Who could it be? (Ezekiel)

by Bubbamar 7 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  Bubbamar

  An old letter I have from my mom had this Ezekiel 33:33 quote as a closing: "They shall know that there was a prophet among them."

  I'm sure she was not referring to Ezekiel himself - the person to whom God was speaking. I'm sure she was referring to the JW's. That leads me then to 3 questions:

  1. The Jdubs a prophet? Really now?!? LMAO

  2. Where does it say that Ez. has modern day fulfillment?

  3. If Ez. does in fact have modern day fulfillment, then who could God be referring to in Ez. 13: 3-9? "Thus says the Lord God: Woe to those prophets who are fools, who follow their own spirits and have seen no vision. Like foxes amoung ruins are your prophets, O Isreal! Their visions are false and their divination lying. They say, "Thus says the Lord!" Though the Lord did not send them; then they wait for him to fulfill their word! But I will stretch out my hand against the prophets who have false visions and who fortell lies. They shall not belong to the community of my people, nor be recorded in the register of the house of Isreal, nor enter the land of Isreal; thus you shall know that I am the Lord."

  ***And here's where we courageous apostates come in (vs. 21) " I will tear off your veils and rescue my people from your power so that they shall no longer be prey to your hands. Thus you shall know that I am the Lord."
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  peacefulpete

  These words in our book of Ezekiel are typical sectarian rhetoric. A movement toward Yahwist reforms was being thrust on the people, and was not well received. The author of these words was just like the JW leadership today who declare theirs to be the 'original pure true worship' and the opposition are liers and fools.
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  RR

  *** w97 6/1 p. 15 A Secret Christians Dare Not Keep! ***

  13

  May no one ever be able to say that we as Jehovah?s Witnesses have kept God?s Kingdom message secret! Whether the message is accepted or rejected, people must know that it has been preached. (Compare Ezekiel 2:5; 33:33.) Let us therefore take advantage of each and every opportunity to speak the message of truth to all, wherever we happen to meet them.

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  w91 3/15 p. 17 Keep Pace With Jehovah?s Celestial Chariot ***

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  What would be the outcome? Verse 33 adds: "And when it comes true?look! it must come true?they will also have to know that a prophet himself had proved to be in the midst of them." Those words reveal that Ezekiel did not give up because of lack of response. The apathy of others did not make him apathetic. Whether people listened or not, he obeyed God and fulfilled his commission.

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  Jehovah?s visible organization is now intensifying the proclamation that all should fear God and give him glory. Do you persevere when criticized for taking a bold stand in giving the Kingdom witness, for being moral in your life-style? Are you standing firm when you are the target of pressure because of not accepting blood, not worshiping national emblems, not celebrating worldly holidays??Matthew 5:11, 12; 1 Peter 4:4, 5.

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  w88 9/15 p. 23 "They Will Have to Know That I Am Jehovah" ***

  6

  Near the end of 607 B.C.E., a refugee reported Jerusalem?s destruction, and Ezekiel again spoke Jehovah?s message. (Ezekiel 33:21-29) How did the exiles react? (Read Ezekiel 33:30-33.) Today, many are like the Jewish exiles to whom Ezekiel was a singer of ?a sensuous love song.? When the anointed ones and their associates call from house to house, these people enjoy the sound of the Kingdom message but do not embrace it. To them, it is like a pleasant love song, but they do not make a dedication to Jehovah, and they will not survive the "great tribulation."
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  Leolaia

  This passage occurs in the third section of Ezekiel (ch. 33-39) which is devoted to a reflection on the recent seige and destruction of Jerusalem (cf. 33:21-22) and the contrasting role of the prophet and king in what transpired. That is, the prophet acted as sentry (33:1-9) and a genuine leader ignored by the people who should have listened (cf. 33:30-33), whereas the appointed "shepherds" of Israel mistreated the people and led them into disaster (ch. 34). The statement about people realizing with hindsight that "there has been a prophet among them" in 34:1 immediately precedes the rebuke against the shepherds in ch. 34 which draws on Jeremiah 23:5-6 and the theme was developed further in Zechariah 11:4-17. What is interesting is that these two "shepherd" rebukes precede an extended oracle on "messianic" restoration of Israel and the land (cf. Ezekiel 37, Zechariah 12-13). The shepherd rebuke in Ezekiel is also eschatological by referring to David as the future shepherd and ruler of the House of Israel (cf. 34:23-31). This is the main reason why the "shepherd" rebukes are utilized in the gospel tradition, with Jesus taking the role of prophet, as we can see Ezekiel 34 alluded to in Matthew 18:12-14, Luke 15:4-7, and John 10:1-18, while Zechariah 11:12-13 was the basis of Matthew 26:15, 27:3-10 and 11:17 was quoted in John 10:12-13. As for the material in 33:30-33, note the mention of both unconcerned people sitting in public places listening like "a love song beautifully sung to music" and the told-you-so statement of the people realizing that "there has been a prophet among you".....this is reflected in Luke 7:26-32 which condemns John the Baptist's contemporaries as like children sitting in public places singing dirges and playing the pipes and the identification of John as the prophet in their midst. The Ezekiel passage was also likely utilized in Matthew 7:26 to refer to Jesus himself:

  Ezekiel 33:31 (LXX): kai akouousin ta rhemata sou kai auta ou me poiesousin...
  Matthew 7:26: kai pas ho akouon mou tous logous toutous kai me poion autous...

  I would imagine that Ezekiel 34:23-31 is one rationale the Society would give in support of looking for a modern (or at least, a future) fulfillment. Of course, they mine the entire chapter for anything that could be applied to themselves, such as the sentry passage re the "man with the inkhorn" in v. 1-9. One difference between Ezekiel and the JWs, however, is that Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the other kindred Yahwist prophets were proved right by the events of history re the end of the nation of Judah. Thus Ezekiel's "I-told-you-so" glee in 33:33. The Society can claim no such success in predicting the future....other than the prediction in the 1940s or so that the League of Nations would rise again. Its dismal record indeed comports well with the false prophets of ch. 13, "who make up prophecies out of their own heads" and who are "still waiting for their words to come true" (v. 2, 6). Here is another scripture that reminds me of their presumptuousness and desire for Armageddon:

  "There will be trouble for those who are waiting so longingly for the day of Jehovah! What will this day of Jehovah mean for you? It will mean darkness, not light...Woe to those ensconsed so snugly in Zion [read: Bethel] and to those who feel so safe on the mountain of Samaria ... they drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest oil for anointing themselves" (Amos 5:18, 6:1, 6).

  Of course, this is somewhat of a matter of the pot calling the kettle black.....even Ezekiel reveals that he too made false prophecies (cf. the statement in ch. 14 from c. AD 590 on the total extermination of children left behind in Jerusalem had to be adjusted with a postscript in v. 22-23, probably written c. 586, where he conceded that his threat did not come to pass as stated), but he didn't advertise that fact....
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  Pole

  The fascinating book of Ezekiel divinely authored by the chastity-loving God of the Bible himself.

  Why do you think God took delight in putting some of these words in Ezekiel's inspired mouth? And don't come up with lame excuses, please. Don't show me the hidden prophetic meanings of "the genital organ of male horses".

  Ezekiel - a bitter megalomaniac sexual pervert of a prophet:

  And she continued giving forth her prostitutions upon them, the choicest sons of As·syr´i·a all of them; and with all those after whom she lusted?with their dungy idols?she defiled herself. 8

  And her prostitutions [carried] from Egypt she did not leave, for with her they had lain down in her youth, and they were the ones that pressed the bosoms of her virginity and they kept pouring out their immoral intercourse upon her.

  And she kept multiplying her acts of prostitution to the point of calling to mind the days of her youth, when she prostituted herself in the land of Egypt. 20

  And she kept lusting in the style of concubines belonging to those whose fleshly member is as the fleshly member of male asses and whose genital organ is as the genital organ of male horses. 21 And you continued calling attention to the loose conduct of your youth by the pressing of your bosoms from Egypt onward, for the sake of the breasts of your youth.

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  And they must come in against you with rattling of war chariots and wheels, and with a congregation of peoples, with large shield and buckler and helmet. They will set themselves against you all around, and I will give judgment over to them, and they must judge you with their judgments. 25 And I will express my ardor against you, and they must take action against you in rage. Your nose and your ears they will remove, and the remainder of you will fall even by the sword. Your sons and your daughters they themselves will take, and the remainder of you will be devoured by the fire. 26 And they will certainly strip off you your garments and take away your beautiful articles. 27 And I shall actually cause your loose conduct to cease from you, and your prostitution [carried] from the land of Egypt; and you will not raise your eyes to them, and Egypt you will remember no more.?

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  ?For this is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah has said, ?Here I am giving you into the hand of those whom you have hated, into the hand of those from whom your soul has turned away disgusted. 29 And they must take action against you in hatred and take away all your product of toil and leave you naked and nude; and the nudeness of your acts of fornication and your loose conduct and your acts of prostitution must be uncovered. 30 There will be a doing of these things to you because of your going like a prostitute after [the] nations, on account of the fact that you defiled yourself with their dungy idols. 31 In the way of your sister you have walked; and I shall have to give her cup into your hand.?
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  ezekiel3

  If you read Ezekiel Chapter 3 then maybe you will know who I am.

  EZ3
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  Pole

  If you read Ezekiel Chapter 3 then maybe you will know who I am.

  Bookworm?
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  Carmel

  and of course all this is to be taken literally?

  carmel who should not butt in