Saturday, October 17, 2015

THE BOOK OF EZEKIEL (5)

    MESSAGE OF JUDGMENT ON JERUSALEM


Ezekiel 2: 1-10
King James Version (KJV)

2 And the spirit entered into me when he spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard him that spake unto me.

3 And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very day.


4 For they are impudent children and stiffhearted. I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God.


5 And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them.


6 And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.


7 And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious.


8 But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee.


9 And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein;


10 And he spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.


Kingdom Dynamics

2:12 Son of man: A term used around 90 times to refer to Ezekiel. It stresses his humanity in contrast to the transcendent God who spoke to him. While the title is applied to Ezekiel himself, it was appropriated by Jesus as His favorite self-designation. Therefore, Ezekiel may be regarded as a type of Christ. As such, Ezekiel was empowered as a prophetic voice of the messianic age when "the Spirit of the Lord fell" upon him.

2:2 The spirit entered into me: The Spirit of God entered Ezekiel and equipped him for his task. Leaders, do not use "success" alone to gauge how well people seem to receive you.

2:3 Rebellious nation: Like many of the prophets before him (Is. 6:9-13; Jer. 1:17-19). Ezekiel faced a difficult task because the people were in rebellion against God.

2:4 The Lord God: A title used 217 times in Ezekiel (only 103 times in the rest of the OT). "Lord" translates the Hebrew Adonai, a term that emphasizes the sovereignty, "God" translates Yahweh, the personal name of the God who made Himself known and entered into covenant with His people.

2:5 A rebellious house: Used frequently in the early chapters of Ezek. To describe the nation (vv.6, 8;3:9,26,27;12:2, 3, 9, 25;17:12; 24:3).

2:10 Most ancient scrolls had writing on one side only. Written within and without: Indicates the voluminous extent of the message and the lack of space for additions by the prophet himself. Most of this message consisted of lamentations, and mourning, and woe, the theme of Ezekiel until the destruction of Jerusalem.

.….. to be cont’d




Playwright Janet Irene Thomas
Founder/President/CEO
Bible Stories Theatre of
Fine & Performing Arts


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