NORTHERN STYLE NEWSWATCH No. 49
CREDO
`Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year . . . '
The Book of Ezekiel, ever the hunting ground for modern-day `prophets', opens with a
clear dating which therefore brings it very much into our present-day historical and spiritual
time. This Book, along with the Book of Daniel, has come under much attack over recent
years as the `higher critics' (as one scholar wrote) `used the critical knife on all the Old
Testament prophets, dissecting them with much enthusiasm whilst seeking to remove the
spiritual element from God's Word'. Leaving the `higher critics' to their unbelief, we find
that even amongst the Lord's true disciples these prophetic Books together with the Book of
Revelation - all with heady supernatural visions and apocalyptic imagery - are often
quietly ignored or left to those with `doom and gloom' messages. Ezekiel's name itself,
which has a meaning of `El is strong, or strengthen us', tells its own message, that what
lies within the `covers' of this Book has clear warnings of trouble, but all within the Will
and Purpose of El, who strengthens us through those times. However, as prophetic Books
are a Living Word, breathed by God for the understanding of His people, such generalities
will not do! His Word must reveal His Purpose so that His people will be strengthened
during difficult times knowing that the end result will reveal the Faithfulness and
Righteousness of God.
The Book of Ezekiel is not set out in strict chronological order for the visions and prophecies
are recorded and set in Canonical order that we might have a reasoned and logical
understanding of what is happening to God's covenanted people - there is a spiritual
dimension here which cannot be set out in strict chronological sequence, and as such reveals
its own message. We have mentioned on many occasions that the structure of the Word of
God often speaks its own message which strengthens and confirms the reasoned narrative.
In the Hebrew Canon of Scripture, with its eight Books of the Prophets, Ezekiel is placed
in the section of the Latter Prophets. In the first section of four Books we see the Law
principle at work . . . Israel brought into the Land leading to Israel being taken out of the
Land because of the sin of idolatry. In the section of the four Latter Prophets we see the
Faith principle at work . . . of trusting in One alone Who would come to redeem and
restore, and so in the structure we hear the Voice of God speaking to His people! It is a
constant theme throughout Scripture: First would come Torah, the five Books of the Law,
pointing to God's Grace enshrined in the Law. Only then would come the Books of the
Prophets, calling His people to Faith in His promises. As if to emphasize this principle the
eight Books of the Prophets are then separated into two groups of four, revealing the
principle of Law and Faith, for that is the purpose of the Law - to lead us as a
`schoolmaster' to our Redeemer and into a relationship with God. The Book of Ezekiel,
with all its incredible imagery and apocalyptic visions, is set within the `Faith section' of
the Latter prophets, which has a clear message for the Lord's people in these end days. And
so to the title of this Credo `Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year . . '.
As we have already said, the Book of Ezekiel is full of awesome visions and dire prophetic
words of warning to a `stubborn and rebellious people' and is therefore difficult to equate
with faith, which speaks of grace freely given to an undeserving people. However we need
to lift our thoughts beyond the detail of the awesome narrative in order to see the Divine
Grace which enabled Ezekiel - and those who follow on - to hold to the Faithfulness of
God in His dealings with His people. The Book opens with the call and commission of
Ezekiel to speak to `a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me to this very day', and
continues on for many chapters revealing the total desolation that is to come over the land
of this rebellious people through war and the catastrophic despoiling of the land that war
brings - for a land that has no people left to till and harvest it soon becomes a desolate
wasteland! The Word of the LORD now turns to `the prophets of Israel . . . those who
prophecy out of their own imaginations'. It then moves on to speak to `some of the elders
. . . these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling-blocks before their
faces. Should I let them enquire of Me at all? Therefore speak to them and tell them . .'.
There then follows the judgements that are to fall upon the land and upon the city: `How
much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem My four dreadful judgements - sword
and famine and wild beasts and plague - to kill its men and their animals'.
It ends with Jerusalem being likened to a wayward infant now grown into a harlot - a
prostitute, an adulterous wife: `Therefore, you prostitute, hear the Word of the LORD . . .
therefore I am going to gather all your lovers with whom you found pleasure . . . I will
gather them against you from all around and will strip you in front of them, and they will see
all your nakedness'. Who will outwork this judgement? A parable follows, describing the
Babylonian king - the agent of the LORD's judgement. Against whom? The parable is
answered by a proverb: `What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land
of Israel: `The father eats sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge? " These
terrifying prophecies culminate in a heart-rending lament for the princes of Israel, the cream
of the nobility of the land, the leaders of God's people now under judgement: `Take up a
lament concerning the princes of Israel and say . . . this is a lament and is to be used as a
lament'. There is within the meaning of the word `lament' a deep, passionate experience
of grief, which we have seen expressed in the Lamentations of Jeremiah when he lamented
his lamentations - a heart-rending expression of grief emanating from the depths of his soul
over something that need not have happened. Such is the lamentation of the LORD over His
beloved people . . . it need not have been!
As if to emphasize the Word of the LORD you will find as you read through the remaining
chapters of the Book of Ezekiel the same pattern emerging in the narrative. In chapter 20
"In the seventh year, in the fifth month on the tenth day, some of the elders of Israel came
to enquire of the LORD, and they sat down in front of me . . . `Will you judge them, son of
man? Then confront them with the detestable practices of their fathers and say to them'".
Chapter 21 opens with the terrifying words against the land and the cities: `Son of man, set
your face against Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuary. Prophesy against the land
of Israel'. In chapter 23 Jerusalem is likened to `two women, daughters of the same
mother. They became prostitutes in Egypt . . . . I will stir up your lovers against you'.
There then follows parables concerning the Babylonian wars, followed on by the well-known
and often-quoted chapter 33 where Ezekiel is called to speak to his "countrymen and say
to them: `When I bring the sword against a land and the people of the land choose one of
the men and make him their watchman' . . ".
This double emphasis on the Word of Judgement concludes with the people living in a
wasteland and lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem and the land, and the carrying away
into captivity of their princes, the king and his nobles, who once proudly assembled in the
city of Jerusalem with its glorious Temple wherein the Glory of the LORD was manifest
between the mighty cherubim: `Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel,
prophesy and say to them . . . woe to the shepherds of Israel'. However, if we leave the
Book of Ezekiel at this stage we have not heard the true Voice of the LORD for if the
opening chapters speak of the destruction of Jerusalem and the desolation of the land and
the captivity of the people, now the faithfulness of the LORD speaks of a total restoration of
His people with a new heart of flesh, not of stone; of a nation restored under One King;
of the reconcilliation of Israel and Judea; of the mountains of Israel flourishing and bearing
fruit; of Jerusalem flourishing again and at its centre a Temple filled with the Glory of the
LORD; through desolation . . . through war and famine and captivity . . . to a restoration
that not even the mighty forces of Gog of the land of Magog could stop. Such is the
certainty of Ezekiel of the faithfulness of the LORD, no matter how terrifying the words that
he was instructed to speak against a rebellious people - a people within the Covenant of
God which is unbreakable and unshakeable even when set in the midst of the apocalyptical
visions that Ezekiel received! As we know, God's Word is a living, breathing Word, and
these terrifying visions and prophetic words have been fulfilled, and yet are still to be
fulfilled for prophecy `rolls on' into its eventual fulfillment - all within the LORD's timing
and for His purpose - which is to display His Glory and to fulfil His Word to His people!
What, then, can be learned from this overview of the structure of the Book of Ezekiel?
There are many who have dipped into various chapters for their teaching on the coming
`Ezekiel wars of chapters 38-39'. Others use it as a basis for calling `watchmen upon the
walls of Jerusalem'. Others of a more `prophetic nature' speak their warnings of `woes
and lamentations' to an `apostate Church', forgetting that we are called by Christ Jesus in
an Age of Grace. Still others speak a self-righteous word so as to remove `the blood from
their hands' . . . and so on and so forth! In order to see what can indeed be learned from
the `structure' we turn first to chapter 11: (v 14-17)
" The Word of the LORD came to me, `Son of man, your brothers - your brothers who are
your blood-relatives and the whole house of Israel - are those of whom the people of
Jerusalem have said, `They are far away from the LORD; this land was given to us as our
possession'. Therefore say: This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Although I sent them
far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I
have been a sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone. Therefore say: This
is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will gather you back from the nations and bring you back
from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you back the land of Israel
again'. "
These words were being spoken to and against a number of people, some of whom were
Ezekiel's blood-relatives, and within the setting of this chapter he is speaking the Word of
the LORD against the leaders of the people - `among them Jaazaniah, son of Azzur and
Pelatiah son of Benaiah'. They were speaking mocking and dismissive words against those
(including Ezekiel) who had been carried away into exile along with King Jehoiachin in the
first wave of the Babylonian wars against Israel. These first exiles were now being scorned
and accused of being outside the will of God - as they were outside the land of Israel -
unable to partake in the religious rituals and ceremonies. Clearly, they said, `they are far
away from the LORD'. That these words sprang from the self-righteous and proud lips of
people who had no understanding of the LORD's ways can be seen in a verse in chapter 33:
`In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month on the fifth day, a man who escaped from
Jerusalem came to me and said: The city has fallen'. The leaders who had earlier spoken
their mocking and dismissive words, those far away from the LORD, would now find
themselves in captivity - if they survived the sword and the cruelty of the Babylonians, who
were not noted for the `human rights' of their captives!
Now we can turn to the opening words of the Book of Ezekiel: `In the thirtieth year, in the
fourth month on the fifth day, while I was among the exiles by the Kebah River . . .'. Much
speculation has been made over the words `in the thirtieth year', seeking to link it into
events in Ezekiel's life under King Jehoiachin - all to no avail. Clearly Ezekiel's intention
in writing those words was to draw attention to a significant event which spoke more
powerfully to him as he was caught up into the awesome Presence of the LORD and told to
speak of catastrophic events which would happen to his people far away in the Land of
Promise. If we count the years back from the time of those opening words of Ezekiel in
484 BC we arrive at 513 BC - which was the year in which King Josiah, in the eighteenth
year of his reign, heard the joyful news of the finding of `the Book of the Law'. In that
same year the King gave this order to the people: `Celebrate the Passover to the LORD your
God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant. Not since the day of the judges who led
Israel, not throughout the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah, had any such
Passover been observed'. From 513 BC to 484 BC is exactly 29 years and it was this
tremendous event (the Passover to the LORD) which so moved Ezekiel in the `thirtieth
year' as he contemplated the terrible apostacy that had occurred during those years leading
to King Jehoiachin being taken into captivity along with Ezekiel and others - his blood
relatives.
We know from Scripture that that event thirty years earlier had marked out the beginning of
a fourty-year Probation Period, and Ezekiel recalled those earlier glorious days. If we now
turn to chapter 33 we can close this Probation Period which began with the finding of the
Book of the Law and led to a glorious Feast of Passover in the Temple in Jerusalem. Verse
21 begins with the words: `In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month on the fifth
day, a man who escaped from Jerusalem came to me and said: The city has fallen'. With
an adjustment within the days and months of the years this brings us to the eleventh year in
which King Zedekiah was led in chains out of Jerusalem as it was put to the sword and the
people taken into captivity in Babylon. Simple arithmetic will put 29 years and 11 years
together which will bring us to the end of the 40 years of that Probation Period. We are
aware that at this point eyes may become glazed at this repetition in our Credos, but we can
only stress the importance of what we believe to be unfolding today, that of another
Probation Period which began in 1967! We make no claim to be setting dates, other than
to set out the Scriptural principle of Probation Periods which regularly occur in Scripture as
examples and warnings for God's people now living in an Age of Grace! Why, then, is there
yet another Credo . . . `a variation on a theme'? Ezekiel was called by the LORD to speak
in `the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin' and was ridiculed along with others who
went into exile at that time (`even your blood-brothers') as being `far away from the
LORD'. It did not stop Ezekiel from speaking of what he had seen and heard and time would
reveal the truth of what he saw and faithfully spoke of for `when all this comes true - and
it surely will - then they will know that a prophet has been among them'.
We are aware that the Church lives its spiritual life in this Age of Grace, which is different
in its outworking to that of the Age of the Law, but we nevertheless need to heed the
warnings of Scripture. It is approximately ten years ago since the `Toronto Experience'
engulfed the Church in the West and there began a devastating spiritual attack which split and
separated believers in Churches and Fellowships and caused attacks and counter-attacks upon
the integrity of the Lord's people. Some thirty years earlier we saw a glorious awakening
in the lives of the people of God and countless numbers of precious souls were gathered into
the Kingdom of God. Many people who had experienced that glorious outpouring stood
aghast at the devastation caused by the `Toronto Experience' and what followed on from
it. And so they were either isolated and driven from their Fellowships or they left of their
own accord as they could not accept what was happening. And so they found themselves in
a physical `captivity' as real as that of Ezekiel and his fellow-exiles, often bearing the
`living scorn' of those who stayed and having to cope with condemnatory words from many
leaders against `those who could not go on with the Lord'! Faint words of caution were
heard from some who were seen to be national spiritual leaders - words soon forgotten as
there was no strong Scriptural warning given for whatever reason - and so the apostacy
grew and deepened without anyone being aware of what had happened, engrossed as they had
become in `ministry programmes' and `blessings'! Those who had left were said to be
`far away from the LORD; the land was given to us as our possession'!
We have often heard and mused over comments of wondering what happened to those who
made their stand against that evil intrusion into the life-blood of the Church. One or two
`ministries' are still heard to be speaking against it - now largely ignored by others who
wonder what the fuss is about. If, however, we take the warnings of Scripture seriously,
which are there for our example, we can see a Scriptural pattern unfolding - of some
`taken into exile'; of some seemingly `watchmen on the city walls' of the Church in order
to speak not only of the end-result of a Probation Period but also of the Faithfulness of God
to fully restore His people so that the Glory of the Lord may be revealed through preaching
the Good News of the Kingdom of God to a world in great distress. To those who find
themselves in such an `exile', we offer in this Credo the words of the LORD from the Book
of Ezekiel:
" The name of the city from that time will be Adonia Shammah -
The LORD is there! "
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For comment or for future Newswatch letters our e-mail address is:info@northernstyletrust.com
Our telephone No. is:(01493) 441891
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