以西结书

Meditative Reflection
God’s Reluctant Departure

“When the Lord commanded the man in linen, ‘Take fire from among the wheels, from among the cherubim, the man went in and stood beside a wheel.” (Ezek. 10:6)

In the midst of all the glorious yet mysterious depiction of the presence of the Lord alongside the Cherubim, it is easy for us to lose sight of the main message of this vision to Ezekiel.

The central event of the vision remains the judgment of the city of Jerusalem by the “God of Israel” (10:20) in the form of burning coals being poured out by the angel as handed to him by one of the cherubim. The rest of the vision, all serve to highlight this judgment in that:

- The God Almighty (10:5) who presides over heavens and earth (as depicted by the appearance of His throne in v. 1), is the one who has chosen to reside in the temple of Israel, whose presence necessarily fills it with His glory (10:4);

- But, with the sins of His people having defiled His temple, He now pronounces His judgment right where He resides, the temple of Jerusalem;

- The judgment is in the form of fire taken from one of the cherubim (10:7) which stands in stark contrast to the fire of the altar which is for the burning of sacrifices for reconciliation between the people and the Lord. This fire scattered over the city signifies not only their judgment, but their abandonment by God;

- The more detailed description of the cherubim still eludes our full understanding, but the additional details seem to contrast the immediate and absolute obedience of God’s angels to the disobedience of God’s people;

- The mentioning of the eyes also seems to contrast the hidden sins of the people in the temple depicted in the previous chapter (ch. 8) to the just punishment delivered through the hands of God’s angels who also witness the sins of the people; and

- Finally, it depicts the gradual departure of God’s glory from the temple He has chosen to bear His name—the process itself gives us both a sense of God’s reluctance and the finality of His judgement!

Meditative Reflection
Do We Get It?

“They say, ‘Will it not soon be time to build houses? This city is a cooking pot and we are the meat.’” (Ezek. 11:3)

We would naturally assume that with the deportation of 597 B.C., those who remained in Jerusalem would understand that they were under the judgment of God, and that with the dominance of as powerful an enemy as Nebuchadnezzar, even if they did not choose to repent, at least they would realize that the hope for the survival of the nation and thus themselves was very slim.

However, from the charges that the Lord brought against them through this vision in chapter 11, it was obvious that the remnants in the city saw the departure of previous rulers as an opportunity for them to rise as new leaders of the nation, and the confiscation of the properties left behind by the exile an opportunity to get rich (11:15).

It was with such a thought that these newly risen leaders told the people in Jerusalem, “Will it not soon be time to build houses? This city is a cooking pot and we are the meat.” (11:3)

Since this was an optimistic imagery, it does not mean that they saw themselves as meat in a cooking pot to be devoured, but rather they saw themselves as choice meat to be desired and the city of prosperities coveted by the nations. The underlying sentiment was one of defiance of the message of the Lord spoken through various prophets including Jeremiah. And thus, with such optimism, they continued with their killing of the innocent (11:6) and their conformity to the standards of the nations around them (11:12).

The result was predictable, as the Lord, through Ezekiel warned them of their death which, while the prophet was prophesying, befell one of their leaders, Pelatiah Ben Benaiah (11:13). It is interesting to read that at the death of Pelatiah, Ezekiel appeared to be in total shock. I do understand that speaking the message of God is one thing, to see it come to pass before one’s eye is always shocking. However, if the messenger does not fully expect his message from God to come to pass, how can he expect his hearers to believe it!

Meditative Reflection
The Restoration of Israel

“I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.” (Ezek. 11:19)

In response to Ezekiel’s lament of the total destruction of the remnants in Jerusalem, the Lord’s reply promises such a radical restoration of Israel that some call this promise by the Lord, “The gospel according to Ezekiel’ (NICOT, Ezekiel, 341). In that:

- In contrast to the residents in Jerusalem (those to be judged because of their hearts of stone), the exiles are called “the whole house of Israel” (11:14) pointing to future restoration;

- Even before the promise of return to the land of Israel, God has made clear that He has never left them—though the temple in the Holy City of Jerusalem is to be completely destroyed, His presence will continue with the exiles in their foreign lands (11:16);

- Upon their return, they will no longer worship other gods and idols and they would follow His decrees, but such a drastic change in behavior must necessarily be an act of God in creating in them an undivided heart of flesh by putting in them a new spirit which obviously points to their re-birth in Christ, their Messiah, through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (11:18-20); and thus

- They will truly be God’s people and He will be their God (11:20).

Keil is right in that “Although Israel may have entirely relinquished the practice of gross idolatry after the captivity, it did not then attain to that newness of heart which is predicted in vv. 19, 20. This only commenced with the Baptist’s preaching of repentance, and with the coming of Christ; and it was realized in the children of Israel, who accepted Jesus in faith, and suffered Him to make them children of God. Yet even by Christ this prophecy has not yet been perfectly fulfilled in Israel, but only in part, since the greater portion of Israel has still in its hardness that stony heart which must be removed out of its flesh before it can attain to salvation.” (K&D, Ezekiel, 88)

Therefore the final fulfillment of this promise is still in the future, and according to the Apostle Paul “until the full number of in the Gentiles has come in. and so all Israel will be saved.” (Rom. 11:25-26).

Meditative Reflection
Prophecy Never Had Its Origin in the Will of Man

“I will spread my net for him and he will be caught in my snare; I will bring him to Babylonia, the land of the Chaldeans, but he will not see it and there he will die.” (Ezek. 12:13)

Although Daniel Block opines that “Ezekiel’s oracles are not usually so specific” (NICOT, 377), I beg to differ in that his other prophecies concerning the fate of Tyre (ch. 26) and the restoration of Israel like dry bones coming to life (ch. 37) are so specific that they leave little room for misinterpretation. However, the prophecy concerning the fate of “the prince of Israel” (12:10) who is none other than King Zedekiah is fulfilled to such minute details that many unbelieving scholars think that it is only possible for Ezekiel to write this “prophecy” after the fact.

Ezekiel prophesies that

- the prince will flee for his life through the hole dug in the wall so that he could go through with his face covered(v. 12):

- he was to be caught in God’s snare and be brought to Babylonia, however he will not see it (v. 13)

- His staff (i.e. supporting men) and troops will be pursued with sword (v. 14)

2 Kings 25 confirms its historic fulfillment in that

- Zedekiah king of Judah and all the soldiers fled and left the city at night through the gate between the two walls (v. 4)

- But the Babylonian army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho and took him to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, who slaughtered his sons before his eyes and gouged his eyes and bound him to Babylon—a place he could not see because his eyes were put out (v. 5-7); and

- Nebuchadnezzar also killed all the nobles of Judah (v. 7)

The truth of the matter is: with such accuracy, one has to agree with the Apostle Peter that “prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:21).

Meditative Reflection
Prophecies are for the Distant Future?

“The vision he sees is for many years from now and he prophesies about the distant future.” (Ezek. 12:27)

I find that the mindset of the people in Ezekiel’s days toward prophecies has a contemporary ring to it.

First, there are those who do not believe in any prophetic words at all, saying, “The days go by and every vision comes to nothing” (v. 22). In other words, they do not believe that prophetic words come from God and are men’s own inventions only. Of course, they are wrong. Many prophecies in the Scripture have come to pass accurately, especially those concerning the first coming of Christ. James Kennedy has counted 333 prophecies about Christ in the Old Testament, and “the chances of all of those being fulfilled in the person of Christ is mind-boggling!” (Evangelism Explosion, 152)

These days, as we firmly believe that the rest of the prophecies concerning Christ’s second coming will be fulfilled just the same, the world thinks that we are nuts! But just the same, this is God’s reply to the skeptics, “The days are near when every vision will be fulfilled.” (12:23).

Second, there is a problem with the mindset of most believers too in that they believe that the prophecies concerning the last days are “for many years from now, and (are) about the distant future” (12:27). Who can blame them? Even the Christians in Peter’s days would say, “Where is this coming He promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” (2 Pet. 3:4).

Indeed, on the surface, nothing has changed in the world. As wicked as the world is, the people are “eating, drinking, marrying and giving in marriage” (Matt. 24:38) as if the world will never end. But this was exactly the case in the days of Noah, and the people were suddenly swept away by the flood of judgment; and our Lord reminds us that, “This is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man” (Matt. 24:39).

Therefore, let’s hear the word of the Lord afresh: “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: None of my words will be delayed any longer; whatever I say will be fulfilled, declares the Sovereign Lord.” (Ezek. 12:28).

Meditative Reflection
The Judgment of the False Prophets

“They will not belong to the council of my people or be listed in the records of the house of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel.” (Ezek. 13:9)

“(T)he punishment which is to fall upon the false prophets is…more specifically described in the form of a climax, rising higher and higher in the severity of its announcement. (1) They are no longer to form part of the council of the people of God; that is to say, they will lose their influential position among the people…the sphere of counsellors, not the social sphere. (2) Their names shall not be registered in the book of the house of Israel. The book of the house of Israel is the register in which the citizens of the kingdom of God are entered. Anyone whose name was not admitted into this book, or was struck out of it, was separated thereby from the citizenship of Israel, and lost all the privileges which citizenship conferred. The figure of the book of life is a similar one (cf. Exod. 32:32). For Israel is not referred to here with regard to its outward nationality, but as the people of God; so that exclusion from Israel was also exclusion form the fellowship with God. The circumstance that it is not the erasure of their names from the book that is mentioned here; but their being entered in the book at all, may be accounted for from the reference contained in the words to the founding of the new kingdom of God. The old theocracy was abolished, although Jerusalem was yet destroyed…the false prophets are not to be received into the citizenship of the new kingdom. (3) They are not even to come into the land of Israel, i.e. they are not merely to remain in exile, but to lose all share in the privileges and blessings of the kingdom of God (the same verdict that Jeremiah had pronounced upon Shamaiah, the Nehelamite in Jer. 29: 29-32/italics, NICOT, 405).” (K&D, 96-97).

Meditative Reflection
Modern-day Charmers?

“You have profaned me among my people for a few handfuls of barley and scraps of bread. By lying to my people who listen to lies, you have killed those who should not have died and have spared those who should not live.” (Ezek. 13:19)

While Ezekiel is prophesying against the magic-charmers of his days, I find the “theological implications” shared by Daniel Block quite insightful:

“First, the people of God are most vulnerable to occult influences in times of crisis. Unless one is vigilant in his or her walk with God, difficult experiences may leave one doubting God’s presence and power and open to the sinister powers of darkness. The demonic spiritual world operates in direct opposition to the kingdom of God…

Second, the charm of magic is a trap used by the prince of darkness to seduce unsuspecting victims. From the beginning of history, humans have been enchanted by the spirit world. Magic and witchcraft continue to play a powerful role in many corners of the globe, even in the fundamentally materialistic Western world, which has for so long denied the supernatural. The influence of the occults in the ‘enlightened’ societies, especially among those who have been disillusioned by the prevailing worldview and its influence to answer life’s fundamental questions, attest to the seductive power of the kingdom of darkness. Magic offers power. It promises control over one’s own destiny and over one’s enemies. But the message of Ezekiel is that magic is deceiving; it is a trap that binds rather than frees. The exilic prophet also announces that deliverance from the sinister powers of darkness is available, but only in the Lord.

Third, the people of God must resist the temptation to exploit spiritual connections for personal advantage. Such exploitation is obvious, when a person resorts to spells, charms, and wizardry, all of which have been condemned by God (Deut. 18:10-14). It is more subtle in other human efforts to harness divine power for selfish ends. The approach to faith that would treat God primarily as the key to health, happiness, and success may be as sorcerous and profaning to His name as overtly occult activity. According to the paradigm established by our Lord (Matt. 6:9-13), the antidote to this form of idolatry is a passion for the honor of the Lord’s name…” (NICOT, Ezekiel, 418-9).