prophecy

A word of encouragement

The Apostle Paul was God’s chosen instrument to tell the non-Jewish people throughout the world that Jesus Christ died to pay the penalty for their sins (Acts 9:15). Initially, Paul was sent out by the Holy Spirit to the Island of Cyprus with Barnabus, a native of the island (Acts 4:36; 13:4-5). Later, Paul and Barnabus went to Antioch in Pisidia where Paul was asked to speak in the Jewish synagogue (Acts 13:14-15). Paul’s intent was to share a word of encouragement with his fellow Jews, “but when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him” (Acts 13:45-46).

The Jews’ attitude toward Paul caused him to leave Pisidia and travel farther into Asia on what is now thought of as his first missionary journey. Before he left Antioch, Paul preached the gospel to almost the whole city and we are told in Acts 13:48 that of the Gentiles, “as many as were appointed to eternal life believed” (Acts 13:48). Paul’s success with the Gentile converts in Antioch of Pisidia was due to the word of encouragement that he shared with them from Isaiah 49:6. Paul told them:

For so the Lord has commanded us, saying,

“‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles,
    that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’” (Acts 13:47)

The fact that God wanted everyone to receive salvation (2 Peter 3:9) was a well-kept secret that the Jews didn’t want to get out (Romans 16:25). As long as Paul focused his good news on the Jews’ favored position with God (Acts 13:17-43), the Jewish people in Antioch were interested in hearing what he had to say. However, when Paul shifted his attention to the Gentiles and the world at large, the Jews “stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabus and drove them out of their district” (Acts 13:50).

Paul’s word of encouragement, which was meant for the Jews, but ended up turning them against him, was rooted in God’s promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to raise them from the dead (Acts 26:6-8). Paul explained that God raising the dead was possible because through Christ, people were freed from the penalty of sin (Acts 13:39). The Greek word that is translated freed in Acts 13:39, dikaioo (dik-ah-yoˊ-o) is “spoken especially of the justification bestowed by God on men through Christ, in which he is said to regard and treat them as righteous, i.e. to absolve from the consequences of sin and admit to the enjoyment of the divine favor (Romans 3:26, 30; 4:5; 8:30, 33; Galatians 3:8)” (G1344).

Paul used what was likely a familiar passage from the prophecy of Habakkuk (Habakkuk 1:5) to jar the Jews into thinking about the word of encouragement that he was presenting to them. Paul reasoned with them, stating, “Look, you scoffers, be astounded and perish; for I am doing a work in your days, a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you” (Acts 13:41). Habakkuk’s prophecy went on to declare that the Chaldeans, “guilty men, whose own might is their God!,” (Habakkuk 1:11) were about to destroy Judah and Jerusalem. This message conveyed the fact that God didn’t need to save the Jews, he could give his gift of salvation to anyone he wanted to, even to the most undeserving among the godless Gentiles.

Realistic Expectations

Psalm 142 was written by King David at a time when he was deeply affected by the stress of being a fugitive (note on Psalm 142:7). Even though David was at a breaking point, he continued to pray for deliverance and was hopeful that his circumstances would change (Psalm 142:7).

Hundreds of years later, King Herod’s violence against the church caused many believers to go into hiding just like David and was particularly troubling to the twelve apostles because they were the primary targets of his rampage. It says in Acts 12:2 that Herod “killed James the brother of John with the sword, and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also.”

While Peter was being kept in prison, “earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church” (Acts 12:5). Peter himself was likely resigned to being killed by Herod, but on the night he was to go before Herod, Peter was rescued by an angel of the Lord. It says in Acts 12:11, “When Peter came to himself, he said, ‘Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”

The Jewish council had been warned to keep away from Peter and to let him and the other apostles alone because in the council’s effort to stop the spread of the gospel they might be found opposing God (Acts 5:35-39). In spite of this, the council used every means possible to control the growth of the church. The Jewish council’s effort escalated over time and eventually they had to rely on King Herod and the Roman government to accomplish what they could not accomplish themselves, get rid of Jesus’ twelve apostles. God’s deliverance of Peter demonstrated that not only were the Jewish people’s expectations false, but they were by that time actually fighting against God.

God wants his people to have realistic expectations. That’s why he usually tells us in advance when he’s planning to do something unexpected. Speaking through the prophet Habakkuk, God told the people of Judah that they were about to be destroyed by the wicked Babylonians (Habakkuk 1:12-2:4). God told Habakkuk, “Look among the nations and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told”

The prophet Amos was given the unpleasant task of warning the northern tribes of Israel that they were going to be judged by God, found guilty, and punished. Amos told the people of Israel, “For the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7). Amos’ “pleas to the people to repent and predictions of the destruction of Israel made him very unpopular because he ministered at the peek of Israel’s material and political success. They were enjoying a prosperous reign under Jeroboam II, who expanded Israel’s territory and secured it from external threats” (Introduction to Amos). The thought that God might be displeased with them never crossed the people of Israel’s minds.

“Amos demonstrated great rhetorical skill in the way he prepared his audience for the point of his message. He first declared judgment on the enemies of Israel who were not related to them: Damascus (Syria), Gaza (Philistia), and Tyre. He then pronounced judgments on the enemies of Israel who were descendants of Abraham: Edom, Ammon, and Moab, Next he mentioned the kingdom of Judah, Israel’s neighbor to the south. By this time, his audience was probably agreeing with him and feeling pleased with the way God was carrying out his judgment against these others. Then Amos prophesied the same judgment upon Israel (Amos 2:6-16)” (note on Amos 1:3-2:16).

“Israel falsely assumed God’s protection merely because they had the temple. The people were taking for granted that the ‘day of the Lord’ would be their day of triumph. Amos reminded them, however, that because of their unbelief and wickedness, it would be a day of judgment for them as well as the other nations” (note on Amos 5:18-20). Amos concluded his prophecy with a realistic look at what was going to happen to the people of Israel. Amos said, “Not one of them shall flee away. Not one of them shall escape” (Amos 9:1). Amos foretold of the complete destruction of Israel (Amos 9:1-10) and then, looked forward to the millennium when God will restore the nation of Israel. God promised, “’I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant them on their land, and they shall never again be uprooted out of the land that I have given them,’ says the LORD your God” (Amos 9:14-15).

Living Water

Ezekiel’s prophecy about the destruction of Jerusalem encouraged the Jewish exiles because it included details about God’s future blessing on Israel. One of the prominent aspects of God’s future blessing was a new temple and the restoration of daily sacrifices. The reason Ezekiel’s prophecy was likely misunderstood was because the temple in his vision was intended for the millennial reign of Christ, a future event that will take place after God’s judgment of the world during the great tribulation.

The new temple that Ezekiel saw in his vision had many of the same characteristics as the old temple except for the presence of a person referred to as the prince (Ezekiel 44:3) and water flowing from the temple that became a river that could not be passed through (Ezekiel 47:5). There is no additional information about the prince associated with the temple anywhere else in Scripture, so it makes sense that there would be confusion about his role and the timing of his entry on the scene. As for the river that flowed from the temple, it is referred to as the river of the water of life in Revelation 22:1 and Jesus told John, “To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son” (Revelation 21:6-7).

Jesus talked about the spring of the water of life during his ministry on earth. In a conversation he had with a woman of Samaria, Jesus said anyone who drank living water would never be thirsty again (John 4:13). Jesus met the Samaritan woman at a well where she was drawing water. John 4:7 tells us the conversation started with Jesus asking the woman for a drink. John 4:9-14 states:

The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Jesus told the Samaritan woman that if she would have asked him, he would have given her living water (John 4:10). The connection Jesus made between the spring of water and eternal life (John 4:14) indicated that he was offering the Samaritan woman the gift of salvation, to be born again (The Samaritan Woman at the Well, The Spiritual Growth Bible, p. 1202).

John elaborated on Jesus’ teaching about living water in John 7:37-39. In this passage, John explained that the Holy Spirit was the living water that Jesus promised to those who believed in him. John said, “On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”’ Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:37-39). Jesus said whoever believed in him would have a river of living water flowing out of his heart (John 7:38). In terms of receiving the Holy Spirit, that meant believing in Jesus was the only thing that was necessary for a person to be saved.

Ezekiel’s vision of the water flowing from the temple provided some insight into the intended effects of believers being filled with the Holy Spirit. In his vision, Ezekiel saw that the farther the water flowed, the deeper it became. When believers walk with the Lord, the presence of the Holy Spirit should be more and more evident over time. In Ezekiel’s vision, the water emptied into the Dead Sea and purified it. Walking with the Lord should result in areas of the believer’s life that are broken (health, finances, relationships) being restored to a healthy state. The fruit trees on the banks of the river in Ezekiel’s vision represented the fruit of the Spirit which should be a constant source of spiritual nourishment to people around us. The living water in Ezekiel’s vision not only made the waters of the Dead Sea fresh and pure (Ezekiel 47:8), wherever the water of the river flowed, life flourished (Ezekiel 37:9). This is a picture of believers having a positive influence on the people around us. Not only should the believer’s life be changing for the better as she walks with the Lord, but other people’s lives should be too.

A man of faith (part 2)

Stephen’s speech before the Jewish Council demonstrated his comprehensive knowledge of Scripture and his ability to convey the gospel in terms that were understandable to both religious experts and a person of faith. Stephen condensed the entire Old Testament into a speech that most likely took him no more than 15 minutes to deliver.

The central theme of Stephen’s speech was the Israelites’ rejection of their Messiah, Jesus Christ. Citing from Deuteronomy 18:15, Stephen said of Moses, “This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.’ This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. He received living oracles to give to us. Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts turned to Egypt, saying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us. As for Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him’” (Acts 7:37-40). The identity of the unnamed prophet spoken of by Moses “is not revealed anywhere in the Old Testament. By Jesus’ day, the Jews had developed a clear expectation of a figure that would fulfill Moses’ words. Priests and Levites from Jerusalem asked John the Baptist if he was ‘the prophet,’ and he denied it (John 1:21). Peter identified ‘the prophet’ as a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 3:22, 23)” (note on Deuteronomy 18:15-19).

After reciting numerous details about God’s redemption of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, Stephen abruptly concluded his speech with a reference to a passage in Psalm 11 that pointed to God’s judgment of the wicked (Acts 7:49-50). King David prophesied, “The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD’s throne is in heaven; his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man. The LORD tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence. Let him rain coals on the wicked; fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup” (Psalm 11:4-6). Following this statement, Stephen delivered a crushing blow to the council members pride by accusing them of murder. Stephen said, “You stiffnecked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it” (Acts 7:51-53).

It’s not surprising that the Jewish council members were enraged by Stephen’s comments and sought to kill him as he concluded his speech. The interesting thing to note about Stephen’s stoning was that his vision of the heavens being opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God (Acts 7:56) seemed to be the straw that broke the camels back. It says of the council members in Acts 7:57-58, “But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him.”

Stephen’s death instigated a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem (Acts 8:1). The religious leaders were concerned about the effect that the death of this man of faith was having on the people and did everything they could to put an immediate stop to the church’s exponential growth. In particular, a man named Saul took it upon himself to stunt the church’s growth (Acts 8:3), but the gospel began to spread like wild fire, and Saul like Stephen soon became a man of faith after an encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-9).

Resurrection of the dead

The concept of a resurrection or the restoration of life after death was introduced in the Old Testament of the Bible through miracles that were performed by prophets. When Elijah raised a widow’s son from the dead, it says in 1 Kings 17:22, “the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived” (KJV). The resurrections that will take place after the Great Tribulation and the Millennial reign of Christ differ from the Old and New Testament miracles that were performed in that these future resurrections will result in a permanent restoration of life.

Abraham, who is known as ‘the father of faith,’ believed in the resurrection of the dead. It says in Hebrews 11:17-19, “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, ‘Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.’ He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.” The Greek word that is translated raise, egeiro (eg-iˊ-ro) means “(through the idea of collecting one’s faculties); to waken (transitively and intransitively), i.e. rouse (literal from sleep, from sitting or lying, from disease, from death; or figurative from obscurity, inactivity, ruins, nonexistence)” (G1453).

The basis for the resurrection of the dead is found in the New Covenant that God established after Israel and Judah were taken into captivity. The prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel revealed key aspects of the New Covenant hundreds of years before Jesus Christ was born. God told Jeremiah, “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jeremiah 31:33). Rather than dealing with Israel on national basis, the new covenant, “will be based on an individual, personal knowledge of God (vv. 33, 34) and characterized by the indwelling of God’s Spirit (Ezek. 36:26, 27; 37:14)” (note on Jeremiah 31:31-34).

God revealed to Ezekiel specific details about how he intended to have a relationship with his people under the new covenant. God said, “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules” (Ezekiel 36:26-27). This is a key prophecy related to the regathering of Israel at the end of the great tribulation. “The regathering from the nations (Ezekiel 36:24) will precede God’s national cleansing of Israel (Ezekiel 36:25, Zechariah 13:1) and the placing of his Spirit within his people (Ezek. 36:26, 27; 37:14, cf. Zech. 12:10)” (note on Ezekiel 36:22-38).

Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones (Ezekiel 37:1-14) provided further insight into God’s plan to revitalize the nation of Israel. The vision came to Ezekiel at a time when the people were very discouraged. “After being away from their homeland for so long, they felt like all their hope was gone. Nevertheless, God affirmed that he could bring them back to their homeland from wherever they were. His Spirit will be placed within Israel, the reign of the Messiah will begin, the confirmation of the new covenant will be given, and God’s presence and identification with his redeemed people will be evident” (note on Ezekiel 37:1-38). God told Ezekiel:

“My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes. They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children’s children shall dwell there forever, and David my servant shall be their prince forever. I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.” (Ezekiel 37:24-28)

The events described in Ezekiel 37:24-28 take place after the Great Tribulation. Revelation 20-21 outlines how God will fulfill his promise to provide an eternal dwelling place for the people of Israel and to live among them forever. One of the key aspects of God plan is the creation of a new heaven and a new earth. “The new heaven and the new earth are not duplicates of the heaven and earth that now exist. The word ‘new’ is a translation of the Greek word kainon (2537), which means ‘qualitatively new.’ To some, this suggests that the new earth will be as the current earth was at its creation” (note on Revelation 21:1-22:5).

The Apostle Paul told the believers in Corinth that the resurrection of the dead will result in them becoming immortal. Paul said, “For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:52-53). Paul connected immortality with the Lord Jesus Christ, who was the first person to be resurrected from the dead and was credited with gaining the victory over death for all believers (1 Corinthians 15:56-57). In Revelation 21:3-4 we see the celebration of Christ’s victory over death. John tells us, “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.’”

Indwelling of the Holy Spirit

The prophecies that were given to the Jews before they were taken into captivity did not have any effect on the people. There was a lack of faith among the people of Israel, and in particular, they did not want to hear Ezekiel’s prophecies about destruction. “The only visions that were accepted were those that promised peace and were proclaimed by false prophets (cf. Ezekiel 13:2-10, 16)” (note on Ezekiel 12:21-25). God described the people of Israel as a rebellious house, “who have eyes to see, but see not, who have ears to hear, but hear not, for they are a rebellious house” (Ezekiel 12:2).

God had a radical transformation in mind when he promised that he was going to change the Jews attitude toward him. God said through the prophet Ezekiel, “I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they will be my people, and I will be their God” (Ezekiel 11:19-20). The promise that God was going to put within the Jews a new spirit was mentioned again later in Ezekiel’s ministry. In the latter instance, God said he was going to put his Spirit within the people, and this would cause them to walk in his statues and to be careful to obey him (Ezekiel 36:26-27; 37:14).

The Hebrew word that is translated within, qereb (kehˊ-reb) “is utilized abstractly to describe the inner being of a person. This place was regarded as the home of the heart from which the emotions spring (Psalm 39:3[4]; 55:4[5]; Lamentations 1:20). It was also viewed as the source of thoughts (Genesis 8:12; Psalm 62:4[5]; Jeremiah 9:8[7], which are often deceitful, wicked, and full of cursing. Yet wisdom from God can reside there also (1 Kings 3:28). This inner being is also the seat of one’s moral disposition and thus one’s affections and desires” (H7130). When the Pharisees demanded to know when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus told them, “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here; or , lo there: for behold the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21, KJSB).

The idea that the kingdom of God could exist inside a person shifted attention away from the physical realm where the nation of Israel existed to the spiritual realm where the church that Jesus said he would build existed. Jesus declared about the church, “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). Jesus indicated the key to the church’s success would be the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (John 14:16-17). Paul explained in his letter to the Galatians, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Galatians 4:4-6).

The Holy Spirit’s power is necessary for change to occur in a person’s heart (Galatians 5:22-23). The Holy Spirit helps people to overcome the effects of sin, but He only dwells within believers. The Spirit’s presence causes the believer to be dead to sin and alive to God (Romans 6:5), meaning that the person has the ability to turn away from sin and decide to do what is right. This is evidenced by the person’s conscience being activated by the Word of God (Hebrews 10:22). Throughout the Old Testament we see that the people of Israel never changed. It wasn’t until the twelve apostles and other believers were filled with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:4) that people were able to turn away from their sin and could do what God wanted them to. Paul indicated that the power of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling is what gives believers eternal life. Paul said, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11).

A stubborn heart

The prophet Ezekiel was taken into captivity during King Nebuchadnezzar’s first deportation of Jews to Babylon (2 Kings 24:10-17). Eleven years passed from the time of the first deportation of Jews until the fall and captivity of Judah (2 Kings 25:1-2), Ezekiel’s prophetic call took place in the fifth year of the Jews captivity. Ezekiel wrote, “…as I was among the exiles by the Chebar canal, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God” (Ezekiel 1:1). God warned Ezekiel that he must say everything the Lord told him to even if the Jews didn’t listen. God said:

“Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to nations of rebels, who have rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day. The descendants also are impudent and stubborn: I send you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ And whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house) they will know that a prophet has been among them.” (Ezekiel 2:3-5)

God referred to the Jews as a nation of rebels, who had rebelled against him. The Hebrew word that is translated rebellious in Ezekiel 2:5 is mᵉriy (mer-eeˊ). “A masculine noun meaning obstinacy, stubbornness, rebelliousness. The term consistently stays within the tight semantic  range and most often describes the Israelites’ determined refusal to obey the precepts laid down by the Lord in His Law or Torah. This characteristic attitude was a visible manifestation of their hard hearts” (H4805).

The Lord focused on the condition of the Jews’ hearts when he explained to Ezekiel why the people were not going to listen to him. God said if he sent Ezekiel to foreigners, they would listen to him, “But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me: because all the house of Israel have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart” (Ezekiel 3:6-7). The heart is the seat of one’s inner nature and it encompasses things like the mind, the will, and a person’s emotions. A person with a stubborn heart is someone who is harsh and cruel, violent or fierce in their behavior toward others (H3820/H7186).

God told Ezekiel that all of the house of Israel had a stubborn heart (Ezekiel 3:7). There was no one who was godly left among the people of Judah and Jerusalem. In spite of this, God told Ezekiel, “’Fear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks for they are a rebellious house.’ Moreover, he said to me, ‘Son of man, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears. And go to the exiles, to your people, and speak to them and say to them, “Thus says the Lord God,” whether they hear or refuse to hear” (Ezekiel 3:9-11).

Ezekiel was overwhelmed by the task that God had given him, but the filling of the Holy Spirit (Ezekiel 2:2) enabled Ezekiel to do what God wanted him to. Ezekiel said, “The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, the hand of the LORD being strong upon me. And I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who were dwelling by the Chebar canal, and I sat where they were dwelling. And I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days” (Ezekiel 3:14-15). Ezekiel was angry and resistant to doing God’s will. It took him seven days to recover from the shock of being transported against his will to the location where God intended his ministry to be launched.

Ezekiel was assigned the role of a watchman for Israel. God explained to Ezekiel that he was being made responsible for the lives of everyone he was commanded to speak to. God said, “Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul” (Ezekiel 3:17-19). As a watchman for Israel, Ezekiel didn’t have a choice about who he spoke to or what message he delivered. It was Ezekiel’s responsibility to warn the Jews of their impending doom, but that was all. If the people did not heed Ezekiel’s warning, he would not be held accountable for their death.

The time of the end (part 2)

We are told in Daniel 9:23 that at the beginning of Daniel’s pleas for mercy the angel Gabriel was sent to him with a response from God. Gabriel described his message for Daniel as “a word.” The word that Gabriel used, dâbâr (daw-bawrˊ) conveyed “divine communication” (H1697). Daniel was first introduced to Gabriel when he sought to understand his vision of the ram and the goat which he was told had to do with the appointed time of the end (Daniel 8:15-27). When Gabriel came to Daniel the second time, Gabriel laid out for Daniel a high-level overview of God’s plan of salvation for the nation of Israel, which would take place over a period he described as seventy weeks, beginning with Cyrus’ decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem (Daniel 9:24-27; Ezra 1:1-4).

Daniel 9:24-27 “is one of the most important prophesies in Scripture. Daniel had been praying about the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the return of his people. God gave Daniel a time frame for all his dealings with Israel…The seventy ‘weeks’ refer to years. Some biblical scholars suggest that the sixty-nine ‘weeks’ until the Messiah would come began with the decree that was issued to Nehemiah in 445 BC and ended 483 years later on Palm Sunday (based on 360-day years; see Rev. 11:3; 12-6; 13:5)…There is likely a gap, a feature that is characteristic of some prophesies, between the sixty-ninth and seventieth ‘week.’ If this is the case, then the ‘prince who is to come’ refers to the Antichrist, who will make a treaty with the Jews and then break it” (note on Daniel 9:24-27).

Daniel’s prophetic revelation moved methodically through the time period leading up to the birth of Christ and then fast forwarded to the appointed time of the end. The shift is made obvious in Daniel 11:36 “by the fact that Antiochus was one of the ‘king[s] of the north’ (a Seleucid), while the Antichrist is attacked by the kings of the North and the South (Daniel 11:40)…Daniel 12:1, which continues the narrative from chapter 11, identifies the time frame as the ‘time of trouble,’ also know as the great tribulation (cf. Jeremiah 30:7; Matthew 24:21)” (note on Daniel 11:36). Daniel 12:1-4 states:

“At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”

“This passage is one of the clearest Old Testament references to the resurrection of the dead…The implication is that the understanding of these visions would be made clear at ‘the time of the end’ (Daniel 12:4)” (note on Daniel 12:1-4). The Apostle Paul testified to his belief in the resurrection of the dead when he was on trial before Felix at Caesarea. Paul said, “But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets, having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust” (Acts 24:14-15).

Daniel 12:4 links the time of the end with the seventieth week of Daniel’s prophecy about the nation of Israel (Daniel 9:24-27). According to Daniel 12:1-4, the remnant of Israel goes through the great tribulation and Revelation 7:4 indicates there will be 144,000 sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel. The seventieth week is expected to last seven years, but when he was asked, “How long shall it be till the end of the wonders?,” the pre-incarnate Christ, “swore by him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time, and that when the shattering of the power of the holy people comes to an end, all these things would be finished” (Daniel 12:7). The phrase “time, times, and half a time” appears in Revelation 12:14. Revelation chapter 12 describes the conflict between the nation of Israel, who is represented by the woman, and Satan, who is represented by the dragon. As the scene plays out, the woman escapes “into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time” (Revelation 12:14),” indicating that the shattering of the power of the holy people will occur during the last three and a half years of the great tribulation.

Jesus said, “When the shattering of the power of the holy people comes to an end, all these things would be finished” (Daniel 12:7). I believe the things that Jesus was referring to that would be finished were the things associated with the Old Covenant that God established with the nation of Israel. The millennial reign of Christ marks the beginning of the eternal kingdom of God that was promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jesus referred to this as the kingdom of heaven. Jesus told his followers, “many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:11-12). In this passage, Jesus distinguished between the physical descendants of Abraham who were under the Old Covenant and those who by faith received Christ.

The appointed time of the end

King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had the privilege of seeing what was going to happen in a time period that Daniel referred to as “the latter days” (Daniel 2:28). The latter days involve a future period of consequential events. Jeremiah said of the latter days, “That day is the day of the Lord God of hosts, a day of vengeance, to avenge himself on his foes. The sword shall devour and be sated and drink its fill of their blood. For the Lord God of hosts holds a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates. The prophet Zechariah said of the latter days:

Behold, a day is coming for the Lord, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward. And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.

Zechariah’s prophecy takes place at the end of the Great Tribulation. At that time, Jesus will return and establish his kingdom on earth. Chapter nineteen of the Book of Revelation depicts Christ’s return as a man riding on a white horse. It says, “The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war” (Revelation 19:11).

Daniel had a vision that paralleled Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in which four beasts came up out of the sea. At the end of Daniel’s vision was a depiction of the judgment seat of Christ. Daniel said:

As I looked,

thrones were placed,
    and the Ancient of Days took his seat;
his clothing was white as snow,
    and the hair of his head like pure wool;
his throne was fiery flames;
    its wheels were burning fire.
A stream of fire issued
    and came out from before him;
a thousand thousands served him,
    and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him;
the court sat in judgment,
    and the books were opened. (Daniel 7:9-10)

The interpretation of Daniel’s vision was made known to him by an angel. Daniel wanted to know the truth about the fourth beast who was “terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong” (Daniel 7:7). The angel told Daniel that the fourth kingdom would be different from all kingdoms and would devour the whole earth. This kingdom will be led by Antichrist who will “wear out the saints of the Most High, and shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time” (Daniel 7:25). The phrase “time, times, and half a time” refers to the last half of the Great Tribulation. This phrase corresponds with Revelation 12:14 which depicts the nation of Israel as a woman who is being protected during the Great Tribulation. Verses 16 and 17 tell us, “But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.”

The angel who interpreted Daniel’s dream was identified as Gabriel. Gabriel “seemed to be God’s special messenger” (note on Daniel 8:16). Gabriel told Daniel that he was going to make known to him “what shall be at the latter end-of the indignation, for it refers to the appointed time of the end” (Daniel 8:19). The indignation signifies God’s displeasure with sin (H2195) and the appointed time of the end, a time when Antichrist will be removed from the earth and God’s people will be free to focus on God and their relationship with him (H4150). The angel told Daniel, “And at the latter end of their kingdom, when the transgressions have reached their limit, a king of bold face, one who understands riddles, shall arise. His power shall be great—but not by his own power; and he shall cause fearful destruction and shall succeed in what he does, and destroy mighty men and the people who are the saints. By his cunning he shall make deceit prosper under his hand, and in his own mind he shall become great. Without warning he shall destroy many. And he shall even rise up against the Prince of princes, and he shall be broken—but by no human hand” (Daniel 8:23-25).

Daniel experienced tremendous physical and emotional drain after his overwhelming visions (note on Daniel 8:27). Daniel said he was “overcome and lay sick for some days” (Daniel 8:27). Daniel was appalled by the visions, meaning that he was devastated or stupefied by them. The Hebrew word that is translated appalled, shamem (shaw-mameˊ) means “to stun” (H8074). The appointed time of the end will be marked by lawlessness and rebellion against the truth of God’s word. Paul said of Antichrist in his second letter to the Thessalonians, “The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception, for those who are perishing because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12).

Jesus’ disciples came to him on the Mount of Olives and asked him to tell them when the appointed time of the end would come. Jesus said many false prophets would lead people astray. “And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And the gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:11-14). Jesus went on to say that no one knows the day or the hour when the end will come (Matthew 24:36), and then, told his disciples, “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour” (Matthew 25:13).

A hard lesson

God sent the people of Israel into captivity to teach them a very hard lesson about his sovereignty over their lives. God had delivered the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob out of slavery in Egypt so that they could be his treasured possession (Deuteronomy 7:6). Moses explained to them, “It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of the peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 7:7-8). In spite of everything the LORD did for them, the Jews refused to give up their idolatry. God said, “Yet I persistently sent to you all my servants the prophets, saying, ‘Oh, do not do this abomination that I hate!’ But they did not listen or incline their ear, or turn from their evil and make no offerings to other gods. Therefore my wrath and my anger were poured out and kindled in the cities of Judah and in Jerusalem, and they became a waste and a desolation, as at this day” (Jeremiah 44:4-6).

While they were in exile in Babylon, the Jews were once again forced to choose between being obedient to God or following the idolatrous practices of their captors. Daniel and his companions, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego fought against the temptation to relinquish their right to serve the living and true God by refusing to adapt to the Babylonian culture (Daniel 1:8-16). When King Nebuchadnezzar exercised his authority by making everyone in his kingdom bow down to the huge golden image that he had made, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego paid no attention (Daniel 3:12). This act of rebellion enraged the king and resulted in a confrontation between the king and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Daniel 3:13-15 tells us that Nebuchadnezzar gave the men two choices, they could bow down and worship the image he had made or be cast into a burning fiery furnace. Nebuchadnezzar taunted the men by asking, “And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”

Nebuchadnezzar had the furnace heated seven times more than it usually was (Daniel 3:19). Because of this, the men who were tasked with throwing Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into the furnace were killed by the flame of the fire (Daniel 3:22). And yet, the fire had no power over the bodies of the three men (Daniel 3:27). After Nebuchadnezzar told Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to come out of the furnace, everyone saw that “the hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them” (Daniel 3:27).

Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged that there was no other god who was able to rescue the way God had rescued Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Daniel 3:29), but he was not willing to accept God’s sovereignty over everything, especially his kingdom. Nebuchadnezzar had a second dream which Daniel interpreted for him (Daniel 4:4-16). After informing Nebuchadnezzar that his mind was going to be changed from that of a man to the mind of a beast, Daniel concluded, “The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, the decision by the word of the holy ones, to the end that the living may know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he wills and sets over it the lowliest of men” (Daniel 4:17).

A year later, Nebuchadnezzar was walking on the roof of his palace, thinking about his accomplishments, when his dream came true. Daniel 4:29-33 tells us:

At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, and the king answered and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” While the words were still in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, “O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you, and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. And you shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.” Immediately the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from among men and ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair grew as long as eagles’ feathers, and his nails were like birds’ claws.

After his sanity was restored, Nebuchadnezzar reflected on his experience and told Daniel, “At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, ‘What have you done?’” (Daniel 4:34).

Nebuchadnezzar learned a hard lesson during the time that he lived among the beasts of the field and ate grass like an ox (Daniel 4:32). According to the Apostle James, Nebuchadnezzar’s religion was worthless because it was merely a form of self-deception that resulted in him becoming proud and defiant toward God (James 1:9-10, 26). On the other hand, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s faith was genuine and it resulted in everyone knowing that they were “perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:3).

James encouraged believers to embrace the testing of their faith (James 1:2). James didn’t see trials as something to be avoided, but opportunities for growth. James said, “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12). “God may allow those who belong to him to be tested, but he will never place inducements before them to lead them into temptations greater than they can bear” (note on Genesis 22:1, 2).

Paul told believers in his letter to the Corinthians, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13). When King Nebuchadnezzar commanded everyone in his kingdom to fall down and worship the golden image, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego could have done so to avoid being thrown into the fiery furnace and justified the fiery furnace as something that they were unable to endure, but they didn’t do that. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego instead chose to believe that God was able to and would deliver them from the fiery furnace because he did not want them to practice idolatry (Daniel 3:17).

James encouraged believers to be “doers of the word, and not hearers only” (James 1:22). The word of God is intended to change our behavior. It’s not enough for us to just agree with the Bible’s principles. We must put them into practice. James said, “For if anyone is a hearer only and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing” (James 1:23-25). James described the gospel as the law of liberty, something that gives us the freedom to do as we please. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego weren’t compelled to worship Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image. His threat of death meant nothing to them. These three men’s courage demonstrated to everyone around them their resolve to remain unstained from the world (Daniel 1:8; James 1:27) and contributed to Nebuchadnezzar’s change of heart toward God (Daniel 4:37).