Exact Ezekiel; Chapters 4-5
ZADOK PUBLICATIONS - Dr. C. R. OLIVER
February 1, 2017
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Introduction:February 1, 2017 Exact Ezekiel Chapters 4-5 It was startling enough for Ezekiel to encounter a panoramic presentation of flying creatures whose mobility was unquestionably from another dimension, but now, after only seven days of astonishment (trying to sort out what had just occurred)-the Lord sends him to receive another event. These life shattering episodes are not some 3-D television presentation featuring computer simulation. They are not I-Max dioramic theater. Ezekiel is able to interact with his surroundings, involving both dialogue and physical emotion. He is a player, and the voice he hears is not an anonymous off-stage force. God speaks and Ezekiel has learned to love His Voice. He is being conditioned, on a deep level of intensity and awareness, in order that the very whisper of the Spirit will cause an immediate compliance. He also realizes his voice is heard and merits a response. (For example: In Ezekiel 4, his consternation regarding using human dung as a fire source caused him to audibly ask God for some other resource. God answered his dilemma by allowing cow dung as a substitute. [In India, to this very day, women scurry after "sacred cows" in order to pile the drying feces into baskets to use as cheap fuel for preparing meals].) Perhaps these occurrences were giving him an arsenal of personal experiences to draw from when doubts and fears arose. The ministry of a prophet is demanding and confrontational and needs such assurance. He will need irrefutable evidence of his calling. No "middle ground" of compromise is sought by the true man of God, but inevitable pressures will arise against such an unbendable attitude, and he will need the encouragement these visions bring. (To have infallible evidence of the call of God on one's life is a storehouse of confidence. Such markings cannot be explained apart from the sovereignty of God, for only God could have destined these encounters.) In God's special classroom of prophetic power, Ezekiel must be assured of his place in Him. As the ensuing verses unfold, the Lord reveals how deep the obstinacy toward Himself and His messenger will be. Rope burns aside (the Lord tethered Ezekiel), the abuse inflicted upon Ezekiel would only support God's case against organized religion. Their national rejection of Ezekiel was tantamount to a rejection of his God! For the reader to keep a mental picture of these events, a listing below summarizes the foregoing chapters.
Chapter 4: Bricks, burdens and baking: Continuing his ministry of exactness, Ezekiel was told to take a brick (or tile) and make it the graphic centerpiece to portray a battle. He was to elevate the tile, run battlements around it (like invading armies used in those times to scale fortresses-long dirt ramps similar to those the Romans used at Masada).
Ezekiel is told to take an iron griddle and put it between him and the action at Jerusalem. Three aspects of this strange action are proposed. (1) It is to show he is distanced from the event and barely able to view its horrors. (2) He, symbolically, is "steeled" against the propensity of the great conflagration. (3) He uses it as an amplifying device for his prophecy, to direct his narrative more loudly to those who observe him, as he calls that which has not taken place into reality (this exact scene took place in the siege of Jerusalem in less than six years). Nothing happens in ancient history unless it is first revealed to God's prophets. Graphic portrayals make the eye perceive what the ear may miss. Ezekiel was told to make a depiction of a city under siege; it was to represent Jerusalem. This was a "show and tell" event, for Ezekiel was told to demonstrate what was taking place (whether he was to act out the scene he saw or simply narrate or even give technical and strategic comment-we are not told). Long before there were power point presentations, movie productions and computer driven audio/video action, there was this model presentation. So complete was this depiction that battering rams were distinguishable as part of the battle fray. (To this day, designers and architects use scale models and 3-D mockups to demonstrate their plans.) To those who observed the prophet's artistic work, its impact was significant. As the awareness of the intent of the production became evident, they were astonished at its completeness. The model most likely became part of Ezekiel's display area in his home. It kept him focused upon the tragedy about to happen to his beloved Jerusalem and in whose Temple he once served. It was a reminder to all who visited him that God was bringing this about because of their iniquity, and it was high time to recognize their decisions had caused it to happen. For 390 days he would be reminded by this model of the end result of the sins of Israel. (The ten Northern Tribes had already been carried away by Assyria, and their contribution to the events before him had already been made.) Then, he would suffer 40 more days for the sins of Judah. (A good question is, "Why wasn't Benjamin mentioned? Jerusalem is on Benjamin's land, so why no burden for their sins? Answer: they were included as an inseparable part of Judah since the Ephraim fiasco found in Judges 20:12ff.) The Lord told Ezekiel to lay siege against the city by taking the part of the aggressors. He was to act as if he was Babylon's army and take on the character of the enemy of Israel. This would be similar to a military strategist appraising a country's ability to sustain battle. Ezekiel knew Jerusalem's weaknesses and how Israel had eroded its forces since Solomon. His remonstration was to continue for some time, until his audiences grew tired of its rehearsal-obviously, not as tired as God, who observed the response to Jeremiah's forty years of messages.
Ezekiel, like Jesus, was to bear the sins of his people. He was instructed to lie on his left side (the side of no favor) for over a year (390) days. God said they had sinned for 390 years. That means they were out of God's favor and protection for an extended time. After Solomon's death came the great division of Tribes with Israel (North ten tribes) building their own places of worship, ordaining their own priests (having itching ears) and incorporating pagan deities. They exercised no restraint in using pagan rites as part of their worship services. While he was lying on his left side, he was to continually have his eyes on Jerusalem's Tile display. He was to bare his arm and point toward the tile. I would imagine he pronounced judgment on Israel by perhaps saying, "Because of you-this…" Oh church, could there come a day when a true prophet would behold the degradation of the country and pronounce against its pulpits, "Because of you-this!"? (The uncovered right arm is significant as the Lord bared His arm similarly on judgment occasions.) In bearing the iniquity of Israel, humble Ezekiel probably was constantly in intercession and offering prayers of repentance for Israel. Crying out to God for mercy and intermingling sighs, he made discovery after discovery of yet more gross wickedness. God's Spirit inside him pointed, no doubt, to realms of lasciviousness and dark dealings of which he had been unaware. The dross of his burden floated continuously to the top. Ezekiel bore it! He bore their iniquity and was sustained by the grace of God to the very end of the allotted time. Exact Ezekiel always did what God told him. Where is the true prophet today? Where is that "someone" willing to take the burden of the hour and refuse to be comforted by the excuses for the church's excesses? Where is that "someone" who abdicates his person in order to take on the person of God? Yes, what is needed now is the voice of the Prophet backed by the spirit of the prophet! Ezekiel was tethered. God told him he would be bound with ropes and prohibited to venture into the general population. He was under house arrest by God. How does God bind someone so that he cannot turn from his task? Think about it and feel the restrictions in his call. Evidently, he was house bound. Evidently, he was frustrated by having his tongue restrained. Evidently, his liberties about diet and food choice were taken away. Evidently, he meticulously measured each allowable product in order not to exceed God's limits. God would have to sustain him when his stomach growled and he experienced hunger and thirst like those under siege. No doubt, consternation coursed his brain for having to pay for the sins of others, but alas, his own sin was in there too. No doubt depressive thoughts flooded his frame with debilitating effect. Self-blame and self-shame were regular visitors-it had to be so, for he was bearing all the emotional tide of a nation. True intercession is like that! Intercession digs deep into cause and effect and rends the heaven with invectives of remorse and prayers for national forgiveness. There are no dry-eyed intercessors! Imagine visitors coming to comfort or just to view this man of God. Imagine the course of conversation as Ezekiel excuses himself to eat and drink by measure. He bore social "incorrectness" because this bazaar behavior was "ordered by the Lord." Whispers outside must have concluded, "He just thinks he heard from God-he must be deranged." Through the changing seasons, the bare-armed prophet identified with the sin of Israel until he became inseparable from his charge. He became the spiritual authority for those ten tribes. No Israelite could explain away his actions by excuse, not with Ezekiel. Verse 5 says it all: "For I have laid on you the years of their iniquity." Now Ezekiel began to comprehend what it meant when Scripture said, "laid on Him, the iniquity of us all." Ezekiel bore their sin and carried their iniquity as one with them. Hence, the iron griddle-he was separated by God to this task.
His tongue was unrestricted except with outsiders. Inside his house, he was to prophesy against the city he loved. Have you ever prophesied against someplace? I have, and it is an awesome act. (I remember prophesying in tongues and sending it 500 miles to its destination. I remember being sent to a mountain top and told to prophesy Fire, Tornado and earthquake against the city below. It is an awful thing later to hear the downtown had burned, a tornado came later and ripped apart a few buildings that survived the fire and an earthquake rumbled afterwards, where there had been no tremors before.)
God's restraints are not odious. The Lord was telling Ezekiel He "had his back." Allowed only to speak prophetically to Jerusalem and say only the things prompted by the Spirit sometimes saddened the speaker. Some of the leaders and priests he knew were still living there. Some of his congregants were still living there. The precious Temple was still standing, though about to be sacked and burned and he was calling for it! (The city I prophesied against was where I lived!)
The ingredients he was to use for making bread are approved by the highest levels of culinary arts even today. They include sufficient protein and no white flour or corn ingredients. Now if he were bound with rope too completely, he would not have had sufficient movement to make bread or drink water. (I believe he was tethered, much like a dog on a leash.) There was one onerous ingredient, the requirement to make his fire for baking from human waste. (Those under siege would have no option.)
Ezekiel waits for God to pause then cries out, "Lord have mercy and substitute some other fuel other than human waste." Then he quoted the Law about cleanliness and good habits and declared his faithfulness to it. He was a holy man. He was a religious man. He was a Priest. He was also an obedient servant and knew his request was heard. The Lord substituted cow dung. God repeats Himself in verses 13 and 16. Observing Ezekiel's anxiety over the human waste command, God "sends it by again." How often does this happen to us? Yahweh revealed His reasoning. The graphic picture of measured food and water is to show how starved and waterless Jerusalem will be during the siege. It was so devastating a famine that people were cannibalizing their children. The aqueduct, constructed to supply water in case of invasion, failed. Jerusalem's lengthy siege caused their store of grain to be depleted. The strategies of the "survivalists failed." Famine, Pestilence and Sword is God's effective method of judgment. "How in the world did we wind up here?" was becoming plainer to Ezekiel's eyes.
When the national mind is not subject to the Lord, there is only one course: to wind up blaming others and being in dismay at the situation. (Across the world-THIS is the order of the day!) Chapter Five: Judgment by thirds: Famine, Pestilence and Sword
Again, a graphic is used to display the extent of judgment throughout the homeland. Beards and stylish hair would mean nothing to the devastated and starving. Ezekiel is ordered to cut and weigh his hair in proper thirds. (Do you remember Paul shaving his head to show he had taken a vow before God?) Those who were "keeping an eye on the prophet," no doubt conjectured, "what's he up to now?" Meticulously, he measured and weighed because what was being shown was the gradual and yet complete judgment of a nation. (The people of Germany could not have imagined the comprehensive dimension of the Third Reich. They could never have imagined the starvation, abuse and attempted annihilation of all things held sacred including human life. Beyond the scope of imagination was their plight and who could have painted so grizzly a picture of what was about to transpire? The cries of, "Why Me?" could be heard in the deadened halls of churches whose pulpits had been deadened long before by German Theology. Rudolph Bultman's skepticism was rampant, as was higher criticism seeking to render God's Word as fable and fiction. Currently, Western Civilization cannot fathom such a judgment as Jerusalem endured. No painter dares portray burning cities and chaotic conditions of starvation and displacement as antiseptic pulpits spew "accepted material" to a yawning audience. Where is the prophet?) One Third of the hair (weighed and measured) was to be burned (with the scorched smell rising from the center of the tile). This was to portray when Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon (Iraq), ordered the burning of the city, both Temple and Walls, as his final humiliation of Israel. One Third was to be hacked by the sword he used to cut his beard and head. Imagine using a sharp sword like a razor. The sword was to cut at random through the second set of hairs with no specific order. Some pieces were small, some large, some longer or shorter than others. These represented the fate of a population seeking to flee, using various ways and differing times to escape. (Remember, Babylon had already removed the able bodied, intelligent population. What remained were the governmental leaders and some of the religious hierarchy. Most had heard the prophet, but instead of peacefully surrendering, as Jeremiah prescribed, chose their own way and sought to preserve their freedom.) Those who fled were hacked. Men, women, children were hacked by the sword. One third of the hair was to be scattered to the wind. (In reality, the ten Northern Tribes had already met that fate. Passing through the Caucasus Mountains, they immigrated to most of Europe.) God chose to select certain of these to be brandished by the sword of His own wielding. A few hairs were to be selected and bound to the Priest's garment. Oh, yes, there were those who clung to God and the ways of the Lord. Yeah, the names of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, along with Daniel, the Sons of Zadok and even Ezekiel would be represented by these hairs. Although devastation was all around, God has His people who have not bowed the knee. Ezekiel, later on, would mark those who wept and travailed over the plight of his nation. Alas, some of the faithful were to be chosen as martyrs to the fire. Fire going to the whole house of Israel shows how much Israel was saturated by this event.
Witness to the nations:
Ezekiel, remember, is making plain to the people why God carried out such judgment on His chosen people. Many "could not believe what had happened or what was happening." Why didn't God come to their rescue? Remember also, Jeremiah faced excuse after excuse in the face of deceiving prophets and priests. He actually chronicled some of them in his book. Things like, "This is the Temple of God, the Lord would never allow it to be burned or desecrated. After all, Solomon was commissioned to build it." Again, "We are God's special people; He would not allow this to happen to us." As a matter of fact, every excuse the people used then is being resurrected now. Their road to captivity was paved with their excesses. It can happen again, for the same reason. The Lord told Ezekiel the reason Israel came into being was to be a light to the heathen (Gentiles). They failed. Israel became disobedient. They rebelled against His judgments which were actually the things God set out for them to do and be prosperous in. His coaching was ignored. The School Master viewed His student body as disobedient misanthropes.
Therefore (Based on their choices) God will intervene with more drastic judgments.
The Lord is going to make an example of His own people. They would not be an example of righteousness to a pagan world, so He is making them an example of what happens to people who do not obey Him. Once the pagan nations see what happened to Israel, they will know there is a God in heaven. God declares His intentions and further states He will never do such again to His people. Cannibalizing children because of the horrendous famine is almost unconscionable. Cannibalization is found in pagan societies, so now, if they wish to follow the pagans rather than God-so be it. Look around and tell me what is going on in the world right now. The so-called "Christian nations" are following after pagan ways. Surveys prove there is no difference between "Churchers" and the world--in attitude and activity. Much of what is acceptable fare in the church community would fall under Paul's observation, "Brethren, these things ought not to be named among you." Verse 10 is for those who survived the famine, pestilence and sword.
God cleanses His land by causing Diaspora. In other words, if they like pagan ways, go live among them! Paul's many trips proved this happened as he sought synagogues and Jewish enclaves among the heathen lands of the Gentiles. Their cultures were often rife with immorality and dark mysticism. This scattering weakened the blood lines of the original 12 tribes who were commanded not to take pagan wives. Alas, like Samson who dallied with Delilah only to be abandoned to the misery of sightless remembrance, like him pagan Israel now must cry out, "give me another chance." Declaration and Meaning: The Lord gives the interpretation of the cutting and dispersion of Ezekiel's hair. His rendering of the three weapons of mass destruction are clear and concise.
The question rises like a monster in the sea of religious activity to query: "What abominations are practiced presently in the sanctuaries of the world?" Most of Europe's houses of worship have become museums or tourist attractions. Many of the houses of worship in other parts of the world minister to their congregations according to cultural standards with little regard for ministering to God. Smoke and mirrors, rock bands and light shows coupled with paucity sermons are an abomination. (Recently, the Houston Chronicle did an article entitled, "Rock star celebrity, Joel Osteen.") The gate keepers of the Temple cast Jesus out as the chief priest and his henchmen called for His crucifixion. The gate keepers of this day determine what is preached, who will preach, what materials their congregation will be subjected to and what is appropriate doctrine to believe. Just how different is that from the Romanism the Reformers cried out against? Just how many Isaiah's, Jeremiah's and Ezekiel's have you heard lately? When was the last time you heard a sermon of exposition in Jeremiah 5? When have you listened to a detailed account of the first five Chapters in Ezekiel? (I have considered writing a book entitled: "Sermons you never hear on Sunday because they are bad for the offering." But, it would be over a thousand pages and incorporate a thousand illustrations and who would read it?) God sent out His judgments in Thirds. Are there prophets today that walk in that power? The answer is YES! (Although I was not present on this occasion, reliable witnesses declare that Clayt Sonmore , my good friend, did something similar under the Spirit over 40 years ago in Colombia. Addressing that nation's congress, he openly declared, "Unless this nation breaks its 500 year Concordat with Rome, 1/3 of this nation will be taken away." Then he proceeded to tell them, to prove his prophecy, "the largest earthquake that has shaken this nation will occur tomorrow before the wheels of my aircraft touch down in Minneapolis." It happened just as he said. Although they half-heartedly agreed to break away, they did not. They did invite him to return and "explain things more clearly." Clayt was a prominent businessman, but he came to work with them for eleven months following that earthquake. They did not keep their promise. The next portion of history shows the communist militia group FARC now controls 1/3 of the territory of Colombia. Even though peace agreements are currently afoot, they have maintained their strongholds for over 30 years. Where are the prophets? Satisfied with Justice
How many pulpits remain who could righteously call for repentance using this for a text? Most modern pulpits would deny these passages apply to any modern nation today. They would most likely preach such a text in historical setting and then emphasize that we live in the day of Grace and such is not ours. The same platform would declare it unchristian to do what Jeremiah did to Paschur and Hananiah (prophesying their death and defamation due to their treatment of the prophet). Who in your congregation is afraid of the man of God? In light of Ezekiel's prophecy, "who is afraid FOR their pastor?" (Look into Peter and Ananias and Sapphira.) In our day, when we are told we must remember, "God does not do that sort of thing anymore." Tell that to Colombia. In our day, we are reminded we must get along with other views and blend in with changing times, not to expect such intervention into the political and religious scene. God is pictured as having no such agenda for the modern church, yet it is Jesus who threatened to remove the candlestick of the newly formed churches. We are told we must "go along" to "get along" or be asked to exit the closest door. So, thousands of saints long to hear the words of the true prophet, as the prophets stand in silent solitude waiting outside the gates! As the old evangelist, C.B. Jackson, once said, "Excuse me, but you know it's so." Until Next month, Dr. Cosby R. Oliver, PhD. |
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