Ezekiel Ch 40, etc.: What the Church Should Expect; But Many Do Not

Submitted by M. Tovey (United States), Oct 15, 2014 at 12:11

Matthew 24:30) And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

Quite the conundrum, now isn't it? But let us go back to the original question you mention: Matthew 24:1) And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. 2) And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. 3) And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

You state: [Peter knew less about the end of the world than you do, and you don't know very much (nor do I). At the beginning of that statement, Cephas may have known only that which he was told in the synagogue of Capernaum, but after running to and fro with Yeshua he and the others understood enough of what Yeshua said to ask ; "Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? The end of the world you say; where did that come from?

Yet we now know, based upon the disciples' response to that exchange, they would be expecting something cataclysmic in their futures: but which of the disciples were alive when Titus came to town? Even Paul, formerly Saul of Tarsus, was already with Yeshua when that happened and expectedly, the disciple whom Yeshua loved was enduring his trek to Patmos by way of Ephesus, one of the candlesticks of the Apocalypse discourse.

Nehemiah and Ezra's temple, the second temple later enhanced by Herod, was in the time of Yeshua a house in trouble; for it is written my house shall be a house of worship; but you have made it a den of thieves. Yeshua's observations then set the stage; judgment was pending, the timing of which was to be seen nearly forty years after the pronouncement. So your notation of the 30^th verse is still outstanding, for it is the second part of the prophecy.

As for the Isaiah 33 prophecy, it must be taken in the entirety of its context; to extract verse 20 twenty as a standalone expectation belies the times in which it is intended. We must expand the excerpt to at least this much: Verse 19) You will see no more the insolent people, the people of an obscure speech that you cannot comprehend, stammering in a tongue that you cannot understand. 20) Behold Zion, the city of our appointed feasts! Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an untroubled habitation, an immovable tent, whose stakes will never be plucked up, nor will any of its cords be broken. 21) But there the LORD in majesty will be for us a place of broad rivers and streams, where no galley with oars can go, nor majestic ship can pass. 22) For the LORD is our judge; the LORD is our lawgiver; the LORD is our king; he will save us.

Even during Yeshua's first ministry, this was definitively not the situation in Zion! They were in no condition to declare anyone king at that time, let alone recognizing Yeshua for who He is. Isaiah 33:20 speaks of a time yet to be realized by Israel; not likely to be occurring until after the fulfillment of Zechariah's prophecy.

Yet Yeshua was intent on making sure the disciples were well informed to deflect any deceit that might surround them during their immediate trials. Notice He did not speak of the 40^th chapter of Ezekiel, et seq., which is the instruction of the construction of the third temple, to be in place when He returns after the signs of His approach in the clouds. He returns to assume His place on David's throne; for He is HaMashiach, Bar David, Ben Adam.

When Yeshua did make a pilgrimage back to Nazareth, to be sure his immediate family, His mother excepted, did not recognize him; his return probably reminding them of the favoritism His mother showed over the others while growing up. But we know from the scriptures at least two repented and came to a saving knowledge of their half-brother prior to their own offering of life to the 'way.' So, when the angel characterized the manifested ascension of Yeshua as a prelude to His return, even the siblings finally recognized their half-brother would never be the same to them after that.

So we return to the return described in Matthew 24; just exactly what should we expect? Well, Jude has a contemporary take from that time: verse 17) But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. …… 20) But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21) keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. 24) Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25) to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. He is expecting the fulfillment of Isaiah 9:6, amongst others.

So, when we come back to review the son of man designation that comes from Ezekiel, amongst other references, it can only meant that there is the expectation of those who Yeshua revealed Himself to that He does intend to present Himself fully to Israel as her King; and that is what Matthew is revealing from the WORD of the LORD Himself.

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