Bible Commentaries
Ezekiel 33

Verses 1-29

XVIII

PROPHECIES OF THE RESTORATION

Ezekiel 33-39

The subject of this chapter is Ezekiel’s prophecies of the restoration of Israel. Jeremiah (Jeremiah 30-33) gave a similar group of prophecies, and in the book of Isaiah (40-66) we find this same theme: The restoration of Israel and its future glory. Here Ezekiel discusses the same theme.

We saw in the last chapter that Ezekiel had, in a prophetic way, disposed of the foreign nations, the enemies of Israel, having predicted the entire overthrow of all those who had been the means of Israel’s downfall with the exception of Babylon. He gave no direct prophecy of the downfall of Babylon, only an indirect one prophesying her rule over Egypt for about forty years, which implied that he believed that Babylon would fall at the end of that period. Thus it may be seen that these chapters on the restoration of Israel are in their logical place in his prophecies. He had predicted the fall of Jerusalem, the capital, and the scattering of the people among all the nations. Then he predicted the fall of all the nations that were her enemies, and having finished with them, the way was made clear for his predictions regarding the future of Israel. He devotes these seven chapters to the blessed age, the messianic age, which follows the return of Israel from her exile in these foreign lands.

The great function of the prophet is here set forth. He is to be a watchman (Ezekiel 33:1-20). The figure, of course, is an Oriental one. It was the custom in those lands to build a watchtower on the border of their territories, or at the approaches to their cities, or near their great centers, and appoint a man to stand upon the watchtower and when he saw an army coming he was to blow his trumpet and warn the people. There were many throughout Israel and all Oriental lands. The prophet transfers the figure to spiritual functions as regards the people of Israel.

The duty and responsibility of the watchman are set forth in Ezekiel 33:1-6, which are easy to comprehend and which need not be commented upon except that the watchman has the responsibility for the lives of those over whom he watches. If he sees the foe coming and warns, his duty is done. If he sees the foe coming and does not warn and any of the inhabitants lose their lives, their blood shall be required at his hands because he had failed in his duty. He shall suffer as a result of that failure.

This duty and responsibility were impressed upon Ezekiel thus: The Lord speaks unto Ezekiel and says, "So thou, son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel. .... When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shall surely die, and thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way; that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thy hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, and he turn not from his way; he shall die in his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul."

A glance at the situation will explain this more clearly. Ezekiel in Ezekiel 18, prophesied and brought before the people that great doctrine of individual responsibility and liberty. He exploded the old theory that a man is the slave of his environment and must necessarily suffer for the sins of his fathers. It is not necessary that he should perish because of the sins of his fathers. Ezekiel brought before them the great doctrine that Jehovah does not will the death of any man; that Jehovah has given to all men the privilege and possibility of repenting and if they repent and turn, the penalties of their past sins or their father’s sins are forever abrogated and they are free from them. The doctrine of individualism is there set before us, and this chapter is an application of that principle.

Ezekiel now realizes that, since his nation is destroyed, their capital in ruins, the center of religious worship is gone, that his duty is to speak to individuals; that now it is with individual Israelites. His duty is to warn them of their own sins and the dangers that are consequent upon their sins. He is not to speak to the nation in the mass any more, but he is to deal with individuals and put each individual upon his own personal responsibility and relationship to God. He can thereby prepare the people to return to the land and begin anew the nation God has purposed they should become.

The condition of the minds of the people is that of despondency, making the prophet’s appeal of no effect. Ezekiel 33:10-20, especially in Ezekiel 33:10, we have the condition of their minds set forth: "Thus ye speak, saying, Our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we pine away in them; how then can we live?" This indicates at once that the people were in a state of despair. They had no hope; they believed that their doom was inevitable; that it was useless for them to think of enjoying fellowship with God and life any more. To counteract that complaint and that condition of mind, Ezekiel brings before them four great principles which are found in the remainder of this section, and I will embody the substance of these verses in these four statements:

1. That Jehovah desires that men shall live.

2. That man is not irrevocably bound by the past, but may repent.

3. That men are to come to God individually and thus come into the new Israel.

4. That men are judged more by what they are than by what they have been.

Let us now discuss the theme, occasion, and date of the prophecy of Ezekiel in Ezekiel 33:21-33. On hearing of the fall of Jerusalem, Ezekiel announces the conditions of return. These conditions are moral and religious. In Ezekiel 33:21 we have the date of this prophecy: the twelfth year, that is one year after the fall of Jerusalem, tenth month and fifth day of the month, almost eighteen months after the fall. He says, "One that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city is smitten." Some find a chronological difficulty here. Some of the ancient versions say it was in the eleventh year and tenth month, which means that Ezekiel heard of the fall of Jerusalem six months after that event occurred. According to this account of Ezekiel it was a year and six months. It seems to them almost incredible that it would require eighteen months for the news of that great event to reach the prophet and much more likely, he received the news at the end of six months, that being ample time for the caravans to reach Babylon and the news to spread. But it is better to take it as it stands, allowing for probable delays on the part of this messenger in getting to Babylon.

Now, after he received news that the city was smitten, he had a word to say to the people that remained in Palestine; that remnant spoken of in Jeremiah (40-44), Ezekiel addresses in Ezekiel 33:23-29. Note verse Ezekiel 33:24: "Son of man, they that inhabit those wastes of the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance," which seems to refer to the miserable remnant that was left at Mizpah, Bethlehem, and various other places. They say, "Abraham was one, only one, and he inherited the land, but we are many and the land is given us for an inheritance." Their idea is that since to Israel was given this land, and they were the nucleus of Israel, and since Abraham being only one, developed into such a large nation, they who are many have as many more chances of developing into a great nation, and therefore they remain in Palestine believing that they will become a great nation and possess the land for all the future. The people who said that were still practicing their idolatry. Ezekiel says, "Thus saith the Lord God: As I live, surely they that are in the waste places shall fall by the sword; and him that is in the open field will I give to the beasts to be devoured; and they that are in the strongholds and in the caves shall die of the pestilence."

In Ezekiel 33:30-33, we have the effect of Ezekiel’s prophecies upon the people with whom he dwelt, there by the river Chebar in Babylon. Here is a passage of great comfort to a preacher sometimes. Ezekiel has now become popular and he is drawing fine congregations; the people are flocking to hear him, and they say, verse Ezekiel 33:30: "And as for thee, son of man, the children of thy people talk of thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the Lord." And he goes on to say how they came and heard the words but did them not, for with their mouth they show much love but their heart goeth after their gain. They have a great many good things to say to their preacher but their hearts go after their gain. "And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument; for they hear thy words, but they do them not." "Fine sermon, very lovely song, prayed splendidly," they say but they never think of heeding what the preacher says.

The evil shepherds are described (Ezekiel 34:1-10). They feed themselves, not the flock. Jeremiah had something to say regarding those evil shepherds. Ezekiel has a strong denunciation of them in these ten verses. These shepherds feed themselves and care for themselves, but care nothing for the sheep, and the sheep wander through the forests and the deserts and upon every high hill and are scattered among all the nations of the earth and there are none that seek after them to bring them back. As a result the shepherds are denounced verse Ezekiel 34:10: "Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my sheep at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the sheep; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; and I will deliver my sheep from their mouth, that they may not be food for them."

But Jehovah takes care of his sheep after disposing of the evil shepherds. Jehovah will undertake the care of the flock in the restoration period (Ezekiel 34:11-19). Notice particularly verse Ezekiel 34:11: "Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out." Latter part of verse Ezekiel 34:12: "So I will seek out my sheep; and I will deliver them out of all places whither they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day." Verse Ezekiel 34:15: "I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God." Jehovah says that he will be the shepherd. He makes no reference here to a messianic Saviour, the Christ, or King that is to come. He himself is going to do it. And then in Ezekiel 34:17-22, Jehovah says that he is going to separate and distinguish between different parts of the flock.

Verse Ezekiel 34:17: "I judge between sheep and sheep, the rams and the he-goats." He is going to see that the leaders among the people of Israel are not like cattle that go down to the stream and drink and muddy the water, thus making it unfit for the others to drink. Jehovah is going to distinguish between them and see that they are in their proper places. Then from Ezekiel 34:23-31 it says that Jehovah will raise up David as Shepherd and there shall be great prosperity. He said before, "I will be the Shepherd," but now he says, "I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd." This is messianic and refers to the work of Christ. In the latter part of Ezekiel 34:26, he describes the prosperity that shall come: "There shall be showers of blessing." Here is where the words of the song, "There Shall Be Showers of Blessing," came from. The prophet continues the magnificent description of the prosperity of the country and how all shall flourish under the rule and care of this great Shepherd, David, not David himself in person, but a member of his dynasty and of his family, who is Christ, our Lord.

There is a prophecy against Edom in Ezekiel 35. The substance of this chapter is this: Mount Seir, or Edom, had sinned against Judah and Jerusalem at the time of her calamity (Ezekiel 35:5). He charges Edom with two sins: (1) "Thou hast had a perpetual enmity"; (2) "Thou hast given over the children of Israel to the power of the sword in the time of their calamity." When Edom, or Mount Seir, found Israel down, they trampled on her as hard as they could. Ezekiel 35:10 mentions a third sin, and that is (3) "Thou hast said, These two nations and these two countries (northern and southern Israel) shall be mine, and we will possess it." The point is this: When Israel was deported to Babylon and the country left desolate, the Edomites came from the south and took possession of all the land of Judah they possibly could and began to inhabit and make it their possession. Because of that the prophet’s denunciation is buried against them, prophesying the downfall of their capital and their country. It was necessary for the prophet to do this. They were encroaching upon Israel, and they must be driven forth from the land to make way for Israel.

Then there is a prophecy concerning the land of Israel in Ezekiel 36:1-15. This is the counterpart, or the other side, of the prophecy (6) where he denounced the mountains of Israel because they were the high places of worship and predicted their desolation and overthrow. In the future age, the mountains of Israel shall be delivered out of the hand of the enemies, and they shall become abundantly fruitful. Notice, especially, verse Ezekiel 36:8: "But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people Israel; for they are at hand to come," i.e., "Ye shall till and sow and I will multiply men upon you; all the house of Israel, and the cities shall be inhabited and the waste places shall be builded." Then he says, "And I will multiply upon you man and beast," carrying forward his glowing description of the prosperity and fruitfulness of the land.

In Ezekiel 36:16-23 the prophet says that Jehovah will do this thing for his name’s sake and in honor of his own holy name: "Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God: I do not this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for my holy name which ye have profaned among the nations whither ye went."

In Ezekiel 36:24-38, we have the restoration and regeneration of Israel. Here we come to the New Testament ground, in the gospel dispensation. This is Ezekiel’s deepest, sweetest, and best prophecy. This passage calls to mind a notable challenge of Alexander Campbell, substantially in these words: "The whole world is challenged to produce even one passage in any part of God’s Word, from Genesis to Revelation, proving that God ever commanded prophet, priest, preacher, or layman to sprinkle or pour water – just water – pure water, on man, beast, or thing as a moral ceremonial or religious rite." In response to the challenge the one passage cited was this scripture, Ezekiel 36:25. Of course it was easy for Mr. Campbell to show the irrelevancy of this passage. It does not meet the requirements of the challenge because:

(1) It is not a command of God to any man to do any sprinkling whatever, but an express declaration of some kind of sprinkling that God himself will do.

(2) The clean water of the text was not even in its type just water, but was a compound called the water of purification whose recipe is found in Numbers 19:1-10. This was a liquid compound of ashes and water. A red heifer was burned. Into the burning was cast cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet cloth. The ashes of this burning were gathered up and mingled with water and this mixture was called the water of cleansing, or of purification.

(3) The typical efficacy of this mixture was in the ashes of the red things burned: the red heifer, the red cedar wood, red hyssop, and scarlet cloth; red signified blood. The antitype is the blood of Christ, Hebrews 9:13-14: "For if the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on the unclean sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"

(4) The whole passage in Ezekiel 36:21-38 refers to those last gospel days when the Jews, long disobedient, blinded, and scattered, will be gathered and saved, as set forth by Paul (Romans 11:25-36). This salvation will be of grace (Ezekiel 36:22). It will be by regeneration (Ezekiel 36:25-26). This regeneration will produce a spirit of obedience (Ezekiel 36:27). This regeneration consists of at least two parts, cleansing and renewal. The cleansing (Ezekiel 36:25) is effected by the application of Christ’s blood typified by the water of purification, the antitype of which is the blood of Christ (Hebrews 9:13-14; 1 John 1:7). The renewal (Ezekiel 36:26) is the change of man’s nature. Both of these ideas appear in John 3:5: "Except one be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." This is one birth. It is the Spirit birth. The water signifies cleansing; the Spirit, renewal. The same ideas appear in Titus 3:5: "The washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, which he poured out upon us richly, through Jesus Christ our Lord." In none of these passages is there the slightest reference to baptism.

Now let us consider the vision of dry bones (Ezekiel 37:1-14) and its interpretation. What are these dry bones? Is this a literal resurrection from the dead, or is this a conversion, a spiritual resurrection? It is not either. Ezekiel 37:11 gives the clue to the interpretation. These bones are the house of Israel. What makes them so dry? "Behold, they say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off." They have no hope whatever as to the resurrection, or renewal of their national existence. They were saying, "We are scattered among all the nations. Our city and our capital is gone and there is no hope for our nation and our people any more." Nationally or religiously, they were as dry bones which had no hope of a resurrection. Now there is no distinct reference to any resurrection of the body, nor of any spiritual regeneration. It is national.

The prophet was required to preach to them. He preached and the bones began to come together and he kept on preaching and flesh came upon them, and by and by they stood up. The whole house of Israel raised to a new national life and existence! Then he kept on preaching and the result was as we see in verse Ezekiel 37:14: "I will put my spirit within you and ye shall live and I shall place you in your own land and ye shall know that I am Jehovah." That was fulfilled to some extent in the return of the 50,000 after the decree of Cyrus, but it was never completely fulfilled. An army of about 50,000 whose spirit Jehovah stirred up, returned at first, and that stirring up was the result of the preaching of Ezekiel and Jeremiah and the study of the latter part of the book of Isaiah. The figure of the resurrection is used in Ezekiel 37:12, thus: "I will open your graves and cause you to come out of your graves," but the graves are national graves, not literal. This is referred to by Paul (Romans 11:15) as a resurrection and contemplates the final gathering of the Jews before the millennium.

The union of Judah and Israel is symbolized in Ezekiel 37:15-28: "Take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim." These two sticks he joined together. This is a symbolic action similar to many other actions of Ezekiel which we have already considered. The meaning of it is this: "Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his companions; and I will put them with it, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in my hand." Jeremiah prophesied the same thing; so did Isaiah in substance; so did Hosea; so did Amos, Micah, and Zephaniah.

It was the belief of all the prophets that when Israel returned from exile it would be one nation, a united nation. Ezekiel goes on, "I will make them one nation in the land, upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be to them all; and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all." In Ezekiel 37:24 the king is called "David my servant," that is, one of his descendants; a member of his dynasty shall be king over them and they shall have one shepherd. Then he says, "I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them." Verse Ezekiel 37:27: "My tabernacle also shall be with them; and they shall be my people," all of which has its fulfilment in the millennial age. This reminds us of Revelation 21:3.

An account of the invasion of Gog and Magog is found in Ezekiel 38-39. This is the picture of the last and final struggle of all the nations with God. We find that John refers to the same struggle in Revelation 20:7-9: "When the thousand years are finished, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall come forth to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up over the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down out of heaven and devoured them." Ezekiel says, Ezekiel 38:2: "Son of man, set thy face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him," nations lying probably away to the north of Israel on the borders of the Caspian and Black Seas representing the great barbarian hordes that infested central Asia and northern Armenia on the very outskirts of the then known world. "I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed and in full armor, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them handling swords."

What does this mean? Ezekiel is picturing the millennial age, the messianic age, and away in the future after the glorious age has been in progress, for how long we cannot tell, he sees this vision of the final struggle. Israel has been enjoying the blessedness of that age for centuries and the nations around her have been destroyed. The nations lying far off on the outskirts of the world now rouse themselves for a final onslaught on God’s kingdom. "And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates." Thus the people are unprotected; they are living in the messianic age when all is peace and harmony. "I will go to them that are at rest." What for? "To take the spoil and to take the prey." This is the final conflict of the barbarian nations of the world with their vast hosts, against the messianic kingdom.

What is to be the result? We find in Ezekiel 38:17-23, Ezekiel says the prophets have for a long time been prophesying of this very thing, though we do not have any distinct reference to the prophecy. As Gog, with his hosts, encompasses the whole land of Israel and surrounds the city, then Ezekiel says in the latter part of Ezekiel 38:18, "My wrath shall come up into my nostrils . . . I will rain upon him, and upon his hordes, and upon the many peoples that are with him, an overflowing shower, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone." That is to be the end of Gog and his innumerable hordes.

Then we have this statement, Ezekiel 39:4: "Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy hordes and the peoples that are with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured." And in Ezekiel 39:9, he says, "And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall make fires of the weapons and burn them, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall make fires of them seven years." Ezekiel 39:12 says that the people of Israel are going to bury all those that fall and they are to be seven months burying the dead, and are to have a rule that when any person finds a bone he is to set up a mark by it until the body has been buried outside in the valley. Then we have the feast of all the birds of the air and the beasts of the field upon the slain. The chapter closes with a description of Israel’s restoration (Ezekiel 39:28-29). The best commentary on the destruction of Gog is found in that short passage, in Revelation 20, where John pictures Satan as raising an insurrection among all the nations of the world at the close of the millennium. Ezekiel pictures it as taking place a long while after the restoration and the blessed messianic age. (See the author’s discussion of this subject in his book on Revelation.)

QUESTIONS

1. What is the theme of this section and where do we find the same subject discussed in Jeremiah and Isaiah?

2. Show the logical order of these prophecies.

3. What is the great function of the prophet and how is it here set forth?

4. What is the duty and responsibility of the watchman?

5. How was this duty and responsibility impressed upon Ezekiel?

6. What is the condition of the minds of the people and how does the prophet meet it?

7. What is the theme, occasion, and date of the prophecy of Ezekiel in Ezekiel 33:21-33, and what is the chronological difficulty here and its solution?

8. Whom does the prophet address in Ezekiel 33:23-29, what the occasion of this address and what the prophet’s message to them?

9. What is the effect of Ezekiel’s preaching on the people in exile (Ezekiel 33:30-33)?

10. How are the evil shepherds described in Ezekiel 34:1-10, what the prophet’s denunciation of them and how does Jehovah take care of his sheep?

11. What is the prophecy against Edom in Ezekiel 35 and why?

12. What is the prophecy concerning the land of Israel in Ezekiel 36:1-15?

13. What is the motive of Jehovah in doing all this (Ezekiel 38:16-23)?

14. Expound Ezekiel 36:24-38, showing the controversy about it, and its true interpretation in the light of the New Testament.

15. What the vision of dry bones (Ezekiel 37:1-14) and what its interpretation?

16. How is the union of Judah and Israel symbolized and what the glorious picture that follows (Ezekiel 37:15-28)?

17. Give an account of the invasion of Gog and Magog and the result (Ezekiel 38-39). Discuss fully.