"And he spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe." - Ezekiel 2:10 [Rev. 10:9-11]
Among all the voices that contribute to the doctrines of the Last Days, Jeremiah and Ezekiel are The Unheeded Prophets. Their messages are unappealing to the "positive thinking" of the general assembly of apostates. How hardly could such men endure even a light reading of the burden! Hopeful hypocrites don't see the happiness in reading 100 Chapters of prophecy saturated with lamentations, mourning, and woe (Ezek. 2:10). This propensity of hypocrites to despise correction and disregard justice is truly disturbing (Jer. 6:10-11, Mal. 3:13-4:1, Lk. 6:25).
 | "I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with indignation." - Jeremiah 15:17 "Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts?" - Malachi 3:14 "Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep." - Luke 6:25 |
Considering the scope of the Gospel revealed to David and Isaiah, it is easy to see why Jeremiah and Ezekiel are so easily marginalized by students of Biblical Prophecy today. However, this is a costly and unforgivable mistake! For, the Messianic Prophecy revealed to David and Isaiah is noticeably void of the detail provided by Jeremiah and Ezekiel. That's not to say that David and Isaiah didn't foresee and speak about the Babylonian Captivity. Admittedly, David didn't know that God would specifically use the Babylonians, but he foresaw the same event later clarified by Isaiah to be the Babylonian Captivity.
| David's Foresight Babylonian Captivity: Ps. 79, 88, 89, 137, 126, 107; Ps. 14:7, 53:6 | Isaiah's Foresight Babylonian Captivity: Isa. 13:1-14:27, 21:1-11, 47:1-15, 49:5-6, 24, 51:14, 52:2 |
It's not like David and Isaiah were somehow ignorant that God could or would use the heathen as an instrument of chastisement to correct the backslidden Church. David fundamentally acknowledged this much in Psalm 17:13-14. Also, we can be sure that David consciously related to God according to the parameters outlined in Leviticus 26. However, David knew much more about God's judgment UPON the heathen comparatively to God's judgment THROUGH the heathen. This is exactly why people are drawn to the Messianic Prophecy of David or Isaiah more than Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
Granted, Isaiah knew much more than David. He was one of the earliest prophets to clarify the national origin of the heathen people that God would eventually use, namely the Babylonians. Also, in being the foremost prophet to unveil how God was judging the Church through Assyria, it was necessary for God to give Isaiah a greater comprehension of the matter. Isaiah's prophecies concerning the coming of Babylon were particularly striking after all was said and done concerning Assyria (Isa. 36, 27, 38, 39). Who could deny that God was speaking to the man now that the finger of God was pointing to another adversary on the horizon (Isa. 39)! Also, given the fact that Assyria was a typological representation of what God would do through Babylon, Isaiah's prophecies concerning Assyria contribute to the doctrine of Babylon as a whole. Nevertheless, in respect to the 66 Chapters of Isaiah, God's judgment THROUGH the heathen occupies only a small portion. The vast majority speaks about God's judgment UPON the heathen and the glory that would follow.
Granted, Isaiah knew much more than David. He was one of the earliest prophets to clarify the national origin of the heathen people that God would eventually use, namely the Babylonians. Also, in being the foremost prophet to unveil how God was judging the Church through Assyria, it was necessary for God to give Isaiah a greater comprehension of the matter. Isaiah's prophecies concerning the coming of Babylon were particularly striking after all was said and done concerning Assyria (Isa. 36, 27, 38, 39). Who could deny that God was speaking to the man now that the finger of God was pointing to another adversary on the horizon (Isa. 39)! Also, given the fact that Assyria was a typological representation of what God would do through Babylon, Isaiah's prophecies concerning Assyria contribute to the doctrine of Babylon as a whole. Nevertheless, in respect to the 66 Chapters of Isaiah, God's judgment THROUGH the heathen occupies only a small portion. The vast majority speaks about God's judgment UPON the heathen and the glory that would follow.
| God's Judgment Through Assyria / Babylon: Isa. 1:21, 27, 3:13-14, 4:4, 5:16, 26-30, 10:5-19, 28:17-22 | God's Judgment Upon Assyria / Babylon & the Glory that Follows: SPECIFIC REFERENCES OF JUDGMENT: Isa. 2:4, 10-22, 11:3-4, 26:8-10, 30:18, 27-33, 32:1-4, 33:5-6, 22, 34:1-10, 42:1-4, 51:4-5; OVERALL CHAPTERS INCLUDING BOTH JUDGMENT & GLORY: Isa. 2, 4, 11, 12, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 54, 55, 56, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66 |
The emphasis of David & Isaiah's vision of foresight is God's Judgment UPON Babylon. They understood that God's judgment UPON the heathen was the crowning achievement of the Kingdom of God! As for David, his heart was exceedingly enlarged in the foresight of this event, prophetically declaring, "HE SHALL JUDGE THE WORLD IN RIGHTEOUSNESS" (Ps. 9:7-8, 16-20; 96:10, 13, 98:9)! You know... the same statement Paul attributed to the 2nd Coming of Christ, when he said, "He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man" (Acts 17:31; 2 Thess. 1:3-12, Jas. 5:9, Jude 1:14-15)! The combined testimony of the historical books and the Psalms convey to us what David realized in his lifetime and, in contrast, what he knew about and came short of - a vision of the Kingdom of God that extends beyond his lifetime. It's understandable for redeemed men to be fascinated with this climactic and most glorious event, namely because it's the fruition of the Gospel in the End of the World! However, men do so at the neglect of Jeremiah and Ezekiel and thereby endanger their own souls! These two unheeded Prophets simply cannot be ignored!
My reader, I plead with you to reconsider your pursuit of knowledge in Biblical Prophecy! Sincerely, I'm asking... what's it all for? What is the end goal of your studies? Is it to answer the unanswered question of doomed generations? Sadly, most men will continue to subconsciously disregard the ministries of Jeremiah and Ezekiel and thereby remain unfit to interpret the Book of Revelation. On the contrary, we must come to understand the differences between the Prophets and appreciate the vital importance of all their voices in the grand scheme of things.
We can be certain that David knew this much: (1) the sin of the Jewish People would warrant a Captivity (Babylonian Captivity: Ps. 79, 88, 89, 137, 126, 107; Ps. 14:7, 53:6); (2) a great War would be waged for the successful deliverance of the Jewish People from Captivity (the 2nd Advent War: Ps. 2, 110, 83, 46, 118, 58, 21, 144, & 104); (3) the dispersed Jews would be regathered and establishment in the Kingdom of God (the Coming Kingdom: 1 Chron. 16:23-36; Ps. 96, 97, 98); (4) the glory of the Kingdom would be completely unprecedented in worldwide dominion (the Millennial Reign of Christ: Ps. 45, 87, 65, 66, 67, 148, 149). Also, we can also be certain that David knew very little about how God would purify the Church through the Babylonian Captivity. In other words, he knew very little about God's judgment of the Church THROUGH Babylon. This is where Jeremiah and Ezekiel come in.
My reader, I plead with you to reconsider your pursuit of knowledge in Biblical Prophecy! Sincerely, I'm asking... what's it all for? What is the end goal of your studies? Is it to answer the unanswered question of doomed generations? Sadly, most men will continue to subconsciously disregard the ministries of Jeremiah and Ezekiel and thereby remain unfit to interpret the Book of Revelation. On the contrary, we must come to understand the differences between the Prophets and appreciate the vital importance of all their voices in the grand scheme of things.
We can be certain that David knew this much: (1) the sin of the Jewish People would warrant a Captivity (Babylonian Captivity: Ps. 79, 88, 89, 137, 126, 107; Ps. 14:7, 53:6); (2) a great War would be waged for the successful deliverance of the Jewish People from Captivity (the 2nd Advent War: Ps. 2, 110, 83, 46, 118, 58, 21, 144, & 104); (3) the dispersed Jews would be regathered and establishment in the Kingdom of God (the Coming Kingdom: 1 Chron. 16:23-36; Ps. 96, 97, 98); (4) the glory of the Kingdom would be completely unprecedented in worldwide dominion (the Millennial Reign of Christ: Ps. 45, 87, 65, 66, 67, 148, 149). Also, we can also be certain that David knew very little about how God would purify the Church through the Babylonian Captivity. In other words, he knew very little about God's judgment of the Church THROUGH Babylon. This is where Jeremiah and Ezekiel come in.
The Gospel is something even false prophets would pretentiously welcome, but they would never welcome the likes of Babylon. This is exactly why they hated Jeremiah (Jer. 27:1-28:17; COMMENTARY)! They would never welcome the Day of the Lord THROUGH Babylon for a despite of its terribleness (Isa. 13:6, 9; Ezek. 13:5, Joel 1:15, 2:1, 11; Zeph. 1:7-8, 14; Zech. 14:1, 1 Thess. 5:2). They would never welcome what Jeremiah called a Day of Evil (Jer. 17:17-18, 19:3; Prov. 16:4, Eccl. 12:1-7, 1 Sam. 3:11, 2 Kings 21:12, Hab. 1:5-6, 3:16-19); what Zephaniah called a Day of Wrath (Zeph. 1:15, 18, 2:1-3; Job 21:30, Prov. 11:4, Lam. 2:22, Rom. 2:4-11); what Joel called a Day of Darkness (Joel 2:1-2, 10, 30-31, Zeph. 1:14-18, Isa. 13:1-11, 59:9-10, Jer. 2:12, 4:19-29, Rev. 6:12-14, 8:12, 9:1-3; see Trumpet #4); nor would they ever welcome what Jesus foretold to be "the Days of Vengeance" (Jer. 5:9, 29, 9:9; Lk. 21:22, Rev. 17:17, Ezek. 38:16-17)!
"Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and NONE OF THE WICKED SHALL UNDERSTAND; but the wise shall understand." - Daniel 12:10
Unless wicked men repent, it's simply impossible for them to understand how God (as a last resort!) brings evil upon an evil people to make them good again. Literally, it's impossible (Prov. 14:6, 17:16; Matt. 11:25-26)! Furthermore, all good men need to take a long hard look at "the conversion experience" of Jeremiah and Habakkuk recorded in Jeremiah 14:1-17:18 & Habakkuk 1:1-3:19 (COMMENTARY) before the prophetic clock reaches midnight. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.
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