Ezekiel is Not Another Jonah

[newton3005]

What if Jonah first did what the Lord commanded him to do, which was to warn the Ninevans that God will put His wrath on them for their sins? To the extent that God in the Bible allows us to reason with Him, as He says in Verses such as Isaiah 1:18, my guess is that Jonah would be like Ezekiel. That is, after God has Jonah warn the Ninevans, He would have him warn other peoples as well, just as He used Ezekiel after him. Perhaps after the Lord got pushback from Jonah, He decided not to use Jonah any more for that purpose, and he later moves on to Ezekiel.

But Ezekiel stood ready to do what God commanded him to do, and the Book of Ezekiel is full of the places God told him to go, to warn the peoples who sinned. Ironically, it is Jonah that Jesus directly references, when he says in Matthew 12:38-41 that just as Jonah spent three days in the belly of “a great fish,” the Son of Man will spend “three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Within those passages he goes on to say that the men of Nineveh, who repented, “will rise up at the judgment” with the generation that Jesus was speaking to and condemn it. In that sense, Jesus compares himself to Jonah who warned the Ninevans, but Jesus, warning “this generation,” says that “something greater than Jonah is here.” Commentators have said that Jesus is referring to himself as being greater than Jonah in that remark.

Does Jesus have any connection with Ezekiel? Jesus in Matthew 10:28 says “[Do] not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” This could be seen as acknowledging Ezekiel 18:4 in which the Lord, in a discussion with Ezekiel, says “Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die.” As to the father-son reference, Ezekiel 18:2-3, God says to Ezekiel “What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’? As I live, declares the Lord GOD, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel.” God had declared in Jeremiah 31:27-29 that He would watch over the houses of Israel and Judah to build and plant and that “In those days they shall no longer say: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’” This sets the stage for Ezekiel 18:20 in which God says to Ezekiel “The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son.” So, sons need no longer grit their teeth because of their fathers’ sins.

There’s a lot of deep discussion going on here between God and Ezekiel, in the midst of God’s having Ezekiel act as His messenger in warning various peoples of the wrath to come upon them. What kind of interaction goes on between God and Jonah, when Jonah’s not in the belly of a fish? Well, the topic of discussion was a plant that God put over Jonah’s head to shield him from the sun, which later wilts and dies, exposing Jonah to the sun again. Jonah was angry that the plant no longer existed, and God sees Jonah’s anger as pity for the plant. On that basis He asks Jonah if He should not pity the people of Nineveh when He granted them mercy since, compared to the plant, it is a great city. Ironically, BTW, Jonah figured that God would be merciful toward Nineveh, which is why he refuses to warn them when God first tells him to do so.

One might wonder if Ezekiel didn’t have the same insight as he goes about warning different peoples who sinned that their number is up. Then again, maybe, in his interactions with God,
he somehow knew that those peoples would not repent, so he didn’t make much of a fuss, that Jonah made.

One lesson from Ezekiel which is carried over to the New Testament, namely Ezekiel 18:20, is that we carry our own weight, whether it be good or bad. In that sense we are responsible for our own actions, and we don’t blame others for the actions we commit. That is not to say that we cannot hold others responsible for the actions THEY commit. And if our own actions are for good, we need not be ashamed of them under God.

 

[Mr. M]

Does Jesus have any connection with Ezekiel?

Jesus identified Himself as both Son of God and Son of man.
The moment Ezekiel comes into the Lord's presence, he finds himself on his face. (Ezekiel 1:28).

He is then filled with the Spirit and raised upright.
Ezekiel 2:
1 And He said to me, Son of man, stand on your feet, and
I will speak to you.
2 Then the Spirit entered me when He spoke to me, and
set me on my feet; and I heard Him who spoke to me.

From that moment on, he is addressed as "son of man",
over ninety times. Only once is he referred to by his name,
and that is as a sign.
Ezekiel 24:24 Thus Ezekiel is a sign to you; according to all
that he has done you shall do; and when this comes, you
shall know that I am the Lord God.

The Body of Christ must fulfill/establish the Law
and the prophets.
The Son of man in Ezekiel is the appointed
watchman. (Ezekiel 3:17)
There are those among the body of Christ who
are called to be watchman and intercessors.
Isaiah 62:
6 I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem,
which shall never hold their peace day nor night:
ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silent,
7 And give him no rest, till he establishes, and till
He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

All the elect are called to watch and pray
anticipating their Lord's return.
Matthew 25:
13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day
nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
Luke 21:
36 Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come
to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.
Mark 13:
37 And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!

 

[SkyWriting]

What if Jonah first did what the Lord commanded him to do, which was to warn the Ninevans that God will put His wrath on them for their sins? To the extent that God in the Bible allows us to reason with Him, as He says in Verses such as Isaiah 1:18, my guess is that Jonah would be like Ezekiel. That is, after God has Jonah warn the Ninevans, He would have him warn other peoples as well, just as He used Ezekiel after him. Perhaps after the Lord got pushback from Jonah, He decided not to use Jonah any more for that purpose, and he later moves on to Ezekiel.

But Ezekiel stood ready to do what God commanded him to do, and the Book of Ezekiel is full of the places God told him to go, to warn the peoples who sinned. Ironically, it is Jonah that Jesus directly references, when he says in Matthew 12:38-41 that just as Jonah spent three days in the belly of “a great fish,” the Son of Man will spend “three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Within those passages he goes on to say that the men of Nineveh, who repented, “will rise up at the judgment” with the generation that Jesus was speaking to and condemn it. In that sense, Jesus compares himself to Jonah who warned the Ninevans, but Jesus, warning “this generation,” says that “something greater than Jonah is here.” Commentators have said that Jesus is referring to himself as being greater than Jonah in that remark.

Does Jesus have any connection with Ezekiel? Jesus in Matthew 10:28 says “[Do] not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” This could be seen as acknowledging Ezekiel 18:4 in which the Lord, in a discussion with Ezekiel, says “Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die.” As to the father-son reference, Ezekiel 18:2-3, God says to Ezekiel “What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’? As I live, declares the Lord GOD, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel.” God had declared in Jeremiah 31:27-29 that He would watch over the houses of Israel and Judah to build and plant and that “In those days they shall no longer say: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’” This sets the stage for Ezekiel 18:20 in which God says to Ezekiel “The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son.” So, sons need no longer grit their teeth because of their fathers’ sins.

There’s a lot of deep discussion going on here between God and Ezekiel, in the midst of God’s having Ezekiel act as His messenger in warning various peoples of the wrath to come upon them. What kind of interaction goes on between God and Jonah, when Jonah’s not in the belly of a fish? Well, the topic of discussion was a plant that God put over Jonah’s head to shield him from the sun, which later wilts and dies, exposing Jonah to the sun again. Jonah was angry that the plant no longer existed, and God sees Jonah’s anger as pity for the plant. On that basis He asks Jonah if He should not pity the people of Nineveh when He granted them mercy since, compared to the plant, it is a great city. Ironically, BTW, Jonah figured that God would be merciful toward Nineveh, which is why he refuses to warn them when God first tells him to do so.

One might wonder if Ezekiel didn’t have the same insight as he goes about warning different peoples who sinned that their number is up. Then again, maybe, in his interactions with God,
he somehow knew that those peoples would not repent, so he didn’t make much of a fuss, that Jonah made.

One lesson from Ezekiel which is carried over to the New Testament, namely Ezekiel 18:20, is that we carry our own weight, whether it be good or bad. In that sense we are responsible for our own actions, and we don’t blame others for the actions we commit. That is not to say that we cannot hold others responsible for the actions THEY commit. And if our own actions are for good, we need not be ashamed of them under God.

What was the question?

 

[newton3005]

What was the question?

In other words, what if Jonah didn't give God pushback the first time God told him to warn the Ninevens? What if instead, Jonah went ahead and did what God told him to do without making a fuss about it, thereby avoiding ending up in the belly of a fish among other things? In other words, what if Jonah acted like Ezekiel, and just did what God told him to do? The rest of my post should follow in a coherent manner.

 

[SkyWriting]

In other words, what if Jonah didn't give God pushback the first time God told him to warn the Ninevens? What if instead, Jonah went ahead and did what God told him to do without making a fuss about it, thereby avoiding ending up in the belly of a fish among other things? In other words, what if Jonah acted like Ezekiel, and just did what God told him to do? The rest of my post should follow in a coherent manner.

God already knows, from the beginning of time, how somebody is going to react.

 

[Allen of the Cross]

Hello there! So your question is what would have happened if Jonah had not got eaten by the big fish? Alright, that's an interesting question.

When we're talking about the God of the Bible, we're talking about a being who exists completely outside of time and space. The Lord Jesus Christ can effectively look at the entire picture of creation, from beginning to end, enter it at any point in time or space or whatever, and interact with any part of it at will.

What I'm saying is, to us, events occur: A, then B, then C, and so on. But God is not confined to starting at the A. He can start at the B, or the D, or the F. Then He can go back and look at the A, and go forward and look at the Z. He can then inspect the entire 'alphabet,' if you will, at once.

But I'm getting carried away with myself. God already knew the entire 'alphabet' before A was even counted. In fact, He doesn't "see" the future - He already knows the future.

So God is utterly transcendent. He is beyond our understanding. The scriptures say, "He humbles Himself to behold the heavens and the earth." "Humbling" oneself is like.. well, picture a grown man bending over to look at a tiny ant. Got it? That's humbling yourself in this case. God has to stoop down to view the entire universe like I would to behold.. an ant.

With all of that said, God's special plan for His creation involves making a church for His Son. The Bible says, "..the Lamb (was) slain from the foundation of the world." The way I understand this concept is as following:

In the mind of God, before He ever made the universe itself, He already knew His Son would be crucified on the cross. He planned it all, from before the beginning of the world until the end of the world. He is the "alpha and the omega," which in English, we would say, the "A and the Z." He is the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

So how does the Bible fit into this? God, who authored creation, existence, life, and salvation, also authored the scriptures - and established them 'in the heavens.' They are eternal, they are everlasting. They are different. The scriptures themselves are from the mind of God.

So when you pick up the Holy Scriptures, you are picking up a sacred arrangement of texts that flowed forth out of the mind of God only He knows how long ago. They are really eternal. There is nothing like them in existence.

With all of that said, what would have happened if Jonah hadn't gotten himself eaten by the big fish? Only God knows.

 

[newton3005]

God already knows, from the beginning of time, how somebody is going to react.

We don't know the things that God already knows. Perhaps that's why God, under His good Graces, allows us to reason when we read Isaiah 1:18 or Job 38:3