Bully's Blog

Ezekiel shared his vision with the exiled rulers as a warning. As they saw the Lord’s destruction of the old Jerusalem, they would purify themselves in anticipation of the new Jerusalem promised to them by God (1 John 3:3).

The book of Revelation has the same purpose. Most of the seven churches already contained the seeds of their own destruction—abating love, beasts (false kings), false prophets and spiritual prostitutes. The small judgments Jesus brought in these letters prefigure the major judgments in the letter to the “eighth church,” old Jerusalem, who was in bondage with her children (Galatians 4:24-25).1 The new army of God (the seven churches) saw the bodies of the old mighty men (Judah) fall in the wilderness (Hebrews 3:12-18).

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1  Amos follows the same pattern, dealing with seven nations (including Judah) before he gets to the point and prophesies against Israel, the eighth, to demonstrate that God’s judgment is not biased.

“Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were living in that nation, their faithfulness would not save anyone but themselves. …even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were living there, I, the Lord, promise that the children of these faithful men would also die. Only the three of them would be spared.” (Ezekiel 14:14, 20)

The mediation of even the holiest men would not avert God’s judgments. Noah had failed to prevent the destruction of the old world. Daniel had failed to prevent the destruction of the Land. Job had failed to prevent the destruction of his children. Like the three domains under these men, Jerusalem was beyond deliverance. And even if these holy watchmen were present in Jerusalem, they alone would be saved. These three only would be rescued from Sodom like Lot. In chapter 23, Ezekiel refers to Jerusalem as Sodom. Jerusalem the oppressor was also like Egypt. As the Land symbolically had four corners, four judgments would desolate it: sword, famine, beasts and pestilence, the Covenant curses from Leviticus 26. This was the Levitical sword indeed. The exiles, as watchmen, would see the repentance of the “marked” survivors and know that the Lord had not acted without cause.