Ezekiel
Ezekiel |
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Main Religion Page
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Did Ezekiel Exist?
Yes. Ezekiel was a Jewish prophet, a well-educated revelatory prophet, one of the four major prophets in the Hebrew bible. He was taken captive along with thousands of other Jews to Babylon during the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem in 597 BC. All his prophecies over the next twenty years or so took place in Babylon.
The book of Ezekiel prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem, its restoration and the destruction of the nations that tried to destroy Israel. Not many people would dispute the existence of Ezekiel or his writings from the sixth century BC. The main debate and contentious point is the source and inspiration of Ezekiel's writings.
We see from the writings of the Jewish historian Josephus in Contra Apionem in the first century AD that he was fully aware of Ezekiel and the writings of all the prophets in the Old Testament along with the other books of the Old Testament (The Law, The Prophets and The Writings) see
And the Roman historian Tacitus, a contemporary of Jesephus was aware of the writings of Ezekiel and refers to him in his own writings see
Also Jesus was well versed in Old Testament scripture and the prophets and quoted from 24 books of the Old Testament.
Visions of Armageddon?
Ezekiel 36:37
He foretells the rebirth of Israel and the return of Jews to the Holy Land
Ezekiel 38: Here he foretells the 'time of the end', the final battle (Armageddon) between God and Gog of the land of Magog.
1 Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, 3 and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. 4 I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords. 5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; 6 Gomer and all its troops; the house of Togarmah from the far north and all its troops—many people are with you.
Who is Gog of the land of Magog. We now know Magog is an area north of the Caspian Sea, probably Russia or one of the new Republics (former USSR). Gog apparently is the Antichrist, a leader, a dictator who will come from somewhere around northern Turkey, northern Iraq or Iran and attack the land of Israel. But the Lord will return and defeat this Antichrist. And Gog's allies will be from many lands including;
Ancient Persia which consists of Iran and Afganistan
Will it be Islam, will the Islamic world come together, align themselves and try and destroy Israel?
Just what is this biblical text describing? Is it the physucal appearance of God, or is it the physical appearance of alien astronauts? There are many biblical texts that refer to 'heavenly vehicles' and 'ascensions into heaven' and 'God's chariot' or divine vehicle often referred to as the Merkabah.
In fact the word Merkabah is found 44 times in the Old Testament.
Could someone writing 2500 years ago really see that far into the future? How far exctly into the future was he seeing (alot more than 2500 years I hope!)
Are we seeing the fulfillment of these prophetic verses today, with the Jews returning to Israel and creating the nation of Israel in 1948. And the ongoing unrest between Isreal and many of the neighbouring Islamic nations. Are we witnessing the prophesied re-alignment of Islamic nations against Isreal?
But is Ezekiel experiencing visions from God, and is God the source of the revelations about the 'end of time'? Or are the experiences based on meetings with ancient space travellers, and if so what are we to make out of 'end of time' revelations as surely they couldn't be predicting the 'end of time' for humans - what could they base that on?
Or Visitors From Outer Space?
Book of Ezekiel is both mysterious and disturbing. Ezekiel seems to have many trancelike magical visions which seem to paraphrase Clarke's third law, "Any sufficently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic". What did Ezekiel see in Ezekiel chapter 1? What is the source of Ezekiel's visions? Was it actually encounters with God himself or with ancient astronauts from other worlds?
Chapter 1:
4: 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.
5: 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.
6: And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings.
7: 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.
Ezekiel had a number of encounters with spaceships, and perhaps even travelled on board one;
Chapter 3:
12: Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the LORD from his place.
13: I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great rushing.
14: So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me
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