The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The LORD has forsaken the earth, and the LORD sees not.
(Today’s revelation is a culmination point, only understood if you’ve read along and acquired the knowledge needed to see the LORD and hear Him speaking.)
The title verse is from Ezekiel 9:9, a chapter which was discussed in the prior post. It begins with the LORD, through the son of man, Ezekiel, as the writer and one of the prophets, his name meaning the strength of God (returning), speaking to Judah. The time is when Judah had become fully immersed in idolatry, and Jerusalem is under almost constant foreign attack. He is speaking a final warning to the house of Judah, calling them to understand the evil (ra’) that is the underlying cause of their troubles, which is partially described in the title verse. As we saw in the prior post, the men he is warning are totally ignorant that it is the LORD speaking, warning them through Ezekiel.
This takes us to the prior chapter, wherein we are told of Ezekiel receiving his understanding, through the means of the wheel within the wheel, which he has earlier described. As we have discussed in previous posts, Ezekiel description of the wheel within a wheel is speaking of a time within a time, the written record given by an earlier inspired writer and passed on into the future. There it is read, and the pattern is understood. In understanding, the providential hand of God is seen at work, His voice and His presence are understood as what is ultimately revealed to those who believe the report and receive it as the mark in their forehead. Those who reject it are the ignorant and blind spoken of in the title verse, which is a repetition of the pattern Ezekiel sees and identically describes in Ezekiel 8:12.
Here is what Ezekiel sees and describes in Chapter 8. He is seeing the house of Israel’s ending, from the perspective of after it has happened, which is coincidentally approximately 1290 years after the birth of Isaac, and into Abram’s deep sleep. We have, in several previous discussions, seen the pertinence of these this time, and times, and the associated events.
Ezekiel was almost certainly reading Isaiah, Hosea, Micah, and Nahum; all writing during Israel’s downfall and carrying into captivity (see 2 Kings 18:10 & 11). Abraham’s sleep began in 1897 BC, Isaac was born in 1896 BC, and Israel falls in 611 BC. Hosea’s writing ends with the fall of Israel in 611 BC, the others see the end, and Isaiah seemingly writing of it in Isaiah 34, in the context of confusion and emptiness. Isaiah 36:1 gives us its time as the fourteenth year of Hezekiah, which makes it 603 BC. (Coincidentally – 1290 years after Isaac’s birth and Abram’s sleep would fall during the time between the fall of Israel and the invasion of Judah by Sennacherib king of Assyria. See 2 Kings 18:13)
We can speculate that Isaiah’s writing is what warned and caused Hezekiah’s repentance, for which he and Judah were given additional time, before the eventual fall (477 BC) of Judah and Jerusalem, after they reject the warnings of Ezekiel.
Ezekiel 8
1 And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the LORD God fell there upon me.
2 Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the color of amber.
3 And he put forth the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looks toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy.
4 And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain.
5 Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up your eyes now the way toward the north [toward Israel and her capital Samaria]. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy [the calves set in God’s place] in the entry.
6 He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, see you what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel commits here [the calves then replaced with Baal], that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn you yet again, and you shalt see greater abominations.
7 And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall.
8 Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door.
9 And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here.
10 So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed upon the wall round about.
11 And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah [those who Jehovah hears] the son of Shaphan [who think they’re hidden from the LORD], with every man his censer in his hand [the strange fire]; and a thick cloud of incense went up [and the LORD saw every bit of their wickedness].
12 Then said he unto me, Son of man, have you seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark [in blind ignorance], every man in the chambers of his imagery [every man with his own ideas]? for they say, the LORD sees us not; the LORD has forsaken the earth. [later quoted in warning Judah, in chapter 9]
13 He said also unto me, Turn you yet again, and you shalt see greater abominations that they do.
14 Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD’s house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz [longing to join the dead].
15 Then said he unto me, Have you seen this, O son of man? turn you yet again, and you shalt see greater abominations than these.
16 And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD’s house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east. [See Jonah 2:4 & 7 – they look to the advice of strange gods of the east – Babylon]
17 Then he said unto me, Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah [seeing what has happened to Israel] that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose.
18 Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shalt not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.
In verse 4 above, Ezekiel says the vison is as he saw in the plain, where he also saw the glory of the LORD. This is the plain he speaks of in Ezekiel 3:22 & 23, where he saw the glory by the river Chebar, and when Spirit of God entered into him and spoke to him. Earlier in the chapter, the son of man, Ezekiel, is told to eat the roll (the volume of the book) he finds. We know from our discussions, the river Chebar is the river that carries God’s word through eternity, and here we are shown it is the written word of God. After Ezekiel eats, reads and is given understand by the LORD’s Spirit in him, he is then sent to speak the word of God to His people.
Ezekiel 3
1 Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that you find; eat this roll, and
go speak unto the house of Israel.
2 So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll.
3 And he said unto me, Son of man, cause your belly to eat, and fill your
bowels with this roll that I give you. Then did I eat it; and it was in my
mouth as honey for sweetness.
4 And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get you unto the house of Israel, and
speak with my words unto them.
5 For you are not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language,
but to the house of Israel;
6 Not to many people of a strange speech and of an hard language, whose words
you canst not understand. Surely, had I sent you to them, they would have
hearkened unto you.
7 But the house of Israel will not hearken unto you; for they will not hearken
unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted.
8 Behold, I have made your face strong against their faces, and your forehead
strong against their foreheads.
9 As an adamant harder than flint have I made your forehead: fear them not,
neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.
10 Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shalt speak unto
you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears.
11 And go, get you to them of the captivity, unto the children of your people,
and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus says the LORD God; whether they will
hear, or whether they will forbear.
12 Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great
rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the LORD from his place.
13 I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one
another, and the noise of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great
rushing.
14 So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in
the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me.
15 Then I came to them of the captivity at Telabib [where the people were
rising in the new birth], that dwelt by the river of Chebar [by the word of
God], and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven
days.
16 And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of the LORD came
unto me, saying,
17 Son of man, I have made you a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore
hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.
18 When I said unto the wicked, You shalt surely die; and you give him not
warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way [which is the warning
spoken of above], to save his life; the same wicked man shalt die in his
iniquity; but his blood will I require at your hand.
19 Yet if you warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from
his wicked way, he shalt die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.
20 Again, When a righteous man does turn from his righteousness, and commit
iniquity, and I lay a stumbling-block before him, he shalt die: because you
have not given him warning, he shalt die in his sin, and his righteousness
which he has done shalt not be remembered; but his blood will I require at your
hand.
21 Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and
he does not sin, he shalt surely live, because he is warned; also you have
delivered your soul.
22 And the hand of the LORD was there upon me; and he said unto me, Arise, go
forth into the plain, and I will there talk with you.
23 Then I arose, and went forth into the plain: and, behold, the glory of the
LORD stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river of Chebar: and I fell
on my face.
24 Then the spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet, and spoke with me,
and said unto me, Go, shut yourself within your house.
25 But you, O son of man, behold, they shalt put bands upon you, and shalt bind
you with them, and you shalt not go out among them:
26 And I will make your tongue cleave to the roof of your mouth, that you shalt
be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover: for they are a rebellious house.
27 But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shalt say unto
them, Thus says the LORD God; He that hears, let him hear; and he that
forbears, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house.
As we have seen, these men who willingly sacrifice themselves to speak God’s word, to give warning by an accurate assessment of the fallen condition and to correct into right standing, are representations of the sacrifice the LORD desires of us – of which Christ is our perfect example.
Hebrews 1
1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in time past unto the
fathers by the prophets,
2 Has in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir
of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person,
and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself
purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:
4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he has by inheritance obtained
a more excellent name than they.
5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, You are my Son, this day
have I begotten you? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shalt be to
me a Son?
6 And again, when he brings in the first-begotten into the world, he says, And
let all the angels of God worship him.
7 And of the angels he says, Who makes his angels spirits, and his ministers a
flame of fire.
8 But unto the Son he says, Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a scepter
of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom.
9 You have loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even your
God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.
10 And, You, LORD, in the beginning have laid the foundation of the earth; and
the heavens are the works of your hands:
11 They shalt perish; but you remains; and they all shalt wax old as does a
garment;
12 And as a vesture shalt you fold them up, and they shalt be changed: but you
are the same, and your years shalt not fail.
13 But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until
I make your enemies your footstool?
14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who
shalt be heirs of salvation?
John 1
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was
made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shined in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men
through him might believe.
8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
9 That was the true Light, which lights every man that comes into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him
not.
11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will
of man, but of God.
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spoke, He
that comes after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.
16 And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.
17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
18 No man has seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the
bosom of the Father, he has declared him.
Hebrews 10
1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of
the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year
continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the
worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.
3 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away
sins.
5 Wherefore when he comes into the world, he says, Sacrifice and offering you
would not, but a body have you prepared me:
6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you have had no pleasure.
7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to
do your will, O God.
8 Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering
for sin you would not, neither had pleasure therein; which are offered by the
law;
9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do your will, O God. He taketh away the first,
that he may establish the second.
10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of
Jesus Christ once for all.
11 And every priest stands daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same
sacrifices, which can never take away sins:
12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down
on the right hand of God;
13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.
14 For by one offering he has perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
15 Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said
before,
16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the
LORD, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write
them;
17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.
19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood
of Jesus,
20 By a new and living way, which he has consecrated for us, through the veil,
that is to say, his flesh;
21 And having a high priest over the house of God;
22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our
hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure
water.
23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is
faithful that promised;)
24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some
is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as you see the day
approaching.
26 For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the
truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins,
27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which
shalt devour the adversaries.
28 He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:
29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose you, shalt he be thought worthy, who
has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant,
wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and has done despite unto the
Spirit of grace?
30 For we know him that has said, Vengeance belongs unto me, I will recompense,
says the LORD. And again, The LORD shalt judge his people.
31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
32 But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after you were
illuminated, you endured a great fight of afflictions;
33 Partly, whilst you were made a gazing-stock both by reproaches and
afflictions; and partly, whilst you became companions of them that were so
used.
34 For you had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of
your goods, knowing in yourselves that you have in heaven a better and an
enduring substance.
35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which has great recompense of
reward.
36 For you have need of patience, that, after you have done the will of God,
you might receive the promise.
37 For yet a little while, and he that shalt come will come, and will not
tarry.
38 Now the just shalt live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shalt
have no pleasure in him.
39 But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that
believe to the saving of the soul.
Psalms 40
1 I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
2 He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my
feet upon a rock, and established my goings.
3 And he has put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shalt
see it, and fear, and shalt trust in the LORD.
4 Blessed is that man that makes the LORD his trust, and respects not the
proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
5 Many, O LORD my God, are your wonderful works which you have done, and your
thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto you: if
I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.
6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire; mine ears have you opened: burnt
offering and sin offering have you not required.
7 Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,
8 I delight to do your will, O my God: yea, your law is within my heart.
9 I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not
refrained my lips, O LORD, you know.
10 I have not hid your righteousness within my heart; I have declared your
faithfulness and your salvation: I have not concealed your loving-kindness and
your truth from the great congregation.
11 Withhold not you your tender mercies from me, O LORD: let your loving-kindness
and your truth continually preserve me.
12 For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken
hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of
mine head: therefore my heart fails me.
13 Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me: O LORD, make haste to help me.
14 Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to
destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil.
15 Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame that say unto me, Aha, aha.
16 Let all those that seek you rejoice and be glad in you: let such as love
your salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified.
17 But I am poor and needy; yet the LORD thinks upon me: you are my help and my
deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.
