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Ezekiel (592-570 B.C.) "yehetzk'el" (God will strengthen)
Nebuchadnezzar invaded Judah 3 times and took captives each time. In 607 (one
of the captives was Daniel), in 597 (Ezekiel was taken) and in 586, (Jerusalem
was destroyed and all the people taken). Ezekiel prophesied to the captives in
Babylon. The captives thought Jerusalem would be delivered by the Lord and they
would be rescued. God spoke through Ezekiel using Words, Parables, Visions, and
many Similitudes (doing strange things as a sign of something greater). For
example:
'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Pound your fists and stamp your
feet, and say, 'Alas, for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel! For
they shall fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. 'He who is far off
shall die by the pestilence, he who is near shall fall by the sword, and he who
remains and is besieged shall die by the famine. Thus will I spend My fury upon
them.
Ezekiel was married to a woman who was "the desire of his eyes". God told him
that his wife was going to die on the very day the armies of Babylon laid siege
against the holy city of Jerusalem and he was not to mourn, as a sign to the
people. Ezekiel was commanded not to grieve her death; he was to brace himself
for this tragedy even as God had prepared Himself for the death of His beloved
city (24:15-22).
Ezekiel 6:8-14
"Yet I will leave a remnant, so that you may have some who
escape the sword among the nations, when you are scattered through the
countries. "Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations
where they are carried captive, because I was crushed by their adulterous heart
which has departed from Me, and by their eyes which play the harlot after their
idols; they will loathe themselves for the evils which they committed in all
their abominations. "And they shall know that I am the LORD; I have not said in
vain that I would bring this calamity upon them."
Ezekiel predicted the downfall of nations hostile to Judah and spoke of the
false shepherds in Jerusalem (Ezek 34) as well as the true Shepherd Messiah and
the future regathering of Israel and outpouring of the Spirit in the kingdom.
Ezekiel 16 is one of the most striking chapters in the Bible revealing the
everlasting love of God for His people and their continued unfaithfulness:
Ezekiel 16:14-15
"Your fame went out among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through My splendor which I had bestowed on you," says the Lord GOD. "But you trusted in your own beauty, played the harlot because of your fame, and poured out your harlotry on everyone passing by who would have it."
The Story of the Bible - Part One - The Old Testament
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