The Tribulation and The Millennium
- The Prophets Just Can't Stop Talking About These Two Events
When you read the prophets,
you will notice that whatever else they are talking about, they
always seem to return to the idea that at some future time, the
people of Israel will be subjected to great tribulation, and will
be rescued from this trouble by a Messiah. Many of them will die
in this tribulation, which will culminate in a battle (sometimes
referred to as Armageddon) and the salvation of the city of Jerusalem.
The messiah will then usher in an age of prosperity for the remnant
of the Jews that has survived that tribulation, in the land of
Israel - as promised to Abraham.
Ezekiel: The Vision and the
Call
It is thought that Ezekiel
was deported from Jerusalem to Babylon after the first siege in
598 BC. In visions he was transported from Babylon to Jerusalem
and prophesied its ultimate destruction by the Babylonian army
in 586 BC. So he was prophesying between 593 and 571 BC. The text
makes it clear that the exiles in Babylon were a 'better class
of people' than those left behind in Jerusalem, and that if they
were prepared to settle in for a period of 70 years, they would
prosper and multiply. After that they could expect repatriation
to Israel.
He has a vision of God sitting on a throne on top of 4 creatures, similar to that described in Revelation chapter 4 and by Isaiah (chapter 6) He is told he must speak the words of God to the Children of Israel who are a nation of rebels (chapter 2:3). He is then given a scroll with words of lamentation, mourning and woe to eat.(chapter 2:8 -3:3). The scroll is sweet as honey to eat. The writer of Revelation is also given a scroll to eat (Revelation 10:8-10) but this one, though sweet to eat, was bitter in his stomach.
His role will that of a watchman, who must alert the Children of Israel to the will of the Lord. This can be contrasted with the role assigned to Jeremiah, which seems to be that of the suffering servant described in the second part of the book of Isaiah. Like that suffering servant, Ezekiel is told his face and forehead must be hard against the faces and foreheads of the Jews. The suffering servant of Isaiah (50:7) had to set his face like flint, but Ezekiel is told he must set his forehead like adamant, harder than flint (Ezekiel 3:9)
Ezekiel before the final siege of Jerusalem - Chapters 4 - 23
| Year 5 (5th year of exile of Jehoiachin) |
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Ezekiel 1:1-2 initial visions of God on throne |
| Year 6 (6th year of exile) | Ezekiel 8:1 vision of abominations in temple in Jerusalem | |
| Year 7 (7th year of exile) | Ezekiel 20 recitation of exodus - prophecy of tribulation and restoration | |
|
9th year of exile Year 9 Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem until 11 year reign |
Ezekiel 24:1 vision of pot representing besieged Jerusalem. Death of Ezekiel's wife |
Chapter 4 a brick, and iron plate and very light rations - itís a sign portraying the impending siege of Jerusalem Ezekiel is told to take a brick (that's Jerusalem) and an iron plate (that's Babylon) and place them against each other (that's the impending siege). In other words, the people that were left behind in Jerusalem when Ezekiel and his companions were carted off to Babylon are in for a very bad time, and neither God, nor Egypt (the declining, alternative super power, with whom Israel is seeking an alliance) is going to deliver them. When the siege happens, food will be very scarce indeed, as signified by the daily allowance of 20 shekels of wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt to be baked over dung into a loaf of bread and 1/6 of a hin of water
Chapter 5 Another sign of the impending doom of Jerusalem - Ezekiel shaves his head with a sword and burns 1/3, strikes with the sword 1/3 and throws 1/3 of the hair to the wind. However, a small remnant of the hair that is cast to the winds (in other words the nations) is to be retained in the skirts of Ezekiel's garment (5:4). A remnant will return. The remnant that will return to Zion is a recurring theme throughout Ezekiel and all the other prophets
Chapter 6 The Children of Israel will be punished for their Idolatry (which takes place in the high places on the mountains) However a remnant will be spared (6:8). The theme of punishment by sword, famine and pestilence (6:11) is repeated here as elsewhere and may find a resonance with the horsemen of the apocalypse in Revelation 4 (seals 2,3 and 4)
Chapter 7 Tribulation of Israel on the Day of the Lord Chapter 8 The idolatry is not confined to the mountains and high places but is actually practiced in the temple in Jerusalem (8:14) the women worship Tammuz at the north entrance of the temple and the men (8:16) in the inner courts worship the sun in the east
Chapter 9 - 11 A vision: The Judgment of those who are guilty in Jerusalem, and of deliverance for the just. Using imagery which is echoed in Revelation (7:3; 9:4; 14:1) execution of judgment is delayed while a man clothed in white linen marks the foreheads of the just persons in Jerusalem. Then the throne of God descends and enters the temple from the south, and the man in white linen scatters burning coals (This is the prelude to the sounding of the trumpets in Revelation 8:5.) The glory of the Lord (the throne) then leaves the temple from the east entrance. One of the men Ezekiel saw worshiping the sun in the inner court of the temple in chapter 8 then dies.
Then there is a hint of a new covenant that God will make with Israel in chapter 11:19. It is that when the remnant of Israel is regathered they will have one heart and one spirit. In words similar to those describing the result of obedience to the covenant mediated by Moses in Exodus 19:5, they are promised hearts of flesh (rather than stone) if they walk in God's statutes, keep his ordinances and obey them. They will then be God's people and he will be their God
Chapter 12 Another sign of the fall of Jerusalem: Ezekiel digs through the wall, with baggage on his shoulder and face covered. He then eats his bread with quaking and drinks his water with trembling.
Chapter 13 Woe to false prophets and diviners
Chapter 14 Idolatry of the heart
Chapter 15 Israel is the vine of God, but the wood of the vine is not necessarily better than the wood of other trees.
Chapter 16 God still has an everlasting covenant with Israel (16:6)
Chapter 17 The folly of Judah making an alliance with Egypt to avert the invasion by Babylon
Chapter 18 People are rewarded or punished for their own virtue or sin
Chapter 19 Lamentation for the withered vine that is Israel
Chapter 20 The story of the Exodus is retold to the Jews. It's culmination is the tribulation that will take place when the people are gathered in the wilderness (20:35) and made to pass under the rod of discipline (20:37)
Chapter 21-23 The Tribulation and judgment of Israel. Israel will be scattered among the nations (22:15) and then refined (22:17-22). Israel and Judah are depicted as two wanton sisters in chapter 23.
Chapter 24 Jerusalem depicted as boiling pot into which is placed flesh (the Jews)
Ezekiel during and after the siege 33 - 39
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9th year of exile Year 9 Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem until 11 year reign |
Ezekiel 24:1 vision of pot representing besieged Jerusalem. Death of Ezekiel's wife | |
|
10th year of exile Year 10 Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem until 11 year reign
|
Year 10 - Jeremiah 32 - incarcerated in court of guard during siege - told to redeem land of uncle Shallum at Anathoth,, because houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land (37) Jeremiah 37 Egypt attacks Babylonian forces besieging Jerusalem - God reveals retreat of Egyptians and Babylonian conquest of Israel - Jeremiah seeks to visit Anathoth property but is jailed for desertion. Zedikiah (38) intercedes on his behalf when thrown into cistern by priests and commits him to court of guard secretly questions him and receives another prophecy of doom. |
Ezekiel 29 - defeat of Egypt by Babylon but (29:13) regathering of Egyptian exiles after 40 years. |
| 11th year of exile Year 11 Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem until 11 year reign |
After exile to Babylon - vision of figs - good ones taken into exile - bad (including Zedikiah) left behind (Jeremiah 24) Jeremiah 50:61 evil to befall Babylon |
Ezekiel 26-28 Destruction of Tyre Ezekiel 30:20 Pharaoh broken Ezekiel 31:1 Judgment of Egypt |
| 12th year of exile |
Ezekiel 32:1 Lamentation over Egypt Ezekiel 32:17 Egypt sent to nether world Ezekiel 33:21 escapee from Jerusalem reports those left behind claimed to be favored by God - Ezekiel disabuses that notion |
Chapter 33 Ezekiel is the watchman - if a person repents AND remains righteous he will live, otherwise, he dies - personal responsibility
Chapter 34 Delusion of the unholy rabble left in Jerusalem that God had favored them over the exiles After the exile (or more probably the tribulation) God will be the shepherd of the Children of Israel (34:15) A covenant of peace will be made with the Jews (34:25)
Chapters 35-36 Curse on Edom, Moab and Ammon because they showed no sympathy for Jews in their time of distress These three countries are singled out for special mention in prophecies relating to the tribulation
Chapter 37 Valley of dry bones - Israel - as good as dead and buried - will be brought back to life
Chapters 38 & 39 Gog and Magog - a consortium of countries seek to destroy Israel and fail This incident is dealt with in Revelation 20: 7-10, where it is portrayed as the last gasp of Satan at the conclusion of the Millennium
Ezekiel addresses the nations - chapters 25 -32
Chapters 25 Curse on Edom, Moab and Ammon because they showed no sympathy for Jews in their time of distress These three countries are singled out for special mention in prophecies relating to the tribulation Curse on Philistines
Chapters 26 -28 Curse on Tyre The language used is similar to that used to depict the fate of Babylon and the Devil
Chapter 29 -32 Curse on Egypt
Ezekiel's Torah
In chapters 40 to 48, Ezekiel is shown the new temple and told to measure its dimensions and describe the functions carried on within its courts
From: http://www.users.bigpond.com/taxboss/revelation/ezekiel.htm