First let's get something clear about erroneous notions of Paul and his founding a new religion, which he didn't. True, the halakhah of his Judaism switched from the Pharisaic oral law to the Ruach Hakodesh, but his religion was still one of the Judaisms of the time, not a new non-Judaism Gentile religion.

Ezekiel was a poet and dramatist that G-d raised up to confront

the Jewish people with the ominous threat of His holy wrath in

the form of symbolic pantomimes (4; 5; 12:1-7; 24:1-14) acted in

accordance with intricate stage directions provided by the Divine

Director Himself. Ezekiel did his prophetic "turns" and his

eerie dumb show tableaux "before the eyes" of the Jewish people

with the feverish seriousness of an actor who had seen G-d

mounting the stage of history with imminent, awesome, desolating

judgment.

G-d was fed up with sinners who answered the truth of his

prophets only with hostility and hate (Jeremiah 5:13; 6:10;

15:10; Amos 5:10) and who listened even to Ezekiel more out of

esthetic appreciation for his artistry than from an attitude of

spiritual conviction (Ezekiel 33:30-33). Therefore, at the snap

of G-d's finger, out of nowhere, the Babylonian armies were

suddenly poised at the gates of Jerusalem, just as the terrible

divine (merkaVA, chariot) suddenly hovered over the Mount of

Olives east of Jerusalem (11:23), ready to strike and to "destroy

the city" (43:3).

With perfect mobility, G-d's throne chariot (arrayed with wings,

feet, and wheels) showed G-d's judgment in its sovereign freedom

and kaleidoscopic power ready to intervene quickly at any time or

place. And this overwhelming vision of G-d (3:15) seized Ezekiel

with such force that he was snatched up between heaven and earth

(8:3) and was inspired and spiritually fortified to preach with

audacious boldness to "a contrary and stubborn" house, the

rebellious sons of Israel. For the Word of the L-rd was with

Ezekiel and G-d's strong hand was upon him (his name means "G-d

makes hard") to make him harder than his hardest and most fearful

opponents. Ezekiel was lifted up and taken away by that divine

indignation (3:14), that righteous anger against sin (see also

Jeremiah 6:11; 15:17) that is so profound it will take great

public risks and endure every kind of suffering in order to

confront and provoke obstinate mankind with G-d's holy

ultimatums. His call was to be a reprover, an Ish Moshi'ach

(3:26) who must not be afraid to speak out to his own hurt and

warn both the wicked and the once-righteous backslider, both

those without and within, as a Tsofeh (a watchman, a sentinel) to

the house of Israel.

To play this role, Ezekiel would have to live out a painful

scenario of real-life suffering. Just as G-d cast Hosea as a

maggid (preacher) with a prostitute-wife in order that the

prophet could feel G-d's pain and communicate G-d's heart to the

Jewish people, so a scroll of mourning and lamentation was

scripted for Ezekiel (2:9-10) so that he too might experience the

sufferings of G-d. Part of being a watchman is to wind up being

the victim of a divine misunderstanding, a holy fracas where one

generally finishes by being disliked, where one may even be

considered crazy (Meshuga--Hosea 9:7-8) and where one constantly

provokes hostility (false prophets don't tend to make people

angry--Luke 6:26).

And Ezekiel's preaching exacts a terrible price on the maggid

(preacher), because his private experiences (like the death of

his beloved spouse--chapter 24) carry an omen of warning for the

spectator in the pew (24:19-27). For Ezekiel is an actor who must

not give a mere performance but must be made by personal

tragedies to actually know the pain in G-d's heart. And in these

things Ezekiel the maggid (preacher) seems to be saying to the

layman listening, "You'll never know what G-d has allowed me to

go through in order that I can preach His Word to you, sir; on

the other hand, you'd better know or else how will you know that

He also requires you to repent?"

As Shliach Sha'ul says, Ezekiel had to "fill up, in this frail

frame of mine, whatever may still be lacking in respect of

Moshiach's afflictions as yet to be endured for the sake of his

body" (Col. 1:24). G-d literally closed and opened Ezekiel's

mouth either to speak or to be silent by means of a strange kind

of vocal paralysis or aphasia, a kind of "thorn in the flesh"

with which G-d afflicted the prophet's speech (Ezekiel 3:26;

24:27; 33:22). And just as the kohen in the tabernacle had to

literally eat the sin offering and bear the iniquity (undergo

ritually the punishment) of the congregation (Lev. 10:17), so

Ezekiel had to "eat" a script calling for everything from

ingesting revolting stage props (see chapter 4) to enduring

protracted and spectacular marathons (see Ezekiel 4:5f) of

bearing Israel's iniquity (in a way that pointed toward the

Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53). So Ezekiel was an artist for

Israel.

Who is Gog Eretz Hamagog This is important to know, because if he

is the leader of Russia, then this means that, although the

Jewish people in Russia may have hopes for religious freedom and

social rights today, this will suddenly change and the Soviet

Jews will have to deal with a Soviet "Pharaoh" in the last days

who will persecute them and invade the land of Israel.

Also, if Gog is the last days Soviet "Pharaoh", then Russian is

the language of Gog and this means that Russian should be learned

by many Messianic believers in order to preach the Scriptures of

Ezekiel to Soviet Jews during this period of the final Exodus at

the end of history (see Jer. 16:14-l5).

In Genesis 10:2 we read B'nei Yefet Gomer Oomagog "sons of

YEH-feht (Japheth) (were) GOH-mer oo-mah-GOHG." Non-Biblical

sources place Gomer north of the Black Sea in what was once the

Soviet Union. Beth Togarmah is present day Armenia, which is also

a region in the former Soviet Union, Eastern Turkey and NW Iran.

Magog's land included the Caucasus mountains, located in the SW

part of the former Soviet Union between the Black and the Caspian

Seas. This is confirmed by the fact that both Jerome and Josephus

identifies with the ancient Scythian barbarian tribes associated

with the area North and East of the Black and Caspian Seas, the

ancient land of Scythia, now part of what was once the former

Soviet Union but is now Russia and other states.

The identity of (Meshech and Tubal)--see Ezek. 38:2--is generally

identified with Phrygia and Cappadocia in what is today the

modern nation bordering the Black Sea to the south, that is

Turkey.

What Ezekiel is saying here in Ezek. 38 is that, from the

prophet's point of view, from the uttermost parts of the earth

there will come an attack on Israel. Put (Poot) is Libya and Cush

(Coosh) is the classical Ethiopia of Africa (not modern Ethiopia

but rather the region south of Egypt: Nubia or North Sudan.)

The Sudan is Africa's largest country. In 1990 it faced its third

famine in 6 years. Its Islamic fundamentalist government of that

year, led by General al-Bashir, blockaded relief agencies from

getting food to its own starving people because of political

considerations, putting millions of people at risk of death by

starvation. Al-Bashir supports the policies of Saddam Hussein of

Iraq and Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi of Libya. Iraq, having signed a

peace treaty with Iran in 1990, brings into focus the prophecy of

Ezekiel 38:5 (4), which speaks about Libya (Put), Persia (Iran),

and Sudan (Cush) as allies against Israel. Micah 5:5 shows that

the Enemy of Israel is Iraq (Assyria/Babylonia). These countries

in Ezekiel 38:5 will be the allies of Gog and Ezekiel tells us

that this invasion will take place in the far distant future,

after Israel is back in the land. Israel will be prosperous when

this happen. (see 38:8, 11, 12, 14). Gog will be mustered "after

many days...in the future years" (38:8).

The destruction of hostile Gentile powers was predicted by

earlier prophets like Zephaniah, who said, "I the L-rd have

decided to gather nations and assemble kingdoms, in order to pour

my wrath on them, all my burning anger; the whole earth will be

consumed by the fire of my jealousy" (Zephaniah 3:8). Jeremiah

sees disaster coming out of the north in Jer. 4:6 (though in that

passage, he may be referring to the Scythians or the Babylonians

or both). Isaiah saw the Assyrian threat coming from that

direction in Isaiah 10:5-32 and 31:8f but Isaiah also saw an

end-time exodus which will eclipse the Exodus from Egypt. It will

be so great he says (Isaiah 43:18) "no need to think about what

was done before." Ezekiel 39:27 is a key verse: "When I have

brought them back from the nations and have gathered them from

the countries of their enemies. I will show myself holy through

them in the sight of many nations." Here Ezekiel seems to be

saying very specifically that when the L-rd gathers the Russian

Jews (and other Jewish people scattered throughout the Diaspora)

from their enemies, he will deal with Enemy Number One, the

Russian Pharaoh and G-d will show Himself holy by destroying him

with the plagues of a latter day New Exodus (Ezekiel 38:22) when

he and his Iranian and Libyan and other allies invade Israel.

Look at what the Bible says about the New Exodus. Isaiah 40:3 and

other prophecies are important. Just as Yochanan Hamatbil

prepared a way in the wilderness for Yehoshua to lead out a New

Exodus from sin and death at Jerusalem in which the tribulation

divine judgment plagues of 70 C.E. Roman fire fell on the "Egypt"

Jerusalem (Rev. 11.8) of the Caiaphas/Herod "Pharoah" of His day,

so another desert highway will be raised up in the last days to

"let My people go" (Isaiah 40:3). This is the divinely created

Red Sea "highway" by which the L-rd will lead the Russian Jews

and other Jews of the Diaspora in a New Exodus where He will

"resurrect" them from the "tomb" of Exile and from the unclean

"grave" of "Egypt" in the sight of the wondering eyes of the

whole world. Isaiah recalls the wonders of Moses' Exodus (Isaiah

10:25-27) as an "earnest" of how G-d will protect His returning

exiles in the last days and "carry" them to their "promised" new

life (Exodus 19:4; Isaiah 46:3-4; 63:9). G-d has a breath-taking

exodus in store for His people that will totally eclipse the

exodus of Moses (Jer. 16:14-15). Certainly once poor,

anti-Semitically persecuted, Russian Jews without social rights

or religious freedom in Russia, should indeed feel something of

G-d's "carrying" grace when they suddenly find themselves being

outfitted with free apartments and free education and all kinds

of Jewish philanthropic help as they make their exodus from

Russia.

This exodus trek is described as a "desert" (Jer. 31:2) but a

desert which is a place of favor and divine care and miraculous

provision (Micah 7:14-15). The miracles G-d did in the first

Exodus become type and also guarantee of the miracles coming in

the final eschatological exodus (see Isaiah 11:15-16; 43:16-21;

51:10; 63:11-13; 48:21; 52:12). The people will return to

Jerusalem and G-d will make the city his holy Mishkan (dwelling,

tabernacle) of protection and refuge for persecuted and

world-weary exiles (Isaiah 4:5-6). Even the "desert" approaches

to the Promised Land will blossom with miraculous blessing

because there will be an end-time rebirth of the lost ideal of

the early Israel who followed her Divine Husband faithfully, the

time when she was a child in Egypt (Hosea 11:1-9), when she was a

virgin bride of the L-rd and had not yet "known" other foreign

g-ds awaiting her in Canaan, and the marriage covenant rites will

be removed (see this theme in Hosea 2:14-23; Jeremiah 2:2-3).

The culmination of all this is that Israel will be saved because

she follows the L-rd as she did at first, she "follows the Lamb

wherever he goes" (Rev. 14:4), even into the desert, even into

the wilderness (Rev. 12:6).

But Ezekiel 39:27 says, "When I have brought them back from the

nations and have gathered them from the countries of their

enemies..." This refers to the Dispersion as does Luke 21:24:

"They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to

all the nations." Amos said the same thing, Israel will go into

the (gah-LOOT), Exile, Amos 7:11). The Jews will go into the

galut (Jer. 13:19), because Exile is one of the curses of

disobedience to the Covenant (Deut. 28:36) and is one of the

covenant judgments or reprisals for idolatry and unbelief in the

prophesied Moshiach (Deut. 18:19; Genesis 49:10; I Kgs 14:15;

Jer. 7:25-34). (On the Dispersion see Lev. 26:33; Neh 1:8;

Esther 3:8; Psalm 44:11; Ezek. 6:8; 36:19; Yochanan 7:35; James

1:1.) Please pray about these Scriptures until you see the

prophetic significance of the 100's of thousands of Soviet Jewish

settlers in the Brighton Beach area of Brooklyn, New York City,

and in Israel and understand the need to preach these Scriptures

to them so that they will break the bonds of sin and death and

the bondage of atheism and materialism and turn away from evil

and believe in the Moshiach and come to new promised life in Him

as they return to G-d.

Notice chapter 5:5 where G-d gives Ezekiel the prophetic

explanation of the pantomime, "This is Jerusalem." Notice the

horror of the holocaust that is coming, worse than the Nazi

holocaust in one aspect at least, the cannibalism of 5:10, one of

the covenant reprisals of Lv. 26:29 and Dt. 28:54. Notice the

reason given: "because you have defiled my Mikdash (sanctuary)"

with idolatry.

So in chapters 5 and 6 we see "street theater" outreach using

impressive props and stage business (notice the sharp sword and

the hair cutting), using symbolic food, dramatic action (being

tied up) and extended performances. That is, Ezekiel goes on a

390 day marathon of performances and then a 40 day marathon, so

that the people will have time to ponder and repent, as in an

extended revival where the minister extends his services at the

congregation.

Notice that anti-Semitism is not just a terrible Gentile sin (for

which Gentiles will be judged and punished); it is also a

covenant reprisal for not heeding the Word of G-d (5:14-15).

Therefore, when Jewish people complain bitterly about

anti-Semitism, we must pray and ask G-d for wisdom as to how we

can lovingly and gently explain both of these aspects, the

Gentile culpability and also the Jewish guilt (believe it or not,

there are also Jewish anti-Semites! E.g., Karl Marx, etc.).

Notice that the Judaism of Ezekiel is apocolyptic and highly

eschatological, not merely ritual oriented and legalistic. 7:2

speaks of the "end" kaitz (i.e. the end of time, especially from

the aspect of unveiling the secret of the course of history). The

imminent coming of the Babylonian Exile is a sign of the imminent

end of the world. This is the key to Ezekiel's emphasis

regarding the coming of the Moshiach. I Cor. 7:30 picks up this

eschatological strain found in Ezekiel 7:12.

Notice there will be a "famine of hearing the word of the L-rd"

(Amos 8:11) and the people will turn in vain to the prophets,

priests and elders (Z'kanim Kohanim N'vi'im) to hear the word of

the L-rd. Notice how Ezekiel prophesies against the rabbis

(scribes) or spiritual leaders of his day in 8:11-12 and 34:10.

In chapter 8 there is an ecstatic levitation and rapture so that

Ezekiel sees the secret sin (not secret to G-d) of the spiritual

leaders that is the direct cause of the Exile holocaust

approaching where the land will be "filled with violence" (8:17).

It is the "idol of jealousy" (Samel Hakin'ah 8:5) that reminds us

of the later HaSkikoot M'shomaim (the abomination causing

desolation) of Daniel 11:31) of Antiochus Epiphanes and the

prophecies of Yehoshua. The former was probably a statue of

Asherah, the Canaanite g-ddess of fertility. The latter was a

statue of Zeus or Jupiter. Both caused the Temple's destruction

and the tribulation of Exile.

Chapter 9 shows G-d beginning to vacate the Temple, his glory

moving to the door, and the 7 guardian angels serving as

Ezekiel's guides who also interpret the situation. Only those

marked with a tav which in ancient times looked like a cross (x

or +) will be saved (see 9:4). This same mark was on the

doorposts at Pesach, because the top and the sides of the door

frame were dabbed with the blood of the Pesach Lamb. Those so

marked are marked for salvation. Notice the judgment begins

(9:6) with the household of G-d and with the leaders (I Peter

4:17; James 3:1).

Chapter 9:7 says "they went out and began killing troughout the

city," meaning that this is an apocolyptic vision that shows the

Babylonian killing coming is really a divine judgment of G-d

being carried out.

In chapter 10 the glory departs from the Temple, first to the

threshold of the Temple (10:4) and then to the East Gate (10:19).

This is to anticipate the destruction coming, since G-d will not

dwell with an unclean people and his protection He withdraws from

the wicked "rabble" who hypocritically attempt to dwell in His

Holy House, playing the charades of empty ceremonialism. We see

from what the angels are doing with the fire (10:2) that the

fires to be set by the Babylonian armies are really from G-d.

As in 5:11 where G-d withdraws His favor, chapter 11 shows that

G-d is the true Mikdash (sanctuary) of the elect (11:16) and now

his protective presence is travelling from the Jerusalem Temple

to the remnant in the Babylonian captivity. Yehoshua points to

his body as a sanctuary (Yochanan 2:19-21) because he alone is

the acceptable covenant, sacrifice and priest.

Chapter 11:19 begins Ezekiel's teaching on the need for personal

regeneration. See 36:26. This entails both a spiritual and a

moral transformation.

Chapter 12:3 begins again a series of symbolic pantomimes such as

we saw in chapters 4 and 5. This time the L-rd gives Ezekiel his

dramatic action in one word: "Pack!" G-d is going to make him an

ominous portent again (notice the word mofet in 12:6 and remember

what it means in Zechariah 3:8). Ezekiel is instructed by his

"Director" to perform this play "during the daytime, while they

watch," also "in the evening, while they are watching" (12:4).

We should gather from this that G-d wants prophetic street

theater during rush hour periods when many people are passing by.

We discover that Ezekiel is portraying Zedekiah's attempt to dig

through the wall of Jerusalem and escape Nebuchadnezzar, which

resulted in his being blinded (12:6,13; II Kings 25:4-7). Notice

how the L-rd serves as an acting coach in 12:18. In the second

half of this chapter we discover that our G-d is One who listens

and intends to answer back the false prophets and the false

optimism of the scoffers speaking among His people (see

12:22-28). On the words of the hecklers who challenge the Bible,

see Mic. 2:6; Amos 2:12, 7:12-13; Hos. 9:7; Isa. 30:10; Jer.

11:21; 20:7-10.

Chapter 13:2 is against preachers who preach "out of their

imagination" instead of under the leading of the Ruach Hakodesh,

who "follow their own spirit and have seen nothing" from G-d.

"The L-rd has not sent them" (13:6). They have not been shepherds

among the people. They have been mere predators, part of the

condemned general landscape, mere "jackals (wild dogs) among the

ruins (13:4)." A true prophet is supposed to preach repentance

and warn of judgment as a watchman who can see not only the

agents of G-d's wrath approaching, but also can sight the soft

places in a nation's wall of morality that sinners are creating

for the battering ram of G-d's judgment to pierce through

(22:30). G-d is looking for intercessors who will stand with

Moses in the breach between the people and G-d's wrath (Psalm

106:23). These intercessor/street preachers will wrestle with G-d

and buy time and get a message to go and turn sinners back from

certain destruction.

The names of the false prophets will not be found in the Sefer

HaCayim (Book of Life, Psalm 69:29), a point emphasized by saying

they will not "enter the land of Israel" which symbolizes

receiving Chayai Olam (eternal life: Daniel 12:2), according to

Ezekiel 13:9. What a terrible price to pay for not preaching the

true Good News B'sorah. Shalom V'ain Shalom ("Peace when there

is no peace.")

It is the temptation of the preacher not to rebuke sin or get

people angry or lose financial support. This is accomplished, so

the temptation goes, by saying "Peace" when there is no peace

between a G-d of righteous judment and sinners (see Micah. 3:5).

But woe to us if we preach not the Besuras HaGeulah." A movement

with secret sin and religious apathy led by lukewarm (and indoor)

preachers is a flimsy structure with only a little whitewash to

hide that it is going to come down when all its rottenness will

be exposed (13:10-16). Will the false prophets who ensnar the

lives of my people preserve their own lives? (13:18) By

preaching for a few filthy shekels of money, they have profaned

G-d, polluted his work, dishonored Him, treated Him as common

(all these ideas are in the idea of Chillul Hashem--see 13:19).

The false preachers (the liberal clergymen and rabbis) "lie to my

people, who listen to lies." False prophets can be killers

(13:19). They have an evil "grasp" on the gullible who listen to

them, and G-d has to save people from these false shepherd

enemies (13:23).

The Besuras HaGeulah is to Israel first but also it is to the Ger

(foreigner, resident alien, Gentile). See Ezekiel 14:7.

Notice that the "Moonies" are as guilty as "Rev". Moon (14:10).

The implication of Ezekiel 15:7 is that the Holocaust proves that

there is a G-d, not the opposite. (Many modern Jewish

philosophers use the Holocaust to make a case for atheism.) In

chapter 16, Jerusalem is G-d's adulterous queen who has gone

whoring after the nations and their idols. Therefore she will be

raped by them in the approaching Exile. Ezekiel is expounding on

the Hosea theme of the adulterous wife. Ezekiel alludes to the

Assyrian deportation of the Northern tribes of Israel that

climazed with the destruction of the capital of the Northern

Kingdom, Samaria, in 722 B.C.E. Ezekiel is saying that Jerusalem

will have a similar fate befall her as befell Samaria, the

capital of the last King of Israel, Hoshea, when the Assyrians

invaded Samaria as agents of divine judgment. But notice that

Ezekiel ends on a hopeful note, there there will be a New

Jerusalem with a Brit Olam (an eternal covenant 16:60). In

chapter 23, Ezekiel will continue prophesying this allegory

having Samaria, the prostitute raped by Assyria in 722 B.C.E. and

Jerusalem her prostitute sister raped by Babylonia 586 B.C.E. in

Ezekiel's day. In both cases G-d is a cuckold with an adulterous

wife (23:35).

Do not overlook the Messianic prophecy in 17:22 about Tzemach

Tzaddik (Righteous Branch), a code-word for Moshiach. In Isaiah

11:1; 53:2; Zechariah 3:8 and Jeremiah 23:5-6, we see this tender

shoot, this sprig that will shoot up from the stump of David, the

Messiah, to whom the nations belong" (Genesis 49:10), and in whom

all the nations ("birds of every kind" 17:23) nest and find

shelter. This Messianic Age will be the time when G-d

inaugurates the Great Reversal, and the exalted are humbled and

the humbled are exalted (17:24; 21:26).

In chapter 18, we find the doctrine of individual responsibiltiy

for sin, that each man dies for his own sins, not those of his

father. G-d is a fair judge, and doesn't gloat (18:23) but

judges according to this righteous principle: the soul who sins

is the one who will die ("hanefesh hachotet hi tamut"--18:20).

Cheap grace and antinomian unconditional election are denounced

in 18:24. Notice that the wicked religious people will perish

because of apostasy or unfaithfulness (ma'al) [18:24; see also II

Thessalonians 2:3).

Notice how Ezekiel tells the Jewish people to repent and get

regenerated (18:30-31). Shoo-voo! Repent! Get a lev chadash

(new heart) and a ruach chadasha (new spirit, a regenerated

spirit, a spiritual new birth). Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach was

surprised that a man could be a leading rabbi in Israel and not

know about this doctrine (see Yochanan 3:3,10). In chapter 20

the ziknei Yisrael come to inquire of Hashem through Ezekiel the

navi, and he rehearses the whole history of G-d's dealings with

His people according to his Holy Brit (Covenant), how He searched

out the most beautiful land on earth for them but purged out the

rebels, forbidding them to enter, bringing them into the "bond of

the covenant" masoret habrit (20:37, bond of covenant

reprisal). Then, after they have done their time in the Golus as

punishment for their idolatry, G-d will bring them back,

chastened and humbled, in a New Exodus (20:39-44).

In chapter 21 the Jewish people are shown that Babylon is

actually G-d's sword of judgment and that G-d "will hand you over

to brutal men, men skilled in destruction" (21:31).

Jerusalem will become a gigantic cooking pot when the king of

Babylonia begins his siege in chapter 24 and the people will be

cooked. But the survivors in Babylon are not to mourn the death

of their loved ones back in Jerusalem, because their destruciton

is G-d's righteous judgment. The survivors must act toward them

as Ezekiel is instructed to act as the survivor of his wife's

death. In his testimony, especially regarding his personal

tragedy, Ezekiel will be a "sign" to the other survivors in this

matter. Even his thorn in the flesh of vocal paralysis or

aphasia will come and go according ot the divine timeing of

momentous events in Jerusalem (24:2, 27 and 33:21-22).

In chapters 25-32 we see all the jugments G-d will also bring on

the nations including Libya (Put, 30:5) and Lebanon (31:15

fulfilled in our own day).

G-d's promise to the Jewish people to posses the land is not

unconditional (33:23-29), because only the man who obeys G-d's

commandments (20:11) shall live by them (in the land) [ya'aseh

otam haAdam vachai bahem] and therefore Israel today, without

faith in the Moshiach and obedience to the Messianic prophecies,

can expect Great Tribulation. But see Amos 9:15.

On the 614th commandment by Moses (Dt. 10:16) necessary to live a

Torah observant life-style, see the Brit Milah regeneration of

the heart needed to love G-d (Dt. 30:6) and to escape the world

(Rom. 2:29; Rev. 2:9) in order that one not be an enemy of G-d

[Jer. 9:25-26).

Like Zechariah (see Zch. 3:8) and Isaiah (Isaiah 37:35), Ezekiel

interprests the word Avdi ("My Servant") found in Isaiah 53 as a

Messianic Title. In Ezekiel 34:25 "My Servant" the Messiah is

promised along with a Brit Shalom (a covenant of peace"--Ezek.

34:25). Ezekiel is of course familiar with Jeremiah's prophecy

about the Brit Chadasha found in Jer. 31:31-34 as well as the

prophecy of Isaiah about the peace that "My Servant" the Moshiach

will bring (Isaiah 53:5). In Ezekiel chapter 34 Ezekiel seems to

be alluding to these previous

prophecies.

The prophets' preached the Word of G-d in continuity with

previous prophecies and also in continuity with the foundational

prophecies of Moses. When G-d tells Ezekiel that he must preach

"His Words" (Ezekiel 2:7), the primary reference is to the

Besuras HaGeulah according to Moshe Rabbeinu.

The Besuras HaGeulah according to Moses is found in Dt. 30:6 and

10:16, which commands that everyone be regenerated, using the

expression "circumcision (brit milah) of the lev (heart)."

Ezekiel preaches about this in Ezek 44:7,9; 11:19; 18:31; 36:26.

If one submits in repentant obedience by faith to this spiritual

brit milah, one is overtaken by all the blessings of Deuteronomy

28:1-14 (productivity, plenty, invincibility, providential care,

divine undergirding, fellowship with G-d, security from enemies,

vocaitonal success, posterity, prosperity, freedom from debt, and

blessings from heaven, as though G-d's rain (promised to the

faithful) were watering the tree of eternal life in the paradise

described in Genesis 3, and a foretaste of heaven may be given

even in this life to those who obey G-d's Word and get

regenerated and heed the Bible through careful study and

adherence to the faith. Such will be on top and not on the

bottom because G-d will exalt them and His blessing will overtake

them.

When one thinks of the Beis Hamikdash, it must be remembered that

there was more than one Temple constructed on the same site,

Mount Moriah, where Abraham brought his son Isaac to be

sacrificed (Genesis 22). It was also on this site that Dovid saw

the Angel of the L-rd and the vicarious "plague" coming on his

Messianic household (see Isaiah 53:8 "for the transgression of my

people the stroke of plague was on him." The Messianic Davidic

House must be struck down in order to save the people from plague

(I Chr. 21:17) Dovid received this revelation in relation to an

altar he was divinely ordered to build on the threshing floor he

purchased from Araunah the Jebusite. As we read in I Chr.

21:1-22:1, it was here that the first Temple would be built,

Solomon's Temple, around 960 B.C.E. Solomon's Temple was

demolished by the Babylonian army of King Nebuchadnezzar and not

rebuilt until 516 B.C.E. when the Jewish people returned from the

Babylonian Exile. This "Second Temple" was profaned by Antiochus

Epiphanes in 168 B.C.E. but left unharmed by Pompey the Roman

general in 63 B.C. when he captured Jerusalem. However, King

Herod the Great totally refurbished and expanded this "Second

Temple" starting in 20 B.C.E. It was open 10 years later,

totally finished in 64 C.E. and burned by the Roman General Titus

in 70 C.E.

When we think of the Beis Hamikdash, we generally thing of

Herod's Temple located in the Northeast corner of Jerusalem and

overlooking the Kedron Valley lying between the Temple and the

Mount of Olives. If you looked at Herod's Temple from an aerial

view you would see four long walls forming a rectangle which

encloses a compound with a large open level space. You would get

the impression of a lavish walled city, with, however, only one

residence--G-d's--for the Temple itself is the only house within

the walled "city." The Temple sits with its front door facing

east surrounded by empty courtyard and compound walls. However,

lest anyone believe that the Jewish G-d could rule through some

King Messiah other than Herod, Herod's architectural plans

provided his troops with the Fortress Antonia ominously

overlooking the compound wall from the northwest corner. The

southeast corner of the compound wall was known as the "pinnacle"

of the Temple because its 500 ft. tower dominated the Kidron

Valley. This surrounding wall protected the sanctity of the

Temple compound and was made up of beautiful column-lined

walkways. 268 columns, thirty-five feet high, bordered part of

the courtyard along the eastern compound wall. From that shady

spot called Solomon's "Porch," the early believers had a

magnificent view of the Temple as they met daily for open air

services (Acts 2:46).

There are two words for Temple in Greek, nao's, meaning the

sacred building itself, and (iero'n, the whole sacred precinct.

Only the kohanim could enter the nao's. In I Cor. 3:17, Rav

Sha'ul says that all believers in the Moshiach are the nao's of

Hashem and in II Thes. 2:4, Sha'ul says that the Anti-Moshiach

will usurp G-d's "seat" of authority and worship in the nao's of

G-d.

The sanctuary of the Beis Hamikdash itself was made up of three

chambers: the vestibule or ulam (oo-LAHM) at the entrance, the

main room or nave called hekhal (hey-KHAL) where the kohanim had

access, and the debir (duh-VEER) or inner sanctum called the Holy

of Holies, where only the Kohen Gadol had access and only on one

day of the Year, Yom Kippur. The nave contained the menorah, the

small golden altar of incense in front of the inaccessible third

room, and teh enigmatic bread of the presence (I Kings 7:48).

The inner sanctum contained the ark of the covenant. Outside the

front door of the Temple was the altar of the burnt offering

where the priests and the Levites attended to the sacrifices.

The Jewish men could approach the altar but could not proceed

beyond the court of Israel. The Jewish women could not even

approach this far; they had to stay back in the Court of Women.

And Gentiles could not approach even as far as Jewish women; in

fact, a Gentile had to stay out in the vast surrounding courtyard

called the Court of the Gentiles, and he or she would be put to

death if any attempt was made to enter the gates of the walled

inner court protecting the Temple, the altar, the Court of Israel

and the Court of the Women.

Chapter 34 is primarily referring to political shepherds or

leaders, but there is a definite application to spiritual leaders

as well. This chapter teaches the principle that privilege

entails responsibility. To whom much is given, much is required.

Those who greedily pursue the rights and blessings associated

with their leadership offices but neglect the responsibilities

will hear this terrifying announcement from the L-rd: "I am

against the shepherds and shall demand fromt hem an account of My

flock" (34:10). This threat has the ominous ring of Deuteronomy

18:19, "I Myself shall call that person to account." This means

that G-d will hold these shepherds responsible and bring them

under divine judgment. It is a fearful thing to fall into the

hands of an angry G-d, but that is what will happen to the

rapacious, self-serving shepherds who forget that it is G-d's

flock and He guards it jealously. Because these kings despise

the congregational leader responsibilities for the peple

submitted under their royal office, G-d will have to replace them

with the kingdom's true congregational leader/shepherd, the

Moshiach (34:23-25). This same theme is touched on in Jeremiah

22:22 and 23:4. See also Acts 20:18-35 and Hebrews 13:17.

Many aspire to be spiritual leaders because they see glory in the

limelight of the pulpit, or because they like the idea of being a

preacher and not having to do secular employment (though many

preachers are employed with tent-making professions).

Nevertheless, having to earn one's living working in the

rancorous atmosphere of unregenerates is not easy, and many

aspire to be preachers because they naively assume that preachers

always escape secular employment. (Did Amos? Did Sha'ul?)

However, many who aspire to the privileges of preaching are not

willing to shoulder the preacher's congregational leader

responsibilities (things like visitation, follow-up, and

dangerous door-to-door work and steet preaching) or make the

necessary sacrifices. Before a preacher can be entrusted with

the sherpherding office, he must be trained and tested first and

then show himself approved.

Ezekiel 34:4 says, "You have not restored the weak." How can one

do this unless he knows how to teach and preach the great

doctrines of the Bible? General revelation versus special

revelation; the inspiration, authority, and inerrancy of

Scripture; the attributes, qualities and aspects of G-d; creation

vis-a-vis evolution; providence; election; predestination; the

nature of man, sin and the Savior, atonement; the person and work

of the Ruach Hakodesh, salvation; the nature, role, government,

ordinances, and unity of the people of G-d; and eschatology--

these are some of the great doctrines of the Word of G-d given to

strengthen the weak, who would otherwise be in danger of being

whirled into confusion by faddish gusts of teaching from ignorant

but cunning religious merchandisers (Eph. 4:14). Not many should

aspire to be morim (teachers), especially if there is an

unwillingness to study and show oneself approved (Jam. 3:1; II

Tim. 2:15) as a disciple with a firm hold on the true doctrine

(Titus 1:9). The super-spiritual person who sniffs at

ministerial preparation and attempts to launch nto full-time

ministry without adequate training wants the privileges without

the responsibilites of the ministry. Like a doctor who skips

medial school, such a person should not expect to have a long and

successful professional practice. The preacher who knows little

about the great doctrines of the Bible will lack substance in his

preaching and teaching with which to feed, always with a word in

season, the flock, and to feed them with a healthy diet from the

Word of G-d.

Ezekiel 34:4 says, "You have not tended the sick or bandaged the

injured." A properly trained minister should have some

proficiency in Biblically counseling and exhorting the troubled

young person, the bereaved, the addicted, the engaged couple, the

person with family or marriage problems, the person in need of

healing from mental illness, the demonized person, the

hospitalized individual, the sexually deviant, the homeless, the

aged, the poor, the unemployed. Of course no one person can do

all of this service. This is why the gift of administration is

given through a local body of believers, with the different

members exercising their gifts and callings corporately to serve

the needy for the glory of Hashem.

The impulsive, independent-minded person who dashes off to "serve

G-d" in full-time ministry without learning practical

congregational leader theology is making a grave mistake. The

Shluchim were equipped with over three years of on-the-job

training and supervised experience with Moshiach Yehoshua before

their ministerial internship was completed, and even then the

L-rd did not send them out alone. Many isolated, lazy,

undiscipled mystics, puffed up with visions and stubborn with

conceit, wander off to serve G-d" without accountability or

ministerial recognition and wind up becoming counselees rather

than counselors, so great are their errors and so damaging is the

effect of their ministry on other people.

Ezekiel 34:4 says, "You have not recovered the straggler or

searched for the lost." Many assume that, because they have

prayed the sinner's prayer with a few people, they know all there

is to know about outreach. No need for them (they think!) to

study the history of "awakenings" and "revivals" or various

outreach movements in two thousand years of Brit Chadasha

kehillah History. No need to learn lessons from the lives of the

great pioneers, the Wesleys and Jonathan Edwards's of the past.

But how men and women of G-d have been seized by the Word is

important to know. The revelation they received from the

Scriptures and how the Word of G-d used them to affect their

generation is important to study. We need great tutors, not only

from our own day, but also from across the centuries and, as they

teach us through their books, we also will be able to pray and to

minister as they did, in the power of the Ruach Hakodesh. He

promises to give us a new heart and a new spirit and a new life

if we will read the Bible and follow the Word of G-d

(11:19-20). On regeneration, see 36:25f; 18:31; 47:5,12 also. See

Messianic prophecies 17:22; 21:27; 34:23-24; 37:24; 48:35 (since

the L-rd is the Beis Hamikdash and the bringer of the river of

life in chs 40-48 and the bringer of the final covenant in 16:60;

34:25f; 37:26).

At first, Ezek. 40-48 seems to be giving us straight-forward

architectural plans for the rebuilding of the Beis Hamikdash.

However, when we get to Ez. 47, the waters of life flowing out

from beneath G-d's throne (43:7) are no ordinary waters that one

could find in any stream (47:5 says that it is a "river that

could not be crossed!"), which leads us to suspect that this Beis

Hamikdash is no ordinary human structure that could be built by

human hands, but a picture of the Beis Hamikdash of coming

millennial glory in our Moshiach.

EZEKIEL 36:26-28

26

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put

within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your

flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.

27

And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my

statutes, and you shall keep my judgments, and do them.

28

And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and

ye shall be my people, and I will be your G-d.

(The One G-d of Israel has already told us he wants to put his

living Word in us. (Jeremiah 31:33); now he tells us he wants to

put his Ruach Hakodesh in us. If we harden our heart and refuse

him, we are left with a stony heart; if we receive the new heart

and the new spirit, if we receive by faith his living Word and

his Spirit, what is this but Chayyei Olam (Eternal Life)!