Search The Scriptures —Study 9 — Ezekiel 14 and 15

Study 9 From the Book of Ezekiel is: Ezekiel 14 and 15

1.     14:1-11. (a) If men whose hearts are inwardly alienated from God come professing to seek guidance from Hi, will God answer them? What must they first do? If they do not so do, what will be their end? (b) If a prophet should fail to follow this rule, and attempt to give guidance, how will God deal with him?

2.     People might ask, ‘Will not the presence of righteous men among a sinful nation save it from destruction’? Cf., e.g., Gn. 18:23-26. How does God in reply show that in the present instance the righteous will be saved out of the destruction, but will not be able to save others? Cf. 9:4-6; Je. 15:1. If any should escape, what purpose will this accomplish (see 14:22, 23)?

Notes

1.     Noah, Daniel and Job are probably all three patriarchal characters. It is not likely that Ezekiel would be thinking of his contemporary in exile, Daniel the prophet. We know of a Daniel from the Ras Shamra tablets of 1400 BC, and this is a more likely identification.

2.     15:2. For another example of Israel as God’s vine, see Is. 5:1-7

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Search The Scriptures —Study 8 — Ezekiel 12 and 13

Study 8 From the Book of Ezekiel is: Ezekiel 12 and 13

1.     12:1-20 declares by two vivid symbolic actions on the part of the prophet the doom that was in store both for the people of Jerusalem (verses 3, 4, 18, 19) and for the king (verses 5, 6, 10-16). Having grasped the significance of the prophecy, turn to 2 Ki. 25:1-7 to see how exactly it was fulfilled.

2.     Note the two scoffing remarks in 12:22 and 27.  What do these signify? How are they paralleled in modern attitudes to the second coming of Christ? Cf. 2 Pet. 3:8-10.

3.     Chapter 13. Condemnation of false prophets. By what two vivid images are they described (see 4 and 10, 11), and what is the effect of their prophesying (verse 6, 10a, 22)? What phrase differentiating them from true prophets occurs twice in the chapter?

Note. 13:18-21. The magic armbands and veils were devices used by soothsayers and clairvoyants to deceive gullible victims. A useful section on the interpretation of this passage is to be found in NBD (article ‘Magic and Sorcery’, p.767).  The handfuls of barley and pieces of bread were probably used in forms of divination, forecasting life or death to inquirers.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 7 — Ezekiel 11

Study 7 From the Book of Ezekiel is: Ezekiel 11

1.     The political leaders in Jerusalem thought they were safe within the fortification of Jerusalem, as flesh in a pot is safe from the fire (verse 3). What does God say concerning them?  For the fulfillment of the prophecy, see 2 Ki. 25:18-21.

2.     The people of Jerusalem thought that they were the favoured of the Lord, and would be given possession of the land, while those in exile would be cut off (verse 15). But what was God’s purpose concerning those in exile (verses 16-20)?

3.     Trace the steps by which the glory of God withdrew from His temple. See 8:3, 4; 9:3; 10:4; 10:19; 11:1, 23. What hint is given in chapter 11 as to the possibility of the return of the glory and under what conditions? Cf. 43:1-4, 9.

Notes

1.     Verse 1. ‘Jaazaniah the son of Azur’: a different man from the Jaazaniah of 8:11.

2.     Verse 23b. ‘The mountain’: i.e., the Mount of Olives.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 6 — Ezekiel 9 and 10

Study 6  From the Book of Ezekiel is: Ezekiel 9 and 10

Following the prophecy of judgment, which Ezekiel recorded in chapters 6, and 7, and the vision of chapter 8, which illustrated detail why such a judgement in the destruction of both the people (chapter 9) and the city (chapter 10) according to His word in 8:18.

1.     Chapter 9. What was God’s answer to the prophet’s cry of distress? Cf. Je. 14:19; 15:1. Who alone were spared, and why? How were they distinguished from others? Compare the distinguishing marks which similarly brought men salvation, described in Ex. 12:13; Rev. 7:1-3; 14:1.

2.     Chapter 10.  To what use were the burning coals put, and what did they symbolize? How does this differ from their function in Isaiah’s vision (Is. 6:6-7)?

Notes

1.     ‘The Cherubim’ of chapter 10 are the same as the ‘living creatures’ which featured in the vision of chapter 1.

2.     10:14. We would except to find the word ‘ox’ instead of ‘cherub’, and this should probably be understood.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 5 — Ezekiel 8

Study  5 From the Book of Ezekiel is: Ezekiel 8

Chapters 8-11 describe what Ezekiel was shown in a prophetic trance fourteen months after his first vision.  Cf. 8:1 and 1:1, 2.

1.     The prophet is carried ‘in visions of God’ (verse 3) to Jerusalem, and is there shown four forms of idolatry, practices in or at the gate of the Temple.  If you were asked what these practices were, how would you describe them? Observe also what classes of the community are seen engaging in them.

2.     The idol-worshipping elders said, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land’ (verse 12). In what sense were their words true (cf.verse 6), and in what sense false? How does this chapter show that all that was happening was under the eyes and under the judgment of God?

Notes

1.     Verse 3. ‘Image of jealousy’: i.e., which provoked God’s jealous anger. Cf. Dt. 32:21.

2.     Verse 14. ‘Women weeping for Tammuz’: i.e., talking part in the heathen festival of mourning the death of the vegetation god, Tammuz, later known in Greek mythology as Adonis.

3.     Verse 16. ‘Between the porch and the altar’: these men must therefore have been priest.  Cf. Joel 2:17.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 4 — Ezekiel 6 and 7

Study 4 From the Book of Ezekiel is: Ezekiel 6 and 7

1.     Chapter 6. Against what sin is the Lord’s anger particularly directed? In what forms is it found today?

2.     What refrain frequently recurs in these two chapters? What does it teach us about the purpose behind Ezekiel’s prophesying?

3.     Contrast the phrase ‘I will punish you according to your ways’ (7:9) with Ps. 103:10; and see Pr. 1:24, 29-31; 2 Cor. 6:1, 2. What warning for the careless and indifferent does this contrast suggest?

4.     What can be learnt from 7:14-27 about the right and wrong uses of money? In what ways can it become a stumbling-block to the follower of Christ?

Notes

1.     6:3. ‘Your high places’: the word originally meant a height or eminence. But as these were used as the sites of temples and shrines, the word came to mean ‘sanctuaries’, as here. Cf. Dt. 12:2, 3.

2.     7:20. ‘They prided themselves upon the beauty of their silver and their gold, and make out of them…idols’ (Moffat). Cf. Ho. 2:8.

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Search The Scriptures—Study 3 — Ezekiel 3:22 – 5:17

Study 3 From the Book of Ezekiel is: Ezekiel 3:22 – 5:17

Jerusalem, under King Zedekiah, had recovered a measure of strength after its capture by Nebuchadrezzar in 597 BC, and false prophets were prophesying a period of divine favour (see Je. 28: 1-4). These reports reached the exiles in Babylon, and the burden of Ezekiel’s message at this time was that, on the contrary, Jerusalem was about to experience God’s judgements.

The closing verses of chapter 3 are best regarded as an introduction to the prophecies of chapters 4-24, which all relate to the approaching judgement on Jerusalem. During this time, the prophet was commanded to live in seclusion, as if bound and dumb, except when God gave him some message to deliver (3:25-27).

1.     In chapters 4:1- 5:4 the prophet is directed to show by four symbolic actions the impending siege of Jerusalem, with its privations and sufferings, and also the plight of those who would be carried into exile after the city’s fall. What were these actions? Which of them refer to the siege, and which to the sufferings of those who would be carried into captivity? With 4:13, cf. Ho. 9:3, 4; and note the explanation of 5:1 – 4 in 5:12.

2.     What is said in 5:5-17 of (a) the reasons, (b) the nature, and (c) the purposes of the terrible judgment that was about to fall upon Jerusalem?  Some Christians are less Christian in their lives than many who reject or ignore Christ.  In the light of these verses what may we infer to be God’s attitude to this sad fact?

Notes

1.     4:10, 11. Food restricted to eight ounces, and water to two pints or less. Cf. 4:16.

2.     4:15. Animal dung was, and still is, a recognized form of fuel in the East.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 2 — Ezekiel 2:1 – 3:21

Study 2 From the Book of Ezekiel is: Ezekiel 2:1 – 3:21

1.     To whom was Ezekiel sent, and how are they descried? What was to be the theme of his message to them? See 2:3-7; 3:4-11.

2.     What two meanings are symbolized by the eating of the scroll, one having reference to the prophet himself (2:8), and the other to his ministry (3:4)? Consider the application of these things to all who would be God’s messengers.

3.     What consolations are there in these verses for one called to witness for the Lord among those who are obstinately opposed to the Gospel? Why is such opposition no excuse for ceasing to witness (2:5b)? What are the four possible cases which are cited in 3:17-21? What relevance do these have for the work of Christian ministers today?

Notes

1.     2: 1, 3. ‘Son of man’: a phrase occurring over ninety times in Ezekiel It is used to draw attention to the prophet’s insignificance and mere humanity.

4.      2:6. ‘Briers and thorns… scorpions’: symbols of the trials he would suffer.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 1 — Ezekiel 1

Study 1 From the Book of Ezekiel is: Ezekiel 1

The vision of this chapter was of supreme importance in Ezekiel’s life. Not only was it the occasion of his call to be a prophet, but it was also the medium through which a new conception of God was revealed to him which was to mould his prophetic ministry.

1.     As the vision of God’s chariot-throne is outlined, follow the prophet’s description of it, part by part: first the living creatures (verses 5-14), then the wheels (verses 15-21), with the throne on top, and finally the One who sat there.  How is God described, and what is meant to teach about the nature of God?

2.     What do you find symbolized by the other features of the vision: the living creatures, the wheels, the throne, etc.?

Notes

1.     Verse 1. ‘In the thirtieth year…’probably of Ezekiel’s age, i.e., the year when he would have begun to function as a priest had he remained in Jerusalem.

2.     Verse 3. ‘The hand of the Lord was upon him there’: a phrase used else where in the book to signify a prophetic trance or ecstasy. See 3:22; 8:1; 33:22; 37:1.

3.     Verse 5. ‘Four living creatures’: heavenly beings, yet representing the highest form of life on earth (among birds, domestic animals, wild animals and the whole creation respectively), and indicating perhaps that all created things are under God’s control.

4.     Verses 19-21. Observe that there was no mechanical framework to the chariot.  All was spiritual, and responsive to the Spirit.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 0 — Introduction to Ezekiel

Study 0  From the Book of Ezekiel is: The Introduction of the book of Ezekiel 

Ezekiel was one of many taken captive by Nebuchadrezzar in the first captivity, commonly referred to as the captivity of King Jehoiachin (e.g., 1:2), because this king himself was among those carried away.  This occurred in 597 BC, eleven years before the actual destruction of Jerusalem.

Ezekiel was a priest as well as a prophet. He began prophesying in 592 BC and continued till at least 570 BC. See 1:2 and 29:17. His ministry was divided into two distinct periods by the destruction of Jerusalem (586 bc). Before this event it was his painful task to disillusion his fellow-exiles, to proclaim that all hopes of the early deliverance of the city and speedy return of the exiles were vain. Jerusalem must fall.  After this event, the character of his ministry completely changed. He sought to rebuke despair and to afford comfort and hope by promises of future deliverance and restoration.

To witness with the object firs of overthrowing men’s natural hopes, and then of overcoming men’s inevitable despair, is a work that can be undertaken and carried through only under the constraint and by the inspiration of a divine commission. Such a commission was Ezekiel’s compelling urge.  He was a man whose whole life was dominated by his sense of vocation and responsibility as a prophet—as God’s messenger to his fellows. Similar necessity is laid upon us to be God’s witness, and the essential truth of Ezekiel’s message should be the unchanging truth of our own. Because God is righteous, sin must be punished; old things must pass away.  But, because God is gracious, and has provided a salvation for sinners there is a gospel of hope for the hopeless; in Christ all things can become new.