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Introduction.
The Bible is a typological book. This means that most of what has happened once will happen again. Although the prophets spoke to God’s people in their time, most of the prophecies also apply to us in the end times, and it is amazing how it all fits together. An example is Israel’s exodus from Egypt. In Egypt, God’s people were oppressed and enslaved. They had no freedom, neither to do as they wanted nor to say what they wanted. If they did, severe punishments awaited them, and in some cases the death penalty. Finally, when God said enough is enough, He freed His people and led them to the promised land—Canaan.
What is happening to God’s people today, and what do we expect to happen tomorrow? God’s people are about to be completely oppressed in “the Egypt of our time.” God’s people no longer have the right to do as they want or say what they want, then we end up under the law that deals with hate speech, then we are terrorists, even if we are not violent. And behind the scenes, severe punishments often await. But soon our God will say enough is enough, and He will return to earth to free His people and lead them to the promised land—the heavenly Canaan.
The Bible is thus a typological book where an event in ancient times is the type of an event later on the time axis, which is called the antitype. The book of Ezekiel is no exception in this respect. It is a typological book, and even though the prophecies here were given to the Jewish people who were captives in Babylon, most of them apply to our time to a great extent. Here in chapter 3 it is the watchman, Ezekiel, who is the type, and the antitype of the end times is the watchman of the end times, who is the Ezekiel of our time.
The backdrop for the book of Ezekiel is that the Jewish people had been taken captive to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar, and among them was Ezekiel who was called by God to be a prophet. In chapter 1 verse 2 the prophet even tells what day it was that he was called to be a prophet, and it was on the fifth day of the month that was in the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity. This was in the year 592 BC. Ezekiel is called through a powerful vision, like Isaiah, but unlike Jeremiah who receives no vision, but hears the Lord speak to him.
In chapter 2 the calling itself follows, and it begins with God speaking to him: He said to me, Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak with you. As he spoke to me, the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet, and I listened to the one who was speaking to me. He said to me, Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to the rebellious pagans who have rebelled against me. The Israelites and their ancestors have transgressed against me to this day, [Ezekiel 2:1-3 (Christian Standard Bible)].
As we see, Ezekiel was appointed as a prophet for the children of Israel and the rebellious pagans, who had all rebelled against God. It was precisely because of the ongoing rebellion that the Jews were taken captive to Babylon. This is a type of an end-time event, where a prophet will also be raised up for God’s people, the pagans and all who have rebelled against God.
Also in the next two verses, Ezekiel 2:4-5, we see who Ezekiel is to be a prophet for: For [they are] impudent children and stiffhearted. I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, thus saith the Lord GOD. And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they [are] a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them, (Ezekiel 2:4-5).
What does it mean that those Ezekiel will prophesy to are impudent and stiffhearted? We all know the meaning of being impudent, and here it means that they think they are better than God’s messengers, and that they are stiffhearted means that they have hardened themselves against God’s commandments and laws. That was the case with the people in Ezekiel’s time, but what about us? Are we any better today than the people who lived 2600 years ago?
That those who are called pagans, that is, those who do not belong to those who are called God’s people – the Christians, do not care about the preaching is nothing else than we can expect. But in our time the apostasy is greater among Gods people than it was in Ezekiel’s time. How is it with most people in our time? Do they listen to those whom God has called to prophesy against the apostasy? There are a few who accept the truth, but the majority turn their impudent faces towards the preachers, and their hearts are harder than granite. But Ezekiel was told that this would happen, and we must also accept this in the end times. They will not listen to the preaching because they are a rebellious house.
In the next two verses we read this: And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns [be] with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they [be] a rebellious house. And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, for they [are] most rebellious, (Ezekiel 2:6-7).
What good comfort does Ezekiel receive from God. Ezekiel need not fear anything, no matter what he encounters, God will be there to protect his prophet. Although it is not said in plain words, it is implicit in what God says to Ezekiel. We must also take this to heart in the end times. No matter what kind of opposition we encounter, the Lord will be with us, and when the Lord is with us, who can be against us? The condition for both Ezekiel and us is that we speak the word of God to those who are rebellious against God.
Chapter 2 ends with these four verses: And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they [are] most rebellious. But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee. And when I looked, behold, a hand [was] sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book [was] therein; And he spread it before me; and it [was] written within and without and [there was] written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe, (Ezekiel 2:7-10).
Here the call to Ezekiel ends with a request not to be rebellious like God’s people, but that Ezekiel would be obedient and accept the teaching that God would give him. These three verses find their parallel in Revelation chapter 10, which deals with the emergence of the end-time church. There it says: And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and [his] left [foot] on the earth, (Revelation 10:2).
A scroll in this context is the word of God. We find evidence for this in Jeremiah 36:2 which says: Take thee a roll of a book and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day.
To eat the scroll means to take to heart what is written on it, and in this case, Ezekiel received the scroll directly from God, and it was written on both sides of the scroll. This was unusual, because it was usually written on only one side of such scrolls, but here both sides are used and then it means that the message to be preached is of the utmost importance.
Which ones are re the Ezekiel’s of our time? Who are the watchmen of our time? They are those who were called by God at the end of the prophetic age. Ezekiel was the watchman of his time, and throughout the ages God has always had his watchmen. Going back to the time before the flood we find Enoch. He was the watchman of his time. Then we come to Noah, who was also a watchman in addition to building the ark. After the great flood we find Abraham who, in addition to being God’s first reformer, was also a watchman. It would be impossible to name all the watchmen before the first coming of Jesus, but all the prophets from Moses to Malachi were watchmen.
After the cross we also find many watchmen, and among them we find the Albigenses, the Waldenses and all who fought to keep God’s word pure during the Catholic tyranny of the Middle Ages. Luther and all the great reformers of the Middle Ages were watchmen, and finally God raised up a special people to be watchmen in the end times, the Advent movement. This movement was given the spirit of prophecy: And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings, (Revelation 10:11).
The Advent movement began sometime in the 1830s and eventually became an interdenominational movement. The Advent movement is still interdenominational today. People from absolutely all denominations in the United States at that time formed the movement, and people are still flocking to the Advent movement from all denominations in our time. So one might ask why they do it, and the answer many of them themselves give is that they are tired of the assumed piety in the fallen churches, and the flirtation with spiritualism and the occult.
All Bible verses are taken from the King James Version 1611/1769 unless otherwise stated.
Ezekiel is given the commission to go to Israel.
God uses different ways to call ordinary people to be His prophets or messengers. When God called Moses, we read in Exodus 3:10: Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt. Moses would not do as God asked him because he did not feel that he had the qualifications needed to free Israel from captivity, and they have a long conversation up on the mountain. In Exodus 3:12, the Lord says to Moses: … … Certainly I will be with thee; and this [shall be] a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. Moses still would not, and God continues to call Moses, saying in Exodus 4:12: Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.
When Isaiah was called to be a prophet, we read the following in Isaiah 6:7-9: And he laid [it] upon my mouth, and said, lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, here [am] I; send me. And he said, Go, and tell this people, hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Isaiah was called in a different way than Moses was called.
Here in Ezekiel chapter 3 we read how Ezekiel was called to be a prophet. But before I begin on how Ezekiel was called; I must add that the division of the books of the Bible into chapters and verses can sometimes be both confusing and destructive. Most people would consider chapter 3 to be a separate chapter, when in reality it is an extension of the text in what we call chapter 2.
The text of Ezekiel 3:1-3 is as follows: Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll. And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat [it]; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.
As already mentioned, we find a parallel to this text in Revelation chapter 10, and we read in verses 8 to 10 this: Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me once more: Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land. So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth, it will be as sweet as honey. I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour, [Revelation 10:8-10 (New International Version 1984)].
As we see, there are two identical calls given to God’s messengers. Both were to eat the little book, and for both it was sweet as honey in their mouths. But there is apparently a marked difference. To Ezekiel the Lord says this in verses 4 and 5: And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them. For thou [art] not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, [but] to the house of Israel, while to John as the representative of God’s end-time church it was said that … … thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings, (Revelation 10:11). If we carefully read the mandate given to Ezekiel and the end-time church, we see that even though the text is slightly different, the text deals with exactly the same thing.
Is there a reason for this difference? I think there is. In Ezekiel’s day, the survivors of Nebuchadnezzar’s occupation of Judea were taken captive to Babylon, and God’s people lived together in a relatively small area. They all spoke the same language and were accessible to the prophet Ezekiel wherever they lived. Now in the end times, God’s people live scattered throughout the earth, speaking many different languages, and it is impossible for a single representative of God to reach all who are called God’s people. Therefore thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.
The next two verses show us how deeply God’s people had fallen in Ezekiel’s time, and I believe God says the following to the prophet, with sorrow in His heart: Not to many people of a strange speech and of a hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee. But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel [are] impudent and hard-hearted, (Ezekiel 3:6-7).
Now two verses follow that are very strange. In themselves they are almost incomprehensible, and seem completely out of place, but let us look at these two verses: Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads. As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they [be] a rebellious house., (Ezekiel 3:8-9).
The root word for the word strong is also the root word for the first half of Ezekiel’s name and is most likely used in reference to this. It is not stated what Ezekiel says in this chapter, but he may have been asserting his own weakness in contrast to the perseverance of hardened sinners. Here is the promise that, however difficult the Jews may be, the prophet will be made stronger than they and will triumph over them. What God is telling Ezekiel is that no matter how strong opposition he will encounter from his own people, God will make him stronger so that the message can be preached as God has ordained. Whether the people receive the message is up to them, because God never forces anyone to do anything, but has given all people free will to choose.
When Ezekiel has received this guarantee from God that He is with him, the commission he received in verse 4 is repeated, and in Ezekiel 3:10-11 God says to him: … … Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart and hear with thine ears. And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.
This is a wonderful promise that also applies to us in the end times. We will face even tougher opposition from other Christians, God’s people, than the opposition Ezekiel faced from his own people, God’s people, in Babylon. In our time, the Pope has equated preaching the end-time message to other Christians to get them to leave Babylon (the fallen churches) with terrorism. It has been classified as hate speech to say anything condescending about other religions and denominations/churches, that is, to point out the false doctrines that the fallen churches and other religions are full of. If we preach the end-time message today, we are “terrorists” by papal definition, and according to the Vatican, there is only one appropriate punishment for terrorists … … … and we know what is meant. It is the same punishment that the “terrorists” of the Middle Ages faced: death. But as in Ezekiel’s time, God will be with his people and strengthen them. Perhaps some will be convicted of terrorism, but God will be there with them. That is God’s promise to His watchmen, and God never fails His people. He keeps His promises.
As we see, Ezekiel was sent to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and it is important to remember that the Jews were a small remnant after Israel, therefore Israel is used even though it was only Jews and some Levites who made up God’s people, or God’s small remnant. Also in the end times God has his small remnant, and these are those who have chosen to separate themselves from the fallen churches and ecumenical cooperation. Just as the children of Ezekiel’s people were so hardened in their apostasy that they would not listen to either God or His prophets, so it is with «the children of our people» in the end times. They will also not listen to us when we point out their mistakes and shortcomings based on what God and God’s word says.
In Matthew 11:21 Jesus says the following about the cities of Chorazin and Bethsaida: Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
In Chorazin, north of the Sea of Tiberias, and in Bethsaida, at the northern end of the Sea of Galilee, there lived Jews, or the children of Ezekiel’s people. These were two cities where Jesus preached and performed many of his wonderful miracles, but still the inhabitants there would not accept Jesus as the Son of God. If Jesus had done such mighty works in Tyre and Sidon, two pagan cities, the people would have repented and accepted Jesus as their Savior.
What is the situation in our time? Who is most receptive to the gospel today?
In the wake of ecumenical cooperation, it is taboo to preach repentance to members of other denominations. It has simply been forbidden to «hijack» new members from other churches, who are figuratively the children of our people, and that in the best ecumenical spirit. The Bible, on the other hand, tells us that we are to preach the end-time message consisting of the three angels’ messages (Revelation 14:6-12), together with the loud cry, which we find in Revelation 18:1-5 and which reads as follows: And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
It should be obvious what Babylon standeth for, and what the expression came out of her means. But for the sake of order let me explain what this is. Babylon is all fallen churches and come out of her means that those that hear the call of God must leave the fallen churches, lest they partake of the punishment that shall soon come upon all that are in any way in opposition to God.
It is therefore difficult for our preaching to be heard in the fallen church denominations (read the children of our people). It will be easier for us in the end times to reach out to the “heathens” as Jesus says in Matthew 11:21. Then we can ask ourselves how it has become like this. The answer is as simple as it is worrying; Babylon is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird, (Revelation 18:2).
This is a big problem for the fallen church denominations. Why are these expressions used about Babylon? Babylon is a picture of the fallen churches, first and foremost the Catholic Church, then all other church denominations that have fallen from the pure faith, and that have united with the papacy. When these churches have become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird, this means that they have taken on false teachings.
Also notice that in connection with come out of her it says MY PEOPLE, (Revelation 18:4). This means that there are members in the fallen churches who are sincere seekers who are faithful to God, and whom God considers to be His people. Their problem is that they cannot hear God’s final warning «come out of her my people» unless we, the Seventh-day Adventists, preach this message with a loud voice so that they can hear God’s call and leave Babylon.
Ezekiel is called to be a watchman.
And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me, (Ezekiel 3:16-17).
What was the duty of the watchmen in ancient times? The Bible explains the duty of the watchmen as follows: In Isaiah 62:6: I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, [which] shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence… // … and in Jeremiah 6:17: Also I set watchmen over you, [saying], Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.
As we see, the watchmen shall go up upon the walls of the city, they shall never keep silence, they shall blow the trumpet, they shall remind the inhabitants of the Lord, and they shall warn them with God’s warning message. That they shall go up upon the walls must be understood in a figurative sense in our day when we do not have city walls to protect the city from the enemy. We must completely move onto the spiritual plane and when we are never to hold peace, not to keep silence in any peace and blow the trumpet, this means that we are to preach the gospel of God completely and fully, a gospel that contains the truth for our time, which is the end-time message with the three angels’ messages, the midnight cry and the loud cry, and that we are always to be ready to preach this, day and night.
This is not something God takes lightly. He has given the end-time Ezekiel a mission, to be a watchman for God’s people. If he does not take his mission seriously, punishment will befall him but will save his life if he carries out his mission. We read the following in Ezekiel 3:18-21: When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked [man] shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. Again, When a righteous [man] doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous [man], that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.
In other words, it is a great, important, and serious mission given to Ezekiel of the end times.
Everyone is invited by God to become watchmen of the end times, but there is a criterion that God has set for the individual to be able to become one. It is to leave Babylon (see Revelation 18:4), which is the confusion that the fallen churches, all the fallen churches, stand for. In the fallen churches we find almost only unbiblical teachings and paganism. Therefore, it is in no way possible to become a watchman if one is in Babylon. In Luke 18:18-23 we read a parable that Jesus told. It is about where the heart of the individual is. In this parable, a young man who is very rich asks Jesus how he can inherit eternal life, and Jesus tells him that he must sell everything he has and give it to the poor. God is not against us having wealth, but when wealth becomes more important than God, it is a sin. The heart of this rich young man was with his wealth, and he went away sorrowful.
In Matthew 6:24 Jesus says that no man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. In other words, we cannot belong to Babylon and at the same time belong to God’s end-time church, it is impossible according to Jesus.
It all ends up where our hearts are. If we are concerned with wealth, or if we are in Babylon, then we cannot be called as watchmen. Wealth, if it is the most important thing to us, can corrupt our hearts, and then we are not united with God. If we are in Babylon, then we believe in false doctrines and have adopted paganism, and we do not walk with God. For as the prophet Amos says: Can two walk together, except they be agreed? (Amos 3:3).
In matters of the kingdom of God, we must always choose between one side or the other, we can never choose both sides. For as Jesus himself says in Luke 11:23: He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. We must choose whether we will follow God, and then He will make us watchmen. If we do not actively choose God, we choose the other side, and it leads to eternal death and destruction.
Have you chosen a side? If you have not yet actively chosen God’s side by leaving Babylon, I ask you to do so now, today. For we do not know whether we will see tomorrow, and as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6:2: … For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now [is] the accepted time; behold, now [is] the day of salvation.