ezekiel, Herod the Great, and thosewho descended from Herod, were des-ignated by the Romans to reign over theJews in Palestine immediately before thebirth of Jesus. It was an effort by theRomans to humiliate the Jews who wereliving in Palestine at the time of the birthof Jesus.

35:10-15 Before the birth of Jacoband Esau, God told Rebekah that therewere two nations in her womb (Gn 25:23).These two nations were the Edomites andIsraelites. Israel followed after God, butthe Edomites followed after false gods(Ob 2). They followed after the charac-ter of their father who was a profaneperson (Hb 12:16). I will do accordingto your anger: God would render tothem that which they had done to others(Rm 12:19). Idumea: The Edomite na-tion. The Edomite nation would be madedesolate, but the Jews would be restoredto their land.

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36:1-7 Ezekiel had previously re-vealed condemnation of Mount Seir(35:3). Now he revealed blessing for themountains of Israel. Mountains: Themountains stood for all the land. The land,including its mountains, valleys and riv-ers, was the sustenance of the nation ofIsrael. Have become our possession:

The rest of the nations were land grab-bers. Once the Israelites were takenfrom the land, countries as Edom grabbedthe land. Because of the apostasy, Godhad taken His people from the land. How-ever, when He took His people from theirinheritance, He did not permanently giveit over to other nations. The message of

CHAPTER 36



hope in this context was that the moun-tains and valleys would again be produc-tive for the people of God.

36:8-15 Yield your fruit for Mypeople: Though others took possessionof the land, the promise was that the landwould again bring forth its fruit for thepeople of God. All the house of Israel:All twelve tribes would again enjoy theiroccupation of the land after King Cyrusof the Medo-Persian Empire released theexiles in 536 B.C. The promise was thatthe cities of the land would be rebuilt, notjust the city of Jerusalem. Jerusalem wasimportant to the returnees, but it was notthe only city that was rebuilt. In fact,according to the history that is given byEzra and Nehemiah, the completion of thereconstruction of Jerusalem came afterthe rebuilding of many other cities in theland (See comments Er & Ne). There isno emphasis here on the rebuilding of thetemple. I will multiply: Their prosper-ity in the land would be the sign that Godwas again with them. Bereave yournation of children: The other nationswere saying that Israel bereaved herselfof children. But this reproach of the na-tion would cease. Neither the people, northe land, would bear the disgrace that wasbrought on the land through their apos-tasy. Through repentance and restora-tion, the Israelites would not become thevictims of themselves. They would nolonger be a reproach and a derision amongthe nations.

36:16-25 Woman in her impurity:When a woman was in her time of un-cleanness, she was ceremonially impure(Lv 15:19-24). She was not to be touched

by a man. When Israel was unclean withidol worship, God could not be close toher. He stood at a distance, and thus Sa-tan had his opportunity to bring the ruth-less nations of the world into her land forthe purpose of destruction. Accordingto their deeds: They sowed idolatry, andthus reaped the consequences of their sin.Profaned My holy name: Through theirdisobedience of His law, and their apos-tasy to idols, they brought mockery on thename of God. They caused the Gentilenations to accuse that the God of Israelwas no different from their nationalisticgods that they had created after their ownimaginations. I do this ... for My name’ssake: Israel was only the opportunitythrough whom God planned to bring theMessiah and Savior into the world. Shewas a flawed instrument. Nevertheless,in order to fulfill the promises that weremade to the fathers, God restored Israelin order that she be identified as the heri-tage through whom the Savior came infulfillment of the promises. I will sanc-tify My great name: God’s name wouldbe set apart, and thus manifested as aname of the God who exists above theminds of men who imagine their owngods. Through the restoration of Hispeople to the land, therefore, God vindi-cated Himself to be the one true and liv-ing God (1 Sm 2:2). Sanctified in youbefore their eyes: When God was hal-lowed—set apart as the only God—thenthe nations would perceive that God wasworking in the restoration of Israel to theirland. I will cleanse you: The peoplewould be cleansed of their former sinbecause of their repentance of their idola-



trous past. They would once again beHis holy people (Lv 11:44; see 1 Pt1:15,16).

36:26-32 A new heart: It would bea humbled heart. The purpose for thecaptivity of Israel was not simply punish-ment. If we do not understand that Godwas working to preserve a remnant ofIsrael in order to reestablish their identityfor the fulfillment of the promises madeto the fathers, then we have missed thepurpose for the captivity. In order to re-establish the identity of Israel, they hadto be humbled through captivity. This wasGod putting a new heart and spirit withinthem. They had to voluntarily submit toHis will, realizing that the only way out ofcaptivity was through humble submissionto Him. Once this was accomplishedafter the first generation of captives died,then through scribes as Ezra, with theleadership of spiritual men as Nehemiah,the humble and dedicated could be broughtback into the land in order to prepare forthe coming Messiah and Savior of theworld. I will put My Spirit within you:This statement would possibly take thesepromises beyond the restoration of thecaptives to the land after the Babyloniancaptivity. The prophecy possibly looks tothe fulfillment of Joel 2:28-32 (See com-ments). God poured out the Holy Spiriton the apostles in Acts 2, afterward fill-ing His people with the Spirit upon theirobedience to the gospel (At 2:38). How-ever, the meaning would also be appli-cable from the time of the restoration tothe coming of the Messiah, the time whenGod did not work through prophets asIsaiah, Jeremiah, and the other prophets.

The Old Testament prophets were sentin order to call Israel back to God fromtheir idolatry. But after the return, theywould need no message as was given tothem by the Old Testament prophets.They had the writings of the prophets tolead them to the Messiah. Nevertheless,the Holy Spirit would not cease to workamong God’s people until the coming ofthe Messiah. He would work, but not asthrough prophets as the Major and MinorOld Testament prophets. He would workthrough chosen individuals as Simeon andAnna who would constantly remind thepeople that the Messiah was coming (Seecomments Lk 2:25,36). Cause you towalk in My statutes: God caused themto go through the cleansing of the captiv-ity by humiliating the proud and arrogantidolaters. Since we would also interpretthis to refer to a restoration of the peopleto return to God, then we would assumethat the teaching of Jeremiah 31:31-34would apply to this prophecy (See com-ments). The new heart would be thepeople’s desire for God alone. My people... your God: They would no longer givethemselves over to false gods that theyhad created after their own imaginations.They would be restored to the one trueGod, and thus made to be His people. Nomore reproach of famine: Becausethey would give their hearts to God, Godwould not bring famine and pestilence onthem in an effort to turn them from theirsin. Thus the nations would never againmock them because their God hadbrought punishment on them for their sin.You will loathe yourselves: When re-stored to the land, the generation of Isra-



elites that would return would look backto the idolatry of their fathers and loathethe behavior of their fathers. They wouldrealize that their fathers brought indepen-dent Israel down because they ran afterfalse gods.

36:33-38 Dwell in the cities ... ru-ins rebuilt: These promises caution usnot to be too zealous to see Messianicprophecies within this context of our ownfuture. Ezekiel focused the prophecy onthe restoration of the people to the landof Palestine, rebuilding of the cities thathad been destroyed by the invading forces,

and then, cultivating the land. God woulddo all this as an evidence that He hadworked a historical miracle. When a na-tion was conquered in ancient times andtaken into captivity, that was the end ofthe nation. However, in the case of Is-rael, God would resurrect His people outof captivity and reestablish them as apeople within their land that had been givento them one thousand years before.When this would happen, then all the na-tions would perceive that the God of Is-rael was the true God of heaven.

37:1-14 This was surely one of themost unsettling visual prophecies thatEzekiel experienced. The message of theillustration is clear. The power of Godthat was manifested in the resurrectionof the bones proved to the people that ifGod could raise up these bones, and putlife in them, then surely He could raiseup His people out of their captivity andbring them again into their land. Thenorthern kingdom of Israel was taken intocaptivity in 722/21 B.C. by the Assyrians.They had thus been in captivity over 140years before this prophecy was made.They were many generations into theircaptivity, and thus settled in the lands oftheir captors. The captivity of the south-ern kingdom was finalized in 586 B.C.But in the prophecy, both the northern andsouthern kingdoms of Israel would berestored to the land as one nation oftwelve tribes. This historical miracle wasaccomplished when the Medo-PersianEmpire conquered the Babylonians, and

subsequently allowed all captives to re-turn to their homelands that were underMedo-Persian control. The fact that thiswould eventually happen caused wonderat the time Ezekiel made the prophecy,but belief when it actually happened af-ter the captivity.

37:15-23 What God commandedEzekiel to do was to be done before allthe people. It was to be done in a man-ner that would cause them to ask con-cerning the meaning of his actions. Onestick represented the southern kingdomof Judah. The other used Joseph to standfor the northern kingdom of Israel. Thesticks represented the two kingdoms com-ing together to be known as Israel, thusreestablishing the identity of Israel. Thetwo kingdoms had been divided since thetime immediately after the death of So-lomon in 931 B.C. In 536 B.C., whenthe Medo-Persians allowed the Jews toreturn to their land, they would be unitedas one nation. After a period of almost

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400 years of division, they would bebrought together as one nation. Truly, itwas a historical miracle of God to do sucha thing.

37:24-28 There is certainly Messi-anic prophecy in this context. David Myservant: This statement should be un-derstood in view of its fulfillment in Jesus(See comments Lk 1:31-34; At 2:25-36).When a remnant of all twelve tribes wasrestored to the land after 539 B.C., thepeople also restored themselves to serveGod as their only king. When Jesus came,the Father gave kingdom reign to the Son,who is now on the throne of David, reign-ing with all authority on earth from heaven

(See comments Mt 28:18; Ep 1:21-23).My tabernacle: The tabernacle was lo-cated in the middle of the twelve tribes,and thus symbolized the presence of Godamong His people. The restoration of thetabernacle meant that God’s presencewould again be restored among Hispeople. The Lord sanctifies Israel: Theword “sanctify” here means to set apart.The thought is that the nations would, af-ter the return of the captives, know thatGod had set apart His people. They wereset apart for a specific purpose, that is, tobring the Son of God into the world asthe Savior of all men.

38:1-17 In chapters 38 & 39, apoca-lyptic prophecy is directed against Gog,of the land of Magog, who would fightagainst the people of God. Magog was aland to the north of Palestine. It includedthe regions of Meshech and Tubal. Somehave assumed that Gog was Gyges (690-657 B.C.), king of Lydia in Asia Minor.Others have assumed that Gog was Neb-uchadnezzar of the Babylonian Empire.Some have suggested that reference isto Alexander the Great who took controlof Palestine in the latter part of the 4th

century. Still others have suggested thatAntiochus Epiphanes, king of Syria, is pic-tured, for he was the one who defiledIsrael’s sacrificial ceremonies in the earlypart of the 2nd century. However, if thiscontext is apocalyptic, then the identityof Gog as a specific person is meaning-less. He simply represents any force thatwould set himself or itself against the

people of God. In view of the statementsin 39:25-29, reference in the prophecy ofthese two chapters is to a time after thereturn of the captives from Babyloniancaptivity. The historical events look for-ward from the return to the coming ofJesus for His earthly ministry. This is anapocalyptic picture of any attack againstGod’s people, and thus an encouragementto the returnees that they should neveragain fear a force that would destroythem. Others would come, but they wouldnot defeat and scatter them as in the As-syrian and Babylonian captivities. Per-sia, Ethiopia and Libya: The prophecywas not only against Gog to the north ofPalestine, but also against Persia to theeast and Ethiopia and Libya to the south.All the nations surrounding Israel afterthe return are here warned not to troubleGod’s people, for He will bring judgmenton them for harming His people. In the

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prophecy, Gog is representative of all en-emies who would set themselves againstIsrael. Since Israel was restored to Pal-estine, the major trading route of the time,then the trading nations to the north andsouth of Israel are judged for their troublethat they would bring on God’s people. Itis difficult in the prophecy to determineexactly what nation would be representedby Gog. Though we may not understandthe specific identity of Gog, and the coun-try of Magog, the central meaning of theprophecy is clear. Gog would representany king who would set himself againstGod’s people. Magog would be repre-sentative of any kingdom that would seekto again assimilate God’s people to theloss of their identity. All such kings andkingdoms would fail in their attempt toannihilate God’s people. Sanctifiedthrough you: From the time of the re-turn of the remnant to Palestine, whichbegan in 539 B.C., to the time of the com-ing of Jesus, the land of Palestine wasoccupied by the Medo-Persians, Greeksand Romans. All these empires subdued

the people of God. However, the attackof Gog, who represented all enemies ofthe people of God, would come to no avail.God’s people would continue to maintaintheir identity as Jews until the coming ofthe Messiah. The fact that they main-tained their identity as a culture of people,proved that God had set them apart (sanc-tified) as His people through whom theSavior would be brought into the world.Every effort to terminate Israel from his-tory, therefore, would fail.

38:18-23 The meaning of the proph-ecy was that God works for His people.In the case of any attack upon God’speople, it is not stated that it would beHis people who would take up arms anddefend themselves against the attacker.It is stated that God would raise up allthat would be necessary in order to thwartthe plans of the attacker of His people.Thus God would work nation against na-tion in order that no nation ever againconquer His people. God would do allthis in order to exalt His name among thenations.

39:1-8 In this context the invadinghostile force against God’s people is de-scribed in detail. Regardless of thestrength of forces against God, He, witha simple strike, dismantles their power.They are laid bare to be devoured by birdsand beasts. Because the evil forces areso easily defeated, God’s people concludethat only He could have been the sourceof their defeat (See comments Et).

39:9,10 Once God had brought theforces of evil down, then His people en-

joyed the plunder that came from His de-liverance. The extent of the victory wasmeasured by the greatness of the spoil.The burning of the instruments of war forfuel took seven years, indicating completedestruction. It also symbolized that theenemies of God were great. However,they were overcome, regardless of theirgreatness and the number of weaponsthey used against the people of God.

39:11-16 Gog would be buried be-yond the Jordan River (Sea). In order

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that the land be cleansed of all the deadbodies (36:18; Nm 31:19,20), a burial partywould be employed for the purpose. Ifanyone identified a body, he was to markthe location for the burial party.

39:17-24 Though God used invad-ing forces to punish Israel for their iniq-uity, He sacrificed (set apart) the invad-ing forces in order to restore and spareHis people. Assyria and Babylon wereused as His proxy judgment against Is-rael. Assyria and Babylon, however,were conquered in order to restore thepeople to the land. Both Assyria andBabylon were evil forces against God’speople. They arrogantly marched againstIsrael. Because of their arrogance, theywere sacrificed for the benefit of the res-toration of the people of God. Israel’sdeliverance from the evil forces that wereagainst her is the occasion for beliefamong the nations. The nations thoughtit was the end of Israel when she wastaken into captivity. But when the pow-ers that took her into captivity were ter-minated, she was restored to her land.

The historical miracle of her restorationbecame the opportunity for the honesthistorian to conclude that God was stillworking through His people.

39:25-29 This clear historical con-clusion to the apocalyptic revelation ofchapters 38 & 39 place the setting of theevents at the time of Israel’s captivity andrestoration. Evil forces, symbolized byGog and Magog, were brought againstGod’s people. They were defeated byGod once He had used them for His pur-pose. That purpose was concluded withthe fall of the Babylonian Empire in 539B.C. to the Medo-Persian Empire.Cyrus, king of the Medo-Persian Empire,released the captives, and thus the faith-ful in Israel concluded that there was onlyone God. All their false gods and theirfalse prophets had been proven wrong.God’s prophets had been proven true.And thus, Israel knew that God causedboth their captivity and return. They knewthat God did what He said He would doif they forsook His covenant with them.

RESTORATIONOF WORSHIP AND CIVIC LIFE

40:1-4 Ezekiel dates these prophe-cies in 572 B.C., fourteen years after thefall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. Throughvisions, God wanted Ezekiel to see therestored Jerusalem. Thus the angel tookEzekiel to Jerusalem in order that he mightsee in vision what he would never see inlife, for he would be dead by the time thisvision was fulfilled. But to give hope tothe captives, he was to tell what he saw

in the vision.40:5-49 Temple: The literal He-

brew word is “house,” and thus can betranslated “house” throughout the remain-der of these chapters. Since the word“house” would metaphorically refer to theabiding place of God among His people,the physical symbol of the temple is usedin prophecy to look forward to the houseof God, the church (See 1 Tm 3:15). Cu-bit: About eighteen inches, or forty-fivecentimeters. Rod: About ten and a half

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feet, or a little over three meters. In thischapter the angel measured for the re-turnees the places for the restored sacri-fices. When the return of the exiles hap-pened, they would reinstitute sacrificesat the temple. Ezekiel is given this rev-elation in order to bring hope to the cap-tives, reassuring them that though thetemple had been destroyed, and thetemple sacrifices terminated, they wouldin the years to come be reinstituted. Thepurpose for the revelation, therefore, was

to bring encouragement for the discour-aged captives in the wake of the destruc-tion of Jerusalem and the temple. It isdifficult not to understand that theseprophecies look beyond the physical res-toration of Israel to the land of Palestine.In our hindsight of the establishment ofthe church, we can see the symbolism ofthe physical return of God’s people to theland of Palestine as a metaphor thatwould refer to the establishment of thechurch in Acts 2.

41:1-26 When reading this vision ofa rebuilt temple, the Bible historian shouldkeep in mind that a permanent temple forIsrael was not in the original plan of God.When Israel was still at the foot of MountSinai, God, through Moses, gave instruc-tions to Israel to build a tabernacle, or tent.The instructions were given in detail inorder that Israel rebuild the tabernaclethroughout their years in the land of prom-ise. The tabernacle represented the pres-ence of God among the people, and be-fore it they were to assemble yearly. Thetabernacle was to be moved among thepeople in order that no tribe bemarginalized for the annual sacrifice dur-ing the day of atonement. However,when David became king, God gave aconcession to him that he build a perma-nent structure to house the ark of thecovenant. The concession was givenbecause God knew that the northern tentribes would pull away from Israel afterSolomon died. David was not allowed tobuild the temple, but Solomon, his son, did(1 Kg 6 – 7). Solomon’s temple, there-

fore, marginalized the tribes to the northin Palestine. After Solomon’s death Jero-boam built two altars, one in Bethel andthe other in Dan (1 Kg 12:29). In 586B.C. Nebuchadnezzar destroyedSolomon’s temple. In the return of theremnant, God knew that the remnantwould remain small in the land, and thusthe rebuilding of the temple that is de-scribed in these chapters would sufficein providing a location to which the rem-nant could go for the annual sacrifices(See comments Er & Ne; Dt 12:21). Thedimensions of the temple were differentthan those of Solomon’s temple. Thistemple would exist until Herod the Great,who would later built what was referredto as Herod’s Temple. This temple wouldbe destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70and would never be rebuilt again. Be-cause of Ezekiel’s use of the word “for-ever,” it may be that these instructionsconcerning the restoration of the sacri-fices and rebuilding of the temple weresymbolic of the spiritual temple of God,the church, that would come a little over

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400 years after the last return of the cap-tives to Palestine (See comments Er &Ne). At least we know that when Jesuscame, no emphasis was placed on a con-tinuation of the temple, for true worshipwould take place anywhere in the world,regardless of any physical structures (Seecomments Jn 4:23,24). In fact, Jesusprophesied the destruction of the templestructure that stood at the time of His min-istry (See comments Mt 24). One of thegreat lessons that the Jews learned whilein exile was that they could worship Godwithout the presence of a temple struc-ture. When they returned to rebuild thetemple, therefore, they rebuilt it in orderto unite the people around the sacrificesthat were to be continued until the com-ing of the final sacrifice of the Son of God.While in captivity, it is believed that theJews developed the idea of the syna-gogue. It is difficult to determine the ori-gins of the synagogue, for the structure

and function of the synagogue is foundnowhere in the Old Testament. The Jewsin captivity possibly built the synagoguesfor the purpose of solidifying their reli-gious identity and culture throughout theworld where they had been scattered.The concept of the synagogue thus camewith the returnees in view of the fact thatthe rebuilt temple still marginalized thosein Palestine who were too far from thetemple (See comments Dt 12:21). Insteadof a restoration of the mobile tabernacle,the Jews built synagogues throughout Pal-estine. Since they had built synagoguesthroughout the land of their captivity, thesynagogue became a customary culturaland religious center of Israel. Every re-gion, therefore, had a synagogue wheresacrifices and teaching could take place.The synagogue thus became an opportu-nity for world evangelism in the early daysof the church (At 17:2).

42:1-20 Bible students should notbe frustrated in interpreting the descrip-tion of the temple that is given here.Because the Hebrew text varies in dif-ferent places it is difficult in some placesfor the translator to bring over into an-other language the details of the Hebrewtext. We do understand that these instruc-tions were given through Ezekiel in orderthat the returnees after the Babyloniancaptivity would have some guidelines con-cerning the reconstruction of the temple.God knew that the temple had been socompletely destroyed that the returneeswould not have an idea as to how they

should rebuild it. No guidelines or blue-print for building the temple were givenfor the construction of Solomon’s temple.It is believed that Solomon built his templeafter the model of Canaanite temples thatwere contemporary with Solomon. Thereturnees, however, were so repentantconcerning their sin of idolatry, that theydid not want in any way to rebuild thetemple in a manner that would resembleor reflect the pattern of any pagantemples. In order to ease their minds,therefore, God revealed these basic in-structions concerning the reconstructionin order that they be confident that the

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rebuilding was according to the will ofGod. Both Ezra and Nehemiah, who ledreturns and reconstruction after theBabylonian captivity, could follow the

basic instructions given in these contextsin order to reaffirm to the people that therebuilding was according to the plan anddirection of God.

43:1-12 The glory of the Lord fills allthe earth (Is 6:3). God reveals His gloryin order to manifest His approval and pres-ence. The vision that Ezekiel saw on thisoccasion was similar to other occasionswhen he experienced the awesome pres-ence of God (1:26-28; 8:1,2; 9:1-3). Whatwas experienced on this occasion was thedivine glory of God that was manifested inEzekiel’s vision of the temple. His glorycame into the reconstructed temple fromthe east, signifying that God was stillpresent with His people in captivity inBabylonian territory east of Palestine. Hewould be with them when they returnedfrom captivity to rebuild the temple. Whenthe people forsook idolatry, God came againinto their presence while they were in cap-tivity. God’s presence, therefore, was notconfined to a physical temple. His pres-ence with His people exists wherever theyare in the world. Threshold by My thresh-old: The awesomeness of God cannot becompared to or associated with man in hismost pure state of being. In the past, theIsraelites had built their houses joined tothe temple. In the restored temple, theywere not to defile the presence of God bydoing such. Man cannot exalt himself tobe compared with God as he had done withhis idol gods that he had created after hisown imagination. The awesomeness ofthe presence of God should be so reveredthat we would fear His presence and stand

in awe of His glory. If men seek to per-sonalize God to the point that they lose theirfear of His awesomeness, they may becreating a god after their own imagination.When God was incarnate in the flesh ofman, He had to empty Himself of His di-vine form in order for man to be able tostand in His presence (See Ph 2:5-8). Godis personal to us through Jesus, but weshould never forget that if we stood withinthe energy of His total glory we would bedisintegrated into nothingness as in a nuclearblast. The One who created the millionsof suns of the universe is millions of timesgreater in energy than all the universecombined together, for He is greater thanthat which He created.

43:13-27 In the vision, Ezekiel seesthe restoration of the temple ceremoniesthat were conducted by the priests, thedescendants of Zadok (vs 19; 44:15; 1Kg 1:7,8). In connection with the offer-ings that were made, the priests were tosprinkle salt, signifying that the peoplewould keep the covenant. The blood wassprinkled in order to sanctify (set apart)all that was reconstructed for the offer-ing of the sacrifices. Before the peoplecould continue with the altar and temple,they had to cleanse and dedicate it to theLord. After the cleansing, the peoplecould be accepted, and thus the sacrificesthat they would make would be accepted.

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44:1-3 The reason the gate is shutis because the Lord entered the templethrough the gate. And since it was shut,the Lord would never again leave His holyplace among His people. Not be opened:In their former state of idolatry, their sunworship was reflected in their opening ofthe door in order to allow the rays of therising sun to enter the temple. But in theirrestoration, this door is never to beopened. The prince: As a representa-tive of the nation, the prince would eatalone in the sanctified gateway.

44:4-9 Since the temple had previ-ously been defiled by idolatrous worshipand idols, the Lord gives instructions asto who is permitted to enter the temple.From this time on, no uncircumcised per-son was to administer at the temple.Though non-Israelites previously admin-istered at the temple (See Ja 9:24,27), thiswould be changed, for God did not wantanyone who was uncircumcised in heartto appear before Him on behalf of thepeople. In this way, He sought to guardIsrael from the influence of idolatrouspeople. Foreigners had introduced idola-trous worship into Israel, beginning withSolomon and his many foreign wives.And thus, in their future God would notallow this to happen again.

44:10-14 The Levities ... will beartheir iniquity: In this case, the conse-quences of the sins of the fathers waspassed on to the children. Because theLevites’ fathers did not assume their spiri-tual leadership in order to direct the peopleaccording to the law of God, they were

banned from doing again that which wasassigned to them under the law. Thusthe menial work that was previously as-signed to foreigners before the temple,was given to the Levites. Because theLevitical priests succumbed to idolatry,they are here assigned to be the gatekeepers, butchers and servants at thetable. Since they had failed in their du-ties to keep the people from idolatry, theywere stripped of their duties that weregiven to them under the law and givenresponsibility that did not entail spiritualleadership. When the return of the ex-iles eventually came after the Babyloniancaptivity, among the 40,000 exiles who re-turned, there were more than 4,000 priests.However, among this number there wereonly 74 Levites who wanted to leave theircomfortable homes in Babylon in orderto perform menial tasks at the templeworship (Er 2; compare Ps 84:10). Be-cause there were so few Levites afterthe return, it was necessary that theNethinim be called to perform the newduties of the Levites (Er 8:15-20).

44:15-27 Zadok: See 2 Sm 15:24-35; 1 Ch 15:11; 16:39. Clothed with linengarments: The symbolism of the gar-ments was to manifest the ceremonialcleanliness of the people. Linen was con-sidered more cleanly than wool, and thusthe sanctification of the people through-out the land was to be symbolized by thebest clothing that could be made by man.Neither ... shave their heads: This pro-hibition of shaving their heads, or not al-lowing their hair to grow long, was prob-

CHAPTER 44



ably a restriction that again was in viewof former idol worship. We must under-stand that the changes that are given inthis context were given in response to thepeople’s former behavior in reference toformer idolatrous practices. In order tochange the thinking of the people, Godwanted to prohibit every behavioral char-acteristic that was associated with idola-trous worship (See comments 1 Co 8).They will teach: The priest was to be ateacher among the people (Dt 33:10). Hewas a judge in disputed matters (Dt 17:9;19:17). Keep my laws: The priest wasto keep the ceremonial laws in order tomanifest the people’s obedience to themoral laws of God. Sanctify Mysabbaths: When the people kept thesabbaths, they were indicating their obe-

dience to all the law of God. There wasno cleansing power in the ceremoniallaws, nor in keeping the sabbaths. Buttheir obedience to the laws manifestedtheir willingness to submit themselves toGod.

44:28-31 Inheritance: See Dt 10:9.The priests were to be full-time in theirservice to the people. In order for themto do this, they were to be given the of-ferings of grain and animals, and every-thing that was dedicated to the Lord.They were to be given the firstfruits ofthe land, and all contributions that werenecessary in order that they and theirfamilies be able to give themselves to-tally to the administration of the templeservice and teaching of the people.Death: See Ex 22:31.

45:1-5 When the Jews were re-stored to the land, there was to be an al-lotment of land for the sanctuary, for thepriests, for the prince and for the city. Theland was to be divided by allotment, thusassuring that there would be a fair divi-sion of the land. We would assume thatthe original records of the borders andinheritances of the land were destroyedwhen Jerusalem was burned by Neb-uchadnezzar in 586 B.C. The instruc-tions in this context, therefore, were a newbeginning for the allotment of the land.Allotment to the Lord: The allotmentfor the Lord was first (See Mt 6:33).Open space: In order to maintain rev-erence for the allotment dedicated to theLord, a space was given in order that noone build or go into this space. The

Levites would be given a specific areafor their dwelling that would facilitate theirministry at the temple.

45:6-12 Possession: Land owner-ship was a right throughout the history ofIsrael. Land ownership prevented domi-nant individuals from taking control of theland, and subsequently developing a to-talitarian state and oppressing the poor.There were very few poor people in Is-rael for its first five hundred years of his-tory in the land. Only when dominant in-dividuals started ignoring the agriculturalland laws of the individual did poverty be-come a problem. In order to guarantee afair treatment of the poor, and to guaran-tee land ownership, the people were touse fair scales and specific measurementsin order to protect the individual citizen

CHAPTER 45



from the oppression of the greedy. Theleaders were to deal fairly with thepeople, and not use their positions as anopportunity to oppress the people (See34:1-31). Civil leaders who use their po-sitions in order to oppress the people willsuffer the judgment of God. Measure:The exact amounts of these measures aregenerally not known today.

45:13-20 The instructions concern-ing the restoration of the sacrificial cer-emonies in reference to the leadership ofthe prince is the focus of this context. Inthe reestablishment of the ceremonies ofthe law, we must keep in mind that Godwas seeking to consolidate the faith ofIsrael in the land in preparation for thecoming Messiah. Since the tabernaclewas not reinstituted as the point of as-sembly for the annual sacrifices, thetemple was rebuilt in order to be the pointof reference for the sacrifices that per-tained to all the people. The sanctuarywas to be ceremonially cleansed twice ayear, on the first and seventh month ofthe year. The giving of life, thus the of-

fering of blood, was to be used to sym-bolize purification (See comments Hb10:1-4).

45:21-25 There are differences be-tween what God reveals in this contextconcerning the Passover and what wasrevealed in the law as stated in Deuter-onomy 16. The feast of Weeks is notmentioned here, but this does not meanthat it was not kept. The purpose of Deu-teronomy was to restate principles andstatutes of the law. However, this wasnot the purpose for the revelation here.The focus of Ezekiel was on the sin ofthe people and their forgiveness. Becausethe Jews were in a process of restora-tion from a total apostasy to idolatry, whatEzekiel reveals is meant to continue andmaintain this process of restoration untilthe coming of the Messiah. At that timeIsrael would be assimilated into theworldwide family of God, the church (Gl3:26-29). They had the complete direc-tions concerning what God wanted as itwas revealed in the law.

46:1-11 The restored Israel neveragain had a God-anointed king to reignover them on earth. In the restored or-der of ceremonial practices, the “prince”(leader) in this context seems to be a ref-erence to the high priest. At least in thecontext he is given the responsibilities thatwere associated with the high priest un-der the law. The prince was to providethe sacrifice from that which was givento him by the people. He was also toprovide from his own sources. In mak-

ing these provisions, he was consideredthe representative for the people in ful-filling the requirements of the sacrifices.In reference to the people passingthrough the temple courtyard, they wereto enter one gate and pass through with-out returning to the gate of entrance. Thiswas a practical rule for the regulation ofthe traffic of the crowd of people. Everyday a lamb of no more than one year oldwas to be offered. It was to be withoutblemish, thus symbolizing that purity only

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can be offered for sin. We must keep inmind that all the blood sacrifices weregiven in view of the sinless Lamb of Godwho would give Himself for the sins ofman. In reference to the offerings, wemust keep in mind that the sacrificeswere eaten by the priests and people.Only a small portion was totally consumedas a burnt offering to the Lord. As muchas he is able: There was room madefor one to give according to his ability (vs11). He could give voluntarily accordingto his ability (vss 5,7,11).

46:12-15 Will provide daily alamb: It was not possible that any bloodoffering of an animal would take awaysins (Hb 10:1-4). However, the continualofferings brought to their minds their sin.When Jesus came, He offered His bloodonce and for all. And thus, the drudgeryof making animal sacrifices was doneaway. Jesus’ sacrifice was complete andsufficient for all time (Hb 7:26-28). Chris-tians today have the great blessing ofbeing completely forgiven of sins, as wellas not being under the law of ceremonialsacrifices that are outlined in this text (Seecomments Rm 7:1-4).

46:16-18 The prince had full own-ership of his estate. He had the right togive it to anyone he chose. However,any part of the estate that was given tohis servants was to revert back to theoriginal estate during the year of liberty(Lv 25:10). The priestly family was pro-vided for by the people, and thus therewas no reason why he should evict peoplefrom their land. This unjust practice oc-curred during the apostasy of God’s people,and it was never to happen again in theirhistory (See 1 Kg 21:1-16; Mc 2:9).

46:19-24 Priest will boil: The priestswere to prepare food for themselves fromthe offerings of the people. They wouldeat it alone. In another place separate fromwhere the priests prepared and ate theirfood, the Levites prepared the sacrificialmeals for the people. This area was builtwith hearths where the Levites could cookthe food, and then distribute it to the people.The sacrificial meals brought the peopletogether with the Levites, whose work itwas to teach the people. The sacrifices,therefore, accomplished the purpose ofcontinually bringing the people to the teach-ers of the law of God.

47:1-5 The apocalyptic symbolismof this prophecy encourages Bible inter-preters to look beyond the short term res-toration of the temple by the returningexiles. If we understand the apocalypticsymbols of Ezekiel’s writing as a meta-phor concerning the beginning and con-tinuation of the Messianic age, then thereis great depth to what he says in this con-text. However, we would also guard our-

selves from interpretive dogmatism sincethe inscription is in apocalyptic symbol-ism. The assigning of the land to the re-turnees was started in 45:1-8 and contin-ued in 47:13 – 48:35. There is an inter-lude here in reference to the flowingwater that proceeded from under thetemple, possibly signifying the salvationalredemption that would come from thepresence of God and go to all nations (See

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Zc 14:8; compare Rv 22:1). The phe-nomenon about the water is that the flowbecomes larger as it proceeds from thetemple, to the point that it cannot becrossed by a man. It becomes largerwithout the help of smaller rivers flowinginto it, possibly symbolizing the growth ofGod’s people as they would go into allthe world (Compare comments Is 2:1-4).

47:6-12 The blessing that camefrom the waters was that everything ittouched would have life. When Ezekielcame to the banks of the river he sawthat it had caused the growth of manytrees. The apocalyptic symbols portraya garden of Eden environment that is cap-tivating by those wandering in the desert.They are drawn to the river because thesustenance of life is provided by the river.The east country would be a referenceto the desert valley of the Jordan Rivereast of the temple. The waters from theSea of Galilee empty into the Jordan River,which river eventually empties into theSalt Sea (Dead Sea). The great sea:The Mediterranean Sea. Everything willlive where the river goes: Ezekiel takesthe minds of the people, who were at thetime in captivity, beyond the hope of theirrestoration to the land, the rebuilding ofthe temple, and resettlement in the land.He wrote prophecy of the Messianic agethat they would not fully understand untilits fulfillment (1 Pt 1:10-12). However,the returnees knew enough about the sym-

bolism of the prophecy to understand thatits fulfillment could not be in the restora-tion of the people to the land and the re-building of the temple. The prophecy wasclear enough to generate anticipation asto things that would come, but crypticenough to stimulate hope for another res-toration yet in the future.

47:13-20 Twelve tribes: Thereshould never be any discussion concern-ing the restoration of a remnant of alltwelve tribes of Israel to the land afterthe captivity. Even in apocalyptic lan-guage the metaphor of the restoration ofthe twelve tribes would mean nothing if aremnant of the twelve tribes did not liter-ally return to Palestine after the Babylo-nian captivity. Joseph: Joseph wouldhave two portions, for from Joseph camethe two tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh.The limits of the borders would begin withDamascus in the north. On the east theborder would extend through Gilead alongthe Jordan River to the east side of theDead Sea. To the south the border wouldgo west through Kadesh and then to theMediterranean Sea. The Mediterraneancoast would be the border on the west.

47:21-23 In preparation for the Mes-sianic age, these instructions were givento the Jews in order that they allow pros-elytes to be assimilated into the nation.Proselytes were to be given a possessionof land, and thus have inheritance rightsamong the people.

48:1-7 In this chapter, verses 1-7and 23-27 refer to tribal allotments of theland that were comparable to the allot-

ments that were given when Israel firstcame into the land. Dan is situated in thefar north of Palestine, with Issachar,

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Zebulun and Gad located in the south.These allotments clearly identify the res-toration of the remnant of all twelve tribesto the land after the Babylonian captivity.

48:8-29 See the description 45:1-8of these allotments which was possiblyan abbreviated version of what was givenhere. An interesting point in this text wasthat the portion given to the Levites wasnot to be sold or traded, for the allotmentwas given to the Levites for a perpetualservice to the Lord. The location of thetemple was about four kilometers southof the original location. The priests weregiven the area where the original templewas situated. The city was to be locatedin the middle of a triangle of land and sur-rounded by gardens. The city itself wasto be built as a square. Since the mea-

surements of the city would make it abouttwo kilometers long on each side, the sizewas beyond the actual construction of thecity that was accomplished when theyreturned. It is possible that Ezekiel usesthese measurements to picture the spiri-tual city of God that was yet to come inthe Messianic age. The city, and its gates,was a symbol of all of God’s people.

48:30-35 The name of the city:The name of the city, “the Lord is there,”is symbolic of a repentant nation. WhenIsrael went into the apostasy of idolatry,the Lord was removed from their hearts.When they repented of their idolatry, theLord was restored to their hearts. Heonce again lived in their hearts (See com-ments Lk 17:20,21).

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EZEKIEL - Africa InternationalNew).pdf · Symbolism and metaphors run throughout the book in proverbs, ... Over the heads of the ... The rainbow was given to human-