(6) EZEKIEL 34: 15 - 31; EZEKIEL 36: 24 - 32; EZEKIEL 37: 1 - 19
(6) EZEKIEL 34: 15 - 31; EZEKIEL 36: 24 - 32; EZEKIEL 37: 1 - 19
These chapters, including those that intervene, treat of subjects that bear on our own position in a striking way, leading up to the work of God in us, the new birth, which is alluded to in John 3, and then life by the Spirit in resurrection. We have dwelt on the government of God in chapter 20, particularly emphasising the rod, and the bond of the covenant, the former having reference to discipline, and the latter to the fact that we are brought into a definite position by way of committal in relation to that most precious thing, the love of God. No [p. 404] position can be more blessed than that of being in the bond of the covenant.
In chapter 24, the sudden death of the prophet’s wife is a sign pointing to the fact that Jerusalem and all that it stood for had to be relinquished. That principle comes out in the Acts, where we see the Jewish remnant lingering around Jerusalem, loth to give it up, but however precious it was in their eyes, it had to be accepted that God was dealing with it in judgment. There are those at the present time who cling to religious and other institutions, which have perhaps been the desire of their eyes, but the judgment of God has to be accepted upon them. There was to be no mourning; it is a remarkable sign. It is illustrated in connection with Paul, who was brought up according to the strictest sect of the Pharisees, and he was so held by the system that centred in the temple, that he would go to any length, was willing indeed to be cut off for his brethren, but he had to learn that the judgment of God was upon it all.
It is not a question of personal beauty or ornamentation as in chapter 5, where the hair is shaved off; it is not yourself, but someone else. The prophet’s wife would be a sign of something else, something that has gained a hold upon the affections; but we have to learn that the judgment of God is upon it, “And I spoke unto the people in the morning; and at even my wife died”. It was very sudden and severe; she was the light of his eyes. All this should have a sobering effect upon us as christians; it typifies the judgment of God upon everything, however dignified according to man in this world; and it says we are not to mourn for it. The wife, as representing these religious systems which have such a place in the affections of people who are really the Lord’s is really dying at the present time under their very eyes. The love which was there years ago [p. 405] is ebbing out and God is withdrawing His support. The prophet was to refrain from any sign of grief, showing how entirely free he was from natural feeling. How spiritual and how subject he was! It is what God would expect in His people now in regard of what is around.
There is order in the teaching. The life of many christians is bound up with religious organisations, and this chapter deals with what is religious and national. After the death of the wife we have the judgment of certain nations, Ammon, Moab, Edom and particularly that of Tyre, meaning that part of the world which is privileged on account of the light; in other words, Western Europe, and the extensions of Europe in the world. These territories have been wonderfully enhanced and augmented by the presence of the light of God in their midst, for the whole commercial system has been built up under the influence of the light. Men would not admit it, but it is nevertheless true that this section of the world has been greatly enhanced as compared with the East and Africa. It is because it is in relation to the divine territory, as it were. The succeeding chapters, therefore, take these circumstances into account.
The Revelation is doubtless the enlargement of this teaching, where the strong angel throws the great stone into the sea, indicating the violence with which the great city Babylon shall be cast down. Prior to that we read, “Great Babylon has fallen, has fallen, and has become the habitation of demons, and a hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every unclean and hated bird”. That does not mean her final destruction, which follows later. So it says, “Come out of her, my people, that ye have not fellowship in her sins, and that ye do not receive of her plagues”. The countries that have had a privileged place in relation to the light (Europe and its [p. 406] outgoings), all come within the radius of God’s government; they are in divine territory, and hence the seriousness of the responsibility. Take this country, and the Continental countries; they are all christian, and all admit of the light of christianity. They have built up a great system of commerce, but Satan is behind it, and we have to see that it is doomed, although we have to do with it more or less in our path of responsibility. It is well to be able to distinguish between it as given us for sustenance and what it is as under satanic domination.
“Great Babylon has fallen”. Centuries ago Babylon ruled every kingdom of Europe; but it has lost that place. As to the beast being ridden by the woman, it is not the beast in its last features, but a view of the beast from its inception. It covers the whole history of the beast and the history of the woman; it is not the last phase but the whole thing, “The beast which thou sawest was, and is not”. Rome had the position of domination in the history of the beast, but she has not got it now. When the Pope of Rome spoke Europe quaked, but it is not so now. God has brought about its downfall. In the government of God it has fallen and has become ‘a hold or cage’. Anyone with eyes can see that it is a cage. Protestantism is a tree in which the birds can lodge; these persons in it can say what they like and no one can check them. The Presbyterian synod has hardly any power; there are infidels in all the Protestant systems, but there is not power to deal with them. Rome has become a “hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every unclean and hated bird”. They are wicked and filthy, but they are caged; that is, they are held in by recognised limits of the teaching of Rome. You will find infidelity in Rome, but it is limited; in Protestantism men can say what they like. The whole history is summed up in the book of Revelation.
[p. 407] What we have to see, as intimated in these chapters in Ezekiel, is that all this territory that has been influenced and enhanced by the light of christianity, is coming specially under the judgment of God. Countries that are in the sphere of light are dealt with first, and you see how God is dealing with them. It is to the end that we get out of and apart from what is working and hold ourselves free pending the coming of the Lord. The moral state of things is depicted in Revelation 18: 2, 3, and then God calls upon us: “Come out of her, my people, that ye have not fellowship in her sins”. Such movement is brought about by the exposure of the thing in your conscience. God brings light in so that we may be no longer held, “See therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness”, Luke 11: 35.
The Lord’s coming is not referred to in Ezekiel, but we have what is dependent upon it. The city comes into view in chapter 40, and from thence onwards we have what refers to the millennial order of things. In the nations referred to from chapter 35 onwards, we have what corresponds with the territory that has already been referred to as benefiting by the light. Tyre had a good beginning. It shone at one time and evidently received favour from God, but it soon departed from that and became proud. The pride of the princes is enlarged on, so that applying it to what is present, we can see that what was of God at the beginning has now become an immense system full of pride that God must pass judgment upon, “I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more; and thou shalt be sought for, and shalt never be found again, for ever, saith the Lord Jehovah” (Ezekiel 26: 21); there is not a vestige to be left of her greatness. The book of Revelation is intended to separate the saints, because the mind of God is disclosed with regard to the whole system.
[p. 408] You leave it because you see the judgment of God is coming upon it.
The allusion to Jezebel in the address to Thyatira bears on the religious side: she “calls herself prophetess”, the national or the worldly side of things is developed later. The opening of the seals brings in preliminary judgment and finally we reach the point where “the kingdom of the world of our Lord and of his Christ is come”, Revelation 11: 15. The city is subjected to a great earthquake. The city represents the world, “where also their Lord was crucified” (Revelation 11: 8), and if you love the Lord you see that, and you refuse to be identified with it. Every time you take the Lord’s supper you are reminded of it.
After the prince of Tyre is destroyed, much is made of Egypt. It is undoubtedly the world of the flesh, the resources of the flesh, and has its bearing on those who live in natural things. We may not aspire to political honours, or social, but we may live in what is natural, and we have to see that God’s judgment is upon that also. Egypt is the place of earthly resources, with its river and so on. We are all apt to live in these natural things, and it is a solemn thing to see that the judgment of God is on the whole system although these things in themselves are legitimate. To go in for them in an Egyptian sense, however, is evil. Your family has to be viewed accordingly. You look at your child as given back to you in the death of Christ, but how many of us are prone to bring our children up on the principles of the world! There are those who do not aspire to political honours, yet they are making much of their natural things, perhaps even thinking it is according to God to do so, but it is Egyptian, and has to be judged in the light of these chapters; it is to be regarded as uncircumcised.
[p. 409] In chapter 33 we might well note in passing what is recorded in verses 30 - 32. It has a very pointed reference to listening to the things of God, “They come unto thee as a people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people ... and behold, thou art unto them as a lovely song, a pleasant voice, and one that playeth well on an instrument; and they hear thy words, but they do them not”. How often, after a meeting, a remark is made as to what a nice time it was, but with no thought of doing the things, doing them like Ezekiel, so that they become part of one. The epistle of James speaks of “a hearer of the word and not a doer”, and often such are loud in their praise. One has to be afraid of people who are on this line because it is very doubtful, in such a case, how deep the truth has got. The word comes, and it sobers you; then you are not prone to praise the one through whom it comes, but to take things home and get to God instead of flattering the preacher.
In chapter 34 we have the shepherds, “Prophesy against the shepherds”. The Spirit has in view those who are in the position of caring for the sheep. They are not to escape in their unfaithfulness. The Lord, of course, is the Shepherd for us. John emphasises that, and it is a great thing to have an apprehension of the true Shepherd, and avoid the false ones, who feed themselves and not the flock. In verse 22 Jehovah says, “I will save my flock, that they may no more be a prey ... And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David, he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd”. It is a most striking passage as corresponding with our own times, and marks how God has brought in the true Shepherd. The Lord opens that up in John 10. The man in John 9 is cast out, and the Son of God takes him up; then the Lord develops the truth of the Shepherd. That is what the Lord would emphasise to us, “one shepherd”,
[p. 410] because there is a great tendency to set one person against another (”I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ”, 1 Corinthians 1: 12). The principle of John is “one shepherd”. However dignified a person may be through whom you get light, it comes from the Lord, for He is the Shepherd. The spirit of the shepherd is greatly needed today. Here it speaks of the shepherds pushing with their horns, and goading his people, but the Lord was tender and loving. “Has Paul been crucified for you?”, Paul says. No one has been crucified for you except Jesus. So it is a question of hearing His voice in ministry, and the more we hear His voice in that way, the more we would appreciate those through whom He ministers. Scripture makes allowance for that; they are to be regarded with esteem.
Consequent upon the introduction of the one Shepherd we read, “And I will make with them a covenant of peace”. It brings in the idea of peace, a thing which you cannot get in this world. The Lord in sending out the seventy said, “And into whatsoever house ye enter, ... And if a son of peace be there”, Luke 10: 5, 6. It is a principle underlying the assembly; those who are to form it are sons of peace. The world is full of trouble, there is no peace there, but the assembly normally is marked by peace. Luke works it out, first in the reference to “On earth peace” (Luke 2:14), and later he speaks of “a son of peace”. The local companies of God’s people are to be marked by sons of peace. Then we have also “peace in heaven”, Luke 19: 38, and the local companies reflect therefore what is in heaven. God, who is the God of peace, enters into the covenant with us; “I will make with them a covenant of peace”, Ezekiel 34: 25. The thought of sons of peace is a very practical one because of local troubles that arise, and the underlying fact that sons of discord [p. 411] are in evidence. There is not yet peace on earth, but peace in heaven, and peace in the local companies reflects what is there.