Jeremiah and Ezekiel
Neither the books of Jeremiah or Ezekiel have very many prophecies concerning Jesus, although they contain many concerning the various nations. These men lived at the time of the captivity, which covers the period of 606 B.C., the first captivity, through 586 B.C., the final captivity. Ezekiel\cDavid My servD's prophecy is brief: "David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd…. My servant David shall be their prince forever" (Ezek. 37:24-25). In these verses David, who died about 400 years previously, stands for Jesus, Who alluded to this verse when He said: "…and there will be one flock and one shepherd" (John 10:16). This prince would be with them forever. When Jesus spoke of His impending death, some asked Him, if He was the Messiah Who would live forever, how could it possibly be that He was going to die?
This question was fair and legitimate. The reason for their confusion was that they did not understand WHEN Jesus would receive His kingdom and when all these things would come to pass. Jesus first had to suffer and die for all the sins of mankind; then He would be raised from the dead, ascend into heaven, and receive His kingdom, which is what Peter declared on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:32-33).
When prophecies are given concerning the time of Christ's rule over His kingdom, they always describe a state of perfection. Jesus lives forever, not as a human being on earth, but rather as the resurrected Christ. Therefore, there is only one shepherd over the flock. Israel is content, and they dwell at peace in their land. Of course, this description is symbolic, since Jesus rules over the hearts of people all over the world. The literal Jews were cast out of their land because of their rejection of God and of Jesus, but the faithful are blessed—even in the face of persecution (Matt. 5:3-12). Ezekiel describes the kingdom in pastoral terms.
Jeremiah, on the other hand, presents the kingdom under Christ as always having a king and the Levitical priests to offer sacrifices:
"'In those days and at that time I will cause to grow up to David a Branch of righteousness; He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell in safety. And this is the name by which He shall be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS'" (Jer. 33:15-16).
Verses 17 and 18 mention that Israel will never lack a king to sit on the throne of David or priests to offer sacrifices. The Levites are mentioned two more times in verses 21-22. But this entire passage is remarkable for two reasons. The first reason relates to what Jeremiah had already written in 22:30, when he said of Jechoniah, "Write this man down as childless." These words can only be fulfilled in one sense—that never again would a descendant of this man sit upon the physical, literal throne of David in Jerusalem. In fact, according to history, none of Coniah's heirs ever again sat upon the throne because it ceased to exist. It was destroyed in the captivity that occurred just a few years after these words were written.
This evil king was not childless in the sense that he had no children, because he did. Nor was he childless in the sense that none of his descendants ever sat on the throne of David again, because Jesus does and is descended through him (through Joseph, his legal father, although Jesus was begotten of the Holy Spirit). But Jesus was never—and will never be—a king reigning from the earth, but He does reign from heaven. David's throne is now a spiritual one, and it will remain so. If Jesus ever came to earth and set up a kingdom in Jerusalem (as the pre-millennialists claim will happen), Jeremiah's prophecy would fail. Jechoniah remains childless with respect to an earthly throne.
The second reason that the prophecy is remarkable is that, since an earthly dominion is not under consideration, neither can the part about the Levites and their sacrifices be literal. The message is that the Messiah will always have all the priests He needs. We learn from the New Testament, however, that the Messiah is our High Priest and that all of His followers are priests (1 Peter 2:5, 9). The use of the Levitical priests in Jeremiah 33 is symbolic of the new priests under the new system inaugurated by the Christ.
The mention of this new system reminds us of the other great prophecy of Jeremiah—the one found in 31:31-34:
"Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord; I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."
This text is quoted in Hebrews 8:8-12. Jesus did bring the world a new covenant, as also prophesied by Moses (Deut. 18:18-19), which went into effect after His death (Heb. 9:16-17). Under this new covenant, Jesus ascended into heaven, where He reigns on the right hand of God and where He is also our High Priest (cf. Ps. 110:1-4). He is the one Shepherd over His one flock. The old covenant was nailed to the cross (Col. 2:14). The new covenant is different from the old in that it was entered by physical birth. One was then taught to know the Lord. In the new covenant, one enters by spiritual birth, thus requiring that a person first be taught before being able to enter into it. Although the prophecies of Christ and the kingdom are few in Jeremiah and Ezekiel, they are nevertheless quite powerful.
Various Principles from Jeremiah
Three fundamental doctrines found throughout the Scriptures are taught in Jeremiah 1:5: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; and I ordained you a prophet to the nations."
First, God is omniscient. He knows what the future will be if He does or if He does not intervene. Second, God is the One Who forms a person's spirit while he is in the womb, as several other passages also attest. Numbers 16:22, for example, describes the Lord as "the God of the spirits of all flesh," as does Numbers 27:16. A more well-known verse is Ecclesiastes 12:7, which describes what happens at death: "Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it." Hebrews 12:9 mentions that God is "the Father of spirits," referring to those whom He has created. Zechariah 12:1 also mentions that the Lord is the One Who "forms the spirit of man within him."
The third thing we learn from Jeremiah 1:5 is that God has had a plan for some people's lives even before they were born. He had ordained Jeremiah as a prophet to the nations. This selection does not necessarily mean that God has chosen everyone for something specific before he is even born, but it should cause every individual to wonder if he or she is living up to the potential God may have had in mind. An application of this verse would be that, if there is life and a spirit within the womb (not to mention a possible plan in mind for that person), can man safely terminate that life by abortion? To ask the question is to answer it.
Another verse that shows the reality of inspiration is Jeremiah 1:9, in which God tells Jeremiah: "Behold, I have put My words on your mouth." The words of prophecy—in fact, all of God's Word—is inspired. The words were chosen carefully. This verse agrees with other descriptions in the New Testament, as well as what David wrote in 2 Samuel 23:2: "The Spirit of the Lord spoke by men, and His word was on my tongue."
Jeremiah certainly understood the perversity of human beings. The nation of Israel played the harlot, committing spiritual adultery. God extended the invitation for them to return to Him, but she refused. God allowed Israel to be taken into captivity. As if this situation were not bad enough, Judah, her sister, observed it all—but learned nothing profitable from it. She went and played the harlot after already having witnessed God's displeasure toward the sin. The nation had become so hardened in their sins that Jeremiah wrote: "Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed; nor did they know how to blush…" (Jer. 6:15).
Jeremiah records a great irony about these people: "For my people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water" (2:13). God's desolation about their rejection of Him is also stated in an ironic sense: "Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me days without number" (2:32). The extent of the problem is seen in Jeremiah 5:1, when the prophet is bid to run through the streets of Jerusalem and see if he "can find a man, if there is anyone who executes judgment, who seeks the truth…." The gravity of the situation is revealed: "The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron; with the point of a diamond it is engraved on the tablet of their heart…." Jeremiah and Lamentations communicate great sadness.
"Oh, that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountains of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain…of my people!" (Jer. 9:1). Jeremiah wrote in advance of the event, knowing that the judgment of the people was certain. As 5:31 states: "The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own power; and My people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end?" The prophet further anticipated their ruin: "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved" (8:20). The people rejected the only solution available to them: "Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it'" (6:16). Jeremiah certainly knew the truth he recorded in 17:9: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" So many of these statements are relevant to our age; if only people of this generation could learn the truth of what the prophet recorded: "O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps" (10:23). How could truths such as these be put any plainer in a poetic format? The fall of Troy as detailed by Homer does not make one weep more than what Jeremiah saw. And we have but touched the surface of this profound book.
Various Principles from Ezekiel
The book of Ezekiel contains some interesting passages. For years, some have been all agog over God and Magog (38-39) and the description of the valley of dry bones that precedes it (37). Although these things contain a certain fascination for people, what is stated in chapter 33:11 is infinitely more practical:
"Say to them: 'As I live,' says the Lord God, 'I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?"
This shows both God's frustration and compassion at one and the same time. He further adds, however, that if one turns from his wickedness and becomes righteous, the wickedness shall be forgiven him. Unfortunately for man, the opposite is also true. A man may be righteous for years, but if he turns to practice evil, all the good that he did shall not be remembered (Ezek. 33:12-16). These facts were first enumerated in Ezekiel 18:21-24, along with a verse that single-handedly destroys Calvinism—particularly that portion that teaches that we are all born sinners:
"The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquities of the father, nor shall the father bear the iniquities of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself" (Ezek. 18:20).
God holds each individual accountable for only himself. No one can inherit another's sins—not those of his parents, and not those of Adam and Eve.
Since some in Ezekiel's day charged God with being unjust (which also happens in our day), the prophet proclaims a great deal about God's character. The book begins with a glimpse of the glory of God (1:27-28), but also discusses His omniscience (8:1-18); His holiness (13:8-9); His justice (16:35-43; 21:1-27; 22:4, 6, 9, 13, 31; 23:22-35; 36:18); His sovereignty (20:3, 31; 30:7-8); His grace, love, mercy, and forgiveness (36:25-36).
The book of Ezekiel also records the kind of response that man ought to have toward God. First, it should be one of reverence. God will sanctify His great name which has been profaned among the nations (36:22-23). We should possess gratitude and humility, as shown in God's rebuke of His people (16:14-15). One of the key words in man's vocabulary should be remember. Although it is one of the key words in Deuteronomy 5:15; 7:18; 8:2, 18; 9:7, these warnings in the Law of Moses did no good because God's people forgot. Both Jeremiah and Ezekiel stand as memorials as to how far God's own people can fall. God describes their sordid behavior: "You are an adulterous wife, who takes strangers instead of her husband. Men make payment to all harlots, but you made your payments to all your lovers" (16:32-33a).
What happened in Israel and Judah under the old covenant is often similar to the condition and practices we find in modern times. God spoke to His prophet: "Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts, and put before them that which causes them to stumble into iniquity…" (14:3a). How many people in general, not to mention God's people today, have set up idols in their heart? It is strange indeed that some people try to argue that the Bible is not relevant today, but after reading the prophets of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, could there be anything more relevant? These books are right on target as they discuss the problems of man. Especially is this true with the way that some hear the preaching of God's Word—if they hear it at all. God gave Ezekiel some information concerning those who heard his words preached:
"So they come to you as people do, they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain. Indeed you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they do not do them" (33:31-32).
Of course, some never make it a point to hear the Word of God, but even among those who are present in congregations all over the world, how many are truly listening? Not only are many in attendance not grasping the significance of the message, some preachers are not even paying attention to their own words, for some have violated the Word of God in shameful ways. No wonder Jesus would later say that FEW there are who walk the narrow way (Matt. 7:13-14). The good news is that, despite all of the rejection, some remain faithful and righteous, and they shall be rewarded.