From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   April 10th - Ezekiel, Prophet   
      
   Ezekiel, whose name, Yehézq'el signifies "strong is God", or "whom God makes   
   strong" (Ezek. i, 3; iii, 8), was the son of Buzi, and was one of the   
   priests   
   who, in the year 598 B.C., had been deported together with Joachim as   
   prisoners   
   from Jerusalem (IV Kings, xxiv, 12-16; cf. Ezek. xxxiii, 21, xl, 1). With   
   the   
   other exiles he settled in Tell-Abib near the Chobar (Ezek. i,1; iii, 15) in   
   Babylonia, and seems to have spent the rest of his life there. In the fifth   
   year   
   after the captivity of Joachim, and according to some, the thirtieth year of   
   his   
   life, Ezekiel received his call as a prophet (Ezek. i, 2, 4 etc) in the   
   vision   
   which he describes in the beginning of his prophecy (Ezek. i,4; iii, 15).   
   From   
   Ezek. xxix, 17 it appears that he prophesied during at least twenty-two   
   years.   
      
   Ezekiel was called to foretell God's faithfulness in the midst of trials, as   
   well as in the fulfilment of His promises. During the first period of his   
   career, he foretold the complete destruction of the kingdom of Juda, and the   
   annihilation of the city and temple. After the fulfilment of these   
   predictions,   
   he was commanded to announce the future return from exile, the   
   re-establishment   
   of the people in their own country and, especially, the triumph of the   
   Kingdom   
   of the Messiah, the second David, so that the people would not abandon   
   themselves to despair and perish as a nation, through contact with the   
   Gentiles,   
   whose gods had apparently triumphed over the God of Israel. This is the   
   principal burden of Ezekiel's prophecy, which is divided into three parts.   
   After   
   the introduction, the vision of the calling of the prophet (Ezek. i-iii,   
   21),   
   the first part contains the prophecies against Juda before the fall of   
   Jerusalem   
   (Ezek. iii, 22-xxiv). In this part the prophet declares the hope of saving   
   the   
   city, the kingdom, and the temple to be vain, and announces the approaching   
   judgment of God upon Juda. This part may be subdivided into five groups of   
   prophecies.   
      
   After a second revelation, in which God discloses to the prophet His course   
   of   
   action (iii, 22-27), the prophet foretells by symbolic acts (iv, v) and in   
   words   
   (vi-vii), the siege and capture of Jerusalem, and the banishment of Juda.   
      
   In a prophetic vision, in the presence of the elders of Israel, God reveals   
   to   
   him the cause of these punishments. In spirit he witnesses the idolatry   
   practiced in and near the temple (viii); God commands that the guilty be   
   punished and the faithful be spared (ix); God's majesty departs from the   
   temple   
   (x), and also, after the announcement of guilt and punishment, from the   
   city.   
   With this the judgment which the prophet communicates to the exiles ends   
   (xi).   
      
   In the third group (xii-xix) many different prophecies are brought together,   
   whose sole connection is the relation they bear to the guilt and punishment   
   of   
   Jerusalem and Juda. Ezekiel prophesies by symbolic actions the exile of the   
   people, the flight of Sedecias, and the devastation of the land (xii, 1-20).   
   Then follow Divine revelations regarding belief in false prophecies, and   
   disbelief in the very presence of true prophecy. This was one of the causes   
   of   
   the horrors (xiii, 21-xiv, 11), to be visited upon the remnant of the   
   inhabitants of Jerusalem (xiv, 12-23). The prophet likens Jerusalem to the   
   dead   
   wood of the vine, which is destined for the fire (xv); in an elaborate   
   denunciation he represents Juda as a shameless harlot, who surpasses Samaria   
   and   
   Sodom in malice (xvi), and in a new simile, he condemns King Sedecias   
   (xvii).   
   After a discourse on the justice of God (xviii), there follows a further   
   lamentation over the princes and the people of Juda (xix).   
      
   In the presence of the elders the prophet denounces the whole people of   
   Israel   
   for the abominations they practiced in Egypt, in the Wilderness, and in   
   Canaan   
   (xx). For these Juda shall be consumed by fire, and Jerusalem shall be   
   exterminated by the sword (xxi). Abominable is the immorality of Jerusalem   
   (xxii), but Juda is more guilty than Israel has ever been (xxiii).   
      
   On the day on which the siege of Jerusalem began, the prophet represents,   
   under   
   the figure of the rusty pot, what was to befall the inhabitants of the city.   
   On   
   the occasion of the death of his wife, God forbids him to mourn openly, in   
   order   
   to teach the exiles that they should be willing to lose that which is   
   dearest to   
   them without grieving over it (xxiv).   
      
   In the second part (xxv-xxxii), are gathered together the prophecies   
   concerning   
   the Gentiles. He takes, first of all, the neighbouring peoples who had been   
   exalted through the downfall of Juda, and who had humiliated Israel. The   
   fate of   
   four of these, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Edomites, and the   
   Philistines,   
   is condensed in chapter xxv. He treats more at length of Tyre and its king   
   (xxxvi-xxviii,19), after which he casts a glance at Sidon (xxviii, 20-26).   
   Six   
   prophecies against Egypt follow, dating from different years (xxix-xxxii.   
   The   
   third part (xxxiii-xlviii), is occupied with the Divine utterances on the   
   subject of Israel's restoration. As introduction, we have a dissertation   
   from   
   the prophet, in his capacity of authorized champion of the mercy and justice   
   of   
   God, after which he addresses himself to those remaining in Juda, and to the   
   perverse exiles (xxxiii). The manner in which God will restore His people is   
   only indicated in a general way. The Lord will cause the evil shepherds to   
   perish; He will gather in, guide, and feed the sheep by means of the second   
   David, the Messiah (xxxiv).   
      
   Though Mount Seir shall remain a waste, Israel shall return unto its own.   
   There   
   God will purify His people, animate the nation with a new spirit, and   
   re-establish it in its former splendour for the glory of His name   
   (xxxv-xxxvii).   
   Israel, though dead, shall rise again, and the dry bones shall be covered   
   with   
   flesh and endowed with life before the eyes of the prophet. Ephraim and Juda   
   shall, under the second David, be united into one kingdom, and the Lord   
   shall   
   dwell in their midst (xxxvii). The invincibleness and indestructibility of   
   the   
   restored kingdom are then symbolically presented in the war upon Gog, his   
   inglorious defeat, and the annihilation of his armies (xxxviii-xxxix). In   
   the   
   last prophetic vision, God shows the new temple (xl-xliii), the new worship   
   (xliii-xlvi), the return to their own land, and the new division thereof   
   among   
   the twelve tribes (xlvii-xlviii), as a figure of His foundation of a kingdom   
   where He shall dwell among His people, and where He shall be served in His   
   tabernacle according to strict rules, by priests of His choice, and by the   
   prince of the house of David.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)