Delve Into The ProphetsSample

DAY 18 – EZEKIEL PART II

The first part of the book of Ezekiel contains the warnings that Ezekiel delivered in the years leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem. Its opening episode describes Ezekiel’s call to prophesy. It relates a vision he had in Babylon of God’s glorious presence supported by cherubim. Sculptures of these angelic beings were in the holiest part of the Jerusalem temple, symbolically supporting God’s presence there. But, this vision showed, God’s presence had now moved to Babylon. In a vision shortly after this one, Ezekiel saw the glory of God actually departing from the Jerusalem temple. The relocation of God’s presence to Babylon signified that God would watch over the exiled community but judge those who remain behind. The rest of this part of the book documents Judah and Jerusalem’s offenses against God and describes the symbolic messages Ezekiel delivered to call for their repentance.

The oracles in the second part of the book are spoken against many nations, but they address Tyre and Egypt at greatest length. These two countries were determined holdouts against the Babylonians, God’s chosen agents of judgment. In these oracles Ezekiel, like the other prophets before him, proclaims God’s sovereignty over all the kingdoms of the earth. No one should take the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem to mean that God doesn’t still control the nations of the world and their destinies.

In the third part of the book, Ezekiel offers hopeful prophecies of Israel’s restoration. One of the most important prophecies in this section takes up a theme that’s already been struck twice in the book: the people’s need for “a new heart and a new spirit.” God promises, “I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” This coming spiritual transformation is then illustrated in a dramatic vision of a valley of dry bones. The bones come together to form skeletons, which are clothed with sinews and flesh and brought to life by the breath of God. This is, first of all, a promise to the people in exile: “I will bring you back to the land of Israel.” But this vision ultimately looks forward to the new life that God will bring to people of all nations.

As part three continues, Ezekiel delivers a long oracle against “Magog.” He prophesies that when this country leads a coalition against the restored Israel, its invading army will be obliterated. This oracle may refer on one level to Babylon. Since Ezekiel was living in that country, he had to speak about it carefully. He doesn’t predict the downfall of Babylon openly. But he may do this in a coded way. The name “Magog” may come from reversing the root consonants of “Babylon” (L-B-B) and replacing them with the following letters of the Hebrew alphabet (M-G-G). In this way Ezekiel may be describing the same event that Jeremiah predicted: the ultimate destruction of the destroyer of God’s temple. On another level, this oracle looks to the more distant future, to God’s final triumph over all earthly opponents.

The book concludes with an extended vision that describes a newly rebuilt temple. The people have returned to their land and are carefully observing God’s law. Ezekiel receives this vision during the twenty-fifth year of the exile. It’s also twenty years after the book began, in what Ezekiel referred to as “the thirtieth year” (NIV “my thirtieth year”). Many interpreters believe this means that when Ezekiel was first called to prophesy, it was the thirtieth year since the last “jubilee,” the time when, under the law of Moses, all land was to be returned to its ancestral owners. (As a priest, Ezekiel would have known where the nation was in the jubilee cycle.) This temple vision may therefore be proclaiming that the next jubilee is at hand for Israel and that its land will be restored. The numbers 25 (years in exile) and 50 (jubilee year) are thus charged with symbolic significance as they appear repeatedly, often multiplied by 10, 100 or 1000, in Ezekiel’s description of the temple dimensions and of Israel’s territorial boundaries. Indeed, while this is a vision of a future temple, it’s meant to have an immediate impact on Ezekiel’s contemporaries. In its symmetry and proportions, they’re to recognize the perfection they’ve fallen short of: God tells Ezekiel to “describe the temple to the people of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their sins. Let them consider its perfection, and if they are ashamed of all they have done, make known to them the design of the temple.” But this vision, too, looks beyond the immediate situation, in which the return from exile is in view, to a future time, when all of humanity will acknowledge God’s rule and dwell in God’s presence, centered on a place that will be called “The Lord is there.”

PRAYER: You are an amazing God with an amazing plan for the world. Thank You for including me in this great story.