By WAYNE JACKSON

April 3, 2000

The name “Ezekiel,” means “God strengthens.” When a Hebrew baby was given that name in the 7th century before Christ, it was almost prophetic of the spiritual resources the child would need for the years that yet were awaiting in his life.

Ezekiel was taken into Babylonian captivity, along with many other Jews, in 597 B.C. In the 5th year of his captivity, he was 30 years old and God called him to prophesy to his brethren in that strange land. Back in Canaan, where other Hebrews remained, pressures were building that would ultimately result in the horrible destruction of Jerusalem (which came with Nebuchadnezzar’s invasion in 586 B.C.).

Ezekiel’s prophecies, can be divided into two historical periods – those given before the fall of Jerusalem (Chapters 1-32) and those given after that calamity (33-48).

When the news of Jerusalem’s destruction (including that of the sacred temple) reached the exiled people of Israel, they were deeply depressed. Was there no hope for them as a nation? It was Ezekiel’s task to give them a message of hope—grounded, of course, upon their repentance.

Ezekiel, Chapter 34, is remarkable in that it contains a series of divine promises framed in the phrase, “I will….” Note what the Lord promised to his people:

I WILL

. . . search and seek them out (11,16a)

. . . deliver them (12)

. . . bring them out (13a)

. . . gather them unto myself (13b)

. . . feed them (14)

. . . cause them to lie down (15b)

. . . bind up the broken (16b)

. . . strengthen the sick (16c)

. . . destroy the enemy (16d)

. . . judge my sheeps’ differences (17-22)

. . . watch over them (23)

. . . be their God (24)

. . . bless them (25a,26b)

. . . cause them to dwell in safety (25b)

. . . make them a blessing (26)

. . . abundantly satisfy them (29-31).

There are some very important lessons to learn from this situation.

First, note that God did not shield his people from all hardships. That is not what human existence is all about. Our earthly domain is an environment of suffering; that is what the introduction of sin has done, and we all are paying the price for that. We suffer for our own sins (1 Pet. 4:15), and we suffer as a consequence of the sins of others (Ex. 20:5; Rom. 5:12).

That is the nature of this cause-and-effect world of which we are citizens. Only heaven has that spiritual atmosphere where such problems will not exist (cf. Rev. 21:1-5), and we are not there yet!

Second, God allows his people to suffer for their own good. Suffering is the classroom of obedience. Christ was even subjected to suffering that he might become qualified as our merciful high priest (cf. Heb. 2:10,17-18; 5:8-9). Trials are a refining process, if we are wise enough to learn from them (Jas. 1:2-3; 1 Pet. 1:6-7).

Third, it is nonetheless the case that our Creator promises to sustain us—if we will demonstrate our confidence in him by trusting him, obeying him, and leaning on him during the hard times through which we struggle.

Ezekiel, the ancient prophet, provides us with much instruction and consolation in this regard. Remember, we are to learn priceless principles from these Old Testament narratives (Rom. 15:4). Let us, therefore, appreciate, and profit from, these words of God’s man—a voice of encouragement in a time of sorrow.

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