Does God Exist? - Part 3
Abstract
In the New Testament, the highly schooled members of the Council could not hide their surprise at the level of intelligence and depth of knowledge possessed by the apostles just because they had spent some time with Jesus. After all, these were mere artisans at best. This is the kind of wisdom to be gained from taking time to study a man like Prophet Ezekiel. He reveals that God is a covenant keeping God. He is the Almighty God, and nothing is impossible for Him. Ezekiel is the only person other than Jesus Christ that God addresses as “Son of man”. In the 21st Century, we still have physically existing evidence of the manifestation of his prophecies. Ezekiel exposes us to the workings of the Holy Ghost and especially, the prophetic ministry.
Prophet Ezekiel – The Other Son of Man
Theme of Ezekiel’s Ministry – What Did Ezekiel Talk About
God is a covenant keeping God. He is the Almighty God, and nothing is impossible for Him. There is no situation impossible for Him to turn around. Just repent, look unto Him, find His glory and your redemption is certain. Recalcitrance, on the other hand leads to utter destruction. This is what Ezekiel was about. Unfortunately, God had to use Judah and Jerusalem to teach this lesson.
The Setting In Ezekiel’s Time
Judah, the southern kingdom of Israel refused to learn from the lesson of the northern kingdom which remained in captivity in Assyria because of their sins. The same sins that made God to punish northern Israel became prevalent in Judah. This was despite more than one hundred years of slavery that the northern kingdom was going through. In addition, Judah refused to listen to warnings from the prophets including Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, and Habakkuk. Hence, God held back when Judah got caught in the territorial battles between Babylon and Pharaoh. Caught in-between they were attacked and overrun not just by these big empires; smaller neighboring tribes also took advantage of them (2 Kings 22-25).
Despite, Josiah’s attempt to revamp the situation after they discovered the five books of Moses, the original laws, even he, Josiah could not complete the cleanup. This was the climate of Ezekiel’s ministration as was carried into exile at his prime; just before he could become a priest at the Temple. He went through all these in person, in visions and in lessons from history. This helps to put his book in the context of his social environment and his personal psychology as God ministers through him.
We can surmise the themes of Ezekiel preaching to be that God is a covenant keeping God who will never abandon His marriage vow to Israel, that Jerusalem will fall, and after Jerusalem fell, Jerusalem will be revived with glory greater than the past. The non-negotiable lordship of God ringing through themes in different phases are that Israel must know that God is the Lord, that Israel’s neighbors who constantly exploited the weaknesses of Israel will suffer punishment for it and will come to confess that Israel’s God is the Lord. Finally, the entire world will recognize that Israel’s God is the Lord (Ezekiel 36:37).
Take-Away From Prophet Ezekiel
God abhors idolatry and punishes it severely.
Man can easily be swayed by contemporary social forces that surreptitiously lures him away from God into all forms of sin, including idolatry. However, God appoints ministers to warn of the people of their sins. Even when the righteous suffer from corporate punishment, God marks them out for redemption and restoration just as we saw on the Passover night, and even with the destruction of Jerusalem in Ezekiel’s account (Ezekiel 36:22-30).
God divinely endows His prophets with supernatural insight, foresight, and oversight. Their visions are not limited by space or time. Insight gives visions into what other people cannot see. Foresight allows them to see ahead into the future before events happen in real life. Oversight gives them the ability to decode these events as they unfold. Records prove that 75 percent of Ezekiel predictions have occurred with uncanny accuracy. Many of them centuries after he died. In fact, Ezekiel’s imagery is said to hold the key to understanding significant parts of the Book of Revelations.
Another example is about the city of Tyre whose arrogant king called himself god. Since God does not tolerate such satanic pride, he showed Ezekiel what will happen to Tyre. Ezekiel prophesized that Tyre will be thrown into the sea and its location will be marked by the drying nets of fishermen (Ezekiel 26:19-21). Even though that prophecy was given a 1 in 75,000 chance of happening as people of that time mocked, Tyre in fact got thrown into the sea. In the 21st Century, 3,000 plus years later, its location remains a drying ground for fishing nets.
The Book of Ezekiel may appear long, melodramatic, and complicated, understanding this prophet is central for man to fully grasp the mind of God as revealed in the scriptures. He takes of from before the concept of time until when time will cease to exist, through preaching and prophecies that connect the past, present and the future. Ezekiel is the only prophet that God addresses as the son of man. God calls him this name 83 times, signifying that it was not chance. Only Jesus Christ shares that singular description with Ezekiel. He is credited as the Old Testament prophet who reveals the dimensions of the Holy Ghost centuries before that dispensation.
Ezekiel also makes us realize that the leader of the New Jerusalem will be a personality that combines the heredity of prophet, royalty, and priest. It is worthy of note that traditionally, Israel had been led by prophets, then kings, and then priests. The prophets range from Moses to Samuel. They were followed by kings from Saul to Zedekiah. The reign of the priests started from Zerubbabel to Ananias and Caiaphas. We suspect that only the return of Jesus can match this prophecy. After all, we still expect the touch of Jesus Christ’s feet to split Mount Olives (Zechariah 14:4).
| Part 1 - History of Mankind | Part 2 – Call to Prophecy | Part 3 – Ezekiel’s Ministry | Part 4 – Book of Ezekiel | Part 5 – Demonstration of Power |
Conclusion
Many genuinely question the existence of God. A good look at the records of Prophet Ezekiel helps to put many of their concerns in perspective and probably answers them all. God reveals himself in a way that is unprecedented in this book. It is a wonderful resource for literary students because of its high level of literary flair as decodes a lot of mystery and power while providing proof about the concern and intervention of God in the affairs of men. A study of Ezekiel also helps to respond to the concerns of many on the centrality of Israel, an apparently non-Christian nation as the heart of Christian references and the relevance of Israel and unalloyed commitment for the survival of the followers of Christ. The tangibility of physical evidence provided to us by Ezekiel certainly proves the intervention of extra-natural forces in the affairs of men. Ezekiel calls Him, God.
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