Bible Story: Ezekiel

Introduction

Ezekiel is certainly an unusual book. I suppose there’s never been a book just exactly like Ezekiel. And when you read it, you’ll be overwhelmed with its imagery. One of the most dynamic sections of world literature is the Old Testament book called Ezekiel. There’s just nothing else like it, and the contents thereof are fascinating to say the very least. Sadly, many members of the church have never read or studied its pages, and we have thus robbed ourselves of valuable treasures. The prophet’s message builds conviction and dedication, two ingredients we could certainly use today. Much of the imagery and symbolism of Revelation was first revealed in Ezekiel. It is interesting to remember that John was exiled to Patmos for the tribulation and persecution Christianity naturally enjoined, just as Ezekiel shared lamentation, sorrow, and woe due to Babylonian captivity.

1. The Same Background of Bondage and Persecution

Ezekiel 2 1. Both books have the same background of bondage and persecution meted out to God’s elect. Only the century and the evil rulers changed. The principles of oppression and duress are parallel. However, the captives in Ezekiel’s day deserve their doom of seventy years. Both John and Ezekiel were told to take a little book and eat it up. This refers to the word of God revealed unto them and given unto their solemn trust. The message contained the portents of Jehovah’s Wrath poured out upon the nations and running over into the lives of saints who were embroiled with the world. The contents of Ezekiel can be easily assigned to three divisions of thought. Chapters 1 through 23, the fall of Jerusalem as a consequence of sin. Chapters 25 to 31, God’s judgment upon the nations.

2. Idols in Their Hearts

Chapters 33 to 48, the restoration of God’s cause. Although Jehovah had no pleasure in the death of the wicked, he also had no patience with those who considered the abominations of iniquity a light thing. Ezekiel 8:17. Ezekiel, as the champion of Kibar, is referred to as son of man over 90 times in this unusual treatise. He truly was a valiant preacher in an age that needed men like him. Even Noah, Daniel, and Job could only have saved themselves had they lived during that evil time, Ezekiel 14 14. Because the fickle people of God thought Jehovah could not see their evil deeds, chapter 8, verse 12, they had idols in their hearts, Ezekiel 14 3, that led only to captivity and ruin. One of the strongest rebukes in all of sacred script is contained in the piercing words of Ezekiel 33 31.

And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them. For with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness. Because of such adamant hearts, God had turned them into a snare of Nebuchadnezzar for seven decades of loneliness. In chapters three and thirty-three, Ezekiel has given his charge from heaven as the watchman for the souls of Israel. If he failed to give them warning concerning the wrath of God, their blood would be required at his hand. However, this fiery servant of the Almighty was so loyal to his summons that the exiles from Jerusalem knew that a prophet had been among them. Chapter 33, verse 33.

3. They Shall Know That I Am the Lord

The most frequent phrase in the whole book of Ezekiel is God’s vibrant reminder, they shall know that I am the Lord. Ezekiel stressed the glory and holiness of the Creator, the sin of Judah that outraged heaven, and the deliverance from captivity because of Jehovah’s Holy Name’s sake. Read chapters 36, verses 21 to 24. Even though the citizens of Judea had waited so long to obey that hope was lost, Ezekiel 19 5, their rebellion served to kindle the fire of grace that in God’s good time would deliver them. However, the intervening years would teach the Jews how painful can be the sad dividends of indifference and immorality, for God is not mocked. Galatians 6 7. Ezekiel chapter 16 is the most graphic unveiling of spiritual adultery in the entire Bible.

4. The Spiritual Adultery of God’s Bride

Vividly set forth therein is the debauchery of idolatry committed by God’s gadding bride. In language so picturesque, no one could question, the prostitution of the Lord’s cause is vividly discussed. Jeremiah had likened Judah to a wild beast in heat, sniffing for lovers among the heathen. But Ezekiel 16 gets plainer than that. God tells his people that lewd women at least get paid for their immorality, but his bride was paying the heathen to commit sacrilege with her. Such harlotry made the nations ridicule Judah’s ineptness and plot her overthrow. In a passage of stern rebuke, the Jews were accused of something worse than burning their children in the fires of Molech. They had sacrificed their offspring to the devil, because their sin was so great their children would reap the consequences of it for years to come.

5. The Soul That Sinneth Shall Surely Die

The mothers of Judah had taught their daughters the panoply of whoredom. The influence and repercussion of Israel’s passionate love scenes with Satan would echo loudly down the stream of time. God’s unfaithful bride would be haunted by our infidelity and saddened by its impact upon following generations. Lest anyone complain that the parents sin and the children were not, therefore responsible for their own sins. Ezekiel 18:20 clarifies the point powerfully. The soul that sinneth it shall surely die. In chapter 28, verse 15, we learn that we are born spotless and sinless and become accountable before our Maker only when iniquity is found in our hearts. We may bear the consequences of others’ faults, but never the guilt of someone else’s mistakes. The generation of Jews that went down into Babylon in bondage rightly deserved its own fate.

6. The Valley of Dry Bones and Restoration

In chapter 34, the great prophet sets forth a scathing denunciation of shepherds of the flock, evidently the weak kings of Judah, who were slothful, weak, and unspiritual. Their guidance had been so shallow and their concept so carnal that God’s sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth with none to search or seek for them. The famous valley of dry bones occupies center stage in chapter 37. Seldom does one find such a poignant and delightful setting. The prophet in a vision sees a valley full of very dry bones. He sadly proclaims, our bones are dried and our hope is lost. But muscle and sinew attached to the bones, and there is a glorious scene of revival and resurrection. Jehovah is telling Ezekiel that Judah was dead and is alive again in the classic prediction of the restoration of the Jews.

This spiritual renewal is beautiful portrayed and fulfilled in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Revelation 20 is likewise a picture of the resurrection of a cause, seen by John as he was privileged to behold martyrs once dejected, now seated on thrones reigning with Christ, Ephesians 2.6. To consummate this victorious drama, first staged in Ezekiel’s day, we read these fitting promises as the curtain falls in chapter 39, verses 25 through 29. Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for my holy name. Then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, because I sent them into exile among the nations, and then gathered them into their own land. I will leave none of them remaining among the nations any more, and I will not hide my face any more from them.

When I pour out my spirit upon the house of Israel, says the Lord God. Ezekiel, the prophet of doom and punishment, had now become the herald of grace and glory. The mural of Judah’s destiny, once dark and drab, was now filled with brilliant colors of hope. The presence of God in the midst of his penitent people caused the inspired penmen to write fervently of the temple and its radiant splendor. The land that had been so desolate would be filled with streams of living water to quench the longing of Jehovah’s Redeemed people. Because Israel had partaken of the sins of the heathen, they had shared in their judgment. But now, due to God’s grace, they would bask in the rich provisions of restitution. Surely the bold preaching of a fiery prophet named Ezekiel contributed to that grand arrangement.

Conclusion

The calamity of sin had finally given way to the grandeur of forgiveness. Praise God for men like the prophets. We need a double portion of their spirit today.