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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. 

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