READ IT! - Introduction to Ezekiel 34-40

Readings for this week

Monday: Ezekiel 34
Tuesday: Ezekiel 35
Wednesday: Ezekiel 36
Thursday: Ezekiel 37
Friday: Ezekiel 38
Saturday: Ezekiel 39
Sunday: Ezekiel 40

Introduction to Ezekiel 34-40

Chapter 34 

In chapters 33-39, Ezekiel declares God’s promise of restoration to his people. In chapter 34, Ezekiel tells the parable of the good shepherd. Ezekiel compared Israel’s leaders to shepherds who tended their flock (the people). These shepherds fed themselves instead of the flock. They abused and mistreated the flock. And so The flock was scattered to all kinds of places on a “day of darkness.” God promised to be a shepherd for His people and to bring them back from all of the strange places to which they had been scattered.

Later, the goats of the flock began to “muddy the waters” and “trample the pastures” so that the sheep could no longer eat or drink. God said he would appoint His good shepherd “David” to come and take care of his flock, and that He would separate the sheep from the goats.

God says: “I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of savage beasts so that they may live in the wilderness and sleep in the forests in safety. I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing. The trees will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them.” 

Chapter 35 

Chapter 35 contains an extra oracle against Edom. The Edomites had sided with the Babylonians against Judah, so Ezekiel gave them an extra oracle of judgment. 

Chapter 36 

Ezekiel then describes the reversal of Israel’s disgrace. God says through him:

“For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God.” 

Chapter 37 

The hand of the LORD came upon Ezekiel and took him to a valley full of “dry bones.” God asked him, “Can these bones live?” Ezekiel said, “You alone know.” God commanded Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones. When he did, the bones began to rattle and came together to form skeletons. Then “tendons and flesh appeared on them” and “skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.” God told Ezekiel to “prophesy to the breath” and “the breath” came and entered the bodies and they became living beings. God said that these bones were the people of Israel who had lost all hope.

“This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land.”

God then told Ezekiel to take a stick with Joseph’s name on it and a stick with Judah’s name on it and join them together, representing the reunification of God’s divided people in the north and the south. God said that they would get their land back, He would make a covenant of peace with them, and “David” would rule over them. 

Chapters 38-39 

Up to this point, Ezekiel’s messages had focused mainly on events surrounding his own historical setting, but here he looks into the future. No one knows what “Gog and Magog” mean, but they appear to describe the ultimate foe of God’s people. They are mentioned in the book of Revelation in the New Testament, but are confusing there, too. Here, Ezekiel and Revelation similarly describe the great destruction of this ultimate foe. Gog and Magog would gather the nations of the world together to fight against God’s people. God would cause all creatures on earth to tremble and He would overturn the mountains. God would pour down burning sulfur upon His enemies. The birds of the air would eat all the corpses. It will take seven months to bury all the bodies. God’s people will burn all the weapons and use them for fuel. God would pour out his Spirit on His people and the whole world would know that he is God. 

Chapter 40 

The last several chapters of the book describe Ezekiel’s vision of the New Jerusalem. Much of this final vision of Ezekiel pertained to the new temple God was planning. This vision describes in detail the schematics of this new temple.