Skip to main content

Ezekiel 30:20-23 On this date in history - Day 270

Good morning friends,

I think I have mentioned that time can be a rather fluid concept in prophetic writings.  The Day of the Lord has numerous implications.  But when it comes to a specific date, the prophet can use very specific words.  So here are some thoughts about dates in ancient times.

Blessings,

Jeff 

I am fascinated with the specific date method used by prophets.  Unlike today, every nation had its own dating system generally related to the reign of kings or other major events.  The Chinese still have their dating method, but the BC/AD standard puts everybody on the same scale.  Reformation Study Bible notes put this as April 587 BC.

Here is the RSB note on Ez 1:1

thirtieth year. July, 593 B.C. The book appears to have a double superscription, one in the first person (v. 1) and the other in the third (vv. 2-3). The dates in the Book of Ezekiel are normally calculated from the year of the captivity of Jehoiachin (cf. 40:1). But the first date in the book specifies a "thirtieth" year (v. 1) and immediately refers to the "fifth year" (v. 2) of Jehoiachin. Probably the "thirtieth" year is Ezekiel’s age at the time of his prophetic call, coinciding with the "fifth" year of Jehoiachin. Ezekiel 1:1

So coming up with a BC/AD date is something like a jigsaw puzzle.  Ezekiel knew the specific date in reference to the year of captivity.  But the year of captivity was only a big deal to Israel.  Babylonians might take note of the date they took another nation captive but not use that date as a reference for anything else..  

But the fact remains, that there was a specific date when this message came to Ezekiel about events in Egypt that he could not have known about otherwise.  These "it has happened" messages follow the prophesy against Egypt.  The prophecy was fulfilled on these specific dates. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Leviticus 18:21 - Partial restoration of creation order

Dear Friends, Some times we forget that Moses wrote Genesis.  Obviously, he did not have first hand knowledge of the events of creation.  But God did and revealed them to Moses.  The "story arc" is clear to Moses despite the millenia of history between Genesis and Leviticus.  The plan for ultimate restoration is hazy, but God is at work repairing some of the damage. Blessings, Jeff What is the prohibition on child sacrifice doing in the list of prohibited sexual relations? Be fruitful and multiply - First commandment in Genesis.  God made the world to be inhabited.   Having children is how this  was to happen.  So child sacrifice was a direct violation of this first command to Adam and Eve. Marriage is one man and one woman is the creation order. Seems simple enough.  I can imagine men thinking, Yeah but God didn't say which woman.  I will do the one woman thing if she is my sister, or aunt or …..  So God gives all these examples of unlawful unions.  To this day, man stil
Post a Comment
Read more

1 Chronicles 24:1-6 How about those Levites! Day 332

Good morning friends, Good foundations are important.  Our author turns to the religious life of the returning exiles. Blessings, Jeff We have seen the emphasis on the Davidic line in the  political life of Israel.  The other area of emphasis is the Aaronic priesthood and Levitical workers. In this passage we have a quick review of the somewhat sanitized picture of the start of Aaron's line.  The returning exiles would have known that Nadab and Abihu did not just "die before their father without children".  They rebelled against God by offering unauthorized fire and were themselves consumed by fire from the Lord. Leviticus 10.  The case of Abiathar  son of Ahitub son of Ahimelech, who was faithful to David, but later rebelled with Adonijah is also not mentioned. But the passage points to the importance of the Aaronic line to the rebuilding of the temple by the exiles.  The history of the northern kingdom which was without the Levites from the beginning could not be repeat
Post a Comment
Read more

Revelation 22:3-5 Final and eternal restoration - Day 365

Dear saints in the Lord, Congratulations!  You made it.  We have been through much turmoil in the last year ('20-'21).  But God is faithful to His promises.  I trust that you have been blessed in your reading and have drawn closer to God.   Since we didn't get the blog up and running at the beginning of the challenge, I am going to go back and post entries to cover that first month or so.   Blessings, Jeff Nothing accursed in the city of God, the new Jerusalem.  The presence of sin will be gone.  I am working on memorizing Westminster Shorter Catechism and currently on question 82.  Is any man able perfectly to keep the commandments of God? No mere man since the fall is able in this life perfectly to keep the commandments of God but does daily break them in thought, word and deed. I think our passage today points to the truth of this question.  Do you notice how this answer is not exactly the same as the question. "Any man" becomes "no mere man since the fall
Post a Comment
Read more