From the time the children of Israel left Egypt until the death of Solomon and the splitting of the kingdom into two separate houses and beyond until the northern kingdom (House of Israel) was taken captive by Assyria around 721 BCE, Ezekiel chapters 4 through 9 could have been fulfilled.
Thus starting around 721 BCE when Israel was taken into captivity, both Houses did not exist together and so Ezekiel chapters 4 through 9 could not have been fulfilled. The way-marker in history that signaled the time when both Houses could be captured and released together was in 1948 CE. Only since 1948 when the House of Judah occupied their homeland and both Houses existed together could these prophecies occur. Remember Ezekiel was told:
Ezekiel 5:4. Then take some of them [the Remnant] again and throw them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire. From there, a fire will go out into all the House of Israel.
Overview of The Time of Jacob’s Trouble
Since both Houses of Jacob are steeped in abject idol worship,2 from their time of the golden calf in the wilderness unto the Time of Jacob’s Trouble in the latter days (the 21st century), what did our loving SOVEREIGN say about that condition?
2 Who ever a person obeys spiritually is their “Deity.” The Jews obey their sages and rabbis, likewise the church in Rome and her protesting daughters obey their various preachers and popes. The many denominations or divisions in each of the two groups prove the point and nobody is going just by what Scripture alone states.
In Leviticus 26:1-12 ETERNAL lists the conditions of His promise. In verse 13 He reminds us who He is, “For I am the SOVEREIGN, your SOVEREIGN.” He also tell us that He gave us freedom, “I have broken your chains so that you can walk with dignity;” then He states…
Leviticus 26:14-16. (NIV). “...But if you will not listen to Me or obey Me, but reject My Laws, this is what I will do to you…”
Then ETERNAL lists six stages of punishments to fall on Israel for disobedience.
First (vs 16-17). He states: “…I will bring upon you sudden terror” that certainly happened on September 11, 2001. “…I will bring wasting diseases and fever that will destroy your sight and drain away your life” the only thing the news media seems to be reporting is the Anthrax and other biological, chemical things such as various types of flu coming upon our nation. “You will plant seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it.” 3
3 This was written last year amid the hoopla about vaccinations.
Think about weather and living conditions, the intensities are getting worse and they are getting worse in multiples of seven. The book of Leviticus Chapter 26 carries to it conclusion. 4
4. Read our booklet “Reuniting the Tribes of Israel,” One of the Mysteries of the Ages.
Think about all the occurrences that are getting worse as they are prophesied to.
The conditions listed within this group are getting worse: Volcanos have always been numerous, but small, but now their intensities are increasing. We had several record breaking hurricanes in 2005 and this year is projected to be a strong hurricane season. Think of the major breaking tornados we have had, a record year. Forest fires of just a few years back only burned forest now they are burning increasing numbers of homes. Floods, last year and this year, have wreaked havoc in places like Tennessee and Colorado to just mention two. Cyclones with mudslides, record snow falls and record heat are all hitting many places of the planet. Something is wrong with almost everything.
This is the way it was in Ancient Israel just before their collapse and captivity of the nation. They were rich, prosperous, with a large middle class. That was in the “earlier days” before living conditions began to turn bad. Conditions got so bad with no food or water that the people turned cannibalistic. Then the foreign solders came and the Israelites were killed or taken into captivity. It did not have to happen they were warned several times.
Ezekiel Was the Watchman
Ezekiel was sent as a warning for Israel and Judah. He appeared on the scene some two-hundred years after Israel was taken captive and relocated from the Caucasian Mountains. He gave Judah two warning: the first one for their Babylonian captivity and an end-time warning also. Since Israel was not anywhere in the area during Ezekiel’s time his prophecy for them is an end-time prophecy, Also that both Judah and Israel are mentioned together again showing this is end-time prophecy.
He did not travel to give Israel the warning from the SOVEREIGN because they had been taken captive and had moved from their second home..
Ezekiel 4:1. “You also, son of man, take a clay tablet and lay it before you, and portray on it a city, Jerusalem.”
ETERNAL told Ezekiel to make a portrayal of Jerusalem on a clay tablet—some translations say, “make a map of the city.” Then Ezekiel is commanded to perform several scenarios around the clay model, which will reveal what is to happen in the latter days.
We have seen that the first thing that ETERNAL commanded Ezekiel was to bind himself for two periods of time—390 days for Israel and 40 days for Judah. Ezekiel was told that he was to bear their iniquity for an equal number of years. Since he was bound for those days, then Israel and Judah would have freedom for a like number of years (Ezekiel 4:2-8). In addition the things that were to happen to Jerusalem were to be “a sign to the House of Israel” (Vs 3).
The Mighty One then told Ezekiel to bake defiled bread and cook it using dried cow dung as fuel (Vs 9-15) and that:
Ezekiel 4:16-17. “…Son of man, surely I will cut off the supply of bread in Jerusalem. They shall eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and shall drink water by measure and with dread, that they may lack bread and water, …and waste away because of their iniquity.”
Beginning in Ezekiel chapter 5, after the days of Ezekiel’s siege—freedom for Israel and Judah—ETERNAL commanded Ezekiel to shave the hair from his body and take scales to weigh and divide the hair into three parts. The first part was to be burned on the clay tablet of verse one, the second part was to be chopped up with a sword, and the third part was to be scattered to the wind as he is slashing at them with a sword (Vs 1-2). However, he was to have taken a few of the hairs and bound them in the edge of his garment.
The blue chord in the fringe of his garment represents keeping the Commandments (Numbers 15:37-40) which has to do with righteousness—thus the righteous are not in the three parts and are protected throughout the troubles. However, a part of those in the fringe is cast into the fire and from them a fire will spread throughout all of Israel—remember that Israel is Ephraim and Manasseh (Vs 3-4).
ETERNAL explains why this begins in Jerusalem (we will quote Vs 6, but please read it in context):
Ezekiel 5:6. “She has rebelled against My judgments …and against My statutes …for they have refused My judgments, and they have not walked in My statutes.”
The Jews have their own books, traditions, and the writing of their sages that they revere more than the Tanakh (O.T., Hebrew Scripture). New York Times know of the Sabbath, but as a nation they do not keep it.
Starting in verse 10, Ezekiel explains the significance of the three parts of hair—this corresponds to the 4th, 5th, and 6th of the sevenfold increases in intensity of punishments for our refusal to worship the One True CREATOR. The first part of the hair represents pestilence and famine so severe that people will eat one another—both plagues together will kill one-third of the populace. Years of drought are not needed, since we have now been introduced to terrorist induced pestilence activities and simply shutting off the electricity needed to pump our water and to process our food will produce famine.
The chopping up of the second part of the hair with a sword represents warfare that will kill one-third of the people. The last one-third is scattered to the wind, indicating captivity and slavery. Yet, a remnant will be saved out of all of this (Ezekiel 6:8).
Joel 2:28 states that, “afterwards I will pour out My Spirit on all peoples?” The question is after what? ETERNAL answers—warfare:
Joel 2:30. “I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke.5 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of ETERNAL.”
5 Can you think of anything except atomic weapons that produce “pillars of smoke”?
Then ETERNAL states that any who call on His Name shall be saved and brought back from captivity (compare Ezekiel 39:25 & Amos 9:14).
What else is happening at this time that would cause the captives to be released? The final world battle:
Zechariah 14:3. “Then ETERNAL will go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle.
Note this is not the Mashiach but ETERNAL, the CREATOR Himself and where does He stand?
...14:4. “And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the East. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley; half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south.”
Joel 3:2-3. “I will also gather all nations, and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.”
Zechariah 14:12. “And this shall be the plague with which ETERNAL will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, and their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths.
Where will some of the captives be coming from? Remember that at the time of these prophecies Israel is being returned to the Promised Land during the Time of Jacob’s Trouble. Where are some of the places they will be coming from?
Isaiah 49:12. “Surely these shall come from afar; Look! Those from the north and the west, and these from the land of Sinim.”
The English word “Sinim” comes from the Hebrew word “Ciyniym” (Strong’s #H5515 see-neem’) and means “a distant Oriental region.” The Companion Bible states of Sinim that, “it probably means China.” There may be captives in Europe, but there will certainly be captives in China.
Joel 3:1,3. “For behold, in those days and at that time, When I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem. …My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations …They have cast lots for My people, have given a boy as payment for a harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they may drink”
Just before all out total war is the Advent of the Mashiach, which is the awakened of King David:
Isaiah 11:1. “There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.”
Ezekiel 37:24 (TLB). “And David, My Servant—the Messiah—shall be their King, their only Shepherd; and they shall obey My laws and all My wishes. They shall live in the land of Israel where their fathers lived, the land I gave My servant Jacob. They and their children after them shall live there, and their grandchildren, for all generations. And My Servant David, their Messiah, shall be their Prince forever.
Then the Davidic Kingdom is set up and there is finally worldwide peace in the Wonderful World Tomorrow:
Isaiah 11:6. “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them.”
That is how it could be again if we only turned to our SOVEREIGN and worshipped Him.
By Charles J. Voss
