Be Reverent – Part 3

The book of Ezekiel

600 590 580

605

Babylon conquers Assyria and sets out to subdue rest of Ancient Near East

605

600 590 580

605

King Jehoiakim swears allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar.

605

600 590 580

597

Jehoiakim rebels. Jerusalem besieged and rebellion crushed.

597

600 590 580

597

25 year-old priest Ezekiel taken to Babylon as hostage.

597

600 590 580

593

Ezekiel called by God to become prophet.

Ezekiel 1-3

593

600 590 580

593-588

Oracles of doom.

Ezekiel 4-24

593 588

15 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 ‘Son of man, how is the wood of a vine different from that of a branch from any of the trees in the forest? 3 Is wood ever taken from it to make anything useful? Do they make pegs from it to hang things on? 4 And after it is thrown on the fire as fuel and the fire burns both ends and chars the middle, is it then useful for anything? 5 If it was not useful for anything when it was whole, how much less can it be made into something useful when the fire has burned it and it is charred?

6 ‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: as I have given the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest as fuel for the fire, so will I treat the people living in Jerusalem. 7 I will set my face against them. Although they have come out of the fire, the fire will yet consume them. And when I set my face against them, you will know that I am the Lord. 8 I will make the land desolate because they have been unfaithful, declares the Sovereign Lord.’

Ezekiel 15

‘“I the Lord have spoken. The time has come for me to act. I will not hold back; I will not have pity, nor will I relent. You will be judged according to your conduct and your actions, declares the Sovereign Lord.”’

Ezekiel 24: 14

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588-587

King Zedekiah revolts. Jerusalem besieged and is destroyed.

587

600 590 580

585

News of Jerusalem’s destruction reaches Ezekiel

Ezekiel 33: 21-22

585

21 In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month on the fifth day, a man who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me and said, ‘The city has fallen!’ 22 Now the evening before the man arrived, the hand of the Lord was on me, and he opened my mouth before the man came to me in the morning. So my mouth was opened and I was no longer silent.

Ezekiel 33: 21-22

600 590 580

585-573

Oracles of hope.

Ezekiel 33-48

585

15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

Deuteronomy 30: 15-18

Old Covenant

New Covenant

Jesus

24 ‘Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.’

Matthew 7: 24-27