Getting To Know God Through Ezekiel - Introduction

by NEELY, E. | Category: Getting To Know God Through Ezekiel | Jan 2007

When Judah was exiled by Nebuchadnezzar's army (circa 597 B.C.) they were settled in various places in Babylonia. Ezekiel was settled by the Chebar Canal, not far north of the city of Babylon. Their captivity differed from the latter stages of their stay in Egypt in that they were not slaves in Babylonia. They were free to integrate, build houses, run businesses, settle down and marry and be in every way part of the community, all the while obedient to its laws. Many became so much a part of things that they refused to leave when the end of the exile was announced by Cyrus some seventy years after it began. With the northern kingdom of the ten break-away tribes being exiled to Egypt and Assyria some century earlier, and the southern kingdom, Judah and Benjamin, carried away by Nebuchadnezzar and settling in Babylonia in Ezekiel's day, and so few returning even in modern days, the large proportion of Jews have continued until now dispersed among the nations. The day will come when God will call them all back to their land, and the land will be increased in size to accommodate them.

Ezekiel was called to a life as a prophet five years after entering the land, about six before Jerusalem fell. While his bodily presence remained in Babylonia during its rule, his spirit was on occasion taken in the Holy Spirit to Jerusalem to see first hand what was occurring (Ez.8:3). The larger part of his book was uttered during his first six years of ministry. The remaining chapters, including the judgement of foreign nations and the eventual millennial restoration of Israel occur after the fall of Jerusalem. How much the foreign nations ever learned of his prophecies is questionable. He did not journey to them to present them. They certainly learned the truth of them! His ministry, even against them, was directed to the captivity in Babylonia to teach them and to instruct us.

Ezekiel, the son of Buzi, himself was from a priestly family, though the captivity meant that he never got to serve in his calling as priest. He began to prophesy at about the age of 30 when he might have been serving as priest had he been back in Israel. He is very deliberate in dating his various messages from the LORD, so we have a fairly accurate sense of the chronology of his prophetic ministry. In fact, Ezekiel has the most complete chronological outline of any Old Testament book. He ministered in Babylonia as did the prophet Daniel, (Daniel is not known in the Old Testament as a prophet, but the Lord Jesus referred to him as such in the New (Mat.24:15), while Jeremiah laboured among those still residing in Judah. Meanwhile, false prophets roamed both lands, even suggesting that these godly prophets were grossly misled, even mad (e.g. Jer.29:24-32). Satan saw that jealousy and hatred dogged the footsteps of the three, even of Daniel, as high up in the palace as he was, and of Jeremiah, whose prison experiences spot his jeremiad. The first part of Ezekiel's message was not nearly so well received by the people as that of the imposters. God was not saying very palatable things about his people, quite disagreeing with what the people had itching ears to hear. The life of a prophet for Ezekiel was demanding and unpopular. Jewish history reports that he was eventually slain by those that he tried to correct. His ministry lasted about twenty-two years.

The book of Ezekiel is fairly large, somewhat repetitive, and perhaps puzzling in places, but will richly reward an initial reading by those wishing to use these articles as a study guide, and hopefully the articles themselves will throw some light on what to believing Christians is a largely unread and misunderstood book. (Jewish folk are taught to meditate upon it.) The key thought expressed by Ezekiel is that all who are affected by his prophecies will come to know the LORD. With slight variations, �"They will know that I am the LORD,"� appears about seventy times. His prophetic utterances usually are introduced with, �"The hand of the LORD was upon me."� This generally indicates a new vision to Ezekiel and to us. The book is really dealing with three main topics: The fall and judgement of Jerusalem; the future judgements upon neighbouring nations in all directions; and the restoration of temple, priesthood, nation and land. The chapters that deal with these topics are more or less 1-24; 25-32; and 33-48.

The proposal for these articles is not a chapter-by-chapter analysis, nor a verse-by-verse exegesis. Both of those, while they might be very helpful, would be too lengthy for our present purpose. But a topic-by-topic examination of the book might fit within our parameters. The topics include this introduction; 'Ezekiel's Life and Times', to give us a flavour for the book; 'Visions of God', investigating what is revealed of deity; 'Imagery and Symbolism', looking at some of Ezekiel's methodology; 'Ezekiel's Visions', God's ways of communicating with him; 'Of Him Bare all the Prophets Witness', seeing Christ in Ezekiel; 'Judgement on Judah and Jerusalem', and lessons for our own well-being; 'Judgement on Neighbouring Nations' - how to treat those suffering God's judgements; 'The Restoration of Israel', a look at the future, glorious for Israel and for ourselves; 'A Word to Shepherds', current direction to those who assume leadership of God's people; and 'The LORD Is There', an examination of the entities that will make up the millennium in Israel; a total of eleven subjects.

Some important Messianic parts of Ezekiel are 17:22-24 where God declares that He will succeed where others such as Egypt and Babylon had failed, will plant a shoot from the very top of a cedar that will produce branches and bear fruit and become a splendid cedar; this will occur when under Messiah God's kingdom will rule the world (Dan.2:44,45; Zech.14:3-9,16,17). Chapter 21:26,27 are added to that: God will �overturn, overturn, overturn� (R.V.)� ... until He comes whose right it is; and [He] shall give it to Him.� This latter overturning is very much in evidence today with the insecurity and instability of the nations. Chapter 34:23,24 declares: �'Then I will set over them one Shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd. And I, the LORD, will be their God, and My servant David will be prince among them; I, the LORD, have spoken.'� We, too, look forward with great anticipation to that day when David's great descendant, Messiah, Christ, shall rule (Jer.23:5), and one named David under Him! When all this is complete all will have a knowledge of God, from the least of men to the greatest of them (Jer.31:34). Then the purposes of Ezekiel's prophecy, that men should know the LORD God will finally be complete.

In spite of people's finding the study of the book of Ezekiel somewhat daunting, there are several passages that will bring more than a flicker of recognition to the reader. These include the great mystery of the cherubim and the 'wheels within wheels' of chapter 1; the appointing of Ezekiel as a watchman to give warning from God, replete with lessons for those who should witness for Him in our day, all found in 3:16-21; chapter 11:17-20 and 36:26 which tell of God's New Covenant blessing of removing a stony heart from the nation and giving it a heart of flesh (Jer.31:33; Heb.10:16); Ezekiel chapter 28:11-19 that speaks familiar words about the king of Tyre and Satan; chapter 37 which brings before us the much popularized vision of the valley of dry bones; and chapter 47 describing the ever-increasing river that will flow from the throne of God, bringing life and fruitfulness wherever it flows. People sing about the valley of dry bones and also the stream that flows from the throne of God; they need to come to grips with what the pictures foretell and how soon it will all be fulfilled in the restoration and cleansing of Israel. We will already be in glory when that happens! The book that begins in such gloom and judgement ends in majestic glory. Praise the Lord!

NEELY, E. | Jan 2007
Getting To Know God Through Ezekiel