Ezekiel 1 Handout

Ezekiel – Visions of Glory Administrivia - Resources Regular Baptist Press – Ezekiel Visions of Glory (ABF Quarterly) The Prophecy of Ezekiel – Charles Lee Feinberg Additional resources available at www.4bya.info - search box “Ezekiel” I hope to post an outline weekly at the above website by Saturday before the lesson Instructor will use NKJV in class. Personal study in other translations (ESV, NASB, KJV) would be beneficial Study Bible introductory articles are profitable! Lesson plan with suggested reading schedule:

Ezekiel - Visions of Glory Lesson Date 1 12/6/2009 2 12/13/2009 3 12/20/2009 4 12/27/2009 5 1/3/2010 6 1/10/2010 7 1/17/2010 8 1/24/2010 9 1/31/2010 10 2/7/2010 11 2/14/2010 12 2/21/2010 13 2/28/2010

Lesson Title Introduction and Overview All the Equipment You'll Need Living Epistles Truth and Consequences Enough is Enough Six Sour Grapes The Loser's Share Who's behind the Sins of the Nations? A Lesson Learned Twice Turn Towards Life! Reassurance and Restoration The Biggest Mistake God Could Make Home Again!

Outline: (Additional outlines are available at www.4bya.info ) I. II. III. IV. V.

Inaugural Vision (1:1–3:27) Judgment on Jerusalem and Judah (4:1–24:27) Prophesies against the nations (25:1–32:32) Prophesies of Israel’s blessings (33:1–39:29) The Millennial Temple and Sacrifices (40:1–48:35)

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Reading Schedule N/A Chapters 1-3 Chapters 4-7 Chapters 8-11 Chapters 12-14 Chapters 16-19 Chapters 20-24 Chapters 25-28 Chapters 29-32 Chapter 33 Chapters 34-37 Chapters 38-39 Chapters 40-48

Ezekiel – Visions of Glory Historical Background: 1) 931 BC: Following Solomon’s death, nation of Israel divided into 2 nations: 2) 701 BC: Sennacherib (2 Kings 18 & 19; 2 Chron )32: 3) 612 BC: Babylonians destroyed Nineveh and the Assyrian empire a) 2 Chron 35 b) 2 Kings 23 4) 605 BC: Nebuchadnezzer: (2 Kings 24) 5) 586 BC: 3rd Invasion (2 Kings 25) 6) Jews in Babylon for 70 years (Jeremiah 29 and Ezra 2) 7) 539 BC: Medo Persians conquered Babylon 8) King Cyrus (Ezra 1:1-4): The Prophet 1) 2) 3) 4)

Ezekiel's name (Hb. Yekhezqe’l) means “God strengthens” or “May God strengthen” Ezekiel lived out his prophetic career among the community of exiled Judeans in Babylon. Taken captive with King Jehoiachin (1:2 & 33:21) Personal life: a) Married and had his own home (8:1 & 24:18) b) Elders of Israel visited to consult with him c) His wife died during his ministry … forbidden by God to mourn (24:16-18) d) Began his ministry at 30 years of age (1:1) and prophesied for approx 20 years i) The ages of thirty and fifty mark the span of the active service of the priests (Numbers 4) ii) Contemporary of Jeremiah e) Events of Ezekiel’s life intended to be a sign to Israel (24:24, “Thus Ezekiel is a sign to you; according to all that he has done you shall do; and when this comes, you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.”) i) Shut in home, bound himself, and was smitten dumb (3:24-26) ii) Charged to lie on right side and then the left for 430 days (4:4-8) iii) Ate bread prepared in an unclean manner (4:12) iv) Had to shave his head and beard (5:1) v) Not permitted to mourn loss of his wife (24:15-24) vi) Lost his speech (24:27) vii) Like the Apostle John (island of Patmos), lived in a place of isolation and oppression! f) Life and Times (Captivity and Confusion) i) His contemporaries: One of the three captivity prophets (Daniel and Jeremiah) ii) God raised up exilic prophets to bring God's message to his people. The time of Judah's exile was therefore a period of intense prophetic activity.

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Ezekiel – Visions of Glory Message of the Prophet 1) 2) 3) 4)

God’s sovereign divine government over the universe! Judgment on Jerusalem Judgment on Judah’s enemies Future glory and blessing on Jerusalem and the nation of Israel

Style of the Book 1) 2) 3) 4) 5)

Greater use of symbol and allegory than any other OT prophet As a priest, qualified to provide descriptions of chapters 1, 10 and 40-48 Use of symbolic acts (street theater) (eg. Ezekiel 4 - The Siege of Jerusalem Portrayed) Visions (eg 1:1, “the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God”) Style formulas: a) “the word of the LORD came to me” b) “the hand of the LORD” c) “Then you shall know that I am the Lord GOD”

Date: The first date of the book takes the reader to the summer of 593 b.c., five years after the first group of exiles was deported to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar. The latest-dated oracle comes 22 years after that summer, in April of 571 b.c. Influence 1) Influences : “the NT book of Revelation—finds its headwaters in Ezekiel's prophecy” (ESV study Bible) 2) Also seen in: a) Good shepherd: (34:11–31, “You are My flock, the flock of My pasture; you are men, and I am your God” / cf John 10 (I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep)) b) “healing water” (47:1–14, “Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and there was water, flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the front of the temple faced east; the water was flowing from under the right side of the temple, south of the altar.”; cf. Rev. 22:1–2, “And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb”; cf. John 4:14, “but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”; Cf John 7:38, “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water”). c) New city: Ezekiel 40:1-3 cf Rev. 21:1–22:5). d) Resurrection: the valley of dry bones (see Ezek. 37:12–13).

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