Ezekiel the Prophet, Part I

Hello! I am starting a new series on the prophet Ezekiel, which will eventually become a book. If you are interested in the Book of Ezekiel, the living creatures, the wheels, and the temple, please read, comment, and ask questions. Your feedback will be invaluable for this series. Thank you!

Ezekiel is in Babylon when he pens his book of prophetic utterances.

Although Ezekiel has been taken captive along with the wealthy and educated of Jerusalem, things are going to get worse for his people. The complete destruction of the temple will be burned with fire, and God’s chosen people will become enslaved or killed by Nebuchadnezzar’s armies who are fast approaching. 

The Holy One commands Ezekiel to take a brick and engrave the city of Jerusalem upon it. He is to raise an assault ramp against it. Take an iron plate and set it between him and the city. The priestly prophet is to play war in public view like a child with a set of GI Joe soldiers, but this is no kids game.

Next, Ezekiel is to lay on both sides and take the sins of Judah and Israel upon himself. The prophet is instructed to eat grains and bake cakes that he is to cook over dung. Additionally, Ezekiel’s hair symbolizes the impending destruction that God is allowing to take place.

A fire is coming, and Adonai’s people are unprepared.

Strangely, Ezekiel never calls the place Jerusalem, but the “city.”  Bet Yeshurun Assembly has an astounding article, A Temple Tale where he expounds on this topic:

It is an interesting fact that in all nine chapters of Ezekiel’s vision, there is never any mention of the word, “Jerusalem.” This is all the more surprising because it seems that everyone calls it “the Jerusalem Temple.” Instead, it is referred to again and again a dozen times vaguely as “the city,” and ten times in chapter 48 alone. It is not until the very last verse in the Book of Ezekiel, chapter 48 verse 35, that he finally gives us the name of “the city,” and it is NOT Jerusalem! He says, “…the name of the city…shall be, The LORD is there,” in Hebrew, “Jehovah Shammah,”[1]

Sadly, the most misunderstood prophecy concerns Ezekiel’s Temple.

This temple is not a millennial temple and it never was.

It was an offer from God to Israel in exile of what He would do for them if they repented, but they did not. They remained stiff-necked:

Now you, son of man, take a sharp sword. Use it as a barber’s razor to shave your head and your beard. Then take balances to weigh and divide the hair. A third you will burn in fire in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are complete. Take a third and strike it with the sword all around the city. Scatter a third to the wind, and I will draw out a sword after them. Take a few from there and tie them up in your garment. Again take some of them, throw them into the midst of the fire and burn them in the fire. A fire will spread from it into all the house of Israel.”

Thus says Adonai Elohim: “This is Jerusalem! 

Ezekiel 5:2-5, TLV

Ezekiel looks like a professional moving company. He packs his belongings in the mornings and digs through a wall at night.  Ezekiel is a public display, an object, and a symbol of what was coming upon the people, but they lack vision and have closed their ears to the voice of reason. The prophet is a beacon. The prophet is a street emblem. The prophet is a madman. The prophet is a fool. The prophet lacks understanding. Still, with instructions from the Holy One, the prophet knows no other way of walking except with obedience. He would rather fall into the hands of the Holy One. As King David said to the prophet Gad, “Let us fall into the hands of the Holy One, for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into human hands.”

Ezekiel is given his instructions and he will follow them through for he has no fear of man:

You will bring out your baggage by day in their sight, as baggage for exile. You will go out in the evening in their sight, like those going into exile. As they watch, dig through the wall and go out through it. Bear the burden on your shoulder in their sight. Carry it out in the darkness; cover your face so that you cannot see the ground. For I have made you a sign for the house of Israel.” 

I did just as I was commanded: I brought out baggage by day, as baggage for exile. In the evening, I dug through the wall with my hand. I carried it out in the darkness and bore it on my shoulder, as they watched.

Ezekiel 12:4-7, TLV

Trying to digest the words given to Ezekiel by Adonai evokes pain and grief that aches in the loins.

Ezekiel is given a scroll that bears the words of the horror being played out. The prophet is a man of flesh, but the Holy One has chosen him to live through the grief as an oracle for the people.

Ezekiel must eat the scroll. The words will permeate his belly.

The prophet has been training his whole life for this moment. The people have become so numb and far away from Adonai that Ezekiel uses language so perverse and offensive that it should blush the cheeks and redden the ears. Still, the people are so encased in idolatry it’s hard to penetrate their hardened hearts.

Adonai’s bride will now become a widow, and she does not even know it.

 Israel, at one point, was that Bride. I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, and the way you followed Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.

 Jeremiah 2:2, TLV

[1] https://www.messianics.us/bible-prophecy/misconceptions-about-ezekiels-temple-vision.html

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