Everything Ezekiel prophesied must have felt intensely real to him. However, when one of the leaders, Pelatiah, whose name meant “Yahweh rescues,” died, it likely shocked everyone connected with Jerusalem.
Now, while I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I fell down on my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, “Ah Lord GOD! Will you make a full end of the remnant of Israel?” (Ezekiel 11.13).
Ezekiel was not without compassion. In his distress, he cried out to God in prayer, expressing his deep concern.
Before Russia invaded Ukraine, our top government officials tried to warn the Ukrainian leadership that the invasion was imminent. Unfortunately, we were unable to persuade them.
Now, more than two years later, the harsh reality has set in, and it is said that there isn’t a single person in Ukraine who doesn’t personally know someone who has been killed in the war.
It is crucial for us to heed warnings of imminent danger. It is even more important to pay attention when such warnings come from one of God’s prophets.
Comforting Words
Ezekiel can take comfort in knowing that, even though Yahweh’s glory will depart from the land and leave Jerusalem, He will not abandon His people.
Then the word of the LORD came to me:
Mortal, your kinsfolk, your own kin, your fellow exiles, the whole house of Israel, all of them, are those of whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘They have gone far from the LORD; to us this land is given for a possession.’
Therefore say: Thus says the Lord GOD: Though I removed them far away among the nations, and though I scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary to them for a little while in the countries where they have gone (Ezekiel 11.14-16).
The people still in Jerusalem believed they held a special status with Yahweh because they had not been exiled. However, God had a message for them: those who have been exiled, though far from the land, are not far from Him.
This message highlights the idea that access to Yahweh is not dependent on being physically present in His land.
In his commentary, Daniel Bloch notes that the phrase “I have become their sanctuary,” referring to the exiles, is unique in the Old Testament. Here, Yahweh promises to be what the temple was for the exiles when they lived in Jerusalem.
The temple had served as a visible symbol of Yahweh’s presence among the Hebrews and represented their status as God’s people. Now, Yahweh announces the possibility of a relationship with Him that is not dependent on the temple.
After Pentecost, Paul could write: “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own?” (1 Corinthians 6:19).
God’s presence was not absent from the exiles in Babylon during Ezekiel’s time. After Pentecost, God’s presence became available to every believer who entrusts their life to Him through the Holy Spirit.
One important thing we can do is thank God and fully embrace the incredible gift of His presence in our lives.
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross, Bruce Kirby, and I discussed this passage on YouTube today. It is on the Bob Spradling YouTube channel.
Real Voices 