From 613 to 591 B.C. Ezekiel: the catastrophe is part of God's plan of salvation

The great theme of the messages which Ezekiel passed on to the people in the name of JHWH and which he wrote down in his Bible-book is the sanctification of God’s name JHWH. The name of God had been dishonored and stained and treated with disdain by Satan and his rebellious angels, by Adam and Eve, by all the nations which worshipped idols, by the great world powers of antiquity, by Israel and by Judah.

But Ezekiel lets it be known: at the end of the history of mankind it will be clear that in the entire universe no name can be compared to JHWH’s when it comes to greatness, power and holiness.

And on the way to the end of human history JHWH (whose name means: I will prove to be there) will live up to His name. By intervening in the history of individual persons and of nations, by rewarding and by punishing, by building up and breaking down. More than 60 times people can read the following words in Ezekiel’s book: people will know that I am JHWH.

In 617 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar had laid siege to Jerusalem and captured it. In that year he did not destroy the town and the temple yet. He deported the most important persons of the people away to Babylonia. Among them was the priest Ezekiel.

In Babylonia Ezekiel became one of the greatest Jewish prophets. In 613 B.C. JHWH appointed him as prophet and ordered him to make God’s intentions known both to Israel and to Judah and to the other nations in the region.

Ezekiel started his work by telling his countrymen who were still in Judah with great candor that their idolatry and their rottenness had reached a level which gave JHWH no other options than allowing Jerusalem to be besieged and allowing the Jews to starve to death, to die through pestilence and to be killed by the swords of their enemies. Those who would survive the siege would be carried away into exile.

In 612 B.C. JHWH showed Ezekiel a vision of the terrible things that were happening in his homeland. In this vision he was taken along to the temple where some seventy elderly men were deeply involved in adoration. But not the adoration of JHWH. The temple walls had been engraved with images of disgusting beasts and equally disgusting idols. Near the entrances to the temple women were crying their hearts out. Not because of what they had done to JHWH, but for the pagan god Tammuz. A little further away a number of men were standing with their backs to the temple and sunk away in deep devotion. Again: not devotion towards JHWH. They were worshipping the son!

In the sixteenth chapter of the Bible-book which carries his name Ezekiel again shows the readers the well-known image of Israel as God’s wife (whose seed will crush Satan in the head). The chapter describes how JHWH has taken pity on Israel and has done everything He could to make her life as pleasant as possible. But Jerusalem has turned into a prostitute who offered her love and her services to all the neighboring nations and to all the gods of all the neighboring nations. Because of these shameful acts of prostitution JHWH will disown His wife.

Ezekiel 21:25-27 clearly shows God’s intentions. In these verses JHWH calls the last king of David’s dynasty a mortally wounded godless leader of Israel whose crown will be taken away from him. After this event the crown will never be the same again. The crown will get a different appearance. The Davidic dynasty and the Davidic kingdom will be turned into a heap of ruins.

And as regards the crown which will be taken away from the head of the last king of the Davidic dynasty: for a while no one will have this crown until the person will appear who has the right to claim the throne and to receive it from the hands of JHWH.

For us in the 21st century the meaning of Ezekiel 21:25-27 is clear. And the prophecies described in these verses have been fulfilled. In 607 B.C. David’s dynasty came to an end. In that year JHWH took away the crown from the last Davidic king. And after this event nobody sat on David’s throne or wore David’s crown for many centuries.

But six centuries later a descendant of God’s unfaithful wife and a descendant of King David appeared: Jesus Christ. In God’s eyes Jesus has the right to claim David’s crown and David’s throne. When, at the end of mankind’s history, God’s heavenly kingdom will be established, Jesus Christ will be seated on David’s throne for ever, put on David’s crown, and rule the earth as king for all eternity.

In chapter 23 we see again the image of Israel and Judah as God’s wife who has become unfaithful and has prostituted herself with neighboring nations and the gods of neighboring nations. In this image Israel is called Oholibah and Judah Oholah. Israel particularly prostituted herself with Assyria and was eventually destroyed by her lover. Judah prostituted herself with Babylonia and was also destroyed by her lover.

In chapter 24 we can read how in the year 609 B.C. Christ made it known to Ezekiel that Nebuchadnezzar had laid siege to Jerusalem.

The chapters 25 up to and including 32 show that it is true that JHWH approved of the fact that Israel and Judah were destroyed and led into captivity by neighboring nations, but on the other hand He realized that the nations which had done this, Assyria and Babylonia, had assaulted God’s people and, in their turn, would be punished for it. Other nations had been extremely glad when Israel and Judah were destroyed: Ammon, Moab, the Philistines, Sidon and Egypt. By being so glad in these circumstances they had insulted God. They would also find out what kind of God JHWH was when in the near future He would show them His anger.

In Ezekiel 33:21 we read how in 607 B.C. someone who has escaped from the destruction of Jerusalem informs Ezekiel that the town has fallen and has been destroyed and that Nebuchadnezzar has carried the survivors of the siege away into captivity. This news inspired Ezekiel to point out once more to what degree the Jewish priests were to blame for the complete downfall of the people. The priests were false shepherds, who prophesied things they had made up themselves and did not care for their “sheep”. See how Ezekiel formulates this in chapter 34 verse 7: the shepherds do not tend their sheep, but they tend themselves.

But at a given moment Ezekiel comes with comforting words: one day the period of exile will come to an end, the Israelites will return to their country and in the distant future the people will be given a perfect shepherd who will tend his sheep in a perfect way.

For the identity of this future perfect shepherd read Ezekiel 34:23: King David. For a glorious image of the recovery of the destroyed country read Ezekiel 36:35: the recovered Israel will look like the Garden of Eden, the earthly paradise of Adam and Eve. And all the towns of the country will be inhabited again.

The verses 21 to 25 of chapter 37 are also crystal clear. All the exiles of both Israel and Judah will live together again in their old territory, they will become one nation again instead of two, after their recovery they will put a definitive end to idolatry, God’s servant David will be their king and everybody will worship the true God JHWH. That this is a Messianic prophecy which points forward to the coming of Christ and the establishment of His eternal kingdom with David’s son Jesus Christ as the eternal king, appears from verse 25: David, my servant, will for ever be their king.

The above mentioned prophetic verses, like so many verses in the Hebrew Scriptures, point forward to the fulfilling of God’s great promises:

--- a seed (descendant) of the genealogical line of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will crush the snake in the head and undo all its work and all its influence

--- from the genealogical line of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob a nation will proceed through which all people will be blessed

--- after an interruption which began in 607 B.C., an eternal king will proceed from the genealogical line of King David. This king, who will surpass his ancestor David in everything and who will be perfect, will establish an eternal kingdom. In this eternal kingdom the people will be as perfect and as happy as Adam and Eve would always have been if they had not rebelled against God.

In the chapters 40 to 48 JHWH comforts Ezekiel and the other exiles by showing Ezekiel a vision of the rebuilt temple and the rebuilt Jerusalem. Everything looks great. The message will have been clear for Ezekiel and the other exiles: take courage: everything that God has promised us will one day be reality, one day our earth will be the paradise that God had in mind when He created the earth and man.