Ezekiel 0 (Introduction)
Thursday, 12/11/25 at 08:17 kriders99
Solitary Man
solitaryman.substack.com
20250722
Introduction
So where does one begin? How does one attempt to write a commentary on such a grand and glorious work, one that encompasses many great themes, and is filled with passages known for their surpassing depth of obscurity? Am I being presumptuous, or merely foolish? Biting off more than I can chew?
While I have so far been led to write 11 commentaries, this one particular book has always been in the back of my mind. And, while I have from time to time felt the urging to undertake this task, either the unction has not been strong enough, or the hesitancy to commit to such an endeavour has been too great to allow me to begin. There are known passages of such difficulty that no one that I know of throughout the history of the church has ever provided adequate explanation for them. Things such as the new temple detailed in the last nine chapters are particularly vexing to the scholar and the seeker of truth alike. But rather than plunging into the particular difficulties at this time, let us, for the moment, put aside our qualms and reservations.
For those of you who have been regularly reading these commentaries, you know that this journey began at the outset of 2024, with the book of Jeremiah. In order for God to confirm that he was behind this work, he granted me the ability to write my first commentary of 52 chapters in 52 days. When it was completed, I could scarcely believe that this had occurred!
Now, in those early days, I did not perhaps delve as deeply into the Hebrew and the existing commentaries of old that I have since done (though I certainly did some of that), nor did I avail myself of the excellent services of my wife, who has corrected my imperfect grammar and sentence structure with such a professional touch. What I am saying is that I believe this long tome will not be so quickly conquered (unless God wants to lock me away day and night!). As I feel led to begin work on this while it is yet in the midst of summer, practicalities of life will most assuredly cause me to take far longer to complete this work than any book previously undertaken.
Because I never began releasing other commentaries until I was sure that I could release one chapter per day in consecutive days, I wouldn’t upload any chapters until the finish line was definitely in sight! But in this instance, I will use a less rigid schedule. I will begin releasing them well before I have completed my work, and I will not be releasing one per day. From what I have already completed thus far, the commentaries themselves will be a bit longer, on average, than what I have produced previously.
This is due to several factors. One, the chapters are generally longer. Two, the content is generally more difficult, at times needing more explanation. Three, I delve much more into the meaning of the Hebrew words than I used to. Four, I am getting more long winded in my pontifications! I feel led to try and tie in these ancient verses to daily life as much as possible, in order to stimulate interest. It is an attempt to demonstrate that this neglected book is far more relevant to our generation than anyone realises.
In that way, it is my prayerful desire than more souls will take up the challenge of joining with me on this deep dive, if I allow more time between chapters. I hope that less are discouraged into even beginning the study, thinking that there is no way that they have the time to read 48 chapters in 48 consecutive days! So, come along with me and let us take this one bite at a time, and see where it leads.
Now, what is it that I hope to accomplish in undertaking such a Herculean task as this? Well, first of all, I do pray that I am doing this in obedience to the Almighty. Second, even if by some misguided sense of purpose it is not God’s absolute and specific will for me to do this, how can one go wrong by taking a precipitous plunge into God’s holy word? We now know from experience the blessings that one receives when descending ever deeper into the wisdom of our Father that he has set down for us in holy writ.
While I do avail myself of the labor of saints who were much more learned and disciplined that I ever hope to be, and will allow the Holy Spirit to illuminate my mind as much as possible by examining the Hebrew words used, I do not wish to simply regurgitate what has already been written. These classic, conservative commentaries that are now centuries old are available for anyone to read for themselves, should one wish to do so. While I will not hesitate to draw upon an idea or a theory or an entire passage here and there as the Lord leads, the main purpose is to put down on paper what I believe God is showing me as far as what the text is trying to communicate at this time and in this place in history. Thus I will always be attempting to make the word as relevant and applicable to our current circumstances as I can. That means you can look forward to more of my preaching (some would say ranting) as the text triggers me to propound on the latest events of the day that are affecting us all.
You may have also noticed that I seem to be more of an Old Testament guy, specifically, a lover of OT prophetical books, in comparison to any other. And that is by design. The books that I have been led to expound upon are mostly the books that have been ignored by the church as a whole, especially from what I know of the church here in the west. I have only attempted 2 NT (New Testament) books, and those for specific reasons. I believe one of the greatest failures of the modern church is the abandonment of much of the bible. Aside from the Psalms and perhaps Proverbs, we have mostly ignored the rest of the OT. This has led to bad theology, a wrong understanding of the nature and character of God, and a general all around ignorance of Yehovah and his ways with mankind.
The prophetic books are meant to hammer into our minds over and over the importance of taking God’s warnings to sinful mankind as seriously as possible. We must stop allowing the preachers to pick and choose tiny little portions of these crucial books, and keep us in the dark about all the rest. Most Christians have no idea what the main messages of these texts do say. Sure, we know of Isaiah chapter 53, and the suffering servant, the Lamb of God. We may know of Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, whose heart was broken for his people. And we also know of the passage in Ezekiel, where satan himself is described in such esoteric, but unmistakable language that points to him. But do we really know what these books are saying? Have we spent near enough time with them? Chances are most of us would have to admit that we can probably only quote a few verses here and there.
Many have the idea that the New Testament somehow replaces the Old. That, because of Jesus, God has somehow changed how he views and deals with mankind,.
Nothing could be further from the truth. What is true is that if God has given us examples of what he is saying, then he usually will not continue to give us the same example over and over, in order to teach us the same lesson that he has already made crystal clear. For example, God will not continue to flood the entire earth, or burn down entire cities, every time sin gets out of hand. If he did, mankind would have no history to speak of. No, he has shown us, by these extremely graphic historical examples, as to what is the fate of humanity for all eternity by his demonstrations in the physical realm. In other words, the burning of Sodom and Gomorrah should forever serve every generation to come as to what is the fate of the sexually impure. The worldwide flood is sufficient to teach us the truth of eternal destruction for all those who rebel against God and do only evil continually. God does not need to keep repeating himself.
In the same way, God did some mighty and unusual things with his prophets. Now this in no way means that there are no more prophets, as the scripture clearly teaches that God still sets prophets in the church today. While the bible teaches that most prophets will be false prophets, that does not nullify the real. One of my pet peeves are all these cessationist youtube warriors, who have never been baptized in the Holy Ghost, have never experienced any gift of the Spirit, never witnessed a miracle for themselves, being filled with nothing but doubt, unbelief, and a thinly veiled contempt for those who have been touched by God in a way that they cannot comprehend, and decide to place themselves as infallible authorities as to why all manifestations of charismatic behavior is either false, or of the devil. They are like high school dropouts who think they have the right to instruct neurosurgeons on the proper method of brain surgery, or couch potatoes who believe they can teach navy seals on the proper way to defend themselves!
Cessationists have no qualifications to comment on these matters. While many may be well meaning, they are like blind men trying to teach us all about color. They simply have no clue. What usually ends up happening is that they take the most extreme cases of the misuse of the gifts, and then claim that all those who operate in the gifts are just like that.
Stop listening to the unqualified!
Having gotten my first rant our of the way, with this background, let us now turn to the book of Ezekiel itself. My goal is to try and convey the heart of God that is found in this text, as it applies to the 21st century believer. What sort of principles and themes are just as relevant for today as to the 6th century BC Judean?
We will find out that Ezekiel was a very unique fellow. In terms of strangeness, one can easily make the case that he was asked by God to do some of the strangest things of anyone in the entire bible!
We know that Isaiah was asked to go naked and barefoot three years (Is 20:3). Elisha was moved to send a bear out to tear up 42 youths who mocked him (2 Ki 2:23-34). He also called down fire from heaven and killed 100 guys, just to let the king know that he was not his slave (2 Ki 1:9-12). We all know of John the Baptist, who dressed weird, and whose diet would have met with the approval of the globalists, who want us to eat bugs (Mat 3:4).
But I think Ezekiel tops them all. He eats scrolls, cuts his hair and does strange things with it, gets on his hands and knees and plays ‘siege’ with his tiny little toys, and he is witness to the most alarming and strange visions in the entire OT (with Daniel’s visions coming in a close second). He is the proud owner of the most inexplicable passage in the entire bible (the so called Millennial temple, complete with renewed animal sacrifices). He is the describer of satan in all his former glory. He speaks of the most honored guests in the underworld, even speaks of Eden as somehow being in the same locale. He is the man in the valley of dry bones, the one who proclaims the dire judgment on Gog and Magog, the one who tells us in no uncertain terms that ‘once saved, always saved’ is the devil’s biggest joke ever unleashed upon the church. He is the one who feels the depth of the wrath of God most deeply, the one whose anger upon the apostate people of God knows few bounds. Born a priest, made to be a prophet, this man will boldly unleash a harshness of language that will make the timid faint, the shy blush, and the sheltered to stop their ears.
Ezekiel is nowhere else mentioned in scripture. That is, no one in the NT directly quotes him, though some claim there are a couple of allusions to his ideas in a couple of passages. His name means ‘God (or El) will strengthen’. Ezekiel would be known as the multi-tool of the bible. That is, God spoke to him via visions, most probably translated him once or twice in the spirit, also communicated via prophecies, parables, signs and symbols.
Ezekiel serves as an object lesson to us. Don’t limit God. Often God chooses to speak to his people in a specific way. All of us have experienced God speaking to us through his word. Many of us have heard his still, small voice. Some may have heard an audible voice. Some are given dreams and interpretations. Some have seen visions. Some are given a miracle. All of us have seen divine providence in our circumstances.
What is sad to see is how denominational nonsense has brainwashed so many into thinking that God has now been somehow limited. Oh, they like to use religious language to explain this lie by saying that since the cross, and especially after all the original apostles died, God has chosen to not intervene in the natural order of things anymore. His last act was to inspire men to select the books of the bible, and once the canon was closed, that was it. God has prohibited himself from doing anything supernatural.
The sheer stupidity of this nonsense was once more on display just a day ago on a video I happened to see. This person has decided to try and prove that all Pentecostal/Charismatic movements and teachings of today have their roots in the errors of either the British Israelism (ie, the lost 10 tribes fallacies) heresy, or the teachings of William Branham. That nothing is real in Pentecostalism. All speaking in tongues is fake, all healing is a lie. His guest even went so far as to berate any Christian who looks to God for healing, because God has given us doctors to heal us!
After I picked up my jaw that had fallen to the floor, I wondered if he was talking about the same doctors that had just engaged in the world wide genocide during covid. Injecting us with the deadliest gene altering poisons, destroying our immune systems, getting us in the hospitals and venting us to death by blowing up our lungs, are these the same ones that God has sent to us for healing? Out of the 100,000 doctors in Canada, where only 10 of them openly stood against the death jab, while the rest embraced it because ‘they were only following orders’, are these the ones that God has now sent to heal us? Have they now replaced Jesus, our great physician?
Don’t ever let non charismatic brethren lecture you on anything concerning the gifts and workings of the Holy Spirit. While many are genuinely our brothers in the Lord, they will simply lead you into the other ditch. We desperately need correction in the charismatic church, as charlatans have run absolutely wild. Going the other route and telling God what he can and cannot do is not the answer.
Like Jeremiah and Zechariah, Ezekiel was a priest. He will date his prophecies more precisely than anyone else in the bible, which is wonderful for us. The first 3 verses give us a lot of important information, which we will cover in greater detail in chapter one. We will find out that Ezekiel was 30 years old when he began his ministry. He ministered from 593 to 571 BC, an interval of 22 years.
He was among the 2nd group of deportees to Babylon from Judah by king Nebuchadnezzar, along with 10,000 others (2 Ki 24:11-18). While Jeremiah had begun preaching in Judah during the time of Josiah, and continued right through the fall of Jerusalem in 586, Ezekiel was deported in 597. Daniel was among the first deportees in 605. Ezekiel mentions him by name (Ez 14:40, 20, 28:3). The last dated utterance of Ezekiel occurred in Ez 29:17, in 571 or 570 BC. Thus Ezekiel spent his entire ministry while exiled in Babylon. Tradition states that he was killed by an idolatrous Israelite prince whom he rebuked around 560 BC.
The book of Ezekiel also contains a section about various judgments on the surrounding pagan nations of Judah (chapters 25 through 32). Here is found a thought provoking conundrum. Generally speaking, when God decides to include a section that speaks of his judgments on another nation besides Israel, that nation usually has some history with Israel. In other words, God never speaks of nations that have no interaction with Israel. At least not in the sense of raising up a prophet to pronounce judgment on it.
For example, there were people living in China and India during this time. But because they had no dealings with Israel, God does not speak about them, or their fate. This helps us to understand how all history revolves around Israel. Like it or not, that is just the way it is. Here in the west, and especially in America, where the church thinks that no one matters more than them, this truth desperately needs to be recovered. America is not the center of the universe, at least not according to Yehovah. Israel has, and Israel will always be, at the very center of all that God does. The judgments of the pagan nations are all closely related to how they treated Israel during their history. Treat Israel bad enough, and God sends a prophet to proclaim your doom. In some cases, you cease to exist.
Having said all that, both Isaiah and Jeremiah and the book of Revelation have rather extensive prophecies on the doom of Babylon. But did you notice that Ezekiel does not?
I believe the reason is that God was the one who exiled Ezekiel to live in Babylon, even as he exiled Daniel and his 3 friends also. Just as Daniel never wrote a prophecy speaking of judgment on Babylon itself, so Ezekiel did not either. Now before you jump on that statement, remember Daniel only preached judgment on specific kings, not nations. And those judgments occurred after a great sign from God was sent to that king, in order to make them receptive to the word of judgment from Daniel’s lips. In the case of Nebuchadnezzar, he had a dream. In Belshazzar’s case, it was the writing on the wall.
So why didn’t God have Ezekiel write a prophecy against Babylon? After all, he wrote one against Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, Tyre and Egypt. Jeremiah wrote about Babylon. So did Isaiah, many years earlier.
Well, Ezekiel had to live in Babylon, Jeremiah did not. Daniel had to live in Babylon, Isaiah did not. Contrary to the belief of some, who think it is nothing but cowardice that keeps every pastor from directly confronting their wicked government officials, apparently Yehovah would be considered a coward by this standard. But what did Paul day? He said that outsiders (those outside the church), God judges (1 Cor 5:13).
This is why you cannot judge the motive of another man’s heart. God knew that Ezekiel could not publicly proclaim judgment upon Babylon if God wanted Ezekiel to continue ministering while living in that land for the next 22 years. How could Ezekiel continue to proclaim the word of the Lord if his head was cut off by Nebuchadnezzar? Do you think the king would have tolerated any word of doom spoken against his kingdom?
Now some would say that if Ezekiel had enough faith, he should have simply believed that God would preserve him and go right ahead and walk into Nebby’s (Nebuchadnezzar’s) throne room and let ‘er rip. Well, if God wanted him to do that, then God would have made a way. If he wanted him to survive it, then God would have protected him, even as he protected the 3 Hebrew youths in the fiery furnace, and Daniel in the lion’s den.
But if Ezekiel would have chosen presumptuously to confront ole Nebby just because he was incensed over the fact that he had destroyed the temple, then he would have lost his head.
You can’t go and do your own thing simply because some other person is called to do some bold and crazy thing. And the bold, crazy one shouldn’t be so obsessed with the decisions of others who may not be called to do so. Taking a public stand against the pagan ruler must be inspired and commanded by the Holy Spirit, not by some other preacher. There is no general directive in the scripture demanding that all believers walk up to their least favorite government official and start berating him over his sins. Jesus told the apostles that you know not what manner of spirit you are of when you desire to act this way.
God could have chosen to give Ezekiel a word against Babylon, then protected him after the fact. Or, he could have allowed him to be killed. He chose to do none of those things. Even as he chose not to give Daniel a word about Babylon’s destruction either. Both were called to live in that land. Both were not allowed to speak of the judgment that would eventually fall upon Babylon. This helped to preserve their lives, and allowed them to finish the ministry that God had for them.
So you can see the application here. Don’t be so quick to try and martyr yourself. First and foremost, we are servants of the Most High. We go where he tells us to go. We say and do what he tells us to say and do. Don’t be intimidated by the zealous pastor and evangelist, who may (or not) have a calling to proclaim the sin of the public people publicly.
Let each man walk in the calling that God has called them to.
Let is quickly summarize Israel’s history. The united kingdom lasted over 110 years (1043-931 BC) via Saul, David and Solomon. The divided kingdom lasted until 722 BC, when Israel (the northern kingdom) was destroyed by Assyria. Judah lasted until 586 BC, when 3 invasions/deportations occurred under Babylon in 605, 597 and 586.
Ezekiel lived in a time of transition of the worldly powers. Assyria was destroyed in 612-605, and Egypt fell at Carchemesh in 605. In the same year, the first invasion of Judah occurred. After Josiah’s death in 608, there was a succession of worldly kings in Judah who continually strived and schemed. Making alliances with Babylon, then breaking them and joining their lot with Egypt. Everything they did led to further and further disaster. And the problem was not a political one, it was solely spiritual. God had given them several prophets, culminating with Jeremiah in Judah and Ezekiel who was already exiled in Babylon. The message was the same – utter and total apostasy from the God of Israel was the sole cause of their national misfortune. But no matter what was said, or how many times it was spoken, the people were too far gone in their sin to pay attention. Rather, the leaders concentrated on political alliances to try and save themselves. Sound familiar?
I find it fascinating as to how quickly so many are turning against Trump at the first sign of what they perceive to be a serious mistake. His second term being graciously given by God to help delay the inevitable judgment, many seem to think that this man should be blameless and perfect in every single decision that he makes. Only six months into his presidency that saved them from a total and permanent Marxist takeover, many are questioning their support of him over his apparent mishandling of the Epstein file, or perhaps his reticence in addressing the covid debacle. Not knowing even a fraction of the real details behind any one story, they seem to have lost all balance and perspective in their reasonings. Have they not considered the alternative? Another Democrat victory is the guaranteed and permanent death of America, and the free world. They assume that they know all that there is to know, all the while not privy to any of the real facts, and yet they have already passed judgment.
And why is this? Because God is blinding them. And why is he blinding them? Because most people refuse to see the real problem is one of rebellion against God. Politics is not the issue. Our disobedience and abandonment of obeying the commandments of the Lord has brought us to the same place that Judah was facing in Ezekiel’s day. While Jeremiah began his ministry before the first major invasion of Nebuchadnezzar, Ezekiel was 12 years into the judgment, with only 7 more years to go before the entire nation was destroyed. Thus his prophecies take on a harsh, bitter, and scathing nature. There is no way around it, at times he employs ugly language to try and wake these people up.
But even having witnessed severe judgment begin, even having their homes stolen and their families exiled to a foreign land, they still could not grasp the all encompassing need to total and utter repentance.
I believe the books of Jeremiah and Ezekiel contain the scariest truth in the entire bible. They teach us that there is a place a person, a people, and a nation can get to in their rebellion and blasphemy that no matter how bad the judgment gets, it makes no difference in their behavior. No matter how much pain and horror they are subject to, they refuse to repent. It is as if they cannot.
This is what it means to be given over to your sin. You can choose to persist in your rebellion so long that eventually you come to a point where you cannot change, no matter what God does to you. Think of the horrors so many of these alphabet crowd people must experience in their lives. Insanely dirty and extremely painful sexual practices, and so few repent. Genital mutilation, and so few repent. Drug addiction, horrible abuse of the body and soul, and so few repent. All the demonic causes under the sun, and the alphabet crowd is over represented in these evil protests. It is as if they are in hell already, and it is simply a matter of waiting for them to stop breathing in order to make it official.
I’m trying to paint a picture of the general spiritual state of a nation that is incapable of responding to the kind of anointed preaching that Ezekiel engaged in. I believe that Ezekiel would have no more success amongst us today than he did in Judah then. This is our reality. Our only hope is that the grace of God chooses to give us a little longer by sending true conviction into our sin sick hearts, by lifting the blinders off our hearts and minds.
It is appropriate to reflect on king Josiah’s reign at this time. Ruling from 639 to 608 BC, he instituted the most sweeping reforms of any king in the history of Israel and Judah. But as soon as he died, the nation and the leaders couldn’t revert fast enough to their wicked, idolatrous ways. This proved that their ‘repentance’ was only skin deep. An inch deep and a mile wide. Something like a lot of our evangelistic crusades of the last 75 years, wouldn’t you say? A sinner’s prayer, an assurance of heaven, and off you go! While the tent revivals tried to save souls, the oft compromised messages gave the people no power to resist the sex, drugs and rock and roll revolution that followed. As a result, here we are today. On the brink. In the same situation as the Jews found themselves as Ezekiel’s ministry began. This alone should make a serious study of this book a priority in the body of Christ today.
His ministry to the exiles was one of realism. While the false prophets were continually jabbering about how temporary this exile was, Ezekiel was preaching the opposite. When the city of Jerusalem finally fell in 586, that must have finally been the wake up call for that which most believed was a lie. But by then, it was too late. There was no more country to go back to.
Seeing any parallels here? Are you not sick to the point of wanting to vomit, every time you hear of some fool in the pulpit speak about how the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just? How about those who still cling to this stupid delusion that Christians are to conquer Babylon today, and take over the so called seven mountains of influence? That all the kingdoms of this world, given to the watchers by Yehovah after the flood, are to be taken over by us Christians, who all have the power like some sort of heavenly X-men? And that this is to be done before Jesus returns? Indeed, Jesus will not return until we have accomplished this, as he expects us to conquer Babylon and Egypt all by ourselves! Who needs Jesus, when we already have all this power? Did not the word say that ‘ye are gods’?
Just how bad does it have to get before all this abomination ends? How much reality will it take for gullible, naive sheeple to realize that you’ve been lied to? I know it is hard to believe that your lovely pastor has been preaching lies, but he has. Whether he knows it or not, he is a heretic. A heretic does not necessarily have to be someone who knows that he is preaching lies. He may sincerely believe that what he is saying is true. What one believes about something has absolutely nothing to do with whether that thing is true or not.
My fear is that the spiritual state of the west is even worse than what was in existence in Ezekiel’s day. Especially in Canada, we have gone way over the edge in apostasy and rebellion. We are the government sanctioned murder capital of the world, with the most liberal abortion and euthanasia laws on the planet. We still push the horrific vax jabs on everyone, even those 6 months old. We still refuse to acknowledge the slightest problem with these vile injections. We persecute anyone who disagrees with the government, yet are still importing deadly muslims at the fastest rate per capita of any country in the world. You can say what you want about Trump, but you must be extremely thankful that at the very least your borders are now sealed, and that you are actually beginning to reverse your own invasion, late in the game as it may be.
So besides the vile nature of Israel’s apostasy and idolatry, what are some of the other themes of this book? Well, the glory of the Lord is a big one. The visions of God are unparalleled. No one was privileged to witness what Ezekiel witnessed. It has led to all sort of silly ideas, such as this was an alien spaceship come to earth! Chariots of the gods, as it were.
Hoo boy. Pagans and their amazing ability to believe anything and everything, except the plain truths of the bible, of course!
The visions give us a window into the action behind the curtain, so to speak. There are angels, and beings that defy description, at work behind the scenes. While judgment must fall, after it does, the book then will devote much time to future restoration, even to the destruction of fearsome enemies, and a future place of proper worship.
In summary, let us keep the words of judgment, restoration and glory in the forefront of our minds. While God must judge sin, he never leaves us without hope. And especially for the church, where the living Christ walks amongst us even if we, too, must face the cleansing fire of God’s holiness that expresses itself in destruction, so we, too, must keep our eyes on the prize, that high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Only if we keep our eyes firmly fixed on him, shall we be able to overcome the stress, anxiety, and fear, that will be coming our way.
Solitary Man
