EzekielEzekiel

• “Then lie down on your left side, and I will place on you the guilt of the nation of Israel. For 390 days you will stay there and suffer because of their guilt. I have sentenced you to one day for each year their punishment will last. When you finish that, turn over on your right side and suffer for the guilt of Judah for forty days---one day for each year of their punishment.” (Ezekiel 4:4-6 – GN)

• “You will feel my anger when I turn it loose on you like a blazing fire. And I will hand you over to brutal men, experts at destruction.” (Ezekiel 21:31 – GN)

• “Turn away from all the evil you are doing, and don’t let your sin destroy you. Give up all the evil you have been doing, and get yourselves new minds and hearts. Why do you Israelites want to die?” (Ezekiel 18:30,31 – GN)

• “And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put My Spirit in you so that you will follow My decrees and be careful to obey My regulations.” (Ezekiel 36:26-27 – NLT)

• “On the fifth day of the fourth month of the thirtieth year, I, Ezekiel the priest…was living with the Jewish exiles by the Chebar River in Babylonia. It was the 5th year since King Jehoiachin had been taken into exile.” (Ezekiel 1:1 – GN) – 593 BC

ChronologyChronologyKing Prophet

650 Manasseh

Amon Nahum

Josiah Jeremiah, Zephaniah, Habakkuk, Ezekiel

Joahaz

600 Jehoiakim 605 – 1st invasion (Daniel)

Jehoiachin 597 – 2nd invasion (Ezekiel)

586 Zedekiah 586 – 3rd invasion (Jeremiah)

• “The sky opened, and I saw a vision of God…There in Babylonia beside the Chebar River, I heard the LORD speak to me, and I felt his power. I looked up and saw a windstorm coming from the north. Lightning was flashing from a huge cloud, and the sky around it was glowing. Where the lightning was flashing, something shone like bronze. At the center of the storm I saw what looked like four living creatures in human form, but each of them had four faces and four wings.

• Their legs were straight, and they had hoofs like those of a bull. They shone like polished bronze. In addition to their four faces and four wings, they each had four human hands, one under each wing. Two wings of each creature were spread out so that the creatures formed a square, with their wing tips touching. When they moved, they moved as a group without turning their bodies.

• “Each living creature had four different faces: a human face in front, a lion’s face at the right, a bull's face at the left, and an eagle’s face at the back. Two wings of each creature were raised so that they touched the tips of the wings of the creatures next to it, and their other two wings were folded against their bodies. Each creature faced all four directions, and so the group could go wherever they wished, without having to turn. Among the creatures there was something that looked like a blazing torch, constantly moving. The fire would blaze up and shoot out flashes of lightning.

• The creatures themselves darted back and forth with the speed of lightning. As I was looking at the four creatures I saw four wheels touching the ground, one beside each of them. All four wheels were alike; each one shone like a precious stone, and each had another wheel intersecting it at right angles, so that the wheels could move in any of the four directions. The rims of the wheels were covered with eyes. Whenever the creatures moved, the wheels moved with them, and if the creatures rose up from the earth, so did the wheels.

• “The creatures went wherever they wished, and the wheels did exactly what the creatures did, because the creatures controlled them. So every time the creatures moved or stopped or rose in the air, the wheels did exactly the same. Above the heads of the creatures there was something that looked like a dome made of dazzling crystal. There under the dome stood the creatures, each stretching out two wings toward the ones next to it and covering its body with the other two wings. I heard the noise their wings made in flight; it sounded like the roar of the sea, like the noise of a huge army, like the voice of Almighty God.

• When they stopped flying, they folded their wings, but there was still a sound coming from above the dome over their heads. Above the dome there was something that looked like a throne made of sapphire, and sitting on the throne was a figure that looked like a human being. The figure seemed to be shining like bronze in the middle of a fire. It shone all over with a bright light that had in it all the colors of the rainbow. This was the dazzling light which shows the presence of the LORD. When I saw this, I fell face downward on the ground. Then I heard a voice.” (Ezekiel 1:1-28 – GN)

• “…saying, ‘Mortal man, stand up. I want to talk to you.’ While the voice was speaking, God’s spirit entered me and raised me to my feet, and I heard the voice continue, ‘Mortal man, I am sending you to the people of Israel.’” (Ezekiel 2:1-3 – GN)

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• “I realized I was seeing the brightness of the LORD’s glory!” (Ezekiel 1:28 – GN)

• “This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of God.” (Ezekiel 1:28 – NET)

• “The sight was like the glory of Yahweh.” (Ezekiel 1:28 – NJB)

• “The LORD spoke to me. ‘Mortal man,’ he said, ‘denounce the prophets of Israel who make up their own prophecies. Tell them to listen to the word of the LORD.’ This is what the Sovereign LORD says: ‘These foolish prophets are doomed! They provide their own inspiration and invent their own visions. People of Israel, your prophets are as useless as foxes living among the ruins of a city…Their visions are false, and their predictions are lies. They claim that they are speaking my message, but I have not sent them. Yet they expect their words to come true! I tell them: Those visions you see are false, and the predictions you make are lies. You say that they are my words, but I haven’t spoken to you!’” (Ezekiel 13:1-7 – GN)

• “The priests did not ask, ‘where is the LORD?’ My own priests did not know me.” (Jeremiah 2:8 – GN).

• “Don’t point your finger at someone else and try to pass the blame! Look, you priests, my complaint is with you! As a sentence for your crimes, you will stumble in broad daylight, just as you might at night, and so will your false prophets…My people are being destroyed because they don’t know me. It is all your fault, you priests, for you yourselves refuse to know me. Now I refuse to recognize you as my priests.” (Hosea 4:4-6 – NLT)

• “My people are deceived by prophets who promise peace to those who pay them, but threatened war for those who don’t. To these prophets the LORD says, ‘Prophets, your day is almost over; the sun is going down on you. Because you mislead my people, you will have no more prophetic visions, and you will not be able to predict anything’…The city’s rulers govern for bribes, the priests interpret the Law for pay, the prophets give their revelations for money – and they all claim that the LORD is with them. ‘No harm will come to us,’ they say. ‘The LORD is with us’” (Micah 3:6,11)

• “It is the duty of the priests to teach the true knowledge of God. People should go to them to learn my will, because they are the messengers of the LORD Almighty. But now you priests have turned away from the right path. Your teaching has led many to do wrong” (Malachi 2:7,8)

• “Come now, and let us reason together” (Isaiah 1:18 – NJB)

• “If God spare my life, ere many years, I will cause a boy that driveth the plough to know more of the Scripture than thou dost.” (Tyndale)

• “There are today thousands of professors of religion who can give no other reason for points of faith which they hold than that they were so instructed by their religious leaders. They pass by the Saviour’s teachings almost unnoticed, and place implicit confidence in the words of the ministers. But are ministers infallible? How can we trust our souls to their guidance unless we know from God’s word that they are light bearers?” 4SP 413-415 (1884)

• “There is no excuse for any one in taking the position that there is no more truth to be revealed, and that all our expositions of Scripture are without an error. The fact that certain doctrines have been held as truth for many years by our people, is not a proof that our ideas are infallible. Age will not make error into truth, and truth can afford to be fair. No true doctrine will lose anything by close investigation.” 1892

• “Every human being, created in the image of God, is endowed with a power akin to that of the Creator–individuality, power to think and to do. The men in whom this power is developed are the men who bear responsibilities, who are leaders in enterprise, and who influence character. It is the work of true education to develop this power, to train the youth to be thinkers, and not mere reflectors of other men’s thought.” Education 17 (1903)

““My holy name”My holy name”

• “Wherever they went, they brought disgrace on my holy name, because people would say, ‘These are the people of the LORD, but they had to leave his land.’ That made me concerned for my holy name, since the Israelites brought disgrace on it everywhere they went. Now then, give the Israelites the message that I, the Sovereign LORD, have for them: What I am going to do is not for the sake of you Israelites, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have disgraced in every country where you have gone.” (Ezekiel 36:20-22 – GN)

• “The Sovereign LORD said, ‘Look at Jerusalem. I put her at the center of the world, with other countries all around her. But Jerusalem rebelled against my commands and showed that she was more wicked than the other nations, more disobedient than the countries around her. Jerusalem rejected my commands and refused to keep my laws.’” (Ezekiel 5:5-6 – GN)

• “I will make sure that my people Israel know my holy name, and I will not let my name be disgraced any more.” (Ezekiel 39:7 – GN)

• “And eternal life is this: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I have glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do…I have revealed your name to those whom you took from the world to give me.” (John 17:3-6 – NJB)

The Great ControversyThe Great Controversy• “Son of man, give the prince of Tyre this message from

the Sovereign Lord: In your great pride you claim, ‘I am a god! I sit on a divine throne in the heart of the sea’…‘Son of man, weep for the king of Tyre. Give him this message from the Sovereign Lord: ‘You were the perfection of wisdom and beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God. Your clothing was adorned with every precious stone — red carnelian, chrysolite, white moonstone, beryl, onyx, jasper sapphire, turquoise, and emerald—all beautifully crafted for you and set in the finest gold. They were given to you on the day you were created. I ordained and anointed you as the mighty angelic guardian. You had access to the holy mountain of God and walked among the stones of fire.

• You were blameless in all you did from the day you were created until the day evil was found in you. Your great wealth filled you with violence, and you sinned. So I banished you from the mountain of God. I expelled you, O mighty guardian, from your place among the stones of fire. Your heart was filled with pride because of all your beauty. You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth and exposed you to the curious gaze of kings. You defiled your sanctuaries with your many sins and your dishonest trade. So I brought fire from within you, and it consumed you. I let it burn you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were watching. All who knew you are appalled at your fate. You have come to a terrible end, and you are no more.” (Ezekiel 28:2,11-19 – NLT)

• “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms” (Isaiah 14:12-14 - KJV).

• “Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, who fought back with his angels; but the dragon was defeated, and he and his angels were not allowed to stay in heaven any longer. The huge dragon was thrown out — that ancient serpent, named the Devil, or Satan, that deceived the whole world. He was thrown down to earth, and all his angels with him” (Revelation 12:7-9 - GN).

• “Then the Devil took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in all their greatness. ‘All this I will give you,’ the Devil said, ‘if you kneel down and worship me.’ Then Jesus answered, ‘Go away, Satan! The scripture says, ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve only him!’ Then the Devil left Jesus; and angels came and helped him.” (Matthew 4:8-11 – GN)

• “For we are not fighting against human beings but against the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark age.” (Ephesians 6:12 – GN)

Freedom in a world of rebellionFreedom in a world of rebellion

• “Now the snake was the most cunning animal that the LORD God had made. The snake asked the woman, ‘Did God really tell you not to eat fruit from any tree in the garden?’” (Genesis 3:1 – GN)

• “We may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden,’ the woman answered, ‘except the tree in the middle of it. God told us not to eat the fruit of that tree or even touch it; if we do, we will die.’ The snake replied, ‘That’s not true; you will not die.

• …As soon as they had eaten it, they were given understanding and realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and covered themselves. That evening they heard the LORD God walking in the garden, and they hid from him among the trees. But the LORD God called out to the man, ‘Where are you?’” (Genesis 3:2-9 – GN)

“The Son of God appeared for this very reason, to destroy what the Devil had done” (1 John 3:8 - GN).

“Jesus himself became like them and shared their human nature. He did this so that through his death he might destroy the Devil who has the power over death.” (Hebrews 2:4 - GN).

Jesus came as “the light of the world” (John 8:12), “because their minds have been kept in the dark by the evil god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4 - GN).

“Now the ruler of this world will be overthrown” (John 12:31 – GN)

“He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets.” (Colossians 2:15 – The Message)

This earth is a “spectacle for the whole world of angels…” (1 Corinthians 4:9 - GN)

“God, who is the Creator of all things, kept his secret hidden through all the past ages, in order that at the present time, by means of the church, the angelic rulers and powers in the heavenly world might learn of his wisdom in all its different forms” (Ephesians 3:9, 10 - GN).

“God revealed to these prophets that their work was not for their own benefit, but for yours, as they spoke about those things which you have now heard from the messengers who announced the Good News by the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. These are things which even the angels would like to understand” (1 Peter 1:12 – GN).

“Through the Son, then, God decided to bring the whole universe back to himself. God made peace through his Son’s blood on the cross and so brought back to himself all things, both on earth and in heaven. At one time you were far away from God and were his enemies because of the evil things you did and thought. But now, by means of the physical death of his Son, God has made you his friends…” (Colossians 1:20-22 - GN)

• “…you can’t bear to listen to my message. You belong to your father, Satan, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. From the start he was a murderer, and he has never stood by the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he is speaking in character; because he is a liar -- indeed, the inventor of the lie!” (John 8:41-44 – Jewish New Testament)

• “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” –(John 8:32 – GN)

• “The dragon was furious with the woman and went off to fight against the rest of her descendants, all those who obey God’s commandments and are faithful to the truth revealed by Jesus” (Revelation 12:17).

• “I am a servant together with you and with other believers, all those who hold to the truth that Jesus revealed. Worship God! For the truth that Jesus revealed is what inspires the prophets” (Revelation 19:10).

• “I also saw the souls of those who had been executed because they had proclaimed the truth that Jesus revealed and the word of God” (Revelation 20:4).