O. T. #1848 "Where is Our Dependence?"
Dec. 28, 2020
Introduction to Ezekiel
Let me say up front that I am not a Bible scholar, just have a heart for studying God's Word. I do have several commentaries surrounding me whose authors I trust. So I will be referring to them often during this prophetic book. Also, I am a word nerd so I will be using a concordance to look up the Hebrew meaning of words used. And I will try to pull out something which we can use today in our walk of faith. I thank God that you are here with me. May we be blessed as we dig in deeper into this book of prophecy.
The Author
Ezekiel's name means God will strengthen. God called this man to prophesy the future of the Hebrews and Israel. He was born during the reign of Josiah in Judah, a good king who returned God's people back to His worship. So Ezekiel's boyhood was during the great reformation period when the Law was discovered in the Temple. Like Jeremiah, Ezekiel was of a priestly heritage. His father may have been of the Zadok/Levite line. Ezekiel was married and loved his wife dearly. (chapter 24) The darkest day of his life happened when the Lord announced to him the siege of Jerusalem and the death of his beloved wife.
When Ezekiel was about 18, the Babylonians made their first invasion into Palestine and carried away Daniel. They came again and took Ezekiel (about age 25) among the captives, as was King Jehoakin. Some of the exiles were made slaves, others were imprisoned, and others allowed to settle down in their own homes. Ezekiel was one allowed liberty, thanks to the providence of God. His home became a meeting place where the Jewish elders often came to receive counsel. (chapters 8, 14, 20) At age 30, priests could serve in that office. so it was with Ezekiel.
[Resource: Liberty Bible Commentary]
Background
Israel's united kingdom only lasted more than 110 years through kings Saul, David, and Solomon. Then it divided into a northern kingdom (Israel with 10 tribes) and a southern kingdom (Judah and Benjamin). they had their own kings, of which Israel's led them into idolatry and were conquered by Assyria. Judah survived 135 years, then Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar conquered them. Ezekiel and 10,000 exiles lived in Babylonia as colonists, permitted to farm tracts of land instead of living in prison. [Resource: The MacArthur Bible Commentary]
In the Book of Isaiah we have the principles of the throne of God; in Jeremiah we have the practice of that throne; but in Ezekiel we have the Person is on the throne. This is a vision of the glory of God, a vision of the presence of God. [Resource: Ezekiel by J. Vernon McGee]
In the first three chapters, we read of Ezekiel's calling, situation, vision of God, and commissioning. There is a lot of symbolism and imagery in this book through the visions Ezekiel had. There are some key words and phrases used:
- Son of man-refers to Jesus, used 90 times;
- Glory of the LORD or Gory of the God of Israel-appears 11 times;
- Lord God-used over 200 times;
- The Word of the LORD came upon me-appears 49 times;
- The hand of the LORD was upon me-appears 7 times;
- Bel Merodach, the sun god- Babylon's false god, is used 38 times.
In verse 1, Ezekiel sets the setting in which he was:
- Ezekiel was probably age 30 when God called him to be a prophet.
- He had been born in the land of Judah, preparing to be a priest in the Temple when Babylon first attacked.
- He was carried away with 10,000 captives.
- He lived along the Chebar Canal that flowed into the Euphrates River in Babylonia, which was a large settlement of Jewish exiles. This is where Ezekiels first vision came to him.
Why did the Jewish exiles in Babylonia need a prophet? God wanted Ezekiel to:
- Help the exiles understand why they had been taken captive,
- dispel the false hope that the captivity was going to be short,
- bring a new message of hope, and
- call the people to a new awareness of their dependence upon God.
Do we have a message of hope to give people during this pandemic? Yes, it is one of Jesus Christ as Savior, our hope of eternal life. He is our strength and does impossible things today. He is our healer of physical, emotional, and spiritual illness. Is our dependence upon our God? Or are we putting our trust in doctors and medicine?
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