Major Prophets – Scripture Storyline

Jeremiah 46-52

Throughout the prophecy of Jeremiah, the reader can follow at least two themes. First, God is sovereign over the nations of humankind and He alone has power over their leaders and success. Second, the exiles should thus trust His word despite any threat they may encounter.

In chs. 46-51, Jeremiah prophesied against the nations that Judah might have been tempted to turn to for help in light of the Babylonian threat. Despite Egypt’s self-confidence, Jeremiah said that the day of battle “belongs to the Lord, the GOD of Hosts, a day of vengeance to avenge Himself against His adversaries” (Jer 46:10). This word of God’s sovereignty was meant to both warn and comfort God’s people: warning them not to trust in Egypt’s military potential, and comforting them with the news that He would not abandon His own—even if they were under His discipline (Jer 46:27-28).

Judah was not to seek refuge in surrounding nations, such as the Philistines (ch. 47), Moabites (ch. 48), Ammonites, Edomites, or people of Damascus (ch. 49). Jeremiah reminded his audience of God’s sovereignty over all nations, including Babylon. Jeremiah prophesied that Babylon would one day be conquered and devoured. Thus, while Jeremiah had exhorted Judah to surrender to Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king was never to be their ultimate trust—that position was reserved for the Lord alone. As a father disciplines his children, God had scattered His people among the nations (Jer 50:3, 17, 33), Jeremiah said. But God would give the Persians victory over the Babylonians (Jer 50:9-16, 21-32, 35-46; 51:1-4, 6-14, 20-33). Once Babylon was defeated, the exiles of Israel and Judah would be allowed to return and submit to an “everlasting covenant” (Jer 50:5) with the Lord in the land God had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Jer 50:4-5, 19-20; 51:6, 10, 45-46). But first, Jerusalem would be destroyed (Jeremiah 52; 2 Kgs 25:8-21).

The prophets that wrote to the people of Israel and Judah understood themselves to be the contemporary spokespersons of the Lord. They interpreted the political, economic, and social landscape of their day in light of the law of Moses, urging their audience(s) to rely fully upon the Lord for their identity and needs. When the threats of the day seemed imminent, they wrote of the Lord’s jealousy to redeem the repentant. The prophets thus presented their messages as a bridge between what the Lord revealed to Moses and what the Lord would do for His people in the days to come. The prophets’ messages are best understood in light of the storyline of Scripture.

(1) Jeremiah prophesied that God would judge His people and save only a remnant (Jer 46:27-28). The Lord promised that though there would be judgment and dispersion amongst the nations, a future day would come when the descendants of Jacob would be gathered to the land of promise. In the meantime, Jeremiah urged his audience to be courageous—and wait on the Lord as He carried out His plan to discipline them and destroy the nations holding them captive.

(2) Jeremiah described the destruction of many nations and especially Babylon. While Jeremiah described what would happen to historical Babylon, in Revelation, John referred to Babylon metaphorically. John’s audience, like Jeremiah’s, was afraid of their opponents and wanted God to avenge the blood their opponents had shed (Rev 6:9-11). Like Jeremiah, John spoke of God’s sovereignty over Babylon. In Jer 50:8 and 51:6, 45, Jeremiah urged his audience to flee from Babylon and avoid the destruction due her. John wrote in Rev 18:4, “Then I heard another voice from heaven: ‘Come out of her, My people, so that you will not share in her sins, or receive her plagues.’” During the reign of King Zedekiah (2 Kgs 24:18ff), Jeremiah wrote on a scroll the destruction that would come upon Babylon (Jer 51:63-64). He pictured the Babylonian Empire sinking like a stone thrown into the Euphrates River. John used similar imagery when he described the destruction of Babylon, “Then a mighty angel picked up a stone like a large millstone and threw it into the sea, saying: ‘In this way, Babylon the great city will be thrown down violently and never be found again’” (Rev 18:21).

Commentary Jeremiah Major Prophets Old Testament

Daniel 7-12

Unlike Jeremiah and Ezekiel, Daniel was not a preaching prophet; his ministry was prophetic interpretation and writing. Daniel provided Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar with interpretations of their dreams (chs. 2 and 5), then recorded his own visions and their interpretation for the generations to come (chs. 7-12). These final visions clarified for the exiles the degree of God’s sovereignty over their situation and assured them that divine justice would prevail—not only in their case but over all of history.

Daniel’s visions described the coming great empires of the world: Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Greek, and Roman. Within these, great leaders would arise. Alexander the Great spread Greek influence throughout the world of his day, and Antiochus IV Ephiphanes ruled in Syria during the latter portion of the Greek period, pointedly opposing the Jews. The overlap of themes and imagery found in Daniel 7-12 and the New Testament underscores Daniel’s influence in the storyline of Scripture. The visions John received in Revelation re-presented figures and phrases from Daniel in light of Christ. Taken together, Daniel and John depict:

(1) The final world empire. In Daniel 7, the prophet recorded his vision of the Four Beasts, each a metaphor for a coming successive world empire. The final beast, frightening, dreadful, and incredibly strong, had 10 horns (Dan 7:7). From this beast, Daniel saw another horn arise, and it became the focus of his attention. Revelation notes that John witnessed a beast coming out of the sea with 10 horns, representing 10 kings (Rev 17:12), likewise full of might and strength even to the degree that some said, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to wage war against him?” (Rev 13:4). John wrote that these 10 kings give their authority to the beast (Rev 17:13), a representation of Satan, the dragon (Rev 12:3; 13:4, 11). In Dan 7:20-27 and 11:29-39, the character of the antagonist king(s) who opposed God’s people was marked by blasphemous speech, exalting himself above God (Dan 11:36b). Their haughty words anticipate the antichrist’s boasting in Revelation. John wrote, “A mouth was given to him to speak boasts and blasphemies…He began to speak blasphemies against God: to blaspheme His name and His dwelling—those who dwell in heaven” (Rev 13:5-6; compare 2 Thess 2:9-10).

(2) Spiritual warfare in heaven. At the conclusion of Daniel’s prayer during the third year of King Cyrus, an angelic figure appeared to the prophet telling him that he had been delayed in answering the prayer because of spiritual warfare against the representative of the kingdom of Persia. “Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me after I had been left there with the kings of Persia,” the angel told Daniel (Dan 10:12b-13). In Dan 12:1, the prophet recorded, “At that time Michael the great prince who stands watch over your people will rise up. There will be a time of distress such as never has occurred since nations came into being until that time.” John saw a vision of war in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against Satan and throwing him from God’s presence to the earth (Rev 12:7-9a). “Woe to the earth and the sea,” John heard a heavenly voice exclaim, “for the Devil has come down to you with great fury, because he knows he has a short time” (Rev 12:12).

(3) A period of tribulation for the faithful. In Dan 7:21-22, Daniel wrote, “As I was watching, this horn made war with the holy ones and was prevailing over them until the Ancient of Days arrived and a judgment was given in favor of the holy ones of the Most High, for the time had come, and the holy ones took possession of the kingdom.” Daniel understood that while the four beasts had authority, the ultimate power was the Ancient of Days, God Almighty. He gave the one like a son of man the authority to rule and have dominion over an everlasting kingdom (Dan 7:13-14). These prophetic themes surface throughout Revelation. John saw that the beast would make war with the witnesses of the church (Rev 11:7) and the people of God (Rev 12:13). The beast was given authority over all peoples. “All those who live on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name was not written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slaughtered” (Rev 13:7-8), John wrote. The beast and his 10 kings would “wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will conquer them because He is Lord of lords, and King of kings. Those with him are called and elect and faithful” (Rev 17:14). John saw that when all nations gathered together to fight God’s people and the Lord Jesus Christ, the beast and the false prophet were taken captive and thrown into the lake of fire (Rev 19:19-20).

(4) The spiritual preservation of the elect. Near the conclusion of Daniels’s visions, an angelic figure said to the prophet, “Many will be purified, cleansed, and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly, none of the wicked will understand, but the wise will understand” (Dan 12:10). In John’s vision of the beast rising out of the sea, he heard that all would worship the beast save those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life (Rev 13:8). John then commented, “If anyone has an ear, he should listen: If anyone is destined for captivity, into captivity he goes. If anyone is to be killed with a sword, with a sword he will be killed. Here is the endurance and the faith of the saints” (Rev 13:9-10). Near the end of Revelation, an angel said to him, “Let the unrighteous go on in unrighteousness; let the filthy go on being made filthy; let the righteous go on in righteousness; and let the holy go on being made holy” (Rev 22:11).

(5) The victory of God and His faithful ones at the final judgement. Immediately following the vision of the Four Beasts, Daniel wrote, “As I kept watching, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took His seat…His throne was flaming fire; its wheels were blazing fire…The court was convened, and the books were opened” (Dan 7:9a, c; 10b). While the little horn would be permitted to blaspheme and deceive for a time, Daniel prophesied that eventually he would be deposed and his kingdom overthrown. “The kingdom, dominion, and greatness of the kingdoms under all of heaven will be given to the people, the holy ones of the Most High,” Daniel wrote. And he added, “His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will serve and obey Him” (Dan 7:26-27). Daniel noted, “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to eternal life, and some to shame and eternal contempt” (Dan 12:2). This judicial framework dominates Revelation, where John described the risen Lord as One resembling Daniel’s Ancient of Days (Rev 1:14), a heavenly judgment throne surrounded by thousands of angels (Rev 4:2; 5:11; 11:18), books opened to dispense the eternal verdict for the living and the dead (Rev 20:11-15), and the dominion of the Lord and His saints. In Rev 11:18, the 24 elders proclaimed, “The nations were angry, but Your wrath has come. The time has come for the dead to be judged, and to give the reward to Your servants the prophets, to the saints, and to those who fear Your name, both small and great, and the time has come to destroy those who destroy the earth.”

Commentary Daniel Major Prophets Old Testament

Daniel 5-6

Daniel was so valuable that after Nebuchadnezzar passed, Daniel remained in the court of Belshazzar, Nebuchadnezzar’s son, and Darius, the king of the Medes. While leaders of the empire changed, Daniel was steadfast in his position—and found great success in the providence of his God—despite the threats that came against him for his religious devotion.

Daniel 5-6 again displays God’s jealousy for His glory in the lives of the exiles. In Daniel 5, God humbled and eliminated Belshazzar—through the prophecy of Daniel. While Belshazzar and company were making merry, a mysterious finger began to write on the plaster wall of the king’s palace; the sight so horrified the king “that his hip joints shook and his knees knocked together” (Dan 5:6). Like his father Nebuchadnezzar, when Belshazzar was in a crisis of this sort, he called on the interpreters of his court to give the meaning of the sign. But, as had been the case with his father, no one could. The king’s angst was calmed by his wife—who reminded the king that he had an as-of-yet untapped resource for his dilemma, Daniel. Though Belshazzar promised Daniel further prominence if he could interpret the inscription, the young Hebrew gave the interpretation without fee and straightaway. Because Belshazzar had exalted himself against the Lord, the Lord had numbered the days of the king’s reign and would soon give his expansive domain into the hands of the Medes and Persians (Dan 5:17-28).

Though Darius the Mede (Ezra 4-6; Neh 12:22; Hag 1:1; Zech 1:1) threatened Daniel, the Lord rescued His servant (Daniel 6). Daniel refused to pray to Darius, choosing instead to enter his house, open his windows toward Jerusalem, “and three times a day he got down on his knees, prayed, and gave thanks to his God” (Dan 6:10). Daniel was thrown to the lions for this crime against the state. The next morning, the king was overjoyed at the sound of Daniel’s voice, knowing that the other officials had conspired against the young Hebrew. Daniel prospered in the king’s court during the reigns of Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar of Babylon, and Cyrus and Darius of Persia (Dan 6:28).

In the storyline of Scripture, Daniel’s role in the courts of Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, and Darius established a theocentric grid for Christian behavior toward the state. Daniel’s counsel about the affairs of people and nations was couched in God’s revelation of Himself in the books of Moses, the writings, and the other prophets of Israel. For the apostles, the advent of the kingdom of God in Christ and salvation for all peoples through faith in Him shaped instructions for Christian behavior toward secular authorities.

(1) As a general practice, Christians should honor governing authorities. In Romans 9-11, Paul described God’s sovereignty over the salvation of Jews and Gentiles. In Rom 13:1-7, Paul applied the same theological grid to the political situation of his day, arguing that all people should submit to the governing authorities as those instituted by God. Since God appoints secular leaders and their administrations to uphold righteousness and punish evil, rebellion against these authorities is rebellion against God. Underneath Paul’s logic is the idea that as Christians behaved peaceably, the governing authorities would have less reason to be suspicious of them or persecute them. Paul wrote from this same frame of mind when he told Titus to remind the church on Crete to be submissive to governing authorities (Titus 3:1-3). In Titus 3, however, Paul’s instruction is based not only on the need for the church to live peaceably so that the gospel message might go forward but also because the gospel message had reached the church. Since God through Christ and the Spirit saved the believers on Crete from their foolish and sinful behavior, the church had no (human) right to rebel against authorities for their foolish and sinful behavior (Titus 3:4-7). Paul argued that the church’s good works would advance the cause of the gospel more than political rebellion (Titus 3:8, 14). Peter wrote that his audience, like Daniel’s, was comprised of exiles (1 Pet 1:1-2). Peter exhorted his readers to fight against the fleshly tendency to rebel against political leaders with whom they disagreed. “Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles,” Peter wrote, “so that in a case where they speak against you as those who do evil, they may, by observing your good works, glorify God in a day of visitation” (1 Pet 2:11-12). Though in Acts 4 when Peter was arrested for preaching in the temple, he rebelled against the Jewish leadership saying that he would obey God rather than them (Acts 4:19), Peter defended himself by calling attention to the good deed he and John performed in helping the lame man to walk (Acts 4:9-10).

(2) Christians should intercede for the salvation of all peoples, including secular authorities. In 1 Tim 2:1-7, Paul instructed Timothy and the church in Ephesus to make intercession for public officials the first order of business. Paul has two goals in mind: that governing authorities would be saved from their sin and brought into God’s kingdom, and that the church would be seen as a peaceable society.

Commentary Daniel Major Prophets Old Testament

Daniel 1-4

The situation of Daniel and friends exemplifies God’s jealousy for glory in the life of the exiles (Ezra 1:1-4; 6:1-22; Nehemiah 4; Esther 7-10). Daniel, who was given the Chaldean name Belteshazzar, was one of the select young men taken from Jerusalem when the king of Babylon came against the city in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah (Dan 1:1-7; 2 Kings 24). Life for these select exiles was characterized by a constant clash of worldviews. The qualities that made Daniel and company attractive to Nebuchadnezzar were the result of devotion to the Lord. These young men were selected for the king’s court because they gave evidence of the kind of life God desired for His people under the law: self-control, discipline, and truthfulness. The Chaldean teachers had a tough task; they would have to reprogram the values and goals of those like Daniel who had been captured in Judah.

Daniel recorded for the exiles what God had done for His people and what God would do for them in the future. Events and phrases from Daniel 1-4 resound throughout the New Testament and establish the logic of the storyline of Scripture.

(1) God has established means for His people to identify with Him. From the outset of the book, it is clear that Daniel and his friends understood that while they had been removed from the Promised Land, they were yet bound to the identity markers of Judaism, like food laws. For example, “Daniel determined that he would not defile himself with the king’s food or with the wine he drank” (Dan 1:8). Daniel proclaimed his Jewish identity even though he was outside of the Promised Land. Food laws, along with Sabbath observance and circumcision, enabled Jews to distinguish themselves from the surrounding nations. In time, though, many Jews saw food laws, Sabbath-keeping, and circumcision as a means of righteousness before God and people. Jesus countered the Jewish leadership by arguing that what goes into a person does not defile him but the evil that comes from the heart defiles a person (Matt 15:11//Mark 7:15). The Lord gave Peter a vision of unclean animals and told him to eat, removing the food laws that separated Jews from Gentiles (Acts 10:11-15). In Antioch, Paul confronted Peter because Peter had relapsed and begun to observe laws out of fear that some from Jerusalem would catch him fraternizing with Gentiles (Gal 2:11-14). The people of Christ identify with God by the work of the Holy Spirit in them (Gal 5:22-23).

(2) God’s people are to devote themselves to Him. The author of Hebrews praised the level of spiritual devotion exemplified by Daniel and company. In Dan 3:27, Daniel’s friends survived the fiery furnace and escaped without a hair being scorched. The author of Hebrews considered this a noteworthy example of how those who walk by faith are vindicated. He likely had Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in mind when he wrote that some in the days of old “quenched the raging of fire” (Heb 11:34). The author of Hebrews argued that since his audience was partaking in the greater new covenant, faithfulness like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego exhibited was baseline behavior.

(3) Through prophets and apostles, God has revealed His activity in the affairs of men and nations. John’s visions in the book of Revelation reflect Daniel’s prophecies at several points. In Dan 2:28-29, Daniel answered the king’s request for interpretation of his dream, saying that his God in heaven had revealed the mystery and that the dream concerned “what will happen in the last days” (Dan 2:28). At the outset of Revelation, John specified that he was writing what Jesus had given him—and that Jesus had received it from God (Rev 1:1, 19).

(4) God’s kingdom has been established on earth among men. In Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel 2, a stone broke from a mountain, crushing the king’s statue and becoming an indestructible kingdom (Dan 2:34, 44-45). The angel Gabriel spoke to Mary concerning the Child she would bear saying, “He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end” (Luke 1:33). John wrote that through the shedding of His blood, Jesus has made His followers a kingdom to His God and Father (Rev 1:6, 9; 5:10; 11:15; 12:10).

(5) God reigns supreme over human rulers that oppose His people. In Dan 2:47, after Daniel told the king of his dream of the statue and its interpretation, Nebuchadnezzar said, “Your God is indeed God of gods, Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries.” Again, in Dan 4:34-37, after Daniel interpreted the dream of the tree and its stump, Nebuchadnezzar spoke the praise of the Lord. In 1 Tim 6:15, Paul described God as the Sovereign, the King of kings and the Lord of lords who would send His Son back to earth a second time. In Revelation, John saw a vision of Jesus returning on a white horse as the King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev 17:14; 19:16).

Commentary Daniel Major Prophets Old Testament

Ezekiel 12-24

Ezekiel prophesied about Jerusalem to those who had already been taken from Jerusalem, exiled to Babylon. Why would God have the prophet speak words and perform symbolic acts in Ezekiel 12-24 that had little application to the immediate geographical situation of Ezekiel’s audience in Babylon? First, Ezekiel’s sermons and deeds reinforced God’s motive for judging His people. At every turn, the prophet reminded God’s people in the land of the Chaldeans that He was right for judging their idolatry and would finish the destruction He had announced concerning Jerusalem. Second, Ezekiel restated the obligations the exiles had to God for His grace on their lives. Ezekiel’s sermons were a word of mercy to the exiles; they were allowed to live—albeit under the rule of a foreign power—while many of their friends and family were not so blessed back in Jerusalem. Finally, Ezekiel set out the covenant loyalty God wanted from His people—even those who had been carried to the land of the Chaldeans. Ezekiel’s point for his immediate audience, to say nothing of how his sermons may have impacted those in Jerusalem, was that they should forsake all idolatry and live unto God alone.

The themes Ezekiel penned from Babylon contribute to the storyline of Scripture. Ezekiel’s prophecies helped the New Testament authors articulate how God’s people should live in a covenant relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

(1) God judges in righteousness. In Ezek 18:20, Ezekiel described the righteous judgment of the Lord. Paul affirmed that God’s judgment is without partiality but clarified that God’s judgment is according to the gospel revealed in Jesus Christ (Rom 2:16; see Acts 17:30-31). Ezekiel described the severity of God’s judgment by reasoning from the lesser to the greater. Since a wicked nation could not be spared even if the likes of Noah, Daniel, and Job interceded for it, “how much worse will it be when I send My four devastating judgments against Jerusalem—sword, famine, dangerous animals, and plague—in order to wipe out both man and animal from it!” (Ezek 14:21). John envisioned that the Lord would employ these same means—sword, famine, plague, and wild animals—to destroy those outside of Christ (Rev 6:8).

(2) Those not bearing the fruit of a covenant relationship with God will be condemned. In Ezekiel 15, the prophet pictured Israel as a fruitless vine, culpable and worthless (see also Isaiah 5). In John 15, Jesus employed the metaphor of a vineyard to describe the new era of salvation history. Jesus described Himself as the true vine, the unique source of spiritual fruit. Any who did not remain in Him and bear the fruit of that union would be cast out and burned (John 15:6). But all who did abide in Him, Jesus said, would bear fruit in prayer and know of the Father’s love for them (John 15:7-10).

(3) God’s people express their covenant relationship with Him by relying upon Him. In Ezek 20:10-26, Ezekiel condemned Israel for rejecting God’s law, especially the Sabbath command. God gave Israel the Sabbath as a way of expressing to the nations that He led them out of Egypt and would sustain them (Exod 16:4ff; 20:8-11; Num 15:32-36; Deut 4:1-14; 5:12-15). For Ezekiel, the Sabbath was a sign of Israel’s righteousness. But in Rom 10:4, Paul wrote that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. When Christ came, Paul argued, He fulfilled and expanded the Sabbath such that those who believe in Christ express their faith by daily relying upon Him with fellow Jews or Gentiles (Col 3:16-19; Gal 4:8-11). The author of Hebrews urged his audience to labor after Sabbath rest in Christ, laboring to live wholly unto Him with the church (Heb 3:7-4:11).

(4) Those in covenant with the Lord are to live differently than those who do not know God. In Ezek 20:34, 41, the prophet spoke of a day when the Lord would gather the scattered from the nations, bring them to the Promised Land, and demonstrate His holiness through them to the nations. Paul expressed this theme when writing to the Corinthians—a congregation with too strong a worldly affinity. Paul’s concern was not that the Corinthians leave their place on the Achaian peninsula and go to Judea but that they separate themselves from pagan practices and return fully to the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul’s logic in 2 Cor 6:17, “Come out from among them and be separate,’ says the Lord; ‘do not touch any unclean thing, and I will welcome you,’” echoes Ezek 20:41, the prophet’s word of grace that the Lord would once again accept His people in Jerusalem. Paul went on to urge the Corinthians, “Dear friends, since we have such promises, we should wash ourselves clean from every impurity of the flesh and spirit, making our sanctification complete in the fear of the Lord” (2 Cor 7:1).

Commentary Ezekiel Major Prophets Old Testament

Ezekiel 33-39

Ezekiel exhorted the exiles to acknowledge that—just as God was the cause of their captivity—He was also the hope of their restoration. Ezekiel 33-48 sounds this theme. The word of the prophet and his role as a watchman was confirmed when the exiles were informed that Jerusalem had fallen (2 Kings 25). Ezekiel likewise announced that the Lord’s jealousy for His own glory through His people in His land would lead to a time of favor and protection.

Ezekiel 33-39 establishes a paradigm for the storyline of Scripture. The prophet’s themes lay a foundation for understanding the character of the Messiah and His kingdom, the inauguration of the new covenant, the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost, and the final judgment of those who oppose God’s people.

(1) Ezekiel proclaimed the future messianic Kingdom. In Ezek 37:24, Ezekiel prophesied concerning the day when the Lord would gather His people to the Promised Land, saying, “My servant David will be king over them, and there will be one shepherd for all of them. They will follow My ordinances, and keep My statutes and obey them.” When Jesus saw the crowds gathering to hear Him, He felt compassion because they were like sheep without a shepherd (Matt 9:36//Mark 6:34). In John 10, Jesus employed Ezekiel’s shepherd motif to contrast His ministry with the leadership of the Pharisees, saying, “I am the good shepherd. I know My own sheep, and they know Me” (John 10:14); and, “My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:27). In Ezek 37:26, Ezekiel prophesied concerning the future day of restoration when the Lord would make an everlasting covenant of peace with His people, multiplying them and dwelling among them forever. Paul and the author of Hebrews understood Jesus to have fulfilled that which Ezekiel foretold (2 Cor 6:16; Heb 8:7-12; 13:20). Ezekiel prophesied about God’s personal presence with His people in Ezek 37:27-28: “My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be My people. When My sanctuary is among them forever, the nations will know that I the LORD, sanctify Israel.” This prophecy lays the foundation for understanding God’s presence in Christ (John 1:14) and among His people in the eternal state (Rev 21:1-4, 22-27).

(2) Ezekiel announced that the Lord would restore the exiles to the Promised Land and transform their spiritual disposition. In Ezek 36:24-27, Ezekiel spoke God’s word of promise to the exiles, saying, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will place My Spirit within you and cause you to follow My statutes and carefully observe My ordinances.” Moses had prophesied the same generations earlier (Deut 30:6). Similarly, in Ezek 37:14, the prophet recorded the declaration of the Lord concerning the future of His people: “I will put My Spirit in you, and you will live and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I am the LORD. I have spoken, and I will do it.” When Paul defended his apostleship to the Corinthians, he did so in light of the fact that the expectations of Moses and Ezekiel had been fulfilled. Paul wrote, “You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, recognized and read by everyone, since it is plain that you are Christ’s letter, produced by us, not written with ink but with the Spirit of the living God; not on stone tablets but on tablets that are hearts of flesh” (2 Cor 3:2-3). How could this be? John understood the Spirit to have been given to believers after the time of Christ’s death and resurrection (John 7:39). Jesus Himself said, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. He is the Spirit of truth.” (John 14:16-17a); and, “When the Counselor comes, the One I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father—He will testify about Me” (John 15:26).

(3) Ezekiel foretold the final battle the Lord would wage against those who oppose Him and His people. Ezekiel’s description of the destruction of Gog in Ezekiel 38-39 provides a framework for understanding John’s visions at the conclusion of Revelation. Like Ezekiel, John understood the sovereignty of God over those who oppose God’s people. John wrote that Satan—the one who stands behind all evil—would receive a measure of God’s wrath appropriate for one who had deceived Eve in the Garden and so many nations throughout history. According to John, the Lord would bind Satan for 1,000 years, allowing the earth to experience a period of peace. At the end of 1,000 years, the Lord would release Satan for a time of war and then throw him to the lake of fire for eternal punishment (Rev 20:7-10).

Commentary Ezekiel Major Prophets Old Testament

Ezekiel 40-48

The final chapters of Ezekiel bridge Exodus and Revelation, stitching the Old and New Testaments together. Ezekiel’s vision of restoration in Ezekiel 40-48 establishes a grid for understanding the storyline of Scripture. According to the New Testament authors, God’s jealousy to renew His people in Jerusalem and the temple is fulfilled in Christ’s atoning self-sacrifice and the presence of His Spirit among His people of all nations.

(1) The Spirit carried Ezekiel to a high mountain to reveal to the prophet the vision of restoration. Ezekiel stated that his prophetic vision of the future restoration of Israel began when God took him and set him on a very high mountain, the southern slope of which housed what resembled a city (Ezek 40:2). When Ezekiel described the new temple, he said, “The Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the inner court, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple” (Ezek 43:5; Exod 40:34-38; 1 Kgs 8:10-11; 2 Chron 5:13-14; 7:2). Toward the conclusion of Revelation, John wrote that an angel carried him away “in the Spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, arrayed with God’s glory” (Rev 21:10-11). John wrote that when the risen Christ spoke to him, the voice was like cascading waters (Rev 1:15), similar to the voice Ezekiel heard speaking to him in his vision (Ezek 43:2).

(2) Ezekiel saw a vision of the new temple in Jerusalem. Ezekiel saw an angelic figure employ a measuring rod to measure the size of the temple (Ezek 40:3). John’s vision of the New Jerusalem included a similar feature; John recorded that the angelic figure guiding his prophetic vision had “a gold measuring rod to measure the city, its gates, and its wall” (Rev 21:15b). In Ezek 45:2-3 and 48:8-13, Ezekiel noted that the section of the Promised Land belonging to the Lord was equal on all sides; likewise, the outer walls of the new temple complex would resemble a square (Ezek 42:20). These geometrical configurations were perhaps meant to reflect the Holy of Holies of the temple (1 Kgs 6:16//2 Chron 3:8-9). John stated that the new, heavenly Jerusalem was likewise a cube: “The city is laid out in a square; its length and width are the same. He measured the city with the rod at 12,000 stadia. Its length, width, and height are equal” (Rev 21:16). Concerning the new temple, the Lord told Ezekiel, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place for the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the Israelites forever” (Ezek 43:7). The prophet understood that the entire city of the New Jerusalem would be called, “Yahweh Is There” (Ezek 48:35). John wrote that in his visionary experience, “I heard a loud voice from the throne: ‘Look! God’s dwelling is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God’” (Rev 21:3). In Ezek 47:1, 7, and 12, the prophet described a river flowing eastward from underneath the temple, with many trees lining the river, each bearing seasonal fruit and never withering. John’s vision in Rev 22:1-5 reflected Ezekiel’s description of a life-giving river but the river John described had two distinguishing features. The river John saw flowed from the throne of God and the Lamb, and the fruit of the trees nourished by the river was for the healing of the nations.

(3) Ezekiel prophesied that sacrifices would be central to Israel’s temple. In Ezek 43:18, the prophet heard the word of the Lord concerning the construction of the altar, where burnt offerings were to be sacrificed and blood was to be sprinkled. The author of Hebrews described a heavenly tabernacle, where Christ’s blood was spilled (Heb 9:11-22). The temple of Ezekiel’s vision would be the place where Israel would offer continual and regular sacrifices. But the author of Hebrews noted that the new, heavenly tabernacle enjoyed only one sacrifice, saying, “He [Christ] doesn’t need to offer sacrifices every day, as high priests do—first for their own sins, then for those of the people. He did this once for all when He offered Himself” (Heb 7:27). The author of Hebrews did notice one parallel between the practices of Ezekiel’s new temple and Christian practices. Since the bull of the sin offering was to be burned “outside the sanctuary” (Ezek 43:21; Exod 29:14) and Christ suffered outside the city gates of Jerusalem, his audience should bear Jesus’ disgrace by going outside the structures of Judaism to identify with Jesus (Heb 13:11-13).

Commentary Ezekiel Major Prophets Old Testament

Ezekiel 25-32

Ezekiel warned and encouraged the exiles living in the land of the Chaldeans. These exiles had received the grace of God in a special way; their friends and family who remained in Jerusalem would be consumed by God’s wrath. The exiles were thus to fear the Lord and recognize that what was happening in the geopolitical developments of the day was not the result of Nebuchadnezzar’s power but God’s displeasure and wrath toward the idolatry of His people. In accord with Isaiah 13-23 and Jeremiah 46-51, Ezekiel pronounced the Lord’s judgment on the nations. What did the Lord have planned for Abraham’s descendants? Ezekiel proclaimed that the Lord would reassemble His people in the Promised Land; God’s word of correction was never His final word to the remnant.

In Ezekiel 25-32, the prophet described God’s judgment against both the historic enemies of Israel and the nation’s more recent adversaries. Ezekiel’s portrait of God’s justice against the nations that celebrated the devastation of Judah and Jerusalem informs expectations about God’s justice in the storyline of Scripture. Many of Ezekiel’s prophecies in Ezekiel 25-32 are employed by writers of the New Testament to encourage their audiences that God would destroy their enemies and vindicate His faithful ones.

(1) Ezekiel prophesied that God would execute His wrath on those institutions and individuals that exalt themselves over His people. In Ezek 27:22, the prophet noted that Sheba was one of Tyre’s trading partners, giving the city “gold, the best of all spices, and all kinds of precious stone for your merchandise.” John noted that opulent wealth characterized the success of Babylon such that when Babylon was destroyed, the merchants of the world mourned over their loss (Rev 18:11). Just as the world mourned over the loss of Tyre and all her abundance (Ezek 27:30), John wrote that those who watched the Lord’s wrath on Babylon would likewise lament, saying, “Woe, woe, the great city, clothed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, adorned with gold, precious stones and pearls; because in a single hour such fabulous wealth was destroyed” (Rev 18:16-17). Ezekiel described God’s angst with Tyre’s financial institutions and the nation’s arrogant leader. In Ezek 28:2, Ezekiel confronted the ruler of Tyre, saying, “Your heart is proud, and you have said, ‘I am a god; I sit in the seat of gods in the heart of the sea.’” Paul noted that the “man of lawlessness,” the antichrist, would be one like the ruler of Tyre, one who “opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he sits in God’s sanctuary, publicizing that he himself is God” (2 Thess 2:4). Paul went on to note that when Christ returns, He will destroy the man of lawlessness with the breath of His mouth (2 Thess 2:8). In Ezek 32:7, the prophet lamented for the king of Egypt, declaring to him the word of the Lord, saying, “When I snuff you out, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars. I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light.” These same images were employed by Jesus and the John to describe God’s final judgment (for example, Matt 24:29//Mark 13:24//Luke 21:25; Rev 6:12; 8:12). In Ezek 26:3 and 28:22, Ezekiel described the fall of Tyre and Sidon. Jesus also spoke of the downfall of these cities but said that the final judgment would be better for them and worse for towns like Bethsaida and Chorazin; the latter had rejected not the prophets of Israel, but One greater, the Messiah Himself (Matt 11:20-24//Luke 10:12-15).

(2) Ezekiel promised that God would personally vindicate His people. In Ezek 30:3, the prophet described the Day of the Lord’s vengeance upon the nations saying that that day was near. Ezekiel’s words reverberate in Jesus’ teaching about the nearness of the Day of the Lord and the need for His disciples to be watchful (Matt 24:36-44//Mark 13:35//Luke 17:26-36). In 1 Thess 4:16-18, Paul described the return of the Lord, emphasizing the vindication and hope it would bring for both the dead and the living in Christ. Paul told the Thessalonians that the Lord will descend from heaven with a shout, an archangel’s voice, and the sound of the trumpet of God. Paul said that the dead in Christ will rise first and after that those still alive in Christ will be caught up to heaven to be with the Lord forever. In Ezek 31:6, Ezekiel described the grandeur of Assyria, the nation who had conquered Israel (2 Kings 17). So great were the Assyrians that Ezekiel said, “All the birds of the sky nested in its branches, and all the animals of the field gave birth beneath its boughs; all the great nations lived in its shade.” Yet Assyria grew proud and the Lord destroyed her. Jesus employed the same agricultural metaphor but in reference to the kingdom of God. Despite the fact that its beginnings were as humble as a mustard seed, it would grow so large that birds of the sky could build their nests in it (Matt 13:31-32//Mark 4:30-32//Luke 13:18-19). Though the disciples were a small band, the growth of the kingdom over time vindicated their participation in God’s eternal plan.

Commentary Ezekiel Major Prophets Old Testament

Ezekiel 6-11

Ezekiel was terrified by the visions he received concerning the destruction of Jerusalem. In Ezekiel 6-11, the prophet was forced to endure visions of the Lord’s glory exiting Jerusalem and the temple. Yet, in accord with Jeremiah (Jer 31:31-34), Ezekiel foretold a time when the Lord would intervene and change the situation of His people so that they would display faithfulness of heart and enjoy His presence forever.

Ezekiel condemned Israel because the nation did not acknowledge the Lord as their God, failing to keep the first of the Ten Commandments (Exod 20:3; Deut 5:7). Since Israel did not publicly recognize the Lord in their lifestyle, they would be forced to recognize Him by experiencing His wrath. The Lord intended that a succession of disasters (Ezek 7:5) would awaken His people to their covenant obligations (Ezek 7:4, 9, 27b; see Jer 9:23-24). For Ezekiel, disastrous was the departure of the glory of the Lord from the temple (chs. 8-11).

Ezekiel spoke of the Lord’s faithfulness to His faithful ones and the new heart the Lord would give to His people. In the storyline of Scripture, Ezekiel 6-11 provides a framework for understanding God’s activity in the new covenant in Christ.

(1) God marks His people, distinguishing them from those who will be destroyed in judgement. In Ezekiel 9 the prophet described the destruction the Lord was about to bring upon Jerusalem through Nebuchadnezzar. In his vision, the prophet noted that one of the Lord’s servants traveled throughout Jerusalem, sealing with a mark on the forehead “the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations committed in it (Jerusalem)” (Ezek 9:4). While the remainder of the inhabitants of Jerusalem were to be destroyed, these marked ones were to be spared (Ezek 9:6). Ezekiel’s vision anticipates John’s vision in Revelation when John saw an angel cry out to the angels who were empowered for destruction, saying, “Don’t harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we seal the slaves of our God on their foreheads” (Rev 7:3). The latter group were not marked for their contrition regarding the idolatry committed in Jerusalem, but because their names had been “written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slaughtered” (Rev 13:8).

(2) The Spirit of God changes the hearts of God’s people so that their behavior displays their status. In Ezek 11:18-21, for the first time the prophet spoke of restoration. He proposed that the Lord would bring the exiles back to the Promised Land and they would remove the idols from it. Their new course of action would be the fruit of a new inner condition. The Lord said to Ezekiel, “I will give them one heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove their heart of stone from their bodies and give them a heart of flesh, so they may follow My statutes, keep My ordinances, and practice them. Then they will be My people, and I will be their God” (Ezek 11:19-20; see Jer 31:31-34; Heb 8:8-12). The word of the prophet resembled Moses’ comment to Israel on the plains of Moab generations earlier. Moses prophesied that one day the Lord would circumcise the hearts of His people, inclining their disposition toward Him (Deut 30:1-6). In Paul’s frame of thought, Ezekiel had received a vision of what would take place in Christ by the Spirit. In Romans, Paul countered those who argued that the people of God were to be physically circumcised saying that a Jew is one who is circumcised in the heart, by the Spirit (Rom 2:28-29). Writing to the Corinthians, Paul defended his new covenant ministry in the Spirit, saying, “You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, recognized and read by everyone, since it is plain that you are Christ’s letter, produced by us, not written with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on stone tablets but on tablets that are hearts of flesh” (2 Cor 3:3). Circumcision was a static sign of one’s lineage in Abraham, so different from the dynamic work of the Spirit, which Paul described in 2 Cor 3:17-18: “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. We all, with unveiled faces, are reflecting the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

Commentary Ezekiel Major Prophets Old Testament

Ezekiel 1-5

While Jeremiah prophesied to the exiles in Babylon (Jer 24:1-14), Ezekiel described how the exile affected God’s plans for His people in Jerusalem. Ezekiel was called to be a watchman who would warn God’s people of impending danger (Ezek 3:17-21). Ezekiel, like Jeremiah, had to contend with false prophets who proposed that—even while they were under Babylonian control because of the fall of Judah—Jerusalem would endure any external threat (Ezek 13:1-14:11).

Like Isaiah (Isa 6:1-3), Ezekiel’s prophetic call was in accord with a vision of the holiness and glory of God. The prophet said, “The appearance of the brilliant light all around was like that of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day. This was the appearance of the form of the LORD’s glory. When I saw it, I fell facedown and heard a voice speaking” (Ezek 1:28).

Ezekiel’s commission, like that of Jeremiah (Jer 1:4-10), included warnings about the difficulties of preaching to rebellious people (chs. 2-3). While the prophet was called to preach a hard message to a hardened people, the Lord equipped Ezekiel for the task, saying, “Look, I have made your face as hard as their faces and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. I have made your forehead like a diamond, harder than flint” (Ezek 3:8).

In a moving portrayal of how God arranged the ministry of the prophets in such a way that they felt what He felt concerning the rebellion of His people, Ezekiel was forced to lie down and observe the iniquity of Israel and Judah (ch. 4). The Lord commanded Ezekiel to observe how His people would be divided into thirds; one portion would be killed in Jerusalem, another would be burned, and the final third would be scattered (Ezek 5:1-4, 12). The Lord told Ezekiel why He was judging His people, saying, “After I have spent My wrath on them, they will know that I, the LORD, have spoken in My jealousy” (Ezek 5:13).

Ezekiel employed literary features of an ancient Jewish genre called “apocalyptic” to describe how the Lord would remove His people from the land and later restore them there. The apocalyptic features that Ezekiel used include a dualism of time and space (past/future, heaven/earth), catastrophes that function as signs of judgment, and the suspension of the natural laws of time and space. Ezekiel in these apocalyptic visions sees how God would remove Israel from exile and restore them to their land. In the storyline of Scripture, John and other New Testament authors employed Ezekiel’s apocalyptic theology to describe God’s revelation in Christ.

(1) God resides in the heavens and opens them to reveal Himself or affirm an act on earth. In Ezek 1:1, the prophet reported that he received his visions when the heavens were opened. The Gospel writers note that when Jesus was baptized, the heavens were opened and the Spirit descended upon Jesus (Matt 3:16//Mark 1:10//Luke 3:21), vocally affirming Jesus as His Son. When Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James, and John, God spoke from heaven to affirm that Jesus is His Son (Matt 17:5//Mark 9:7//Luke 9:35). After Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, many Greeks followed Jesus. In the presence of this crowd of mixed ethnicity, Jesus prayed for the Father to glorify His name. As a result, “a voice came from heaven: ‘I have both glorified it and will glorify it again!’” (John 12:28). When Stephen testified of Jesus, the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem raged against him. Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked upward into heaven. God affirmed Stephen’s bold speech by allowing Stephen to see His glory and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God (Acts 7:54-56). The author of Hebrews argued that since God revealed the new covenant as an unshakable, unchanging message from heaven, his audience should heed God’s word of grace and serve Him with reverence and awe (Heb 12:18-29). Peter argued that God’s affirmations of Jesus from heaven are grounds for trusting God’s revelation of Himself in Scripture (2 Pet 1:16-21).

(2) Magnificent living creatures surround God’s throne in heaven and attend to Him. In Ezek 1:5 and 13, the prophet noted the significance of four living creatures in his vision. In Rev 4:5-8, John described his vision of the heavenly throne room. He noted, “In the middle and around the throne were four living creatures covered with eyes in front and in back” (Rev 4:6). John’s description recalls Ezek 1:13, where the prophet’s vision included living creatures that appeared like burning coals and torches with fire passing between them.

(3) From heaven, God called prophets and apostles to speak for Him. In Ezek 2:8-3:3, the prophet described his call experience and the command the Lord gave him to eat the scroll of lamentation and woe. John had a similar experience concerning the book of the final judgment. He said, “Then I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It was as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I ate it, my stomach became bitter. And I was told, ‘You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings’” (Rev 10:9-11). Throughout Revelation, John wrote that the visions he was describing were given to him from heaven or included scenes that took place in heaven (for example, Rev 4:1-2; 5:13; 8:1; 10:1). The Lord did not reveal Himself from heaven exclusively to John. The Lord revealed Himself to Paul in a heavenly vision so wonderful that the Lord also gave Paul a thorn in his flesh so that the apostle would not boast of what the Lord had revealed to him (2 Cor 12:1-10).

Commentary Ezekiel Major Prophets Old Testament

Category: <span>Major Prophets</span>