3. The Major Prophets and Kingdom Living
Week 6 • Day 3
And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him… - 1 Kings 19:11–13
As a new parent, I remember hearing from those more experienced that I should “enjoy it; they grow up so fast!” Initially, I highly valued this wise advice. But a funny thing happened--after two weeks, it was like our newborn was a totally different person. After six weeks, he had grown into yet another stage, and at six months old, he was new again! Six more months went by, and we had a walking, talking human, completely different to my newborn. Everything had gone by SO FAST and in our opinion, we hadn’t been able to catch up enough to “enjoy it” well.
When life happens so fast, it can become difficult for us to hear wise counsel. If only we could have stopped to remember the “low whispers” given by those who had gone before us, who had truth to tell us from their experience, and submitted ourselves to do what we KNEW was right!
This is what I imagine the prophets felt like in their ministry during the complete downfall of Israel. The role of the prophet was sort of like that of the experienced parent – they had an intuitive understanding of the heart of God through special revelation and a lifetime of ministry. They tried to speak the wise counsel of God’s truth to the kings, priests, and people of Israel; truths that they should have already known – that they DID already know! They tried to remind them of what it looked like for God’s people to live under God’s rule in God’s kingdom place. They tried to share how they needed to change their serpent-like ways in every way possible. They tried to share how God would inevitably build His Kingdom anyway.
However, the majority of Israel - during the tumultuous era of the Kings - did not have the ears to hear nor the heart to seek the whispers of the Lord from the mouths of His prophets. Are you and I the same today? Are we living such fast-paced lives that we completely miss the quiet whispers from the Lord?
Fortunately for us, these whispers have been collected for us! The prophets reveal that God was trying to speak to His people in the midst of their steady decline. Over the next two days, we invite you to lean in and listen carefully to the whispers of God through the prophets who spoke God’s truth to anyone who would listen during the era of Kings! So if you have ears to hear, let’s start our 2-day journey looking at the major prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel!
ISAIAH (c. 740-700 B.C.) - GOD’S KINGDOM RULE
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.
Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” - Isaiah 1:16–20
The first 39 chapters of Isaiah were written before the Assyrian empire conquered the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 B.C.. Isaiah (meaning “Yahweh is salvation” in Hebrew”) opens his prophetic word by calling out the sins of the northern kingdom whose delegated rule would be purified by the fire of the Assyrian army in order to make way for a new Israel. Underneath this rather bleak vision, Isaiah receives the Lord’s purity by being touched by a “holy coal” so that he could articulate a vision of hope for the long-awaited Messianic “serpent crusher” who would be named Immanuel, born of a virgin, and rule with justice, righteousness, and faithfulness.
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. - Isaiah 7:14
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. - Isaiah 9:6–7
There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins. - Isaiah 11:1-5
In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious. - Isaiah 11:10
What is fascinating about the book of Isaiah is that while the book is written in the 700’s B.C., chapters 40-66 are written from the perspective of someone living after the Babylonian exile of Judah in 586 B.C.! Regardless of whether Isaiah experienced a futuristic revelation in this moment or Isaiah’s followers carried on his message for the southern kingdom, this particular section of scripture infamously describes the remnant of faithful Israelites led by someone known as God’s servant, a shepherd who would rule the nations with justice, return God’s family to their place, suffer to bear the sins of God’s people, and rescue them from the kingdom of the serpent.
1. GOD’S SERVANT RULES BY BRINGING JUSTICE TO THE NATIONS
Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law. - Isaiah 42:1–4
2. GOD’S SERVANT RULES BY SHEPHERDING HIS PEOPLE TO HIS KINGDOM
Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name. He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow; in his quiver he hid me away. And he said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” … And now the Lord says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him— for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord, and my God has become my strength. - Isaiah 49:1–3, 5
3. GOD’S SERVANT RULES BY SUFFERING FOR THE SINS OF HIS PEOPLE
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. - Isaiah 53:4-6
Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. - Isaiah 53:10-11
In light of the rule of God reestablished through this “suffering servant”, the quiet whisper of the Lord reminds us to humbly repent and seek God’s kingdom rule!
“Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. - Isaiah 55:6–9
Thus says the Lord: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word. - Isaiah 66:1–2
JEREMIAH (c. 628 - 587 B.C.) - GOD’S KINGDOM PEOPLE
Jeremiah 1:14–16. “For behold, I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, declares the Lord, and they shall come, and every one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its walls all around and against all the cities of Judah. And I will declare my judgments against them, for all their evil in forsaking me. They have made offerings to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands.”
If you have ever wondered, “what was so bad that God led His people into exile,” Jeremiah (meaning “Yahweh will exalt” in Hebrew) offers realistic insight into the life of God’s kingdom people leading up to the Babylonian siege.
This city has aroused my anger and wrath, from the day it was built to this day, so that I will remove it from my sight because of all the evil of the children of Israel and the children of Judah that they did to provoke me to anger—their kings and their officials, their priests and their prophets, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They have turned to me their back and not their face. And though I have taught them persistently, they have not listened to receive instruction. They set up their abominations in the house that is called by my name, to defile it. They built the high places of Baal in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to offer up their sons and daughters to Molech, though I did not command them, nor did it enter into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin. - Jeremiah 32:30–35
Jeremiah lays out the choice that Judah faced. Would they choose to continue to walk in their wicked ways? Or would they choose repentance?
For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another, if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever. - Jeremiah 7:5–7
Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel…Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the Lord, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Return, everyone from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds.’ - Jeremiah 18:6–11
Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place. For if you will indeed obey this word, then there shall enter the gates of this house kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their servants and their people. But if you will not obey these words, I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation. - Jeremiah 22:3–5
Unfortunately, the people of Judah chose not to listen to the whispers of God spoken by Jeremiah, resulting in God not listening to the cries of His people
As for you, do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with me, for I will not hear you. Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? - Jeremiah 7:16–17
“Therefore do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, for I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble. - Jeremiah 11:14
One reason God’s people had drifted so far was the corruption of the prophets, priests, and kings who were responsible for shepherding God’s people.
Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord…Both prophet and priest are ungodly; even in my house I have found their evil, declares the Lord…But in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery and walk in lies; they strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns from his evil; all of them have become like Sodom to me, and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.” - Jeremiah 23:1, 11-14
This is the total rebellion of God’s people for which God brought judgment through Babylon. Yet, God’s rule dictated that this period of exile would only last 70 years.
This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the Lord, making the land an everlasting waste. - Jeremiah 25:11–12
In the midst of Israel’s complete rebellion, YHWH whispers that He would ultimately restore His kingdom people through a new covenant and a new heart!
1. GOD RESTORES HIS KINGDOM PEOPLE TO HIS KINGDOM LAND
Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you. So shall you be my people, and I will be your God, that I may confirm the oath that I swore to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day.” - Jeremiah 11:3–5
“Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when it shall no longer be said, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ but ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ For I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their fathers. - Jeremiah 16:14–15
2. GOD RESTORES HIS KINGDOM PEOPLE UNDER THE RULE OF A GOOD KING
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’ - Jeremiah 23:5–6, 33:14-18
3. GOD RESTORES HIS KINGDOM PEOPLE WITH A NEW COVENANT / HEART
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” - Jeremiah 31:31–34
“Now therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, ‘It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine, and by pestilence’: Behold, I will gather them from all the countries to which I drove them in my anger and my wrath and in great indignation. I will bring them back to this place, and I will make them dwell in safety. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul. - Jeremiah 32:36–41
Jeremiah’s prophecy regarding the Babylonian exile as well as his words refuting many other false prophets did not please Israel’s elite class. While Jeremiah is routinely persecuted, he is able to escape the threats under God’s protection.
The priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. And when Jeremiah had finished speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, then the priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold of him, saying, “You shall die! - Jeremiah 26:7–8
And the officials were enraged at Jeremiah, and they beat him and imprisoned him in the house of Jonathan the secretary, for it had been made a prison. - Jeremiah 37:15
So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king’s son, which was in the court of the guard, letting Jeremiah down by ropes. And there was no water in the cistern, but only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud. - Jeremiah 38:6
Jeremiah’s personal ministry encouraged God’s people to remain faithful no matter how deeply entrenched they were in their troubles. In the foreign kingdom of Babylon, Jeremiah calls the faithful remnant to seek the welfare of the city because God’s people will always be under God’s rule and will always make up God’s place!
Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.
“For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile. - Jeremiah 29:4–7, 10-14
The book of Jeremiah closes by documenting the situation leading up to the Babylonian exile (see 2 Kgs. 24-25). However, the faithfulness of God is remembered as we remember how King Jehoiachin (from the line of David) is freed and treated with dignity in Babylon. The hope for the Davidic messiah who would crush the serpent still remains alive in Jeremiah’s mind so long as God’s people would remain faithful, like a tree planted by streams of living water!
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” - Jeremiah 17:7–10
EZEKIEL (c. 582-570 B.C.) - GOD’S KINGDOM PLACE
The glory of the Lord went up from within the city and stopped above the mountain east of it. The Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the exiles in Babylonia in the vision given by the Spirit of God. - Ezekiel 11:22–24
The eccentric prophet named Ezekiel (meaning “God strengthens” in Hebrew) finds himself amongst the Israelites who had been “plucked” from the land and “scattered” across the Babylonian empire. Ezekiel receives his first set of visions at a place called the Kebar canal - a place in the kingdom of Babylon - five years after the first group of exiles were deported out of Jerusalem. In this particular vision, Ezekiel sees God’s “mobile throne” of glory moving up out of His “permanent” space in Jerusalem and toward the “east” where the exiles are currently scattered.
And he said to me, “Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to nations of rebels, who have rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day. The descendants also are impudent and stubborn: I send you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ And whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house) they will know that a prophet has been among them. And you, son of man, be not afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions. Be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house. - Ezekiel 2:3-7
Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Because you are more turbulent than the nations that are all around you, and have not walked in my statutes or obeyed my rules, and have not even acted according to the rules of the nations that are all around you, therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, even I, am against you… Therefore, as I live, declares the Lord God, surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things and with all your abominations, therefore I will withdraw. - Ezekiel 5:5-11
After receiving the bizarre command to remain mute, Ezekiel constructs several elaborate prophetic action sequences to act out God’s message to His people. This included miming the siege of Jerusalem, cutting his hair to symbolize the coming judgment on Jerusalem, and cooking meals over cow dung to symbolize the unclean food they will eat as exiles! Then, Ezekiel sees a vision in which he witnesses idolatry in the courtyard of the temple, seventy elders burning incense to more carvings of creatures and idols, women wailing to the Babylonian god of fertility at the entrance of the Lord’s house, and twenty-five men with their backs to the altar of the Lord worshiping the sun toward the east. The vision affirms a major Ezekiel’s concern with the corruption that took place in God’s designated place.
“The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of blood, and the city full of injustice. For they say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord does not see. - Ezekiel 9:3-9
I am the Lord. I have spoken; it shall come to pass; I will do it. I will not go back; I will not spare; I will not relent; according to your ways and your deeds you will be judged, declares the Lord God…Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the delight of your eyes, and the yearning of your soul, and your sons and your daughters whom you left behind shall fall by the sword. - Ezekiel 24:14, 21-23
When you read through Ezekiel, you will be confronted with the atrocious sins in the land. Innocent blood has been shed, idolatry runs rampant, parents are disrespected, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow are neglected, the Sabbath is profaned, the holy instruments of the temple are defiled, lewdness prevails, sons uncover their father’s nakedness, men violate women, incestuous sex is practiced, bribes are accepted, and extortion runs rampant. The rule of YHWH is utterly forgotten and the stench of death pollutes the kingdom place. Ezekiel places a large burden of blame at the hands of Israel’s leaders.
The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst. Her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things. They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain. And her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ when the Lord has not spoken. The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the sojourner without justice. - Ezekiel 22:25-29
However, even in her harlotry (Ezk. 16), God remains true to His covenant people.
“For thus says the Lord God: I will deal with you as you have done, you who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant, yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth… I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the Lord, that you may remember and be confounded, and never open your mouth again because of your shame, when I atone for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord God.” - Ezekiel 16:60-63
Internally, God is determined to handle Israel’s sin. Yet atop the mountains of a national perspective, YHWH continues to show His steadfast love toward Israel.
Thus says the Lord God, Because you said, ‘Aha!’ over my sanctuary when it was profaned, and over the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and over the house of Judah when they went into exile, therefore behold, I am handing you over to the people of the East for a possession… - Ezekiel 25:3-4
Because Moab and Seir said, ‘Behold, the house of Judah is like all the other nations,’ therefore I will lay open the flank of Moab… - Ezekiel 25:8-9
Because Edom acted revengefully against the house of Judah and has grievously offended in taking vengeance on them, therefore thus says the Lord God, I will stretch out my hand against Edom and cut off from it man and beast. And I will make it desolate…- Ezekiel 25:12-13
Because the Philistines acted revengefully and took vengeance with malice of soul to destroy in never-ending enmity, therefore thus says the Lord God, Behold, I will stretch out my hand against the Philistines…- Ezekiel 25:15-16
Because Tyre said concerning Jerusalem, ‘Aha, the gate of the peoples is broken; it has swung open to me. I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste,’ therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will bring up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves. - Ezekiel 26:2-4
Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lies in the midst of his streams, that says, ‘My Nile is my own; I made it for myself.’… “Because you said, ‘The Nile is mine, and I made it,’ therefore, behold, I am against you and against your streams, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation…” - Ezekiel 29:3c, 9-10
At the point of Jerusalem’s last stand (Ezk. 33:21) Ezekiel is finally able to open his mouth and communicate a message of hope. As opposed to the shepherds who neglected to care and feed the sheep, God promises to take the initiative and become the Good Shepherd Himself. This Good Shepherd would gather the scattered Israelites, judge the goats, and care for the injured sheep. He would be installed as the promised Davidic Messiah on the throne to bring a new covenant of peace in which God’s place would experience no more hostility.
1. RETURNING GOD’S PEOPLE WITH RENEWED HEARTS
I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.’ And when they come there, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations. And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. But as for those whose heart goes after their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their deeds upon their own heads, declares the Lord God.” - Ezekiel 11:17-21, (see 36:22-27)
2. RETURNING GOD’S RULE THROUGH THE GOOD SHEPHERD
Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice. - Ezekiel 34:11-16
I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the Lord; I have spoken. “I will make with them a covenant of peace and banish wild beasts from the land, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. And I will make them and the places all around my hill a blessing, and I will send down the showers in their season; they shall be showers of blessing. - Ezekiel 34:23-26
3. RETURNING TO GOD’S PLACE
You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God….And I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you. I will make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant, that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations. - Ezekiel 36:28-30
And they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.’ - Ezekiel 36:35
“Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel - Ezekiel 37:11–12
Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am about to take the stick of Joseph (that is in the hand of Ephraim) and the tribes of Israel associated with him. And I will join with it the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, that they may be one in my hand….Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and bring them to their own land. And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. And one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms. - Ezekiel 37:15–22
Finally, Ezekiel is transported to a vision that reveals a new Jerusalem and a restored temple place. This go around, Ezekiel sees the Lord’s “mobile throne” returning to its rightful place in Jerusalem. The priesthood has been reformed, acceptable offerings are being performed, and distinctions are made between the holy and the unclean. For the prophet Ezekiel - who began his ministry as a priest-in-training - the temple place being restored would have been one of the most critical pieces of society for God’s people and their success in the land.
In visions of God he brought me to the land of Israel, and set me down on a very high mountain, on which was a structure like a city to the south. - Ezekiel 40:2
Then he led me to the gate, the gate facing east. And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east. And the sound of his coming was like the sound of many waters, and the earth shone with his glory. And the vision I saw was just like the vision that I had seen when he came to destroy the city, and just like the vision that I had seen by the Chebar canal. And I fell on my face. As the glory of the Lord entered the temple by the gate facing east, the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the temple. While the man was standing beside me, I heard one speaking to me out of the temple, and he said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel forever… - Ezekiel 43:1-7a
The heart of worship is revived in the temple and Israel becomes the place of God where all other nations are blessed by the rivers flowing out of this new Eden!
And when they have completed these days, then from the eighth day onward the priests shall offer on the altar your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, and I will accept you, declares the Lord God.” - Ezekiel 43:27
They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. - Ezekiel 44:23
Thus says the Lord God: Enough, O princes of Israel! Put away violence and oppression, and execute justice and righteousness. Cease your evictions of my people, declares the Lord God. - Ezekiel 45:9
Then he brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar… And he said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and enters the sea; when the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh. And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. - Ezekiel 47:1, 8-9a
And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.” - Ezekiel 47:12
This shall be for the consecrated priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept my charge, who did not go astray when the people of Israel went astray, as the Levites did. - Ezekiel 48:11
Ezekiel is finally able to point the exiles in the direction of this newly restored kingdom place! Ezekiel is able to say that “the Lord is over there” in this new Israel!
Ezekiel 48:35b “And the name of the city from that time on shall be, The Lord Is There.”
Share the Gospel: The role of the prophet was to remind Israel that even though God’s people fell short and needed to change their ways, God Himself would step in to rule in the kingdom place and make everything right in the end.
