Notes: Ezekiel 1 To Ezekiel 20

*Ezekiel 1 / *Ezek. 1 -

(God's *merkabah / *merkavah / *chariots / *cherubims)

(Re: Someone had a vision: "Angels will use flying machines, which can hover")

That brings to mind the "chariots" of the angels (Psalms 68:17), which might fly about and hover, like helicopters do today, but using a different technology than helicopters, a heavenly technology. There is also the "merkabah" (H4818), the "chariot" of God Himself, which could also fly about and hover. The prophet Ezekiel saw that it has four "wheels" (compare a drone's four rotors) (Ezekiel 10:9) which are so large that they are frightening (Ezekiel 1:18). Each wheel consists of a wheel at a right angle within another wheel (Ezekiel 1:16-17, Ezekiel 10:10). The wheels turn with the sound of a great rushing (Ezekiel 3:13) (compare the sound of a helicopter). Each wheel has eyes all around its rims (Ezekiel 1:18). And each wheel has an accompanying footman, as it were (Ezekiel 10:9,16-17): a four-winged, four-faced (Ezekiel 1:6) angelic being called a cherub (Ezekiel 10:9), whose beating wings make a great sound like rushing waters (Ezekiel 1:24), and whose bodies are covered with eyes (Ezekiel 10:12). Their four faces are of a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle (Ezekiel 1:10).

Between the four wheels and four cherubims are coals of fire (Ezekiel 10:2), and above is a crystal platform (Ezekiel 1:22, cf. Revelation 4:6a) above which God sits on a sapphire throne (Ezekiel 1:26, Ezekiel 10:1) and appears as bright as fire (Ezekiel 1:27, cf. Revelation 4:3a) with a rainbow of light circling Him (Ezekiel 1:28, cf. Revelation 4:3b). God moves about on this chariot, for He came on it to appear to the prophet Ezekiel by the river Chebar in Babylonia (Ezekiel 1:3-28) in the sixth century BC. Then God moved on it to a plain in Babylonia (Ezekiel 3:22-23). Later, God moved on it to the right side of Solomon's temple in Jerusalem (Ezekiel 10:3-6). Then God moved on it to the east gate of that temple (Ezekiel 10:19). Then God moved on it to the top of the Mount of Olives east of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 11:22-23; cf. Zechariah 14:4). Later, God moved on it to sit inside a future temple in Jerusalem (Ezekiel 43:2-7).

(Compare Revelation 4:3 below)

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*Ezekiel 1:1-3 / *Ezek. 1:1 -

This is not referring to when all of the visions in the book of Ezekiel apply, but to when the vision in chapters 1-3a was seen by the prophet Ezekiel.

(See also the third "For example" under Revelation 1:1 below)

~

"Chebar" (Kebar: H3529) was the name of a river in Babylonia/Chaldea (Ezekiel 1:3), in what is now called Iraq. Jewish captives lived next to this river (Ezekiel 3:15) during their Babylonian captivity in the sixth century BC. It may have been a man-made channel/canal dug in the time of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, to connect the Euphrates and Tigris rivers (See Easton's).

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*Ezekiel 1:10 / *Ezek. 1:10 -

(Re: Eagle same as in Luke 17:37?)

No, see Luke 17:37 below.

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*Ezekiel 1:16 / *Ezek. 1:16 -

The original Hebrew word (tarshiysh: H8658) translated as "beryl" could refer to the gemstone called the topaz (Strong's Hebrew Dictionary), which has a (transparent) golden color.

~

(A wheel in the middle of a wheel)

This can refer to two wheels with the same center point turning at right angles to each other. For Ezekiel 1:17 refers to "their four sides", which would not apply to two wheels turning in the same plane, one within the other.

Of course, it is impossible in space-time as we know it (with three dimensions of space and one dimension of time) for two wheels with the same center point to turn at right angles to each other. For this would require that they pass through the same points in space where they intersect.

So the wheels of God's chariot must involve a higher, fourth spatial dimension which permits them not to interfere with each other as they turn. And this higher spatial dimension could be called a spiritual spatial dimension, just as the wheels themselves could consist of a spiritual substance.

Because the fourth spatial dimension, just as spirit, is invisible to us, it could be the location of the invisible "dark" matter and "dark" energy which make up 96% of the universe.

Of course, these are only "dark" in the sense of them not being visible to our physical eyes and scientific instruments. To our spiritual eyes, they are a lovely (transparent) golden color, just as they appeared to the prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1:16). Compare also what Revelation 21:18b,21b says.

(See also Ecclesiastes 11:5 above)

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*Ezekiel 2:3 / *Ezek. 2:3 -

(Re: Means that Ezekiel was sent only to the house of Israel?)

In Ezekiel 2:3 the "children of Israel" means those descended from Jacob (also named Israel: Genesis 32:28), who include all Jews. That is why the prophet Ezekiel prophesied to the Jews in Jerusalem (Ezekiel 16), and to the Jews in captivity in Chaldea/Babylon (Ezekiel 11:25). And in Ezekiel 8 the sins going on in the Jerusalem of his time (Ezekiel 8:3-17) were called, interchangeably, the sins of the house of Israel (Ezekiel 8:6,10-12) and the sins of the house of Judah (Ezekiel 8:17). For "the house of Israel" can include all twelve tribes of Israel (Exodus 16:31, Leviticus 17:10, Numbers 20:29, Joshua 21:45, Ruth 4:11; 1 Samuel 7:3; 2 Samuel 1:12).

(See also Ezekiel 12:10 below, and the "Lost tribes?" section of Romans 11:17 below)

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*Ezekiel 3:14 / *Ezek. 3:14 -

The original Hebrew word (chemah: H2534) translated as "heat" can mean "fury" (Ezekiel 5:13).

(Compare paragraph 2b of section 2 of Isaiah 42:8 above)

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*Ezekiel 4 / *Ezek. 4 -

This refers to the literal, earthly city of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 4:1), before it was besieged (Ezekiel 4:2,3,7) and destroyed...

(See "by the ancient" under Ezekiel 5 below)

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*Ezekiel 4:4-6 / *Ezek. 4:4 -

Ezekiel 4:4-5 refers to the prophet Ezekiel having to, only one time, lay bound (Ezekiel 4:8) by men (Ezekiel 3:25) on his left side for 390 literal days, to symbolically represent his bearing 390 past years of "the iniquity of the house of Israel" (Ezekiel 4:5). And Ezekiel 4:6 refers to Ezekiel subsequently having to, only one time, lay bound on his right side for forty literal days, to symbolically represent his bearing forty past years of "the iniquity of the house of Judah" (Ezekiel 4:6).

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*Ezekiel 4:9 / *Ezek. 4:9 -

The original Hebrew word (dochan: H1764) translated as "millet" can mean just that, which is a type of grain with a strong flavor.

The Hebrew word (kuccemeth: H3698) translated as "fitches" can refer to spelt, a type of wheat with light-red kernels.

--

*Ezekiel 4:10 / *Ezek. 4:10 -

(Shekels)

See 1 Samuel 17:5 above...

So the prophet Ezekiel's daily food-ration weighing "twenty shekels" means that it was 20 x 0.576 ounces, or 11.52 ounces, or about 3/4 of a pound. If our bread slices today weigh about an ounce each, and if Ezekiel ate three times a day, then he ate about four slices of bread per meal, and that's it.

(Compare Revelation 6:6 below)

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*Ezekiel 4:11 / *Ezek. 4:11 -

A hin was about a gallon, which is 128 ounces. So "the sixth part of a hin" would mean that the prophet Ezekiel's daily water ration was about 21 ounces. If Ezekiel drank three times a day, then he drank about seven ounces, or a little less than a cup of water, per meal, and that's it.

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*Ezekiel 4:12,15 / *Ezek. 4:12 -

This could mean that dried dung was to be used as the fuel for the fire by which the bread dough was to be cooked, just as still today in parts of the developing world, dried cow dung is used as fuel. (In India today, where this practice is common in the countryside, some city dwellers who grew up in the countryside can even now buy dried cow dung online to be delivered to their city apartments, where they can then burn the dung to nostalgically re-experience the common smell of their childhood.)

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*Ezekiel 5 / *Ezek. 5 -

The city in Ezekiel 5 is the literal, earthly city of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 5:5) in the time of the prophet Ezekiel before Jerusalem's destruction in 586 BC (Ezekiel 24:1-2; 2 Kings 25:1) by the ancient king Nebuchadnezzar, the king of the literal, ancient empire of Babylon (cf. Ezekiel 30:10). Ezekiel 5:12 refers to one-third of the inhabitants in Jerusalem at that time dying by famine, another third dying by sword, and another third being scattered to other countries.

--

*Ezekiel 5:5 / *Ezek. 5:5 -

(Re: Revelation 17:18)

Ezekiel 5:5 says only that Jerusalem has been set "in the midst" of the nations, not that it reigns over them (Revelation 17:18).

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*Ezekiel 5:16 / *Ezek. 5:16 -

Here, as in Ezekiel 4:16, Ezekiel 14:13, Leviticus 26:26, and Psalms 105:16, the original Hebrew word (matteh: H4294) translated as "staff" can refer to a literal wooden staff (Genesis 38:18), in the sense of, for example, one used as a support while walking. But here the word is used figuratively to refer to how bread is a support of life (Strong's Hebrew Dictionary). Compare the English phrase: "staff of life", which means: "a staple of diet; esp. bread" (Webster's).

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*Ezekiel 5:17 / *Ezek. 5:17 -

The original Hebrew word (`abar: H5674) translated as "pass through" can mean "cover". The verse can also mean that foreign soldiers would cause blood to pass through Jerusalem (which is being addressed in Ezekiel 5:5-17) in the sense of foreign soldiers moving across the city killing its inhabitants with the "sword" of Ezekiel 5:17.

Also, the "pestilence" (or plague: deber: H1698) of Ezekiel 5:17 would "pass through" the city by spreading across it through contagion.

--

*Ezekiel 6:9 / *Ezek. 6:9 -

The original Hebrew word (shabar: H7665) translated as "broken" can be used in the sense of "brokenhearted" (cf. Jeremiah 23:9, Isaiah 61:1, Psalms 69:20), emotionally "hurt" (Jeremiah 8:21).

--

*Ezekiel 6:14 / *Ezek. 6:14 -

"Diblath" (H1689) might be a shortened form of "Diblathaim", which was a city in the harsh desert east of the Dead Sea. Jeremiah 48:22 calls it: "Beth-diblathaim" (H1015), and Numbers 33:46 calls it: "Almon-diblathaim" (H5963).

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*Ezekiel 7:7 / *Ezek. 7:7 -

The original Hebrew word (hed: H1906) translated as "the sounding again of" can mean "the shout" (Strong's Hebrew Dictionary). And the Hebrew word (har: H2022) translated as "the mountains" can mean just that; or, it can mean the "hills" (Isaiah 7:25). This could be figurative of leaders in Israel who have undergone promotion to high office. That is, its leaders will no longer shout in victory, for the land of Israel will be conquered and occupied by foreign forces.

--

*Ezekiel 7:14 / *Ezek. 7:14 -

This refers to God's wrath against Israel's army (i.e., it will be defeated), just as the chapter is about the destruction of the land of Israel (Ezekiel 7:2) by a foreign enemy (Ezekiel 7:24,21,15). This could refer to the destruction of Jerusalem and Judah by the Babylonians in 586 BC, just as, for example, the sins going on in Jerusalem in the time of the prophet Ezekiel were called the sins of Israel (Ezekiel 8:6-18).

--

*Ezekiel 8:17 / *Ezek. 8:17 -

(Put the branch to their nose)

This could refer to an ancient Assyrian ritual gesture performed during the worship of pagan deities.

--

*Ezekiel 9:4-11 / *Ezek. 9:4 -

This referred to the time of the prophet Ezekiel, when God had a mark set on the foreheads of those people in Jerusalem whom He wished to spare from the death (Ezekiel 14:21) and destruction which came upon Jerusalem during its siege and defeat in 586 BC.

The mark of God in Ezekiel 9:4 could have been a literal mark visible to humans, like the mark of God in Genesis 4:15 was visible to humans. Similarly, the future mark (or seal) of God in Revelation 7:3 will be visible to humans. For it will be visible to the physical locust-like beings (Revelation 9:4), and it was visible to the apostle John (Revelation 14:1). Also, the marks (in this case persecution scars) of the Lord Jesus Christ on the apostle Paul's body in Galatians 6:17 were visible to humans. So the Antichrist's future mark (probably a scar, purposely applied by scarification) of the Antichrist's name or a representation of the gematrial number of his name (666) (Revelation 13:16-18) will be visible to humans, so that they can easily tell in every situation whether or not someone should be permitted to buy or sell (Revelation 13:17).

(See also Exodus 13:9 above)

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*Ezekiel 11:14-21 / *Ezek. 11:14 / *Ezek. 11:15 -

This was addressing the prophet Ezekiel -- who was in captivity in Babylonia at that time with other Israelites (Ezekiel 1:1-3) -- and can be referring to their (at that time) future return from their Babylonian captivity in the sixth century BC.

--

*Ezekiel 11:25 / *Ezek. 11:25 -

This refers back to all of the things which God had just shown the prophet Ezekiel in Ezekiel 8:2 to 11:24. Also, "I spake unto them of the captivity" (Ezekiel 11:25) does not mean "about" the captivity, but that Ezekiel spoke to Jews who at that time were already in captivity in Chaldea (Babylonia). For at the end of the vision of Ezekiel 8:2 to 11:24, Ezekiel's spirit had been brought back "into Chaldea, to them of the captivity" (Ezekiel 11:24). For at the time that the book of Ezekiel was written, Ezekiel was already living "in the land of the Chaldeans" (Ezekiel 1:3) along with other Jews who had been taken there at the time of the Jewish King Jehoiachin's captivity (Ezekiel 1:1-3), which is described in 2 Kings 24:10-16. After King Jehoiachin and thousands of Jews were taken into captivity, the Jewish King Zedekiah reigned in Jerusalem for eleven years before Jerusalem was finally destroyed and the final taking into captivity took place (2 Kings 24:17 to 25:11, Ezekiel 33:21, Ezekiel 40:1).

--

*Ezekiel 12:3 / *Ezek. 12:3 -

The original Hebrew word (gowlah: H1473) translated as "removing" can refer to "exile", or "captivity" (Ezekiel 12:7), just as the Hebrew word (galah: H1540) translated as "remove" can mean to "go into captivity" (Isaiah 5:13).

--

*Ezekiel 12:10-11 / *Ezek. 12:10 -

The (at that time) upcoming captivity in the book of Ezekiel was the Jewish King Zedekiah's captivity (2 Kings 24:17 to 25:11), not (as is sometimes claimed) the already-fulfilled captivity of the Jewish King Jehoiachin (2 Kings 24:10-16). Through the prophet Ezekiel, who was already in captivity in Chaldea/Babylon (Ezekiel 1:1-3), God was warning the Jews still living in Jerusalem that the day of their own captivity was coming (Ezekiel 12:10-11). Ezekiel 12:12-13 even foretold the details which would be later described in the historical account of 2 Kings 25:4-7.

--

*Ezekiel 12:21-28 / *Ezek. 12:21 -

This applied only to every prophecy regarding the prophet Ezekiel's contemporaries, not to every prophecy given by God up to that time or afterward. For example, the prophecy in Isaiah 53 was not fulfilled until Jesus Christ's first coming, which was about 600 years after Ezekiel's time.

--

*Ezekiel 13:10 / *Ezek. 13:10 -

The word "morter" is in italics because it is not in the original Hebrew. And the original Hebrew word (taphel: H8602) translated as "untempered" can simply mean "plaster". Ezekiel 13:10-16 can mean that an unsound wall was plastered over so that it looked good, but it would still collapse. In this case, the wall represents a false prophecy of peace (Ezekiel 13:16, Ezekiel 13:10a).

--

*Ezekiel 14:15,21 / *Ezek. 14:15 -

The original Hebrew word (ra`: H7451) translated as "noisome" can mean "evil" (Genesis 2:9).

--

*Ezekiel 14:21-23 / *Ezek. 14:21 -

Ezekiel 14:21 was fulfilled at the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, just as Ezekiel 12:12-13 foretold the details which would be later described in the historical account of 2 Kings 25:4-7.

Ezekiel 14:22-23 means that the Jewish survivors of Babylon's attack on Jerusalem would go to Babylon -- where the prophet Ezekiel was when he received the prophecy of Ezekiel 14:21 -- so that Ezekiel would see them.

--

*Ezekiel 16 / *Ezek. 16 -

(Re: Jerusalem as a *harlot)

Passages like Ezekiel 16 calling Jerusalem a "harlot" do not require that Jerusalem alone must be the entirety of what the symbolic harlot "Babylon" in Revelation chapters 17-18 represents, just as, for example, Nahum 3:4 does not require that Nineveh alone (Nahum 1:1) is the entirety of Revelation's "Babylon". Also, Isaiah 23:15-16 does not require that Tyre alone is the entirety of Revelation's "Babylon". And Ezekiel 23:4-8,44 does not require that Samaria alone is the entirety of Revelation's "Babylon". And Jeremiah 3:6-7 and Hosea 4:15 do not require that the ancient, northern kingdom of Israel alone is the entirety of Revelation's "Babylon". And Ezekiel 20:30 and Ezekiel 43:7 do not require that the house of Israel alone is the entirety of Revelation's "Babylon". And Hosea 5:3 and Hosea 6:10 do not require that Ephraim alone is the entirety of Revelation's "Babylon". Instead, the corrupt aspects of all of these, and of all other cities and nations throughout the earth and throughout history, can be included as only parts of what Revelation's symbolic "Babylon" represents.

(See Ezekiel 16:46 and Revelation chapters 17-18 below)

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*Ezekiel 16:46 / *Ezek. 16:46 -

This means that the corrupt aspects of the harlot "sisters" Samaria, Jerusalem, and Sodom all arose from one, other mother, who would be the symbolic (and worldwide) "Babylon" in Revelation chapters 17-18, who is the "mother" of harlots (Revelation 17:5).

--

*Ezekiel 16:49 / *Ezek. 16:49 -

The original Hebrew word (shalvah: H7962) translated as "abundance" can mean "prosperity" (Jeremiah 22:21). So Ezekiel 16:49 could be referring to an idleness connected with prosperity.

--

*Ezekiel 16:53-56 / *Ezek. 16:53 -

(Re: Will not all sinful nations be destroyed like *Sodom was?)

The ten kings of the future Antichrist's empire could nuke the cities of the nations at the seventh vial (Revelation 17:16-17a, Revelation 16:19), the final event of the future Tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24. But Jesus Christ will return right after the seventh vial (Revelation 16:17,19, Revelation 19:2-21, Matthew 24:29-30). And He will restore ruined parts of the earth and make them like the Garden of Eden (Ezekiel 36:35, Isaiah 51:3). He will even restore Sodom (Ezekiel 16:53-56), despite its past sinfulness (Ezekiel 16:49-50, Genesis 19:4-5, Jude 1:7), just as He will restore Jerusalem (Zechariah 14), the sins of which were even greater than those of Sodom (Ezekiel 16:48, Ezekiel 16:2-63, Lamentations 4:6, Matthew 23:34-39).

(See also Romans 1:26 below)

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*Ezekiel 16:61 / *Ezek. 16:61 -

This refers only to the still-future time when Jerusalem will no longer be a wayward harlot, but will have been redeemed and reconciled to God (Ezekiel 16:60-63, Isaiah 4:3-6), just as Samaria and Sodom will be (Ezekiel 16:55).

--

*Ezekiel 18:4,20 / *Ezek. 18:4 / *Ezek. 18:20 -

This is not contradicting that some Christians will never die (1 Corinthians 15:51-53, John 11:26).

Also, Ezekiel 18:4,20 can be referring to the second death, not the first death.

(See Matthew 10:28 below)

Also, the death of the soul of a person does not require his annihilation, just as the death of the body of a person does not require his annihilation. Indeed, the death of the body of a person does not even require the mistaken idea of soul "sleep".

(See the "Soul sleep?" section of 1 Corinthians 15:51 below)

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*Ezekiel 18:23 / *Ezek. 18:23 -

This was only talking about the wicked in Israel (Ezekiel 18:6,15,30-32). In the original, typical application of Ezekiel 18, it was only referring to Old Covenant repentance and obedience to the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law (Ezekiel 18:9,17,19,21), not to New Covenant repentance and belief in Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:12-29). Also, the "life" guaranteed to those who were righteous according to the letter the Old Covenant Mosaic law (Ezekiel 18:9,17,19,21-23,28,32) was not the eternal life of Christian salvation (John 3:16), but a long and prosperous temporal life (Deuteronomy 30:16).

Also, in an antitypical, New Covenant application, Ezekiel 18 would apply only to the true, spiritual Israel (Romans 9:6-8), elect people (Romans 9:11), whether Jews or Gentiles (Romans 9:24), whom God has created to be vessels of His mercy (Romans 9:23-24), and to whom God wholly by His grace gives the ability to repent (2 Timothy 2:25, Acts 11:18) and the ability to believe in Jesus Christ at some point during their lifetime (Acts 13:48b, Ephesians 2:8, John 6:65).

Elect people who are wicked could be so because they are not yet Christians (Romans 11:28), or because they have returned to wickedness subsequent to their becoming Christians (2 Peter 2:20-22). It is not God's will for elect people to continue in their wickedness until death. But even after they become Christians, they can wrongly employ their free will to commit unrepentant sin, to the ultimate loss of their salvation (Hebrews 10:26-29; 1 Corinthians 9:27, Luke 12:45-46). On the other hand, it is God's will that nonelect people continue in their wickedness until death, for He created them to be vessels of His wrath (Romans 9:20-22, Proverbs 16:4).

(See also the "Vessels of wrath" section of Romans 9:11 below)

~

(Re: Were the obedient in Ezekiel 18 saved as we understand salvation?)

That depends on whether or not they died in faith (Hebrews 11). Obeying the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law in itself was not of faith (Galatians 3:12).

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*Ezekiel 18:25 / *Ezek. 18:25 -

(Is not my way equal?)

See Acts 10:34 below.

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*Ezekiel 19:10 / *Ezek. 19:10 -

The original Hebrew word (dam: H1818) translated as "in thy blood" can refer figuratively to wine, the "blood" of grapes (Genesis 49:11), so that the vine in Ezekiel 19:10 is a grapevine (Genesis 49:11).

--

*Ezekiel 20:25 / *Ezek. 20:25 -

This does not mean that God makes bad laws, but that when the ancient Israelites disobeyed God's good laws, as a punishment He gave them over to already-existing, pagan-created customs which were bad, such as the custom of burning their babies as sacrifices to the pagan god Molech (Leviticus 18:21).

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*Ezekiel 20:29 / *Ezek. 20:29 -

Bamah (H1117) is from the Hebrew word (bama: H1116) translated in the same verse as "high place", and which refers here to an altar of worship placed on a high hill (Ezekiel 20:28).

--

*Ezekiel 20:30-32 / *Ezek. 20:30 -

This can refer to ancient Israel. Regarding: "ye make your sons to pass through the fire" (Ezekiel 20:31), this refers to the ancient custom of burning babies as sacrifices to the pagan god Molech (Leviticus 18:21, Jeremiah 32:35).

--

*Ezekiel 20:34-38 / *Ezek. 20:34 / *Ezek. 20:35 -

This will occur at Jesus Christ's future, Second Coming, and can refer to Jesus judging the surviving, genetic Israelites who did not become Christians before His Second Coming. Compare also what Ezekiel 34:11-16 says.

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*Ezekiel 20:36 / *Ezek. 20:36 -

This does not require (as is sometimes claimed) that Jesus Christ will not have returned by that time, just as it does not require that He will not place the surviving, elect genetic Israelites at that time under the New Covenant (Ezekiel 20:37b), which did not exist at the time of the Exodus, but was inaugurated at the time of Jesus' Cross (Matthew 26:28).

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*Ezekiel 20:40-44 / *Ezek. 20:40 -

This can refer to the future Millennium (of Revelation 20:4-6).

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*Ezekiel 20:47 / *Ezek. 20:47 -

Here "the forest of the south" brings to mind the vast Congo forest, which is south of the Middle East, where the prophet Ezekiel was when he received this prophecy (Ezekiel 20:45-47). The Congo forest could be burned by "flaming flame" (Ezekiel 20:47) at Jesus Christ's future, Second Coming in "flaming fire" (2 Thessalonians 1:7-10).

~

(Re: Does not it have to refer to the Negev?)

No, for note that nothing in Ezekiel 20:45-48 requires any reference to what is called the "Negev" today. For the original Hebrew word (negeb: H5045) translated as the third "south" in Ezekiel 20:46, and as "the south" in Ezekiel 20:47, can refer to the south of anything, such as the south side of the tabernacle (Exodus 26:18) or the temple (1 Kings 7:39), or the south side of any of the cities of the Levites throughout Israel (Numbers 35:5), or the south side of Jerusalem (Joshua 15:8, Zechariah 14:10), or to any area south in latitude of Israel. For example, it is used to refer to Egypt in Daniel 11:5,15.

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Nov 23, 2018

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