These notes concern two situations where Adonai warns of immanent judgment and destruction on the wicked.
Firstly, we look at Ezekiel chapter 8 where we find sharp warnings from Adonai to Judah of coming destruction at the hands of the Babylonians.
Then, we will look at events already seen in our times which must precede the Tribulation and the establishment of the messianic kingdom.
To understand these events, we will look at the background to the Book of Ezekiel and at the Olivet Discourse in Matthew chp 24.
Historic Background to Ezekiel chapter 8.
The destruction of Judah commenced in 605 BC when Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar invaded and began to conquer, taking captives such as the prophet, Daniel.
In 598 BC, Nebuchadnezzar again besieged Jerusalem, and this time took possession of the city. The Babylonians took 10,000 captives including King Jehoikin and Ezekiel (2 Kings 24: 11 – 18). The final destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple took place in 586 BC and resulted in a third deportation.
Why did Adonai allow the destruction of His beloved Jerusalem?
By the end of the sixth century BC, Judah had fallen into a dire moral state. The reforms of King Josiah had failed, and he was dead. Idolatry so dulled the Judeans that Josiah’s reforms had only gone skin-deep and did not last. After Josiah’s death and despite the warnings of several prophets, Judah descended further into sin under Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoikin and Zedekiah.
The Babylonians did not expel the Jews from the land to exterminate them (like the Nazis) or particularly to exploit them (like the Egyptians). The main interest of the Babylonians was to extend the land they controlled and consequently they removed the indigenous peoples they defeated and planted their own people in that land.
There were some opportunities for individuals in the captivity: Daniel and Mordecai as we know rose to very high positions in the respective empires. Captives were permitted to farm tracts of land where they were placed (Jeremiah 29) and as we shall see Ezekiel had his own house (Ezekiel 3: 24; 20: 1). There was captivity but not a complete lack of freedom of movement and association.
So, how did Ezekiel fare in this situation?
Ezekiel’s name means “strengthened by God”. He was twenty-five years of age when he began his minister (around 593 BC) and his career extended for at least twenty-five years. He began his ministry aged thirty years.
Ezekiel was a priest as well as a prophet. He was a contemporary of Jeremiah (who was about 20 years older) and of Daniel (who was about the same age).
He was placed by the Babylonians in the south-east of the empire.
False Jewish prophets in the captivity were deceiving the people into believing that there would be an early return to an intact Jerusalem (Ezekiel 13: 3, 16 and Jeremiah 29: 1). But from 593 BC, Ezekiel warned the people that their beloved Jerusalem would be destroyed and their exile prolonged. Thus, Ezekiel had the difficult task of dashing the hopes of the exiles for an immediate relief from judgment.
Introduction to Chapter 8 of Ezekiel.
The visions described in Chapter 8 of the Book of Ezekiel were received by him in exile. This was between the period of his exile (593 BC) but before the final destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC and the third deportation.
Ezekiel was warning that further disaster and destruction would come upon Judah and Jerusalem. He was trying to give this message on the crowded streets of Babylonia. At the same time Jeremiah was trying to warn the remaining citizens of Jerusalem of the coming destruction of the holy city.
However, past defilement and disobedience of the priests and the people had led to the present dispersion and would lead to further judgment. The people’s behaviour was intrinsically linked to how they approached Adonai. Insincere worship led to immoral behaviour.
Visions of Abominations in the Temple.
Ezekiel dates his visions as in the sixth year of his captivity (593 BC); some seven years before the final destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.
Chapter 8 opens with Ezekiel sitting in his own home with “the elders of Judah” sitting before him. I think we can take it that they were brought there to learn about the coming catastrophe which despite many warnings they had failed to avert. These lessons were to be brought to them through Ezekiel’s supernatural visions: “the hand of the Lord fell upon him”.
Concerning these “elders of Israel”, Adonai says in chapter 14: 1 – 3, “… these men have set up their idols in their hearts, and put before them that which causes them to stumble into iniquity. Should I let Myself be inquired of at all by them?”
Ezekiel is taken spiritually (his body remains at home) in a vision to Jerusalem and the temple. The purpose of this is clear. He is to observe first-hand the gross idolatry, which is still being committed there, provoking Adonai’s judgment and departure from the temple.
The first vision was of an idol at the north gate of the inner court. Something that was clearly forbidden. The “glory of God was in the temple” but would soon be withdrawn because of the violation of the temple. The glory of Adonai was being ignored by the people worshipping idols.
The people thought that as long as the temple stood in Jerusalem, whatever wrong they did would not bring disaster upon them. They did not realize that their evil would cause Adonai to leave the temple making them defenceless.
The second set of abominations which Ezekiel saw were worse than the first and were caried out actually inside the building not just at the doorway. These involved Israel’s religious hierarchy.
They had pagan images “portrayed all around the walls”. In conformity to the practices of the surrounding pagan nations, particularly Egypt, the nation’s leaders were worshipping images of clean and unclean creatures that represented various gods. Polytheistic idolatry was being practised in the temple in Jerusalem!
Among these “seventy” who were observed was Jaazaniah, son of Shaphan. This Shaphan may have been the one who read the Book of the Law to King Josiah – so far had they fallen!
The third abomination was at the north gate, “the women were … weeping for Tammuz”. Tammuz was a Babylonian god, the beloved of Ishtar and the god of vegetation and fertility. Vegetation burned in the summer heat, died in the winter and came back to life in the Spring. These women mourned over this god’s demise in July and longed for his return. The basest immoralities were connected with the worship of this idol.
The fourth was the greatest abomination. This involved “worshipping the sun” in the inner court where only priests should go. Twenty-five men were worshipping the sun as an idol. These twenty-five represented the twenty-four orders of priests plus the high priest. They were acting in contempt of Adonai.
Adonai expressed His final indignation in Ezekiel 8: 18.
“My eye will neither spare, nor will I have pity; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.”
The idol of jealousy, the worship of painted images, the weeping for Tammuz and the worship of the sun in the inner court, all these provoked Adonai’s final judgment on a people who had been repeatedly warned by the prophets of destruction if they did not alter their ways. And of course, judgment and destruction duly came.
So, let us know turn to warnings of immanent destruction for our times. We find these warnings in the Olivet Discourse in Matthew chapters 24 and 25.
We are approaching the unique period of tribulation which will precede the return of Messiah and the setting up of His millennial kingdom.
We will consider events which must precede the Tribulation, but I want to emphasise that we will only consider those events which have already occurred.
The Olivet Discourse is, of course, a conversation between the Lord and His disciples. The Mount of Olives is directly east of the temple, across the Kidron valley. It has a panoramic view of the city.
The Lord had already experienced the rejection of Israel. The offer of the Kingdom had been withdrawn from that generation of Israel. He had informed the disciples of His immanent death, and He goes on to tell them about the destruction of the temple and of His return.
Matthew 24: 3 – 5.
The conversation begins with the disciples encouraging the Lord to admire the architectural splendour of the temple. But He has His mind set on eternal matters. He tells them of the future destruction of the temple and of the end of the age.
“Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming and the end of the age?”
The Lord does not answer their first question; that concerning the destruction of the temple. We, of course, know that it would occur in AD 70, about forty years after this conversation.
Their second and third questions are essentially the same. The present age will end when He returns. But they are asking about the relevant “signs” of His “coming” and of “the end of the age”.
In answer, the Lord speaks first of “false messiahs”. This seems likely to be something which the disciples would see (and hopefully not be troubled by) in their lifetimes. This is not a sign of the end of the age. It is simply something that will happen in a fallen world.
Many false prophets have come forward claiming to be the answer to the world’s problems or offering themselves as deliverers. Some have even claimed to be Messiah Himself. These have continued as time progress but are not a sign of the end of the age.
We have examples of false messiahs in Acts 5: 36 – 37.
“For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody. A number of men, around four hundred, joined him. He was slain, and all who obeyed him were scattered and came to nothing. After this, Judas of Galilea rose up in the days of the census, and drew many people after him. He also perished, and all who obeyed him were dispersed.”
False teachers, of course, would be the bane of Paul’s life and work.
2 Corinthians 11: 13.
“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ.”
When the disciples asked about the Lord’s “coming”, they did not envisage a second coming in a far-off future. They had been told repeatedly of the Lord’s immanent death, but they could not envisage His ascension to heaven and the long intervening church age.
The first and second centuries AD were times of great messianic fervour in Jerusalem as Israel sought freedom from Roman rule. The Lord therefore warned the disciples not to be fooled by such claims.
Also, they were not to assume that every war or conflict was a sign of the end of the age.
Matthew 24: 6.
“And you will hear of wars and rumours of war. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.”
Localised wars, in various parts of the world, would simply be part of the ongoing human history without eschatological significance. Localised conflicts do not signify the end of the age.
So, what are the significant sign of the end of the age?
In verses 7 and 8, the Lord continues the conversation by identifying some of the things which will precede the Tribulation period.
Matthew 24: 7 – 8.
“For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.”
In this section, on the matter of war, the whole world is in view. We can therefore see that the first sign of the last days was World War 1 (1914 – 1918) and its sequel 1939 – 1945. These were truly world-wide conflicts.
“Famines”: it is estimated that from 1860 to 2016, a staggering 128 million people have died due to famine. Since 1918 there have been famines in the following countries: – Russia, Ukraine, China, Cambodia, India, Bangladesh, Cape Verde, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Chad, Mozambique, Sudan, Somalia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Whilst modern food programmes and logistic assets have had some impact, famine remains a very real issue.
“Pestilences”: The so-called Spanish Flu (1917 – 1919) killed more people than the Great War. Other pandemics since that time include: – 1957 Asian Flu (killed 2 million), 1968 Hong Kong Flu (also killed two million), 1976 E-bola emerged and continues, 1981 HIV (killed 3 million), 2009 Swine Flu (killed by 1.9 million), 2019 Covid (killed up to 27 million). The next issue may by Mpox.
“Earthquakes”: There has been a dramatic rise in the number of earthquakes over the last one hundred years.
“These are the beginning of sorrows”.
We need also to consider Matthew 24: 15.
“Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, … then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.”
Now, of course, this event does not take place till the mid-point of the Tribulation. However, the tribulation commences with the signing of the covenant between “the prince who is to come” (aka “the lawless one” or “the son of perdition”) and Israel.
For this to happen, there must be a re-established state of Israel and Israel must have control of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The state of Israel was re-established in 1948, but West Jerusalem (including the Temple Mount) was controlled by Jordan when hostilities ended in 1949. Israel did not regain full control of Jerusalem until the Six Day war.
So, there must be a state of Israel, in control of Jerusalem, before the Tribulation can occur. These events have now been in place for some years.
We should always be looking to how events effect Israel, the timepiece of Adonai.
Deuteronomy 32: 9.
“For the Lord’s portion is His people; Jacob is the place of His inheritance.”
Conclusion.
We have seen how Judah foolishly ignored every warning they were given of coming judgment and destruction before the invasion of the Babylonians. In reading the pre-exile prophets, you can feel like giving them a good shake! What did they think they were doing!
In our time, people who talk of coming destruction tend to be treated as an object of ridicule. But let us take warning and give guidance to anyone who will listen. Mankind must prepare itself for the “Day of the Lord” coming shortly. Let us not be unprepared for the inevitable. Seek refuge in the Lord!
AMEN.