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Welcome to the Reflections Newsletter from Reflect His
Glory. RHG is a co-ministry with Creation Science Ministries. Feel
free to send this to your relatives and friends.
- A Look at Ezekiel
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What Does the Bible Say About...?
A Look at Ezekiel
It is difficult to understand the
volatility of the Middle East without first studying the remarkable
prophecies found in the book of Ezekiel.
Ezekiel was among the captives with King Jehoiachin in
the second of three deportations under King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.
He mentions Daniel three times, who
had been in Babylon nine years before Ezekiel arrived.
Ezekiel ministered, as did Jeremiah,
to a nation experiencing judgment for their sins.
Ezekiel was born in approximately 627 BC, and lived in a
time of moral decline, distress and uprooting.
His messages were not well received
at first, but did ultimately result in the nation being purged of idolatrous
practices. He was married and owned
his home. His wife died during his ministry, and he was forbidden to mourn
her.
We also learn that God intended his life to be a series
of signs to Israel. Therefore,
he does all kinds of strange things. He
shut himself up in his home, he bound himself
up, and he was struck dumb. In a
formal ritual, he was to lie on his right and his left sides for a total of
430 days. He ate bread that was
prepared in an unclean manner, and he shaved his head and beard, which was
considered a shame in his particular calling.
Throughout the book, Ezekiel’s main theme was the
sovereignty and glory of God. This
is good for us, because we can get so focused on God’s grace that we tend to
forget there is also a governing role of God, and that His glory requires
justice.
Ezekiel was very direct.
He carefully vindicated God’s justice throughout the book, although
he deals more in symbol and allegory that any other Old Testament prophet.
He is probably the greatest mystic of the Old Testament.
He was well suited for the calling
God gave him, which included a remarkable vision of God's Throne in Chapter
1. This dramatic vision of God never left him.
It is not just introduced in
the first chapter as it is referenced all
the way through.
Ezekiel can be described as the Prophet of the
‘Re-gathering’. The famed
vision of the Valley of the Dry Bones in Chapters 36 and 37 could easily be
the monumental Biblical fulfillment of the 20th century.
Beginning in the last half of the
19th century, the re-gathering that peaked
with the establishment of the
State of Israel is one of the most irrefutable evidences that we are on
threshold of God's conclusion for the nations mentioned throughout the Bible,
and remarkably detailed in the writings of Ezekiel.
The final chapters, 40-48, climax with a remarkably
detailed description of the Millennial Temple to be rebuilt.
Ezekiel was uniquely qualified for
this role due to his priestly background. He
was the son of Buzi, who was also a priest.
It is interesting that even though he never served as a priest, he
apparently so influenced later worship that today he is called by some, "The
Father of Judaism." From Numbers 4:3
we know that Kohathites had to be 30 years old before they could begin
service as priests. When Ezekiel
became 30, however, he was deported, in approximately the eightieth year of
the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. The
Temple which Ezekiel describes has not yet been constructed.
Most scholars regard it as the
details for the Temple which will be established during the Millennium on
Planet Earth.
Between the re-gathering of the nation in Chapters 36 and
37, and the Millennium Temple described in Chapters 40-48, there is a
predictive event that intervenes. The
invasion of Gog and Magog, described in Chapters 38 and 39, are among the
most famous prophetic passages in the Bible.
For a variety of reasons, the identity of "Magog" as the people of
Russia seems well established.
What Does the
Bible Say About...?
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In this section of the
Reflections Newsletter we answer questions that have been asked.
If you have a question that you would like ask, and do not mind having
it printed in the newsletter, (your name will not be mentioned), feel free to
send your question in an email to me at
biblequestions@reflecthisglory.org. Of course, you may call me
anytime by phone at 801.302-1111.
The question for this issue is, "I
see many references to 'hours' and 'watches' in the Bible. What does
these terms mean?" |
In Bible
times, the day was measured from sunrise to sunset,
which coincided roughly with 6 AM and 6 PM,
respectively. Each 'hour' of the day would be
measured by its sequence between these two times.
Thus, for the example, the "sixth hour" would be
noon, and so forth.
The measuring of night time was a little more
complicated. According to the Davis Dictionary
of the Bible, the night was divided into three
'watches'. They were sunset to midnight,
midnight to cock-crow, and cock crow to sunrise.
This measurement of time was in place in the Old
Testament. The New Testament adopted the Greek
and Roman system of dividing the night into four
watches of equal three-hour lengths from sunset to
sunrise. Thus, the first watch was roughly
from 6 PM to 9 PM, the second watch was from 9 PM to
midnight, the third watch was from midnight to 3 AM,
and the fourth watch was from 3 AM to 6 AM. |
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**MEMORY VERSE OF THE
MONTH**
And He
that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.
And He said to me, Write: for these words are true
and faithful.
Revelation 21:5
KJV ER
We solicit your prayers and support of this ministry. God Bless.
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