The Best Commentary On The Bible Is The Bible Itself

	The Reflections Newsletter Wednesday, January 27, 2010 **In This Issue** A Look at Ezekiel What Does the Bible Say About...?   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 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 the book. 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...?   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.     **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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"Then Jesus said to those Jews which believed on him,
"If you continue in My word, then are you My disciples indeed;
And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

John 8:31-32