Tuesday, January 28, 2025

Ezek. 33:30-33, A Prophet was Among Them

Most of the prophets were given “object lessons” by the LORD to use as tools for declaring “the word of the LORD.”  But I would say that Ezekiel was the leader.  Here is a listing of major object lessons used by Ezekiel.

·       Ezek. 1: “wheel within a wheel,” Ezekiel’s vision of God.

·       4:1-3: clay tablet, iron plate to display the destruction of Jerusalem.

·       4:4-8: laying on his side to reveal the length of judgment for both kingdoms.

·       4:9-17: mixed grain bread baked over human waste to describe life in captivity.

·       6:1-10: mountains of Israel to depict all Israel.

·       6:11-14: pound your fists, stamp your feet showing certainty of judgment.

·       Ezek. 8-11: departure of glory of God from temple showing God turning from His people.

·       12:1-16: a drama where Ezekiel goes through the fence, going into captivity.

·       12:17-20: eating with quaking, drinking with trembling, fearfulness in captivity.

·       Ch. 15: Israel as the “outcast vine.”

·       Ch. 16: history of Jerusalem as “harlotry and adultery.”

·       Ch. 17: two great eagles (Babylon and Egypt) and a vine (Judah).

·       Ch. 19: the lioness (mother of the sons of King Josiah) and her cubs (the various sons that reigned after Josiah.

·       21:1-7: the “sigh” of Ezekiel, sorrow over God’s judgment through Babylon.

·       21:8-32: a “sword” that speaks of God’s judgment.  Also Ezekiel strikes his thigh (v12), strikes his hands together (v14) and beats his fists (22:13), indications of the certainty of impending judgment.

·       22:17-22: the metallurgical furnace of God’s fury (extreme anger).

·       Ch. 23: two harlot sisters, Samaria and Jerusalem.

·       24:1-14: God’s fury is a boiling pot on a big fire, and Judah the scum on the pot.

·       24:15-27: Ezekiel’s wife dies and he does not grieve, as will be the case with the Israelites in Babylon when Jerusalem falls.

·       Ch. 31-32: Egypt like a cedar of Lebanon.

·       Ch. 34: the wicked “shepherds of Israel and the Good Shepherd.

·       37:1-14: a valley of dry bones and the resurrection of Israel.  Also in this passage, Hebrew “ruach” used of wind, breath and Spirit (as in Jn. 3:8).

·       37:15-28: two sticks joined, as Israel two “kingdoms” will be one.

Almost all of these are explained in the context.  This need not lead to confusion.  Further, we need to be careful not to make “symbols” out of what is not “symbolic.”  For example, Ezek. 40-48 does not view a future temple as merely symbolic of the New Jerusalem and the heavenly temple.  The details and lack of “explanation of the symbol” emphasize a place on earth that is real.

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