Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel had the same theme and message to bring to Israel at this time. Israel had grossly forsaken their God; His patience had run out He needed to bring judgement upon them and the other nations that had brought Israel into bondage. God had giving them a chance to repent with these three prophets giving them a strong warnings of Judgement, which he would also dish out to the other nations that had brought Israel into bondage, but in this book we read He also showed His compassion and grace, for once they recognised Him as the true God and repented He would show His love by restoring the Israelites back as a nation returning them to their own land. Through the book of Ezekiel He regularly reminded them in all that was happening to them - “‘Then YOU will know that it is I the Lord, Again He gave the sound affirmation to the surrounding nations, I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations Then THEY will know that I am the Lord.
The prophet Ezekiel wrote this book, God used Ezekiel to warn the Israelite people of what was to come. Many of the Israelites had already been taken captive and exiled to Babylon, which would last for 70 years. Ezekiel was an exile also, awaiting the fall of their sacred city Jerusalem.
In the first chapter Ezekiel had a vision; it was a vision displaying Gods almighty armed forces coming down from heaven to do battle with the rebellious nations. In the following chapter Ezekiel 2 God speaks to him in a vision telling Ezekiel what He is about to do - He said to me, “Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you.” 2 As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. 3 He said: “Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have been in revolt against me to this very day. 4 The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’5 And whether they listen or fail to listen—for they are a rebellious people—they will know that a prophet has been among them. 6 And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or be terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people. 7 You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious.8 But you, son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not rebel like that rebellious people; open your mouth and eat what I give you.”
9 Then I looked, and I saw a hand stretched out to me. In it was a scroll, 10 which he unrolled before me. On both sides of it were written words of lament and mourning and woe.
Once God had shown Ezekiel what He was about to do, then He tells Ezekiel what part he was going to play. In Ezekiel 3; 10 we read - 10 And he said to me, “Son of man, listen carefully and take to heart all the words I speak to you. 11 Go now to your people in exile and speak to them. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says,’ whether they listen or fail to listen.” Then in verse 17 God says - 17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.
In Ezekiel 5:8 God goes into more detail, describing His anger and frustration with the Israelites by saying - 8 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself am against you, Jerusalem, and I will inflict punishment on you in the sight of the nations. 9 Because of all your detestable idols, I will do to you what I have never done before and will never do again. 10 Therefore in your midst parents will eat their children, and children will eat their parents. I will inflict punishment on you and will scatter all your survivors to the winds. 11 Therefore as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your vile images and detestable practices, I myself will shave you; I will not look on you with pity or spare you. 12 A third of your people will die of the plague or perish by famine inside you; a third will fall by the sword outside your walls; and a third I will scatter to the winds and pursue with drawn sword.
In verse 13 God shows His mercy by saying - 13 “Then my anger will cease and my wrath against them will subside, and I will be avenged. And when I have spent my wrath on them, they will know that I the Lord have spoken in my zeal.
In Ezekiel 6 God continues to speak in the same vein -The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, set your face against the mountains of Israel; prophesy against them3 and say: ‘You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Sovereign Lord. This is what the Sovereign Lord says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys: I am about to bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places.4 Your altars will be demolished and your incense altars will be smashed; and I will slay your people in front of your idols. 5 I will lay the dead bodies of the Israelites in front of their idols, and I will scatter your bones around your altars. 6 Wherever you live, the towns will be laid waste and the high places demolished, so that your altars will be laid waste and devastated, your idols smashed and ruined, your incense altars broken down, and what you have made wiped out.7 Your people will fall slain among you, and you will know that I am the Lord. 8 “‘But I will spare some, for some of you will escape the sword when you are scattered among the lands and nations.9 Then in the nations where they have been carried captive, those who escape will remember me—how I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts, which have turned away from me, and by their eyes, which have lusted after their idols. They will loathe themselves for the evil they have done and for all their detestable practices. 10 And they will know that I am the Lord; I did not threaten in vain to bring this calamity on them.
In the following chapters God continues to describe the awful judgement that is about to fall on Israel and the surrounding nations, He says to the surrounding nations - Ezekiel 35:15 Because you rejoiced when the inheritance of Israel became desolate, that is how I will treat you. You will be desolate, Mount Seir, you and all of Edom. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’”
God moves with great mercy and compassion
When we come to Ezekiel 36 God moves with great mercy and compassion in verse 8 we read - 6 Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I speak in my jealous wrath because you have suffered the scorn of the nations. 7 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I swear with uplifted hand that the nations around you will also suffer scorn.
8 “‘But you, mountains of Israel, will produce branches and fruit for my people Israel, for they will soon come home. 9 I am concerned for you and will look on you with favour; you will be ploughed and sown, 10 and I will cause many people to live on you—yes, all of Israel. The towns will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. 11 I will increase the number of people and animals living on you, and they will be fruitful and become numerous. I will settle people on you as in the past and will make you prosper more than before. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 12 I will cause people, my people Israel, to live on you. They will possess you, and you will be their inheritance; you will never again deprive them of their children.
God continues in verse 22 - 22 “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. 23 I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I am proved holy through you before their eyes.24 “‘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. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.28 Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you. 30 I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine. 31 Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices. 32 I want you to know that I am not doing this for your sake, declares the Sovereign Lord. Be ashamed and disgraced for your conduct, people of Israel!
33 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On the day I cleanse you from all your sins, I will resettle your towns, and the ruins will be rebuilt. 34 The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass through it. 35 They will say, “This land that was laid waste has become like the garden of Eden; the cities that were lying in ruins, desolate and destroyed, are now fortified and inhabited.” 36 Then the nations around you that remain will know that I the Lord have rebuilt what was destroyed and have replanted what was desolate. I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.’
37 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Once again I will yield to Israel’s plea and do this for them: I will make their people as numerous as sheep, 38 as numerous as the flocks for offerings at Jerusalem during her appointed festivals. So will the ruined cities be filled with flocks of people? Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
A new dwelling place for Israel and all the nations.
In the next chapter Ezekiel 37 God reveals His final plans for Israel, for Ezekiel in another vision sees a great valley full of dry bones. Ezekiel under the direction of God is commanded to tell these dry bone to live. Then in verse 21we read - This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. 22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms. 23 They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding,[b] and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.
24 “‘My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees. 25 They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your ancestors lived. They and their children and their children’s children will live there forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever. 26 I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them forever.27 My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. 28 Then the nations will know that I the Lord make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever.’”
In the years preceding the exile in Babylon, the land of Israel was made up of ten tribes but became one nation, and then there were disputes creating a nation divided in two. But here in Ezekiel 37 God is promising them that when they return to their own land again, they will be prosperous and never to be taken away into exile again.
In Ezekiel 38: 14 we read - 14 “Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog (land of Magog): ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: In that day, when my people Israel are living in safety, will you not take notice of it? 15 You will come from your place in the far north, you and many nations with you, all of them riding on horses, a great horde, a mighty army. 16 You will advance against my people Israel like a cloud that covers the land. In days to come, Gog, I will bring you against my land, so that the nations may know me when I am proved holy through you before their eyes.
17 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: You are the one I spoke of in former days by my servants the prophets of Israel. At that time they prophesied for years that I would bring you against them. 18 This is what will happen in that day: When Gog attacks the land of Israel, my hot anger will be aroused, declares the Sovereign Lord. 19 In my zeal and fiery wrath I declare that at that time there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. 20 The fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the beasts of the field, every creature that moves along the ground, and all the people on the face of the earth will tremble at my presence. The mountains will be overturned, the cliffs will crumble and every wall will fall to the ground. 21 I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Sovereign Lord. Every man’s sword will be against his brother. 22 I will execute judgment on him with plague and bloodshed; I will pour down torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulphur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him. 23 And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’
In Ezekiel 38 God is bringing judgement on the nations. This was for the nations in Ezekiel’s day but, there is a strong indication in this chapter that God is talking about a future day when Israel will be totally free from any evil influences from outside, they will dwell in safety and God will dwell with them for eternity. When we read Ezekiel 39:25 - God reassures the Israelites of true restoration- 25 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will now restore the fortunes of Jacob[d] and will have compassion on all the people of Israel, and I will be zealous for my holy name. 26 They will forget their shame and all the unfaithfulness they showed toward me when they lived in safety in their land with no one to make them afraid. 27 When I have brought them back from the nations and have gathered them from the countries of their enemies, I will be proved holy through them in the sight of many nations. 28 Then they will know that I am the Lord their God, for though I sent them into exile among the nations, I will gather them to their own land, not leaving any behind. 29 I will no longer hide my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit on the people of Israel, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
In the final chapters of the book God shows Ezekiel in another vision, how He is going to restore the Temple, its furnishings and all it ordinance’s. Ezekiel is given the dimensions and shown the temple, the area for the priests as well as the outer walls. In Ezekiel 43 Gods holy presence dwells in the Temple which reads - Then the man brought me to the gate facing east, 2 and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of rushing waters, and the land was radiant with his glory. 3 The vision I saw was like the vision I had seen when he[a] came to destroy the city and like the visions I had seen by the Kebar River, and I fell facedown.4 The glory of the Lord entered the temple through the gate facing east. 5 Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.
6 While the man was standing beside me, I heard someone speaking to me from inside the temple. 7 He said: “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet. This is where I will live among the Israelites forever.
In Ezekiel 44 to 46 the office of the priests and all their duties with the offering of sacrifices will be reinstated. Then when we come to Ezekiel 47 Ezekiel then sees in the vision a mighty river coming from underneath the Temple out through the gates, In Ezekiel 48 God gives instructions as to how the land of Canaan should be divided up for the different tribes.
What lessons are there to be learnt by reading the book of Ezekiel?
Although God is a long suffering God, knowing we are all subject to sinning, He dearly loves us all and will at a costs seek a way of drawing us back to following Him faithfully. Israel His own nation fell to an unimaginable carnal evil low. Israel had fallen into sin many times before. When God first delivered the Israelites out of Egypt, they fell big time by wanting to worship a Golden Calf, God was angry with the Israelites, but in Exodus 34:6 we read - 6 And he (God) passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.” He had to use tough love to win them back. For us as Gods children, the church He is looking to us to stay faithful, yet when we fall, He will seek to win us back, sometimes through deep trials, waiting for us to call out to Him.
Israel when they did return back to Him, from being a divided nation, became a united nation, but it was costly, they spent 70 years living in a hostile land, with a people that lived lives so distant from themselves. As the result of Jesus paying the ultimate cost by dying for us, rising from the dead to overcome death, Jesus became the reconciler by uniting not only the Jews into the church but also we the Gentiles, as we read in Colossians 1:19 - 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behaviour. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation..
God promised the Israelites they would be able to return to their cherished homeland. They as a nation could rejoice again the land would be fruitful, He would be their God, and they would be his people. But even more exciting, there is a future hope for both the Israelites who are faithful of God and we God’s church will one day dwell in a new land and come and worship Him in the Holy city of Jerusalem. In the last book of the bible the book of Revelations John in a vision writes in chapter 21: - Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”[a] for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
We as Gods people the church together with all those Jews who were faithful to God prior to Jesus coming to earth will one day be reconciled to God and live with him for eternity. In 2 Peter 3: we read - 8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.
11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.
