Category Archives: Ezekiel

Ezekiel, Uncategorized

Ezekiel 37:1-14 – I will put my Spirit in you

Context

In chapter one we are told that the hand of the LORD was on Ezekiel and from that moment on, Ezekiel has been directed by God to do and say as the LORD instructs. The overwhelming message has been that God is now pouring his wrath out on Israel for turning their backs on Him and worshipping the so-called gods of the other nations. By the Sovereignty of God, Babylon will lay siege on Jerusalem and totally wipe them out. Everybody will be killed either by the sword or by famine. The image we must have of Israel after the attack is like a scene from a post-apocalyptic film where there is no life and no hope.

In chapters 33-36, the message is of hope and God’s glory returning to Israel. Here’s a string of verses which capture this message:

  • 34:12-13 “I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land”
  • 34:16 ” will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy”
  • 34:31 “You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign Lord”
  • 36:8 “But you, mountains of Israel, will produce branches and fruit for my people Israel, for they will soon come home”
  • 36:10 “The towns will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt”
  • 36:26 “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”
  • 36:27-28 “And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God”
  • 36:35 “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”

Also in these chapters is the clear message that God is not repenting of his wrath but promising to restore for His name’s sake. Consider these two quotes from chapters 33 and 36.

  • 33:31-32 “My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to hear your words, but they do not put them into practice. Their mouths speak of love, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice”
  • 36: 20-21″And wherever they went among the nations they profaned my holy name, for it was said of them, ‘These are the Lord’s people, and yet they had to leave his land.’ I had concern for my holy name, which the people of Israel profaned among the nations where they had gone”

Before we get to chapter 37, we have a vision of Israel as dead and wiped out. A nation totally destroyed because of their unrighteousness. God has abandoned them because they abandoned their God. Yet, God promises to bring this nation back to life! He will give them a new heart and will put His Spirit in them so that they will be careful to listen and obey the LORD.

Structure

  • Verses 1-3 – Can God undo desolation?
  • Verses 4-8 – Speak to the bones!
  • Verses 9-10 – Speak to the breath!
  • Verses 11-14 – The vision explained.

Observation

Verses 1-3

The hand of the LORD was on Ezekiel just as described in 1:3 before he saw the great vision of God’s glory. The vision he is shown this time is of a valley full of dry bones. When the whole passage (1-14) is considered, it would appear that this is just a vision, although very real to Ezekiel. So real that he can be led to the valley and led back and forth through it.

The vision is like the aftermath of a great battle. Having the siege of Jerusalem and the promised slaughter in mind works – it’s not hard to think that these bones belong to the people of Israel.

The bones are many and they are very dry. This is quite literally a valley of death.

The problem in this short passage is not that there are dead people – this is clearly the result of the wrath of God. The problem is the question posed: can these bones live?

Ezekiel’s answer shows true wisdom: to God, nothing is impossible, so we’ll ask him!

Verses 4-8

Try and picture the scene from verses 1-8. Ezekiel is in a remote valley filled with bones and, supposedly, nobody else about. Then he is told, like many times before in Ezekiel, to prophesy and speak the words of the LORD. But he is told to speak to a valley of dry bones. Can you picture him speaking to the bones?

The promise given to the bones is that they will be given tendons, flesh and skin but the important ingredient is breath. Breath is the first thing promised in 5 and is the only ingredient not provided by verse 8.

There are many ways to define what a dead person is – it was an exercise I did in high school to try and work out when a person moves from life to death. A stopped heart? No brain activity? No breath? Maybe it’s all of the above and for a duration? I don’t remember what the conclusion of our class lesson was, but the bible here, without making the passage too scientific, reminds us that bones with tendons and flesh and skin does not make a person alive. Only when there is breath can we say that life has begun.

You’ll remember that in Genesis 2:7, “the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” The significance of leaving the breath till last and delaying it may be to emphasise the importance of the breath. God is not reforming empty shells but bringing a people back to life.

Verses 9-10

Again, try and picture the scene. At the end of verse 8, we don’t have a vision of zombies – the walking dead – but simply bones given tendons, flesh and skin. The valley is no longer a valley of dry bones but a valley of dead bodies.

Next, Ezekiel is told to speak the word of God to the breath! If speaking to dry bones seemed weird, speaking to thin air must have felt weirder?

The four winds mentioned here may speak of the fulness and force and deliberate power of the breath. Simply adding to the visual image of this act. Not a small breath, but a powerful force.

When the breath entered the bodies, they became alive and stood and were called: a vast army. They would be united – not for a social club but for battle. Strengthened bodies, full of life and energy and equipped for the fight. Ephesians 6 comes to mind here.

Now, it is important to talk about this breath…

The NIV footnote to verse 5 says, “The Hebrew for this word can also mean wind or spirit.” This means that one Hebrew word has these three definitions: breath, wind and spirit. So, the context tells us whether the word in English ought to be breath, wind or spirit. If we had one English word which means all three, we might see the one word launch out at us over and over and over. You might like to re-read the 14 verses and substitute all of the uses of breath, wind and spirit with one of those three. So, Ezekiel was brought out by the breath of the LORD(v1)! The LORD promises to make wind enter the bones (v5) and so on! At times, it seems clear which of the three to use such as verse 1 – the Spirit is needed. And verse 9 is difficult to understand if there are four spirits being winded or spirited into the slain. The NIV translaters have chosen which English word works best in the sentence. But remember what God had promised in 36:27 – he would put his Spirit in them. What is needed is more than wind or breath to enter the bodies but the Spirit that brings life!

Verses 11-14

“I will put my Spirit in you and you will live!” That’s the point of the passage. These fourteen verses are not primarily about Christian resurrection but about Spirit filled re-creation. The rebirth that Jesus spoke to Nicodemus about in John 3; the changed new creation spoken of in Colossians 2 and 3; and the celebration that anyone in Christ is a new creation in 2 Corinthians 5:17.

What is it that Ezekiel meant to the readers in his day? Surely it was not about eternal resurrection but about the restoration of the Kingdom of God. They had in mind, as it says in this section, that their hope is gone because they have been cut off from God (v11). But God promises to restore them and give them His Spirit. The audience of this story is not the slain victims of God’s wrath but the Jews in exile, scattered and who, although they were alive, were really dead – cut off from God.
As verse 11 states, “these bones are the people of Israel.” The nation and people of God are like dead people who are so dead and lost that their bones are bleaching in the sun. They have no hope and no future. But because of the grace of God, they will be restored and given the Spirit of God. Where is this promise fulfilled? Surely it is the very thing in Ephesians 1:3 which says that God has blessed us in the heavenly realm with every spiritual blessing in Christ. And again in Galatians 5:22-23 which lists the benefit and product of the Spirit’s work is being able to enjoy Christian virtues that were previously dead in us. And again in Romans 8 which compares the mortal life of the flesh with the life giving life of the Spirit! Without the breath of God, we have no future or hope.

Meaning

Like a valley full of dried up bones has no life, hope or future; the people of Israel have been sent in exile and have no life left in them. But the LORD will bring the people of God back from an impossible situation and the people will know that it is the LORD who has done this.

A New Testament Perspective

The Spirit of God gives those who are dead, even though they are alive, new life. Christians are a new creation. Ephesians 2:1-3 describes our lives before coming to Christ as dead. Dead in our trespasses and sins. Dead because we did what we ought not to do and we failed to do what we ought to have done! We were not just imperfect as if to say, ‘nobody’s perfect’ but we were DEAD as if to say, ‘everybody’s lifeless like dried up bones.’ Ephesians 2:4-5 says that because of God’s great love, he has made us alive with Christ. God has done that! By the death and resurrection of Christ, God has done that.

Christianity is not about living better! It’s about admitting that we are dead without Christ! And confessing this with your heart and mouth is testimony to the work of the Spirit!

Application

  1. Our sin means that everybody outside of Christ is dead. Not that we are naughty or wounded or struggling to do right – we are dead. Before anyone is made alive in Christ, even if they look like they are healthy and wealthy, they are dead, cut off from God and without hope. Do you see the world as this? The contrast between a follower of Christ and everybody else is as different as a living being and a dead, rotted corpse. The former is alive. The latter is helpless and lost.
  2. The promise of God is new life in Christ. Jesus died and was buried but on the third day, he became the first-fruit of the resurrection. He has unlocked the door of death that was locked since the first sin in Adam. People are now able to live – truly live – as God’s people because of his death. And when we are alive with Christ it is because we have first of all died with him (Colossians 2). By the power of the Holy Spirit, we are able to put to death the misdeeds of the body and put on love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.
  3. To cross from spiritual death to life is not by accident. It happens when we confess our desperate need for a saviour. There is the image of the Black Knight in the Monty Python movie: The Holy Grail. He was defeated in battle with his arms and legs hacked off but refused to admit that the battle was over. The world we live in is filled with Black Knights who will not admit that they are broken and the world they inhabit is too. At some point, we need to confess our sins, admit that we need Gods help and say goodbye to our old selves to embrace a new life in Christ.
  4. Even though this passage is not primarily about the resurrection, it is easy to spend some time meditating on it. Directly, the passage is about God restoring Israel as his possession full of blessing by His Spirit. Indirectly, it adds to the language in the Old Testament of God being able to raise from the grave. The question asked in verse 3 is can these bones live? The answer given in the rest of the verse is to the effect of, “of course he can, but will he?” We know that the answer in the New Testament is the same: of course he can but will he? Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even though he dies.” It’s not death that will separate us from God, it is the rejection of the Christ that will separate us. The acceptance and rejection into heaven occurs now as we choose to accept or reject Christ. Jesus also said, “this is eternal life: that they know God and Jesus Christ.” We don’t need anybody to tell us whether heaven is real or not – Jesus has told us. What we need is to wake up and see that Jesus is also the only way to eternal life!

The above four applications are awfully similar I confess. Recognise we are dead. Know that God is the giver of life. Do something about it. Put your hopes in Jesus, the resurrection and the life! On coming to Christ and entering our new life (recreated) we now go on in the Spirit to start living. This is exactly why we’ve titled our discipleship course, Start Living!

Prayer for the week

Lord of all creation, thank you for life and hope and joy that can only be truly found in the Lord Jesus Christ. Please show us how to live through the Spirit you give us. May we be sober minded when it comes to life and death and know that there is no life outside of Christ. Amen.

Ezekiel

Ezekiel 25-32 – Judgement on the nations

Below is the full guide for a study on Ezekiel 25-32. Follow this link for a handout to be used by the members of your group for this study.

Context

Biblical Context

God created the whole world and all that is in it. All nations under heaven are subject to the rule of our Sovereign God.

When God chose Israel to be his people, he gave them the promised land and declared that they were not to mingle and intermarry with the surrounding nations. They were to be devoted to the LORD and not be seduced by the nations around her. God aided Israel to drive out all the nations from the promised land.

Ezekiel Context

The Sovereign LORD has rebuked Israel for their idolatry and evil practices and condemned them to Exile which began in chapter 24. Chapter 16 described how much love and care God gave to Israel and yet she prostituted herself with all the nations around her.

For a map of the nations surrounding Israel in the time of Ezekiel, see the following web-link
http://barrybandstra.com/rtot4/images/ch12/ch12-2.jpg

Observations

Chapters 25-32 stand out in the book of Ezekiel because of their attention away from Israel and on to the nations that surround her. Rather than choose one chapter in this section, we’ll look at grabs from the whole section and see what they have to tell us about the nations that surround Israel.

Read chapter 25.

1) God promises to bring judgement on nations other than Israel. What are the reasons given for each nation? Ammon? Moab? Edom? Philistia?

2) What does this tell you about God’s view of those nations and about Israel?

You could look up these verses if you would like to read more about these judgements.

Genesis 19:36-38 Lot is the father of the Moabites and the Ammonites!
Zephaniah 2:8-11 – About Moab and Ammon
Psalm 35 esp. Verses 21-25 (about “aha!)
Isaiah 16:6 (about Moab)
Obadiah 10-15 esp.12 – about Edom
2 Samuel 8:13-14 + 2 Chronicles 28:17 (why Edomite might want revenge)

Read these verses about Tyre and paraphrase what they say…

27:1-4; 28:1-2 – you were perfection but you said “I am a god!”

26:1-2 – Tyre said Aha and wants to exploit the desolate Jerusalem

26:3-4 – Therefore God will destroy her like a wave on a sandcastle.

26:19-21 – you will go down to the pit and you will be sought, but you will never again be found.

28:6-10; 27:36; 28:19 – You will be slain and see that you are mortal – you will be no more!

About Egypt…

29:1-3; 9-10 – You say “The Nile is mine, I made it!” – therefore Egypt will become a wasteland.

32:32 – Pharoah will be laid among the dead.

About Assyria…

31:1-3, 9 – it was like a glorious cedar tree – God made her like this!

10-11 – But because of her pride I handed her over to the forces of the world.

14 – all such trees are destined for death – to the realm of the dead.

About Babylon…

26:7-14 – Babylon will do the work of God

30:10, 24 – Babylon will put an end to Egypt

29:17-20 – God will pay Babylon for his work!

32:11,

About Israel…

28:24-26 – God will remove all the malicious neighbours and give them peace.

1) What does all this tell us about God? That he is the God over all the nations. That he gives life to the nations like Egypt and Assyria and he takes it away. He is the Sovereign LORD!

2) What does this tell us about Babylon in connection to God? That Babylon is given blessing by God to conquer only in that it serves the ends of God. The fate of this ungodly nation is in the hands of the LORD. All nations ought to recognise this.

3) What does this tell us about God’s people? That God, although punishing his people, is still protective of them. Just because he sends Israel into judgement, this doesn’t give other nations licence to abuse her. They are still subject to the almighty, whether they recognise it or not.

4) What is the connection between Ezekiel 25-32 and us? Whether you are Christian or not, God is still ruler. God has plans for his people that are for good and not evil – the rest of the world ought to surrender to this plan and become one of his people!

New Testament Connections?

Is there a New Testament passage that comes to mind after reflection on Ezekiel 25-32?

1) One could think of Acts 21:3-6 when Paul came to the region of Tyre and found some Christians there and they prayed together on the beach before Paul departed. This is a reminder that God is the God of all nations and any nation that will come to Christ is welcome.

2) You could also think of Luke 12:4-10 which picks up three allusions to Ezekiel 25-32.

  1. a) God is not only in charge of the workings of this world but of the dead. More fearful than humans that scoff and show pride is the God of the universe who determines your eternal future.
  2. b) God is so in charge of this world and concerned for it that he cares for the all of the creatures – even the sparrow – we must never limit the care of God for anyone or anything on the planet. God cared how all the nations conducted themselves and judged them likewise.
  3. c) Fear God. He will forgive even the most extreme of sins (putting Jesus to death can be forgiven) but there comes a point when those who stand against everything God does, this will not be forgiven. Fear God.

Meaning:

What can you say in summary about the lesson we learn this week?

The God of all the nations will rebuke everyone on the basis of how they have submitted to God. God will continue to protect his people but will condemn all who are defiant, arrogant and proud.

Application

  1. Meditate or reflect on what it means for God to be in control of all creation – that he is the God of all! How does this alter the way you view everyone else in the world?
  2. We are not to fear the world we live in but only God. People can do whatever they want to us but God is the ruler of life and death. Is it worth fearing the judgement of people when they can’t save or destroy our soul?
  3. World powers come and go but the word of God stands forever. He is not hassled by the stock exchange, or rumours of wars – he seeks true worshippers who will call on his name to be saved. Full stop.

Prayer for the week

Sovereign LORD, maker of heaven and earth, please accept our humility and thankfulness for life and the promise of new life eternal. May we see people everywhere as lost without knowing their saviour. And we pray that you will make your name known in all the earth. Amen.

Ezekiel

Ezekiel 22-24 it’s time: bring in Nebuchadnezzar!

I’ll focus on chapter 24 this week because it brings us to the close of the first major section of the book. The devastation, which the LORD has been promising, begins in this chapter. Even Ezekiel’s contemporaries were mocking the prophet for being ‘all words’ but nothing ever happened (12:21). Chapter 24 marks the very day when the words of the LORD commence fulfilment.

Context

For 21 chapters, the Sovereign LORD has been communicating through Ezekiel that he will avenge judgment on Israel for their detestable practices. These have been idolatry in every obscene way and worse than all of the other nations. The people of God have been blessed by God and totally abandoned the beautiful relationship He initiated and nurtured and fought for. Ezekiel has described the way that Israel will be seized and totally destroyed by an enemy power under the authority of God.

Chapter 22: The appointed years have come to an end. You are infamous among the nations and mocked. Your ways are detestable: bloodshed, careless, violations, extortion – you have forgotten Me! You will be scattered and melted. You’ve made no distinction between holy and common. You whitewash your evil deeds like divination. I will pour down my wrath on you for all you have done.

Chapter 23: The Story of Two Daughters. There’s a strong link back to chapter 16 in this chapter. Samaria and Jerusalem are described as two daughters. The former was a whore and the latter saw their sister and did the same, only worse! So, drink your sister’s cup! Lewdness and whoring judged. Idolatry, defiling the sanctuary and adulterous – blood is on their hands. “You will know that I am the Sovereign LORD.”

Observations

24:1-2

A specific day in history is recorded when King Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem (2 Kings 25:1). Ezekiel is in exile and being informed on the very day of the raid that it is happening from God. Notice that God refers to himself as the Sovereign LORD and in the parable that follows and the rest of the chapter, he describes what he will do to Jerusalem. Although Nebuchadnezzar is the man on the ground, he is a pawn in God’s plans.

24:3-12

A parable concerning a cooking pot. The imagery is difficult to understand. At first it sounds like an act of punishment – being boiled in the pot. But the imagery of the pot has been used elsewhere in Ezekiel and it’s best to be understood as a description of safety. Ezekiel 11:2-4 describes some wrong advice: that staying in the city is a good thing like the best meat placed into the pot rather than being the rubbish that gets seared directly onto the fire. Seeing the metaphor as a good thing, helps to understand the parable in chapter 24 (hopefully). The pot is the city and the meat are the cream of the crop in the city.

Verses 3-5 describes the scene of a great meal being cooked. The best meat into the pot to be cooked. With Ezekiel 11 in mind, this is a good image.

Verses 6-8 may describe the meat being removed from the place of safety. They are placed directly onto rock to be exposed, not drained into the earth, but increase their scorching by the fire outside the safety of the pot (city).

Verses 9-12 shows the aggression of the LORD’s anger to increase the temperature of the fire and to totally scourge everything in it. The pot will be boiled dry and then placed directly onto the hot coals.

24:13-14

The parable is followed up with the overall intent of its message. You will now receive the full sum of your judgement for what you have done.

The second half of the passage is where I’d like my groups to focus their attention.

24:15-18

Is there anything hard to understand in these words? The meaning seems plain to me. The LORD told Ezekiel that something heart wrenching was going to happen to him and that he is not to go about the normal ritual of mourning and lament. The “delight of [his] eyes” was taken from him. The LORD had Ezekiel’s wife die. The words are not unclear but the subject is difficult to digest. Does God hate Ezekiel or his wife that much? Is God punishing either of them or just making a point? Is the point worth ending a person’s life for?

Those who will struggle with this image may well need to meditate on what their idol is. Is God able to take whatever he pleases or not? The LORD gives and the LORD takes away. Isn’t that true. At the risk of sounding cold and heartless (which I am not) God’s word is concerning eternal life and eternal truths, not restricted to this life we live on earth. People die every day. While writing this sentence, statistically speaking, 34 people have died in the world (www.medindia.net/patients/calculators/world-death-clock.asp). When people hesitate to love and trust God because a loved one dies, does this mean that our loved ones are more important than every other death that has occurred? Either God is Sovereign or he is not! Either he has got an understanding and control of suffering in this world, or he has not. If not, then suffering is as powerful or more powerful than God. What’s my point? That true worship of the Sovereign God must admit that God is aware and able to stop our suffering – but he chooses not to or even orchestrates it. I do not mean that he is to blame for our suffering, but that he is Sovereign over it.

So, why take away Ezekiel’s wife? It’s to make another vivid point to Israel. And the message is about the Temple.

24:19-24

The death of Ezekiel’s wife and the instruction for Ezekiel to not mourn was a message of what awaits Israel. The sanctuary of God, which Israel took pride in – “the delight of [their] eyes” – will be desecrated, and the people’s sons and daughters will be killed by the sword of the Babylonians. The people will not react with mourning and weeping but with groaning and wasting away because of their own sin. Their focus will not be on what they have lost but on what they have done and failed to do.

The tense of this paragraph is interesting to note. The LORD speaks through Ezekiel to say what God is saying and directs the message to the people, and then Ezekiel speaks the same tense but uses his own name in the third person. The sense given is truly that God is speaking!

24:25-27

On that day, everything they found delight and joy in will be taken away. They have turned their backs on God, treating him like he is of no value to them (see chapter 16) and they will lose what they had held dear to them.

The prophet was told back in 3:26-27 that he would be unable to speak unless given words from God to speak. This is best understood that general conversations from Ezekiel’s mouth was restricted to the judgement messages from God. In 24:27 Ezekiel’s speech is promised to return when the fugitive comes to him with the news about Jerusalem. The silence of speech would be an added sign of judgement and the restored speech may indicate a sign of restoration to come.

New Testament insights

Read John 2:13-25 – especially verses 18-22. Jesus was angry at the misuse of the temple and taught that this temple needed to be rebuilt. He gave a sign to tear down the temple and he will rebuild it in three days. A couple of links with the Ezekiel passage are: a) the misuse of the temple even while the people thought highly of it, b) the passion of Jesus to cleanse the temple of its evil practices, c) the solution for Jesus was to see the temple torn down, d) the further instruction is for restoration. The difference is that Jesus was talking about his own body – God’s dwelling place – and that he spoke of the resurrection. Jesus would certainly undergo God’s wrath before the temple (his body) was rebuilt (the resurrection).

Meaning

The judgement of God cannot be avoided. It will come and everything we hold dear and precious will be taken from us. What the people of God need is not more time to reform but a total demolition and rebuild.

Application

  • The people of God did not hold dearly what God holds dearly: the covenant of relationship between God and Israel. They were delighted in the temple building, in their sons and daughters and their city but neglected the first priority which is to God. We can prioritise the good things in this life to the extent that God is overlooked and abandoned in our hearts. Love the LORD your God with all your heart, mind, body and soul. Then love your neighbour as yourself. The Christian way is not “family first” – it is “God first” and this is the best for our families.
  • There is a worse fate than death. It is to live without glorifying God.
  • In all my blessings I will give thanks to God. In all my grief I will acknowledge the Sovereignty and love of God.

Prayer for the week

Sovereign LORD, may we never hold so tightly to the things of this world that we might resent knowing you. May we know you fully and trust you with everything that we hold dear. Amen.