27 Mar 561 BC: A Skunked Nation & Covenant Preservation

27 March 561 B.C. Jehoiachin is released from prison, given prominence in the Babylonian court and is sustained for his remaining days on earth—sustained by King Evil-Merodach, the son and successor of King Nebuchadnezzar. 2 Kings 25.27-30.  Skunking and humbling a proud nation, kings, false prophets, incompetent and accommodating priests, an indifferentist populace, yet preserving His covenant children and His gracious covenant.  Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezra and God's elect maintain faith, fidelity, learning, and more.


Jehoiachin Released from Prison

2 Kings 25:27-30
1599 Geneva Bible (GNV)


27 Notwithstanding in the seven and thirtieth year after [a]Jehoiachin King of Judah was carried away, in the twelfth month and the seven and twentieth day of the month, Evil-Merodach king of Babylon in the year that he began to reign, did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of the prison,
28 And spake kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon,
29 And changed his prison garments: and he did continually eat bread before him, all the days of his life.
30 And his [b]portion was a continual portion given him by the king, every day a certain, all the days of his life.


Footnotes:


a. 2 Kings 25:27 Thus long was he, his wife and his children in Babylon, whom Nebuchadnezzar’s son, after his father’s death preferred to honor: thus by God’s providence the seed of David was preserved even unto Christ.
b. 2 Kings 25:30 Meaning, that he had an ordinary in the court.


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Jeremiah 29
1599 Geneva Bible (GNV)

(Intro notes: 29 1 Jeremiah writeth unto them that were in captivity in Babylon.10 He prophesieth their return after seventy years.16 He prophesieth the destruction of the King and of the people that remain in Jerusalem.21 He threateneth the prophets that seduce the people.25 The death of Shemaiah is prophesied.)

1 Now these are the words of the [a]book that Jeremiah the Prophet sent from Jerusalem unto [b]the residue of the Elders, which were carried away captives, and to the Priests, and to the Prophets, and to all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babel:

2 (After that Jeconiah the King, and the [c]Queen, and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah, and of Jerusalem, and the workmen, and cunning men were departed from Jerusalem)

3 By the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah [d]sent unto Babel to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel) saying,

4 Thus hath the Lord of hosts the God of Israel spoken unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have [e]caused to be carried away captives from Jerusalem unto Babel:

5 Build you houses to dwell in, and plant you gardens, and eat the fruits of them.

6 Take you wives, and beget sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters, that ye may be increased there, and not diminished.

7 And seek the prosperity of the city, whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and [f]pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall you have peace.

8 ¶ For thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel, Let not your prophets, and your soothsayers that be among you, deceive you, neither give ear to your dreams, which you dream.

9 For they prophesy you a lie in my Name: I have not sent them, saith the Lord.

10 But thus saith the Lord, that after seventy years be accomplished at Babel, I will visit you, and perform my good promise toward you, and cause you to return to this place.

11 For I know the thoughts, that I have thought towards you, saith the Lord, even the thoughts of peace, and not of trouble, to give you an end, and your hope.

12 Then shall you cry unto me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hear you,

13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, because ye shall seek me with all [g]your heart.

14 And I will be found of you, saith the Lord, and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places, whither I have cast you, saith the Lord, and will bring you again unto the place, whence I caused you to be carried away captive.

15 Because ye have said, The Lord hath raised us up [h]Prophets in Babel.

16 Therefore thus saith the Lord of the King, that sitteth upon the throne of David, and of all the people that dwell in this city, your brethren that are not gone forth with you into captivity:

17 Even thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, I will send upon them the [i]sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile [j]figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so naughty.

18 And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence: and I will make them a terror to all kingdoms of the earth, and [k]a curse, and astonishment, and an hissing and a reproach among all the nations whither I have cast them,

19 Because they have not heard my words saith the Lord, which I sent unto them by my servants the Prophets, [l]rising up early, and sending them, but ye would not hear, saith the Lord.

20 ¶ Hear ye therefore the word of the Lord, all ye of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babel.

21 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, of Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and of Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, which prophesy lies unto you in my Name, Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar King of Babel, and he shall slay them before your eyes.

22 And all they of the captivity of Judah, that are in Babel, shall take up this curse against them, and say, The Lord make thee like Zedekiah, and like Ahab, whom the King of Babel burnt [m]in the fire,

23 Because they have committed [n]villainy in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbor’s wives, and have spoken lying words in my Name, which I have not commanded them, even I know it, and testify it, saith the Lord.

24 ¶ Thou shalt also speak to Shemaiah the [o]Nehelamite, saying,

25 Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Because thou hast sent letters in thy name unto all the people, that are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the Priest, and to all the Priests, saying,

26 The Lord hath made thee Priest, for [p]Jehoiada the Priest, that ye should be officers in the House of the Lord, for every man that raveth and maketh himself a Prophet, to put him in prison and in the stocks.

27 Now therefore why hast not thou reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth, which prophesieth unto you?

28 For, for this cause he sent unto us in Babel, saying, This captivity is long: build houses to dwell in, and plant gardens, and eat the fruits of them.

29 And Zephaniah the Priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the Prophet.

30 Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying,

31 Send to all them of the captivity, saying, Thus saith the Lord of Shemaiah the Nehelamite, Because that Shemaiah hath prophesied unto you, and I sent him not, and he caused you to trust in a lie,

32 Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will visit Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his seed: he shall not have a man [q]to dwell among this people, neither shall he behold the good, that I will do for my people, saith the Lord, because he hath spoken rebelliously against the Lord.

Footnotes:

a. Jeremiah 29:1 Or, letter.
b. Jeremiah 29:1 For some died in the way.
c. Jeremiah 29:2 Meaning, Jeconiah’s mother.
d. Jeremiah 29:3 To entreat of some equal conditions.
e. Jeremiah 29:4 To wit, the Lord, whose work this was.
f. Jeremiah 29:7 The Prophet speaketh not this for the affection that he bare to the tyrant, but that they should pray for the common rest and quietness, that their troubles might not be increased, and that they might with more patience and less grief wait for the time of their deliverance, which God had appointed most certain: for else not only the Israelites, but all the world, yea, and the insensible creatures should rejoice when these tyrants should be destroyed, as Isa. 14:4.
g. Jeremiah 29:13 When your oppression shall be great, and your afflictions cause you to repent your disobedience, and also when the seventy years of your captivity shall be expired, 2 Chron. 36:22; Ezra 1:1; Jer. 25:12; Dan. 9:2.
h. Jeremiah 29:15 As Ahab, Zedekiah and Shemaiah.
i. Jeremiah 29:17 Whereby he assureth them, that there shall be no hope of returning before the time appointed.
j. Jeremiah 29:17 According to the comparison, Jer. 24:1, 2.
k. Jeremiah 29:18 Read Jer. 26:6.
l. Jeremiah 29:19 Read Jer. 7:13, 25:3 and 26:5.
m. Jeremiah 29:22 Because they gave the people hope of speedy returning.
n. Jeremiah 29:23 Which was adultery, and falsifying the word of God.
o. Jeremiah 29:24 Or, dreamer.
p. Jeremiah 29:26 Shemaiah the false prophet flattereth Zephaniah the chief Priest, as though God had given him the spirit and zeal of Jehoiada to punish whosoever trespassed against the word of God, of the which he would have made Jeremiah one, calling him a raver and a false prophet.
q. Jeremiah 29:32 He and his seeds shall be destroyed, so that none of them should see the benefit of this deliverance.

1 Mar 585 BC: Ezekiel's Memo on Egypt

1 March 585 B.C. “Lamentation for Pharoah of Egypt.”  This is a few months after the exiles would have heard news of the destruction of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 33.21?).  See Ezekiel 32.1-15 below.  Ezekiel sends God’s “Funeral Dirge” and message to the King of Egypt, a Pharoah.  Think Beethoven’s “Funeral Dirge” or a gathering of a TEC General Convention (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmm2k4fRUO4).  Enjoy the dirge as you read Ezekiel 32 and the memo to Egypt.  And, as you read modern Episcopal history in the US, Canada, and England.

Backstory.

There were 2 deportations of Jewish believers (reprobate and elect) by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar into exile. That was 605 and 597 B.C. By Aug 586 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem.  The exiles got word of this in Jan 585 B.C. Egypt gloated.

So, God sent Ezekiel a memo to forward to Egypt.  In 568 B.C., Babylon paid, shall we say, a destructive visit to Egypt to clip their arrogant wings.

Ezekiel 32:1-15

1599 Geneva Bible (GNV)

32 2 The Prophet is commanded to bewail Pharaoh King of Egypt. 12 He prophesieth that destruction shall come unto Egypt through the King of Babylon.

¹ And in the ^[a]twelfth year in the twelfth month, and in the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

² Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say unto him, Thou art like a ^[b]lion of the nations, and art as a ^[c]dragon in the sea: thou castedst out thy rivers ^[d]and troubledst the waters with thy feet, and stampedst in their rivers.

³ Thus saith the Lord God, I will therefore spread my net over thee a great multitude of people, and they shall make thee come up into my net,

⁴ Then will I leave thee upon the land, and I will cast thee upon the open field, and I will cause all the fowls of the heaven to remain upon thee, and I will fill all the beasts of the field with thee.

⁵ And I will lay thy flesh upon the mountains, and fill the valleys ^[e]with thine height.

⁶ I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou ^[f]swimmest, even to the mountains, and the rivers shall be full of thee.

⁷ And when I shall ^[g]put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark: I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light.

⁸ All the lights of heaven will I make dark for thee, and bring ^[h]darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord God.

⁹ I will also trouble the hearts of many people, when I shall bring thy destruction among the nations, and upon the countries which thou hast not known.

¹⁰ Yea, I will make many people amazed at thee, and their kings shall be astonished with fear for thee, when I shall make my sword to glitter against their faces, and they shall be afraid at every moment: every man for his own life in the day of thy fall.

¹¹ For thus saith the Lord God, The sword of the king of Babel shall come upon thee.

¹² By the swords of the mighty will I cause thy multitude to fall: they all shall be terrible nations, and they shall destroy the ^[i]pomp of Egypt, and all the multitude thereof shall be consumed.

¹³ I will destroy also all the beasts thereof from the great watersides, neither shall the foot of man trouble them anymore, nor the hooves of beasts trouble them.

¹⁴ Then will I make ^[j]their waters deep, and cause their rivers to run like oil, saith the Lord God.

¹⁵ When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate, and the country with all that is therein, shall be laid waste: when I shall smite all them which dwell therein, then shall they know that I am the Lord.

Footnotes:

1. Ezekiel 32:1 Which was the first year of the general captivity under Zedekiah.
2. Ezekiel 32:2 Thus the scriptures compare tyrants to cruel and huge beasts which devour all that be weaker than they, and such as they may overcome.
3. Ezekiel 32:2 Or, whale.
4. Ezekiel 32:2 Thou preparest great armies.
5. Ezekiel 32:5 With heaps of the carcasses of thine army.
6. Ezekiel 32:6 As Nile overfloweth Egypt, so will I make the blood of thine host to overflow it.
7. Ezekiel 32:7 The word signifieth to be put out as a candle is put out.
8. Ezekiel 32:8 By this manner of speech is meant the great sorrow that shall be for the slaughter of the king and his people.
9. Ezekiel 32:12 This came to pass in less than four years after this prophecy.
10. Ezekiel 32:14 To wit, of the Chaldeans thine enemies, which shall quietly enjoy all thy commodities.

(8 Aug 593 BC) God to Ezekiel: "Man up, Lad, I've Got a Job For Ya'"

Ezekiel.
Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo

God to Ezekiel:  "Man up, lad, I've got a job for ya'..."

 

8 Aug 593 B.C. Lest we forget.

Ezekiel ( יְחֶזְקֵאל ) receives a message that he is to be God’s appointed and specific messenger, sentinel and watchman for the faith.

Ezekiel was called to be a "prophet" or God's point-of-the-spear at age thirty. He lived in Tel Abib, Babylon.

Ezekiel was overwhelmed with the divine majesty of the infinite, eternal, unchangeable, most holy, most wise, most just, most sovereign, most almighty, and most gracious God who preserves, ordains and does all things according to His most inscrutable, free, and sovereign will.

By way of an application, if anything is needed in our time, it's a refreshed and renewed vision of the attributes of God. Our Prayer Book moves in the correct direction, undoubtedly. Our beloved Westminster Standards, chapter two, are superb and perhaps are unrivalled.

Ezekiel encountered Him who does whatsoever He pleases upon whom, to whom, with whom and when He is pleased to do it. This God stands in need of no one, derives His glory from none, and exists as Three Persons in One.

It is not a limp, lame, begging, cheap and meretricious deity, but the God of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Judges, David, Solomon, Hezekiah, and Josiah...this is the faithful covenant God whom Ezekiel the “now-called” prophet meets.

Ezekiel is simply “overwhelmed,” a sure-fire engagement to cure human nature’s addiction to idolatry. Isaiah, near-wise 150 years earlier, got the "The-i-fi-cation" treatment (our word), that is, an awareness of His Majesty unilaterally imposed by His Majesty upon some unsuspecting chap...one that is that is blinding, humbling and re-orienting.

That is, all service to images, relics, icons on the cheaper side are forbidden. Sorry, but 787 A.D. and the 7th Council must go. We refer you to the "Homily on the Peril of Idolatry." 

 

Humans are hard-wired to be idolaters by nature.

Also, idolatry to false ideas, inadequate theological views, and other lies on the other side (of the above cheaper version) are verbotten. Yes, bad theology, as well as bad deeds, are defamatory, insulting and sinful.

Ezekiel must bear an "unpopular message" to an "unreceptive audience." This is not much of a recruitment tool, but Ezekiel "has his orders."   The upshot:  "Buck up, lad, I've got a job for you!" 

Ezekiel is a “priest” (1.3), that is, one who can trace his lineage to Aaron, the brother of Moses. He begins such service at age thirty (Num.4.3). This is followed by a 7-day consecration (Lev.8.33). As such, he was aware of original sin, depravity, God's holiness, vicarious atonement, substitutionary atonement, expiatory and propitiatory atonement alongside the promises of King David to come, and the offshoot of Jesse to come.

Ezekiel awaited:
"...Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor,
Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and peace,
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this" (Is.9.6-7).

But, things had gone south in the South (Judah) by the time of Josiah, Jeremiah, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah. The big picture? You lads and lasses are headed to Babylon. Yet, God keeps His people, the "remnant," and raises faithful witnesses.

On 8 Aug 593 B.C., on/at the end of the 7-day consecration period, Ezekiel receives the call “to be a watchman.” Or, a sentinel, guard, infantryman if we might, a theological Marine!   "Son, you'll have to be tough....they'll fight and they'll resist, but play the man!"

He was to look for any threat to the city from without or within.

Here is Ezekiel’s call and duty:

Ezekiel Is a Watchman (Ezekiel 3.17-21):

 16 Now it came to pass at the end of seven days that the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me: 18 When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. 19 Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.
20 “Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die; because you did not give him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. 21 Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man that the righteous should not sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; also you will have delivered your soul.”

Semper Fidelis!

 

If we could get some lyrics, befitting Ezekiel's narrative and fidelity, to fit the USMC anthem, it would be a fine thing!

 

Sung right before Morning Prayer too!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJlNw0myBG4