THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET

EZEKIEL

ORIGINALLY

Y'hezq'El

Thirtieth year: the age at which Y’hezq’el, as a priest (v. 3), would have begun his service in the Temple (Numbers 4:3), had he not been taken into exile and the Temple destroyed in the same month six years later. He would, however, have undoubtedly begun his priestly training there five years before he was taken to Babylon, as this began at age 20. So, since he was thus dedicated to YHWH by virtue of his birth, YHWH gave him a different task—that of prophesying about the Temple(s) to come after his time. He lived at least 22 years after he began prophesying, meaning he lived out his full term of priestly duty, which would end 20 years after this.

Yoyakhin: A shortened version of Yehoyakhin, whose name means “YHWH establishes”. (See introduction.) He was an evil king, but was not killed by Nevukhadnetzar, but only imprisoned in Bavel. After 37 years (32 years after this account begins), he was released and treated as soon as Nevukhadnetzar’s son, Ewil-M’rodakh, succeeded him to the throne. (2 Kings 25:27ff) The historian Josephus says Yehoyakhin was treated thus because Nevukhadnetzar had not kept his promise to spare Yehudah from siege and destruction if he voluntarily surrendered.

Buzi means “my contempt or disrespect”. It is possible that this was not actually his father’s name, but that it was Y’hezq’el’s own epithet for the priesthood as a whole, which had let both YHWH and the people down by failing to teach the Torah and thus allowing Yehudah to arrive at the brink of destruction. He therefore feels like he is from a corrupt and defiled house. Khasdim: the Chaldeans. K’var: a river near which many Jewish exiles settled, perhaps alluded to in Psalm 137:1. It is apparently the royal river known to the Babylonians as Khabor. Its name means “far off”, from a word meaning “a great length or stretch”, “long ago”, “a long time”, or “already”, highlighting the duration of the exile and the distance from the homeland of Yehudah. It also allows this prophecy to include us, who “far down the road” are still in exile nearly 2,600 years later. Chapter 2 bears this out. Y’hezq’el lived in the town of Tel-aviv (not the same as the modern metropolis in Israel), but bearing the same hope, for its name means, in essence, new life springing forth from the ruins of a destroyed city.

North: or, hidden place. This is a scene that has not been seen for a long time, but was seen once before at Mt. Sinai. (See Ex. 20:19.) The cloud and fire allude to YHWH’s presence, especially as embodied in the pillar of cloud and fire that led the camp of Israel through the wilderness. This sets the stage for interpreting this seemingly-elusive passage. While there are deep mystical interpretations that have some validity, why doe we need a blueprint if we are already in the building? Folding in: or, flashing about. Amber: or electrum, or possibly polished metal.

Human form: or, the likeness of Adam. The overall appearance was of a unified man. These four living creatures show up again in Revelation chapter 4.

Faces: This word is always plural in Hebrew, because one’s face is always changing; everyone has at least two! Four wings: or, four corners (of a garment), the place where the tzitziyoth are hung. (Num. 15:38-39). So on one level these beings are dressed like men in regulation Israelite clothing according to Torah. (Compare v. 8.)

Straightness: or uprightness, from the same Hebrew word as Yeshurun, the name by which YHWH calls Israel when all the tribes are assembled in unity. (Deut. 33:5) Polished: literally, lightened, i.e., made less weighty.

9. Their wings joined each one to her sister. They do not change direction when they move; each proceeds toward [what is directly] across from its face.

Each one to her sister: literally, “a woman to her sister”—the same phrase for the coupling of the curtains in the Tabernacle. (Ex. 26:3) The wings of the kh’ruvim atop the ark of the Covenant also joined in the same way.

Human face: literally, the face of Adam. He walked with YHWH as His companion, and was the priest before YHWH for the whole earth until his fall. Lion: symbol of royalty. Bull: or ox; chapter 10 substitutes a kh’ruv (an angelic being) in this position; the account in Revelation 4 calls it a calf. It is symbolic of strength, accomplishment, and service. And the eagle is often seen in Scripture as dwelling in an invulnerable place and providing refuge to her young. Some scholars see in this a parallel of the four biographers’ descriptions of Yahshua—as the Lion of the Tribe of Yehudah (the King of Israel, as emphasized by Matithyahu), the suffering servant of Yeshayahu (as emphasized by Mark), the “Son of Man” (a term YHWH often uses for Y’hezq’el himself, as emphasized by the account by Lukas, who incidentally was a physician), and the one from above who overcomes natural limits (as emphasized by Yochanan, by far the most mystical of the accounts) and who will descend on his prey by surprise (Yirm. 49:22). But also, by tradition, the banners of the four camps of Israel (consisting of three tribes and a counterpart from the Levites) each held one of these four as the insignia on its banner. It is easy to see that the lion would correspond with Yehudah (Gen. 49:9). Efrayim is called a heifer, and ay easily be correlated with the bull. Re’uven means “look, a son”, and would thus probably parallel the human face, and that leaves Dan as the last, corresponding to the eagle. Dan is also called a lion’s whelp like Yehudah, and is by tradition the tribe from which the counterfeit Messiah, Armilus, will descend. The eagle is called an abomination in Lev. 11:13, and the counterfeit Messiah’s image is called the “abomination of desolation” (Dan. 12:11). Indeed, it is the “eagle” aspect of the true Messiah that confused many and set the stage for His being set up as an idol Himself rather than being subordinate to the Father as He so often said He was. Since Moshe was told to set up the camp of Israel around the Tabernacle according to the pattern he had seen when on Mt. Sinai (Ex. 25:9), it stands to reason that what Y’hezq’el sees in the heavenlies should bear the same imagery.

Concealing their bodies: or, covering their backs. It appears from chapter 10, where they are seen in the context of the Temple, that these creatures are kh’ruvim, which are special guardians of what is holy (set apart, see Gen. 3:24; Ex. 25:18; 26:1; 1 Shmu’el 4:4). But the s’rafim (“burning ones”) in Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 6:2 and the living creatures in Revelation 4 have six wings. This verse can be read in that way as well if the wings in the first sentence are different from those in the second.

Proceeds: literally, walks. Wind: or spirit. Being led by the Spirit, as the camp of Israel followed the cloud, they have no need to repent and change direction. The s’rafim of Yeshayahu 6 cover their faces. Perhaps these wings acted like the blinders used on a horse that keep it focused only on the path it is called to follow—“looking neither to the right nor the left”. (Compare 2 Chron. 34:2; Prov. 4:24ff.) It appears they would go in the direction one of the faces was looking, and which direction depends on what is in season according to the “four winds from the four ends of the heaven” (37:9; Yirmeyahu 49:36; Daniel 7:2 et al). Each is magnified in a different season, as there is a time for everything to be a delight to heaven. (Eccles. 3) What is forward to one face seems backward to another, unless we have the perspective of all four. One day mercy is the right tool for the job, while on another day, judgment will best accomplish YHWH’s will. If we put our hands to the plow and look back, we cannot till a straight furrow. We need to focus on the path YHWH is putting in front of us today rather than what it may be tomorrow. Today the prevailing wind is the Spirit of Eliyahu—the restoration of all things. (Mat. 17:11) If we follow this, we will walk straightly (v. 7).

14. And the living [creatures] rush and return like the resemblance of a flash [of lightning].

15. When I was watching the living [creatures], lo and behold, [there was] one [chariot] wheel on the land beside the living [creatures] for the four of its faces.

Though the term “chariot” as such never appears in Y’hezq’el in a figurative sense, Ecclesiasticus 49:8 describes Y’hezq’el’s visions as “the chariots of the kh’ruvim”. “Chariot mysticism”, a theosophical sect, considers this passage the key to all the mysteries of creation. But it can be understood on a much more down-to-earth level. The Hebraic calendar is one of cycles more than it is linear. The three pilgrimage festivals are called “three feet” in Ex. 23:14. The Hebrew word for the sacred festivals actually means “to dance in a circle”. The kh’ruvim keep us out of the Garden of Eden with fiery swords, but it is also time that keeps the Garden (the Kingdom) hidden from us at present. Thus these living creatures and the wheel of time are indeed counterparts. The only way to get back to the Garden is to “fight fire with fire” by getting onto the cycle of YHWH’s calendar, acting when it says to act, and following it out to its fulfillment.

Form: workmanship, structure, framework, makeup. Tarshish stone: often thought to be a beryl, but possibly chrysolite, jasper, or another yellow-colored stone. Wheel inside the other wheel: The Sabbath cycle is a wheel within the annual cycle of festival seasons. But also, while the civil year began at creation on Yom T’ruah (also known as Rosh haShanah, the “beginning of the year”), YHWH said that for Israel, the year would begin at the new moon preceding Passover. (Ex. 12:2) But there are indeed parallels between the two cycles. On the tenth of the Israelite calendar, the lamb is selected for inspection; on the tenth day of the creation calendar, we search our own souls to find out where we need to repent. On the fifteenth day of each, a seven-day festival (actually including an eighth day tacked onto one end or the other) begins.

18. And their rims were so high that they were frightening to them, and the rims belonging to the four of them were full of eyes all around

These wheels ringed with eyes appear in the Revelation 4 account as well. They seem far removed from our everyday thoughts, but the Word of YHWH is not beyond our reach. (Deut. 30:11-16) The interpretation of these visions does not need to be sensational. The eyes may simply mean there is something to see no matter where we are on the calendar. The calendar cycle came from the Torah, which rested beneath the wings of the earthly representations of these kh’ruvim. All the things YHWH gave us to do on earth were meant to teach us about the Kingdom, and we learn about each aspect of the Kingdom best when it is in season.

They move in perfect harmony, operating as one unit like a school of fish.

21. When [the first] moved, [the others] moved; when [the former] stood still, [the latter] stood still, and when they were lifted up from upon the land, the wheels were lifted up along with them, because the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.

22. And what the expanse above the heads of the living creature resembled was the awesome crystalline ice, spread out over their heads from above,

23. and below the expanse their wings were level, each [straight] toward her sister; each had two forming a [protective] covering this [side], and each had two forming a covering on that [side] of the bodies.

24. And I began to hear the sound of their wings; [it was] like the sound of many waters—like the voice of Shaddai! When they moved, the roaring sound was like the noise of an [army] encampment; when they stopped, they let their wings relax.

Roaring: or, rushing. Relax: or, drop.

26. And upward from the expanse that was above their heads, like the appearance of a sapphire stone, was something resembling a throne, and on the thing that looked like a throne was [one that] resembled a man when viewed from above.

A man: Heb., Adam. Appearance…resembled…looked like: all terminology of comparison and allegory, not literal physical entities, though they are very real.

A house for it: literally, a house for her. This reminds us of the Messiah’s betrothal statement that He was going to prepare a place to which He would bring us back—the very same imagery used in the ancient Hebrew weddings. YHWH’s bride is called the New Yerushalayim (Rev. 21;5), around which YHWH Himself will be a wall of fire. (Z’kharyah 2:5)

A rainbow is refracted light—the same imagery used in Hebrew mysticism of the image of YHWH in man that was shattered at Adam’s sin, and which Yahshua is restoring through us. (Compare Rev. 4:3)The resemblance of YHWH’s glory: though it is not worded in exactly the same way in the LXX, Hebrews 1:3 appears to be an allusion to this through synonymous terms: “He (Yahshua) being the radiance of His glory and the express image of His essence”—since no one can see YHWH, but Yahshua makes Him known. (Yochanan 1:18)

2. And the wind came upon me when He spoke, and he stood me up on my feet, and I heard [Him] speaking to me.

3. And He told me, “Son of Adam, I am sending you to the sons of Israel—to the rebellious ‘Gentiles’ who have rebelled against Me—they and their fathers have been in revolt against Me to this [very] day,

Though Yehudah is the only part of Israel still intact as a nation, he addresses the Northern Kingdom, which left YHWH over a century earlier, preferring to become “Gentiles” instead. Y’shua is the Son of Adam in the fullest sense, and the very same task was assigned to Him. (Yeshayahu 49:6; Mat. 15:24) Revolt: in Hebrew, the term refers to rebellion in a specific sense—directed against authority. In this chapter alone He repeats the charge of rebellion seven times, so this is foremost in His mind.

Though she is a rebellious wife, He has had too much history with Israel; though He has punished her and kicked her out, He has a very hard time letting her go. He sends messengers to her to tell her that if she just gets rid of her rebellious attitude, she can return and they can make some headway in their relationship again. The rest of the book is the remedy for this problem. Israel’s stubbornness served Yaaqov well when dealing with Esau and Lavan, but it must be put away when dealing with YHWH. The immediate application for us is to examine where this tendency may still remain in us, for it is an innate characteristic of Israelites.

Whether they listen…or fail to: or, if they will listen and if they will stop. He does not guarantee that they will respond correctly to his message.

Scorpions: alt., scourges or knotted whips.

8. “But you, son of Adam, listen to what I am saying to you. Do not be rebellious like the house of rebellion. Part your mouth and eat what I am giving you.”

9. When I [began to] look, sure enough, a hand was extended toward me, and in it, lo and behold, there was a rolled-up document.

10. Then he spread it out in front of me, and it was written on—front and back—and recorded on it were dirges, tales of woe, and lamentation-songs.

CHAPTER 3

You find: One finds what he searches for. (Mat. 7:7) To speak to the House of Israel today will also be futile unless we first study Torah in depth.

3. And He said to me, “Son of Adam, make your hollow [belly] consume, and fill your inward parts with this scroll that I am giving you.” So I ate, and it was like honey to my mouth for sweetness.

This scroll: David also described YHWH’s words as sweeter than honey. (Psalm 119:11) But it may specifically refer to the instructions for building the Dwelling Place which YHWH wrote on the two tablets of stone, and over which Moshe wrote all the commandments of the Torah. They hold the blueprint for building a unified community. To my mouth: where the Torah is meant to be. (Deut. 30:14)

5. “because you are not sent to a people of unfathomable lip or difficult tongue; to the House of Israel,

He was being sent to people who seemed to be Gentiles, but He reminded them that they were relatives of his who still apparently spoke at least a dialect or corrupted form of Hebrew.

Yahshua said the same about Yehudah in His parable of the tenants (Mat. 21:43) and noted that Tzur and Tzidon, S’dom and Ghamorah would have responded more quickly than the cities where He did teach. (Luke 9:12-13)

Whole House of Israel: possibly including Yehudah as well, or emphasizing the totality of the Northern Kingdom’s rejection of His ways. This continued until after Yahshua came, so that they had lost their knowledge of Hebrew and forgotten their identity as Israel.

Forehead: where the Torah is to be bound (Ex 13;16) and where a mark was placed on those who mourn Israel’s slide into paganism (9:4) and, correspondingly, where those who follow the counterfeit Messiah are marked. (Rev. 14:9) Therefore the forehead of the Man YHWH is building and the forehead of the “man” (really only an image) that Nevukhadnetzar, Persia, Greece, Rome, and her successors have been putting together. (Dan. 2:31ff) Do we allow it to have the harder head?

10. Then he told me, “Son of Adam, all My words which I will speak to you, receive into your heart, and listen with your ears.

Listen: to not only be prepared by YHWH’s word, but also to pay attention so that he could hear the commotion of Israel in unity (vv. 12-13) and thus know what the Kingdom sounds like—a unique motivation for Y’hezq’el to follow his mission through to its completion.

12. Then a wind lifted me up, and I heard behind me [the] sound of a great commotion, [saying], “May the authority of YHWH be blessed from out of His place!”

Wind: or spirit. He was conveyed to a higher plane. Blessed: to have the knees bent toward. This phrase has been incorporated into Israel’s morning prayers “on earth as it is in heaven”.

Wings: again, this is also the term for the extremities of a garment on which the tzitziyoth are hung to remind Israelites to carry out YHWH’s commandments. (Numbers 15:38-39) Brushing against: literally, kissing. This is a picture of all the tribes of Israel living in unity. Great commotion: as at Mt. Sinai and the Shavuoth after Y’shua’s resurrection, when there was another infilling of the Spirit. (Acts 2)

Compare Rev. 10:9-10, where Yochananan also eats a scroll and it is bitter in his belly after being sweet in his mouth. Yonah was bitter when he saw the Assyrians repenting in a way Israel was not repenting. Likewise, after seeing this vision of what is to be and what Israel could be like, Y’hezq’el had the present state of his people to deal with, in sharp contrast with it. He may have known that it would not be fulfilled in his own lifetime. (1 Cor. 10:11)

Compare Psalm 137. The exiles from Yehudah still painfully remembered that they were in exile, and could not be joyful; the Northern Kingdom had probably forgotten a generation or two before this that they were far from home.

17. “Son of Adam, I have appointed you as a watchman for the House of Israel, so listen to the word from My mouth and shine a warning light for them from Me.

Watchman: literally, one who is on the lookout.

Yahshua echoed that the one who does not know he is doing wrong will be less accountable than those who knew better, and would receive a lighter punishment. (Luke 12:48)

20. “And if the righteous one turns away from his [practice of] what is right and commits injustice, and I set an occasion for stumbling in front of him, he will die in his sin if you have not warned him, and what he has done right will not be remembered, but I will demand his blood from your hand.

21. “But if you have warned the righteous man, so that one who does right will not miss the target, and he does not do wrong, he will live [and] thrive because he is warned, and you [will] have rescued your soul.

22. Then YHWH’s hand was upon me there, and He told me, “Get up and go out toward the plain, and there I will speak with you.”

Plain: or, cleft, valley, split-open place.

24. Then the Spirit came into me and made me stand up on my feet, and spoke with me. What He told me was, “Come, close yourself off within your house,

Your house: The sad commentary was that Yehudah had only been in exile for five years, yet they had settled down in Babylon already as if it were a place to become comfortable, rather than living in tents, ready to return to Israel as soon as the door opened. Granted, Yirmeyahu had said the exile would be seventy years, but people like Daniel kept close track of the time. Today, when our exile is again drawing to a close (see chapter 4), we have laid deep foundations as well, forgetting that we are in exile. We must not allow ourselves to be nailed down by other commitments, so that we will not miss the opening when it does come.

26. “And I will make your tongue stick to your palate, and you will be muted, so that they will have no man to correct them, though a rebellious house they are.

Correct: rebuke, reprove, chasten, judge, or convince. He was commanded to do this, but then YHWH silenced Him for a time, because did not intend to equally allow everyone to repent. YHWH selected which people would be allowed to hear (just as Yahshua spoke in parables to veil His message from those who would abuse it, Mat. 13:13):

Whoever can hear, let him listen: or, the one who hears will hear. Compare Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22; 22:11.

Brick: or tile, clay tablet.

Imagine how much attention it would attract to see this dignified priest being a “fool for YHWH” by“building sand castles” and “playing with toy soldiers”! YHWH often asks us to do the things we are least inclined to do, as when He asked Avraham, the prince of hospitality and the champion of monotheism, to sacrifice his own son. (Gen. 22) This strengthens us in the areas we are weakest. But here YHWH simply needed someone to communicate His message. At this time, though to some extent a “has-been”, Yerushalayim was still full of opulence, basking in the afterglow of its golden age, when it attracted visitors from every nation to see the Temple, gardens, zoos, and scientific museums King Shlomo (Solomon) had built. To think of it as ready to be destroyed was unthinkable to those who thought YHWH would never insult His Temple and His Land like that. But a siege had already been attempted in the days of King Hizqiyahu, and now that Yehudah had been weakened by its split with the Northern Kingdom, Ashur (Assyria), which had been suppressed by David and his successors, was looking for an opening to take revenge—and its strength had reached critical mass.

Wall of iron: For centuries, the House of Israel would be unable to see Yerushalayim as its capitol; this was not the case for Yehudah. Later it would see Rome as its headquarters, and consider Yerushalayim a backwater. Even before our exile, Yerushalayim lost its attraction for us as we turned toward the deities of the nations we were allied with, often against Yehudah, and built alternative worship sites, even though the Temple itself was technically not in Yehudah’s territory, but Binyamin’s. Now the House of Israel would have no place to come home to, even if they wanted to, during the time this punishment was in force. But they had already been gone from the Land for 130 years, so it is more likely that this sign is for the time the House of Israel is reading this prophecy—today, when this wall of iron is finally rusting away.

5. “Now I have designated for you the years of their punishment by the total number of days: up [to] 390 days you must raise Israel’s punishment.

Thus the length of time determined as the Northern Kingdom’s punishment was 390 years. So why has it never returned from exile? Two punishments had been assigned to the House of Israel from which they needed redeeming, symbolized by the names of Hoshea's sons. (Hos. 1) The first was “no mercy”, and the second was “not being a people”. But He also said, “In the place where it was said to them, “You are not My people”, they shall be called “Sons of the Living Elohim.” (Hos. 1:10) Can you think of any people from every nation, kindred, tribe, and people, who describe themselves as redeemed and are called “sons of Elohim”? (Hint: Yochanan/John 1:12; 1 Yoch. 3:2) Whomever fits this description is where we will find Ephraim today. Paul said all of creation was eager for the time when it would be revealed who these "sons of Elohim" are. (Rom. 8:19) Remember the prodigal’s father, who had one son still at home, looking expectantly for his other son to return? Judah was still safe at home then, but though Yahweh had forsaken Ephraim “for a moment”, His heart longed to have His "firstborn" back! So He says, "Declare it to the far-off coastlands that He who scattered Israel will regather him and watch over him like a shepherd.”(Yirmeyahu/Jer.. 31:10) He said, I will send for many fishermen, and they will fish them out...for My eyes are on all their journeyings..." (Yirm. 16:16) But first, He said, He would repay double for their sins. I.e., He would double their sentence. That brings us to 780 years. From the first overthrow by Assyria in 734 B.C.E., that comes out to 46 C.E., or if we count from the final overthrow in 722, then 58 C.E.—either way, right about the time Paul was saying, “I’m turning to the Gentiles!” But where did he look for those “Gentiles”? In synagogues! So these were people already feeling the call back to the covenant. Before long, the Apostles were raving about how many were "returning to Yahweh from among the Gentiles". So why is there not a Northern Kingdom today? Because there were two sentences running concurrently for Ephraim. The first ran out soon after Yahshua’s day. Individuals from Ephraim began responding to Him, and Hoshea's judgment of "no pity" was no longer in effect. But Leviticus 26 also says that if they would not repent, He’d increase their punishment seven times. Hoshea's other sentence--that of “not being a people”—a unified ethnic group recognizable as a nation--lasted 2,730 years from the time Assyria took Israel into exile, and it was not up until right around 1996—or possibly 2008. Either way, we’re right in the thick of that time! That's why the blinders are only now being removed from our eyes.

There is a clear distinction made between the punishment of the two houses. Yehudah’s exile was only now about to begin—only a few years after Y’hezq’elgave this prophecy, in 586 B.C.E. And some came back to Yerushalayim as soon as possible and rebuilt it and the Temple. (See Ezra and Nekhemyah.) But many others remained in Babylon since they were respected and even honored there. The version of the Talmud considered most authoritative was not the one written in Israel, but the one compiled in Babylon, meaning that the greatest scholars were still there, though they were free to return to the Land. The same is true in our day when the right of return is again in effect. Yirmeyahu set the sentence of this exile at 70 years (Yirm.29:10) So if we count the ten additional years Y’hezq’el and some other exiles were there, we have the doubled sentence of 80 years. (See note on v. 5.) Yehudah’s sentence was not immediately multiplied by seven, as threatened in Lev. 26 to 280 years. But some 586 years later, in A.D. 70, we see Yehudah being exiled again. But there was no return 200 years later. Yehudah did not return until 1948—a full 1878 years later! Could it be that because of Yehudah’s general rejection of Yahshua, it was ultiplied seven times again? This seems to be the case, for seven times 280 is 1,960, which, when the originally-fulfilled 80 years is subtracted, is 1880—only two years different, which is explained by the errors that are known to have been made in determining the incumbent Gregorian calendar.

8. “In fact, I will even put chains on you so that you cannot turn from one of your sides to your [other] side until you have completed the days of your siege.

9. “Then you take for yourself wheat, barley, split thick beans, lentils, millet, and spelt, and put them in one container, and make them into bread for yourself. For the total number of days that you lie on your side—390 days—you will eat them.

Spelt: or rye.

A set time: probably the times of the daily offerings in the Temple, considering that Y’hezq’el was a priest.

A sixth of a hin is about one liter or a quart. When food is rationed out, we are considered to be in a famine. But still there was food and water, even if in short supply. The real famine, Amos tells us (8:11), is of hearing the words of YHWH. Again, His word has been available all along, but those who controlled it fed it to us only in measured amounts, tickling our ears with this to keep us from hearing the rest. The bread we were given kept us alive but was not enough to accomplish YHWH’s goal of the restoration of both houses of Israel. The providential juxtaposition of the last verse of Judges (21:25) with the first verse of Ruth shows us that what causes this famine is everyone doing what is right in his own eyes because there is no king in Israel. When Yehudah and Israel again choose the same king from the House of David (34:23), the famine will be over forever.

13. And YHWH said, “In the same way, the descendants of Israel will eat their defiled bread in the nations into which I will banish them.”

Defiled bread—which is not true bread--is what we did eat for so long, producing more waste. This bread, by its recipe, turns out to be essentially a laxative, for the pseudo-bread we were eating only made us foul ourselves more and more.

YHWH also set the same type of analogy in front of Kefa (Acts 10), though since it mattered to him, He did not actually require him to eat of the unclean beasts which He used in the vision to change his attitude toward unclean men YHWH had cleansed. He allows Y’hezq’el the same:

YHWH’s first order appears to have been to cook the bread right among the balls of human excrement; now He permits Y’hezq’el to only symbolically carry out a picture of what, if Israel continues in rebellion, will instead be the real thing.

17. “on account of their lacking bread and water, so they will each be in dread of his brother and [they] will waste away in consequence of their guilt.”

CHAPTER 5

2. “One third you must burn up in a flame within the city as the days of the siege are [nearing their] completion, and one third you must take an beat about [from] every direction with a sword, and one third you must scatter to the wind, and I will draw out a sword after them.

3. “But take from there a few in number, and enclose them in the corners of your [garments],

Corners: where the tzitziyoth are worn (Num. 15:38) to remind us to keep YHWH’s commandments. Those enclosed in these corners would thus represent those who do remember YHWH’s commandments.

This may mean yet another punishment even of the faithful remnant, or it may refer to those who are purified in advance of the rest, whose light spreads to the whole remnant—depending on how well we do our part.

Thus, aside from the prohibition against marring the edges of one’s beard in Lev. 19:27, another reason an Israelite should not shave his beard or head hair is that his hairs represent the citizens of Yerushalayim.

She: the city of Yerushalayim seen as a unified bride for YHWH.

8. “‘for this reason, this is what YHWH says: “Behold, I--I Myself--am against you, and will execute just rulings among you in the sight of the Gentiles,

9. “‘“and I will do with you something I have never done [before] and that I will never do the likes of [again], on account of all the disgusting things you [are doing].

10. “‘“Because of [them], fathers among you will eat sons and sons will eat their fathers, and I will execute judgments against you, and I will scatter all that remain of you to every [one of the] winds.

The son is meant to be the father’s greatest delight, and the father is the son’s primary authority. The spirit of Eliyahu (“YHWH is my Elohim”) that is being sent forth in our day is setting the order back in place of teaching the heritage we once spit on to sons who accept it and carry it on. (Mal. 4:5)

If I do not… : one common Hebrew format for swearing an oath.

I.e., to impel them to keep running further from His holy place.

14. “‘“And I will make you a wasteland and an object of scorn among the nations that are all around you [and] in the eyes of all who pass by.

Little more than a century ago, Mark Twain summed this up well after visiting the Land of Israel: “Not even a chicken could scratch out a living there!” Thanks be to YHWH, that wrath is now spent and life is returning to that once-desolate Land.

An example: as a deterrent with the connotation of teaching others not to do the same.

This famine may have been the result of cumulative weather changes that the polar shift of 701 B.C.E. (at the time of Hizqiyahu’s sundial incident) brought on the Land, giving it a climate more like southern California than northern, as it had been prior to that. (Ref. Donald Patten, Catastrophism and the Old Testamant, Pacific Meridien, 1988.)

Beasts: possibly an allusion to the ones in Daniel 7 and Rev. 13-17, as well as literal vicious wild animals, for they would bereave Israel by making her sons indistinguishable from those in the nations in which they forgot they were in exile. Blood: i.e., death, for the root word means “to render silent”, as when all of someone’s blood is shed.

2. “Son of Adam, set your face against the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them,

3. “and say, ‘Mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the Master YHWH!’ This is what the Master YHWH says to the mountains and to the hills, to the runoff-channels and to the valleys: ‘Watch Me [as] I bring a sword upon you, and I will do away with your cultic platforms,

4. “‘and your altars will be devastated, and your pillars of idolatry broken down, and I will make your mortally wounded fall down in front of your rolling idols.

Pillars of idolatry: from the word for “heat”, because they were usually phallic symbols or because they were used for sun-worship. A vestige of these today is found in church steeples under which people worship on the sun’s day.

6. “‘In all the places where you dwell, the cities will be laid waste, and the cultic places will become ruins, so that your altars may become desolations and suffer damage, your rolling idols broken down and removed, and your pillars of idolatry chopped down so that your masterpieces may be obliterated.

Suffer damage: or, be held guilty. Masterpieces: or works of art, accomplishments, in which we tend to place our security.

8. “‘Yet I will let there be a remnant when you have some that escape the sword among the Gentiles when you are scattered among the lands.

9. “‘And those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations in which they have been taken captive, as I was crushed with their unfaithful heart that has turned away from [being] about Me and with their eyes that play the prostitute after their rolling idols, and they will be show revulsion on their faces toward the evil things that they have done for all the disgusting things they [have].

Among the nations: This specifies that we must still be out among the nations when we bring YHWH back to mind. This is beginning to take place! Show revulsion on their faces: or, be repulsed by their own faces, i.e., beardless, not looking like Israelites anymore. Crushed: or broken (hearted), for He is a jilted lover. Unfaithful: i.e., adulterous.

Not without purpose: or, not in vain, not without cause, not for nothing. I.e., His plan that underlies this would prove successful. It would have the effect He intends. What a firm basis for optimism!

Strike…stomp: He is to essentially rant and rave—throw a tantrum or “pitch a fit”! What could get the people’s attention more effectively? Ephraim’s response would eventually be similar but in a positive vein. (Yirmeyahu/ Jeremiah 31:19)

13. “‘“Then you will know that I am YHWH, when it turns out that their mortally wounded are among their rolling idols on every side of their altars to every hill that is raised up, on all the mountaintops and under every flourishing tree and every mighty oak with dense foliage—[any] place where they gave all their rolling idols a soothing aroma.

Mortally wounded: When we look back to the places we used to worship, all we will see is death. Once YHWH calls us onward, we do not need to have anything to do with the places where people do such things. If it does not seem that such practices take place today, do even minimal research into the history of Christmas trees—the remnant of this practice of bringing gifts under ever-green trees. Hill that is raised up: i.e., made higher still by pillar or platform devoted to idol worship. Soothing aroma: of the fat of animals burned by fire, but with the connotation of perfuming themselves for their illicit lovers.

Extend My hand: or simply, turn My hand.

2. “Now [as for] you, son of Adam, this is what the Master YHWH says to the ground of Israel: ‘A [chopped-off] end! The end has come upon the four corners of the Land!

The ends being cut off of four corners is, of course, reminiscent of the reminders to keep YHWH’s commandments being taken away from the extremities of our garments (Num. 15:38-39). The word for corners here is indeed the one used for the extremities of the garment, and really means “wings”, suggesting the removal of YHWH’s protection over us as well. But it also corresponds with Y’hezq’el’s cutting off the extremities of his beard and the hair at the sides of his head (contrast the norm in Lev. 19:27)—which represents leaving the four corners unguarded, and thus leaving the “gates” vulnerable to enemies. Often we see the Land suffering for the people’s sin.

They want these things that make YHWH sick to be close to them, so He says He will dump them right on their heads, so to speak.

5. This is what the Master YHWH says: “A disaster! A singular disaster! Look! It has arrived!

Singular disaster: or, certain injury, only calamity.

7. “Your turn to get up early has come to you, O inhabitant of the Land! The time has come! The day of noisy disturbance is near, and [I] don’t [mean] the grape-stomping shout of the mountains.

Noisy disturbance: It is confusing enough to hear loud noises before dawn, but He is making t clear that this is not a joyful commotion.

9. “And My eye will not have pity upon you, nor will I spare, but I will give you over to your ways and your disgusting things will be right among you, and you will know that [it is] I, YHWH, [who am] causing you to be struck down.

10. “Here it is the day! Indeed it has arrived! Your turn to get up early has left: the branch has put forth blossoms; presumptuous pride has broken out [into bloom].

There is an edge of “I told you it was coming” in His voice. He will only put up with us in mercy for so long; seventy times seven is still a finite number. They have filled their cup, and now must drink it. Aharon’s rod blossomed in order to stop the pride of those who would presume to take his position (Num. 17), but this shows that we did not learn from it; that pride has not been done away with. So YHWH will beat them with it.

Violence...rod: It is as if terrorists have now taken over the government. Not from them: or, none of them. There is a Hebrew word play on the similarities of the sounds in the last sentence: Lo mehem v’lo mehamonam v’lo mehemehem v’lo noah bahem. No distinction among them: or, no [one] among them [will be] eminent.

13. “The vendor will not return to [his] wares, though still among the living, because [the] vision is to the whole clamoring multitude. He will not return, and each one [will remain] in his guilt; he will not have a firm hold on his life.

14. “They have blown the trumpet-blast to get everything ready, but there is no one going to battle, because My hot fury is [coming] toward all her clamoring multitude.

15. “The sword is outside, and the plague and famine are inside the house. Whoever is in the field will die by the sword, and whoever is in the city, the famine and plague will devour.

16. “But when fugitives among them slip away to safety, they will all be in a commotion on the mountains like doves of the gorges, each in his own guilt.

Mountains: here, probably the idolatrous worship-sites—counterfeits of the mountain where YHWH appointed as “a place for His Name”. If they are not part of the remnant wrapped up in the corners of YHWH’s garment, the punishment will still catch up with them even if they escaped once.

Be fluid like water: or, have water flowing off them, i.e., they will wet themselves due to the painful realization of their situation. In any case, there is no strength in the part of the body designed to express worship; they are either forced to buckle before those they had chosen to worship in the days of grace, or that YHWH is simply not granting them repentance, for this is merely “jailhouse religion”, and He does not have to honor that. The whole camp has been permeated by their perversion, so a price must be paid.

These are all mourning rituals, for whether or not they admit they are wrong, they are still losing everything. But no amount of whining will let them get away without paying the price. YHWH even has a tone of making fun of them here, since their pride needs to be disciplined out of them.

They seem to be fasting since it was their physical desires that had tempted them to sin, and the silver and gold had also allured them away from YHWH. Off limits: or, no longer attractive, as this is the word used of a woman who must remain separated from her husband during her menstrual period.

It: i.e., the gold and silver, which was meant to decorate YHWH’s Temple as His bride’s jewelry, but was instead offered to His rivals, their pagan lovers. In our day the truth that YHWH has condescended to grant us has again been twisted to say we no longer need to obey His commandments, and though those who subscribe to this view think they are on a mountaintop, in His eyes they are deep in a sewer pit. They have taken what He meant for one purpose and have found a way to make it benefit self instead.

22. “And I will turn My face away from them, and they will pollute My hidden treasure-store, when those who break through come in and profane it.

23. “Make the chain, because the Land is full of bloody court proceedings, and the city is full of violence!

The chain: to carry them away as slaves, though they are noblemen. They were to be sitting in right judgment, but did not, so they must be disgraced and have their status lowered, and probably be mistreated as well.

Bullies: the Hebrew term connotes those who roughly push others around for the sake of their greed. They would be “out-bullied” by the “injurious” Gentiles who do not even have the vestiges of scruples about hurting others that those who grew up in Israel would still have to some extent, despite their wandering from the Covenant. The places they treat as sacred: not YHWH’s holy places, but their own.

Anguish: from a word meaning “to roll up”, i.e., curl up or double over because of the pain.

The priests are those who are to teach the Torah to the rest of Israel (Mal. 2:7), so if the Torah is lost to them, it is lost to us all.

CHAPTER 8

2. And as I looked, there it was—a resemblance that looked like fire, from what appeared to be His hips extending downward, fire—and from his hips on upward, like the shining of flowing molten metal in appearance.

Revelation 1:13-15 echoes this and shows that this personage is indeed Yahshua.

A lock: the same Hebrew word for the regulation fringe or tassel that an Israelite is to wear on his garment to remind him to keep YHWH’s commandments. (Num. 15:38-39) It may refer to the traditional locks men of Yehudah wear to “embellish the command” given in Lev. 19:27. Wind: or spirit. Statue of zeal to acquire: or, image that makes its [the Temple’s] owner jealous. This was a common idiom for Ishtar, the Babylonian goddess from which the term Easter is derived. This will be an important fact to keep in mind throughout this and the next chapter. It also reminds us of the golden calf, which Aharon said was an image of YHWH (thus giving the calf credit for what YHWH had done), and which Moshe ground up and made the people drink like the water that was a test of the faithfulness of a jealous husband’s wife. (Numbers 5) A calf is one of the highest offerings, and thus represents wealth. Mammon (Hebrew for wealth) still makes YHWH jealous, as does giving anything else credit for what He has done. Even “Jesus” is given the credit for things that the Father really accomplished. Thus a crucifix makes YHWH jealous. Vine’s Expository Dictionary admits that the cross as typically depicted was derived from a Chaldean symbol for Tammuz (see v. 14), being the most ancient way to write its initial letter, tau. The apostate third-century Church received pagans into its fold to increase its prestige, and allowed them to retain such pagan symbolism—another thing YHWH has against the House of Israel. Between heaven and earth: where the spiritual Yerushalayim, of which the physical is a shadow (Heb. 8:5; 9:23), is located, according to this verse.

Splendor: in Hebrew, this means the “weightiness” of His dignified presence which commands respect and honor. How could this coexist side by side with the idol that was set up there (v. 3)?

6. And He said to me, “Son of Adam, do you see what they are doing—the tremendously disgusting things that the House of Israel is doing here, [making Me] distance [Myself] from being over My sanctuary?”

Here: Remember that the Northern Kingdom has been exiled for some 130 years and has not been using the literal Temple in Yerushalayim. So figuratively, in the place where they supposedly worship YHWH, the Northern Kingdom is actually worshipping idols. In the latter days, what could this apply to but the Body of Messiah, which is called the Temple of YHWH which houses the Spirit of Holiness (1 Cor. 3:16), but now has much paganism in it?

8. Then He told me, “Son of Adam, please dig into the wall.” So I dug into the wall, and sure enough, there was a single opening.

Mithras (the Roman army’s version of Tammuz/Nimrod, derived from Persia—see v. 14) was worshipped in caves, especially on December 24-25, so here we find a cave built into the Temple of YHWH as an expression of what later became “Christmas”. So add this to the list of what YHWH has against the Northern Kingdom.

10. So I went in and looked, and lo and behold, every form of creeping thing and detestable beast and all the rolling idols of the House of Israel were [depicted by] engravings on the wall all around on every side.

11. Then seventy men from among the elders of the House of Israel, with Ya’azanyahu the son of Shafan standing among them, were standing in front of them, each with his censer in his hand, and an abundant [odiferous] cloud of incense was ascending.

Seventy men: suggesting the House of Israel’s dispersion into all 70 biblical nations. (See Gen. 10.) Ya’azanyahu means “YHWH lends His ear.” It was a common name during this era (2 Kings 25:23; Yirmeyahu 35:3). This one was a prominent leader. (11:1) His father’s name, Shafan, means “coney/hyrax/rock badger”, linked with the hare in Deut. 14:27 among the unclean beasts that chew the cud but do not have a divided hoof—i.e.,, they meditate on Scripture, but do not walk the walk. Since this is all in the context of Ishtar worship (v. 3), the connection with the hare suggests a possible allusion to the predecessor of the “Easter bunny”. In any case, his name suggests YHWH listening to an unclean beast, so this Ya’azanyahu’s name, though itself honorable, is an insult to YHWH.

Chambers of his masterpiece: or showpiece; alt., the innermost places of his imagination.

14. And He brought me to where the gate of the House of YHWH which is toward the north opened out, and lo and behold, the women were bewailing Tammuz there!

Bewailing Tammuz: a common practice originating when, after the execution of Nimrod the rebel against YHWH who founded Babylon, his widow, Semiramis, proclaimed his son Tammuz to be his reincarnation (hence the mother-and-infant images carried over so identically into the Roman church), and was called “the embodiment of Nimrod”. I.e., he was the “son who is his father”—essentially what the Church says about “Jesus”, at least in practice. His widow/mother went to the underworld to beg to have him back, and was told that he would come back for at least part of every year if everything on earth could be persuaded to weep for him. It must therefore have been a religion with many missionaries. Since YHWH does not want us to have the names of pagan deities on our lips (Psalm 16:4), we should not use this Babylonian name for the fourth month, during which it began, since that is when the land begins to dry up after the rains cease (roughly equivalent to the Roman July; in the West this was practiced in the spring, and lasted forty days; thus, it is the origin of the practice known today as Lent). Semiramis was worshipped as the earth-goddess, and Tammuz was said to have risen into the sky and become the sun. Thus worshipping on the Day of the Sun is also related to this ancient mystery religion.

16. And He brought me into the courtyard of the House of YHWH, and, lo and behold, and the entryway to the Temple of YHWH, between the binding-place and the altar, [there were] about 25 men with their backs toward the Temple of YHWH and their faces eastward, and they were bowing themselves eastward, to the sun!

In the West we do face eastward to pray, because that is toward the Temple (compare Daniel 6:10; 1 Kings 8:38-42; 2 Chron. 6:34), but they were right in front of the Temple and yet had their backs to it—something never allowed during the Second Temple period, since it was a slap in YHWH’s face. Sun-worship in many forms has carried over into the Church, though it is obscured by more innocuous practices like honoring Yahshua’s resurrection. So they were having none other than an “Easter sunrise service”! So this practice is another thing for which YHWH finds the House of Israel guilty. Binding-place: where the animals were tied to be ritually slaughtered; or simply, porch. Only the priests were allowed there. Joel 2:15 tells us that this location is where they should weep and cry out to YHWH lest His chosen heritage become a reproach—not weep for Tammuz! Once a year, on Yom Kippur, a bull was offered up at this site.

Now He turns back to Yehudah and says, “What you are doing is just as bad as what your brothers have been doing!” Yehudah has the duty to redeem his brother Efrayim, but Judaism has accumulated much superstition as well. Stretching out the trimmed branch: another common practice when mourning for Tammuz, whose name appears to mean “sprout of life” and was considered by the Sumerians to be the deity of food or vegetation. Nimrod was called the “Branch of Kush”, so the generic branch became a symbol of him as well. It is also easy to see the connection between the “trimming” of the branch and the “trimming” of the Christmas tree.

CHAPTER 9

Called out: exactly what He had just said would not elicit a response from Him if Israel did the same. (8:18)

Shattering: the same term in its noun form is used for a battle axe, which was also commonly used for beheading. Bronze altar: the one outside the Temple, where the slaughtered animals were burned to YHWH or cooked for the priests. White linen was what the ordinary priestly garments were made from.

4. And YHWH said to him, “Pass through within the city, inside Yerushalayim, and put a mark on the foreheads of all the people who are groaning and lamenting over all the disgusting things that are done within her.”

In Revelation 7:3, such marking identifies these people as YHWH’s servants. Judgment may not come on the earth until they are sealed. A scroll is written in ink on the inside and sealed on the outside. But a mark can wash off; the practice it symbolizes must be perpetuated for the promise to remain current. The blood of the lamb similarly marked those in Egypt to be spared from otherwise-certain death; thus this mark correlates with the practice of Passover, about which the passages placed inside the tefillin, also worn on the forehead, speak; James Trimm points out, and we can see clearly from this context, that its counterfeit—the mark of the beast (Rev. 13)—therefore corresponds with the observance of Easter instead. Passover is only the first of three pilgrim festivals commanded in Ex. 23, and so the analogy extends to all of YHWH’s mandated appointments with Israel, and Easter would in the same way represent, by extension, Christmas, Lent, Valentine’s Day, Halloween, and all the rest of the whitewashed festivals that stem from paganism instead of YHWH’s commands. Observant Jews are therefore more on track in this regard than most modern Christians.

6. “kill, destroy old and young, [virgin] maidens, toddlers, and women [alike], but do not get near anyone who [has] the mark on him. And you must start from My sanctuary.” So they started with the old men who were in front of the House.

Young and old, etc.: United Israel failed to do this when they first entered the Land, and it came back to haunt them.

8. But as they struck down, it turned out that I myself was spared, so I fell on my face and cried out, “Alas, Master YHWH! Will You destroy all who are left of Israel as You pour out Your rage on Yerushalayim?”

9. And He told me, “The perversion of the House of Israel and Yehudah is very great in [its] extent, and the Land is filled with blood, and the city fully warped, because they have said, ‘YHWH has abandoned the Land, so there is no YHWH to inspect.’

10. “So My own eye, too, will not show pity, nor will I spare; I will employ their habits on their own head!”

11. Then, here [came] the man clothed in white linen, who [had] the inkhorn at his hips, brought back word, saying, “I have done just as You ordered me.”

CHAPTER 10

On Mt. Sinai, Moshe, Aharon, and the elders of Israel saw a similar vision of YHWH with a tilework of sapphire under His feet. The word sapphire is related to the Hebrew word for writing or recounting. The word for stone is from the word for building. Thus we could say YHWH’s throne is built through the recounting of what is written.

Burning coals: always associated in Scripture with purification and/or judgment. The only time a man goes into the Holy of Holies is on Yom Kippur, the time for examining our motives, and the High Priest does indeed wear only white linen then. The fire from which he would take them is the golden altar of incense, which represents our prayers. The fire is what “motivates” the incense to go up, so the coals represent the motives behind our prayers. These are exactly what YHWH uses to judge us. We must be motivated not by what makes us feel nice, but by what benefits Israel and pleases YHWH. We are not naturally inclined to have the best motives, but at the moments when we do have them, YHWH hears us and takes us through what we need to experience in order to remove self from the equation.

4. Then the splendor of YHWH rose from [being] upon the kh’ruv over the threshold of the House, and the House was filled with the cloud, and the courtyard was filled with the brightness of the splendor of YHWH.

This rising is a continuation from 9:3, in which He had risen from His usual resting-place.

Outer courtyard: it is too holy to be heard any further than this.

7. and the kh’ruv extended his hand from [the area] between the kh’ruvim to the fire that was between the kh’ruvim, and he picked up [the fire] and put it into the fists of the one wearing the white linen, so he took it and went out.

This would not burn the High Priest as it might seem; he held a special shovel in his hands to collect the coals.

A human hand: literally, Adam’s hand. This may represent the fact that because of Israel’s enthronement of YHHW, Adam was in the process of being reconciled with the kh’ruvim that had barred him from the Garden.

Tarshish: an Israelite-Phonenican colony in the Atlantic region, possibly even as far west as Mexico. (Collins) Many from Israel had moved there as the Assyrian conquest was impending some 130 years before this.

11. When they moved, they went on the four of their quadrants; they do not change direction when they move, because the place toward which the head faced, [there] they followed it; they do not change direction when they move.

12. And all of their flesh, their backs, their hands, their wings, and the wheels were full of eyes all around; the four of them had their wheels.

In chapter 1 we saw that the eyes represent the fact that there is something to see in every part of YHWH’s calendar. Here there are also eyes even on their flesh, reminding us that though we are not to let our flesh (our natural inclinations) motivate us, we must look at what our inclination to rebel reveals about where we need to strengthen our motivation to overcome it.

Rolling: from YHWH’s perspective, they were not just spinning wheels, but were actually going somewhere. “Chariots” is added based on ancient tradition that this is what they were riding.

The kh’ruv’s face was said to be a bull’s in chapter 1.

16. When the living [creatures] moved, the wheels moved beside them, and when the living [creatures] lifted up their wings to rise up from upon the land, they too (the wheels) did not turn from [being] beside them.

17. When [the former] stood still, [the latter] stood still, and when they were lifted up from upon the land, the wheels lifted themselves up, because the spirit of the living creature was in them.

18. Then the splendor of YHWH went out from upon the threshold of the House, and stood over the kh’ruvim.

19. Then the kh’ruvim lifted up their wings and rose up from the earth in my sight. When they went out, the wheels also [went] parallel to them. And He stopped at the opening of the gate of the House of YHWH —the eastern [one]. And the splendor of the Elohim of Israel was upon them from above.

They only had splendor because of their association with Him.

Or, I recognized that they were kh’ruvim.

22. As for what their faces looked like, they are the faces of the ones that I saw [in] the visions on the River K’var. Each proceeds toward [what is directly] across from its face.

CHAPTER 11

Wind: or spirit. These men’s names mean “YHWH hears me”, the son of “help” and “YHWH has delivered me”, the son of “YHWH builds”. They sound like noble names, but they are in the wrong context, just as the Church makes such claims to YHWH’s attention and help, but worships Him in a context that He does not approve of.

3. “who are saying, ‘[It is] not in the vicinity; let’s build houses. She is the [boiling] pot and we are the meat.’

The Northern Kingdom was far from Yerushalayim now, so it appears that they are condemning Yehudah for its shortcomings, and are celebrating the fact that their brother is receiving a beating.

5. Then the Spirit of YHWH fell on me and told me, “Say, ‘This is what YHWH says: “This is how you have spoken, O House of Israel, and the things that come up in your spirit—I know them!

6. “‘“You have caused your mortally wounded to increase in this city, and filled the open squares with the pierced.

7. “‘“So this is what the Master YHWH says: ‘Your mortally wounded, whom you have laid out within her—they are the meat and she is the [boiling] pot. But you I will take out from within her.

He changes their metaphor to one that is much less “tasty”. Many are also predicting the fall of the “spiritual Yerushalayim” as seen here, but thinking they will escape the consequences by means of the “rapture”. But YHWH says he will take these over-confident people away in a different way and to a different context than they expect:

9. “‘“‘and I will take you out from within her and turn you over into the hands of foreigners , and carry out justice against you.

Foreigners: this began with the Assyrians. Indeed, since David had conquered the Assyrians about four centuries earlier, greatly reducing their military strength, now that they had made their comeback, they wanted revenge on Yerushalayim.

11. “‘“‘She will not serve as a [boiling] pot for you, nor will you serve as meat within her.

12. “‘“‘To the border of Israel I will judge you. Then you will know that I am YHWH—in whose prescribed customs of Mine you have not walked, nor have you carried out My legal procedures; rather, you have acted according to the legal procedures of the nations who are all around you.’”’”

To the border: as then-righteous Yehudah was unaffected by the famine that came only on Israel due to her sins in Eliyahu and Akhav’s time, He is very capable of punishing only those who are guilty. This isolation of His instruments of judgment to specific limits would indeed let them see that He was in control of every detail.

As He brings correction to our understanding, the false leader with blasphemous names (v. 1) will indeed collapse.

15. “Son of Adam, your brothers—your relatives, the men [for whom] you could act as kinsman-redeemer and the whole House of Israel—are all those to whom the inhabitants of Yerushalayim have said, ‘Distance [yourselves] from YHWH! This Land is given to us [to possess] as an inheritance!’

16. “So you are to say, ‘This is what the Master YHWH says: “Though I have sent them far away among the Gentiles and though I have shattered them into [many] pieces among the lands, I will nonetheless become for them a diminished sanctuary in the lands into which they have come.”

So: Just as YHWH destroyed the Assyrians, His chosen instrument to correct Israel, for taking this too far and in their own direction (), He will do this not because Israel deserves it, but because of the attitude expressed by Yehudah at Israel’s returning claim to the Land (v. 15; compare 36:22.) A diminished sanctuary: One of less worth, short of the fullness, but barely adequate. To ride out our exile, “while we were still missing the mark” (Rom. 5:8), He gave us Yahshua to keep alive in us a measure of the worship of YHWH throughout the long centuries until the time comes for the rest of this wonderful prophecy to come true:

18. “‘“And when they come there, they will abolish all her detestable things and [remove] all her disgusting things from her,

19. “‘“and I will give them one [unified] heart, and I will put a new spirit within you, and I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a fleshy heart

Fleshy: i.e., organic, soft, pliable, and no longer lifeless and stubborn like stone. The unified heart will not come until the idols (security, worldly values, and even Christian morals that do not line up with Scripture) are removed from our hearts. Anything that is commonly valued by men is suspect of being in this category. Until we remove the clutter from our minds, we cannot fill them with the true knowledge that is the key to our restoration.

21. “‘“But [as for those] whose heart is going to the heart of their detestable and disgusting things, I will put their [habitual] way on their own head,” declares the Master YHWH.’”

22. Then the kh’ruvim lifted up their wings with the wheels paralleling them, and the splendor of the Elohim of Israel was upon them from above.

23. And the splendor of YHWH ascended from within the city and stood still over the mountain that is eastward from the city.

The mountain: i.e., the Mount of Olives, directly east of the Temple Mount. Is it leaving Yerushalayim? Or just waiting outside the Temple precinct until the Messiah returns to this very spot (Zkh. 14:4; Acts 1:11) with us to finish the purification of the City and the Land?

Khasdim: He came back to Babylonia, where his vision had begun.

CHAPTER 12

2. “Son of Adam, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious household who have eyes to see but have not seen, and have ears to hear, but have not listened, because a rebellious house they are!

Those who are given more are responsible for more. (Luke 12:48 and context.) But these people did not use the resources they had been given. (Compare Mat. 25:25.) They had the Torah, and thus should have been able to see. But like most today who still have it, they refused to see it as for now. They are therefore losing the kingdom, for if we leave it until tomorrow without maintaining it today, it will not be there tomorrow. (2 Kefa 3:12)

A warning is provided to show them they are without excuse, but He still holds out some hope that they will repent.

5. “Where they can see [you], dig for yourself through the wall and carry [the things] out through it.

6. “In their sight carry [them] on [your] shoulder; carry it out under cover of darkness. Cover your face so that you do not see the ground, because I have appointed you as a sign for the House of Israel.”

7. So I did just as I was commanded. I brought out my equipment as paraphernalia for exile in the daytime, and in the evening I dug for myself through the wall by hand. I brought it out under cover of darkness; I carried it on my shoulder in their sight.

8. Then the word of YHWH came to me in the morning to say,

9. “Son of Adam, didn’t the House of Israel—the rebellious house—say to you, ‘What are you doing?’

10. “Tell them, ‘This is what the Master YHWH says: “This oracle [concerns] the leader in Yerushalayim and the whole House of Israel who are among them.

11. “Say, ‘I am your sign! As I have done, so will it be done to them. Into exile, into captivity they will go!

12. “‘And the leader who is among them will carry [burdens] on his shoulder under cover of darkness when he goes out. They will dig through the wall to bring [things] out thereby, and he will have his face covered so he will not see the Land with his eyes.

Dig through: i.e., breach. But King Tzidqiyahu would also sneak out via the garden wall in an attempt to escape the besiegers. (2 Kings 25:4) But the gate of the garden is where kh’ruvim are stationed (Gen. 3:24), and since this king was to be judged, he did not escape. He was caught near Yerikho, which foreshadows the Counterfeit Messiah’s being caught near enough to there to be thrown alive into the Dead Sea (which used to be called the Lake of Fire due to lightning igniting the petroleum seepage that used to rise to its surface). See Rev. 19:20.

This is a strange prophecy, but it makes complete sense when we remember that King Tzidqiyahu indeed had his eyes put out by the Babylonians before he was taken to Bavel, but not until after he saw his own sons put to death. (2 Kings 25:7) This is the point of Y’hezq’El’s being sure he could not see the ground (v. 6). Covering his face would also be an expression of grief. (2 Shmuel 19:4)

Strike forces: “wings” of an army, from the root word for “an impending stroke”. I.e., all his “secret service agents” were scattered, removing his protection.

Then they will know: His intent behind this corrective is that they will know Him and become intimate with Him again; it is only punishment if they refuse to repent and choose to remain alienated from Him.

A number: but the term used here implies a number small enough to be easily counted. They would still be remembered—but as a reproach.

18. “Son of Adam, eat your bread with trembling and drink your water with trepidation and anxiety.

19. “Then tell the people of the Land, ‘This is what the Master YHWH says to the inhabitants of Yerushalayim—to the Land of Israel: “They will eat their bread with anxiety and drink their water with [appalled] horror, in order that the Land may become desolate of all that fills it, because of the violent injustice of all who live in her.

The infrastructure and landscaping could not be maintained since everyone was afraid to go outside any more than was absolutely necessary. But part of the reason for this exile was that the people had not obeyed YHWH and allowed the Land to enjoy its sabbatical years. (Lev. 26:34)

21. Then the Word of YHWH came to me to say,

22. “Son of Adam, what is this saying you have about the Land of Israel that says, ‘The days are prolonged, and every prophetic vision will vanish’?

23. “For this reason I say to them, ‘This what the Master YHWH says: “I will put a stop to this saying, and they will no longer use it as a proverb in Israel, because”, tell them, “The days are approaching with the substance of every prophetic vision.”’

I.e., “It has been a long time since He started warning us, and nothing has happened yet.” Today people also say, “There is nothing to be afraid of. Judgment has not come yet.” (2 Kefa 3:3-15) But today YHWH is showing us that if we do not fear Him, there is “more to fear than fear itself”. Compare Y’shua’s words about those who allow themselves to be sidetracked and abuse His delay. (Luke 12:42ff)

Empty: worthless, in vain. Flattering: from an identical word meaning smooth or slippery. The reason they did not take the words of the prophets seriously is because there were so many false prophets muddying the waters by giving the opposite prognostication.

26. Then the Word of YHWH came to me to say,

27. “Son of Adam, here, the House of Israel is saying, ‘The vision that he is seeing is for many days [off], and he prophesies for times far removed [from now].’

It is a common attitude in the Church, that the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation, etc., are only for the “end times”, though 1 Yochanan 2:18; 2 Yoch. 1:7 tell us that these things have been going on all along, and if one does not “get off the train” of the Counterfeit Messiah that he is already on, he will soon end up at the end of that line.

CHAPTER 13

2. “Son of Adam, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are prophesying, and say to those who prophesy from their own heart, ‘Listen to the word of YHWH!

3. “‘This is what the Master YHWH says: “Woe to the foolish prophets who go after their own spirit, but have gone without seeing [a vision]!

4. “‘“O Israel, your prophets have become like foxes in the wastelands!

5. “‘“You have not gone up into the breaches or closed up the fence in regard to the House of Israel, so that it might endure in the battle on the Day of YHWH.

Foxes find ruins beneficial, because there is food there for them. The responsibility of a prophet (especially since most were Levites, who are responsible to teach Torah), however, is not to feed off others’ doom, but to prevent it by shoring up the defenses meant to protect Israel through the knowledge of the Truth.

7. “‘“Haven’t you beheld an empty vision and pronounced a divination that is untrue when you say, ‘YHWH declares’ though I have not spoken?”

8. “‘Therefore, this is what the Master YHWH says: “Since you have made empty promises and [as if you were seers] beheld deceitful things, I am therefore against you,” declares the Master YHWH.

9. “‘“And My hand will be against the prophets who behold wasteful things, and who divine a lie. They will not be in the inner circle of My people’s council, nor will they be enrolled in the registry of the House of Israel, and they will not arrive onto the ground of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Master, YHWH.”’

The exiles in Bavel were probably hoping that the king of Yehudah, who was still reigning in Yerushalayim, might yet be able to send an army to bring them back home, as only a small percentage , the cream of the crop, had been taken to Bavel thus far. But by revealing that the king, too, would be brought into exile (12:12-13), YHWH takes away this humanly-based hope. But there are many layers to this prophecy. It speaks to our day as well, when many expect to be in the inner circles in the Kingdom, but are not obeying the light they have already been given.

Outer wall: where the defenses of the city of Gamla were breached in Roman times. By limiting themselves to politically correct messages of “sweetness and light”, they fail to point out the weak spots in the wall that could be repaired in time. Instead, they whitewash the walls with “fluff” like the rapture doctrine which causes people to expect to escape YHWH’s firm hand.

Indeed, it will fall: Who said anything about it falling before this? The key is that the words for plaster (tafel) and “you will fall” (tipol) are spelled exactly the same way in Hebrew without the vowel points.

13. “Therefore, this is what the Master YHWH says: ‘I will split it with a raging wind in My fury, and in My anger there will be an overflowing of rain, and hail stones to finish it off in the heat of My indignation!

Compare Y’shua’s parable of the foolish builder. (Mat. 7:26)

15. “And I will exhaust My rage on the wall and on those who have smeared it with plaster. And [they] will say to you, ‘There is no wall, and none of those who plastered it over are here’--

16. “‘the prophets of Israel, who prophesy to Yerushalayim, and who behold visions of peace for her, when there is no peace,” declares the Master YHWH.

17. “Now you, son of Adam, fix your face against the daughters of your people, who prophesy out of their own heart, and prophesy about them.

18. “What you must say is, ‘This is what the Master YHWH says: “Woe to those who sew covered amulets to all the joints of My forearm and press long veils over the heads of anyone tall enough to hunt souls! Will you hunt the souls of My people, yet save the souls alive for yourselves?

Tall enough… save the souls alive: This seems like an allusion to King Sha’ul, who was the tallest in Israel, and left King Agag of the Amaleqites alive long enough to sire at least one more son, when YHWH had ordered that they all be slain. (1 Shmuel 15:9) Covered amulets: in the place where t’fillin (phylacteries bearing YHWH’s commandments) should be on a human being, idolatrous images are being joined to YHWH!

Barley, crumbs of bread: possibly what they placed inside the amulets. It seems that they were using a form of voodoo here to curse others.

Again, there are many layers to this prophecy, for YHWH was dealing with many types of rebellion at the same time. The term for amulets can also be rendered cushions, and “make them sprout” can have the shade of meaning of “making them fly”; some even render it “hunt souls like birds”. A cushion that covers the forearm (v. 18) when hunting birds suggests hunting with a falcon or hawk. An unclean bird of prey has symbolized Gentile governments bent on conquest since the time of Nimrod, founder of Babylon. Missionaries have often compromised with occupying governments’ agendas in order to gain access to the tribes they have conquered. Sometimes they feed their bellies so they will listen to their spiritual message, and today we hear of governments funding after-school food programs in churches to provide a forum for the themes they wish to advance as well. To keep the bird from wounding one’s hand, a glove that limits the movement of the joints (v. 18) must be used. YHWH’s Hand is an idiom for the Messiah. Compromises that blunt and limit His real message must be used in order to retain the funding source. But this only highlights what the bird of prey will do if one does not have the cushion there! Why should we deal with such a hunting aid?

22. “‘Since through deceit you have made sad the heart of the righteous when I have not caused him pain, and have strengthened the hands of the wicked to keep him from repenting from his evil way, so that he could survive,

False prophets not only give people false hope; they give people false fears as well, to advance their agendas.

CHAPTER 14

2. Then the word of YHWH came to me, to say,

3. “Son of Adam, these men have let rolling-idols ascend onto their hearts, and set the stumblingblock of their perversity right in front of their faces; should I allow Myself to be consulted by them at all?

Consulted: most likely for advice on how to end their captivity. To them, YHWH was just one more of many whose prophets they consulted. The others have not come through for them, so as a last resort, they inquire of YHWH. So He does not answer the question they come with, but gives them a more important message:

Temptation is inevitable (Mat. 18:7), but giving it space is not. They were putting their idols in a place where they could not miss them, as a constant reminder—something we are instead told to do with YHWH’s words. (Deut. 11:18-20) By their actions, these leaders have given the wrong message and set a bad example for the rest of Israel. People in ancient times were not so foolish as to worship wood or stones as such. Each idol was linked with a particular purpose which matched a desire of the human heart. Ba’al-Peor was worshipped so one could have more authority in the underworld after his death. Asherah was worshipped for the sake of fertility, etc. The images were just symbols, but in making them, the worshipper felt like he was more in control of the demon behind them. (See 1 Cor. 10:20.) In modern society, we do not bow down to carvings, but we still worship our desires by putting them first. An idol may be something as simple as your right to your own opinion. When we cannot get what we desire, we come to Him, still bearing the lipstick and perfume of our illicit lover, and expect Him to do something for us!

Capture: Since they already had their hearts set on believing a lie, YHWH sent them a strong delusion. (2 Thess. 2:11)

7. “‘“Any man from the House of Israel, or any foreigner who lives temporarily in Israel, who separates himself from following after Me, and lets his idols ascend toward his heart or sets the stumblingblock of his perversity right in front of his face, yet comes to the prophet to consult him in regard to Me, I, YHWH, will answer him Myself.

No visitor to Israel is permitted to worship anyone but YHWH when in His territory. Once one knows the truth, tolerance of anything else is a fault.

Ethical comparison: as a proverb or byword to warn others not to do the same.

He has already set a standard by his own words, so he should know better than to fall for anything that relaxes the standard. YHWH has already told them not to answer them (v. 3), so if a message did come to the prophet for them, it would be for the sake of blinding those whose minds were already made up anyway (v. 5), and the prophet would be giving an untrue message, and thus be just as guilty as they.

11. “‘“so that the House of Israel may no longer wander away from Me nor continue to defile themselves with their rebellion, but become for Me a people; then I will come to serve as an Elohim for them,” declares the Master YHWH.’”

12. Then the Word of YHWH came to me to say,

13. “Son of Adam, if a land sins against Me by treacherously crossing a [forbidden] line, then I will stretch out My hand over it and break the staff of bread for it, and send it a famine, and I will cause [both] man and animal to be cut off from it.

Staff: or supply; literally, stretching out; i.e., the bread would not last long enough. Man and animal: literally, Adam and [the] Beast.

These three men dwelt in lands other than Israel. But Daniel was actually Y’hezq’el’s contemporary, brought to Bavel at the same time as he, so he must have already, even in his youth, had an exemplary reputation as someone who had earned YHWH’s respect.

16. “[and] these three men were within it, [I swear that as] I live,” declares the Master YHWH, “[even] if they could rescue sons or daughters, they alone would be delivered, while the land remained a wasteland.

We cannot ride on the coattails of anyone else’s righteousness. Righteousness is defined in Deut. 6:25 as observing and guarding YHWH’s Torah.

18. “[and] these three men were within it, [I swear that as] I live,” declares the Master YHWH, “they could not [even] rescue sons or daughters, because only they themselves would be delivered

19. “Or [if] I let loose a pestilence into that land, and poured out My rage on it with blood to eliminate man and animal from it,

20. “even [if] Noach, Daniel, and Iyov were within it, [as] I live,” declares the Master YHWH, “if they could rescue sons or daughters, they would deliver their souls [only] by their righteousness.

21. “Because this is what the Master YHWH has said: ‘How much more when I let loose My four injurious acts of judgment—sword, famine, vicious beast, and pestilence—toward Yerushalayim to eliminate man and animal from it!

This city knows better, so even the influence of the righteous within it will not be enough to spare the wicked majority as in S’dom and Ghamorah.

When the righteous see what all these chastisements have done for the lifestyle of the small remnant who survive them, they will recognize that it was more than worth it all.

In vain: without cause, to no purpose, for nothing. I.e., every stroke of judgment that He lays on it will achieve its purpose and make it more righteous than ever.

CHAPTER 15

2. “Son of Adam, how could the [woody] stalk of the [grape] vine be [better] than any pruned tree that was among the trees of the forest?

3. “Can wood be made to be taken from it to produce any workmanship? Or can they procure from it a peg on which to hang any [kind of] tool?

It is too flimsy to hang a heavy tool on.

5. “Indeed, when it was unimpaired it could not be used [to make] any product; how much less can it be used to make a product again when the fire has devoured it?

6. “Therefore, this is what the Master YHWH says: ‘As the vine is among the trees of the forest that I have provided as fuel for the fire, I have likewise designated the inhabitants of Yerushalayim.

If it was never useful for anything but producing grapes, once it has been burned, can it ever be used again? Israel is called a vine that was planted to bear fruit for YHWH. (Psalm 80:19ff; Yeshayahu 5) It is not designed to be useful for anyone else’s purposes. If we do not fulfill our calling, what else can He do with us but destroy us? It may even put out bad grapes, which are worse than no grapes because they give one a false hope.

The prophet’s word is a fire from YHWH that is meant to burn away what is useless in us. But if we are offended by their words and run away from them, it will be the proverbial “out of the frying pan, into the fire”.

CHAPTER 16

2. “Son of Adam, let Yerushalayim know what she [is doing] that nauseates Me,

3. “and say, ‘This is what the Master YHWH says to Yerushalayim: “Your forgings and your springings-forth were from the land of the Kanaanite. Your father was the Emorite and your mother a Hittite.

Emorite and Hittite: the origins of the Yevusite city that existed on the site previously.

5. “‘“Not [one] eye looked on your with pity to do any of these things for you to have compassion on you. Rather, you were flung onto the surface of the field in abhorrence of your soul on the day you were given birth.

6. “‘“And when I was passing by you, I saw you kicking about in your own blood. And [while you were] in your blood, I told you, ‘Stay alive!’ Indeed, [while you were] in your blood, I told you, ‘Live on!’

Kicking about: or, squirming. YHWH noticed Yerushalayim because fo Melkhitzedeq in Avraham’s time, but His people were not yet there; the city was not taken by Y’hoshua. It remained Yevusite until David conquered it. In your blood, live: Why is it said twice? Because taking the easy way out is really choosing death. (Deut. 30:15-19) When we left our own blood for Y’shua’s and came in the door to Israel, yet thought the fight was over, we could not become fully alive, for it was not the time to rest (His Kingdom). When our obligation to the Torah caught up with us, it told us to get up and do something about His unfinished business, to become a threat to His enemies instead of avoiding pain, blood, and conflict.

8. “‘“That’s when I passed by and saw you, and lo and behold, your time was the season for affection, so I spread the extremity [of My garment] over you and concealed your nakedness. Then I swore a vow to you and entered into a covenant with you,” declares the Master YHWH, “and you became Mine.”

When YHWH passed by the second time, Israel was in the picture. Extremity: literally, wing. We often think of being under YHWH’s wings as referring to His protection, and it does, but it goes much further. Spreading a garment over someone is an idiom and a symbol of marrying them, as seen in the story of Boaz and Ruth.

Ruth washed and anointed herself before asking Boaz to spread his garment over her as kinsman-redeemer. (Ruth 3:3) Your blood: This time the blood of niddah, in which a woman is temporarily unavailable to her husband.

Embroidered… takhash skins: this is also the description of how the Tabernacle was “clothed”. (Ex. 36:19) Even her sandals were bejeweled.

Ornaments: The term is also used to describe t’fillin (phylacteries) in Exodus 33:4-5.

13. “‘“You were adorned with gold and silver, and your apparel was of fine linen, costly [silk], and skillfully embroidered [workmanship]. You ate fine flour, honey, and oil. You were very beautiful, and you advanced to royalty.

Gold and silver, fine flour and oil are also common components of the offerings at the Tabernacle, but honey was not permitted to be baked into any of the grain offerings. Honey was, however, part of th