PURPOSE
To show that the messages given to Ezekiel to the Israel of his day, were mostly not applicable to his time, but to the last days.
INTRODUCTION
This Book was so tough to Old Israel that it was not allowed to be read by the under 30 of age! Ezekiel was shown this vision in Babylon – during the captivity. He tried to deliver the message to those Jews who were with him in Babylon, but when he reached them:
Ezek. 3:15 “Then I came to them of the captivity at Telabib, that dwelt by the river of Chebar, and I sat
where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days.”
He was speechless! This is an evidence that the message was not for his time, but for the last days. Here is the first vision – The Chariot of Heaven:
Ezek. 1:3-20
“The word of the LORD came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the LORD was there upon him. And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness [was] about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire. Also out of the midst thereof [came] the likeness of four living creatures….
“…And this [was] their appearance; they had the likeness of a man. And every one had four faces, and everyone had four wings. And their feet [were] straight feet; and the sole of their feet [was] like the sole of a calf’s foot: and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass. And [they had] the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings. Their wings [were] joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward.
“As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle..…Thus [were] their faces: and their wings [were] stretched upward; two [wings] of every one [were] joined one to another, and two covered their bodies. And they went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; [and] they turned not when they went. As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance [was] like burning coals of fire, [and] like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning……Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces. The appearance of the wheels and their work [was] like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work [was] as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel. When they went, they went upon their four sides: [and] they turned not when they went….And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them: and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up…..
“Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither [was their] spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature [was] in the wheels….And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature [was] as the colour of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above. And under the firmament [were] their wings straight, the one toward the other: everyone had two, which covered on this side, and everyone had two, which covered on that side, their bodies. And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of an host: when they stood, they let down their wings. And there was a voice from the firmament that [was] over their heads, when they stood, [and] had let down their wings….And above the firmament that [was] over their heads [was] the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne [was] the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so [was] the appearance of the brightness round about….
WHAT WAS / IS THE MISSION OF THE CHARIOT ?
Tract 1, pages 11- 13
“As the prophet was looking toward the north, he saw a “great cloud” coming like a”whirlwind” to earth. Watching with intense interest its drawing nearer and nearer, finally he saw the “living creatures,” the “wheels,” and the rest, — “the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.” Whereupon, “I fell,” he says, “upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake [unmistakably the Lord Himself come to give a message to Ezekiel]…….
“…And He said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against Me: they and their fathers have transgressed against Me, even unto this very day. For they are impudent children and stiff-hearted. 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. And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briars 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.” Ezek. 1:28; 2:3-6……
“And He said unto me,” continues the prophet, “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,…whose words thou canst not understand.” Ezek. 3:4-6.
These mandatory words (of weighty significance to all) reveal that the message which the prophet received is only for God’s people, and that therefore, by logical extension, the entire vision, of which it is a part, meets its fulfillment at a time in which the Lord sends forth the warning that because His church is at a very low ebb spiritually, — “impudent and hard-hearted” and “a rebellious house,” — He will do within it a work of marking and slaying. And in all the Bible there is to be found in but one church a situation as to condition, cause, time, and result answering to that of the prophecy, and that is in The Laodicean Church….
“And in all the Bible there is to be found in but one church a situation as to condition, cause, time, and result answering to that of the prophecy, and that is in The Laodicean Church. The condemnation of Rev. 3:14-18 against the Laodiceans, and the condemnation of Ezek. 2:1-7 and 3:4-7 against “the house of Israel,” being the same, each therefore is the complement of the other: the one being the Revelation of that of which the other is the prophecy.”
Tract 1:42 “Because of the unfaithfulness of the former watchmen, the Lord makes the antitypical Ezekiel
— he and she who “sigh and cry for the abominations that be done in the midst thereof” (the church) — a “watchman” (Ezek. 3:17) in their stead. Be careful, therefore, Brother, Sister, lest you also betray your trust and find yourself thrust out. “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” 1 Cor. 10:12. Only those who thus humble themselves now, will the Lord exalt in due time to be His Faithful Watchmen to Stand Before the Unfaithful.”
NOTE
Ezekiel = Elijah the Prophet (Malachi 4:5), and his helpers, with the message to the SDA Church. See how prophecy saw the character of the Church today! After Ezekiel was sent to Israel (SDA Church, as we should all know by now), Chapter 4, he was shown that the Reformation war which started with Luther, is to be carried on up to the time of the End – the time we live in. Then in Chapters 5-8, he was shown the list of the abominations being commited in the Church – forcing the Lord to seal and slay those without the seal (Ezek. 9). The last 2 are the greatest of all the abominations:
Ezek. 8:12-14 “Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth. He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, [and] thou shalt see greater abominations that they do. Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD’S house which [was] toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen [this], O son of man? turn thee yet again, [and] thou shalt see greater abominations than these……..
“Tummuz”, to idol worshippers, is a god of nature similar to Baal worship. Since the Israel of today is the SDA Church, then, it is guilty of these abominations, for the Bible knows no lies! There must be a women organization in the SDA Church that should fulfill the prophecy for trouble rather than for the improvement of the Church. Today we are seeing all this being fulfilled.
Ezek. 8:16-18 “….And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD’S house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, [were] about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east. Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen [this], O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose.”
THE 25 MEN – WORSHIPPING THE SUN IN THE EAST
General Conference Bulletin, 1901, p. 379, Colum 1, paragraph 2: “The executive Committee of this Conference shall be 25 in number.”
Even if the Gen. Conference Committee is now increased to 300 or so, the Conference officers committee is still 25 – which administers, “determine the items that need to go the General Conference committee” explained a GC Secretary upon inquiry. Now the GC is in sport-light, as to what they will do as this National Sunday Law / New World Order is right before us, it will soon be adopted by the whole world). The GC HQs is just about 10 km from the White House, watch the drama which is already in play. This prophecy tells us that the GC will have to give in to the Sun-worship – joining the other churches and the Papacy – leaving members to stand at their own risk, should they decide to disobey.
Manuscript 29, 1890 (E.G White) “The religion of Jesus is endangered. It is being mingled with worldliness. Worldly policy is taking the place of true piety and wisdom that comes from above and God will remove His prospering hand from the Conference. Shall the Ark of the Covenant be removed from this people? Shall idols be smuggled in? Shall antichrist be respected? Shall the true doctrines and
principles given to us by God, which have made us what we are (3 Angel’s Message), be ignored? … this is directly where the enemy, through blinded, unconsecrated men, is leading us.”
GCB 1901, P. 23 “….God gave them clear light as to what they should do, and what they should not do, but they departed from that light….That these men should stand in a sacred place to be as the voice of God to the people, as we once believed the General Conference to be….that is past. What we want now is re-organization. We want to begin at the foundation (ie with the GC)…..The men that have long stood in position of trust while disregarding the light that God has given, are not to be depended upon. God wants them to be removed….”
(WHAT THE LEADERS ARE ABOUT TO DO):
GC 607-608 “As the storm approaches, a large class who have professed faith in the third angel’s message, but have not been sanctified through obedience to the truth, abandon their position and join the ranks of the opposition. By uniting with the world and partaking of its spirit, they have come to view matters in nearly the same light; and when the test is brought, they are prepared to choose the easy, popular side. Men of talent and pleasing address, who once rejoiced in the truth, employ their powers to deceive and mislead souls. They become the most bitter enemies of their former brethren. When Sabbath-keepers are brought before the courts to answer for their faith, these apostates are the most efficient agents of Satan to misrepresent and accuse them, and by false reports and insinuations
to stir up the rulers against them.”
Ezek. 8:18
“Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, [yet] will I not hear them.
Ezek. 9:1, 3, 5
“He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man [with] his destroying weapon in his hand….
“…….and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them [was] clothed with linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side:And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the northAnd the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: Slay utterly old [and] young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom [is] the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which [were] before the house…”
These are the last abominations just before the slaughter.
G.C. 656 – “ The angel of death goes forth, represented in Ezekiel’s vision by men with the slaughter weapons…The false watchmen are the first to fall…”
RH March 28, 1893 – “…the destroying angel is soon to go forth again, not to destroy the first born alone, but to slay utterly old and young, both men and women, and little children, who have not the mark”
LETTER 31A, 1894 – “The time will soon come when the prophecy of Ezek. will be fulfilled, that prophecy should be carefully studied, for it will be fulfilled to the very letter…”
LETTER 106, Spt. 26, 1909 – “Study the ninth chapter of Ezekiel. These words will be literally fulfilled, yet the time is passing and the people are asleep”
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE SLAUGHTER ?
Ezek. 9:11 / 10:1-16
“And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which [had] the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as thou hast commanded me. Then I looked, and, behold, in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubims there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne. And he spake unto the man clothed with linen, and said, Go in between the wheels, [even] under the cherub, and fill thine hand with coals of fire from between the cherubims, and scatter [them] over the city. And he went in in my sight….
“And it came to pass, [that] when he had commanded the man clothed with linen, saying, Take fire from between the wheels, from between the cherubims; then he went in, and stood beside the wheels…And the cherubims were lifted up. This [is] the living creature that I saw by the river of Chebar. And when the cherubims went, the wheels went by them: and when the cherubims lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the same wheels also turned not from beside them….”
The sealing Angel reported that the work is done, and he was send for fire coals, that he gets them between the wheels to spread or spray them on the City, which now only comprises those who survived the slaughter – the sealed 144 000.
WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE AND WORK OF THE FIRE COALS ?
Gospel Workers p. 23
“The live coal is symbolical of purification, and it also represents the potency of the efforts of God’s true servants. To those who make so full a consecration that the Lord can place His touch upon their lips, the word is spoken, Go forth into the harvest-field. I will co-operate with you.”
That is how the slaughter will be followed by the purification of the Church, then Pentecostal power of the Loud cry by the sealed 144 000 in the world.
THE END OF THE LESSON