Ever been frustrated because you had to get something done, but you couldn’t because someone else had to do their part first – and wasn’t? I’m sure this is how Ezekiel felt many times. God had him sacrifice so much to be the watchman to his countrymen. Yet, he wasn’t seeing any change in them. I’m sure he often asked God, “What’s the point?” But God helped him to realize that Ezekiel’s future hope and the hope for the world was not dependent upon their obedience. Sure, we decide if we become a part of that, but our actions to not deter God from his plans. Let’s see what he told Ezekiel.

Israel was now dispersed. Nebuchadnezzar had captured Judah along with their beloved capital city Jerusalem and had even destroyed their beautiful temple. The Northern Kingdom of Israel has been taken captive by Assyria some one-hundred years earlier. Only a remnant was now left in their land. I’m sure Ezekiel felt all was lost. He likely couldn’t see how any of God’s promises could now come true. Was all hope gone? God said no.

God gave Ezekiel another vision (Ek 37). A very strange vision. One could classify it as a nightmare – an Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom-type of nightmare. Before Ezekiel lay a dry valley filled with human bones. There were likely hundreds of them all thrown together, many of them now disconnected. I’m sure Ezekiel was bewildered. Why was he here? Suddenly, the bones began to vibrate and then move! Do you think Ezekiel jumped backward? I think he did. I would have run! The bones then came together and formed skeletons. Sinews came upon the skeletons, and then flesh covered the sinews. Now, rather than a valley of bones, it was a valley of corpses. It just went from bizarre to morbid. Ezekiel then felt a wind. The wind blew over the corpses, and then into them! The corpses began to breathe! They then sat up and then stood to their feet. God had taken something totally worthless and made it purposeful.

It’s obvious this vision was about Israel. After all, God had just told Ezekiel he would make his Name great again and would cleanse Israel and put his Spirit within her (Ek 36:23-17). Isn’t that what the wind just did? Many have put history to Ezekiel’s vision: the bones represent Israel dispersed throughout the world, the formed skeletons represent the national pride of Israel which still remained in those dispersed which united them as a dispersed nation, the sinews represented the return of Jews to Israel from Russia, Poland, Germany, and central Europe in 1881-1948, the flesh covering the sinews represents the Tribulation period when Jews an Israelis from every nation will gather back to Israel, the wind entering the corpses represents Israel’s national conversion at Christ’s return, and the bodies living and standing to their feet represent Israel in Christ’s Millennial Kingdom. Is this an accurate interpretation? It would seem reasonable. Either way, it was clear God was going to bring about a miracle in Israel’s future and make them his people again.

While this vision was for Ezekiel, God reiterated this message to him and told him to give a visual message to the people. Ezekiel took two sticks (Ek 37:15-23). On one he wrote, “belonging to Judah and all the Israelites associated with him.” On the other, he wrote, “belonging to Joseph and all the Israelites associated with him.” Joseph represented the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, the two largest tribes of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Ezekiel then joined the two sticks together into one whole. God stated he was going to join Judah and Israel back into one nation (Ek 37:22) by gathering them from wherever they had been scattered. They would no longer, and never again, be two nations. God also stated he would cleanse them and be their God.

Although many Jews did return to Israel from Babylonian captivity by the decree of Cyrus who conquered Babylon (2Ch 36:23), this promise was not completely fulfilled with this return. Not all Jews returned, and it did not include Israelis from the Northern Kingdom, although there were likely a few. Actually, most Jews stays in Babylon. So, what was God referring to?

God gives more information to Ezekiel. He states that the Messiah will rule the people and David will be his prince (Ek 37:24-25). Now, the term Prince is used later in Ezekiel, but this was not used in the same context here. Here, God is calling David both king and prince. Why? David will be the king of Israel and will be subservient to the Messiah, Jesus Christ, the King of kings. God states the temple will be restored, everlasting peace will be established, and all nations will know God made Israel holy since his sanctuary will be among them forever (Ek 37:26-28). We know this must be future, even to us, because these things have not yet occurred.

God was giving Ezekiel hope. God was giving Israel hope. Israel’s hope is also our hope. Don’t you want to be part of it: something so grand it is hard to comprehend. Everyone wants to be part of something mind-blowing. You can. It just takes a little faith to put your trust in this coming Messiah and off yourself. Christ did it all for us. Reach out to him. He’s reaching out to you.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

Have you ever thought your job was done only to find out you’re really not? I’m sure that is how Ezekiel felt. He had been prophesying for a long time that Jerusalem, his home, was going to be destroyed by Babylon. Yet, even though many of his countrymen were already in captivity in Babylon, they could not come to grips with the fact that God would allow their beloved city and temple to be destroyed. It finally happened. Nebuchadnezzar lay siege to Jerusalem for nearly two years and then destroyed the entire city and its temple (Ek 24).

At that point, I’m sure Ezekiel thought his job was done. He had tried to warn his people and get them on the same page as God. He had remained faithful as God’s Watchman (Ek 3:16-27). He had gone through a lot of hardships to remain faithful as a watchman. He even had to endure the death of his wife as a topical lesson for his people (Ek 24:17-18). You can sympathize, right? After a long hard day, or physically demanding or mentally draining job, you are exhausted and just want to rest and rejuvenate. That is how Ezekiel felt, I’m sure. But, God had other plans for him.

God reminds Ezekiel that even though Jerusalem has fallen, he still has the duty of a Watchman (Ek 33:7). Ezekiel’s task is to now tell Israel that God does not delight in their destruction but desires for them to repent (Ek 33:11). An escapee from the destruction of Jerusalem came and told the people there in captivity that Jerusalem had fallen. At that time, God allowed Ezekiel to speak again (Ek 33:21-22). God had made him mute for almost two years—ever since Nebuchadnezzar had besieged Jerusalem. Can you imagine what the people thought of Ezekiel during this time? Maybe many thought it served him right to be mute. God had finally shut him up because of his unpatriotic sayings. Are we any different in being too quick to judge rather than allowing a disconcerting message to penetrate our hearts and allow God to see if there are any seeds of wickedness in us?

The people were now mad because God had allowed this destruction to happen. They had the misconception that the land was theirs—God had given it to them, and they felt God had no right to take it away. Yet, God, through Ezekiel, told them all the destruction was due to their disobedience (Ek 33:25-16). It seems people are people no matter in what time they live. Are we any different? We always have excuses for our behavior: it is never as bad as others claim, we have a justification for what we do, and we feel what we do is not really that bad after all. These people felt no differently.

As their watchman, Ezekiel kept to his task. He accused the shepherds of Israel, their leaders (kings, princes, priests, and false prophets) of looking out only for themselves rather than the needs of their people (Ek 34:2-4). This is one of the pitfalls of lifelong service that someone in such a position must be aware. Since this is now their job, their livelihood, and not just a short-term profession, they must temper their desire for ambition, wealth, and prosperity for their family. While it is not wrong to have these things, they have a higher responsibility to the people for whom they serve. It’s often too easy to lose sight of that fact. These leaders in Ezekiel’s day had done that. They had lost sight of their greater responsibility. Ezekiel tried to get them to see that. He warned them that God would remove them from leadership (Ek 34:10).

To better help them understand, Ezekiel gave an analogy of a coming Good Shepherd who will take good care of his people (Ek 34:12). Ezekiel turns to a future time, a time we refer to as the Millennial Kingdom, where God will gather his people from every distant land (Ek 35:12-13). He will judge between the goats and the sheep (i.e., between the righteous and the unrighteous), between one sheep and another (the act of receiving rewards), and he will shepherd them with justice (this may be referring to his ruling with an iron scepter (Rv 2:27)) (Ek 35:20-22). Their Good Shepherd, their Messiah, will make David their shepherd and their prince (Ek 35:24). This is likely referring to David’s position in relation to Christ, their Messiah. David will be subservient to him. In addition, the land will be made to be fruitful to meet all their nutritional needs, they will live in safety without the threat of war, and he will be their God (Ek 35:25-31).

Ezekiel then restates the prophecy against Edom (Ek 35). This was to contrast the choices made by Jacob and Esau, the ancestors of Israel and Edom. God used Esau (Edom) as a topical lesson as to what Israel could be like, but how God is going to instead reward Israel. This was not because of Israel’s goodness, but because of God’s goodness and how he will keep his promises to them.

In contrast to what God said about Edom, he would give great blessings to Israel: mountains, hills, rivers, valleys, and cities will become fruitful and prosperous (Ek 36:4, 8, 10). Yet, he reminds them that God will do this for his own Name sake (Ek 36:22) and not because of anything they have done. Despite what Israel had done in profaning God to the surrounding nations, God would make his Name great and holy again (Ek 36:23). God’s plan will not be rescinded because of what mankind does. God would do this by taking Israel and cleansing her and putting his Spirit within her (Ek 36:26-27). This was a new concept for them. The Holy Spirit will come upon them, and they will seek him and morn for their actions toward him (Zc 12:10).

This is also our promise from God, both now and for our future. If you turn to him, realize his death on the cross was payment for your sin (past , present, and future), accept that and realize nothing you can do can earn this for you except depending upon him completely both now and for your future, you too will receive the Holy Spirit to guide you on your journey through this life. Then, in the life to come you will receive all these blessing that God promised to his people through Ezekiel. Isn’t it exciting?! Come join us. You’ll be glad you did!

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

There is much talk these days about how prosperity is directly correlated to management alignment, but the bigger question is, are we aligned with God – the ultimate management. Ezekiel found himself asking not only his countrymen this question, but other surrounding nations the same question.

Ezekiel made many personal sacrifices, both of himself and his family, to try and get his people back in alignment with God’s plans for them. He used many visuals. The false prophets had given the people a visual of meat in a pot, stating they were protected from harm because they were inside the pot. Ezekiel now uses this same visual to show how that was not the case. Yes, they were the meat in the pot, but in Ezekiel’s visual, the fire boiled out all the water, consumed the flesh in the pot, and even charred the bones which remained. The same day, Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem (Ek 24:3-9). This should have validated all that Ezekiel had told them – should have.

Ezekiel’s wife suddenly dies, and God tells him he is not allowed to mourn with the usual mourning customs in order to demonstrate to his people that their joy, their temple, was taken away from them and they would not be able to grieve outwardly either because of God’s judgment on them (Ek 24:17-18). Ezekiel was then struck dumb. He was unable to talk until an escapee from Jerusalem came and told them all that had happened to the city and the temple. Since the siege of Jerusalem lasted for almost two years, this is likely the length of time Ezekiel was unable to speak. God was using Ezekiel’s life as a sign to his people. God was serious and would do anything to get them to turn back to him.

Once Ezekiel got his voice back, he began to speak against nations that surrounded Israel: Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, Tyre, Sidon, and Egypt. All these nations, or cities, had gloated and rejoiced when Jerusalem fell. Some were even distant relatives of Israel. Ammon and Moab were descendants of Lot who was Abraham’s nephew (Gn 19:33-28). Edom (Gn 36:1) was the brother of Jacob (whose name was later changed to Israel). Egypt was the country from which the Israelites came and occupied Canaan to form the nation of Israel and had been an enemy against Israel almost the entire time of its existence. Both Ammon and Moab would also be conquered and would not recover (Ek 25). God had stated that Israelites were not to mistreat an Edomite (Dt 23:7) because they were so closely related. Yet, Edom mistreated Israel. Edom would also be conquered by Nebuchadnezzar but would recover. In later years, it became known as Idumea and was the country from which King Herod who tried to kill the infant Jesus came. All three of these countries are now part of modern-day Jordan.

Philistines were Canaanites who God had told Israel to eliminate when Israel had first come into Canaan, but there were not annihilated and became a thorn to the Israelites. This was also the land from which Goliath came during the time of David. These people often sought revenge upon Israel (Ek 25:15). Ezekiel announced destruction upon the Kerethites, those strong bowmen who were the strength of Philistia, and who had escaped the destruction put upon them by Saul (1Sa 30:13), David (2Sa 8:18), Hezekiah (2Ki 18:8), and Psammetichus king of Egypt, who often made raids into Philistia (this was the son of Necho who encouraged Zedekiah to rebel against Nebuchadnezzar but then did not support him).

Tyre had friendly relations with Israel during the time of David and Solomon (1Ki 5:1; 2Ch 2:11). Apparently, these positive relations deteriorated once the nation of Israel split. Tyre rejoiced in the destruction of Jerusalem (Ek 26:2), so God would now allow Babylon to destroy the city. Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the city on the coast. Alexander the Great, 260 years later, destroyed the island city by using debris of the mainland city to build a causeway to the island. He used this causeway to bring his military might against the island city and destroyed it in 330 B.C. The destruction of Tyre caused the economy of many other cities to fail (Ek 27).

The ruler of Tyre was Ethbaal III who had so much pride he declared himself a god (Ek 28:2). He had a throne on the island city high on a mountain. Ezekiel then speaks to the one behind Ethbaal’s actions: Satan himself. Ezekiel tells him he had been in Eden, had been adorned with precious stones, had musical abilities, had been specially created for a special position with God to walk up and down in the middle of the stone of fire, and had been perfect before sin destroyed his relationship with God. Apparently, Satan had always wanted to dwell on high as Christ will one day and had used Ethbaal’s prominent palace to try and achieve that. God pronounced his destruction because of his sin of pride and vanity (Ek 28:16-17).

When Ezekiel turned to Sidon, he stated the city would be brought down through pestilence and war (Ek 28:23). Sidon was to originally be the northern part of the tribe of Asher; yet, they never conquered this part of Canaan. Jezebel, who became the wife of king Ahaz and helped corrupt him, came from here. This demonstrates that we never know the consequences of our inaction. It is always best to follow God’s promptings.

Ezekiel prophesied against Egypt over a two-year period (Ek 29-32). Pharaoh was filled with pride and identified himself with the crocodile god Sebek (Ek 29:3). Ezekiel stated Egypt would be humbled for 40 years, beginning with the invasion by Nebuchadnezzar (Ek 29:11).Egypt would recover, but never to prominence: Nebuchadnezzar defeated King Hophra of Egypt, Ahmose II became a vassal king to Babylon, 40 years later the Persians overtook Babylon, Egypt came back into prominence periodically but never as an independent nation (they were dependent upon Greece, then Rome, and later became as Islamic state), today the country is an Arab nation and the original Egyptians are not of prominence.

Ezekiel prophesied about Israel’s future. He stated Israel would no longer have malicious neighbors (Ek 28:25) and the people of Israel would be gathered from the nations where they had been scattered, and they would prosper. This prophesy goes beyond their historical return from Babylon years later (by the decree of the Media-Persian king Cyrus who conquered Babylon) to the Millennial Kingdom that will be set up by their coming Messiah.

The kingdom of Parthia likely had Semitic roots and its people became scattered throughout Europe when the Medes conquered Parthia. In the future, many will likely not even know they are of Israeli descent. This will be the miracle which God will bring about – more profound than the nation coming out of Egypt (Jr 23:7). This will be the celebration of Passover in the Millennium.

When these Parthians of Israeli tribal descents settled into Europe (and beyond), they were not necessarily of pure Israeli descent. Yet, they likely influenced these areas where they settled with their characteristics. They integrated with the people already living there. The longer time passed, the more integrated they became with the people of these areas. This is why this will be such a miracle by God. Those who don’t even know they are Israeli will be driven back to their homeland in Israel by the persecution of the coming Antichrist. Israel will be the only place where they can live with any hope of safety.

Isn’t it amazing how God’s plans always come about no matter the seemingly impossibility? That’s why we can rest in him. What he states is truth and will always be truth. Aligning with him is likely the best thing we can ever do. We will never regret it.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

Have you ever talked to people about God, and they just don’t seem to get what you’re trying to tell them? Well, Ezekiel had a similar issue. He kept speaking and the people just never seemed to understand what he was trying to get them to see about their relationship with God. Let’s see some examples.

After Ezekiel had spoken to his people several times without them realizing they had drifted away from God and needed to repent, they came to Ezekiel to inquire of the Lord (Ek 20:1). Ezekiel replied, likely a little sarcastically, as to why God should reveal anything to them. He then gave them a detailed history lesson of all the ways the Israelites had rebelled against God. Because of all their rebellion, both past and present, God stated he would “pass them under the rod” (Ek 20:37), meaning he would purge them from their sin. This is similar to what Jeremiah termed “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jr 30:7). Ezekiel stated the elders in Judah would be consumed like a forest fire (Ek 20:46-47). Yet, these leaders told Ezekiel he was speaking in parables. The words of Ezekiel went unheeded. Isn’t that just like people? Deflect until you can believe it. People haven’t changed over the centuries.

It is likely these leaders’ response broke his heart. Yet, God wasn’t giving up on his lessons to them. Ezekiel was told to tell the people to morn because their fellow countrymen and relatives back in Jerusalem would be slaughtered (Ek 21:7). As a sign and prophecy to these facts, God told Ezekiel to set up a signpost at the fork in the road which Nebuchadnezzar would take when he would invade Judah. The road to the right led to Judah and Jerusalem while the road to the left led to Ammon. Nebuchadnezzar would use divination techniques to decide which road to take. Yet, God stated he would ensure Nebuchadnezzar chose the road to the right. Ammon would gloat because of Jerusalem’s destruction, but Ezekiel warned them to be careful of doing so because the same destruction would come to them. Ezekiel then calls king Zedekiah “a wicked prince of Israel” (Ek 21:25). He stated Zedekiah would lose his crown and Jerusalem would become ruin. Ezekiel then looked way into the future as he tells his fellow citizens, “the crown would not be restored until he to whom it rightfully belongs shall come; to him I will give it” (Ek 21:27). Ezekiel was referring to Christ when he will reign during his Millennial Kingdom. While this prophecy may sound like it has a positive ending, it meant that no king would reign on the throne in Jerusalem until Christ would do so – quite a long period of time.

To be sure the people understood the reason for the coming destruction on Jerusalem, he points out their sins (Ek 22): they violated all the laws God had given them through Moses, they had shed blood to worship their idols, they didn’t care for the fatherless and widows, they carried out indecent sexual acts, they extorted their neighbors for financial gain, the priests didn’t distinguish between the holy and the profane for the people, the princes put financial gain above the welfare of the people, and the prophets, more like false prophets, often would spread only lies to placate the princes. God stated he was looking for someone to “stand in the gap” (Ek 22:30) so he would not have to destroy Jerusalem, but he could find no one to do so.

God then gives them an analogy. God called Samaria (representing the Northern King of Israel) Oholah, meaning “her own tabernacle.” He called Jerusalem (representing the Southern Kingdom of Judah), Oholibah, meaning “my tabernacle is in her.” This is referring to how Jeroboam lead ten of the twelve tribes to break from the reign of Rehoboam, son of Solomon, and had the people worship golden calves in Bethel and Dan (1Ki 12:28-29). Yet, even though Judah had the tabernacle within her borders, she was just as bad as Israel in not worshipping God. He stated that spiritually, both acted like harlots (Ek 23). The people of both Judah and Israel followed the gods of the surrounding nations and sought protection from these false gods rather than from God. Israel relied upon Assyria, and Judah, Assyria and Babylon. These same nations whom they relied upon were the ones who would cause their destruction. Who says God does not have a sense of irony? Yet, this irony was to show the folly of them trusting in these fickle nations rather than upon him, their Rock, who could always stand firm for them.

I’m sure Ezekiel was upset he wasn’t getting through to his fellow countrymen. After all, they were supposed to be God’s chosen people, but they had rejected God even though God was giving them every opportunity to turn back to him. Yet, are we any different today? We often turn our back on all the attempts God uses to get our attention to no avail. Let’s learn from Ezekiel’s story. Let’s give God a chance in our lives. After all, what do we have to lose? We may actually gain something beyond our expectation.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

Have you ever noticed that God usually deals with us with a light touch, but our neglect of his promptings can come with heavy consequences? He wants the best for us, but our stubbornness is what gives us second best. This was the same with those Ezekiel was trying to get to follow God’s promptings.

God gave them several parables to try and get their attention (Ek 17:1-21). Let’s see what he told them. First, God gave them a parable of two eagles. The first eagle takes the highest branch of a cedar of Lebanon and carries it off. It is planted in the soil and grows into a healthy vine. In this instance, Nebuchadnezzar is the eagle and king Jehoiachin of Judah is the vine. He was a very wicked king and God had him removed from being king after he reigned for only three months. Jeremiah even prophesied against his wickedness. He was taken to Babylon and placed in prison. Yet, a future king of Babylon took him out of prison and placed him in a place of prominence (2Ki 25:27-30).

Ezekiel then talked about a second eagle. This second eagle also took a branch, but this branch did not prosper. Those who remained in Judah reached out to this second eagle who represented king Hophra of Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar’s forces reached as far south as Egypt. When Nebuchadnezzar deposed Jehoiachin, he put Zedekiah on the throne in Jerusalem. Because Zedekiah looked to king Hophra of Egypt for help and defied paying taxes to Babylon (2Ch 36:13), Nebuchadnezzar had Jerusalem captured, the temple burned, put out Zedekiah’s eyes, and brought him to Babylon where he later died (2Ki 25:1-21).

God then contrasts what he will do as opposed to what these human kings have done for the Israelites (Ek 17:22-24). He stated he would take the highest branch of the cedar, plant it on the heights of Israel, and it will become a large cedar bearing much fruit where all kinds of birds will use it as a habitat and find shade within its branches. This represents the prosperous reign of the coming Messiah. God stated this was his promise to Israel. This shows us two things: God’s way is always superior to ours, and he always provides a message of hope during his prophecies of destruction.

God went further. The people quoted the following proverb: The parents eat sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge (Ek 18:2). The people used this as an excuse not to change as they stated their circumstances were not their fault. They were just reaping the judgment of the acts of their ancestors. Ezekiel stated God was now going to hold each individual accountable for their own actions and it would not matter what one’s ancestors had or had not done. It would only matter what an individual did, and an individual would stand or fall on his own merit. While they then stated that was not fair, God stated he was offering them a new heart for their positive response to him (Ek 18:31-21). This brings us to the point that God has never claimed to be fair. This is not a concept you find in scripture. Remember Christ’s parable of the talents (Mt 25)? It was the one who had the most that got the talent of the foolish servant. It was not about being fair but about doing what the master required of his servants.

Ezekiel then proclaimed a lament for the two kings of Judah who each reigned only three months and were taken captive (Ek 19). The first was king Jehoahaz who was the successor and son of Josiah. After reigning for only three months, king Necho of Egypt deposed him and took him to Egypt. The second was king Jehoiachin who we talked about earlier. After reigning for three months, Nebuchadnezzar had him deposed and took him to Babylon.

Despite reigning for only three months, Jehoiachin was so wicked Jeremiah prophesied against him stating no descendent of him would sit on the throne of David (Jr 22:30). Yet, Jeremiah also stated there would never cease to be a king on the throne of Israel (Jr 33:17). Hosea also prophesied that Israel would be innumerable in the land where they were not his people (Ho 1:10). So, it is likely that once Jehoiachin was taken out of prison, he was made ruler over the Israelites who had been taken into Babylonia, although his job would be to make them remain loyal to the throne of Babylon. Yet, history tells us that it is likely these Israelites were the genesis of the Parthian empire since it has been found to have Semitic origins and language.

This also set the stage for Christ being able to fulfill such a convoluted prophecy, as only he could fulfill such a prophecy where he would have legal rights to the throne of David and not be a descendent of Jehoiachin through whom the bloodline of the throne resides. You see, Christ was not the son of Joseph who was a direct descendent of Jehoiachin, as Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit. Mary was his mother, and she was a descendent of David through Nathan and not through Solomon, and thereby not a descendent of Jehoiachin. When Joseph took Mary as his wife, he claimed Jesus as his own son which then gave Jesus the legal inheritance of the throne of David even though he was not a direct descendent of Jehoiachin. Only God could have choregraphed such a deed.

So, let’s take notice of this. We may balk at what God is trying to get us to do, yet what we can’t see at the time is that his plans are so much more wonderful that we could ever imagine them to be. Let’s let go and let God. It is truly the best way.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

You’ve met them right: what they say doesn’t match the reality you know. Are they wrong? Are you wrong? Ezekiel went through this. Let’s see how he dealt with it.

You may think Ezekiel’s case doesn’t apply to us. After all, God asked him to do some pretty strange stuff. Yet, I think when we look closer, we find that people are people, and they respond today pretty much as they did during his day. God tried to warn him: “You are living among a rebellious people. They have eyes to see but do not see and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious people” (Ek 12:1). This statement applies to our day and time as well, doesn’t it? It’s not disagreement about the facts, but the interpretation of the facts that leads to the conflict of realities.

Apparently, despite already being in captivity, the people did not think they would be staying there long. To try and get the people’s attention, God asked Ezekiel to do some strange things. This time, God asked Ezekiel to dig a hole though the wall of his house and take the belongings he could though it. In other words, he couldn’t take everything he owned, just enough for a quick escape. Now, the Bible is silent on his home life. Yet, you can imagine his wife was likely not very happy with now having a hole in her wall when the door was only a short distance away! Then, after going through his wall, Ezekiel was to act as if he was blind and could not see where he was going. You can see their reaction, right? See their fingers pointing and hear the cackle of their laughter?

Yet, this was a sign to the people that their king, currently back in Jerusalem, would be caught trying to escape capture and would be made blind. And this is what the historical record confirms for us. King Zedekiah fled Jerusalem at dusk through the wall in his garden, was caught near Jericho, saw his sons killed before him, and then his eyes were poked out. The people were scattered throughout many countries. A few were spared, but most died from sword, famine, and plague.

This was also prophesied by the prophet Jeremiah who was back in Jerusalem with Zedekiah (Jr 38). The princes in Jerusalem had heard Ezekiel was prophesying that Zedekiah would never see Babylon, yet Jeremiah was prophesying Zedekiah would be taken to Babylon. Therefore, they convinced the king that he could not trust either prophet, for they were just unpatriotic, and did not make sense as their prophecies were contradictory. Yet, we find out both were correct: Zedekiah was indeed taken to Babylon, and he never saw the city because his eyes were put out before he ever left Judah.

Next, Ezekiel was commanded to tremble as he ate and to shudder in fear as he drank. This was another sign that those in Jerusalem would eat in anxiety and drink in despair because their land was about to be stripped of everything and be laid bare. Some of the people likely dismissed Ezekiel entirely. Others said that even if they believed him, it wouldn’t happen for a very long time. They quoted the proverb, “the days go by and every vision comes to nothing” (Ek 12:22), meaning they hear all these prophecies, but they never seem to come true. Yet, God speaks through Ezekiel and tells them he would put an end to this proverb in only a short time.

Ezekiel then spoke against the false prophets (Ek 13). They were prophesying peace and placating the people to make them feel secure rather than trying to make them turn back to God. Ezekiel stated they were just putting whitewash on a flimsy wall. It may look good but was of no worth. Ezekiel then stated the elders of the people were in the same condition. They would rather worship idols who could not help them rather than turn to God who could actually do something for them. God told Ezekiel that even if Noah, Daniel, or Job were present, they would not be able to save their own children; they could only save themselves. In other words, God’s mind was made up. Destruction was imminent, and nothing would now stop it from occurring.

The prophecy of Jeremiah validated Ezekiel’s prophecies. Jeremiah prophesied that Judah’s captivity would last for 70 years (Jr 25:11-12; 29:10). Jeremiah sent word to the captives in Babylon to settle down, build houses, plant gardens for produce, marry and have children, and pray for God’s blessing because they would remain in captivity for 70 years. History tells us that the destruction of the temple by Nebuchadnezzar occurred in 586 BC and the building of the second temple during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah occurred in 516 BC: 70 years exactly.

To further get the people’s attention, Ezekiel compared Judah to a vine which is of nothing useful (Ek 15). Its only purpose is fuel for a fire, and God had decided to use them as such.

Ezekiel then compared Judah to an adulteress. He stated their father was an Amorite and their mother a Hittite. Both ethnic groups were hated by the Jews. God knew this and used it for effect, for neither of these wanted their baby. The infant’s umbilical cord was not cut, but the bloody baby was simply thrown into a field and left abandoned. The Hittites were from whom Esau had taken his wives and his actions had grieved his father Isaac, and Amorites practiced wicked rites in their worship rituals. God used this for effect. He was saying it was a disservice to say they were descended from Abraham.

God said that when he came by and saw the abandoned infant, he took pity on her and willed her to live. He provided blessings, gave her love, clothing, wealth, and she became a beautiful queen. Yet, despite all God had done for her, she turned her back on his love and became a prostitute, using her wealth to make golden idols. She took her sons and sacrificed them as food to these idols. Although she despised the practices of other nations, she committed even greater travesties. Despite all of this, God stated he would still keep his promise to her and could bring them back to himself.

I find this truly remarkable. What God is saying is that nothing these people would do would change or deter him from fulfilling his promises. Isn’t that a God you want to know? How magnanimous. Who do you know that would do that for you? You may think you have done something unforgiveable. God is saying, no, that is not true. His arms are open wide, just waiting for you to turn around and see him, run to him, and be embraced in the love you have always wanted. Where are you today? Stop. Turn around. See his arms? Run to them. Feel his embrace. Find the love you truly desire.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

Does God ever say, “Enough!” Well, he does, and when he does, it is never pretty. Yet, let’s face it. His patience is far greater and more longsuffering than ours. Think about it. You love your kids, right? But still, there is that breaking point when the word “Enough” seems to rise from your toes from total frustration. It doesn’t change your love for your child, but it does change how you relate to them in that moment, right?

God helped Ezekiel see his breaking point. Jerusalem was where he had stated his Name would dwell (2Sa 7:13). Now, due to Judah’s disobedience and spiritual rebellion, God was going to remove his presence from their temple. I’m sure this upset Ezekiel greatly, so God showed him why he was doing this. God took him on a spiritual vision quest.

Someone in likeness to whom he had seen earlier when God revealed himself to Ezekiel the first time (Ek 1) took Ezekiel to the temple in Jerusalem. God showed him the “idol that provokes to jealousy” which stood at the North Gate of the Inner Court of the temple. This is likely the image that Manasseh had erected here (2Ki 21:7). This is somewhat of a play on words, as God stated one of his names was Jealousy (Ex 34:14): “Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” Yet, this is not the type of jealousy we think of or exhibit. This is the type where God was protective of his people and only wanted the best for them. This idol was certainly not the best for them. Yet, don’t we as well have idols in our lives which takes us away from our devotion to God?

God then led Ezekiel through a hole in wall of the inner court where Ezekiel saw priests worshipping all sorts of idols, paying homage to them with censers filled with burning incense. These priests believed God could not see them where they were. Isn’t this ironic. They are in his house and feel he can’t see what they’re doing. Yet, doesn’t our actions sometimes reveal we feel the same way?

Next, he took Ezekiel to the North Gate of the Outer Courtyard. Here, women were mourning for the god Tammuz. This was a Babylonian god who supposedly dies every winter and then comes back to life each Spring. Doesn’t this strike you as odd? They are worshipping the God of the people who are trying to conquer them. Did they think they would save themselves by pacifying the god of their conquerors?

The worship of Tammuz appears to date back to the time of Nimrod and the tower of Babel (Gn 10-11). This act of worship became so prominent that Tammuz became the name of the fourth month of the Jewish calendar (June/July of our calendar).

God then took Ezekiel to the entrance of the temple where twenty-five men stood with their backs to the temple as they stood facing east. They bowed to the sun rising in the east. This also seems to be part of the Tammuz worship as Tammuz was considered a sun god. Each of these acts, God considered more corrupt than the previous and stated he would not look on these people any more with pity (Ek 8:18).

Ezekiel then saw God’s glory move from above the cherubim, where his vision had seen God, to the threshold of the temple (Ek 9:3). God was in the process of showing Ezekiel he would remove his glory and presence from the temple where his Name was to dwell. The temple would then be ripe for conquest by the Babylonians. Six angelic beings came forward with weapons in their hands and appeared on the north side of the temple. This is interesting because this is now where the bronze altar, the altar of judgment, now resided since Ahaz had it moved here and placed a bronze altar of his own design at its original position in front of the temple entrance facing east (2Ki 16:10-14).

With these six angelic beings was one dressed in white who had a writing implement in his hand. This one went throughout Jerusalem placing a mark on the foreheads of those who grieved and lamented on what they saw being done at the temple. The six angelic beings then went throughout the city killing those without the mark. Ezekiel wept for them, but God again stated his pity had passed (Ek 9:10). While this was not real at this time as it was a vision given to Ezekiel, the armies of Nebuchadnezzar literally slew thousands of Jews in 586 BC when he took the city, which became a literal fulfillment of this vision.

The one on the sapphire throne above the cherubim spoke to the one dressed in white to take coals and scatter them through the city (Ek 10:1-2). The coals on the altar of incense were for incense to burn, representing the prayers of the people. God is saying he will hear their prayers no longer. God’s Shekinah glory then filled the inner court. It rose and moved to the threshold of the temple and then returned back to his place above the cherubim. This entire chariot of God’s glory next moved to the entrance of the eastern gate (Ek 10:18-19). It then traveled to the Mount of Olives and ascended back into heaven (Ek 11:23). This represented God’s presence had left the present temple and would not return until the Millennial Temple would be built (Ek 43:4-6; Zc 14:4). Ezekiel was then taken back to Babylon where he shared what God had shown him (Ek 11:25).

Is there a lesson for us here? I think so. While we expect God to be forgiving and longsuffering, which he is, he will not be that way forever. Just as Ezekiel and other prophets had prophesied coming destruction and captivity to give the people time to repent and turn back to God to avoid the prophecy, God’s word prophesies another coming time of destruction and catastrophe. Are we heeding his words? It’s time to turn our hearts back to him. That is our only hope. Will you take the journey back to him, or wait until the catastrophe hits?

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

God tells Ezekiel to prophesy against the mountains of Israel (Ek 6:1). That seems like a strange thing to do, but God had a purpose. The mountains were where all the high places, i.e., the altars to other gods, were placed and worshiped. This practice went all the way back to King Solomon. Despite what the good king Solomon had done and the magnificent temple he had built for the worship of God, he also built these altars to other gods. Why would he do such a thing? Scripture tells us he had 700 wives and 300 concubines (1Ki 11:3). It was the custom in that day for another kingdom to give the daughter of their ruler as a bride to the ruler of another kingdom to seal the bond between their two peoples. Solomon built a huge empire, and he obviously used this custom to his advantage—and did it quite often. Yet, his wives began to complain because they were now in a place with different customs, and they missed their own rituals and customs. Rather than teaching them his ways and customs, and about his God, he let them have their way and he made for them altars to their various gods (1Ki 11:4-9). As you can imagine, the people’s attitude became, “if the king thinks such practices are allowable, then we can do the same.” At first, it was a mixture of worshipping God and these other idols. Yet, over time, the worship of God waned, and the worship of these idols increased. Why? Well, worshipping God had rules about refraining from certain practices. Yet, worshipping these false gods appeased their base instincts. They could let themselves go, have sex with women who were not their wives, have sex with other men, get intoxicated with wine and lust, and let go of all inhibitions. Of course, this led to all sorts of other problems, but the people did not see, or refused to see, the connection of their issues with their rejection of God. By the time of Ezekiel, some 300 years later, the temple was in much disrepair while the high places were still in full swing.

We can see in scripture the slow demise of the temple. Under king Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, Shishak, king of Egypt, attacked Jerusalem and took treasures from the temple back to Egypt (1Ki .14:25). Later, king Asa of Judah took all the remaining silver and gold from the temple’s treasury to Ben-Hadad, king of Aram in Damascus, to bribe him to go to war against Israel (1Ki 15:18). Later, king Ahaz also took silver and gold from the temple’s treasury, and may have taken gold off the temple itself, to bribe the king of Assyria to attack Damascus (2Ki 16:8). He also had a duplicate altar like he saw in Damascus put in place of the bronze altar in Jerusalem and put the bronze altar, originally in front of the temple’s entrance facing east, on the north side of the temple (2Ki 16:10-14). It seems he took the bronze from the lavers Solomon had made and the twelve-oxen base of the giant laver to make this altar (2Ki 16:17). Ahaz even dismantled some of the structures attached to the temple so as not to offend the king of Assyria (2Ki 16:18). He also took the furnishings of the temple and cut them in pieces, shut the temple doors, and set up altars at every street corner in Jerusalem (2Ch 28:24). King Hezekiah took the silver in the temple treasury and stripped gold off the temple doors and doorposts and gave it to the king of Assyria trying to bribe him to withdraw from Jerusalem (2Ki 18:16). As you can see, all the gold was already depleted from the temple’s treasury and so he resorted to more drastic measures to obtain the gold the king of Assyria demanded. Hezekiah’s son, Manasseh, built altars to other gods within the temple courtyard, put Asherah poles (i.e., phallic symbols) within the temple, had an image placed within the temple, and had living quarters constructed within the temple courtyard for the male shrine prostitutes which were now part of their worship rituals (2Ki 21:4-7, 23:7; 2Ch 33:7). So, you can see the temple lost its significance to the people and in the end was used for something totally against God, whereas it was originally built as something beautiful in which the people could worship God.

God stated he was going to put an end to these practices in a severe way. God would have king Nebuchadnezzar destroy all these high places, but it would not end there. Many would die by the sword. Those who did not die by the sword, would die by plague. When there are so many deaths at once, the other people cannot attend to bodies properly, so they breed plagues. Many will flee seeking to save their lives, but God states the plague would follow them. After all, animals and rodents are the ones who carry the plagues, and they are wherever the people are. Many would flee to Jerusalem, as cities had walls for protection, but God states this will not be a protection for them, but a death trap. Those inside Jerusalem would die from starvation because Nebuchadnezzar would surround the city and not let anyone in or out. Food supplies would dwindle, Jerusalem’s economy would collapse (Ek 7:12-13). Even the gold of the wealthy would become useless (Ek 7:19).

While we may chide them for their actions, can we really do that considering our own actions? They neglected their temple and worship of God. Are we not guilty of the same? Today, his temple is our bodies, as that is where the Holy Spirit dwells (1Co 3:16). Are we making it a pure place for him or are we crowding him out with other things. Yes, I think we have a lot to learn from Ezekiel and his message to his people. Let’s heed the message for ourselves as well. We can accomplish so much more with a guilt-free conscience.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

If you read the book of Ezekiel, you may conclude that everything God asked of Ezekiel was an unusual assignment. But, I think the assignments we will talk about today are hard for us to comprehend. There were four signs that God requested of Ezekiel to give to his people. This request came approximately six years before Jerusalem was totally destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, or three years before the siege occurred. During the siege, there was a severe famine within the city (2Ki 25:30). God wanted the people to understand how bad things would be. The signs Ezekiel were to portray are as follows:

Ezekiel was to draw the city of Jerusalem on a block of clay and lay siege against it to demonstrate what Nebuchadnezzar would do to the city (Ek 4:1-3). Think about it. How bizarre would it be to see a grown man taking little soldiers, archers, and catapults and pretending he is making war against a drawing of Jerusalem, your hometown. That would likely draw attention, don’t you think? And make people mad. After all, he is saying your beloved capital is going to fall when all the other prophets are saying their king Zedekiah would have ultimate victory over Nebuchadnezzar. After all, the Jews were God’s chosen people. Surely, he would not let Jerusalem, the place of his Name, go to complete ruin.

Next, Ezekiel took it a step further. While he was doing his simulation of the siege against Jerusalem, he was to lie on his left side daily for 390 days to represent the years (a day for each year) Israel had been living in rebellion against God. This would represent the time in Israel’s history from when the judges ruled Israel to the time Israel was taken captive by Assyria. After that, he was then to lie on his right side for 40 more days to represent the time (again, a day for a year) Judah had been living in rebellion against God (Ek 4:4-8). This time may represent the reign of Manasseh, who God had stated was one of the most wicked kings who lead Judah into many sinful practices (2Ki 21:9-27). Think how long this is—over a year! Imagine seeing Ezekiel day after day after day doing this. I’m sure many asked why he was doing this. You would either just chalk him up to being crazy, or you would start to wonder if his message was true. I’m sure most did the former.

It didn’t end there. Ezekiel was to take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt, put them in a storage jar, and use them to make bread. That doesn’t sound so bad, right? Well, get this: he could use only eight ounces per day to make bread and drink on a little over a pint of water each day (Ek 4:9-13). On top of this, the bread was to be cooked using cow dung! I’m sure this got a lot of stares and a lot of ‘yuk’s. This was definitely not kosher. And that was the point. Conditions would get so bad in Jerusalem that people would do anything, and eat anything, to stay alive for as long as possible. Ezekiel was probably lucky the paddy wagon didn’t come for him, or whatever was the equivalent in his day.

Believe it or not, there’s more! Next, Ezekiel was to demonstrate the humiliation and hardships of those who would be left in Jerusalem by shaving his head and beard. Everyone would have found this to be very odd behavior. Men just did not do that in his day and age—especially if they were priests, which Ezekiel was. He didn’t just shave his head and beard, but then divided the hair into three equal portions. One-third he burned in the fire (to represent the disease and plagues which would sweep the land), one-third he further cut with a knife (to represent those who would be slain with the sword), and one-third he threw into the wind (to represent those who would flee in all directions but be destroyed). A few hairs were left on Ezekiel’s clothes. These hairs represented the few who would be spared but would still endure hardship (Ek 5:1-4).

These are strange things. Some say these are too strange to even believe. Yet, God stated these people were very stubborn, so he had to get their attention. Strange tends to do that. For some reason, even though Ezekiel’s audience were already in captivity, they still did not believe their famous, and precious, city of Jerusalem would be destroyed. Ezekiel was trying to get them to see that their turning away from God was the cause, and it would definitely happen. Yet, are we any different today? The Bible tells our future and the direction we are headed. We can either be on his side or not. What happens to us and our country depends on where we ultimately stand. Will we heed Ezekiel?

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

Ezekiel is probably best known as God’s Watchman. So, how did that come about? Let’s look and see.

After Ezekiel had his vision of God’s glory, scripture states the Holy Spirit entered into him (Ek 2:2). God then gives Ezekiel a charge and a mission. Ezekiel is to present God’s words to Israel. Even through the people would be stubborn and not listen to him, Ezekiel was being held responsible for delivering God’s message, but not responsible for their acceptance of the message. Nothing was to deter Ezekiel from his mission and message (Ek 2:7). Even if the people did not listen, they would know a prophet had been among them (Ek 2:5).

Isn’t this a good message for us as well? Often, we get discouraged because those we talk to about God and his goodness and his desire to have a relationship with them do not listen to us or take action on what we tell them. Yet, just as God told Ezekiel, we are to obey in giving the message, but not concern ourselves about who responds to it. After all, that is between them and God. We should not try to take God’s responsibility onto ourselves. We are just to obey.

Ezekiel was then charged to eat a scroll which contained words of lament, mourning, and woe (Ek 2:9). He found it sweet as he ate it. One could argue if this was symbolic or literal, but the point is, God was equipping Ezekiel with his message to give to the people. God told Ezekiel he would make Ezekiel just as stubborn in delivering his message as the people would be in disobeying God’s words to them. This message made Ezekiel extremely distressed (Ek 2:12-15). After all, it was a message of doom—not something someone—anyone—would want to deliver to people they know and love.

God told Ezekiel he was to be a Watchman for Israel (Ek 3:16). Just like a watchman watching for a city’s safety, he was to warn. A watchman who did not warn would be considered negligent in their duty to their king and their city. In other words, not doing their job would be treasonous. This is what God told Ezekiel: if he did not warn the people, he would be held accountable, but if he warned and they would not listen, he would be considered innocent because he had warned. But, if they did listen, then he would be saving both himself and his countrymen (Ek 3:16-21). And that’s a good message for us today. We can only warn. We cannot make people listen and act.

Although Ezekiel had a very hard message to deliver, it was truth and the people needed to hear it. While they were God’s chosen people, they neglected their responsibility of that promise. They had strayed so far from God and his principles; they didn’t even know they were adrift. God had to get their attention. If they didn’t listen, the consequence would be severe. It was a dire necessity that Ezekiel deliver it. We, too, have a message to give to the world. It is a message of hope, but consequences of not heeding such a message can be dire and eternal. Let us, like Ezekiel, be vigilant in our delivery of the message.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

Many people see Ezekiel’s vision in the first chapter of the book by his name as evidence that even the Bible supports the presence of UFOs. Is that really true? Let’s investigate.

Ezekiel saw this vision in the fifth year of his Babylonian captivity. He was 30 years old at the time. The vision was something quite extraordinary, to say the least. First, Ezekiel saw a large, dark, storm cloud come toward him from the north. Yet, this was no ordinary storm cloud. It was surrounded with brightness with lightning within it. Yet, within the center of this cloud was something that looked like molten metal gleaming, and from which the lightning originated. It must have looked quite ominous. If you’ve seen the movie Independence Day, it may have looked something like that, but with more light exuding within and without the billowing, folding dark cloud.

So, we first must ask ourselves if this is unique to Ezekiel, or did this occur before? Well, if we go back to the book of Exodus, we see something similar to this. When Moses and the children of Israel gathered at Mt. Sinai after their exodus from Egypt, something similar occurred. They also saw a tremendous black, rolling cloud come toward them from the north, with thunder and lightning, and it descend upon the mountain in front of them (Ex 19:18; Dt 33:2).

Ezekiel then saw what he called four living creatures (Ek 1:5) or cherubim (Ek 10:1). These creatures appeared to have four faces, with each facing a different direction: the face of a man was in one direction with that of an eagle opposite it; to the right was the face of a lion with that of an ox opposite it. The creatures each had four wings. Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf foot. And they sparkled like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides, they had human hands. Each one of them went straight forward, without turning as they went. Each creature had two wings: one set was outstretched and long enough to touch the wings of the other creature near it; the other pair covered their bodies. Each creature traveled straight forward, appearing to dart in all directions, appearing like flashes of lightning. This is how one would expect a sentry to perform if it is protecting something or someone.

It is interesting that when the tabernacle was first erected, three tribes, with their standards, camped on each side of the tabernacle. There was one main tribe on each side. Reuben (with the face of man as its standard) was on the South, Dan (with the image of an eagle as its standard) was on the North, Judah (with the image of a lion as its standard) was on the East, and Ephraim (with the image of an ox as its standard) was on the West. Some have also indicated that these represent the four gospels and their portrayal of the characteristics of Christ: Matthew (kingly nature of Christ, as the lion), Mark (humanity of Christ), Luke (heavenly origin of Christ, as the eagle), and John (the servitude of Christ, as the ox).

We also see how cherubim were portrayed throughout scripture: guarded Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden (Gn 3:24); their replicas placed on the Ark of the Covenant depicted paying deference to the center of the Mercy Seat where the Shekinah glory of God was to appear to the High Priest in the Holy of Holies (Ex 25:19-22); on the veil between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies – protecting where God dwells (Ex 26:31); in various places throughout the curtains of the tabernacle and on walls of the temple (Ex 36:8; 1Ki 6:29); and two giant cherubim in the Holy of Holies in the temple (1Ki 6:27). In addition, we see these four creatures again in Revelation where they stand before God’s throne and sing praise to him (Rv 1:13-16). It seems each time we encounter these creatures, they are associated with protecting God’s throne and his holiness.

Then, next to these creatures were four “wheels.” These appeared to be two wheels together at perpendicular angles, so they could travel in any direction. They were also large and had what appeared to be “eyes” along their rims (Ek 1:15-18). Some have proposed that these “wheels” convey certain characteristics of God: the mobility of the wheels suggest the omnipresence of God; the eyes represent God’s omniscience; and their elevated position represent God’s omnipotence.

Then, above these creatures was a canopy that looked like crystal and on top of this canopy sat what appeared to be a throne, bright blue in color like that of a sapphire. And on this throne sat one who from the waist up looked as bright as molten metal, and from the waist downward the appearance of fire (Ek 1:27-28). You can imagine how awe-inspiring all of this was to Ezekiel. We also see something similar in Revelation where Christ appeared to the apostle John (Rv  1:13-16). We also see someone who appeared to Moses, Aaron, his sons, and the elders of Israel at Mt. Sinai who they met and ate with. This one was sitting on something which appeared the color of sapphire (Ex 24:9-11). It would seem Israel experienced both God, the first part of the Godhead, as well as the pre-incarnate form of Christ, the second part of the Godhead. This second part of the Godhead was always the one who appeared, and revealed himself, to man.

The response of both Ezekiel and John were the same. They both fell facedown (Ek 1:28; Rv 1:17). They were so overwhelmed, knew they were in the presence of someone greater than themselves, and felt very unworthy to be in his presence.

So, despite some who try to make this into an alien encounter, it is actually Ezekiel being visited by God who was revealing his glory to Ezekiel (Ek 1:28). Of course, if you want to get technical, you could claim this to be an unworldly encounter as God is not of this world, although it is part of his creation (Gn 1). Also, Ezekiel saw this vision of God’s glory several times (Ek 1:4-28, 2:12-14, 3:23, 10:1-22, 11:22-23). In addition, we have already seen that both Moses and John also saw something similar to what Ezekiel saw. Something similar is also described several times in the book of Psalms (Ps 80:1, 99:1, 104:3-4).

So, what was the point of God revealing himself to Ezekiel in this manner? Well, I guess only God knows, but it could be some of the following: this proved to Ezekiel he was receiving a message from God, proved to Ezekiel he was the same God as who appeared to Moses, and seeing God’s glory helped Ezekiel feel confident in his message to those who may doubt him. In addition, it showed that even though Ezekiel and many other Jews were now in Babylonian captivity, God had not abandoned them, he still loved them, and he wanted them to obey and love him in return.

Doesn’t God still do that with us today? How many times do we fail him? Yet, he still loves us and gives us more chances. While his patience with us will not last forever, we can be confident that he still loves us no matter what and keeps giving us opportunities to receive him, love him, and obey him. Our God is really a great God, isn’t he? And this passage helps us understand just how great and marvelous he really is!

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

The book of Ezekiel has a lot to do with us understanding Biblical prophecy. Many think Biblical prophecy only refers to what is in Revelation, but, believe it or not, there is more in the Old Testament about future prophecy than is in the New Testament. Ezekiel is a key book to our understanding of our future.

But first, we need to understand the time in which Ezekiel lived. Both Jeremiah and Daniel were contemporary prophets to Ezekiel, although Ezekiel was the youngest of the three. Daniel was ten years younger than Jeremiah, and Ezekiel was 6 years younger than Daniel. Ezekiel was born during the time of King Josiah, who was the last good king of Judah. Josiah became king when he was only 8 years of age. Over the next 12 years, he started making many reforms and instituted the largest celebration of Passover since the time of the prophet Samuel (2Ch 35:18). When Josiah was about 25 years of age, he started making significant temple repairs and discovered the book of The Law in the temple remains (2Ch 34:8-21). This was the time in which Ezekiel was born.

Ezekiel was born into a time of revival in Judah and Jerusalem. Since he was the son of a priest (Ek 1:3), he likely grew up with a full knowledge of who God was and of God’s significance not only for Judah, but for him personally. He was likely trained to be a priest after his father. When Ezekiel was 13 years of age, king Josiah went to fight King Necho of Egypt (2Ch 35:20). The reason for him doing this is not clear. Yet, the Scythians had ruled Palestine during the time of Josiah and they had good relations and allowed Josiah’s reforms to spread all the way to north of Galilee in Naphtali (2Ch 34:6-7). Because some of the Scythians had plotted with Babylon against the Assyrians, Josiah may have wanted to prevent King Necho from reaching the Assyrians to provide aid. More than likely, Necho wanted the Assyrians and Babylonians to annihilate each other so he could regain control of the area.

Josiah headed off King Necho and his army at Megiddo, the pass through the Carmel mountains as one comes up the Way of the Sea (2Ch 35:22). Yet, Josiah was wounded with an arrow, was taken back to Jerusalem, and died (2Ch 35:23-24). King Necho and his Egyptian army headed to Carchemish where the battle between Assyria and Babylon commenced. While Babylon conquered Assyria, Necho pushed the Babylonians back. Likely to show his dominance, and probably for spite, King Necho took Josiah’s son, Jehoahaz, to Egypt and put Josiah’s eldest son, Eliakim as king and changed his name to Jehoiakim (2Ch 36:1-4).

It seems King Necho went back to Carchemish and was this time defeated by the Babylonians, through the skill of Nebuchadnezzar, and pushed Necho all the way back to the Egyptian border. Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem and captured Jehoiakim. Yet, he was called back to Babylon because of the death of his father Nabopolassar. He therefore left Jehoiakim in charge put imposed taxation (2Ch 36:5-7). He also took many prominent people captive at this time—one of them being Daniel, who was likely 23 years of age at the time.

A few years later, Egypt and Babylon fight in Gaza. Although Babylon wins, they encounter heavy losses by the hand of Egypt. Jehoiakim then decides he will no longer pay taxes to Babylon. Three years later, Nebuchadnezzar returns to Jerusalem to collect his taxes. Before he arrives, Jehoiakim is killed by a raiding party, being thrown over the city’s wall (2Ki 23:2; Jr 36:30-31). His son, Jehoiachin, is made king, but reigns for only three months before Nebuchadnezzar arrives, who deposes Jehoiachin and made Josiah’s other son, Mattaniah, king and changed his name to Zedekiah (2Ch 36:9-10). Jehoiachin is taken to Babylon with about 10,000 other captives—one of whom was Ezekiel, being 25 years of age. So, Ezekiel is taken away from the temple before he was able to become a priest. Priests must be 30 years of age to be a priest (Nu 4:23).

Ezekiel is taken to a Tel-Abib, a place just south of Babylon on the Chebar canal which is a tributary of the Euphrates River. After being in captivity for five years, God gives him a vision and charges him to be a prophet to both those Jews in Babylonian captivity and to those Jews back in Jerusalem.

It is interesting that God revealed himself to Ezekiel when Ezekiel turned thirty, the age he would have begun his priestly duties at the temple if he was still in Jerusalem. God gave him an even greater duty—to be a prophet to the people he was to have served as a priest. He was still going to be serving them and pointing them to God in a way he never would have as a priest.

The same can be true for us as well if we are willing. While we have plans that seem to fail, if we trust in what God has for us, we may find he has something even greater in store for us than we could ever have imagined. Are you looking for that opportunity? That is what God is looking for. Have the right attitude and the willing heart and God will use you mightily. I wish you much success in your walk with the Lord.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

Well, another year is upon us. Did you make any resolutions this year? Now, the real question: do you plan to keep them? Resolutions are hard—and hard to keep. Does the Bible have anything to say about this? Let’s look at the Jewish New Year. While this is not really a new year, per se, as it is in the seventh month of the Jewish calendar, I think it can tell us a lot. Rosh Hashanah, or Jewish New Year, occurs on the first day of the seventh month, Tishri, in the Jewish calendar. When this festival was first instituted, it was called the Feast of Trumpets (Lv 23:23-25). While all the Jewish festivals were memorial feasts, meaning they were to be a remembrance of something, this one was specifically called out to be such (Lv 23:24; Nu 10:10). The sound of trumpets was made to request God to remember his covenant with Israel, his chosen people. The reason becomes clear if we look at when this feast was instituted after Israel had lapses of celebration of these assigned feasts.

There are at least three examples of this (2Ch 5; Er 3; Ne 8). Let’s take a brief look at each one. Solomon dedicated his temple to God in the seventh month (2Ch 5:3). When the exiles returned after their Babylonian captivity, they dedicated their service to God starting on the first day of the seventh month (Er 3:6). Then, once the temple was completed, they again dedicated it to God starting on the first day of the seventh month (Ne 8:2). Did you notice the similarity? Each time, they wanted God to be in on their dedication. They wanted God to remember his covenant with them as they declared their dedication to him. Why? The Day of Atonement where judgment was to be imputed was coming in just a few days. An individual could not stand on their own merit, they needed to stand on the covenant God made with them before they could stand before a Holy God. Only by God remembering his covenant with them could they ever hope to come out unscathed.

So, in our first month of our new year, shouldn’t we do something similar? While we are not bound to these Israelite customs from the Old Testament, they do provide good analogies for us to follow. Before we start the year out with our agendas, we should first turn to God and be sure we are on the same page with him. Let’s let our agenda be part of his agenda. That’s how these Israelites dedicated themselves so they would be on the same page as God. Are we on the same page with God? Maybe starting our year off with prayer and meditation would be the best way to start out our new year. Now, that’s a resolution to take to heart. Wouldn’t you agree?

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

We normally see the Magi at the manger in the Christmas story, but is that when they actually came? Believe it or not, Scripture tells us a different story. If you’ve been following previous posts, you already know Christ was likely born on Shavuot, and, if Rick Larson’s work is accurate, in June of 2 BC. Other work he has done has shown that the Magi visited Mary and the baby on December 25, 2 BC. One could argue whether that was serendipitous or divinely appointed. Either way, it’s still very cool! That would make Christ around 6 months of age. Does that line up with scripture? Let’s see.

The Bible tells us the Magi arrived at a house and saw the child (a different word than for infant; Mt 2:11). So, what Larson has discovered about Christ’s birth, and what we have discovered about the prophetic meanings behind Rosh Hashanah and Shavuot, seem to line up perfectly with what Matthew tells us. The Magi found a child, not an infant when they visited Mary in the house. I just find that exciting!

How did the house come into the picture? If Mary and Joseph were just there until they could get back to Nazareth, then why were they in a house? Well, people at this time in history almost routinely stayed with relatives when they visited. This was the custom at this time. It was the expected thing to do. Also, Mary would be considered unclean for a time as she gave birth and for some time afterward. By being unclean, what she would touch would become unclean, so Joseph likely found shelter at Migdal Eder, the watchtower of the flock, so she could have the baby without contaminating a crowded house. Then, once her purification was over, she could come back to the house and be welcomed and well taken care of. And this is likely where the Magi, the Wise Men, found Jesus: in the house of one of the relatives of Joseph where Mary and Joseph were temporarily staying. I just love how all of this comes together and makes such perfect sense.

The next piece is why did Herod kill all boys two years of age and younger? If you recall from previous posts, the Magi began to see the signs in the heavens even before Christ’s conception. If you recall, his conception between Mary and the Holy Spirit occurred on Rosh Hashanah when Israel would ask God to remember his covenant with his people (and when Jupiter, the king planet, converged with Venus, the mother planet). Nine months later, Jesus was born on Shavuot (the feast which has held many paradigm shifts which God has orchestrated). Six months after his birth, the Magi show up.

When Herod asked the Magi when they began to see these signs in the heavens (Mt 2:7), he couldn’t be sure how old the baby had become when these men from the east showed up at his doorstep. He just knew that the time from when they started seeing these signs until their arrival was almost two years. Therefore, just to be sure, he had all boy babies two years and younger killed. Better safe than sorry, as they say—at least to his way of thinking. It seems unconscionable to us, but this was not the first act of lunacy this Herod had done in his lifetime.

So, it was all timed perfectly. The meaning in the stars so these Magi could understand, the meaning in the Jewish festivals so the Jews could understand, the recording in scripture so we could understand—these events and their timing were all planned from the very beginning of time. Can you grasp that? Can you see why Christmas is such a magical time of the year? So, why in December? There are many reasons and although part of it deals with a pagan holiday, I hope you can see there is more underlying this magical story than just that. The Magi came to Christ in December. The Winter solstice, very near Christmas, is the shortest day of the year—the longest night. Christ, the light of the world, came and the darkness started to recede. Isn’t that what he does for us individually as well? He brings us light and the darkness within us recedes as his light takes over!

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

Joseph had to return to Bethlehem to get registered for the taxation which was being implemented (Lk 2:1-3). He was from the lineage of King David, and Bethlehem was David’s hometown (Lk 2:4-5). With Mary being pregnant and on the journey with him, it took longer than normal to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Yet, there were so many people traveling for this same issue, the roads were likely safer than they ever were previously. Yet, it took a lot out on Mary.

Joseph knew he at least didn’t have to worry about a place to stay. Or he didn’t think he would. He knew of a close relative who still lived in Bethlehem and would be more than willing to allow them to stay there. After all, this was the custom of the day. But Joseph was shocked when he arrived in this usually small, quaint, and slow-moving town just outside Jerusalem. It had never been more crowded and was literally bursting at its seams. He wondered if he would have trouble getting a welcome after all.

He found his relative’s house and knocked. Joseph was now filled with apprehension. His cousin opened the door. He had a haggard look on his face, but it turned into a smile when he saw Joseph. The two of them embraced. Joseph stepped aside to introduce Mary as his wife, but his cousin’s face went from a smile to a frown once he saw the evidence of her pregnancy. His cousin’s wife did the same, but then quickly recovered and invited them in. His cousin’s house was already full of people, yet room was made for Mary to lie down and recover from her long trip. After seeing everyone and talking for a while, his cousin invited Joseph to join him outside. His cousin explained that at any other time, Joseph and Mary would be welcomed in his home, but Mary’s pregnancy complicated things. Joseph nodded because he knew that as well. The guest room was already full of additional relatives (Lk 2:7). There was just no place for Mary to have her baby. Joseph knew it wasn’t only about privacy, which very few people ever had, but Mary would be considered unclean for at least a month after the baby would be born (Lv 12:1-4). Anything and anyone she touched during this time would also be unclean (Lv 15:19-23). This was just an untenable situation in such a crowded house. Joseph assured his cousin he understood and would find other arrangements before the baby would be born. His cousin asked him to hurry because it looked like it would happen any day now.

Looking for a place proved more difficult than Joseph thought. Because all the houses were so crowded, most could not bring their animals into their home at night as normal. Therefore, even the outside areas for animals were filled to capacity, and some people had to stay all night outside with the animals to prevent robbers from taking them or them wandering off in the middle of the night. Finding a place to have a baby proved extremely difficult. Joseph began looking outside the main town area itself. He found a shelter at Migdal Eder, the watchtower of the flock (Mi 4:8). The fields around Bethlehem were the places where the priest shepherds watched over the temple flock. There were special requirements for sheep being offered as a temple sacrifice and these shepherds took extra diligence to ensure these sheep were without blemish for sacrifice. Midgal Eder was a place where they ensured the lambs born were protected and where they inspected them. They would wrap each newborn lamb in cloths to help calm the animal and place it in a special manger so they could inspect the animal for any blemish. The cloths also protected the animal so it wouldn’t do any damage to itself as the shepherd inspected it.

The time of birthing sheep had recently ended, so there was no competition for using the shelter at Migdal Eder (Mi 4:8). While not ideal by our standards, I’m sure Joseph considered it almost ideal, and he likely felt fortunate. It was a place still in Bethlehem, so relatives were close by if needed. Likely some of them helped with the baby’s delivery. The watchtower was almost abandoned that time of year, although it likely contained supplies for the shepherds and likely a donkey or two for hauling supplies. It may have had other animals for various needs: milk, carrying cargo, and maybe even food. It provided a quiet place for Mary to have her baby and would be a place to stay until her uncleanness was over. Afterward, she could be welcomed back into the crowded house. Then everyone would ooh and aah over the infant.

Once the cramping started, Joseph led Mary out to Midgal Eder on their donkey. Likely a few of the women went with him. It was now June, the time of Shavuot—a Jewish holiday which represented paradigm shifts and the inclusion of non-Israelites: Israel as a nation was born this day (Ex 19), both Rahab and Ruth, both Gentiles, were accepted into Judaism on this day (Js 5-6; Ru 1-4), now Christ, the one born for the salvation of the entire world was being born on this day. In days to come, it would be when the Holy Spirit would be given (Ac 2) and the Church, both Jew and Gentile who put their belief in what Christ did for them on the cross, was established. Yes, this was a date of many paradigm changes.

Joseph thought back on the things Mary had told him. The angel Gabriel had appeared to her in the sixth month (Lk 1:26), just before Rosh Hashanah which occurred on the first day of the seventh month (Lv 23:23-25). He now understood this was the time of the baby’s conception by the Holy Spirit (Lk 1:35). Thanks to the Jewish leaders adding Adar II to their calendar, this Shavuot was now nine months later. The baby was conceived on Rosh Hashanah when all of Israel asked God to remember his covenant with his chosen nation. Now, the baby was being born on Shavuot when God instituted paradigm changes and when Gentiles were accepted. He was now being born at Midgal Eder where the sheep born to be temple sacrifices were born—where they were wrapped in swaddling cloths and placed in the manger for inspection. Joseph looked at this one born on this Jewish holiday. Did he recognize all the symbolism God had bestowed on this special day? Did the shepherds? They were the ones who provided lambs and goats for temple sacrifice. Now, this baby was lying in their special manager wrapped in cloths they used to swaddle newborn lambs so they could inspect them for any blemishes. Did they understand the significance? Do we?

After the baby was born, Joseph wanted to get back to Nazareth, but knew he needed to wait until the baby was older and stronger. His cousin insisted he stay with them a few months until the baby and mother could travel. When the time of purification was over, Joseph took Mary to the temple in Jerusalem to offer her offering of purification (Lk 2:22-24; Lv 12:6-7). This is where they met Simon and Anna who prophesied about Jesus (Lk 2:22-38). They then returned to the house in Bethlehem where they were staying. When Jesus was about six months old, they were visited by the Magi who gave the child gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh (Mt 2:1-12). These men told Mary and Joseph all they had seen and heard. An angel appeared to Joseph to have him take Mary and Jesus to Egypt (Mt 2:13) so he would not get killed by Herod’s order to kill all infants two years old and younger (Mt 2:16). Once Herod died, Joseph came back to Israel with Mary and Jesus, and took them to Nazareth (Mt 2:19-23).

While this is not the usual Christmas story, it seems to align more closely with scripture and with what the Jewish holidays represented. These Jewish holidays which God instituted with Israel back in Leviticus when he first formed their nation have many purposes. A significant purpose is their prophetic significance. Jesus’ conception and birth are two of them. Isn’t it interesting how God coordinates so much, and we take so much of it for granted? The Bible is full of such wonderment if we only look. May we be more attentive to what God is doing in our lives as we embark on the coming year.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

We all know Christ was born on Christmas, right? Well, that’s when we celebrate his birth, but chances are, this was not his actual birth date. When was it? Let’s see if we can discover.

Rick Larson has done a lot of research about the star of Bethlehem. There are several significant points of time we need to consider:

1.      When did the sign in the sky first appear? It seems to have been in September of 3 BC near the time of Rosh Hashanah when the king planet (Jupiter) came into a conjunction with the king star (Regulus). Yet, over the next few months, it did this three times—all within Leo (the lion constellation). In other words, Jupiter went into retrograde motion three times over a period of a few months. The lion has always been a symbol of the tribe of Judah.

2.      In June of 2 BC, Jupiter had a conjunction with Venus (the mother planet) within Virgo (the virgin constellation).

3.      Then on December 25, 2 BC, the planet Jupiter went into retrograde motion and seemed to stand over the town of Bethlehem. This was when the Magi visited Mary and Joseph to see the king who had been born.

Before we go further, we also need to understand something about the Feast of Israel which occurred around September and June and what they represented:

1.      Feast of Weeks (Pentecost; Shavuot): This is a feast about paradigm changes. Israel became a chosen nation before God when they stood around Mount Sinai on Shavuot (Ex 24:1-8). The incorporation of Rahab and Ruth (both Gentiles) into the nation of Israel occurred on or near Shavuot (Js 6:25; Ru 4:13). This is what the two loaves (Lv 23:17) made on this feast, both containing leaven, represented: the inclusion of everyone into God’s plan. This was a mystery to Israel until Shavuot in Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit was given, and the birth of the Church began. This was the mystery to which Paul referred and of which he preached (Ep 3:6).

2.      Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah): This was a feast to request God to remember his covenant with the nation of Israel (Lv 23:24). You see, Yom Kippur would soon come where they would be judged. They, just as we, had no righteousness on their own. Therefore, they needed God’s mercy and requested he remember his covenant where they would be his people forever. We have evidence of this when Solomon dedicated his temple (2Ch 5:3, 7:8-10), when the altar of the temple was rebuilt (Er 3:1, 6), and when the wall of Jerusalem was completed (Ne 8:1-2).

3.      Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot): This feast was to represent God dwelling with his people. Yet, this is more representative of Christ’s second coming than his first. We’ll revisit this later.

So, what can we put together from all these pieces of information? We see that the New Testament opens with the birth of Christ. The time from Malachi to Christ’s birth has often been referred to as the Four Hundred Years of Silence. God remembered his covenant with his chosen people Israel, and did so in a big way. God appeared to Mary and stated she would have a child. If Larson is right, Christ’s conception occurred in September of 3 BC, on Rosh Hashanah. From what we have seen about this feast, it would be consistent with God remembering his covenant.

Nine months later puts us into June. What occurred around this time period? Well, Shavuot is typically around this time, but Shavuot is not typically nine months from Rosh Hashanah. From Tishri 1 of 3 BC (Rosh Hashanah) to Sivan 6 (Shavuot) would typically be just a little over eight months (243 days)—not quite enough time for a normal gestation period (average time: 280 days). Yet, something interesting happened this year. In 3 BC an extra month, Adar II, was added to the Jewish calendar. This was periodically added to realign the Jewish feasts with the seasons of the year since the Jewish calendar was a lunar calendar, not a solar calendar. Adding this extra month allowed the two calendars to realign. This added 29 more days to the time between these two feasts. Now, the time between the two feasts was 272 days—very close to the average normal gestation period. After all, it’s an average, with some babies born a little earlier and some born a little later. It seems appropriate he could come a little early. After all, he had an important job to fulfill! This would mean Christ’s conception was likely on September 10th of 3 BC, and his birth was likely on June 8th of 2 BC (although, some say June 2nd). The angels appeared to the Shepherds at Midgal Eder, the Watchtower of the Flock, to announce Christ’s birth. These Shepherds who watched over the sheep for sacrifice were trained in rabbinical law of the requirements for sacrifice and had to ensure all lambs were without blemish. The angels appeared to them to let them know their job was now obsolete. The sacrificial lamb for which they had long awaited was now lying in their manger wrapped in the swaddling cloths they use to wrap newborn lambs to keep them calm for their inspection to ensure they were without blemish.

Therefore, what Rick Larson has discovered in the stars seems to align with these Jewish feasts and the meaning behind them. I just think that is fascinating. Yet, I know many feel Christ was born on Sukkot. After all, isn’t that what his prophesied name, Immanuel (Is 7:14; Mt 1:23), was supposed to mean: God with us? Yet, although Christ did offer his kingdom upon his first coming (Mt 4:17), that was rejected (Mt 16:21). In addition, Matthew records the angel Gabriel stated to name him Jesus (Mt 1:21), meaning, “he will save his people from their sins,” which is what he did by paying our sin debt, fulfilling the mystery of how the whole world would get incorporated into his Kingdom, and setting the stage for the time when he will come again and truly dwell with his people as the King of kings (Rv 17:14, 19:16).

There is one other supportive piece of information which this timing seems to support. Why was Jesus brought to the temple when he was twelve rather than being the normal thirteen years of age? According to the Mishnah, even in the first century, thirteen was the age of questioning in the Commandments for a male. It seems this is what was going on and he amazed them all in his answers to their questions (Lk 2:47). If he had been born on Sukkot, he would have been almost fourteen years of age when he visited the temple at that Passover. Yet, Scripture reports he was twelve (Lk 2:42), because his birthday would have been just a couple of months later.

Isn’t it amazing how Scripture and events go together like hand in glove? God is not a God of accidents. He has a purposeful plan. It helps to also know he has a purposeful plan for us as well. Are you listening to what he has planned for you? More than likely, it will be pretty special.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

A baby, a stable, shepherds, wise men, and animals—is there an alternative view to the birth of Christ? Well, yes and no. Don’t you love it when someone gives you such an answer? But it’s the truth. Tradition and reality don’t always jive in all details. So, let’s take a closer look at the Christmas story.

First, the birth place: Bethlehem. Back in the first century, this was not a booming town. Even when the prophecy was given by Micah (Mi 5:2), it was not a booming town. It is only about six miles south of Jerusalem and was not a city where many people traveled since it wasn’t on a major Roman road of the day. Besides, even if someone was on such a road, would they stay in Bethlehem when Jerusalem was so close? In addition, the custom of the day was for family to stay with family—not in an inn or other places of abode. Inns were more common in large cities, like Jerusalem, and perhaps on major thoroughfares, as travelers would not have close relatives nearby, because they had not arrived at their final destination where family likely were located. In addition, the word used here was more typically used for a spare room (Lk 22:11) rather than a separate lodging (Lk 11:22) which uses a different word for such. Also, Bethlehem was a shepherding community and not one where travelers would frequently travel through. For someone to go to a place like Bethlehem, they had to be wanting to go there—not passing through. Therefore, the need for an inn was very low, and the number of visitors an innkeeper would get would likely be too low to make it profitable. The fields around Bethlehem were where the flocks for temple worship were kept and raised. This is a critical point for us to consider later.

When did Mary and Joseph arrive in Bethlehem? Most movies and plays about this story have them arriving while Mary is delivering, and Joseph is desperate to find a place—any place—anywhere. But is that what scripture is really telling us? Luke tells us that Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem and “while they were there” she had her baby (Lk 2:6). This doesn’t sound like this was an immediate need or crisis. So, where were they? Well, since Joseph was of the lineage of David, he had to travel to his ancestor David’s birthplace, i.e., Bethlehem. Therefore, he would have relatives there. As we just pointed out, relatives stayed with relatives. Let’s not put our social mores on this concept. Often, we would gladly stay in an inn than with relatives, but this was not the case in this culture. It was a privilege and honor, as well as a duty, to take care of visiting relatives, no matter the occasion. So, if they were with relatives, where did the stable, animals, shepherds, etc. come into the story? Let’s consider that.

Because of the need for so many people to come to Bethlehem because of the tax registration, Bethlehem became crowded—very crowded. Joseph and Mary were only one couple among hundreds to thousands who had to return. People’s homes were very crowded and filled to capacity. Mary and Joseph were very welcome to stay until she was ready to deliver. It may sound cold to us today, but Mary would not have been welcomed to have her baby in a house filled with so many people. This is for two major reasons. One, there was no privacy. Second, she would be considered unclean for up to a week (Lv 15:19-23). But it is even more complicated as this passage tells us. Everything she touches, everyone she touches, becomes unclean. That is a problem in a house filled with so many people. The logistics to have Mary there as she gives birth and for the week after becomes untenable. Joseph must find a solution. Where could Joseph take Mary where she could be taken care of in such a crowded place where there wasn’t an inn? Think about it, even if there was an inn, would an innkeeper want a delivery in his inn where his room, of which he would likely have few, would become unclean? It would be a big burden to get everything clean again. Certain things would have to be washed, some scrubbed, and some destroyed (Lv 15:12). So, as you can see, this was quite the dilemma for Joseph and Mary due to the customs and social mores of their day.

So, where could Joseph find a secluded place that would not be a burden to others, yet would be comfortable for Mary to have her child? Migdal Eder. You see, God knew this all those years ago and had Micah prophesy of this (Mi 4:8). Joseph likely didn’t even know he was fulfilling prophecy. He was just looking for a logical, viable, and satisfactory solution to their need. You see, because Bethlehem was not only a shepherding community, but it was also a special shepherding community. The shepherds here were not regular shepherds but were trained for how to raise sheep for the purpose of them being used as a sacrifice at the temple. Not just any animal could become a sacrifice. It had to be without blemish. Do you realize how hard it is to have an unblemished animal in the wild? All sorts of things could happen to the animal. These shepherds had to ensure nothing happened to these animals. It wasn’t just taking care of them, mending their injuries, and making them acceptable for human use. No, it was raised to another whole level. If the animal was injured, they were no longer acceptable for sacrifice, even if the animal recovered. It was now considered blemished. So, in order to ensure things went well with the sheep birthing process, a special place was made for the sheep to have their lambs. This was at Migdal Eder, the watchtower of the flock (Mi 4:8; Gn 35:21). They built a place here. Maybe it was a cave or some type of shelter for both the shepherds, their supplies, and likely other animals they would need to take supplies from Bethlehem or from Jerusalem to this shelter for them to use as they watched after the sheep. When the lambs were being prepared for sacrifice, they would swaddle them to prevent the lambs from hurting themselves. They would then place them in the manger there made especially for this purpose to calm the animal so it could more easily be inspected for any blemishes. Because of these lambs’ special religious nature, nothing was taken for chance. All was a very methodical process to ensure each and every animal was without blemish (Ex 12:5). They tried to remove all obstacles that would cause or induce injury.

Are you starting to see the symbolism here? Do you now see why swaddling was a significant sign? All babies were wrapped in swaddling clothes—that was their custom. Yet, only one was wrapped in swaddling cloth normally used for lambs born to become a sacrifice. And only one was wrapped in swaddling cloth, lying in the manger at Midgal Eder. The angel’s announcement was very specific and not vague at all. This was a significant sign, and one I am sure was not lost on these shepherds. This also explains why angels appeared to these shepherds—because they were not ordinary shepherds, but the ones taking care of sheep for sacrifice. The angels were basically stating that their jobs were now complete. The lamb they were waiting for had come. He was in their shelter, their stable, their manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes for special lambs born at Midgal Eder. This lamb was not just for a special sacrifice for someone’s sin debt, but for payment for the sins of the entire world.

I hope this helps you see that Biblical prophecy is there for a reason and while the Christmas story may seem bizarre to us today, it was a very specific sign to the people of their day. It was prophesied and fulfilled exactly as prophesied. Nothing is an accident with our God!

Next time, we’ll look at some other aspects of the Christmas story.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

We just can’t have a Christmas play without angels appearing to shepherds, can we? Why is that? Angels appeared to these shepherds to announce the birth of Christ (Lk 2:8-9). The prophet Micah stated the Messiah’s first coming would be announced at Migdal Eder, the watchtower of the flock (Mi 4:8) which is just a mile or so outside the city of Bethlehem, the place of the Messiah’s prophesied birth (Mi 5:2). However, this was not a common watchtower, but the watchtower used by the shepherds who tended the sheep for the temple sacrifices. Plus, these were not just ordinary shepherds, but were trained in rabbinical teachings for what type of animals were needed for sacrifice. Just any lamb would not do. These special shepherds cared for special sheep. The lambs were watched from birth and raised with utmost care because they were to be utilized as the national Passover lamb or other designated sacrifices. They had to be certified as healthy and be without blemish to qualify for their use as such a sacrifice. The pregnant sheep was brought to the tower, so the lamb’s birth could be overseen and to ensure nothing happen to the lamb which would mar it. The newborn lambs were even wrapped in swaddling clothes to keep them still and to prevent them from hurting themselves. The code for sacrificial animals was strict and so utmost care was taken to ensure their wellbeing.

As you can see, there is much symbolism here. The Messiah was born at or near the place where Passover lambs were born and cared for. And we later see that Christ was presented on the tenth day of the first month at the time Passover lambs were sequestered to ensure they were without blemish before they were sacrificed, and he was then sacrificed on the cross on the fourteenth day of the first month, i.e., Passover. So, it was very apropos that Christ was born here.

An angel appeared to these special shepherds near Migdal Elder and told them of Christ’s birth at Bethlehem (Lk 2:8-11). The angel then announced that the sign to them of the fulfillment of his announcement would be that they would find the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger (Lk 2:12). That is, just what they did for newborn lambs destined for sacrifice. Then there were a host of angels who appeared and praised God stating, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Lk 2:13-14). God was pleased to give this gift to mankind.

You see, God does nothing in a haphazard way. He has a purpose for everything, and, usually, not just a single purpose. He truly is God of the impossible and miraculous.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

As Christians, we celebrate the virgin birth of Christ at Christmas. Have you ever stopped to think how important that really is? It’s important from both a human prophecy point of view as well as from a spiritual salvation point of view. As we saw in the previous post, the coming Messiah was supposed to be a descendant of Adam (Gn 3:15), Abraham (Gn 17:19), Isaac (Nu 24:17), Jacob (Gn 49:10), Judah (Is 11:10), and David (Jr 23:5-6). And we see this from the genealogy provided in Matthew Chapter 1. Yet, we also see something else. Something unexpected. Scripture also states that the coming Messiah was not only to be a descendant of David but be an heir to David’s throne (Is 9:7).

Now here is where the conundrum occurs. Joseph was indeed a descendant of David and of Solomon through whom the throne passed (Mt 1:6). Yet, a descendent of Solomon, and part of the royal lineage, was Jeconiah (Mt 1:11) about whom God made a special, earth-shattering, announcement through the prophet Jeremiah (Jr 22:24-30). He stated that none of his descendants would sit on the throne of David in Judah. Did you catch that? No descendant of Jeconiah would sit on the throne. But wait, the promised Messiah was to sit on David’s throne in Jerusalem which is in Judah. How can this be resolved?

Joseph was of the lineage of Jeconiah and, therefore, of the royal lineage, but this would all fall apart unless Jesus was not his son. If Jesus was the biological son of Joseph, his reign would fall under this curse. So, how could he be a descendant of David, have a legitimate right to the throne, and not be a descendant of Jeconiah? It seems God had it all figured out. Mary, Joseph’s betrothed, was also a descendant of David through another son, Nathan (Lk 3:31). Since Mary was Christ’s biological mother, this made him a descendant of King David. Joseph was an heir to the throne of David. He claimed Jesus as his own child (Mt 1: 24; Lk 2:5), although he was actually born of the Holy Spirit (Mt 1:18). Since Joseph claimed Jesus as his own son, even though he wasn’t, this made him a legitimate son of Joseph and an heir to the throne without being a descendant of Jeconiah.

This narrowed the field considerably of who could really be the Messiah. Not only did he have to fulfil all the prophecies we mentioned in the previous post, but he had to fulfill this convoluted prophecy. Only by his virgin birth could such a prophecy be fulfilled. It was the only way for all the prophecy to be fulfilled exactly as stated. And, of course, the spiritual side of this is enormous. Who else could fulfill the need for one to pay the price for mankind’s sins except one who could identify with being human while being God. Blood was needed to pay for the justice God demanded, and only the blood of Christ was holy enough (both in purity and uniqueness) to pay that for everyone.

Now the hard work has been done. It wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t free for the one who secured the payment. Yet, it is free for us if we only ask, believe, and accept this one, this perfect one, this unique one, as the hope for our eternal future. The Christmas season is upon us. Will you make this a special one for you as well?

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

There is actually a lot of prophecy concerning Christ’s first coming to the earth. One can debate one or a few, but as the number of prophecies and their fulfillment grows, one must take a mental pause and really think about this. Could one person really fulfill all these prophecies? I think the odds are very low.

As we start toward the holiday season, I think this is an appropriate time to really look and see what Scripture says about his first coming. I have listed several of them below. Take a look.

Prophecy                                                                                                              Fulfillment

Did you count them? I have listed 70 of them, but this is not an all-inclusive list. Do you really think one person could fulfill all of these and manipulate his life and those of others to make them happen? No, no one could do that. After all, many of them were outside his control.

So what do we do with this? I would encourage you to go over this list again, look up the verses, and research this for yourself. Maybe what you’ve been thinking was not quite as accurate as you thought. And, if all of these turned out to be true, then the rest of scripture would also be true. He came once. He’s coming a second time. Will you be ready?

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens