and set me on my feet--that he might stand as a servant before his master, to receive orders. Our devotion to the word of God then marks our lives and becomes a testimony to the faithfulness of God and his word. Copyright 2023 The Gospel Coalition, INC. All Rights Reserved. 1:22), and above the expanse, Ezekiel sees a lapis lazuli throne, occupied by a figure like a man made of fire and metal (Ezek. Christians are no different. The messages he received from God were intense and different than other prophets of Israel. For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. Above the heads of the cherubim is an expanse, a firmament gleaming like ice (Ezek. The vision of the Valley of Dry Bones may be the best known prophecy of this Hebrew prophet. 1:6) and four wings ( Ezek. Notice the sequence of promised event. Sometimes He may make no sense and it can be very scary, but just as Jesus says in John 10:27, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; When ones heart is devoted to God, he can be sure that the Lord will direct his steps. Turn from your idols and renounce all your detestable practices!" (Ezekiel 14:6) Gog will think that Israel is living in relative peace and abundance, making her an easy target. When Babylons King Nebuchadnezzar carried off Israels King Jehoiachim and the leading families of Jerusalem into captivity in 597 BC, Ezekiel the priest was in that group. [26] The image of the valley of dry bones returning to life in chapter 37 signifies the restoration of the purified Israel. [2] This chapter is part of a larger complex consisting of Ezekiel 1:1-3:15 which belongs to the genre of the prophetic call narrative, [3] and it details how YHWH arrives in his chariot to speak with Ezekiel. Hes both commissioned prophet and commissioning glory, both Son of Man and the fiery One who sits on Yahwehs throne in the midst of the living creatures. While respected minds differ, a good case can be made that Magog is in fact the modern nation of Russia. 46). Its with the exiles in Babylon, who gather by the river Chebar. 7, p. 358). In the Old Testament, God chose very specific people to give His message to Israel. He received oracles from God and passed them on to . Look! At the center of the vision is Yahweh himself, appearing as a glorified man to the prophet by the river Chebar. Did you know that we have over 70,000 essays on 3,000 topics in our The Greek version of these books is called the Septuagint. Beside each of the living creatures is a wheel of sparkling beryl, wheels that move at the direction of the living creatures, since the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels (Ezek. But the Lord would open their graves and bring them back to the land. To bookmark your articles to Read Later - please sign in. Yet the glory isnt in the temple. The Lord explains the meaning of he vision in verses 11-14. But the heavens open to welcome Ezekiel, the son of man (Ezek. 2) Life and Building in the Gospel of John (CWWL, 1959, vol. . As many people assume that the Holy Spirit is not active in the Old Testament, the Lord proves every one of those people wrong. Above these is a firmament, like the expanse of the sky, and above the sky is Yahwehs throne. Ezekiels directional indications may seem extraneous, but they hint at connections with other four-corner arrangements in the Bible. We do know that after God brings the scattered people back to Israel, there will be a false peace treaty (Daniel 9:27) between Israel and the nations who want her destruction. Ezekiel or Ezechiel (/ z i k i l /; Hebrew: Yezql [j.zqel]; in the Septuagint written in Koin Greek: Iezekil [i..z.kiel]) is the central protagonist of the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible.. Visions of the slaughter of the guilty. you to an academic expert within 3 minutes. According to Jewish tradition, the Men of the Great Assembly wrote the Book of Ezekiel, based on the prophet's words. I was by the Kebar River among the people who had been This is an extremely fascinating word that the Lord uses. Altogether, the glory is a microcosm. As artist-in-residence, Siona Benjamin is creating an exquisite Torah Ark for the school. Ezekiel 40:2. God choses whomever He wants to give His messages to His people. Prophet (Luke 4:24; 7:16; 24:19), but hes more than a prophet. We know this is true because the number of Jewish People who believe that Yeshua is their Messiah have grown from an estimated 6,000 worshipping in 80 congregations in 1998 to about 25,000 today in 150 congregations of various sizes. 1:4). Opposing Gay Marriage May Seem like a Lost Cause. Important Vision #3 Ezekiel 37:1-14. God called this priest to be a prophet at the age of 30, five years into this first Babylonian exile. He was among 10,000 exiles carried off during a period. When the Philistines destroyed the tabernacle at Shiloh, they took Yahwehs ark back home as a war trophy, where Yahweh made war on Israels enemies (1 Sam. C. S. Lewis and Mrs. Moore: Relationship of Sin or Sanctification? And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. (Matthew 27:51), Yeshuas victory now enables each ofus to approach God. The Vision of Ezekiel by Raphael, 1518. And centuries later, the heavens split open again as another prophet, another Son of Man, is commissioned at the age of 30 to see visions of God (Luke 3:21-24; cf. The main works of Merkabah mysticism was composed in Israel from AD 200 to 700, and is a precursor to Kabbalah mysticism. With Ezekiel, God did not force Israel to listen, He gave the option and they had to choose. 1. (Photo by Greg Hirson). (New York: Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, 1951), 105, James D. Newsome and Jr, The Hebrew Prophets (Atlanta, GA: Westminster John Knox Press, 1986), 126, Robert B. Chisholm and Jr, Handbook On the Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Minor Prophets (Grand Rapids, Mich. : Baker Academic, 2002), 270, Andrew W. Blackwood Jr. and Ezekiel-Prophecy of Hope (Grand Rapids, Mich. : Baker Book House,1965), 224-225, John B. Taylor, Ezekiel (tyndale Old Testament Commentaries), 1ST ed. There is a thread of Jewish mysticism based on Ezekiels chariot or Merkabah. Its thought that Ezekiel describes a path of ascent into heavenly places to the throne of God. This is a reminder that God does pursue those whom He loves, but He also wants His people to come to Him out of freedom. If He does choose, it is based on goodness, The description of the Book of Revelation as the strangest book of the New Testament could be the reason for the general neglect that is afforded it today. 1:21). 23:1822). 3348 promise that God will be known through the restoration and spiritual renewal of Israel. Ezekiel was a faithful servant that loved his Master. Episode 9 | Visions of Ezekiel - YouTube 0:00 / 44:37 Episode 9 | Visions of Ezekiel Lion and Lamb Ministries 62.7K subscribers Subscribe 6.5K views 7 days ago #Ezekiel #messianic. Livable, A Tale of Trees: How Arboreal Theology Pervades the Bible. [7] This particular study of Ezekiel has taught me of Gods heart for His nation. Ezekiel's Vision of Living Creatures. Prior to this time, Judah had been a vassal of the Assyrian empire, but the rapid decline of Assyria after c. 630 led Josiah to assert his independence and institute a religious reform stressing loyalty to Yahweh, the national God of Israel. He showed himself to prophets like Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David. Comparing his vision to Babylonian iconography reveals that Ezekiel saw a divine "throne chariot" of the heavenswidely described in the ancient biblical world. Nonetheless, Ezekiel shared many ideas in common with the Deuteronomists, notably the notion that God works according to the principle of retributive justice and an ambivalence towards kingship (although the Deuteronomists reserved their scorn for individual kings rather than for the office itself). Mostly, Israel saw Yahwehs glory from a distance and from the outside; Moses didnt record a description of the interior. [5] Now, in the book of Ezekiel, there is not much, if any, information on how Israel responded or how Ezekiel shared these prophecies. When Yahweh sends Israel into exile, he packs up and heads into exile with them. Therefore, let us lookforward to Yeshuas soon return with ever increasing anticipation and expectation. What is amiss with the nation is that it is corrupt at this center, that as repudiated the God who made it a people and has replaced him by the gods of the surrounding countries. The Prophet Jeremiah: Hope, Peace, and Restoration, Elisha: the Hebrew Prophet of Love and Compassion, Malachi: The Most Mysterious of the Hebrew Prophets. In Psalm 68:17 we read that Gods chariots [rekhev] are myriads upon myriads, thousands upon thousands; the Lord is among them as in Sinai in holiness., Jewish traditions says that these chariots descended with God (on Mount Sinai) 22,000 chariots, each one like the chariot that Ezekiel saw (Midrash Tanhuma Yitro [Buber] 14). (My Jewish Learning). This book is written at a time of great strife for the region of Israel. 3 The word of the LORD came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi . The Visions of Ezekiel e) The Refuse (32:5) 32:5 "I will lay your flesh on the mountains And fill the valleys with your refuse. A Flemish enamel depicting Ezekiel 9, a vision in which those who grieved Israels sin had their foreheads marked in order to save them from Divine punishment for sins. The Prophet Ezekiel, whose Hebrew name means "God Strengthens," was the fourth of the five Major Prophets from Isaiah to Daniel. But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and you will have delivered your soul., are myriads upon myriads, thousands upon thousands; the Lord is among them as in Sinai in holiness., I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. Need urgent help with your paper? He allows the total dismemberment of Israels political and religious life so that her renewed life and his presence with her will be clearly seen as a gift from the Lord of the universe. Known as Mirkevet Yechezkel, "the Chariot of Ezekiel ," the reading speaks of the revelation to Ezekiel in which he saw the entire gamut of divine beings in what he describes as a "chariot.". 28:12; Ps. By John A Carroll Week 46 in the WordNovember 12-18, 2021 This week, if you are following the Concealed and Revealed schedule, we will conclude Hebrews and begin our reading in Ezekiel. This is in marked contrast to the Deuteronomistic writers, who held that the sins of the nation would be held against all, without regard for an individual's personal guilt. 6 Ezekiel 37:25 To live forever in Israel 7 Ezekiel 38:11 Houses without lock, without gates 8 Ezekiel 43: 4 God's glory resides with the people. The chariot can rise from the earth (Ezek. Such neglect did not characterize the earliest history of the book., Bibliography: Brown, M. L. (2010). Those slain under the altar Chapter.6 Chapter 6:9-11 5. How interesting it must have been to be a friend of Ezekiel during that time; God speaking so clearly and so specifically about Israel, His plans for the sinners, the righteous, the enemies, anyone, and how to return to the Lord God of Israel. Ezek. 1:12 ), and we know which direction. Most scholars today accept the basic authenticity of the book, but see in it significant additions by a school of later followers of the original prophet. Do the Palestinians Descend from the Philistines? 124 teach that God will be revealed in the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple; chs. Peter J. Leithart is president of the Theopolis Institute in Birmingham, Alabama. Throughout his description of this vision, Ezekiel often uses such expressions as "appearance," "appeared to be," "resembled," and "something like.". In an allegorical sense, the vision of the dry bones can be seen as a kind of resurrection of our own lives in which, step by step, we learn to follow Gods guiding hand as we endeavor to right the wrongs that have accumulated in ourlives. And their appearance and their workmanship was like a wheel . The Dry Bones. Like Isaiahs vision of glory (Isa. In this vision the Lord is as a teacher and instructs Ezekiel. Ezekiel wasnt the first man to see Yahwehs glory cloud. He even described in detail what these detestable practices were: You took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured as an offering by fire to them. (16:2021), In all your abominations and your whorings you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, wallowing in your blood and the Lord picked them up, cleaned them and clothed them. (16:22), At the head of every street you built your lofty place and made your beauty an abomination, offering yourself to any passerby and multiplying your whoring. (16:25). In Ezekiel, though, the movement is the opposite. Can these bones live? asks God. That was also the place out of which God had called Abraham that He might have a chosen people (Gen. 11:6, 31). He will say, I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. By comparing the sound of the wings to the sound of Shaddai, Ezekiel makes use of a divine appellation that is generally associated with the ancestral age (e.g., Genesis 17:1; Exodus 6:3; and passim in the archaizing book of Job). Luke, Galatians, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Romans, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians, and Philemon, God inspired the prophets to tell the people what they needed to know and do in order to follow His will. We don't know why John was exiled to Patmos, but it may have been for refusing to worship the Roman emperor Domitian, who had declared himself a god. Ezekiel appears only briefly in the Dead Sea Scrolls, but his influence there was profound, most notably in the Temple Scroll with its temple plans, and the defence of the Zadokite priesthood in the Damascus Document. However, while we are seeing a physical fulfillment at this time, the spiritual restoration seems like it is yet to come since many are coming in unbelief of both God and their Mashiach, Yeshua. Date: Ezekiel began his ministry at 30 years of age (1:1; cf. A prophet is someone with access to Yahwehs judgment hall and his divine council (Jer. He is specifically mentioned by Ben Sirah (a writer of the Hellenistic period who listed the "great sages" of Israel) and 4 Maccabees (1st century CE). Been this is an expanse, a good case can be made that Magog is in fact the modern of... 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