GOLD in the CLOUDS : Ezekiel Study, Part 6

I'm continuing the study of Ezekiel that I've been working on since mid-January. This summary is for Chapters 33-39.

Chapter 33: Ezekiel is called to be a watchman for Israel's people so in this chapter our attention is turned back to the house of Israel. The first responsibility is to the prophet himself: Ezekiel is to act as watchman and warn them of God's judgement to come. The 2nd responsibility belongs to the people. This message stresses the importance of personal responsibility for sins that are repeated. The city has fallen and Ezekiel has proven he's a prophet. But...the people don't take him seriously. For us today this shows that external identity does not save us just like it didn't save the Israelites. Being a member of God's family is not inherited. The thing that is required to be in God's family is a response of faith, an internal commitment to God, and heart felt obedience. The New Testament has this same message as found in Galatians 3: 23-29. It is our faith through Christ (becoming born again) that all are children of God....this is regardless of our earthly ethnicity.

Chapter 34: In this chapter, we see the shepherd being the metaphor for leaders and kings in the ancient Near East. Israelite shepherds were wicked, careless, self-serving towards God's flock!! (reminder: we are talking about the leaders, not actual shepherd boys). God Himself takes over and then through true peace....a Davidic ruler (Jesus!) there is full restoration of the Covenant relationship. This chapter anticipates Jesus as "The Good Shephere" as seen in John 10: 11-18. Jesus is the true King. He came to seek and save the lost (Matthew 10: 6) and he separates the sheep from the goats. Pastors are over the "sheep" (us) and under the Chief Shepherd (Jesus) and they today need to be godly role models for God's flock.

Chapters 35-36:1-5: Here we see Mt Seir as a representative of Edom like Mt Zion is of Israel. Edom was the arch-enemy of Israel. Edom is accused of hostility, expanding into Israel and of gloating over Jerusalem's destruction. Ezekiel is saying that God will judge Edom based on their crimes. The mountains of Israel will be restored and Israel will return to populate the land with abundance of life as seen at creation. (Genesis 1:22,28). This prophecy brought comfort as God kept His promise but the complete fulfillment of the grand blessings promised in this passage awaits Jesus' return....for us today this means that we need to look forward to our heavenly inheritance. (I Peter 1: 3-5).

The rest of Chapter 36 highlights God's restoration of Israel. God's motivation is for Him to restore His Holiness and Sovereignty and to restore His Holy Name. This will transform the relationship between God and Israel. Then Israel will enjoy the abundant blessings. For us today we see in I Timothy 1:17 that God is the King Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, the Only God forever and ever. God is truly sovereign over the whole earth and we read this in Revelation 21: 1-3

And we also see this in Revelation 7:9&10

Chapter 37 is one of the most famous and best known prophecies of Ezekiel. It's titled in my Bible as "The Valley of the Dry Bones". In fact there's a great contemp song by Elevation Music called "Rattle". Give it a listen if your church doesn't worship with this. ....it's powerful! Anyways, this chapter includes another sign-act about Israel's future reunification (v.15-28). This will take place in 2 steps: the formation of a lifeless corpse and the infusion of breath to make a living being. This also happened in the creation of Adam. God is going to use His creative powers again by breathing life into those bones. The exiles are the bleached bones...their hopes have died yet God will resurrect Israel because the Holy Spirit breathes new life and God brings His people back to the Promised Land.

The sign-act shows how Israel will be one nation again and the covenant blessings will flow. For us today: we know we are cleansed by the blood of the Lamb/Jesus when we ask Him into our heart and become new (born again/saved from sins) and we are then Spirit-filled with new hearts to obey God. The Holy Spirit breathes life into us!!

Chapter 38 is a prophecy of how Gog and his allies will assault Israel for their wealth and once they're secure under God's blessing, He will protect them. Gog and Magog concern the final battle between God and His enemies (found in Revelation)....this occurs before the final vision John had of a heavenly Jerusalem (Rev 20 and 21). Throughout history, God's enemies threaten His people but we (born again Christians) have the assurance that God will win and we will rest in security just like the Israelites were promised in this prophecy.

Chapter 39 emphasizes God's slaughter and disposal to reveal who the Lord really is. Taboos are broken here: drinking blood, eating human flesh and the presence of unclean animals. This underlines the complete destruction of those who oppose God. This is found in Revelation 19: 17-21

God's sovereignty in history will be shown before the nations and in the way He treats His people. So for Israel: they were in exile as judgement for their sins and then Restoration.

For us today: We have been sealed with the Holy Spirit as Christians. This is found in Ephesians 1:13 and in 4:30.