Home and Church Bible Study Commentaries from the Book of Ezekiel

By Larry D. Alexander

During this second invasion (597 B.C.), Nebuchadnezzar deported an even larger group of Judah’s upper and middle class citizens to Babylon, and among this group was a young twenty-six year old priest in training named, Ezekiel. This group of Jewish captives was placed in the region of Tel Aviv, along a wide canal that links two branches of the Euphrates known as the Kebar River. There, they were treated more as colonists than slaves and enjoyed many privileges.
It was there on the banks of the Kebar River, that, in 593 B.C., a now thirty old Ezekiel received his calling from GOD (Ezekiel 1 & 2). Thirty years old is the minimum age that priests are actually allowed to begin serving in the temple (Numbers 4:1-3). And so, as the LORD would have it, it was from that place, that Ezekiel first served the LORD by delivering his first prophetic message to his fellow captives in Babylon.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Mar 2, 2016
• ISBN: 9781329944619

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Home and Church Bible Study Commentaries from the Book of Ezekiel

Home and Church

Bible Study

Commentaries from

the

Book

of

EZEKIEL

by

Larry D. Alexander

Copyright © 2016 by Larry D. Alexander

All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.

ISBN: 978-1-329-94461-9

No part of this book may be reproduced

for any purpose except for brief excerpts

regarding reviews or articles by magazines,

newspapers or broadcast, and, use in churches

for Sunday school, bible study, etc.

without the express written consent of the publisher.

All Scripture are from the King James Version, with somesmall excerpts from various New Living Translations

Larry D. Alexander

214-649-7671

[e-mail]

Cover designed by

Larry D. Alexander

OTHER BOOKS ON CHRISTIANITY BY LARRY D. ALEXANDER INCLUDE:

* Sunday school lessons from the book of the Acts of the Apostles

* Sunday school lessons from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans

*Sunday school lessons from the Gospel according to John Mark

* Home Bible study commentaries from the Gospel of John

* Home and Church Bible study commentaries from the book of Hebrews

* Home and Church Bible study commentaries from Paul’s letter to the Romans

*Home and Church Bible Study Commentaries from Galatians, Ephesians, & Philippians

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Larry D. Alexander is a well-known visual artist, who was called by GOD several years ago to learn, and to teach GOD’s holy word. Alexander has been teaching Sunday school and bible studies for the past thirteen years, and, has an online weekly Sunday school lesson commentary (http://larrydalexander.blogspot.com/index.html) that is based on the International Sunday School Lesson curriculum.

He is a devout Christian who lives with his wife of 36 years, Patricia, in Texas’ Dallas-Fort Worth area. They have four grown children, one son, and three daughters, and, they also have five grand children. Alexander has written several books that teach and train on the Christian faith doctrine of JESUS CHRIST. Among them are the trilogy, Sunday lessons from the book of the Acts of the Apostles, Sunday school lessons from the Gospel according to John Mark, and Sunday school lessons from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans, which were aimed at helping Christians conform, more fully, to the word of GOD, in their churches, homes, and communities. Alexander believes that too many of today’s professed Christians have proven themselves to be very naïve concerning the spiritual battle that is set before us, and are grossly unprepared for Christian service, or to fulfill the Great Commission of CHRIST JESUS.

Alexander’s trilogy was followed by bible study guides such as "Home Bible Study Commentaries from the Gospel of John", a complete chapter by chapter study guide of the Apostle John’s account of JESUS’ three-year ministry here on earth, "Home and Church Bible Study Commentaries from the Book of Hebrews", the book of the bible that, perhaps, exalts the deity of CHRIST JESUS more than any other book in scripture, and Home and Church Bible Study Commentaries from Paul’s Letter to the Romans. This, latest book, "Home and Church Bible Study Commentaries from the books of Galatians, Ephesians, and Philippians" is written to give old and new believers a little more insight into the letters of the Apostle Paul, and the doctrine of Christianity.

This study guide is written to promote Christian spiritual growth, as well as to help us to understand JESUS’ life and purpose, and our own life and purpose, as HIS followers. This, like all of Alexander’s books, serves to help develop understanding, fear, and reverence for the ONLY WISE GOD, WHO is our SAVIOR through JESUS CHRIST WHO sent us the HOLY SPIRIT.

HOW WE GOT OUR BIBLE

Much has been written about how GOD inspired men to write the pages of the bible. GOD used about forty men to write the scriptures and some of these authors remain a mystery even today. The writers of the last chapter of Deuteronomy, the book of Job, and many of the Psalms are classic examples of biblical texts with unknown human authors. We do not have a single manuscript in the handwriting of Moses, Isaiah, Paul, or any other original writer. That of course always leads to this eternal question, "How do we know that the bible we have today is the written word of those original writers who were inspired by GOD?

We already know that GOD did not inspire all those who copied, or translated the bible into various versions, as HE did the original writers. It is quite evident to those who study to be scholars, that, while the original writers were guided and kept from making mistakes by the power of GOD, both copyists and translators were not, and, could and did make errors.

Even though we have no part of the bible in the handwriting of the original writers, we do have two kinds of sources from which we can learn what the original writers wrote. These sources are called manuscripts and versions. Manuscripts are documents written by hand. In the days before printing was invented, this was the only way of producing books. There are no known bible manuscripts that were written by the original authors available to man today. However, we have many copies of manuscripts that were copied from the original manuscripts, or, copies of them.

Versions are translations of a document into a different language. Some of our ancient versions were actually translated from copies of manuscripts older than any we have today. Therefore, they help us to know exactly what the original writers wrote.

The Old Testament books were written in the Hebrew and Aramaic languages between 1400 and 400 B.C. The oldest bible manuscript copies we have today were the ones found among the now famous Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947 and later. These copies date back to circa 100 B.C. The oldest known version of the Old Testament is the Greek version known as the Septuagint, which was written by seventy Jewish scholars in Alexandria, Egypt in about 250 B.C., from Hebrew manuscript copies older than any we have today.

In the first half of the second century the bible was translated into Syriac, and not much later, into Latin. A more careful Latin version was completed, around 400 B.C., by the famous scholar Jerome called the Vulgate, which means common and proper. This version became the official bible of the Roman Catholic Church, and, of Western Europe. Made from very ancient manuscript copies, this book helps us to be sure the bible we have is approximately the same as the original writings.

In 1380 John Wycliffe and his team of scholars translated the bible into middle English, a blend of "Norman French and Anglo-Saxon languages. This version was translated directly from the Latin Vulgate. In 1525, William Tyndale wrote an English version, of the New Testament. He later translated some of the Old Testament books into English. His version was translated directly from the original Hebrew and Greek manuscript copies. English churchmen angrily opposed Tyndale’s version, and they, along with king Henry VIII, decided instead to go with an English version written by Myles Coverdale. Coverdale used the Latin Vulgate and Martin Luther’s German version for his translations.

In Geneva, Switzerland, William Wittington and his group of scholars wrote a revised English version that came to be known as the Geneva Bible in 1560. Some of the marginal notes in the Geneva bible offended the Bishops of the Church at England, and this led to the writing of the Bishops Bible in 1568. Through the remainder of that century, the Bishop’s Bible and the Geneva Bible were split among the churchmen in popularity.

In 1604, however, King James I appointed a commission of 54 scholars, led by Robert Barker, to write a new English version of scriptures. They mostly followed the Bishop’s Bible, but they also consulted other English translations, along with the German, Greek and Hebrew text, the Syriac, the Septuagint, and several Latin versions. In 1611 they completed the book that went on to become the most printed and used text in the history of the English Language, The King James Version of the Bible.

But as the world would have it, all living languages are constantly changing. Many words used in the King James version are now unknown, or obsolete. Some examples are nessing, besom, and wist. Other words have actually changed their meanings. For example let, in those days, meant to hinder (Romans 1:13). Now, however, it means to permit. The word conversation, in those days meant your whole way of living, but today it just means talk.

Today, just like in the old days, every Christian needs a bible, translated in their modern native tongue, and in this country that means a New Living Translation version of the bible. No translation or version has ever been translated without error, and that includes the King James Version. And the reason that it has never been done is because there has never been a perfect scholar, or perfect man period, except CHRIST JESUS, and HE didn’t choose to write one.

However, most of our available versions are good enough to familiarize us with the Word of GOD that has been handed down to us since the foundation of this world. We should trust that GOD is still with us, just as HE was with the original writers. And while we may think or believe that there may be no more inspired writers, I believe more so that GOD still wants us to get to know HIM through HIS word, and the best way we can understand HIS word is in our own modern-day language.

So let’s just try and retire the King James Version to our library of reference books, where it can serve us in our studies most efficiently. GOD wants us to get to know HIM and just like in all generations before us, HE raises up scholars to interpret HIS word in our own present-day language.

INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF EZEKIEL

In 605 B.C., after crushing combined Assyrian and Egyptian forces at Carchemish on the banks of the Euphrates River, Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian army moved south and invaded Syria-Palestine. They later invaded Judah (on three separate occasions – 605, 597, & 586 B.C.), conquering it, and making it a vassal state, during the reign of King Jehoikim.

During the first invasion of Judah (605 B.C. – 2 Kings 24:1-7, 2 Chronicles 36:5-8), Nebuchadnezzar took a number of young Jewish nobles, including Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and the future prophet Daniel (Daniel 1:1-7). Jehoikim surrendered and became a puppet king, or vassal king of Nebuchadnezzar, and he paid monetary tributes to the powerful king of Babylon for nearly three years.

After three years of submission, Jehoikim decided to rebel against Nebuchadnezzar, bringing about another invasion in early 597 B.C. At that time, he himself, was chained and carried off to Babylon after an eleven-year reign. His younger brother, Jehoiachin, took over his throne, but after only a three-month and ten day reign, he was summoned into Babylon, and then replaced with his uncle, Zedekiah, by Nebuchadnezzar (2 Chronicles 36:9-16).

During this second invasion (597 B.C.), Nebuchadnezzar deported an even larger group of Judah’s upper and middle class citizens to Babylon, and among this group was a young twenty-six year old priest in training named, Ezekiel. This group of Jewish captives was placed in the region of Tel Aviv, along a wide canal that links two branches of the Euphrates known as the Kebar River. There, they were treated more as colonists than slaves and enjoyed many privileges.

It was there on the banks of the Kebar River, that, in 593 B.C., a now thirty old Ezekiel received his calling from GOD (Ezekiel 1 & 2). Thirty years old is the minimum age that priests are actually allowed to begin serving in the temple (Numbers 4:1-3). And so, as the LORD would have it, it was from that place, that Ezekiel first served the LORD by delivering his first prophetic message to his fellow captives in Babylon.

The first half of the book of Ezekiel focuses on the LORD’s coming judgment of Judah. The prophet Ezekiel is given the task of explaining to the Israelites already in captivity, the details of GOD’s judgment against them, and why they were being judged.

The account of Ezekiel’s calling is the most lengthy and detailed account of any prophet in Scripture, including Isaiah and Jeremiah. However, like those two men, Ezekiel is made aware of his calling by GOD through a vision of the glory and majesty of HIS being.

CHAPTER ONE:

THE VISION OF THE LIVING BEING

Ezekiel 1

1  (1) Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of GOD.

(²} In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity,

(³) The word of the Lord came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the Lord was there upon him.

(⁴) And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.

(⁵) Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man.

(⁶) And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings.

(⁷) And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf's foot: and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass.

(⁸) And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings.

(⁹) Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward.

(¹⁰) As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.

(¹¹) Thus were their faces: and their wings were stretched upward; two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies.

(¹²) And they went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went.

(¹³) As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning.

(¹⁴) And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.

(¹⁵) Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces. (¹⁶) The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.

(¹⁷) When they went, they went upon their four sides: and they turned not when they went.

(¹⁸) As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings were full of eyes round about them four.

(¹⁹) And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them: and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.

(²⁰) Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.

(²¹) When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.

(²²) And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as the colour of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above.

(²³) And under the firmament were their wings straight, the one toward the other: everyone had two, which covered on this side, and every one had two, which covered on that side, their bodies.

(²⁴) And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the ALMIGHTY, the voice of speech, as the noise of an host: when they stood, they let down their wings.

(²⁵) And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads, when they stood, and had let down their wings.

(²⁶) And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.

(²⁷) And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about.

(²⁸) As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.

COMMENTARY:

In Ezekiel chapter 1, the prophet gives us a vivid description of his, now famous, vision of living beings. It happened during the fifth year of King Jehoichin’s captivity in Babylon. Ezekiel tells us that he saw a great storm approaching from the north (where GOD is) driving a huge cloud that flashed with lightning and shone brilliantly.

There was a fire inside the cloud that glowed like gleaming ember, and out of the center of the cloud came four living beings shaped like humans, only they had four faces, the four faces of perhaps the greatest of the GOD’s creation, and two pairs of wings. Here we see described, the faces of the human (the greatest of all GOD’s earthly creation), the lion (the king of the beast), the ox (the symbol of strength among domesticated animals), and the eagle (the king of the fowls of the air). The following is how Ezekiel described the beings that he saw:

The beings had four faces (human, lion, ox, and eagle) each looking in a different direction. (v.6)

Each being had two pairs of wings. (v.6)

They stood upright like humans, but they had calves feet that split the hoof, and were burnished like bronze. (v.7)

Beneath their wings were human hands. (v.8)

They were able to fly in any direction without turning. (v.9)

These living beings looked like bright coals of fire, or brilliant torches, and lightning flashed back and forth between them. (v.13)

The living beings darted to and fro like flashes of lightning. (v.14)

In verses 15-21 Ezekiel describes GOD’s Throne-Chariot, an image that depicts the sovereignty of GOD in all things. The visions which Ezekiel says looked like living beings are the same as those seen by the Apostle John in Revelations 4, and are of the same order of angels called Cherubim. The wheels and the rapid movement of the large structures under the power of the HOLY SPIRIT, which were described by Ezekiel, depict the universal movement and freedom of GOD.

Brightness has always been associated with GOD’s holiness and glory. In verse 22, Ezekiel describes a surface that is spread out over the sky that sparkled bright like crystal. Beneath that surface, the wings of each being stretched out to touch each other’s, and with their remaining pair of wings, they covered their own bodies. When they flew, their wings roared like waves of water crashing against the seashore, symbolizing the sound of the Almighty GOD as HE spoke.

And at this point the LORD did speak from beyond that crystal sky, and above the heads of the angelic beings, appeared a majestic Throne made of blue sapphire. High above this throne was a figure shaped like a man, who, from the waist up, looked like gleaming, flickering amber. From the waist down, he looked like a burning flame, shining with splendor. All around him appeared a glowing halo, like a rainbow shining through the clouds. This is how Ezekiel says the glory of GOD appeared to him, and when he saw it, he fell face down to the ground as he heard a voice speaking to him from Heaven (v.28).

CHAPTER TWO:

EZEKIEL’S CALL AND COMMISSION

Ezekiel 2

2 (1) And HE said unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee.

(²) And the SPIRIT entered into me when HE spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard HIM that spake unto me.

(³) And HE said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against ME: they and their fathers have transgressed against ME, even unto this very day.

(⁴) For they are impudent children and stiffhearted. I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD GOD.

(⁵) And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them.

(⁶) And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.

(⁷) And thou shalt speak MY words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious.

(⁸) But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee.

(⁹) And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein;

(¹⁰) And HE spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.

COMMENTARY:

It was at this point that the voice commanded Ezekiel to Stand up. The HOLY SPIRIT of GOD then entered into the young prophet and set him on his feet. He listened carefully as the LORD gave him his calling and commission to speak to the, still rebellious people, of Israel (Ezekiel 2:1-5).

In the book of Ezekiel the term son of man is used 90 times by GOD to address HIS servant Ezekiel. It is most likely used by GOD to remind Ezekiel of his human frailty, and his connection to the people that he was being commissioned to prophesy to. In the New Testament, the term SON of man is given to JESUS to emphasize HIS humanity, and HIS dependence on the HOLY SPIRIT of HIS