A friend recently gave me a unique gift. With some difficulty and great expense, he sourced the ingredients for the anointing oil of the Aaronic priesthood and I was the grateful recipient of a small, blue vial.
The scent of the oil is intoxicating. You breathe it in and in some strange way you can “taste” it as it goes down. It is extremely complex and yet a single fragrance. Continue reading
41. The cities of the nations never fell in A.D. 70 (Rev. 16: 19).
This is a symbolic passage, but when we understand its nature, its message is astonishing. The reference to Jerusalem being divided into three parts alludes to Deuteronomy 19:3 concerning cities of refuge. There is also a “trinitarian” judgment in Ezekiel 5. Both are the outflow of the structure of the Tabernacle, which in turn images the pattern of heaven. This verse in Revelation 16 is, ironically, at the Tabernacle/Ascension step in this matrix pattern:
“…if the Lord creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised the Lord.” (Numbers 16:29-30)
Daughter Jerusalem kept up an outward show of respectability, but under her Temple veils and military skirts her legs were open for anyone. [1] In a vision, Ezekiel dug a hole through this wall of “whitewash” as a legal witness to her crimes against the Covenant.
Daniel was taken to Babylon before the destruction of Jerusalem. As the ruler over the king’s advisors, it is highly likely he was involved in the razing of Jerusalem.
The Lord sent Joseph into Egypt as a forerunner, established his house and integrated the old house of Jacob into it. Pharaoh was converted under the ministry of Joseph, humbled himself before Jacob and requested a blessing.
The Lord did the same thing with Daniel. A new house was being established in Babylon before the final demolition of the old Temple. Daniel ascended as “firstfruits”. He stood on the mountain of God as Abraham, as Moses. At the right hand of the power he would bring the curses of the Law raining down upon the Covenant breakers. As Abraham bargained with God, perhaps the mercy shown to Judah’s poor was the work of Daniel.
More Thoughts on Prophetic Cauldrons
“Out of the frying pan into the fire.”
The structure of Ezekiel follows the “soundwaves” pattern found in a great deal of the Bible, particularly the prophets. The Lord speaks His word as liturgy from the Most Holy Place, it is pre-enacted by the prophet in a new “Holy Place” (from outside the city - see Rags to Robes) in some terrifying judgments as object lessons (see Liturgy as Prophecy), and then the same judgments are played out in greater detail in the “Outer Court.” All three sections are heptamerous, and in these three areas we have Word, Sacrament (the prophet as a kind of new “acting” High Priestly mediator - see How to Read the Prophets), and Government.
The book of Ezekiel begins with this pattern, so we have the prophetic cauldron turn up three times. Each cycle takes us through the Tabernacle speeches (Exodus 25-31) which follow the Creation Week, so this is a process of new Creation for the anointing of Ezekiel and of de-Creation for the old Tabernacle of Solomon’s Temple. It was decayed and ready to vanish away.
“…who shut in the sea with doors, when it burst forth and issued from the womb?” Job 38:8
As with all good government, important kingdom decisions are carried out in private. This is pictured in many ways, not least in God’s design of our everyday lives.
But the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid because of them, for tomorrow about this time I will deliver all of them slain before Israel. You shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire.” Joshua 11:6
‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Are [you] he of whom I have spoken in former days by My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied for years in those days that I would bring you against them? Ezekiel 38:17
James Jordan’s correlation of Ezekiel 38-39 with the book of Esther makes a great deal of sense.[1] I have found it plays out in many ways, including the structure of the book of Ezekiel. None of the books of the Bible are thrown together haphazardly. They all follow strict literary conventions. The validity of this Esther interpretation is supported by the structure of the book of Ezekiel.
“For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.” 1 Chron. 16:9
The Bible was written to be understood by word-search software, or by believers who think that way. There are many expressions and phrases that are used repeatedly—very deliberately—so that the reader makes connections.
The battle between the Son and the serpent rages throughout the Old Testament. Every time the Lord renews the Covenant, Satan is ready with a counterfeit. God uses the phonies to test and purify His people, wipes the failures off the slate, then starts again.
Aaron and Jeroboam set up patently false worship in their golden calves. But false worship in the guise of true was much more difficult to discern, especially when it usurped the exact location of the true. When the Lord took Ezekiel to the Temple as a legal witness, it was a whitewashed tomb. He dug through the wall and discovered that it was a house of hypocrisy, the synagogue of Satan. All that remained of Israel’s witness to the nations was a thin veneer.
How smart is this Book?
As discussed, if we begin with Saul’s anointing by Samuel, subsequent events follow the Feasts outline. Saul’s failure to kill Amalek is at Pentecost and his failure to defeat Goliath is at Atonement.
BUT… if we begin with David’s secret anointing by Samuel, subsequent events also follow the Feasts. This time, however, David’s slaying of Goliath is at Pentecost (the serpent/beast in the wilderness). Guess what’s at Atonement?
Read the Foreword here
