Congregation Book Study, Week of November 22-28, 2021, Chapter 16, Paragraphs 9-13, Box 16A and Underlined Answers.

Congregation Book Study, November 22-28, 2021, Chapter 16, Paragraphs 9-13, Box 16A and Underlined Answers.

Congregation Bible Study (30 min.): Rr ch. 16 paras. 9-13 and Box 16A.

How was the vision fulfilled in Ezekiel's time?

9, 10. Who were some of those who survived the destruction of Jerusalem? And what can we deduce about them?

Read 2 Chronicles 36: 17-20. Ezekiel's prophecy was fulfilled in 607 BC, when the Babylonian army destroyed Jerusalem and its temple. The Babylonians turned out to be "a golden cup in the hand of Jehovah" because they were the instrument he used to pour out his punishment on unfaithful Jerusalem (Jer. 51: 7). Did the good guys die along with the bad guys? No. In the vision, Ezekiel had seen that some would survive the Babylonian attack (Gen. 18: 22-33; 2 Pet. 2: 9).

Among the faithful people who survived were the Rechabites, Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, the prophet Jeremiah, and his secretary Baruch (Jer. 35: 1-19; 39: 15-18; 45: 1-5). From what Ezekiel's vision indicates, we can deduce that these people had been sighing and lamenting “over all the detestable things” that were happening in Jerusalem (Ezek. 9: 4). Without a doubt, they demonstrated before the destruction that they were totally against evil and that they clung to pure worship. Thanks to that they had the opportunity to save themselves.

11. Who did the six armed men and the man with the secretary's inkwell represent?

Did those faithful people get a literal mark to survive? The Bible does not say that someone - not Ezekiel or any other prophet - went to Jerusalem putting a mark on the foreheads of faithful people. Everything seems to indicate that Ezekiel's prophetic vision shows what was happening in the celestial region, something that humans cannot see. The man with the secretary's inkwell and the six armed men were a representation of spirit beings of divine origin, who are always ready to do the will of God (Ps. 103: 20, 21). It is clear that Jehovah used his angels to execute his sentence against unfaithful Jerusalem. The angels made sure that the destruction was not done blindly, but selectively; it is as if they had put a mark on the foreheads of those who were to be saved.

What does Ezekiel's vision mean to us?

12, 13. (a) Why did Jehovah pour out his fury on Jerusalem? And why can we expect Jehovah to react in a similar way today? b) Is Jerusalem a prophetic model of Christendom? Why do you think like this? (See the box “Is Jerusalem a Prophetic Model of Christendom?”).

We are approaching a time when God will judge the nations. The Bible calls it the "great tribulation," and says that "from the beginning of the world until now, there has been no such tribulation, and there never will be again" (Matt. 24:21). As we await this decisive event, some important questions arise: Will all people die in this destruction, or will it be selective? Will Jehovah's servants be marked in some way to survive? In other words, Will Ezekiel's prophetic vision of the man with the inkwell be fulfilled in our day? The answer to these three questions is yes. To find out why we say that, let's go back to Ezekiel's vision.

Let us remember why Jehovah poured out his fury on ancient Jerusalem. Let's reread Ezekiel 9: 8, 9 (read it). When Ezekiel expressed the fear that they would wipe out all that were left in Israel, Jehovah gave him four reasons for imposing this punishment: 1) that the nation's “error” was “very very great”; * 2) that Judah was "full of bloodshed"; 3) that Jerusalem, the capital of the kingdom of Judah, was “full of corruption” and 4) that the people continued to act wickedly on the pretext that Jehovah did not see what they were doing. Don't these words fit the world we live in, a wicked, violent, corrupt and faithless world? Since Jehovah “does not vary or change,” there is no doubt that what caused his just indignation in Ezekiel's time will provoke a similar reaction in our day. --Jas. 1:17; Mal. 3: 6. So we can expect the six gunmen and the man with the inkwell to play a role in our times.

ILLUSTRATION

Six men walking towards Jerusalem. Each one carries a weapon to smash.

The six men with the weapons to crush will soon begin their mission. (See paragraphs 12 and 13.)

FACT BOX 16A: Is Jerusalem a Prophetic Model of Christendom?

An Israelite High Priest and a Pope of the Catholic Church.

Our publications used to say that apostate Jerusalem was a prophetic model of Christendom. It is true that the bad things that happened in that unfaithful city, such as idolatry and corruption, remind us of what Christendom is doing now. But for a few years now, our publications - including this book - no longer present prophetic models, unless the Bible clearly indicates them. Is there anything in the Bible that shows that Jerusalem is a prophetic model for Christendom? No.

Consider the following: Jerusalem was a center of pure worship, but over time its inhabitants became apostate. Instead, Christendom has never given pure worship to God. Since its inception - in the fourth century of our era - Christendom has always taught false doctrines.

Furthermore, after the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem, the city regained Jehovah's approval and returned to being the center of pure worship. But Christendom has never had God's approval and, after being destroyed during the great tribulation, it will never exist again.

In view of all this, what conclusion can we reach? When we look at the biblical prophecies that were fulfilled in unfaithful Jerusalem, we may think, "This or that reminds me a lot of what Christendom does today." But there does not appear to be a biblical basis for claiming that Jerusalem is a prophetic model of Christendom.