Ezekiel 47,48 - The river from the temple

47,48

We now come to the part of 40-48 which most people know and which has been preached on. Namely, the water flowing from the temple.  Initially the water was just trickling, but gradually builds up through ankle deep, waist high and then deep enough to swim in. The water is live giving. God is a life-giving God, He also created us to be life-giving people. In Genesis 1 mankind was commanded to go forth and multiply. Abraham was promised that all nations would be blessed through him. Jesus said that living waters would flow from whoever believes in Him (John 7:37). 

The flowing waters part goes from 47:1-12, we then get stuff about the division of the land and boundaries. The land is divided among the tribes of Israel, and the foreigners who live among them. Ezekiel’s prophecies are very much couched in terms of the tribes of Israel, with the occasional nod to its wider impact. Isaiah, on the other hand, is very strong on the global nature of the gospel. Why is this? It is probably because Ezekiel was written at a time when the destruction of Jerusalem was taking place, and the subsequent exile. So defeat was what they were in the midst of experiencing, it looked as if Israel was finished. Isaiah wrote at a time when the Assyrian invasion was turned back by God, and the Babylonian captivity was many years ahead. There is one further point, the fact that so many of God’s promises are expressed in terms of Israel does strongly imply that Israel has a very real and important part in God’s plans.

“And the name if the city from that time will be, “The Lord is there”. Judah was a sinful nation, and the Lord cannot dwell among such a nation. This needs to be dealt with, but God does not abandon His purposes. The same apples to the whole world. God will not dwell among a sinful people, but His plan is to save many people.

Ezekiel 43-46 - God' glory returns to the temple

43-46

Earlier in Ezekiel he saw the glory of the Lord depart from the temple. Now Ezekiel has a similar vision to the one he had earlier, but this time he sees the glory returning. In some ways this is like God casting mankind out of His presence in the Garden of Eden, and His return to dwell with man. God takes full account of man’s sin, but His purposes for man will not be thwarted by our sin. However, this not an overlooking of past sins, for He delcares that Israel will no longer defile His Name. Israel will be ashamed of all her sins.

We then get lot more details about the altar and the priesthood. The Levites are demoted, apart from the line of Zadok. There are details about the priesthood and sacrifices. Given that the sacrifices would all be superseded I do find it difficult to get excited about this.

Ezekiel 40-42 - I see a wall

40-42

There is no point pretending otherwise, but there is a lot of these chapters about which I have very little to say, so I won’t say it. In fact, “if you have nothing to say don’t say it” is a maxim that many would do well to observe and would shorten many a meeting! Many years ago when I was at Merton College, Oxford University (which is where I became a Christian, having been an atheist) the College Christian Union did a sponsored Bible reading, reading through the whole Bible. One of my slots was Ezekiel 40-48.

I emphasise that this failure to have much to say on these chapters is a reflection on my lack of understanding, it is not God’s fault!

According to Taylor there are 4 main approaches to this part of Ezekiel. The first is the literal, i.e. Ezekiel envisaged that a temple following the dimensions etc given in these verses. In favour of this view is the very fact that we do get a lot of detail. However, such a temple was never built. The second temple and Herod’s temple do not match these dimensions.

The second view is the symbolic one, which sees it as symbolising the church. The amount of detail given would tend to count against this view.

Next is the dispensationalist view. Taylor rejects this view outright, and I agree with him. This view would see a temple following these dimensions being built, and sacrifices being reintroduced. 

The fourth view, and the one favoured by Taylor, is an apocalyptic view, representing how things will be when God’s plans come to fruition. Taylor outlines this as:

• The perfection of God’s plan, represented by the symmetry of the temple.

• The centrality of worship, represented by the detail given of the worship aspects.

• The abiding presence of the Lord with His people.

• The blessing of God flowing out to all the earth (see chapter 47)

• The orderly allocation of duties to His people.

Anyway, chapters 40-42 contain a lot of architectural information.

Ezekiel 39:21-29 - I will display my glory

39:21-24

The nations will receive punishment from God. The nations will also understand what God was doing with Israel. They went into exile because God was punishing them for their sins against Him. It was not because of their military strength that Assyria and Babylon were able to triumph. God deals with people and nations according to their deeds. That was why He hid his face from them, i.e. He did not answer their cries of distress.

39:25-29

But now He would restore the fortunes of Jacob. He would show compassion to Israel and be zealous for His Name. Note that the two go together. Israel had been sinful and faithless, but she would forget these times. There will be a transformation. Indeed God will be proved holy through them, in the sight of the nations. They would be the witness that they were always meant to be. They will realise their sinfulness, they will know that the Lord is God, they will be completely restored by the Lord, and He will pour out His Spirit upon them. Here we have a pretty good summary of the gospel.

Ezekiel 39:11-20 - And so they will cleanse the land

39:11-16

The hordes of Gog will be buried in Israel. The place they sought to conquer will be the place where they perish. Hamon Gog means “hordes of Gog”. As I mentioned earlier, the key message is the complete destruction of evil. There will be so many dead that it will take the Israelites seven months to bury them. So again we have the number seven. We may find it hard to imagine such a scene, but if you read histories of the first world war you will find it a little easier to imagine, but no less horrific. The land will be cleansed, but it will take them seven months to do so.

39:17-20

The dead hordes of Gog are then described as a feast for the birds and wild animals. This would be going on before they were all buried. The emphasis is on the completeness of the destruction, and that the seemingly mighty and invincible forces of the enemy are defeated. It is the mighty men, the military horses who all die. Forces which claimed to be mighty, which even seemed to be mighty, come to nothing at all. Before God there might is meaningless.

Ezekiel 39:7-10 - I will make known my holy name

39:7,8

“I will make known my holy Name”. This is not vaingloriousness on the part of God. It would be if God was a mere mortal, but He is not. He is the creator of the universe and everything that is seen and unseen, He is the sustainer of all things, and He is perfectly good. Individuals and people groups can only live properly when they know the Lord. As the Old Testament outlines in great detail, Israel usually profaned the name of the Lord, this would no longer happen. Israel would know His name (i.e who God truly is, and knowing Him relationally as well, not just academic knowledge), and so the nations would also know Him. The same applies with the church, that is why it is so tragic when churches decide that it is a good idea to follow the world’s ways rather than God’s ways, for then we are denying the world the opportunity to know the Lord. 

“It is coming! It will surely take place”. God will ensure that such a day does indeed come to pass.

39:9,10

The weapons that were intended to be used against Israel would be used for fuel, for practical use. This supply would last for seven years. Seven appears three times in this chapter, and seven is the number of completeness, indicating the apocalyptic nature of the chapter. “They will plunder those who plundered them”. There will be a complete reversal of the situation envisioned by the forces of evil. We should remember this when we see evil apparently rampant in the world. 

Ezekiel 39:1-6 - Prophesy against Gog

39:1

We continue with Gog and Magog, and the complete destruction of Gog and Magog. We will find the details lurid and may wonder why the Bible contains this sort of stuff. Evil is more pervasive and destructive than we ever imagine. What we see here is a picture of the complete overturn of evil, there is nothing left. In the world people were glad when the Nazis were utterly defeated, when the Berlin Wall fell, when apardheid collapsed in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and South Africa. But while these were the end of one evil, they were not the end of evil. Evil arose again, just in other forms. What we see in the Bible is the complete destruction of evil.

39:2-6

“I will turn you around and drag you along”. This sort of terminology would normally apply to what happens to a defeated enemy, and indeed it does so, but here Gog is being brought to fight against Israel. We should recognise that the attacks of the world on God’s people are brought about by God. Now this in no way excuses the persecutors, they are responsible for their actions. But it is God’s purposes that are being fulfilled. Here we have the battle at the end of time, and Gog will be struck down by the Lord. All the nations that attack Israel will fall. They will be left as food for the carrion birds and wild animals. None of the attacking nations will be safe.

Ezekiel 38:14-23 - I will make myself known in the sight of many nations

38:14-16

We often think that if people see the benefits of the Christian life they will want to become Christians. The truth is that some people will, but some won’t. That is the sort of situation, but on a much more serious scale, that we have here. The evil forces see God’s people living in peace. So they gather a great army to advance against God’s people. See in v18 what it says “I will bring you against ...” What will happen is simultaneously the work of God, the work of the devil, and the work of man. Now it is God’s purposes that will be fulfilled, but man and the devil are responsible for their actions. The evil forces think they will destroy and plunder the good land that God has given to His people, what will actually happen is that the nations will know the Lord, and He will be proved holy before them.

38:17-23

We now get an outline of what will happen, of what is really going on. Everything is happening according to the will of God. Gog will attack, but this will arouse the fierce anger of the Lord. On that day His wrath will be poured out. We should note that there are parallels with various parts of Revelation here.  The hordes of God will be utterly defeated. “Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

Ezekiel 38:7-13 - You will devise an evil scheme

38:7-9

The vast army would think that it had got itself together, but in reality God had called the hordes together, using Gog to do this. “In future years ...” This is looking to a long time ahead, and it is looking to a time when there is a land that “has recovered from war”. Revelation 20:8 speaks of Satan going out to deceive the nations, gathering a vast army to attack God’s people. And this happens after the millenium, after a time of godly rule. Rev 20:8 even mentions “Gog and Magog”. So it seems certain that we are meant to link this passage with Revelation. So there will be a vast army on the march against the people of God.

38:10-13

The invading army will be full of evil intent. Its leader will be especially so. He will also think that the people of God will be easy prey, living in a land without walls. This would imply that having a defence force is not part of the millennial kingdom. This ties in with Zech 2:4,5 where God says the new Jerusalem will be a city without walls, for God Himself will be a wall of fire around it. The land will look rich (because it will be rich), offering easy plunder to the massed armies. What we are looking at in this chapter is a people who are dependent upon God for their protection. The forces of evil think the people of God have no protection, but they could not be more wrong, for God Himself will be their protection.

Ezekiel 38:1-6 - Set your face against Gog

38:1,2

Chapters 38 and 39 form a sort of interregnum between 33-37 and 40-48 and are somewhat apocalyptic in nature. They deal with Gog and Magog. There is no absolute agreement on who and what these are referring to. The best answer seems to be that Gog is associated with Gyges, king of Lydia, and Magog is the land where he lived. However, the most important thing to glean from these two chapters is how things work, how God’s plans are worked out, and what is going on in the world. The Bible is not intuitive. Israel is a basket case of a nation, morally beyond the pale, persistently rejecting God. Yet Israel is the heir to all the promises. How can this be? God acts against Israel, the nations act against Israel, yet God is Israel’s saviour. With our mere human wisdom we cannot work out how these things can possibly be. The Bible reveals God’s wisdom to us.

38:3-6

If we take Gog as representing the forces arraigned against Israel we see how God defeats them. First, He declares that He is against Gog. The imagery in 38:4 is probably taken from Assyrian practices. The Assyrians were a particularly violent lot, and one of their practices was to put hooks in the mouths of conquered prisoners and drag them along. Gog would gather a vast army, fully armed, but God would easily conquer them. “Many nations with you”. In Revelation we read of all the nations being gathered against God’s people. In society we can see many gathered against God’s ways. We should not fear, for they will come to nothing.

Ezekiel 37:26-28 - My dwelling place will be with them

37:26

We now get a description of the new relationship. God will make a covenant of peace with them. The covenant is made by God, and it will be an everlasting covenant. Hebrews tells us that the new covenant has superseded the old one (Heb 8:13). God will establish us and increase our numbers. We can so easily think that growth is all down to us, this can lead us to compromising the gospel in order to get the numbers up (and it rarely works in the long term, if at all). God gives growth. This does not mean we are passive, but God involves us in His work. “And I will put my sanctuary among them”. It is God’s heart and will to live among His people.

37:27,28

“My dwelling place will be with them”. In the Old Testament God lived among His people in a tent in the wilderness, and then in the temple in Jerusalem. Under the new covenant God lives among His people by dwelling within us through the Holy Spirit. Rev 21:3 declares that the dwelling of God is with man. “I will be their God, and they will be my people”. As I have said on numerous occasions, this is the oft repeated refrain of the Old Testament, expressing the purposes of God. And all this will be a witness to the world.

Ezekiel 37:24,25 - They will all have one shepherd

37:24

“My servant David will be king over them.” This refers to Jesus, rather than the actual king David who was, of course, long dead by this point! And the common Jewish understanding was that this was referring to someone like David, the Messiah, rather than the actual David. So this is a guide to how Old Testament prophecy should be interpreted. “They will all have one shepherd”. Then it says “they will follow my laws ...” It should be so obvious that God’s salvation involves change in our character and in our actions, the Bible is perfectly clear on this from beginning to end. Yet some many seem to think the gospel is about God “accepting” us. That is not the gospel!

37:25

This salvation is everlasting, it is not a temporary thing. “They will live in the land ..” There can be a wrong obsession with Israel and the land, one that puts emphasis on the land at the expense of their moral behaviour and their trust in Christ. At the same time we must not ignore the references to the land of Israel. “David my servant will be their prince forever”. The Biblical picture of the kingdom is one where Jesus is the king, and we serve the king. 

Ezekiel 37:20-23 - I will cleanse them

37:20,21

Many from the northern kingdom (Israel) would have been scattered to various parts of the then Assyrian empire. How could all these people be brought back? This would be a natural question for people to ask. The answer is that the Lord would take them out of these nations and bring them back. He would gather them from “all around”. We must always remember that the Lord acts. So often we treat God as if He is passive, and it is all up to us. The truth is that we act as part of what God is doing.

37:22,23

Israel and Judah would be made into one nation. Note again that it is God who is doing this. There would be one king over all of them, and the unity would be permanent. The king, of course, is Jesus. But it would not just be a matter of bringing them back to the land. There would be moral/spiritual changes within the people as well. No longer would they defile themselves with idols. God would save them from their “sinful backsliding”. They would truly be His people, and He would be their God. The salvation of the gospel calls us back to Christ, and to become Christlike. It is never just to carry on as we always have done!

Ezekiel 37:15-19 - They will become one in my hand

37:15-17

The split between the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel (Israel and Judah) had occurred after the time of Solomon. We are all too familiar with splits in the church. The Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox are the primary divisions, with there being many sub-splits within these main groupings, especially within Protestantism. There were rights and wrongs in Israel and Judah (mostly wrongs!), as there are within denominations. However, God is a God of unity, and He would not be thwarted in His plan for one people. We should also remember Jesus’ words that He came to not to bring peace but division! This is no grounds for unity at any costs. God will work to bring unity in Christ. Earlier in Ezekiel we had had words about Judah being united with Israel in her sinfulness, even exceeding the sin of Israel! Now we read of them becoming one in God’s hand.

37:18,19

It seems odd that the people needed to ask Ezekiel what he meant by the demonstration, the meaning seemed fairly clear. But men who are divided can see reunion as being inconceivable. In Ezekiel’s case the people of Judah were in exile in Babylon, and the people of Israel had been scattered throughout the former Assyrian empire. So Ezekiel is to tell them that God is going to reunite the two nations.

Ezekiel 37:13,14 - I will put my Spirit in you

37:13

“Then you, my people, will know ..” Notice the term “my people”. They had behaved like anything but being God’s people, and the consequences had gone along with that. But God’s plans are not disrupted by man’s sin. That does not mean our sin does not matter, what had just happened to Judah and Israel clearly demonstrated that, but God’s purposes would not be thwarted. Notice that the people realise that God is the Lord when they experience practical acts of salvation. This is absolutely not supporting “social gospel” type theology, but in the gospels we see people believing in Christ being associated with practical outworkings (though of course, this was not true in all cases!). 

37:14

“I will put my Spirit in you and you will live”. Salvation is the work of God. He is the One who gives us life and makes us alive. “I will settle you in your own land”. God’s making us alive has practical outworkings, and it involves giving us a degree of independence. When we know the Lord we are truly alive. we become truly free when we are filled with the Spirit.

Ezekiel 37:11,12 - I am going to open your graves

37:11

God then tells Ezekiel who the bones are, they are the people of Israel. This would include both the northern and southern kingdoms. They were divided, but in God’s plans they were one. They felt to be in a hopeless situation, and this was a very reasonable assumption to make, “but God”. God breathes life into the hopeless, into those who are beyond the pale. This is what our God does. “our bones are dried up ...” seems to have been a phrase that people were using of their situation, which is why God gave this vision of what He was going to do. We need to realise that natural man can be incredibly stupid. And that includes you and me when we are led by the flesh rather than the Spirit. We can be stupid when we think we are all powerful, we have got everything under control. We can be qually stupid when we think all is lost and is completely hopeless. We need to live by faith and the word of God. 

37:12

“I am going to open your graves ...” This could be taken as looking forward to the resurrection. Some say it does. others say it isn’t and is concerned with the return to Israel. As is often the case with OT prophecy there is both a temporal fulfilment and an ultimate fulfilment, the temporal fulfilment pointing forward to the eternal fulfilment and demonstrating that God’s words are true. So they thought that situation was hopeless, but it was not. They would indeed return to Israel, it happened! Ultimately we will be raised from the dead.

Ezekiel 37:7-10 - Prophesy to the breath

37:7,8

So Ezekiel prophesied as the Lord had told him to do. Then there was a great noise as the bones started to come to life. There was a rattling sound, as the bones came together. Then Ezekiel saw flesh and tendons appearing on them, along with skin. “But there was no breath in them”. This had not happened yet. Ezekiel’s words were essential, for God had told him to say them, but God had more to do. It is also interesting that although everything is down to God, He involves us in the process.

37:9,10

Ezekiel is told to prophesy again, this time he prophecies to the breath, rather than the bones (or people). The breath is told to enter the slain that they may live. So Ezekiel prophesied and the breath entered the bones, so they came to life and we have a vast army. We should remember that it was God who had slain them. It is God who cast us out of the garden of Eden. We were under judgement from God, but God has forgiven us and He breathes life into us.

Ezekiel 37:2-6 - Can these bones live?

37:2,3

This was a vision that Ezekiel saw, and the Spirit led him among the dry bones, so that he gets the full picture. The bones were dry, emphasising the deadness of them. This represented the current state of Judah, and Israel for that matter. If you see a field of dry bones then the people are dead and gone, there is no hope. God asks Ezekiel “can these bones live?”. The obvious answer is no, but Ezekiel gives a different reply “Sovereign Lord, you alone know”. The future of Israel and Judah was in God’s hands. For our own lives, it is God who determines our destiny.

37:4-6

God did know, and He knew that they would live because that was His purpose. So He commands Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones, “Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord ... I will make breath enter you”. Everything is down to the Lord. Back in Genesis Adam became alive when God breathed into Him (Gen 2:7). It is the Lord who gives life. We need to look to Him. God would supply all that was needed to bring them to life and to enable them to live. “Then you will know that I am the Lord”. A fundamental part of being alive is that we know the Lord.

Ezekiel 37:1 - It was full of bones

37:1

This is probably the most well known chapter section in Ezekiel, the valley of the dry bones. To better appreciate the chapter we should remind ourselves of the context. There has been a relentless depiction of the sins of Judah and Jerusalem. A clear proclamation and then enactment of the wrath of God on Judah’s sin. Ezekiel and the exiles are stuck in Babylon. We have then had a couple of chapters on the restoration of Israel. The key elements of this have been God Himself shepherding Israel, and the promise of a new heart for the people. There has also been the emphasis that God is doing this for the sake of His Name. We may tend to react against this latter aspect. We think it means that God is doing it for “self-centred” reasons, when we think He should be doing it to help us. The truth is that when we think of the wrath of God and God doing things for His name's sake we think of it in human terms. The wrath of a man (or woman), and someone doing something for their own sake is almost always not a pretty sight and lacking in virtue. With God things are different. His wrath is entirely righteous and just, and when He does things for the sake of His Name we benefit! The key message is that salvation is founded purely in God’s goodness, not in anything about us. So the vision starts with God showing Ezekiel a valley of dry bones.

Ezekiel 36:34-38 - Then they will know that I am the Lord

36:34-36

“The desolate land will be cultivated ...” It is not about something that was pretty good, or even just reasonable, being made better. It is about a desolate land being made fruitful, about a ruined life being put back together. Once you were mocked by others for they could see the mess of your life. But those days will come to an end. They will see that your life is becoming something beautiful, something strong. “Then the nations ...” God’s name is glorified in the eyes of the world when they see a ruined life put back together again, a ruined people restored. The Lord is in the business of restoring the desolate.

36:37,38

God has always been into big numbers! Right at the beginning He told Adam and Eve to go forth and multiply. He promised Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky or the grains of sand in the desert, a promise repeated to future generations. In the next chapter of Ezekiel we will read of a vast army. “I will yield to Israel’s plea”. A common feature of the restoration is that God answers prayer, this was also key to Jesus’ teaching. Asking prayer is not inferior to praise or adoration prayer, at least not in God’s mind. But it is a people dedicated to God, a people with hearts committed to Him, that can avail themselves of this promise. For then we will be asking aright.  “They will know that I am the Lord.” This is the fundamental truth of the universe.