Count the Hearts
by Eric Engelmann
All content © 2023 Static Force, LLC
When are we?
About 590 BC. Early in the life of Daniel. After Moses, Joshua, the Judges, David and Solomon. Before the destruction of the first temple and (of course) before the rebuilding of the second.
Where are we?
In the Babylonian kingdom by the river Chebar. ??? The river may actually be a canal south and east of the capital city of Babylon.
Why are we here now?
God is going to tell the prophet Ezekiel what He's going to do with some stony hearts. That’s something the Gospel According to the Rock might want to pay attention to. I'd also like to ask another riddle: how many kinds of hearts will the Most High talk about with Ezekiel?
Some History
King Nebuchadnezzar has expanded the Babylonian empire at Judah's expense. He hasn’t leveled Solomon’s temple yes, but he has taken away captives from Jerusalem and resettled them within Babylon. Ezekiel is among some of the people relocated.
Very recently, the Holy Spirit has carried Ezekiel to view a group of 25 leaders in Jerusalem.
This upcoming passage is a little complex. It talks about Yahweh, Ezekiel, people in Jerusalem, people cast out of Jerusalem, and the land of Israel. This passage also hints at another spiritual force of detestable things and abominations. Yahweh will talk about some of them and will talk to some of them.
This passage also talks about the past, the present and the future.
Scripture
Ezekiel 11:14-21
Verse 14 Yahweh’s word came to me, saying,
15 “Son of man, your brothers, even your brothers, the men of your relatives, and all the house of Israel, all of them, are they to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘Go far away from Yahweh. This land has been given to us for a possession.’
Note: I count two groups of Jewish people. People in Jerusalem who have said 'Go far away', and the people like Ezekiel who have been carried far away. The Most High is going to settle some things about who really is going to take possession of Israel.
Verse 16 “Therefore say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Whereas I have removed them far off among the nations, and whereas I have scattered them among the countries, yet I will be to them a sanctuary for a little while in the countries where they have come.”’
Note: Now the Most High is going to predict what He will say to the people who were carried away.
Verse 17 “Therefore say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “I will gather you from the peoples, and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.”
Note: Now He’ll talk more about the people who were carried away:
Verse 18 “‘They will come there, and they will take away all its detestable things and all its abominations from there.
19 I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh;
20 that they may walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances, and do them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.
21 But as for them whose heart walks after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their way on their own heads,’ says the Lord Yahweh.”
-- Ezekiel 11:14-21
That's the end of the passage.
How many hearts? I see 1) A heart of flesh; 2) A heart of stone; 3) A heart that *follows* into detestable things, and 4) A heart that *leads* into detestable things.
I count four hearts.
It looks like having a heart of flesh that follows God's commands is better than having a stony heart that doesn't. But having a stony heart isn't as bad as a heart that is intent on following some other abomination.
The fourth heart that leads other hearts into abominations might mean a spirit. One you don't want to follow. It looks to me like the stony hearts who don't follow abominations are better off. They have a chance to get hearts of flesh. Hearts that hear and obey the Most High.
In the future
Ezekiel will soon finish prophesying concerning the leaders in Jerusalem. Then the Spirit will take him from Jerusalem to the east, stop at the Mount of Olives, and then Ezekiel will be carried by the Spirit back to Babylon.
Within a few years, Nebuchadnezzar will besiege Jerusalem. It will fall, and the leaders of Jerusalem will be brought away from the city and killed -- fulfilling part of Ezekiel 11.
About two generations later, Jews will return to Israel and begin to build the second temple in Jerusalem, fulfilling more of the prophecies in Ezekiel 11.
Further in the future, John the Baptist will baptize some people. There will be men who choose not to be baptized. He will tell them not to think that they're unduly special. "Don’t think to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I tell you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these *stones*."
Later, Jesus will tell some disciples, come, follow me. Jesus will say to some that refuse to follow Him that the Kingdom of God will be taken from them and given to others.
Further in the future, Jesus' disciples will go to the Mount of Olives, and watch Jesus ascend to heaven. Eventually they'll go in many directions with the good news of Jesus' kingdom all over the world.
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