E z e k i e l 2 5
- 3 6
A Devotional COMMENTARY BY Nate Wilson
CHAPTER 25 Prophecies Over
Opportunistic Neighbor Nations
God also promises to destroy the Philistine
nation to the NW of Israel, because of their "vengeances...and perpetual
enmity." Again, this so that the gentile Philistines may know that He is
God!
God, I thank You for
Your concern for all nations and for saving me! I also pray that You would give me the grace not to rejoice at the downfall
of an enemy, and not to allow vengeance or spite a place in my heart.
The next three chapters are messgaes for
CHAPTER 26 The First of 3 Prophecies
Against
I suppose that a good historian could take
this description of the date and tell us what year B.C. it was given and then
tell us what year
26:3-6
26:7ff God even reveals who the destroyer
will be: Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Interesting that Artexerxes,
Nebuchadnezzar, and Jesus/God are the only ones called "King of
Kings" in the Bible. All three are recorded as having blessed God and His
people. Two were Gentiles. Artexerxes called himself
"King of Kings: in a letter to Ezra, but Daniel and God Himself
(through Ezekiel) called Nebuchadnezzar by that title also. What a remarkable
man King Nebuchadnezzar must have been! Anyway, this King Nebuchadnezzar will
breach the fortress walls of
26:15ff
Archaeologist Dr. Cliff Wilson confirms the
fulfillment of this prophecy on page 190 of his book That incredible book, the Bible. He says that Nebuchadnezzar
destroyed the coastal city of
CHAPTER 27 Lament for
The detail of
They were proud (v.3), and God appears to be
stroking their pride, perhaps to win their ear...until v.26: "The east wind
has broken you in the heart of the seas." Nebuchadnezzar lived to the east
and would come and destroy their power and wealth among the nations (v.29ff). All the seafaring people associated with the Phoenicians
will shave their heads and mourn for
CHAPTER 28: The King of
28:1-19
· "I am
God,"
· "your
heart is lifted up,"
· "no
secret is hidden from you,"
· "given
your heart as the heart of gods" (demon-possession?),
· "perfect
in beauty,"
· "have
been in the garden of Eden,"
· "the
anointed cherub,"
· "at the
holy height of God,"
· "perfect
until iniquity was found in you,"
· "I cast
you profaned from heaven,"
And yet the passage emphasizes that this is a
man:
"you are a man and not God,"
he
conducts trade to get wealth,
he will
be killed by a sword,
he wore
precious stones,
"I
will put you before kings that they may see you,"
"I
will turn you to ashes on the earth."
Perhaps God is speaking both to the King of Tyre and to the evil spirit (the devil) which ruled
spiritually over the place.
28:3 (Would the Phoenicians have known who
Daniel was? He was a contemporary
of Ezekiel...)
Why did God want to destroy this ruler?
· Pride:
thinking himself greater than God
· Wealth:
heart corrupted by his great wealth and wisdom
· Given his
heart "as the heart of gods"
· Violence and
sin
· Conceit b/c
of beauty, wisdom, and splendor
· "iniquity
of your trade"
Oh God, I am warned by this to be careful.
Though I have a good reputation, though I have a good ministry, though I think
myself a great guy, I must never be so conceited and proud. You hate pride.
God, I submit myself to You and worship You as my God!
28:20 THE FALL OF
God, it seems severe to cause repentance and
faith to come through war and sickness and destruction. But I guess You know how to deal with humans better than anybody, and
history proves that these things do cause spiritual awakening.
28:24 There is a
connection between God and His covenant people. When God's people get picked
on, He goes after the troublemaker!
28:25 RESTORATION OF THE JEWS
God promises to restore
The re-gathering and return to the land of
the Jews took place some 70 years later, when King Darius sent Ezra, Zerubbabel, and Nehemiah back to rebuild their homeland.
And you better believe they "dwelt securely" after the mighty King of
Persia sent his army to accompany them and deliver letters to the surrounding
nations to leave the Jews alone and give them building materials! (Neh.2)
One last thought: Ez. 28:25 speaks fondly of
Jacob as God's servant, but wasn't Jacob somewhat of a scoundrel? Yet God loved
him and Jacob did honor God as his God. How encouraging that God loves even
imperfect and somewhat disobedient people who are yet devoted to Him!
CHAPTER 29: The First of 6 Prophecies Concerning
29:1-6 The word
"
So God pronounces judgment over
Sixteen years later (v. 1 and 17), an
appendix is added to this prophecy apparently naming Nebuchadnezzar as the one
whom God will use to bring
Just as the Southern Jews were to be in exile
70 years, so the Egyptians were to be in exile 40 years (v.13, incidentally 10
times the number of years the Jews were slaves in Egypt), after which God
promises to re-gather them and re-establish them as a nation!
29:14-16 But Egypt will never again become a
great empire (yes, history bears this out). "And they shall know that I am
Jehovah." Once more this theme of God's heart for the nations appears,
this time regarding
29:17-21 What a
fascinating concept that the ultimate pagan warrior-king is in the hire and
service of God Almighty! God appreciates
CHAPTER 30: Description of
Here
we get a little ancient Egyptian geography lesson. Notice that it is not merely
political entities, but also people groups/ethnicities listed in v. 5.
What an Empire! What pride there must have
been in such a mighty old nation (v.6). But God hates
pride, and He promised to topple the proud empire from her glory by the hand of
Nebuchadnezzar.
30:8 Here it is
again, the glorious purpose behind the awful destruction: "And they shall
know that I am Jehovah."
This will not only be a blow to the pride of
mighty
30:10-11 Nebuchadnezzar's army will slaughter
a lot of Egyptians, and the land itself will be wasted, too. All the major
cities in Egypt Proper (circled area on map) are mentioned, along with their judgments.
God intimately knows all about every city on earth--both those of His covenant
people and those of nations which do not know Him. He is omniscient! He notes
the idols in Noph/Memphis, the arrogant prince
perhaps in Pathros/Upper Egypt, the strength of Sin/Pelusium, the large population of Thebes/No, the youth of Aven/Heliopolis and Pibeseth/Bubastis,
the "yokes" (perhaps the national seat of government?) of Tehapnes. The glory of each of these towns will be broken
so that the Egyptians might not worship these things, but rather "know
that I am Jehovah."
30:20 THE PROPHECY OF PHAROAH'S BROKEN ARMS
God claims responsibility for having broken
one of Pharaoh's arms already--perhaps this refers to Assyria's conquering of
TWO TRUE STORIES REGARDING THIS PROPHECY:
· "The
hieroglyphic name [of Pibseth] is 'Pe-bast,'" the house of Bast
(the Egyptian Artemis--the cat-headed goddess)... The road from Pellusium to
· "c.30
A.D...
CHAPTER 31: A Lesson to Pharaoh of
Two months later, God is still trying to
drive home His point to Pharaoh, so He sends Ezekiel with this message which
compares the greatness of Assyria to the greatness of
The motif of waters is mentioned many times
(v. 5,7,14,15,16) because water was an important thing
in
31:8-9 The "
31:10 Pride seems to be needled in this
passage as a reason for God's down-casting of
31:12 Remember all the satellite nations of
31:13-14 Going back
to the pride thing, it was God’s purpose to overrun the country with wild
animals to prevent the nation from becoming too proud again. So God does take
measures to protect us from our pride. Those measures can be humiliating,
though!
31:15-18 God speaks of the death (Sheol) and destruction of
CHAPTER 32: Lament for Pharaoh
Some 9 months later, God commands Ezekiel to
take up a lament for Pharaoh, king of
32:14-15 This will
come by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, and his mighty, fearsome army.
32:17 Two weeks later, the prophecy is
continued, kind of like a tour of a graveyard. The graveyard of the nations is
where
All of these nations, including
These nations are also all mentioned as
having died "uncircumcised." The words denoting death are "Sheol" and "the Pit." They don't seem to
carry the connotation of going to heaven or hell, but simply of being buried
and existing as a soul. Perhaps the designation that they will be "laid
among the uncircumcised" is a way of saying they are not part of God's
covenant community, so they will not enter into His presence. They will go to
hell. (It would be an interesting study to understand the difference between
the O.T. Sheol concept and the heaven/hell concept of
the N.T.)
CHAPTER 33: The Watchman
33:1-6 Just as a
watchman is responsible to warn his people if danger comes, so a prophet is
entrusted with the responsibility of a spiritual watchman. God hires for this
job and punishes if the prophet falls down on his job! The people have a kind
of dependence and trust in the prophet to warn them when they aren't looking
out for themselves.
33:7-9 Ezekiel was a prophet for the
Israelite people in his day. If he was faithful to deliver a prophecy, then God
held the people responsible for their own sin, but if he was not faithful to
deliver a prophecy to warn people of their sin, they would be punished anyway,
but God would also punish the prophet. Oh God, please help me to be a faithful
watchman, alert to see the dangers as Your Spirit prompts me, and courageous to
warn Your people even if they are hostile.
33:11 And what does
God delight in? It gives God pleasure to see "the wicked turning from his
way so he will live." God takes "no pleasure in the death of the
wicked." Even though the wicked deserve to die and God has every right to
be vengeful toward them because of their rebellion, He still doesn't enjoy it
when He, out of justice, must punish them. Father, please help me to have the
attitude You have toward the wicked, longing for their salvation despite the
evil they do, rather than hoping they get terrible punishment!
33:10-16 A GOSPEL OF GRACE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT?
Given the fact that God will hold people accountable for their sin (outlined in
the first half of the chapter), we proceed to the next step: We are all weighed down by sin and are/will be
punished for it. (v.10) "How then shall we live?" Should we accept with fatalism our sin and God’s sure judgment?
No, we should turn from our sinful ways and
live (repent). On what basis can we be assured that this will enable
us to escape death/God's punishment? Based
on the gracious character of God! The next verses teach us about
God's character: He does not punish in vengeance, but rather because justice
requires it. (v.11) He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, therefore
He is quite supportive of helping us escape the punishment of death!
So, how do we escape the punishment? How do
we repent? Are we saved by just doing good things and not doing wrong things?
(v.12ff) Apparently not, because "The
righteousness of the righteous will not save when he sins." And since we
all sin to some degree, there is no hope in being so righteous that we never
slip. We cannot earn our salvation because we cannot be good enough; we will
invariably slip, and then "the righteous man, if he sins, will not be
allowed to live..." And yet there is SOMETHING to doing good things, for
that seems to be what brings salvation to the wicked. (v.15) "if he gives
back what he took...follows the decrees that give life,
and does not evil, he will surely live and not die." Let me suggest that
it is trust in God's ability to save
that is the key. Notice that v.13 says if the righteous man "trusts in his
righteousness" he will die. We can't place our trust/hope of salvation in
ourselves doing good; we must place that trust/hope in
God, Who is in control of the judgment of life and death and Who is inclined
not to take vengeance on us but to save us.
Of course, we will do our utmost to please
this wonderful God by trying to obey the principles He has given us in the
Bible and doing good. And when we are trusting in Him to save us, then He will
forgive us even in the inevitable times we sin, no matter how hard we try to do
right.
33:17 Is this FAIR? No! Everyone would get a
fair shake only if God did the Noah thing and destroyed the whole earth. That's
what would be FAIR. All have sinned, so all should be punished. So we're in no
position to call God a jerk if He justly punishes wicked people without
vengeance in His heart and yet chooses to save some people from the death they
deserve when they trust Him and turn from wickedness. This is the same
accusation the religious folks in
Father, I thank You
for saving me! I am trusting in Your graciousness and
the work of Jesus because I know I do wrong things every day. I know I come
from a fine family and have never committed any kind of crime whatsoever and
have never committed adultery or even so much as yelled at my wife. But I can't
trust in my past righteousness. I will simply offer my effort to please You each day as a "Thank You" for saving me. Those
gifts do not obligate You to be good to me.
One last note. God
keeps talking about life and death in this prophecy, but He isn't necessarily
talking about killing people. The analogy to the watchman at the beginning of
the chapter offers a clue: the example of a watchman in literal warfare is
first given, then a spiritual parallel is drawn for
Ezekiel's role of a spiritual counselor. So, too, this life and death judgment
of God is not about getting killed in a battle so much as it is speaking of our
state in eternity. Everyone will eventually die, as a general rule, but some
will go on to eternal life (heaven)--bliss in God's presence, and others will
go on to eternal death (hell)--agonizing separation from God and all His goodness.
These are high stakes! No wonder the passionate cry in v.11 "Turn! Turn
from your evil ways! Why will you die...?"
33:21-33 THE PROPHET'S IRONY
We are introduced to a little dramatic irony here.
Ezekiel (who is with the Israelite exiles in
We, the readers, know that Ezekiel was right,
and it’s easy to say of those exiles that they were foolish, unbelieving, and
etc., but are we any better? Don’t we have a lot of blind faith in our own
nation? There is a feeling in the
God says that sin is a curse to any land and
righteousness exalts any nation. The
· ate
blood, contrary to God’s command not to eat blood
· worshipped idols
· murdered
innocent people
· trusted in
their army (sword) instead of in God
· committed
adultery.
In our nation today, we do the same sins with
impunity! We do not deserve any less the destruction of God’s judgment promised
through Ezekiel to
33:30-33 PROPHET AMONG THEM
This is one of the most hauntingly beautiful passages
I think I have ever read. Perhaps I’m influenced by Glen Garrett’s song off his
first album (Words That I’ve Written)
which sets this passage to music--it’s worth buying, even though it’s old
(circa 1980). It stirs tremendous emotions in me because I have seen it
first-hand. You speak, challenging people to do what God’s word tells us to do,
and the church people come and listen. But it goes in one ear and out the
other--they won’t change their lives to obey God’s word. They think you are
special because you’re up there speaking to them in church. But it’s not for
them. They say what a great man of God you are, but really it isn’t so; they
are just so unwilling to be godly that you appear
that way in their eyes.
33:31b Where is your love? In
your mouth or in your heart? God is not pleased with just words. We can
sing songs of worship in church until we’re blue in the face, but if we don’t
really care in our hearts, it is worthless. If it doesn’t affect our day-to-day
life, God knows it is not sincere. Oh God, please help my heart not to be cold.
Please hold my heart so that I do not go after selfish things. Please keep
shaping me into a servant whose heart is more faithful to You!
33:33 I also know
what it’s like to say something, but nobody believes me. How frustrating that
is to know you’re right and can help, but people refuse to accept what you have
to say! It can make you doubt whether you were really correct after all. It can
also make people doubt God when His message doesn’t seem to fit. But if it is
God’s truth, it will surely come to pass, and we must believe Him no matter
what. And there will come a time when it does happen, and His truth is proven
true. That’s the way it was for Noah. Lord, please keep me faithful; may I too
be recognized in the end as a true prophet.
CHAPTER 34: The Parable of the Sheep & the
Shepherds
In this parable, God likens the nation of
What do bad shepherds do?
· Feed
themselves instead of the flock (v.2-3)
· Ignore the
weak, injured, and lost (v.4)
· Rule with
force and harshness (v.4)
Father, I know I am a shepherd over my
family, and I ask that You give me grace to feed them
not only with table food, but also with food for the mind and soul. Help me to
strengthen the members of my family where they are weak, hurt, or wandering,
and Father, please give me Your love that I may lead my wife and children with
justice, grace, mercy, and love, that they may honor me (as Your word commands
them to do) out of love rather than fear.
Proverbs 29:14 says that a king who rules the
weak with justice will be secure on his throne. But these bad shepherds of
34:6 This verse
brings up another point of leadership: A Godly leader must recognize when the
people stray from worshipping and obeying God and bring them back. (I’m
assuming that the picture of the sheep straying to every high hill is a picture
of idol-worship.)
34:8-10 A shepherd
will be held accountable for his shepherding, and if it is poor work, his
master will fire him. In like manner, God refers to the leaders of His church
as elders/overseers who are to "shepherd the flock of God" (I Peter
5:1). God requires a higher standard of accountability for such leaders (James
3:1). What a fearsome thing to have God "against" you! Oh God, please
make me a faithful shepherd; please never set Yourself
against me!
34:11-31 THE GOOD SHEPHERD
God promises to be a good shepherd to
· Seek out,
deliver, and re-gather the "sheep"--the scattered exiles of
· Feed them
in good pasture, shelter them in good folds--give them a good place to live and
provide well for them (v.13-14)
· Make them
lie down--rest! (v.15)
· Bind up
the broken and strengthen the weak, find the lost (v.16)
· Judge and
destroy the strong fat sheep that bully the weak (v. 16-22)
· Raise up a
righteous leader, one like David (Jesus!) (v.23-24)
· Cut a
covenant of peace, to eliminate evil beasts and enable the people to be at
peace.--Perhaps this has to do with the death of Jesus and destroying the power
of satan. (v. 25)
· Make them
a blessing as well as the places around them a blessing--repetition of Abrahamic Covenant in Gen. 12; God makes us bless other
people! (v.26)
· Cause rain
in season, trees to bear fruit, earth to yield increase (v.26-27)
· Release them
from their bondage (not just political enslavement, but the enslavement of sin)
v. 27-28
· Cause such
security that they will never be terrified again (v.28)
· Give them
a land with their name; an established nation among the nations. They won’t
have to leave to find food in other nations like Jacob’s sons who went to
· "I WILL
BE YOUR GOD"
Oh God, I WANT You
to be my Shepherd! What a wonderful shepherd You
are--not only with your power to cause the earth to produce food, but with the
power to free us from our sins and from the power of evil men and of satan and give us real peace. This only happens when we are
in a covenant relationship with You, as reflected in
the covenantal language of this passage. "I will be your God, and you
shall be My people." You ARE my God! I AM one of
the sheep of Your pasture! Let me be a blessing to
others--make even my home and family a blessing!
One last observation: I’m sure many people
who heard this prophecy of Ezekiel wanted to see it fulfilled literally in
their day in terms of a revival of the Jewish kingdom. There were subsequent
high points in Israelite history when Nehemiah re-established Jerusalem after
the Babylonian captivity (Nehemiah certainly had a heart for God like David),
when Judas Maccabeus wrested Israel from foreign rule, and when the nation was
again re-established some 1900 years later. But I’m not sure that’s what this
passage is all about. Possibly it is a scenario of God’s blessing which would
come if the nation would repent (which they didn’t, so the blessing didn’t
materialize), but I think this is speaking of the coming of Christ, the nature
of His church, and heavenly kingdom to come. What a thing to look forward to!
CHAPTER 35 Prophecy of the Destruction of
Ever since Esau and Jacob, their descendants
have been at enmity (v.5). Even at the time of this prophecy, the Edomites have been hoping to take over
But God is sovereign in the matter. He gives
the Edomites of the
God hears what the heathen say about Him and
His people, and He cares about what they say, even though they are not His
people. (v.12-13) He will make His Name holy, even
among the heathen. He abhors their jealousy (v.10-12), blood thirstiness
(v.5-6), and blasphemy (v.13), and so He will punish them by an army (v. 3-9),
killing them off and razing all their cities. Since
If
CHAPTER 36: Restoration of God’s People
I’m sure, at this point,
the destitute and exiled Jews were in despair. Maybe
God doesn’t exist...and if He does, He does not care. The first half
of the chapter is a rebuttal to this despair. God affirms His existence and
activity by saying, "Thus says the Lord" seven times and "the
word of Jehovah" four times. He affirms His interest in
36:7-15 God promises to bring a reversal of
circumstances, shaming the nations and raising up
36:13-15 I’m not sure what it means about the
nations (goyim) not falling any more. On the face, it appears that the nation
of
36:16-19 God reminds the exiled Jews why He scattered
36:20 But because these Jews were attached to
God’s name, He could not leave them forsaken -- because of His reputation
throughout the world, which was already being questioned. Who cares about the
fate of those fickle Jews, the important thing is that God’s Name has a good
reputation among the nations! (v.24) And since God’s
reputation was attached to those Jews, He will restore them to show that He is
a good God to His people, and His Name will be respected throughout the world.
36:24-32 This
passage appears to have a double meaning. On the face of it, God is speaking of
His intentions to restore the physical nation of
Lord God, how can it be that You even care to associate with fickle humans like us who
profane Your Name through our sin? Yet, Lord, I praise You that Your Name is on
me; You are my God and I am part of Your people gathered from a far nation,
baptized, renewed in heart, saved from my sin and filled with Your Spirit! Lord
thank You that Your blessing and restoration/salvation
does not depend on my nature, but that this act is of Your own doing to glorify
Your Name. Lord, please so work in renewing me that I will not profane Your
Name before others, but make it more holy!
To
see commentary on chapters 37-48, click here
