The Biblical Book Called Ezekiel
Introduction
•Ezekiel was a priest, prophet, and author of the Biblical Book we call Ezekiel.
•Ezekiel was taken captive to Babylon in the second of three deportations of Judean Jews (606, 597, and 586 BC).
•Jerusalem was destroyed with a final deportation in 586 BC.
•Ezekiel preached to captive Judean Jews of the impending destruction of Jerusalem (ch. 1-24), judgments on foreign nations (ch. 25-32), and a
future restoration for Israel (ch. 33-48).
Outline
(NKJ 2 Timothy 2:15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not
need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.) (Ask “why?” or “what consequence?”
after reading the verses of each outline section.)
1:1-3, Ezekiel has visions from God.
1:4-24, Vision of glorious Cherubim. See 10:15 and 10:20. (“Like” is used 81 times in Ezekiel.) (“Resembling” or “appearance” are found 27 times in
Ezekiel.)
1:25-28, Vision of the Glorious Lord.
2:1-3:27, Ezekiel is prepared by God to speak to Israel: Eating a scroll of God’s words, hardening for courage, and descriptions of his future ministry.
(The
phrase: “Thus says
the Lord God” is found over 120 times in Ezekiel.) (“The word of the Lord came
to me” is found almost 50 times
in Ezekiel.) (“Son of Man” is found 93 times in Ezekiel.) (“Rebellious” is used 17 times in Ezekiel.)
4:1-5:17, Judgment on Jerusalem. (Idols are found 46 times in Ezekiel.)
6:1-14, Judgment on pagan high places in Israel. (The
phrase: “know that
I am the LORD” is found over 60 times in Ezekiel. See the summary at
the end of the Biblical Concept: God, Jealous.)
7:1-27, The end of Israel is looming.
8:1-18, Pagan religion in God’s Jerusalem Temple = judgment.
9:1-11, Execution of pagan worshippers in Jerusalem.
10:1-22, The Glory of the Lord leaves the Temple. (Compare 10:18 with 43:1-5 for the return of the Glory of the Lord.)
11:1-25; Vision of wicked leaders, Jerusalem’s judgment, a promise of restoration, the Glory of the Lord departs.
12:1-28, Signs of impending captivity for a Rebellious House.
13:1-23, The false prophet problem.
14:1-23, Judgment for idolatry and false prophets.
15:1-8, The useless vine Jerusalem will be burned.
16:1-63, Jerusalem: Idolatrous prostitute.
17:1-24; A riddle and parable about Nebuchadnezzar, Zedekiah, and Jerusalem’s destruction.
18:1-32, God is a Just Judge. Many in Israel think He is unjust. (Compare Biblical Concept: Deception.)
19:1-14, Lament: Captivity for the leadership of Judah.
20:1-49, A History of Israel’s idolatrous rebellion. (Reputation)
21:1-32, The Babylonian sword of judgment.
22:1-31, The many sins of Jerusalem will bring God’s judgment.
23:1-49, Israel and Judah: Idolatrous promiscuous sisters.
24:1-14, Jerusalem: A pot of rot.
24:15-27, The death of Ezekiel’s wife and the death of the Temple: Knowing the Lord is more important than mourning the dead.
25:1-7, Prophecy of Ammon’s destruction.
25:8-11, Prophecy of Moab’s destruction.
25:12-14, Prophecy of Edom’s destruction.
25:15-17, Prophecy of Philistines’ destruction.
26:1-21, Prophecy of Tyre’s destruction.
27:1-36, A dirge against Tyre.
28:1-19, Prophecy and dirge against the King of Tyre.
28:20-26, Prophecy of Sidon’s destruction.
29:1-31:18, Prophecy of Egypt’s destruction.
32:1-32, Dirge over Pharaoh and Egypt.
33:1-20, Ezekiel: Watchman over Israel’s sin and rebellion.
33:21-33; Jerusalem has fallen, but the people continue to have false religious expectations.
34:1-10, God blames the shepherds for Israel’s spiritual condition.
34:11-16, A Divine promise to regather His sheep.
34:17-22, God will judge between sheep.
34:23-24, A Divine promise of a future Messiah Shepherd.
34:25-31, A Divine promise of restoration and peace for Israel. (Millennium.)
35:1-15, A prophecy of Divine destruction for Edom.
36:1-38, A Divine promise of future physical and spiritual blessing for Israel. (Millennium.)
37:1-14, A vision(?) of Israel’s dry bones and future resurrection.
37:15-28, A Divine promise of a unified Israel lead by an eternal Messiah.
38:1-39:29, A prophecy of destruction for the nations trying to destroy Israel during the Great Tribulation.
40:1-48:35, The Millennial Rule of The Lord Jesus Christ.
40:4b, “Tell the house of Israel everything you see.”
41:4b, “This is the most holy place.”
42:13-14, ‘Then he said to me, “The north chambers and the south chambers which face the courtyard are holy chambers where the priests who
be approach the Lord will eat the most holy offerings. There they will place the most holy offerings – the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering, because the place is holy. 14 When the priests enter, then they will not go out from the sanctuary to the outer court without taking off their garments in which they minister, for these are holy; they will put on other garments, then they will go near the places where the people are.”’
42:20, “He measured it on all four sides. It had a wall around it, 875 feet long and 875 feet wide, to separate the holy and common places.”
43:1-5, “1Then he brought me to the gate that faced toward the east. 2 I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east; the sound was
like that of rushing water; and the earth radiated his glory. 3 It was like the vision I saw when he came to destroy the city, and the vision I saw by the Kebar River. I threw myself face down. 4 The glory of the Lord came into the temple by way of the gate that faces east. 5 Then a wind lifted me up and brought me to the inner court; I watched the glory of the Lord filling the temple.”
43:7a, “He said to me: “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet, where I will live among the people of
43:10-12, “10As for you, son of man, describe the temple to the house of Israel, so that they will be ashamed of their sins and measure the
pattern. 11 When they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the temple, its pattern, its exits and entrances, and its whole design – all its statutes, its entire design, and all its laws; write it all down in their sight, so that they may observe its entire design and all its statutes and do them. 12 This is the law of the temple: The entire area on top of the mountain all around will be most holy. Indeed, this is the law of the temple.“ Compare Biblical Concept: God, Holy.
44:1-9, “1Then he brought me back by way of the outer gate of the sanctuary which faces east, but it was shut. 2 The Lord said to me: “This gate
will be shut; it will not be opened, and no one will enter by it. For the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered by it; therefore it will remain shut. 3 Only the prince may sit in it to eat a sacrificial meal before the Lord; he will enter by way of the porch of the gate and will go out by the same way.” 4 Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple. As I watched, I noticed the glory of the Lord filling the Lord’s temple, and I threw myself face down. 5 The Lord said to me: “Son of man, pay attention, watch closely and listen carefully to everything I tell you concerning all the statutes of the Lord’s house and all its laws. Pay attention to the entrances to the temple with all the exits of the sanctuary. 6 Say to the rebellious, to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Enough of all your abominable practices, O house of Israel! 7 When you bring foreigners, those uncircumcised in heart and in flesh, into my sanctuary, you desecrate it – even my house – when you offer my food, the fat and the blood. You have broken my covenant by all your abominable practices. 8 You have not kept charge of my holy things, but you have assigned foreigners to keep charge of my sanctuary for you. 9 This is what the sovereign Lord says: No foreigner, who is uncircumcised in heart and flesh among all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, will enter into my sanctuary.
44:15-19, “‘15But the Levitical priests, the descendants of Zadok who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the people of Israel went astray from
me, will approach me to minister to me; they will stand before me to offer me the fat and the blood, declares the sovereign Lord. 16 They will enter my sanctuary, and approach my table to minister to me; they will keep my charge. 17 “‘When they enter the gates of the inner court, they must wear linen garments; they must not have any wool on them when they minister in the inner gates of the court and in the temple. 18 Linen turbans will be on their heads and linen undergarments will be around their waists; they must not bind themselves with anything that causes sweat. 19 When they go out to the outer court to the people, they must remove the garments they were ministering in, and place them in the holy chambers; they must put on other garments so that they will not transmit holiness to the people with their garments.
44:23 Moreover, they will teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the
ceremonially unclean and the clean.
45:1-5, 1“‘When you allot the land as an inheritance, you will offer an allotment to the Lord, a holy portion from the land; the length will be eight
and a quarter miles and the width three and one-third miles. This entire area will be holy. 2 Of this area a square 875 feet by 875 feet will
designated for the sanctuary, with 87½ feet set aside for its open space round about. 3 From this measured area you will measure a
length of eight and a quarter miles and a width of three and one-third miles; in it will be the sanctuary, the most holy place. 4 It will be a
holy portion of the land; it will be for the priests, the ministers of the sanctuary who approach the Lord to minister to him. It will be a place
for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary. 5 An area eight and a quarter miles in length and three and one-third miles in width will
be for the Levites, who minister at the temple, as the place for the cities in which they will live.
46:19-20, 19‘Then he brought me through the entrance, which was at the side of the gate, into the holy chambers for the priests which faced north.
There I saw a place at the extreme western end. 20 He said to me, “This is the place where the priests will boil the guilt offering and the sin offering, and where they will bake the grain offering, so that they do not bring them out to the outer court to transmit holiness to the people.”’
48:35b, “The name of the city from that day forward will be: ‘The Lord Is There.’”
The Millennial Rule of The Lord Jesus Christ will occur in a perfect earthly environment, with fallen angels bound, and the Lord Himself in the Temple on His throne. After 1000 years of God’s rule on earth, unbelievers will be quickly gathered toward Jerusalem, by a loosed Satan, and desire to destroy Jerusalem. God will destroy them all and the Angelic Conflict will be resolved.