The main purpose
of Ezekiel’s message is to restore God’s glory before the people who had
rejected it in view of the watching nations.
To explore this further, we need looking at the structure of
the book. We see that it begins with a series of oracles orientated largely to
judgement from chapters 1-24. Then the second half of the book turns from
judgement to hope for Israel, with an extended section of oracles against foreign
nations from chapters 25-32 and concluding with prophecies of blessings more
oriented to a distant future from chapters 33-48.
As a result of God’s eternal covenant with his people, the
Israelites have four pillars of security
in their doctrine of security:
·
Yahweh, the divine patron of Israel, has entered
into an eternal covenant with his
people, the Israelites.
·
Yahweh has given the nation the land of Canaan as their eternal
territorial possession.
·
Yahweh has chosen Jerusalem as his eternal residence, from which he exercises
sovereignty over his people.
·
Yahweh, the divine patron of Israel, has
promised the Davidic house eternal
title to and occupancy of the throne of Israel.
But then they forgot that the promise is conditional to their obedience. So in
the first one third of the book, Ezekiel’s main purpose is to warn the
Israelites that they had departed from God, and smash these four pillars of
security, even though no one would believe him. The Israelite had broken the
covenant in being disobedient to God, so judgement is inevitable: the land is taken
by the enemies, God’s glory left the temple of Jerusalem, and the Davidic king
got removed from his throne and taken into exile.
On a positive note, we see a reconstruction of these four
pillars in the last third of the book of Ezekiel, between chapters 33-48, with
prophecies of blessings more oriented to a distant future.
The other recurrent theme is that of God’s glory. One of the
key visions that recurs through the book, is Ezekiel’s vision of the glory of
the Lord. In fact, God’s glory is so powerful it made Ezekiel fell down to the
ground on his face several times!
Above screen shots taken from the following commentaries:
http://www.easyenglish.info/bible-commentary/ezekiel1-24-lbw.htm
http://www.easyenglish.info/bible-commentary/ezekiel25-39-lbw.htm
http://www.easyenglish.info/bible-commentary/ezekiel40-48-lbw.htm
The three visions of
glory are:
·
Ezekiel 1 the glory appears in Babylon
·
Ezekiel 8–11 the glory leaves Jerusalem
·
Ezekiel 40–48 the glory returns to Jerusalem
It is clear from Ezekiel 43:3 that these three visions of
glory are significant in this book: The vision I saw [chs. 40–48] was like the
vision that I had seen when he came to destroy the city [chs. 8–11] and like
the visions I had seen by the Kebar River [ch. 1]; and I fell face-down.
In the first vision we are introduced to the following main
elements:
·
The glory
of God has come from the North, which reveals itself as bright lightning.
·
Vision of the cherubim: The four creatures in the cloud in the shape of men with four
faces and four wings. They reflect the power
of God. They looked in all directions, showing that God has power over the
whole earth. They carry the throne of God. The face of a man shows that the cherubim are intelligent. The face of a
lion shows that they are very strong and powerful. The face of an ox shows that
they are patient. They are servants of God. The face of the eagle shows how
quick they can be. They immediately do what God wants. The Spirit of God controlled the Cherubim
so that they move in one direction in perfect unity even though their faces
looked in all directions.
·
Vision of the wheels: There was a high wheel by each of the four creatures. The
vehicle did not travel on the ground but through the air. So, the wheels were not there to move the vehicle. It moved in
all directions but the wheels did not turn. Instead of nails, there were eyes all round the edge of the wheels.
There were many eyes. They looked in all directions. They could see all things.
We can hide nothing from God. He
sees and knows everything.
·
Vision of the throne: On the throne was a person who was like a man in form but
not a man. God shows himself here in a form
similar to a man. There was a bright
light that shone with many colours around the throne which reflected the glory of God.
The fact that the chariot of God is mobile as he rides to
the exiles mean that God is not confined
to the temple of Jerusalem. It is not clear until Ezekiel 8-11 whether this
coming of God to Babylon is a coming in salvation or judgement.
In the second vision we see the same elements again departing from the temple of Jerusalem,
which is a death sentence for Jerusalem as she will not survive. It also throws
light on the vision in Ezekiel 1, where the glory appears in Babylon, which is
a message that the exiles in Babylon have not been forgotten by God. His
presence is not localised in the temple, but is with them in exile.
The third vision shows the glory of God coming through the
east gate of the temple filling the temple. This illustrates that the present
troubles are temporary as God will
return to Jerusalem. The prophets never record the fulfilment of this
vision so this is something that will happen in the more distant future.
From these visions we also see that one of the key aspects
of Ezekiel’s ministry is the work of the Spirit
(ruach). The book begins with a stormy wind (lit. “spirit”) that comes out
of the north (Ezek 1:4). As the vision unfolds, we learn that the wind is
closely associated with Yahweh as it animates the living creatures and drives
the wheels of the chariot (Ezek 1:20). In Ezekiel 2:2, a wind (or spirit)
enters Ezekiel and sets him on his feet in order to hear God’s word and got him
going with his ministry.
From the book of Ezekiel, we can see that God is a sovereign
and jealous God.
- God’s sovereignty in revelation is seen in the opening of the book where the “heavens were opened” (1:1) and “the word of the Lord came” (1:3, cf. 1:25, 28). This vision didn’t come about by Ezekiel’s efforts. God took the initiative in making himself known.
- His presence and his rule are not limited to the temple in Jerusalem. God’s sovereignty is dramatically portrayed in the chariot visions, where he sits enthroned on the moving cherubim.
- God’s sovereignty is seen in judgment (Ezek 24:14). He is sovereign over the nations and uses them as an instrument to punish his people. God will also punish these same nations for their pride and corruption. Ezekiel’s temporary speechlessness (24:27; 33:22) is a way of demonstrating that there was no hope of averting the destruction since Ezekiel was unable to intercede on the nation’s behalf.
- God’s sovereignty is also seen in salvation. He is the one who will deliver his people from exile (Ezek 20:33-38). He is the one who will raise the nation from the dead (Ezek 37) and give them a new heart (Ezek 36:26-27).
- God’s sovereignty does not undermine human responsibility. In Ezekiel 18, Ezekiel argues that each generation is responsible for their response to God, and that the proverb about sour grapes will no longer be quoted in Israel. People are responsible for their own deeds.
Ezekiel 36 explores the motivation behind God’s intention to
restore his people. Essentially, it is because God is jealous for what is rightly his (cf. Exodus 20:5). He will act in
jealous wrath against those who touch and misuse what belongs to him.
God’s jealousy has two aspects:
·
God is jealous for his people who have been mistreated by the nations (Ezek 36:6-7).
·
God is jealous for his own name and reputation (Ezek 36:20-23, 32).
These two aspects are both related,
but in Ezekiel’s theology, it is God’s concern for his own name which is
fundamental. For example:
Therefore say to the Israelites, ‘This is what the Sovereign
LORD says: It is not for your sake, people of Israel, that I am going to do
these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among
the nations where you have gone.’ (Ezek 36:22; cf. 39:25)
This underscores the fact that there is
absolutely nothing about Israel that
merited God’s salvation. They are saved
by grace alone for God’s glory. There are no grounds for boasting.
Although more than ¼ of Ezekiel’s preserved prophecies look
forward to Israel’s glorious tomorrow, overt references to the Messiah in the
book are relatively few. Examples of allusion to the Messiah include the
topmost crown of the cedar in 17:22, and the horn in 29:21.
Ezekiel’s first explicit reference to the Messiah occurs
near the end of an extended restoration oracle in which Yahweh poses a
benevolent divine shepherd, rescuing his beleaguered human flock from the
tyranny of exploitative rulers and bullying members within the flock (34:1-31). Ezekiel’s announcement
of the appointment of a new David
for Israel was intended to instil a new hope in the hearts of the exiles.
To the nations, the exiles seemed to prove that God was weak
and could not protect his people. But he announced to the house of Israel (36:16-38) that he will bring the exiles back to
the country and it will become a nation again (this part of the prophecy is in
the process of happening). When the return is complete, God will make them clean. When this happens, the nations will see it then all people
will know that God is the Lord. This is illustrated by the vision of the valley of dry bones in 37:14. The dry bones illustrate that
these people have been dead for a long time and could do nothing: they have lost their relationship (life) with God
and are dead in their spirits. The four winds refer to four directions,
north, south, east and west: in other words, the whole world. The Jews will return to the country called Israel from
all countries - this is starting to happen even before they believe in Jesus as
their Messiah. Then, God asked Ezekiel to prophesises
to these bones so that the work of the “wind”
(or the Spirit/ruach) occurs simultaneously. God’s power make them alive again
and with a renewed heart they will
know God is the Lord.
The second explicit reference to the restoration of the
Davidic dynasty occurs in the interpretation of a sign act involving two pieces of wood which are inscribed
the names Judah and Joseph. Ezekiel was instructed to unite these two sticks as a symbolic gesture promising the eventual
reunification of all the tribe of Israel in one nation (37:15-28). There will be one Davidic king ruling this
one nation. The people will obey God’s laws and there will be an everlasting covenant of peace, where
their children and grandchildren will live there until the end of time.
The pouring out of
the Spirit in Ezek 39:29 ushers in the new
order of things depicted in chapters 40–48, where we see a renewed temple in more distant future,
though there is debate as to whether this is just a symbolic description or an
actual temple. The river from the temple
will produce pure water, and in it
will be many fish (the river flowed to the south and east. Another words, it
flowed into the valley of the Jordan River and into the Dead Sea. Today nothing
can live in the Dead Sea because of the salt). Men will catch all kinds of
fish! Where the river flows, it will bring life.
Trees will grow along both sides of the river, producing all kinds of fruit,
and their leaves will not die. There will be fruit every month which are good
for food and the leaves will be good medicine to cure people. The description
of the river is too far-fetched so many take these chapters as idealised and essentially
symbolic in character and intention. In
fact, if we look at John 2:18-22, we’ll see some important words about the way
Jesus fulfils the temple. So some scholars interpret that the Glory which
Ezekiel had seen depart from Jerusalem finally returned in Jesus, that true
worship is “located” in Jesus and the water of life flows from Jesus himself.
Regardless of the different scholarly views, for Ezekiel, the new age beyond
judgment is essentially the age of the Spirit.
The Messiah can bring about true
peace that will last (for many centuries, the capital city of Israel has
been Jerusalem. That name means ‘the city of peace’. But the city has not often
been peaceful. There have been many wars there). And when he does, people from
all the tribes will live together peacefully in the capital city. And that city
will have a new name, because the Lord will be present with his people. So,
Ezekiel ends his prophecy with the name of the city. Its name will be ‘the Lord is there.’ The whole city, not
just the temple, has the Lord’s name. This shows that there will be a new relationship
between the Lord and his people Israel.
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