Ezekiel was a contemporary of Jeremiah and Lehi in Jerusalem before the attack of Babylon. There is not much recorded about him personally, but he was from a priestly family, may have been a generation younger than Jeremiah, and was taken captive into Babylon where he continued to prophesy. In the first chapters of his book, he sees God in vision and is called to deliver the word of God to Israel. This post is a cautionary tale to Priesthood leaders and Church members of any dispensation – this is a “don’t let this happen to you” kind of lesson.
The Watchmen
READ Ezekiel 3:17-19
What kind of responsibility
does Ezekiel have to his family, friends, and people?
READ Ezekiel 9:2 and 4-5
Who are the six “men” that
Ezekiel sees?
What is the mark that is set
upon the heads of those who cry against the abominations of Israel?
Is this real and how does it
inform Ezekiel’s mission from the Lord?
The Shepherds of Israel
READ Ezekiel 13:2-3 and 10 and
14 and 1 Nephi 17:22
Revisiting the same theme of
priestcraft that Jeremiah saw, what does it mean that the Priests built a wall
with untampered mortar?
What does it mean that their
“foundation shall be discovered”?
Why are they called “Prophets”
if they aren’t connected to heaven?
READ Ezekiel 34:1-6 and 18-19
What is a “shepherd” and how
does the role differ from a “hireling”?
Who are the “shepherds of
Israel”?
What are the shepherds doing
or not doing?
What does it mean to “tread
down the pasture” and “foul the water”? (v18-19)
Why does God say “there is no
shepherd”?
READ Ezekiel 34:7-10
What does it mean “I am
against the shepherds”?
READ Ezekiel 34:11-16
Who will the Lord install as the
new shepherd to His people?
How can God take the place of
priests and leaders in the day to day lives of the people?
In Israel, the priesthood
leadership was all killed when the Babylonians invaded. The few who were taken captive had to rely
directly on the Lord, like the handcart pioneers, they “came through with the
absolute knowledge that God lives, for (they) became acquainted with Him in
(their) extremities.” (William Palmer)
Dependence on a Prophet
READ Ezekiel 14:1-6
These men are coming to the
prophet for him to inquire of the Lord; why would God treat them with distain?
What does it mean that the
Lord instructs the prophet that He will answer the men “according to the
multitude of their idols”?
READ TPJS 266:2
“President Joseph Smith
read the 14th chapter of Ezekiel—said the Lord had declared by the Prophet,
that the people should each one stand for himself, and depend on no man or men
in that state of corruption of the Jewish church—that righteous persons could
only deliver their own souls —applied it to the present state of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—said if the people departed from the Lord,
they must fall—that they were depending on the Prophet, hence were darkened in
their minds, in consequence of neglecting the duties devolving upon themselves,
envious towards the innocent, while they afflict the virtuous with their shafts
of envy.”
Why would the people be
darkened in their minds from depending on the Prophet?
What duties devolving upon
themselves might they have been neglecting because of their over-dependence on
the Prophet?
READ Ezekiel 33:30-33
What is Ezekiel to the people
who will come to listen to him?
Why do they like what he says
but do not do what he says?
No comments:
Post a Comment