It is getting close to 605 BC, and disaster is about to fall on Jerusalem. For the past 13 years the southern kingdom of Judah has been experiencing a revival unparalleled in the past 800 years of her existence as a nation. The best king ever to grace the throne of Judah, Josiah, has led the nation into a great revival. The Passover he conducted was said to have surpassed any other Passover since the time of Joshua 600 years earlier.

The future seems bright for the southern kingdom of Judah. Yet the light that is shining is merely the rays of the sun breaking through the dark storm clouds; the rays are definitely temporary. God is intent on disciplining Judah. Ever since the time of Solomon she has dabbled in idolatry. With the coming of Josiah's grandfather, Manasseh, things have hit rock bottom. Manasseh led the nation in worshiping the gods of all the surrounding nations, even going so far as to sacrifice some of his own children to the god Chemosh. God has had it. He is going to destroy the nation and send off many of the Jews to Babylon in exile. Even though the Jews will maintain their racial, cultural, and religious identity, they will cease to exist as a nation. The land of Israel will become nothing more than a remote outpost first in the Babylonian empire, then in the Persian empire, the Greek, Roman, and Muslim empires. (Only for a brief span of time from 165 BC - 63 BC will she re-emerge as an independent nation. After that though for 2011 years she will be dispersed among the nations.) In spite of Josiah's efforts, he cannot avert God's wrath. His efforts mainly have only one effect: God decides to bring the judgment upon Judah only after Josiah dies.

Well Josiah has died, being killed in battle by the Egyptian Pharaoh Neco (609 BC). Ruler after ruler will ascend the throne of Judah, none following the lead of Josiah. Instead they turn back to idolatry and seek their refuge in alliance with foreign powers. As a result the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar invades Judah/Jerusalem 3 times: 605 BC, 597 BC, and 586 BC. Each time he deports the finest of the noble youths to Babylon, among whom are Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The last time he invades Judah (586), Nebuchadnezzar completely destroys the city and the temple,

It's all come to an end. This tremendous experiment God has conducted with Israel has ended in failure. What started out with so much promise with Joshua and the conquest of Canaan has ended disastrously. The once mighty kingdom and the glory of the Jews, the Temple, now lie in ashes and ruin. Is it all over? The nation is lost; however, not all is ended. Why? Because at this time emerge two of the greatest prophets in Israel's history, the prophet Jeremiah and the prophet Ezekiel. Jeremiah will minister to Judah up until the time the Babylonians finally destroy the kingdom once and for all, while Ezekiel will minister to the Jews while they are in exile in Babylon. From these 2 prophets we realize that the people of Israel do have a hope. Whereas the old system has failed, God has not failed. Whereas they have forgotten God, God has not forgotten them. Something new is about to emerge, something far more wonderful than they had ever experienced before. This new thing will NOT fail.

JEREMIAH: THE NEW COVENANT

For the past 800 years the Law has played a dominant role in the life of the Jews. Whereas some mistakenly thought that the Law would produce righteous living in the lives of God’s people, the last 800 years showed that this is exactly what did NOT happen. Right off the bat when the people were given the Law, they responded immediately by crafting a golden calf and worshiping it instead of the Lord. The Law simply had not worked. Not that it was ever intended to work. Its primary function was merely to define for people sin so that they could see what it was that was killing them. Jeremiah saw the inadequacy of the Law and realized that its days were numbered.

A new day was coming though in which the Law no longer would play a dominant role in the life of God’s people:
Jeremiah 31:31-33 "'Behold days are coming,' declares the Lord, 'when I will make a NEW COVENANT with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the COVENANT which I made with their FATHERS in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of EGYPT, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,’ declares the Lord. 'But this is the COVENANT which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,' declares the Lord, 'I will put My law WITHIN them and on their HEART I will write it; and I will be their God and they shall be My PEOPLE.'" . . . Jeremiah 34b: "for I will FORGIVE their iniquity, and their sin I will REMEMBER no more."

The Law basically failed to make us righteous because it was EXTERNAL to people. It was written on tablets of stone which are outside a person. Something new was needed to change the hearts of God's people, something new which was inside the person, not outside him. Ezekiel informs us of what God is going to do to change the heart.

EZEKIEL: THE SPIRIT AND THE NEW AGE

The Spirit

Jeremiah prophesied earlier that the old system simply did not work because it was EXTERNAL to man. All the laws Moses had given the people failed to change people's behavior because it did not get at the root cause of man's problem, man himself. Jeremiah tells us that God is going to change us INTERNALLY by writing His laws on our hearts; he just doesn't tell us how. For all practical purposes Ezekiel picks up where Jeremiah left off; he informs us how God is going to change us internally.

Ezekiel 36:26-27 answers the following questions:

1. What will God remove from His people? A heart of stone.
2. What will God give to His people? A heart of flesh (one that is no longer hard)
3. Who will He use to do it? His Spirit

The New Age

This new covenant prophesied by Jeremiah and the giving of the Spirit are not simply just a tweaking of the way God has been working for 800 years. Rather there are major changes in the works. It's part of a whole new paradigm. In accordance with Isaiah, Ezekiel teaches that these changes will be part of a new age that is about to dawn in human history. The following sections list some of the major changes and events of this new age.

The New Ruler

Except for a few rulers (David, Hezekiah, and Josiah) the rulers of Judah have failed the nation of Judah miserably. As a result God is going to raise up a new ruler for His people. According to Ez. 34:24 the new ruler/prince in this new age is going to be none other than David. Now this is NOT the historical figure; rather the ruler is going to be like the historical figure David. Moreover, this new ruler will be the descendant of David God promised to send Judah (2 Sam. 7:6-18).

The Resurrection

One of the distinguishing characteristics of this new age is the resurrection. Ez. 37:1-14 points to the resurrection of God's people. In his vision Ezekiel sees a valley of dry, dead bones. Upon the word of the Lord Ezekiel speaks to the bones. When he does, the bones start connecting to each other. Then muscle grew on the bones, followed by the growth of skin. In spite of this these new people were still not alive. Upon God's instructions Ezekiel prophesies again. This time though the Spirit of God moves upon the dead bones. This time the bodies stand up and form a mighty army. [Note whom God uses to raise people from the dead--His Spirit (37:14). Notice again the emphasis on this Person. He plays a dominant role in the new age, the kingdom of God.]

The Major Battle (38:1-39:29)

In this new age righteousness will reign upon the earth. The righteousness though does not just happen. There is great evil in the world which must first be defeated in order for righteousness to reign; THEREFORE, a great conflict must occur between the forces of good and evil, between God and the forces of darkness. Ezekiel 38-39 identifies God's opponent as Gog of the land of Magog (Ez. 38:1). In those last days God will bring Gog from Magog against His people to war against them (38:16). God will then smite Gog with pestilence and blood; He will then rain upon Gog and his army a torrential rainstorm of hail, fire, and brimstone (38:22). The defeat of Gog will result in a new era for mankind.

It's kind of ironic that many Christians roll their eyes when they hear about the war of Gog and Magog against God and His people. To them this whole affair seems rather naive and prehistoric. Yet God has programmed us so that we should be prepared for such an event. Think back on some of the most popular movies of all time, and you will see that the ultimate conflict between good and evil definitely strikes a nerve with people: Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, just to name a few. The reason these movies and others like them resonate so much with us is that they have tapped into the truth.

The New Temple (40:1-48:35)

After the fall of Gog a new era of righteousness descends upon the earth. A major feature of this new era will be a new and glorious temple, one that far outshines the one built by Solomon and later rebuilt by Herod the Great. Because the temple during the reign of the kings failed to make people right with God, God is going to raise up this new structure. So that Ezekiel can see this new temple, God takes him to the top of a very high mountain (40:2).

A man appears to Ezekiel. This man is holding a measuring rod in his hand which he uses to measure not only the walls of the new structure but also everything within the walls of this new structure, the new temple of God (40:3, 5-7).

At this point Ezekiel describes the new Temple. It is far more massive than anything Solomon or Herod the Great built. Notice 3 more features about this enclosure.

1. Ezekiel 43:2, 4, 7: First, the glory of the Lord re-enters the Temple. God had left the Temple just before He sent the Babylonians to destroy it. Now His glory will re-enter the Temple through the eastern gate.
2. Ez. 47:1-5: A river will flow from beneath the Temple towards the east. At first it will be only ankle deep, then knee deep, and finally, it will be so broad that it can't be forded. All this flows from the throne of God.
3. Ez. 47:7: Finally, on each side of the river runs a lush arbor.

THROUGH THE EYES OF THE APOSTLES

While Jesus was on earth, His opponents really took Him to task because they believed that He was destroying the Law of Moses. Little did they realize that instead of destroying Moses, Jesus was actually continuing and expanding the themes of the major prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. (In fact in John 3:9 when Nicodemus tells Jesus he just can't understand the new birth of the Spirit, Jesus rebukes him: "Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things?" The problem was that Nicodemus like the other Jews of his day was fixated on Moses. The Jews did not see that God had developed and expanded in the Prophets what He had taught in the Law of Moses.) In having a problem with Jesus, the Jewish religious leaders were actually having a problem with these major prophets. It is in Jesus' life and ministry that we see the fulfillment of the prophecies of these major prophets.

Jeremiah's Prophecy of the New Covenant

First, Jesus claims that His death on the cross is the blood necessary to trigger the covenant prophesied by Jeremiah. According to Jesus the wine in the Lord's Supper symbolizes the new covenant Jeremiah prophesied would come (Matt. 26:28). How do we know though that Jesus is referring to Jeremiah's covenant though? Maybe He wasn't; however, the early church thought so. When the author of Hebrews speaks about Jesus' covenant, he quotes Jeremiah 31:31-33, the very words of the new covenant (Heb. 8:8-12).

Although Paul in describing the Last Supper calls this covenant "the NEW covenant," he does not mean it is a covenant new in TIME. That word for "new" would be the Greek word neos (NEH-ahz). Rather Paul uses the Greek word kainos (KYE-nahz) which means new in "kind," not necessarily in time. (It's like a man who after working hard takes a shower and feels like a NEW man; he's not new in time but new in kind. Paul actually earlier informed us that the covenant Jesus came to fulfill was actually older than Moses' covenant. The covenant Jesus actually did fulfill by means of His death on the cross was the covenant God made with Abraham (Gal. 3:17).

Now we see how this covenant though not new in time was new in kind. Although this covenant existed 430 years before Moses' covenant, the Mosaic covenant had practially overshadowed this earlier covenant. Now a new thing is happening. Moses' covenant is being completely done away with; now Abraham's covenant which has been in the shadows is taking center stage.

Note that Jesus' conflict with the Jews was based on the fact that the Jews were fixated on Moses. Throughout His ministry Jesus brings attention to Abraham (John 8:31-59; Matt. 8:11)

Ezekiel's Prophecies

The Spirit

Ezekiel had shown that the change which occurs within man must be accomplished by God's Spirit. According to Jesus man needs a radical internal change in order to enter this new age God is creating, the kingdom of heaven. According to Jesus who brings about that radical internal change? The Holy Spirit, the One whom Ezekiel prophesied would change the hearts of men (John 3:5-8). (According to Paul the change brought about by the Spirit of Christ is so radical that the Christian actually becomes a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17).

Whatever else characterizes this new age of the kingdom of God, the Holy Spirit is one of its dominant characteristics. The fact that the Holy Spirit played such a dominant role in the life of Jesus is evidence that Jesus is the One who brought in the kingdom of God.

The Great Events of the New Age (the Kingdom of God)

Ezekiel had prophesied that certain events would occur at the end of history which either ushered in the kingdom of God or which made up part of the kingdom of God: the coming prince, the resurrection of the dead, the battle with Gog and Magog, and the new structure. In the table below match the reference in Ezekiel with the reference in Revelation. (Connect the references in Ezekiel with the references in Revelation by drawing a line between them.)

The Resurrection (Ez. 37:1-14)                                             Rev. 21:10

Battle With Gog and Magog (38:1-39:29)                              Rev. 20:7-10

The New Structure (40:1-48:35)                                             Rev. 20:4-5

Notice very carefully that the sequence of events in Ezekiel not only occurs in Revelation; it also occurs in the exact same sequence. This is important because some well-meaning Christians monkey around with the sequence of events in Ezekiel in order to justify THEIR sequence of events.

Earlier we saw that in Ezekiel's temple God's glory had re-entered the Temple. Moreover, this new structure had a river flowing through it with an arbor on both sides of it. When you read the following verses from Revelation, you will see that these same elements are found in the new Jerusalem of God: Rev. 21:23 (the glory of God); 22:1 (the River of Life); and 22:2 (the arbor of God).

Many believe that the Temple in Ezekiel is to be equated with the New Jerusalem in Rev. 21-22. Some people have difficulties identifying the New Jerusalem of Rev. 21-22 with the New Temple prophesied by Ezekiel. They claim that the New Temple of Ezekiel is actually built during the time of the 1000-year reign of Christ. (They place this new temple in the 1000-year reign of Christ because Rev. 21-22 says that there is no temple in the New Jerusalem. Moreover, they emphasize the element of sacrifice in Ezekiel's temple which would be excluded in the New Jerusalem.) The only problem with that is this temple in Ezekiel appears AFTER the battle with Gog and Magog, while the battle with Gog and Magog occurs AFTER the 1000-year reign of Christ (according to Revelation).

But can you equate the new Temple of Ezekiel with the Holy City of Rev. 21-22? Yes, simply because they perform the same function. A temple is the place where you meet God. Whatever else is true of the Holy City, it is filled with the presence of the Lord. "However," some might object, "there is no sacrifice in the Holy City of Revelation, whereas sacrifice plays a dominant role in Ezekiel's temple." But what is the primary animal slain in temple sacrifices? The lamb. Well, guess who is the dominant person in this new city? The Lamb of God. In describing the new city, John does not call Jesus by His actual name "Jesus." Rather he calls Him "the Lamb" to highlight the fact that Jesus was sacrificed on our behalf. Moreover, John does not simply call Him "the Lamb" just once; instead he calls Him the Lamb SEVEN times to emphasize the fact that Jesus is THE Lamb whose sacrifice has brought us to God. In other words, sacrifice IS major in the new city of Jerusalem. It's just that this sacrifice occurred over 2,000 years ago.

Conclusion

Paul and the author of Hebrews claim that much of the NT picture of Jesus can be seen the OT; however, there this picture is in shadows (Col. 2:17; Heb. 10:1). If you look at a person's shadow, you will see a perfect outline of that person's body; however, only when you see the person himself do you see his color of eyes and of hair, his complexion, etc. In the same way the OT has correctly pointed to some amazing events in the future; in Jesus though we see these events crystal clear.