20151104 Wednesday, November 4 2015
Ezekiel 11: The East Gate Vision

by Wayne Blank
See also 1 Year Holy Bible Reading Plan

"Moreover the spirit lifted me up, and brought me unto the east gate of the LORD's house, which looketh eastward"

Ezekiel chapter 11 is a further continuation of the previous chapters - keeping in mind that there were no chapter breaks or verse numbers in the Holy Scriptures as they were actually written. Chapters were first formally made in the early 1200s, while verse numbers (i.e. numbering the sentences) were officially added in the 1500s - both by Europeans.

The places where chapters were made do however generally mark the beginning and end of a particular part of an entire revelation or documentation i.e. see Ezekiel 4: Ezekiel's Satellite View, Ezekiel 5: What Is At The Center Of The Earth?, Ezekiel 6: Getting High, Ezekiel 7: Blown To Smithereens, Ezekiel 8: Halloween In The Jerusalem Temple, Ezekiel 9: The Mark Of The Angel and Ezekiel 10: Guardians Of The Way).

The Kingdom of Judah (see Israel In History and Prophecy: Kingdom Of Judah) and their capital city of Jerusalem (see A History Of Jerusalem: The Capital Of Judah; also When Did Jerusalem Become An Israelite City?) had, as a whole, become irreparably corrupt. The Temple of the LORD (see Israel In History and Prophecy: The Temple) was however the greatest abomination because it was, in effect, an embassy of the future Kingdom of God on Earth. The Kingdom of Israel (which was later divided into the independent kingdoms of Israel and Judah; see Israel In History and Prophecy: Israel and Judah) had been created as a living prophecy of how people of all nations (see The Origin Of Israelites And Jews) can become native citizens of the Kingdom of God (see What Was The Lesson Of John 3:16?) - but the defilement of the Temple was an attack on the representation of the Throne of God itself. What is most amazing is not that the LORD rendered the hijacked and corrupted building into rubble - but that He waited as long as He did to do it.

Ezekiel was in Babylon when the Temple was given to be destroyed at the hand of the Babylonian army, but like the previous visions (see the links to chapters above), Ezekiel was given to see it all in "high definition" vision.

"11:1 Moreover the spirit lifted me up, and brought me unto the east gate of the LORD'S house, which looketh eastward: and behold at the door of the gate five and twenty men; among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people. 11:2 Then said he unto me, Son of man, these are the men that devise mischief, and give wicked counsel in this city: 11:3 Which say, It is not near; let us build houses: this city is the caldron, and we be the flesh. 11:4 Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man.

11:5 And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus saith the LORD; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them. 11:6 Ye have multiplied your slain in this city, and ye have filled the streets thereof with the slain.

11:7 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Your slain whom ye have laid in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and this city is the caldron: but I will bring you forth out of the midst of it. 11:8 Ye have feared the sword; and I will bring a sword upon you, saith the Lord GOD. 11:9 And I will bring you out of the midst thereof, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you. 11:10 Ye shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 11:11 This city shall not be your caldron, neither shall ye be the flesh in the midst thereof; but I will judge you in the border of Israel: 11:12 And ye shall know that I am the LORD: for ye have not walked in my statutes, neither executed my judgments, but have done after the manners of the heathen that are round about you.

11:13 And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then fell I down upon my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel?

11:14 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 11:15 Son of man, thy brethren, even thy brethren, the men of thy kindred, and all the house of Israel wholly, are they unto whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Get you far from the LORD: unto us is this land given in possession.

11:16 Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come.

11:17 Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.

11:18 And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence. 11:19 And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh: 11:20 That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 11:21 But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord GOD.

11:22 Then did the cherubims lift up their wings, and the wheels beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. 11:23 And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city. 11:24 Afterwards the spirit took me up, and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity.

So the vision that I had seen went up from me. 11:25 Then I spake unto them of the captivity all the things that the LORD had shewed me." (Ezekiel 11:1-25 KJV)

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