| Teacher: Rusty Kennedy Series: Bible Stories |
Rusty's Notes
Ezekiel
Time Period
4 “Then lie down on your left side and place the iniquity of the house of Israel on it. You will bear their iniquity for the number of days you lie on your side. 5 For I have assigned you the years of their iniquity according to the number of days you lie down, 390 days; so you will bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. 6 When you have completed these days, lie down again, but on your right side, and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah. I have assigned you 40 days, a day for each year. 7 You must turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem with your arm bared, and prophesy against it. 8 Be aware that I will put cords on you so you cannot turn from side to side until you have finished the days of your siege.
9 “Also take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt. Put them in a single container and make them into bread for yourself. You are to eat it during the number of days you lie on your side, 390 days. 10 The food you eat each day will be eight ounces by weight; you will eat it from time to time. 11 You are also to drink water by measure, a sixth of a gallon, which you will drink from time to time. 12 You will eat it as you would a barley cake and bake it over dried human excrement in their sight.” 13 The Lord said, “This is how the Israelites will eat their bread—ceremonially unclean—among the nations where I will banish them.”
14 But I said, “Oh, Lord God, I have never been defiled. From my youth until now I have not eaten anything that died naturally or was mauled by wild beasts. And impure meat has never entered my mouth.”
15 He replied to me, “Look, I will let you use cow dung instead of human excrement, and you can make your bread over that.” 16 Then He said to me, “Son of man, I am going to cut off the supply of bread in Jerusalem. They will anxiously eat bread rationed by weight and in dread drink water by measure. 17 So they will lack bread and water; everyone will be devastated and waste away because of their iniquity.
Ezekiel 6:7–10 (HCSB)
7 The slain will fall among you, and you will know that I am Yahweh.
8 “Yet I will leave a remnant when you are scattered among the nations, for throughout the countries there will be some of you who will escape the sword. 9 Then your survivors will remember Me among the nations where they are taken captive, how I was crushed by their promiscuous hearts that turned away from Me and by their eyes that lusted after their idols. They will loathe themselves because of the evil things they did, their detestable practices of every kind. 10 And they will know that I am the LORD; I did not threaten to bring this disaster on them without a reason.
Ezekiel 11:16–21 (HCSB)
16 “Therefore say: This is what the Lord GOD says: Though I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I have been a sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.
17 “Therefore say: This is what the Lord GOD says: I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.
18 “When they arrive there, they will remove all its detestable things and practices from it. 19 And I will give them one heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove their heart of stone from their bodies and give them a heart of flesh, 20 so they may follow My statutes, keep My ordinances, and practice them. Then they will be My people, and I will be their God. 21 But as for those whose hearts pursue their desire for detestable things and practices, I will bring their actions down on their own heads.” This is the declaration of the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel 14:12–14 (HCSB)
12 The word of the LORD came to me: 13 “Son of man, if a land sins against Me by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out My hand against it to cut off its supply of bread, to send famine through it, and to wipe out both man and animal from it, 14 even if these three men —Noah, Daniel, and Job —were in it, they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.” This is the declaration of the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel 22-24 – The Two Prostitutes
Ezekiel’s message became one of hope
Ezekiel 25-32
Ezekiel 33-39
24 “For I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries, and will bring you into your own land. 25 I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will place My Spirit within you and cause you to follow My statutes and carefully observe My ordinances. 28 Then you will live in the land that I gave your fathers; you will be My people, and I will be your God. 29 I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will summon the grain and make it plentiful, and will not bring famine on you. 30 I will also make the fruit of the trees and the produce of the field plentiful, so that you will no longer experience reproach among the nations on account of famine.
Ezekiel 37:1–14 (HCSB)
I replied, “Lord GOD, only You know.”
4 He said to me, “Prophesy concerning these bones and say to them: Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! 5 This is what the Lord GOD says to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you will live. 6 I will put tendons on you, make flesh grow on you, and cover you with skin. I will put breath in you so that you come to life. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.”
7 So I prophesied as I had been commanded. While I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 As I looked, tendons appeared on them, flesh grew, and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. 9 He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man. Say to it: This is what the Lord GOD says: Breath, come from the four winds and breathe into these slain so that they may live!” 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me; the breath entered them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, a vast army.
11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Look how they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore, prophesy and say to them: This is what the Lord GOD says: I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them, My people, and lead you into the land of Israel. 13 You will know that I am Yahweh, My people, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put My Spirit in you, and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I am Yahweh. I have spoken, and I will do it.” This is the declaration of the LORD.
Ezekiel 40-46
Ezekiel 47-48
Is the role of the priest and the prophet necessary for today?
- Ezekiel = “Strengthened by God”
- In Jewish history, Ezekiel's descriptions of the throne of God are called the "Merkabah."
- After the Second Temple was destroyed in 70AD, certain rabbinical groups decided that Ezekiel should not be read or studied by ordinary people, arguing that it contained mysteries that could only be understood by scholars.
Time Period
- Ezekiel grew up in Jerusalem and became a priest
- 597 BC - Taken captive to Babylon in the second deportation group (along w/ King Jehoiachin)
- Daniel & friends deported as well.
- July 593 BC – Ezekiel’s call to become a prophet of doom and judgment for Judah
- Judgment was for people of Israel, the Temple in Jerusalem, the land of Israel and the nations surrounding Israel
- September 592 – Prophesied about the destruction of the Temple in 587 BC.
- His periodic speechlessness during his early years was broken when God empowered him to speak, and his tongue was loosened to speak the longest passage of sustained hope in the Bible.
- January 5, 587 BC – Destruction of Jerusalem & Temple began
- January 19, 585 BC – Ezekiel heard about the fall of Jerusalem and the Temple
- He had a passionate view of judgment and hope and displayed his closeness to God’s own sorrow over the people’s sins.
- Chapter 1 – Crazy dreams of prophecy
4 “Then lie down on your left side and place the iniquity of the house of Israel on it. You will bear their iniquity for the number of days you lie on your side. 5 For I have assigned you the years of their iniquity according to the number of days you lie down, 390 days; so you will bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. 6 When you have completed these days, lie down again, but on your right side, and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah. I have assigned you 40 days, a day for each year. 7 You must turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem with your arm bared, and prophesy against it. 8 Be aware that I will put cords on you so you cannot turn from side to side until you have finished the days of your siege.
- 430 days = 430 years
- From the end of King Solomon’s reign to the end of the Babylonian captivity
9 “Also take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt. Put them in a single container and make them into bread for yourself. You are to eat it during the number of days you lie on your side, 390 days. 10 The food you eat each day will be eight ounces by weight; you will eat it from time to time. 11 You are also to drink water by measure, a sixth of a gallon, which you will drink from time to time. 12 You will eat it as you would a barley cake and bake it over dried human excrement in their sight.” 13 The Lord said, “This is how the Israelites will eat their bread—ceremonially unclean—among the nations where I will banish them.”
14 But I said, “Oh, Lord God, I have never been defiled. From my youth until now I have not eaten anything that died naturally or was mauled by wild beasts. And impure meat has never entered my mouth.”
15 He replied to me, “Look, I will let you use cow dung instead of human excrement, and you can make your bread over that.” 16 Then He said to me, “Son of man, I am going to cut off the supply of bread in Jerusalem. They will anxiously eat bread rationed by weight and in dread drink water by measure. 17 So they will lack bread and water; everyone will be devastated and waste away because of their iniquity.
- God directed Ezekiel to make bread that would be his diet for a 430-day prophetic vigil. Its ingredients were mixed and baked. Amazingly, scientists discovered that when these six grains and legumes are sprouted and combined, one of the highest quality proteins is created, rivaling the protein in milk and eggs. Ezekiel bread includes eighteen amino acids, including nine essential to the human diet. Only God could have known those benefits. We receive many blessings unknowingly.
Ezekiel 6:7–10 (HCSB)
7 The slain will fall among you, and you will know that I am Yahweh.
8 “Yet I will leave a remnant when you are scattered among the nations, for throughout the countries there will be some of you who will escape the sword. 9 Then your survivors will remember Me among the nations where they are taken captive, how I was crushed by their promiscuous hearts that turned away from Me and by their eyes that lusted after their idols. They will loathe themselves because of the evil things they did, their detestable practices of every kind. 10 And they will know that I am the LORD; I did not threaten to bring this disaster on them without a reason.
- This is no small matter. The fact that God miraculously sustains and perpetuates a remnant throughout all generations is awesome. How many times might have the godly been driven into total extinction by powerful and hostile forces in this world. But God will never allow that to happen. Nobody but God can provide that kind of insurance.
Ezekiel 11:16–21 (HCSB)
16 “Therefore say: This is what the Lord GOD says: Though I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I have been a sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.
17 “Therefore say: This is what the Lord GOD says: I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.
18 “When they arrive there, they will remove all its detestable things and practices from it. 19 And I will give them one heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove their heart of stone from their bodies and give them a heart of flesh, 20 so they may follow My statutes, keep My ordinances, and practice them. Then they will be My people, and I will be their God. 21 But as for those whose hearts pursue their desire for detestable things and practices, I will bring their actions down on their own heads.” This is the declaration of the Lord GOD.
- This will happen IN THE LAND OF ISRAEL.
- No terrorist organization or world government can prevent it.
Ezekiel 14:12–14 (HCSB)
12 The word of the LORD came to me: 13 “Son of man, if a land sins against Me by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out My hand against it to cut off its supply of bread, to send famine through it, and to wipe out both man and animal from it, 14 even if these three men —Noah, Daniel, and Job —were in it, they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.” This is the declaration of the Lord GOD.
- Lot's family could not save Sodom. Neither could Noah, Daniel or Job save Israel.
Ezekiel 22-24 – The Two Prostitutes
- Northern & Southern Kingdoms
- Egypt & Assyria
Ezekiel’s message became one of hope
Ezekiel 25-32
- Oracles against 6 Nations and against Egypt
Ezekiel 33-39
- Israel’s Restoration
24 “For I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries, and will bring you into your own land. 25 I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will place My Spirit within you and cause you to follow My statutes and carefully observe My ordinances. 28 Then you will live in the land that I gave your fathers; you will be My people, and I will be your God. 29 I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will summon the grain and make it plentiful, and will not bring famine on you. 30 I will also make the fruit of the trees and the produce of the field plentiful, so that you will no longer experience reproach among the nations on account of famine.
Ezekiel 37:1–14 (HCSB)
- The Valley of Dry Bones
I replied, “Lord GOD, only You know.”
4 He said to me, “Prophesy concerning these bones and say to them: Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! 5 This is what the Lord GOD says to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you will live. 6 I will put tendons on you, make flesh grow on you, and cover you with skin. I will put breath in you so that you come to life. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.”
7 So I prophesied as I had been commanded. While I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 As I looked, tendons appeared on them, flesh grew, and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. 9 He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man. Say to it: This is what the Lord GOD says: Breath, come from the four winds and breathe into these slain so that they may live!” 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me; the breath entered them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, a vast army.
11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Look how they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore, prophesy and say to them: This is what the Lord GOD says: I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them, My people, and lead you into the land of Israel. 13 You will know that I am Yahweh, My people, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put My Spirit in you, and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I am Yahweh. I have spoken, and I will do it.” This is the declaration of the LORD.
Ezekiel 40-46
- April 28, 573 BC
- Vision of the Future: The New Temple & the New Law
Ezekiel 47-48
- Resettling the Promised Land
- Millennium Reign
Is the role of the priest and the prophet necessary for today?
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