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The prophet Jeremiah lived through one of the most troubled periods of history in the ancient Near East. He witnessed the fall of a great empire (Assyria) and the rising of another (Babylon). In the midst of this turmoil the kingdom of Judah was ruled by five kings, four of them deplorable. Jeremiah declared God’s message for forty years, warning of coming disaster and appealing in vain to the nation to turn back to God.
During Manasseh’s long reign (687–642 B.C.), which was just before Jeremiah’s time, Judah remained Assyria’s vassal. This situation brought a resurgence of idolatry, in this case a mixture of belief in the Mesopotamian astrological gods and belief in the Canaanite fertility deities. As has been discussed, a great reformation was conducted by Josiah when the book of the law was discovered in the temple and its contents were made known to the people. Aside from this brief period of reform, Judah became increasingly insensitive to spiritual things during Jeremiah’s time.
The Lord showed Jeremiah a vision of the future that put the calamities he had witnessed into a perspective of hope. Like other prophets of his time (Isaiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Amos, Micah, and Zechariah), Jeremiah was shown that scattered Israel would one day be gathered, that Judah would return to the lands of her possession, and that eventually all of Israel would become great. These visions and prophecies were recorded by Jeremiah and for centuries have provided hope to a nation of suffering people. They hold a very important place in the latter-day work of restoration.
1. Use Notes and Commentary below to help you as you read and study Jeremiah 23; 30–31; 33; 46–51; and the book of Obadiah.
2. Complete Points to Ponder as directed by your teacher. (Individual-study students should complete all of this section.)
Chapter 23 is primarily a scathing denunciation of the religious leaders of Jeremiah’s day, but in the midst of this condemnation is a remarkable prophecy relating to Israel’s future. A great gathering is predicted (vv. 3–4, 7–8) in which the “righteous Branch” (the Messiah) will become the king over Israel (vv. 5–6; see also Notes and Commentary on Jeremiah 23:3; 23:4–8). Jeremiah showed that the pastors (religious leaders) of Judah had not fed and protected the sheep (Israel), but had scattered them and driven them away (enticed them away from God). That is why Jeremiah prophesied that sometime in the future righteous shepherds will be found to gather Israel again so they can serve their true king, Jehovah.
The rest of Jeremiah 23 is a catalog of the sins of the Jewish religious leaders, the priests and the “prophets.” The following phrases are particularly noteworthy:
• Both prophets and priests are profane (see v. 11).
• They prophesied in the name of Baal and led the people into error (see v. 13).
• The prophets are adulterers, liars, and supporters of evil men. They are as evil as Sodom and Gomorrah in God’s sight (see v. 14).
• They speak their own words, not those of the Lord (see v. 16).
• They tell the wicked they can have peace and that there is no evil in what they are doing (see v. 17).
• They called themselves to the ministry and prophesy without revelation (see v. 21).
• They say “Thus saith the Lord” when the Lord has not spoken through them (v. 31).
Elder Bruce R. McConkie taught that the gathering of Israel first of all means that they are converted to the Church:
“The gathering of Israel consists of receiving the truth, gaining again a true knowledge of the Redeemer, and coming back into the true fold of the Good Shepherd. In the language of the Book of Mormon, it consists of being ‘restored to the true church and fold of God,’ and then being ‘gathered’ and ‘established’ in various ‘lands of promise.’ (2 Ne. 9:2.)” (“Come: Let Israel Build Zion,” Ensign, May 1977, p. 117.)
Speaking of the great latter-day restoration of the house of Israel, President Spencer W. Kimball said:
“A great group of people left the Old World at the time of the Tower of Babel.
“Another great group left the Old World [in] 600 B.C. And since the coming of Columbus to America, there have been numerous groups that have come to America from the Old World. The Lord had that in hand and watched it. He said through Nephi, ‘The house of Israel [sooner or later will] be scattered upon all the face of the earth.’ (1 Nephi 22:3.) And now He says, ‘I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them.’ (Jeremiah 23:3.)
“The gathering of Israel is now in progress. Hundreds of thousands of people have been baptized into the Church. Millions more will join the Church. And this is the way that we will gather Israel. The English people will gather in England. The Japanese people will gather in the Orient. The Brazilian people will gather in Brazil. So that important element of the world history is already being accomplished.
“It is to be done by missionary work. It is your responsibility to attend to this missionary work.” (In Conference Report, Sao Paulo Brazil Area Conference, Feb.–Mar. 1975, p. 73.)
Once one understands that the great gathering of the last days consists first of all in coming into the covenant (joining the Church), then the Old Testament prophecies of the restoration of the house of Israel become much clearer. For example, the “shepherds . . . which shall feed them” (v. 4) are the righteous prophets and priesthood leaders who, unlike the priests and prophets of Jeremiah’s time, lead their people to do good and obey the Lord. (See Notes and Commentary on Jeremiah 30:3, 8.)
The “Branch” and the “new David” are explained in Notes and Commentary on Isaiah 11:1. The Branch and the King are the Lord Jesus Christ when He returns to earth to reign as “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Revelation 17:14; see also Revelation 19:16).
Chapters 30–33 deal with the prophet’s predictions of the restoration of Israel and Judah in the last days and of the Lord’s making a new and everlasting covenant with them. They have great meaning for Latter-day Saints and should be studied carefully.
Elder Ezra Taft Benson spoke of the latter-day gathering as having “three phases: the gathering of Israel to the land of Zion, the American hemisphere; the return of the Ten Tribes from the countries of the north; and the reestablishment of the Jews in Palestine as God’s chosen people.
“This miracle of the return of the Jews was to be one of the events to precede Christ’s second coming, and the scriptures are very clear with reference to this fact. Isaiah said that they shall gather ‘the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth’ and ‘set them in their own land,’ that they will ‘build the old waste,’ and ‘repair the waste cities.’ (See Isa. 11:11–12.)
“Jeremiah, who predicted so clearly their dispersion, also states that the Lord will ‘cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it,’ and ‘build them, as at the first.’ (Jer. 30:3; 33:7.)” (In Conference Report, Apr. 1950, p. 75.)
Jeremiah 30:3 has several meanings. It refers to the return of the Jews after seventy years of captivity in Babylon. It also refers to the restoration of the Jews to their homeland in the last days after they have been scattered for the second time. And it refers to the return of the lost tribes from the lands of the north. Note that the Lord will bring them.
The yoke spoken of in verse 8 is the yoke of oppression of Nebuchadnezzar. Doctrine and Covenants 113:9–10 explains what the “bonds” are that are spoken of in Jeremiah 30:8.
Once again there is a mention of the latter-day David who will be King in Israel. Sometimes He is called “the Branch” (Jeremiah 23:5; 33:15) because Jesus, who is the King David of the latter days, is a branch of the ancient line of King David. (See Matthew 1:1; 12:23; 22:42; see also Notes and Commentary on Isaiah 11:1.)
It is the Lord Jesus Christ who saves. He is Israel’s Savior and Redeemer. He does not, however, ignore the sins of His people (see v. 11). The “lovers” who forgot Israel were the false gods that Jehovah’s unfaithful wife, Israel, sought after. No one came to the rescue but the Lord, who has always loved Israel and who promised: “They [the Chaldeans] that devour thee shall be devoured” (by the Medes and Persians). The Assyrians were destroyed by the Babylonians; the Babylonians by the Medes and Persians; the Egyptians and Persians by the Greeks. All these empires have now vanished, but the Jews still exist as a distinct people. In the latter days Israel will be the Lord’s people, and He will be their God as He desired in the beginning. The Lord promised Israel: “In the latter days ye shall consider [or fully understand] it.” Only now, in the last days, as these promises are realized, can one fully understand what Jeremiah and the other prophets were saying.
The watchmen mentioned in verse 6 are the righteous prophets of the latter days (see also Ezekiel 3:16–21). In the last dispensation they will cry to all people to join together in proper worship of the Lord (see D&C 1:1–2). Verse 8 speaks of gathered Israel coming from the north country (see D&C 110:11; 133:26) and from the coasts (ends) of the earth.
Elder LeGrand Richards said of this gathering: “‘I will bring them . . . : a great company shall return thither.’ This was something the Lord was going to do. Note that Jeremiah does not say that they will return hither, or to the place where this prediction was made, but thither, or to a distant place. He understood that Joseph was to be given a new land in the ‘utmost bound of the everlasting hills.’ (See Genesis 49:22–26; Deuteronomy 33:13–17.)” (Israel! Do You Know? pp. 177–78.)
Verse 9 refers to Israel returning with weeping. They will weep because they will realize that the sufferings they have endured throughout the centuries came about because they rejected the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall lead them in the last days (see Jeremiah 50:4; Zechariah 12:10).
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The Lord Himself will gather Israel. |
These verses picture the great joy and happiness that will accompany the return of Israel. The promises of great abundance (see v. 12) and rejoicing (see v. 13) and the end of sorrow (see vv. 15–16) are exactly opposite to the promises given in other chapters of tragedy, desolation, and lamentation for Judah. Though Judah did not heed Jeremiah’s warning and his dire predictions came to pass, the hope of a brighter day was clearly given here.
While the ultimate fulfillment of these verses is yet in the future, Elder LeGrand Richards saw a parallel between verses 7–14 and the early history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Saints left Nauvoo with weeping and with supplications. They did not leave their beautiful homes because they wanted to. He saw the rivers of waters they walked by in a straight way as being the North Platte River, by which they traveled about six hundred miles. Singing in the height of Zion refers to the Tabernacle Choir, according to Elder Richards. Their mourning being turned into joy (see v. 13) refers to the Saints finding joy with one another in dancing and other activities as well as in testimony meetings.
“While the members of the Priesthood in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are not paid for their services, and thousands of them have left their families for years at a time to do missionary work in the nations of the earth, paying their own expenses and without remuneration from the Church, yet, in their hearts, they feel they are better paid than any other religious leaders in the world, because of the joy and satisfaction the Lord plants in their hearts, which could not possibly be purchased with money. Thus He has satiated ‘the soul of the priests with fatness,’ and His people are satisfied with His goodness.” (Richards, Israel! Do You Know? pp. 179–80; see also pp. 177–79.)
Rachel, the beloved spouse of Jacob, earnestly desired children. She is here depicted as bitterly weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted because she had none, for they had been taken captive.
“The lamentation of Rachel is heard at Ramah, as the most loftily situated border-town of the two kingdoms, whence the wailing that had arisen sounded far and near, and could be heard in Judah. . . . The destruction of the people of Israel by the Assyrians and Chaldeans is a type of the massacre of the infants at Bethlehem [as cited by Matthew in his gospel (Matthew 2:18)], in so far as the sin which brought the children of Israel into exile laid a foundation for the fact that Herod the Idumean became king over the Jews, and wished to destroy the true King and Saviour of Israel that he might strengthen his own dominion.” (C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, 8:2:25–26.)
Many times in Hebrew writing Israel is described as a woman and sometimes as a bride. The marriage relationship between the woman (Israel) and her husband (the Lord Jesus Christ) is used to depict a very tender, intimate association. The Lord used this relationship numerous times in the scriptures as an example of His commitment to care for, protect, and bless His covenant people.
“In the verse now before us, [the Hebrew word translated as ‘compass’] signifies to encompass with love and care, to surround lovingly and carefully,— the natural and fitting dealing on the part of the stronger to the weak and those who need assistance. And the new thing that God creates consists in this, that the woman, the weaker nature that needs help, will lovingly and solicitously surround the man, the stronger. Herein is expressed a new relation of Israel to the Lord, a reference to a new covenant which the Lord, ver. 31ff., will conclude with His people, and in which He deals so condescendingly towards them that they can lovingly embrace Him. This is the substance of the Messianic meaning in the words.” (Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary, 8:2:30.)
This proverb conveyed the idea that children are affected by what their parents are and do. Apparently the Jews had erroneously set a stigma on the children of known sinners, overlooking the qualifying statement in Exodus 20:5–6. In this chapter, Jeremiah set the Jews straight (see also Ezekiel 18:1–4). Nothing in Exodus 20:5–6 justifies saying that, in a final sense, children are punished for their parents’ sins. Nevertheless, as the following statement shows, children may suffer the consequences of parental sins:
“There is the man who resisted release from positions in the Church. He knew positions were temporary trusts, but he criticized the presiding leader who had released him, complaining that proper recognition had not be given; the time had not been propitious; it had been a reflection upon his effectiveness. He bitterly built up a case for himself, absented himself from his meetings, and justified himself in his resultant estrangement. His children partook of his frustrations, and his children’s children. In later life he ‘came to himself,’ and on the brink of the grave made an about-face. His family would not effect the transformation which now he would give his life to have them make. How selfish! Haughty pride induces eating sour grapes, and innocent ones have their teeth set on edge. ‘It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.’
“When I was a child, we used the expression, ‘He cut off his nose to spite his face.’ To us, that meant that one was fighting against fate, rebelling against the inevitable, damaging himself to spite others, breaking his toe to give vent to his senseless anger.
“Eight lovely children had blessed the temple marriage of a man and woman who in later years were denied a temple recommend. They would not be so dealt with by this young bishop. Why should they be deprived and humiliated? Were they less worthy than others? They argued that this boy-bishop was too strict, too orthodox. Never would they be active, nor enter the door of that Church as long as that bishop presided. They would show him. The history of this family is tragic. The four younger ones were never baptized; the four older ones never were ordained, endowed, nor sealed. No missions were filled by this family. Today the parents are ill at ease, still defiant. They had covered themselves with a cloud, and righteous prayers could not pass through. (See Lam. 3:44.)
“Sour grapes! Such unhappy food!” (Spencer W. Kimball, in Conference Report, Apr. 1955, p. 95.)
Verses 31–34 deal with the restoration of the gospel through the Prophet Joseph Smith and the day when God’s covenant will truly be established with His people. Joseph Smith said of that day: “The time has at last arrived when the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has set His hand again the second time to recover the remnants of his people, . . . and establish that covenant with them, which was promised when their sins should be taken away. [See Isaiah 11; Romans 11:25–27; Jeremiah 31:31–33.] This covenant has never been established with the house of Israel, nor with the house of Judah, for it requires two parties to make a covenant, and those two parties must be agreed, or no covenant can be made.
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The Prophet Joseph Smith |
“Christ, in the days of His flesh, proposed to make a covenant with them, but they rejected Him and His proposals, and in consequence thereof, they were broken off, and no covenant was made with them at that time. But their unbelief has not rendered the promise of God of none effect: no, for there was another day limited in David, which was the day of His power; and then His people, Israel, should be a willing people;—and He would write His law in their hearts, and print it in their thoughts; their sins and their iniquities He would remember no more.
“Thus after this chosen family had rejected Christ and His proposals, the heralds of salvation said to them, ‘Lo, we turn unto the Gentiles;’ and the Gentiles received the covenant, and were grafted in from whence the chosen family were broken off; but the Gentiles have not continued in the goodness of God, but have departed from the faith that was once delivered to the Saints, and have broken the covenant in which their fathers were established [see Isaiah 24:5]. . . .
“And now what remains to be done, under circumstances like these? I will proceed to tell you what the Lord requires of all people, high and low, rich and poor, male and female, ministers and people, professors of religion and non-professors, in order that they may enjoy the Holy Spirit of God to a fulness and escape the judgments of God, which are almost ready to burst upon the nations of the earth. Repent of all your sins, and be baptized in water for the remission of them, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and receive the ordinance of the laying on of the hands of him who is ordained and sealed unto this power, that ye may receive the Holy Spirit of God; and this is according to the Holy Scriptures, and the Book of Mormon; and the only way that man can enter into the celestial kingdom. These are the requirements of the new covenant.” (History of the Church, 1:313–14.)
President Joseph Fielding Smith, speaking of this prophetic promise, said: “The Lord has promised that the time shall come when every man shall be his own teacher, that is, he will know because of righteous living what to do. He will be so filled with the Spirit of the Lord that he will be guided and directed in doing right without the necessity of someone coming into his home to set it in order. Now is a good time for us to begin.” (Doctrines of Salvation, 1:319.)
The Lord, who has worked so long and hard to establish His righteous people, said that if those saving and exalting priesthood ordinances cease to exist, then Israel also will cease to exist—forever. This statement surely indicates the importance of ordinances in the Lord’s plan.
The Lord knows all things, including the future. Prophecy is future history, that is, history in reverse. In Jeremiah 33:3–14 the Lord again spoke of the restoration of Israel and Judah in the latter days. Notice the language He used to describe the process:
“I will cure them . . . I will cleanse them . . . I will pardon all their iniquities” (vv. 6, 8).
In the latter days even the desolate land will be restored to its former condition (see v. 12). The cities that were once desolate will again be full of people and their bounteous flocks (“to tell” means “to count”) (see v. 13). In the latter days the Lord will perform all that He has promised to the house of Israel and the house of Judah (see v. 14).
“The Branch of righteousness” that will “grow up unto David” and “execute judgment and righteousness in the land” (v. 15) is Jesus Christ (see Isaiah 11:1; Jeremiah 23:5–6). When this millennial event occurs, the Jews will dwell safely in Jerusalem.
The last part of verse 16 is not a particularly good translation since it implies that Jerusalem herself will be called “the Lord our righteousness.” According to Adam Clarke it should read: “And this one who shall call to her is the Lord our Justification,” that is, Jesus Christ Himself, the Branch of David (The Holy Bible . . . with a Commentary and Critical Notes, 4:344).
The seed of David are those who repent of their sins, accept the ordinances of the gospel, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and follow the new David, Jesus Christ. King Benjamin explained this concept to his people, after they had signified their willingness to covenant with God to do His will and be obedient to His commandments (see Mosiah 5:7).
Abinadi also explained what it meant to see the seed of Christ (see Mosiah 15:11–13).
The “brigandines” in verse 4 were a coat of mail or armor, usually made of overlapping metal scales like the scales of a fish. The “day of the Lord” (v. 10) refers to the Second Coming (see Joel 1:15; Amos 5:18). It will be a “day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries” (v. 10). Verses 14 and 25 mention Egyptian cities. No is a name for Jupiter’s city, or Thebes. Egypt is described as a fair heifer, but destruction would come to her from the north (Babylon) (see v. 20). Amidst all this turmoil, however, Israel was promised that the Lord would save her and her seed and that she would return, for the Lord Himself would be with her. The last two verses are the only ones in chapter 46 that were not fulfilled in Jeremiah’s time or shortly thereafter.
The “waters” that “rise up out of the north” (v. 2) refers to a multitude of people coming from Chaldea. The stamping of hoofs, the rushing of chariots, and the rumbling of wheels describe a war. The destruction is attributed to the Lord, who allows wicked nations to do such things against those who have become ripe in iniquity.
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Jeremiah predicted the destruction of the Philistines. |
Moab was doomed to destruction, and the Lord pronounced a curse upon her enemies if they did not proceed to destroy her. God is the author of life and has the right to give and take it. These people had forfeited their lives by their idolatry and other crimes. The wrath of God is seen in verse 35 where He pronounces doom on those who deceive the people in attempting to practice their idolatry in the holy places. Verse 42 predicts that Moab will be destroyed as a people. The implication is not that all the Moabites would be destroyed, but that their identity as a people would cease. This prophecy was fulfilled literally, even though people continued to live in the land of Moab. They were taken captive by the Chaldeans and never afterward resumed their status as a nation. Verse 47 promises that the Lord will “bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter days.” This passage could mean the conversion of the remnants of these people to the gospel in the last days.
It is believed that this prophecy was given after the capture of Jerusalem. The Ammonites had taken advantage of the depressed condition of Israel and invaded their territories, hoping to make them their own. Jeremiah intimated that God would preserve the descendants of Israel and bring them home again one day to their inheritances (see v. 2). The promise to the Ammonites (v. 6) was fulfilled when they returned with the Moabites and Israelites with permission given by the edict of Cyrus.
The Lord said He had made Edom bare (see vv. 7–22), meaning He had uncovered all her hiding places and made them known to her enemies. The widows and orphans of Esau would be cared for by the Lord, who is the best of husbands to the one and the most loving father to the other.
Verse 39 speaks of the Lord’s bringing again the captivity of Elam in the latter days. Again, it is supposed that this passage means their conversion, as with the Moabites.
Scattered Israel will be brought again into the lands of their inheritance. They shall seek the Lord and join with Him in a perpetual covenant which cannot be broken. The “assembly of great nations from the north country” (v. 9) is discussed by Clarke: “The army of Cyrus was composed of Medes, Persians, Armenians, Caducians, Sacae, &c. Though all these did not come from the north; yet they were arranged under the Medes, who did come from the north, in reference to Babylon.” (Commentary, 4:383.)
By these captors Israel would be “scattered as sheep” (v. 17), and the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, would be punished. In the future, however, Israel will be brought again to their lands of inheritance (see v. 19) and will be forgiven (see v. 20). They will be led by the Lord Jesus Christ (see v. 34). He is the advocate with the Father (see D&C 29:5) and pleads our cause before Him.
Verses 41–46 describe the destruction of Babylon, which was a wonder to all the surrounding nations, because they thought Babylon was impregnable. Here Babylon is seen not only as a national power but as the symbol of worldliness and spiritual wickedness. (Compare D&C 133:14.)
This chapter is a continuation of the prophecy in chapter 50. “A destroying wind” (v. 1) is the east wind because it is hot and dry from the desert and carries with it particles of sand that do much damage. The metaphor here is used to mean the power of the Lord in destroying Babylon. With reference to the fanners (see v. 2), Clarke said: “When the corn is trodden out with the feet of cattle, or crushed out with a heavy wheel armed with iron, with a shovel they throw it up against the wind, that the chaff and broken straw may be separated from it. This is the image used by the prophet; these people shall be trodden, crushed, and fanned by their enemies.” (Commentary, 4:387.)
In all this, Israel was promised that she had not been forgotten (see v. 5) and that she would be redeemed. Because Babylon is also a symbol of the world, a charge was given Israel to flee from her wickedness and to be responsible for saving their own souls (see v. 6). God would have healed them, as He would all His children, before their destruction, but sometimes, like Babylon, they resist turning to the Lord and therefore are not healed (see v. 9).
Jeremiah 50–51 was written and sent to Babylon in the days of Zedekiah (see Jeremiah 51:59–64). They are difficult to interpret unless two principles of Hebrew prophecy are accepted: the dual nature of many prophecies, and the recurring use of archetypes and metaphors.
The dualism of these chapters is evident, for some verses refer specifically to the destruction of the Babylon of that day by nations from the north, and yet, the destruction of Babylon is associated again and again (see Jeremiah 50:4–5, 19, 20, 33–34) with events that will not occur until the time of the gathering and restoration of Israel and Judah. For example, Israel did not participate in the return from Babylon, but Israel and Judah will be restored together in the last days.
Jeremiah predicted the downfall not only of Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon but of spiritual Babylon as well. His vision swept across the centuries from 600 B.C. to beyond A.D. 2000. And the downfall anciently of Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon was a prototype of the future downfall of “Babylon the Great” (see Revelation 18–19).
Obadiah was a seer who was privileged to see in vision the salvation of Israel and other important events of the latter days. His book is the shortest of those of the prophets and, indeed, of all the books of the Old Testament. Nothing more is known about him than what is in the book. A man named Obadiah protected the Lord’s prophets during Ahab’s reign (see 1 Kings 18), but it is not likely he was the author of this book. The book of Obadiah is included with Jeremiah’s writings because he prophesied of the destruction of Edom in ways similar to Jeremiah.
Edom is another name for Esau, Jacob’s brother. The Greek form of the word Edom is Idumea. Those who settled in Edom were close kin to the residents of Judah. Sidney B. Sperry said: “The history of the relations between Israel and Edom is from the beginning fraught with envy and hate. In Gen. 36:1 we have the following statement: ‘Now these are the generations of Esau—the same is Edom.’ This recalls to us the struggle for supremacy from birth, or even before, of Esau and his younger brother Jacob (Israel). . . . Esau sold his birthright to his brother for a mess of pottage and finally the holy patriarchal inheritance also. Esau, it will be recalled, married among the Canaanites, which fact was a great trial to his parents.” (The Voice of Israel’s Prophets, pp. 318–19.)
Because of their wickedness and lasting hatred for Israel, Edom, like Babylon, became a symbol of the world (see D&C 1:36).
The world famous ruins of Petra, in modern Jordan, are remarkable. A whole city was carved out of rock cliffs. It could be entered only through a narrow gorge. From the high cliffs, the Edomites could protect themselves from invading enemies with great success. Petra, or Mount Seir, was in the land of Edom, and many scholars think it was the capital of Idumea. Though many of the ruins now visible at Petra date from a later period, they still give dramatic impact to Obadiah’s words.
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Edom was the land of Esau. |
These verses summarize the reasons for Edom’s mighty fall: the violence shown against their brother Jacob, and their rejoicing at the destruction of the children of Judah in “the day of distress” (v. 12). J. R. Dummelow believed that Edom’s destruction was partly due to their assisting Nebuchadnezzar during his siege and capture of Jerusalem (see A Commentary on the Holy Bible, p. 574).
These verses have both a temporal and a spiritual meaning for Latter-day Saints. If Esau (Edom) represents the worldly wicked, these verses may be seen as referring to that day when Israel will be completely restored and evil eliminated. Mount Zion, a symbol for deliverance and holiness (see v. 17), will be the inheritance of the “house of Jacob,” whereas the “house of Esau” will be stubble, fit only to be burned. The “house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame . . . and they shall kindle in them [Esau], and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau” (v. 18). Eventually, “saviors shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s” (v. 21).
Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 have been referred to on numerous occasions in this manual and in Old Testament Student Manual: Genesis–2 Samuel [religion 301, 2003]. They are two of the most important chapters in all scripture because the whole history of Israel is foreshadowed in them. Some of the major calamities of the human race are explained in the doctrine revealed in these two chapters. President Kimball referred to Leviticus 26 again and again as it pertains to our day (see Conference Report, Apr. 1977, pp. 5–6; Oct. 1977, p. 5). These two chapters give the conditions upon which Israel could remain in the promised land.
In yet another example of prophetic dualism, Obadiah’s prophecy of the destruction of Edom or Idumea and the restoration of Israel refers also to the last days. Elder Theodore M. Burton spoke of the role we ourselves play as “saviors on Mount Zion” (see Obadiah 1:21). You may wish to write in your journal the things that are of particular worth to you.
“As revealed by the scriptures, one of the characteristics of these last days is the appearance of saviors on the earth. This was prophesied in Old Testament times: [Obadiah 1:21].
“It was prophesied by Paul in New Testament times, referring to people who had lived on the earth in times of old: [Hebrews 11:39–40].
“It has also been prophesied of us who live today: [D&C 86:11].
“So the Lord himself has placed his seal of approval upon this work.
“A logical question then follows: For whom am I to be a savior? In section 127 of the Doctrine and Covenants, verse 6, the Prophet Joseph Smith used these words: ‘for your dead.’ . . .
“Our dead, then, are clearly our own progenitors or direct ancestors, as Joseph Smith explained:
“‘But how are they to become saviors on Mount Zion? By building their temples, erecting their baptismal fonts, and going forth and receiving all the ordinances, baptisms, confirmations, washings, anointings, ordinations, and sealing powers upon their heads, in behalf of all their progenitors who are dead, and redeem them that they may come forth in the first resurrection and be exalted to thrones of glory with them; and herein is the chain that binds the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, which fulfills the mission of Elijah.’ (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, [Deseret Book, 1968], p. 330.)” (In Conference Report, Oct. 1972, pp. 47–48.)
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The Torah |
The Northern Kingdom of Israel had ripened in iniquity, and the results were inevitable. The Assyrians took them captive in 721 B.C. Now Judah was facing the same fate.
Judah had a history of wars and treaties with neighboring countries and suffered constant internal turmoil. Twenty kings ruled Judah from the time of the separation into two kingdoms until Judah fell to the Babylonians, but only a few kings were righteous. These few righteous kings may have been the reason Judah lasted a hundred years longer than the Northern Kingdom of Israel.
After the people of Israel were taken north by the Assyrians, the people of the Southern Kingdom, Judah, were governed by King Hezekiah, who, as the scriptures state, “did that which was right in the sight of the Lord” (2 Kings 18:3). He removed the high places of idolatry and prostitution and the images of false gods from among the people. “He clave to the Lord, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses. And the Lord was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth.” (2 Kings 18:6–7.) With the miraculous aid of the Lord, Hezekiah and his people were spared from the powerful Assyrian army.
At the death of this good and righteous king, Judah forgot their miraculous deliverance, and the nation began to move inevitably toward a captivity of their own. Hezekiah’s twelve-year-old son, Manasseh, was placed on the throne. He built again the high places, made a grove, and set up a graven image in it. Later he made his son pass through the fire of the god Molech, used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards. The people followed him, and “they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel” (2 Kings 21:9).
When Josiah, a righteous king, tried to restore righteousness among the people, the people would not respond. The Lord said, “I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there” (2 Kings 23:27). Just before the captivity, Ezekiel compared Judah to her “elder sister” Samaria (another name for the Northern Kingdom), and to her “younger sister” Sodom.
The people of Judah continued to follow the pagan and idolatrous practices of their heathen neighbors instead of the commandments Jehovah had given them through Moses and the prophets. Cunningham Geikie described this period of time:
“The strong Egyptian faction in Jerusalem . . . had introduced the animal worship of the Nile Valley, and had even turned a large room in the temple into a chapel for its services. . . .
“. . . The sun worship of the East had also found a footing in its court. . . . In the very holiest spot of the sanctuary, about twenty-five men, presumably representatives of the high priest . . . stood with their backs to the temple—the open sign of apostasy—and worshipped the rising sun, their faces turned to the east.” (Hours with the Bible: From Manasseh to Zedekiah, 5:235.) They even offered their children in sacrifice to the god Molech (see Jeremiah 32:35).
Jeremiah and other prophets told them that alliance with a decadent Egypt was a vain hope, for Egypt could not save them from a strong and ambitious Babylon, which had conquered Assyria and was now flexing its muscles in the east. But the leaders of Judah would not listen to the prophets. They threw Jeremiah into a pit (see Jeremiah 38:1–11) and tried to kill Lehi (see 1 Nephi 1:20). The Lord withdrew His Spirit, and the stage was set for another national tragedy. Twice Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came against Judah; twice he took captives; and twice he left Judah intact, thinking they had learned a lesson. But they had not, and when Nebuchadnezzar finished his third assault, Jerusalem lay in ruins, hundreds of thousands were dead, and all but a handful of the survivors were taken to Babylon. Like their northern sister, Judah now reaped the whirlwind they had sown with their own wickedness.
It would not, however, be quite the same. Judah would not be lost to history. Eventually, after the time of Christ, they would endure another exile that would last for centuries. Even in their best years, they would be a captive nation subject to foreigners. In the eyes of their persecutors they would become a hiss and a byword. Yet every effort to stamp them out would fail. Throughout the centuries of dispersion they would make many important contributions in art, literature, music, politics, philosophy, and history. But such gifts came out of their sorrow and persecution.
Nebuchadnezzar came against Judea and her neighbors with two armies. One was sent against Tyre and Sidon, cities of Phoenicia, for their rebellion; the other besieged Jerusalem. The siege lasted for eighteen months, during which time the people of Jerusalem were starved to the point of cannibalism (see Lamentations 4:8–10). As the final defenses broke down and the Babylonians became victorious, King Zedekiah and his army fled toward the Jordan River but were captured. He was forced to watch as his family was murdered, and then the Babylonians put out his eyes and took him captive to Babylon.
The city was burned, Solomon’s temple was destroyed, and the kingdom of Judah came to an end. According to Jeremiah, the Babylonians took the remnant of the people captive to Babylon except for some who were left behind under Babylonian rule (see Jeremiah 39:8–10). Thus Nebuchadnezzar was able to control Judah by keeping the leaders in captivity, and some few of the people were allowed to remain behind to harvest the crops. The breakup and displacement of the Jews removed the threat of national revival.
Life in captivity was not necessarily one of horror or slavery. The Jews were given a good deal of social freedom and economic opportunity. They proved to be enterprising in business and economic affairs, a gift valued by the Babylonians. The Babylonian Jews were allowed to move about freely, to live in their communities within or near the great cities, and to carry on their way of life. (See Bernhard W. Anderson, Understanding the Old Testament, p. 376.) In fact, so secure was their life in Babylon that when Cyrus allowed the captive people to return to Judah to rebuild the temple seventy years later, many of them refused to leave Babylon.
Nevertheless, the captivity had a profound effect on Judaism. Scholars almost universally agree that the Jews never returned to image worship after the captivity. The fall of Jerusalem was a great turning point in Israel’s religious life. From earliest times the sin of idolatry had existed in Israel, and the prophets of every age had combated it. After the fall, idolatry ceased to be a problem for the Jews.
The captivity seemed to impress upon the minds of the Jewish people that the God of Israel was, indeed, a jealous God. The prophets had been right in their warnings of the doom and destruction that would follow if the people did not repent and follow their God and Him only. The nation as a whole accepted the verdict that God’s wrath had been poured down upon them for the sin of image worship. They reached the conclusion that only the God of Israel should be worshiped.
Henceforth, Israel became a very zealous nation for its God. This zeal took the form of devotion to Jehovah’s law, which led over the years to the creation of numerous rules of conduct that went beyond the law itself. This has been described as building “a hedge around the Law to render its infringement or modification impossible” (Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, 2 vols. [Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1967], 1:3). Christ chastized the Pharisees, Sadducees, and others for putting so much emphasis on these rules that they overlooked “the weightier matters of the law” (Matthew 23:23), which after all was given to prepare the hearts of the people to accept the Messiah. The Book of Mormon prophet Jacob refers to this spiritual blindness as “looking beyond the mark” (Jacob 4:14).
For over eight hundred years, the scriptures that came from Moses were used more for special occasions such as the Sabbath than for reading daily. At times they were even lost to public knowledge (see 2 Kings 22:8–13). While it is true that knowledge alone will not keep a people on the straight and narrow path, it is just as true that without the word of God (the iron rod) they have no hope of staying on the path. This lesson was impressed on the Jews during the captivity. Their leaders resolved to see to it that never again would the Jews be ignorant of the covenants and laws of the Lord. The great prophet and scribe Ezra did much to establish the tradition and practice of studying the law. (See Nehemiah 8:1–12.)
“The great work of Ezra was, his collecting together and setting forth a correct edition of the Holy Scriptures, which he laboured much in, and went a great way in the perfecting of it. Of this both Christians and Jews gave him the honour; and many of the ancient fathers attribute more to him in this particular than the Jews themselves; for they hold that all the Scriptures were lost and destroyed in the Babylonish captivity, and that Ezra restored them all again by Divine revelation. . . .
“. . . All that Ezra did in this manner was to get together as many copies of the sacred writings as he could, and out of them all to set forth a correct edition. . . . He collected together all the books of which the Holy Scriptures did then consist, and disposed them in their proper order; and settled the canon of Scripture for his time. These books he divided into three parts: 1. The Law. 2. The Prophets. 3. The Cethubim, or Hagiographa; i. e., the Holy Writings: which division our Saviour himself takes notice of, Luke xxiv. 44, where he says: ‘These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things might be fulfilled which are written in the law, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning me.’” (Prideaux, The Connected History of the Old and New Testaments, in Adam Clarke, The Holy Bible . . . with a Commentary and Critical Notes, 2:722–23.)
Having the scriptures was not enough. They needed to be read and heard by all. So Ezra and other scribes took steps to see that the scriptures were taught to everyone. There were special challenges, however, because the Jews in Babylon had begun to adopt some of the language and culture of the Chaldeans. That meant that the scriptures were read in Hebrew by the scribes, who then translated them and often explained them in the Chaldean or other local language. This practice was one of the reasons the scribes became a religious necessity and consequently gained social and religious prestige among the Jews. (See Enrichment J.)
Through the years, each religious group—scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, and others—referred to the written word, quoted it, enlarged upon it, interpreted it, and in other ways continued to add to what their fathers had established. The commentaries, explanations, interpretations, and inferences became known as oral tradition. In time, these traditions, written and oral, took on so much importance that they often overshadowed the law and became a stumbling block for the Jews. The Savior referred to such traditions, both in ancient times and in our day, when He said: “And that wicked one cometh and taketh away light and truth, through disobedience, from the children of men, and because of the tradition of their fathers” (D&C 93:39; emphasis added). Such traditions blinded many to the Messiah when He came.
From the time of the captivity, the Jews have been scattered to different locations. Nearly always some Jews have remained in the homeland, called Eretz Israel. (Eretz means “earth” or “land,” and therefore is used to mean that portion of Israel who live in the homeland.) Dispersed or scattered Israel is often called the Diaspora (meaning “the dispersion”).
Although the Jews have been scattered geographically since the exile in Babylonia, they have been kept united religiously through the institutions that developed out of the exile. One of these institutions is the synagogue. The fact that the Nephites had synagogues suggests that they were important in worship in Judah before the exile (see for example 2 Nephi 26:26). Some Jewish scholars claim the synagogue goes back to Moses, but most place its emergence in Babylon, and it seems likely that it at least grew in importance at that time. According to the Encyclopaedia Judaica, “the Exiles, deprived of the Temple, in a strange land, feeling the need for consolation in their distress, would meet from time to time, probably on Sabbaths, and read the Scriptures” (s.v. “synagogue,” 15:579–80.) The word synagogue means “assembly,” though often it is used to mean the building. In fact, there is reason to believe that for many years before buildings were erected, the Jews assembled in the streets to hear the scriptures read and translated. Thus it is the people, or the assembly, that is the real synagogue.
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A synagogue at Safed |
Though some of the Jews returned to their homeland and rebuilt the temple, the Jewish community in Babylon remained a focal point of rival importance. Later Alexandria, Athens, Rome, and even such farflung outposts of the Roman Empire as Barcelona, London, and the Germanic frontier had Jewish colonies with their assemblies and rabbis. Wherever they went, they were a separate people, usually by their own choice and request. As the centuries rolled on and Europe became heavily settled, there grew up in the larger cities Jewish quarters called ghettos. In the ghettos the Jews continued their worship and their institutions, the practices that kept them from being absorbed into the community and losing their identity. They remained a nation in exile, sometimes persecuted, sometimes admired as producing some of the most successful merchants, philosophers, scholars, musicians, and tradesmen of their times. The ghettos were not centers of poverty and degradation except in times of acute persecution. They were, rather, the center of family and religious life, the place where education was most prized and most available.
Many are familiar today with Jewish people, customs, and the struggles in the Holy Land. Much of modern Judaism had its origins in the first major captivity, the Babylonian captivity, and the period after the return. The following is a list of some of the lasting effects of the Babylonian captivity:
1. The Jews abandoned the worship of graven images and began to lay great emphasis on tradition and the law.
2. Through the efforts of Ezra the scribe and others, much of the Old Testament was preserved.
3. Volumes of commentary were compiled during this period and later.
4. The principal religious groups in Israel—the scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, and others—originated during this time.
5. The Hebrew writing was preserved, even though the language of the people changed. This change created the need for experts in the law.
6. The Jewish synagogue took on new importance.
7. The refusal to integrate is evidenced by the Jewish quarter, or the ghetto, and other efforts of the people to band together for mutual support.
Knowing and understanding these effects not only aids one in a study of the Bible but also gives one insight into events now taking place in the Holy Land.
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A watchtower in Samaria |
Through Ezekiel, the Lord gave wayward and backsliding Israel a message of warning and reproof, of justice and judgment, of mercy and love that left no doubt of His indignation at their unrighteousness nor of His desire for their repentance. Ezekiel taught that all are responsible for their own actions and will be rewarded or punished according to the way they use the agency given them. He taught that no one can reject the Lord’s counsel and escape the judgments that invariably follow justice and that are intended to purge the soul of iniquity. He taught also that no one who repents and turns from his iniquities will lose the blessings of God’s mercy, love, and forgiveness.
These principles apply to individuals and to nations. They applied to the individual Israelite and the whole nation of Judah (Israel) to whom Ezekiel prophesied. God will not justify the sinner nor forsake those with whom He has made covenants if they will but fulfill their part of the agreement. In Ezekiel’s time the Lord’s covenant people had rejected Him and needed to be refined in the fires of tribulation and sorrow in order to be turned from their iniquitous way of life. Although, because of His justice, God allowed those tribulations, because of His infinite love and mercy, He continued to extend the promise of forgiveness and life to the repentant soul and of the restoration of all former blessings to Israel if they would return to Him.
1. Use Notes and Commentary below to help you as you read and study Ezekiel 1–24.
2. Complete Points to Ponder as directed by your teacher. (Individual-study students should complete all of this section.)
The Lord had one great prophet, Jeremiah, in the court at Jerusalem; another, Daniel, in the court at Babylon; and a third, Ezekiel, among the exiles in Babylonia. Jeremiah and Ezekiel were of priestly lineage; Daniel may have been of royal lineage (see Daniel 1:3). Jeremiah served the Lord by delivering His warnings and instructions to the kings and leaders of the soon-to-be conquered; Daniel, to the conquerors; and Ezekiel, to the exiles.
Ezekiel, whose name means “God is strong,” or “God will strengthen,” was the son of Buzi and a priest of the family of Zadok. He was carried captive to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar in the captivity of Jehoiachin. (See Sidney B. Sperry, The Voice of Israel’s Prophets, pp. 189–90.)
“[Ezekiel’s] family must have been considered prominent and influential, for, according to the account in 2 Kings 24:14–16, mostly the ‘chief men of the land’ were taken captive to Babylon by Nebuchadrezzar [an alternate spelling of Nebuchadnezzar] when Jehoiachin was deposed as king of Judah. Most scholars assume that this event took place in 597 B.C., but the fact that Zedekiah succeeded Jehoiachin leads us to assign it a little earlier, to 601 B.C., following the lead of certain chronological data in the Book of Mormon.” (Sperry, Voice of Israel’s Prophets, pp. 190–91; see also Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, bk. 10, chap. 6, par. 3; Ezekiel 4:14.)
It is very difficult, if not impossible, for a mortal to convey in writing the message and spirit of a vision or other revelation from God so that the reader will have a complete understanding of what took place and what was communicated. Such was the challenge of Ezekiel in describing his transcendent visions of heaven. Others, too, have faced the same challenge (see 2 Corinthians 12:4; 3 Nephi 28:12–14; D&C 76:114–17). Joseph Smith said that “could you gaze into heaven five minutes, you would know more than you would by reading all that ever was written on the subject” (History of the Church, 6:50). One must experience revelation to understand it fully.
Those, including Ezekiel, who have had visitations or visions from the eternal worlds have often used symbolism, metaphor, simile, comparisons, and other kinds of figurative language to try to convey the experience they had and the message they received (see D&C 110:2–3; JS—H 1:32; Daniel 10:5–9; Revelation 1:12–18; 12:1–6). Therefore, everything Ezekiel said need not be taken literally, for he used many figurative expressions to try to tell that which was far beyond mortal experience. Many times, for example, he used words like as, likeness, and appearance (see Ezekiel 1:4–5, 7, 10, 13–14, 16, 24, 26–28).
Another difficulty in understanding Ezekiel and other Old Testament writers is the cultural differences between the Jews of Ezekiel’s day and the modern reader. Where it is important, Notes and Commentary on the book of Ezekiel explain the cultural aspects of Ezekiel’s writing.
The words wind, tempest, or storm would better fit the meaning intended in Ezekiel 1:4. A wind that revolves on its own axis with great rapidity is not what is meant by the Hebrew word translated “whirlwind”; rather, the idea of a furious or powerful wind is what was intended (see Merrill F. Unger, Unger’s Bible Dictionary, s.v. “whirlwind”). The metaphor signifies the power of God. For instance, the power of God’s presence was indicated to Job through allusion to a whirlwind (see Job 38:1). When the Lord poured out His Spirit with great power at the dedication of the Kirtland Temple in this dispensation, “a noise was heard like the sound of a rushing mighty wind, which filled the Temple” (History of the Church, 2:428).
These figures are used throughout the scriptures in association with the glory, power, and majesty of God’s presence or that of His messengers. (See “cloud” and “fire” in Exodus 13:21–22; 16:10; 19:9–16; 24:16; Leviticus 16:2; Matthew 17:5; D&C 34:7. See “fire,” “brightness,” “colour of amber,” “lamps,” and “lightning” in Exodus 3:2; Hebrews 12:29; 1 Nephi 1:6; D&C 29:12; 110:2–3; 133:41; Habakkuk 3:3–4; Acts 26:13; 2 Thessalonians 2:8; JS—H 1:16–17, 30–32; Daniel 10:6.)
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Light and clouds of fire symbolize the presence of God. |
In his vision, Ezekiel saw four creatures, each of which had four faces. “They four had the face of a man, . . . a lion, . . . an ox . . . [and] the face of an eagle” (Ezekiel 1:10). The Apostle John had a similar vision. In his vision, the creatures were described as being “like a lion, . . . like a calf, . . . [having] a face as a man, and . . . like a flying eagle” (Revelation 4:7). The Prophet Joseph explained that the four beasts in John’s vision were representative of classes of beings (see D&C 77:3). The faces of the creatures in Ezekiel’s vision seem to represent the same thing. The following interpretation, from an ancient Jewish commentary, is in harmony with that view: “Man is exalted among creatures; the eagle is exalted among birds; the ox is exalted among domestic animals; the lion is exalted among wild beasts; and all of them have received dominion, and greatness has been given them, yet they are stationed below the chariot of the Holy One” (Midrash Shemoth Rabbah 23; in D. Guthrie and J. A. Motyer, eds., The New Bible Commentary: Revised, p. 667).
Ezekiel saw that the throne of God was above the creatures (Ezekiel 1:26–28). That placement represents His having dominion over all living things, though He provides the means for all His creations, both human and animal, to enter into eternal glory, each in their appropriate order (see D&C 77:2–3).
The Lord taught Joseph Smith that the wings of the beasts John saw in his revelation (see Revelation 4:8) “are a representation of power, to move, to act, etc.” (D&C 77:4). That interpretation also seems to apply to the creatures in Ezekiel’s vision.
The word straight in Ezekiel 1:7 means “standing upright, not bent, as when sitting or kneeling” (C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, 9:1:23). That is, the creatures did not travel as a person travels when walking.
The comparison of the sole of their feet to that of a calf seems to refer to the smoothness of a cow’s hoof to indicate the shininess of the feet of the beasts. “There is scarcely any thing that gives a higher lustre than highly polished or burnished brass.” (Adam Clarke, The Holy Bible . . . with a Commentary and Critical Notes, 4:425). In the King James Version of the Bible, polished brass is translated “amber.” It signifies beauty and glory (see D&C 110:3–4; Daniel 10:6; Revelation 1:15; 2:18).
The creatures of Ezekiel’s vision were in complete harmony and unity. They moved as one, symbolizing the total unity that exists among all living things who submit to God’s will.
Because Joseph Smith received from the Lord some keys for interpreting the meaning of the beasts in John’s vision (see D&C 77:2–4), the parallels between John’s vision and Ezekiel’s give some clues to the meaning of the beasts Ezekiel saw. There is, however, no parallel in John’s vision to the wheels seen by Ezekiel.
The Prophet Joseph Smith said: “I make this broad declaration, that whenever God gives a vision of an image, or beast, or figure of any kind, He always holds Himself responsible to give a revelation or interpretation of the meaning thereof, otherwise we are not responsible or accountable for our belief in it. Don’t be afraid of being damned for not knowing the meaning of a vision or figure, if God has not given a revelation or interpretation of the subject.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 291.)
At present the interpretation of Ezekiel’s vision has not been given to the Church, so the Lord does not hold His Saints accountable for understanding what is represented by the wheels.
Ezekiel saw a firmament, or expanse, above or over the creatures. Above the firmament Ezekiel saw God sitting on His throne in His glory. Ezekiel used several terms to describe the brilliance, beauty, and glory of God. Then, as a humble witness to such glory, beauty, and majesty, he fell upon his face in awe and reverent submission. (Compare Isaiah 6:1–5; Revelation 1:10–18; D&C 76:19–23; 110:1–4. Note especially the parallels between Ezekiel’s language and John’s in Revelation 4:2–11.)
In a similar experience, the Apostle John, too, was commanded to eat a book. The Lord, through the Prophet Joseph Smith, explained that this action represented a mission given to John among the tribes of Israel (see D&C 77:14).
Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote that “John’s act of eating a book containing the word of God to him was in keeping with the custom and tradition of ancient Israel. The act signified that he was eating the bread of life, that he was partaking of the good word of God, that he was feasting upon the word of Christ—which was in his ‘mouth sweet as honey.’ But it made his ‘belly bitter’; that is, the judgments and plagues promised those to whom the Lord’s word was sent caused him to despair and have sorrow of soul. ‘How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!’ (Psalm 119:103.) Such is the exulting cry of the Psalmist. And, conversely, how bitter is the penalty for rebellion and disobedience. Ezekiel had a similar experience. He was commanded to eat a roll (a book), which was in his mouth ‘as honey for sweetness,’ but in the writing itself there was ‘lamentations, and mourning, and woe.’ (Ezek. 2:6–10; 3:1–3.)” (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3:507.)
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Anciently, books were written on scrolls. |
The words of Ezekiel 3:8 are a Hebrew idiom suggesting essentially the English idiom “face up to it.” The Lord promised Ezekiel power, courage, and firmness, since his mission was to a very rebellious and stubborn people (see Jeremiah 1:17–19). The Lord gives His humble servants sufficient strength to withstand the world’s opposition as they seek to do His will.
Ezekiel’s prophecies did not fall on friendly ears. But, as a watchman, he had to raise the warning voice. The analogy of the watchman referred to the military watchman who had to stay awake and who faced execution if he failed to warn the city when the enemy appeared. Such a watchman was in jeopardy always: the enemy sought to destroy him to keep him from raising the warning and, if he did not raise the warning when it was needed, his life was in jeopardy at the hands of those he was responsible to warn. Likewise, watchmen in the Lord’s kingdom have a serious responsibility with far-reaching consequences, as Elder Ezra Taft Benson taught:
“As watchmen on the tower of Zion, it is our obligation and right as leaders to speak out against current evils—evils that strike at the very foundation of all we hold dear as the true church of Christ. . . .
“As one of these watchmen, with a love for humanity, I accept humbly this obligation and challenge and gratefully strive to do my duty without fear. In times as serious as these, we must not permit fear of criticism to keep us from doing our duty, even at the risk of our counsel being tabbed as political, as government becomes more and more entwined in our daily lives.
“In the crisis through which we are now passing, we have been fully warned. This has brought forth some criticism. There are some of us who do not want to hear the message. It embarrasses us. The things which are threatening our lives, our welfare, our freedoms are the very things some of us have been condoning. Many do not want to be disturbed as they continue to enjoy their comfortable complacency.
“The Church is founded on eternal truth. We do not compromise principle. We do not surrender our standards regardless of current trends or pressures. Our allegiance to truth as a church is unwavering. Speaking out against immoral or unjust actions has been the burden of prophets and disciples of God from time immemorial. It was for this very reason that many of them were persecuted. Nevertheless, it was their God-given task, as watchmen on the tower, to warn the people.” (In Conference Report, Apr. 1973, pp. 49–50; or Ensign, July 1973, p. 38.)
Ezekiel was called to prophesy to a very obstinate people, and, as Nephi later said, “the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center” (1 Nephi 16:2). Hearing messages of reproof and warning, the unrighteous rose up against Ezekiel. They sought to quiet his preaching and hinder his work, either by physical binding and confinement (though there is no scriptural record that this did actually happen), or by rejecting his message, refusing to listen, and seeking to get others to do the same, thus “binding” Ezekiel’s effectiveness.
Ezekiel was instructed to make a representation of the city of Jerusalem on a clay tablet and portray to the people the events that would befall the city. The Lord wanted to make very clear to the people through many means the message He had for them. Ezekiel was instructed to present other visual representations before the people to teach His messages more effectively (see Ezekiel 4:4–17; 5). Other prophets have been instructed to use similar teaching techniques (see Jeremiah 27:1–11; 1 Kings 11:29–39; 13:1–11; 19:1–18; Acts 21:11).
During the events described in Ezekiel 4, Ezekiel himself was in captivity with other Jews in Babylon. Twice Nebuchadnezzar had gone to war against Judah and taken captives both times. Both times, however, he retreated, thinking he had taught Judah a lesson. So Jerusalem was still intact until the third siege, which brought the destruction of Judah. Ezekiel dramatized that destruction in verses 1–3.
The “iron pan” (v. 3) represented the wall that the Chaldeans erected around Jerusalem during their siege. It prevented escape and allowed no entry of supplies.
Ezekiel 4:4–8 contains another example of a figurative teaching device that has not been fully interpreted. After forming the image of Jerusalem under siege (vv. 1–3), Ezekiel was told to lie on his side for 390 days and to bear the iniquity of Israel (in this case it appears the Northern Kingdom is meant). Then he was to change sides and lie for another 40 days to bear the iniquity of Judah.
The symbolic meaning of the act seems clear enough. Ezekiel was to be fettered to the bed (v. 8) and bound down to show that the two kingdoms were bound down, or brought into bondage, because of their iniquity. But whether Ezekiel actually performed this act is not known. It seems strange that the Lord would ask a prophet to lie immobile for fifteen months. Perhaps Ezekiel performed the act in some kind of symbolic way.
Why the numbers 390 and 40 were used is not clear. Though Ezekiel was told that each day represented a year (v. 6), the years do not fit any known history.
Keil and Delitzsch, using the total of 430 days or years (390+40), suggested that this is the number of years Israel was in bondage in Egypt (see Exodus 12:40–41). They explain the split of 390 days and 40 days as referring to the forty years after Moses killed the Egyptian and fled into the wilderness of Midian (see Exodus 2:11–15; Acts 7:23, 30). This time, just before Moses returned to deliver them, was probably the most intense period of suffering for Israel. (See Commentary, 9:1:74–76.) Others, however, believe that the 430 years included the time from Abraham to the Exodus. (See Old Testament Student Manual: Genesis–2 Samuel, pp. 119–20.)
Without a revealed key for interpreting these numbers, one cannot definitely interpret this passage.
Another symbolic act Ezekiel was commanded to perform represented the conditions that would prevail during the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem.
“In times of scarcity, it is customary in all countries to mix several kinds of coarser grain with the finer, to make it last the longer. This mashlin, which the prophet is commanded to take, of wheat, barley, beans, lentiles, millet, and fitches, was intended to show how scarce the necessaries of life should be during the siege.
“. . . The whole of the above grain, being ground, was to be formed into one mass, out of which he was to make three hundred and ninety loaves; one loaf for each day; and this loaf was to be of twenty shekels in weight. Now a shekel, being in weight about half an ounce, this would be ten ounces of bread for each day; and with this water to the amount of one sixth part of a hin, which is about a pint and a half of our measure. All this shows that so reduced should provisions be during the siege, that they should be obliged to eat the meanest sort of aliment, and that by weight, and their water by measure; each man’s allowance being scarcely a pint and a half, and ten ounces, a little more than half a pound of bread, for each day’s support.” (Clarke, Commentary, 4:434.)
The phrase “I will break the staff of bread” (Ezekiel 4:16) indicates that the time would come when the inhabitants of Jerusalem would be without bread. See 2 Kings 25:3 for a record of the prophecy’s fulfillment.
“Dried ox and cow dung is a common fuel in the east; and with this, for want of wood and coals, they are obliged to prepare their food. Indeed, dried excrement of every kind is gathered. Here, the prophet is to prepare his bread with dry human excrement. . . . This was required to show the extreme degree of wretchedness to which they should be exposed; for, not being able to leave the city to collect the dried excrements of beasts, the inhabitants during the siege would be obliged, literally, to use dried human ordure for fuel. The very circumstances show that this was the plain fact of the case. However, we find that the prophet was relieved from using this kind of fuel, for cows’ dung was substituted at his request. See ver. 15.” (Clarke, Commentary, 4:434–35.)
As Ezekiel 4:13 indicates, the Jews would be driven to Babylon where they would be compelled to eat “defiled bread.” Because foreign lands were considered unclean (see Hosea 9:3–4; Amos 7:17), living and eating in other lands was considered unclean.
In Ezekiel 5:12 the Lord briefly explained the next symbolic act He instructed Ezekiel to perform (see vv. 1–4). Ezekiel represented the Jewish nation and particularly the city of Jerusalem. That which he was to do to his hair would also be done to Judah. The razor represented the Babylonians who would cut Judah asunder with the sword and would be the means of bringing judgments upon them. “To make the head bald, or to shave or pluck the beard, was a sign of mourning among the Hebrews and many other nations” (James M. Freeman, Manners and Customs of the Bible, p. 256; see also Ezra 9:3; Job 1:20; Isaiah 22:12; 48:37–38). As Ezekiel was to burn one-third of the hair in the city, so also would one-third of Judah’s inhabitants perish in Jerusalem during its siege. The third of the hair Ezekiel cut with a knife represented the people who would be destroyed by the sword in the environs of Jerusalem. The third that was scattered in the wind represented those who would be taken captive and scattered far from their homeland. There would further be a sword drawn after them who would be scattered (see Ezekiel 5:2, 12), which was signified by those hairs Ezekiel bound to his skirts and later cast into the fire. This act signified that even among those who were taken captive and preserved from the original destruction, some would later be “cast . . . into the midst of the fire” (v. 4) to be destroyed, or to be cleansed and purified from iniquity by tribulations. That all of Judah would not be completely destroyed is attested to by the Lord’s promise of eventual escape for some (see Ezekiel 6:8–10).
As had been earlier prophesied by Moses (see Leviticus 26:29; Deuteronomy 28:53), the siege of Jerusalem would be so severe and the famine would be so dreadful that parents would eat their children and children would eat their parents (see Ezekiel 16–17; Jeremiah 19:9; Lamentations 2:20; 4:10). These tragedies also took place during the siege of Jerusalem by Titus in A.D. 70 (see Josephus, Wars of the Jews, bk. 5, chap. 10, pars. 1–5; bk. 6, chap. 3, pars. 3–5).
The expression “whorish heart” refers to the idolatry practiced by Israel. Some may think it strange that ancient Israel was guilty of such infidelity to Jehovah. Yet modern Israel is often guilty of the same thing. Though today men rarely worship idols of wood or stone, they may devote themselves to serving certain governments that have set themselves up as the state religion, or they devote themselves to acquiring material things, or they dedicate themselves to other pursuits that take them away from service to God. (See Spencer W. Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness, pp. 40–42; Old Testament Student Manual: Genesis–2 Samuel, pp. 245–48.)
The Jews worshiped strange gods because they put their trust in the power of men and earthly governments instead of in Jehovah and righteousness as the solution to human happiness and welfare. Modern idolatry is essentially the same as ancient idolatry, though the outward form has changed.
The phrase “sounding again of the mountains” in Ezekiel 7:7 refers to the impending destruction of Jerusalem.
Clarke said: “The hostile troops are advancing! Ye hear a sound, a tumultuous noise; do not suppose that this proceeds from festivals upon the mountains; from the joy of harvestmen, or the treaders of the wine-press. [Great rejoicing was common at harvest time.] It is the noise of those by whom ye and your country are to fall; . . . and not the reverberation of sound, or reflected sound, or reechoing from the mountains. ‘Now will I shortly pour out,’ ver. 8. Here they come!” (Commentary, 4:439–40.)
Throughout chapter 7, Ezekiel sounds the same theme sounded by Jeremiah: because of the people’s wickedness, Jerusalem will be destroyed.
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Layered ruins of the destroyed city of Jerusalem south of the temple mount |
The ornament mentioned in Ezekiel 7:20 is a reference to the temple, the most beautiful ornament of Jerusalem. The temple will be despoiled and desecrated by conquerors because the people had despoiled and spiritually desecrated it with their idols.
Though Ezekiel was residing in Babylon among the exiles, he was “brought . . . in the visions of God” (Ezekiel 8:3) to the temple in Jerusalem. “Here, in the temple, Jehovah shows to the prophet the various kinds of idolatry which Israel is practising both publicly and privately, not merely in the temple, but throughout the whole land. The arrangement of these different forms of idolatry in four groups or abomination scenes (vers. 5, 6, 7–12, 13–15, and 16–18), which the prophet sees both in and from the court of the temple, belong to the visionary drapery of this divine revelation.” (Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary, 9:1:116–17.)
In his vision of the second abomination shown him (see Ezekiel 8:7–12), Ezekiel saw all manner of beasts and creeping things.
“It is very likely that these images pourtrayed on the wall were the objects of Egyptian adoration: the ox, the ape, the dog, the crocodile, the ibis, the scaraboeus or beetle, and various other things. It appears that these were privately worshipped by the sanhedrin or great Jewish council, consisting of seventy or seventy-two persons, six chosen out of every tribe, as representatives of the people. The images were pourtrayed upon the wall, as we find those ancient idols are on the walls of the tombs of the kings and nobles of Egypt.” (Clarke, Commentary, 4:443.)
It is significant that such worship took place in the dark (see v. 12). This fact, in addition to the necessity Ezekiel was under to dig through the wall to see in, indicates that ancient Israelites knew of the Lord but sought to hide their abominable practices from Him. They said, “The Lord seeth us not” (v. 12). Such is often the case among those who perform unrighteous acts. How foolish it is for any to assume that they can hide their acts from God’s all-seeing eye!
The statement made by Elder Spencer W. Kimball concerning God’s omniscience was as applicable in Ezekiel’s time as it is today: “There are no corners so dark, no deserts so uninhabited, no canyons so remote, no automobiles so hidden, no homes so tight and shut in but that the all-seeing One can penetrate and observe” (“Message of Inspiration,” Church News, 30 May 1970, p. 2).
According to J. R. Dummelow, Tammuz was “a deity worshipped both in Babylonia and in Phoenicia—the same as the Greek Adonis. He appears to have been a god of the spring, and the myth regarding him told of his early death and of the descent of Istar his bride into the underworld in search of him. The death of Tammuz symbolised the destruction of the spring vegetation by the heat of summer, and it was celebrated annually by seven days of women’s mourning in the 4th month (June–July), which was called Tammuz. This superstition had been introduced into Jerusalem.” (A Commentary on the Holy Bible, pp. 497–98.)
“Sun worship was practised by the Canaanites, but lately had been reintroduced from Assyria (2 Ki. 23:5, 11; Je. 8:2). Between the porch and the altar was the place where the priests offered prayer (Joel 2:17), with their faces, of course, towards the Temple; in this spot, with their backs to the temple, the adoration of the sun took place, as complete a renunciation of Yahweh [Jehovah] as possible.” (Guthrie and Motyer, New Bible Commentary, p. 670; see also 2 Chronicles 29:6.)
Although it is not clear what the expression “put the branch to their nose” means, and there are differences of opinion among the scholars, a comment from Dummelow may be helpful. He wrote that the expression was “usually explained as a ceremony connected with sun-worship. Persian sun-worshippers held bunches of the twigs of certain trees before their mouths, that they might not contaminate the sun with their breath.” (Commentary, p. 498.)
“This mark was to be put on these faithful ones for their protection when the faithless were to be destroyed. It showed that they belonged to God. The allusion is to a very ancient custom. In Egypt a runaway slave was freed from his master if he went to the temple and gave himself up to the god, receiving certain marks upon his person to denote his consecration to the deity there worshiped. Cain had a mark put on him for his protection, as an evidence of God’s promise to spare his life notwithstanding his wickedness. [Genesis 4:15.] To this day all Hindoos have some sort of mark upon their forehead signifying their consecration to their gods. Several passages in the book of Revelation represent the saints as having a mark on their foreheads. [See Revelation 7:3; 9:4; 14:1; 22:4.] The followers of the ‘beast’ are also said to be marked in the forehead or in the hands. [See Revelation 13:16–17; 14:9; 20:4.] The Romans marked their soldiers in the hand and their slaves in the forehead. The woman in scarlet, whom John saw, had a name written on her forehead. [Revelation 17:5.]” (Freeman, Manners and Customs of the Bible, pp. 301–2.)
In this case the mark represented the allegiance of the faithful to God. As those who belonged to God, they would be preserved.
None were to be slain who were marked on the forehead! This passage shows that even in war, plagues, and starvation, the Lord can preserve whom He will and leave the rest to die. In the great destructions in the Americas before Christ’s visit, though thousands were killed, the more righteous were spared (see 3 Nephi 10:12). Even though there will be martyrs and other exceptions, the Saints of this day have a promise that generally the righteous will be preserved in the tribulations to come (see 1 Nephi 22:16–17; 2 Nephi 30:10; D&C 97:25–27; 115:6; Moses 7:61–62). To a great extent, the preservation of the righteous is a natural expectation since they follow inspired counsel by which they are led to make choices favorable to their well-being. (See Notes and Commentary on Ezekiel 21:4.)
It is not just association with God’s kingdom that preserves individuals; it is individual righteousness. In fact, the Lord has reserved His most severe judgments for those who profess His name but do not obey Him. Orson Pratt said: “Where shall these great and severe judgments begin? Upon what people does the Lord intend to commence this great work of vengeance? Upon the people who profess to know his name and still blaspheme it in the midst of his house. They are the ones designated for some of the most terrible judgments of the latter days.” (In N. B. Lundwall, comp., Inspired Prophetic Warnings to All Inhabitants of the Earth, p. 139.) Compare Ezekiel 9:6 with Doctrine and Covenants 112:24–26.
Ezekiel’s description in chapter 10 of a later vision contains many elements that correspond to the vision described in chapter 1. Compare items to similar ones in the first account.
A significant difference in chapter 10 is the frequent reference to cherubim. The substitution of the face of a cherub in chapter 10 (see v. 14) for the face of an ox in chapter 1 (see v. 10) raises a question of interpretation. If the faces represent various classes of living creatures in God’s kingdom that function in harmony with His will, the problem is not difficult. The cherub, which is an angelic servant of God, is in the same category with all living creatures that serve God. In fact, all of the creatures Ezekiel saw are referred to as cherubim (see Ezekiel 10:20). All follow the dictates of His Spirit and perform His work.
Ezekiel 10:12 tells of eyes on the body, backs, hands, and wings of the cherubim and on the wheels. These eyes represent light and knowledge. All creatures who serve God with complete dedication may have the blessing of receiving the Light of Christ, by which Spirit they function in complete harmony, agreeable to His will.
Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote:
“Apparently a cherub is an angel of some particular order or rank to whom specific duties and work are assigned. That portion of the Lord’s word which is now available among men does not set forth clearly either the identity or work of these heavenly beings. . . .
“In English, the plural of cherub is cherubs; in Hebrew, the plural is cherubim, except that the King James Version of the Bible erroneously translates the plural as cherubims. The Book of Mormon (Alma 12:21; 42:2–3), the Pearl of Great Price (Moses 4:31), and the [Joseph Smith Translation] of the Bible (Ex. 25:20–22), give the plural as cherubim.” (Mormon Doctrine, pp. 124–25.)
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A depiction of cherubim on the ark of the covenant |
The part of Ezekiel’s vision found in Ezekiel 10:2, 6–7 is a reference to the judgments and eventual burning and destruction which would come upon the city.
Keil and Delitzsch gave the following explanation of Ezekiel 11:3: “Jeremiah had called upon those in exile to build themselves houses in their banishment, and prepare for a lengthened stay in Babylon, and not to allow themselves to be deceived by the words of false prophets, who predicted a speedy return; for severe judgments had yet to fall upon those who had remained behind in the land [see Jeremiah 29]. This word of Jeremiah the authorities in Jerusalem ridiculed, saying ‘house-building is not near,’ i.e. the house-building in exile is still a long way off; it will not come to this, that Jerusalem should fall either permanently or entirely into the hands of the king of Babylon. On the contrary, Jerusalem is the pot, and we, its inhabitants, are the flesh. The point of comparison is this: as the pot protects the flesh from burning, so does the city of Jerusalem protect us from destruction. . . . This saying expresses not only false confidence in the strength of Jerusalem, but also contempt and scorn of the predictions of the prophets sent by God. Ezekiel is therefore to prophesy, as he does in vers. 5–12, against this pernicious counsel, which is confirming the people in their sins.” (Commentary, 9:1:144–45.)
Ezekiel’s prophecy of Zedekiah’s fate seemed to contradict the prophecies of Jeremiah and caused Zedekiah to reject both (see Notes and Commentary on 2 Kings 25:1–7).
A common mistake that uninspired people make is to ignore prophetic warnings, thinking that the fulfillment is not imminent and that they still have time to “eat, drink, and be merry” (2 Nephi 28:7–8). They think that repentance can come later. The Lord warned of such foolishness during His ministry (see Matthew 24:37–44; 25:1–13). How much wiser it is to repent at the first voice of warning from the Lord’s anointed!
Chapter 13 in Ezekiel closely parallels Jeremiah’s condemnation of false prophets (see Jeremiah 23:9–40).
It is common among the people of the world to reject the words of true prophets and accept the words of false ones (see Helaman 13:24–38). Such is the easy way in the beginning, for it allows people to accept only that which they want to hear. It is, however, the path to destruction.
False prophets pacify and lull people into carnal security (see 2 Nephi 28:21). Like the cunning foxes in the desert (see Ezekiel 13:4), they obtain their prey by subtlety. False pro
