BIBL105: Old Testament Survey
13 THE MAJOR PROPHETS, II
EZEKIEL
Fast Facts
•Who? Ezekiel
•When? 593-571 B.C.
•To whom? Jewish Exiles
•Where? Jewish Exiles in Babylon
•Why? To comfort the Jewish exiles
•Timeline of the Major Prophets
•Ezekiel is taken in the second wave of exiles in 597 B.C.
Background of Ezekiel
•Ezekiel is both a prophet and priest
•He has a focus on the current and future temples
•For a time, Ezekiel can only speak when God gave him a message to the exiles to preach
•He receives his call when in chapters 1-3 when God visited him riding in his royal throne
•The book of Ezekiel has two major purposes:
•To encourage the exiles who had been taken from their homeland to return to the
Lord.
•The phrase “know that I am the Lord” occurs over 65 times throughout the
book.
•To encourage the nation that although they had temporarily lost their land and
their temple, in the future God would permanently restore the nation and that a
BIBL105: Old Testament Survey
future temple would be given to the people during the future Messianic age.
The departure of God’s Glory from the Temple (9-11)
•Ezekiel, in a vision, sees the temple and sees the glory of God depart in a long process
(ch 9-11)
•God left the temple because the people had left God.
The King Shepherd
•Ezekiel speaks of a kingly shepherd who is of the line of David
•He will rule Israel in the future and be the ideal king that the nation had always longed
for throughout its history.
•Jesus Himself uses the idea of being the “good shepherd” in John 10
Future Restoration of Israel in 2 Stages (33-39)
•Leadership restored (33-36)
•Land Regained: Valley of Dry Bones (37)
•Ezekiel preaches to a valley of skeletons
•The skeletons come back together and to life!
•Invasion of Gog and Magog (38-39)
Ezekiel’s Temple (40-48)
•This is a future temple that will be built
•The water of life flows from it
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Jeremiah, Lamentations and Ezekiel Wrap Up
•We see that the sinful condition of the nation caused God’s judgment to fall
•Even though God judged the nation, one day He would establish a New Covenant with
His people
•God will give Israel a “good shepherd” king to lead not only them but the entire
world.
•In the future Messianic kingdom, the Messiah (Jesus) will rule the entire world
Ezekiel & Jesus
•Jesus is the Good Shepherd
•Jesus is the Living Water
DANIEL
Fast Facts
•Who? Daniel: Prophet and Hebrew captive
•When? 605-535 B.C. during the Babylonian captivity
•To Whom? Captive Israel and Gentile world powers
•Where? Babylon
•Daniel is taken captive to Babylon in 605 B.C.
•The book of Daniel is written in two languages: Hebrew and Aramaic
Daniel’s plan (1)
•Don’t eat the wine and meat at the king’s table
BIBL105: Old Testament Survey
•The plan: eat only vegetables and drink water for ten days
•God blesses them and allows them to look better than the others so they can
continue this for the 3 year period
Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream (2)
•Nebuchadnezzar has a dream and calls in his wise men to give an interpretation
•Daniel prays and is given the interpretation of the dream
•Statue represents Gentile Kingdoms
•Head of Gold = Babylon
•Stone = Kingdom of the Messiah that will end human government
The Fiery Furnace (3)
•Nebuchadnezzar decides to make a golden statue for the nation to bow down and worship
to show loyalty throughout the empire
•When the music plays, everyone must bow down and worship the statue
•If not, they will be thrown alive into a fiery furnace
•Daniel 3:16–18 “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this
be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he
will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we
will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
Nebuchadnezzar’s Insanity and conversion (4)
•Nebuchadnezzar has another dream that Daniel interprets, this time God warns him about
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his pride.
•He ignores the warning and God makes him insane, making him think he is an animal for
seven years
•After seven years, his sanity returns and he worships God
Belshazzar’s Folly (5)
•The city is surrounded by Cyrus the Great, but Belshazzar does not think the city is in
danger and throws a party.
•They run out of cups and so he has them bring out the Jewish temple vessels
•He then sees a human handwriting on the wall of his palace but no one can interpret it
•Daniel reads the inscription
•Daniel tells him Babylon will be defeated and that is exactly what occurs when Cyrus
conquers the city that night
The Lion’s Den (6)
•Darius the Mede takes over Babylon
•They convince Darius to sign a decree that no one is allowed to pray for 30 days or they
will be thrown alive into a lion’s den
•Daniel hears about the law and yet continues to pray
•Daniel is thrown into the lion’s den but God protects him
Daniel’s Prophetic Ministry (7-12)
•In Daniel 7, Daniel himself has a dream of four beasts in Belshazzar’s first year of his
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reign
•Daniel prophecies of the coming kingdoms and powers
Daniel’s Son of Man (Dan 7)
•“Ancient of Days” = God the Father
•“Son of Man” = Messiah
•Jesus’ favorite term for Himself throughout his ministry is “Son of Man” (82 times
throughout the Gospels)
Future Resurrection and end of the book (12)
•Daniel 12:2 is the clearest promise of a future resurrection in the entire Old Testament
•“And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting
life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”
Daniel Wrap up
•Daniel deals with the challenges of being a believer in a pagan world
•Redemption
•God consistently delivers Daniel and his friends
•The Son of Man is coming to reign and rule
•New Creation
•Everyone will be resurrected, some to glory and some to punishment
