In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of
the year, in the tenth _day_ of the month, in the fourteenth year
after that the city was smitten, in the selfsame day the hand of the
Lord was upon me, and brought me thither. In the visions of God
brought he me into the land of Israel, and set me upon a very high
mountain, by which _was_ as the frame of a city on the south. And
he brought me thither, and, behold, there was a man, whose
appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in
his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate. And the
man said unto me, Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with
thine ears, and set thine heart upon all that I shall shew thee; for
to the intent that I might shew them unto thee art thou brought
hither: declare all that thou seest to the house of Israel (verses
1-4).
The time of the vision is first given by the prophet. It was in the
fourteenth year after Jerusalem had been smitten, which would make the
date 572 B. C. The beginning of the year is mentioned. In the Hebrew a
word is employed (Rosh hashanah) which is not used again in the Old
Testament. In Exodus xii we read "this month shall be unto you the
beginnings of months, it shall be the first month of the year to you."
(Abib or Nisan.) Some expositors claim that the beginning of the year in
Ezekiel's vision was in the month of Nisan commemorating the Passover.
But it may mean the seventh month (September-October) the feast of
trumpets from which the Jews reckon the new year, and the first day of
the month would be the day of atonement. We incline to the latter view.
Both the feast of trumpets and the day of atonement foreshadow the
regathering of Israel and the forgiveness of their sins. And when that
has come then, and not before, Ezekiel's glory vision will be
accomplished in the land. We also read in Lev. xxv:9: "Then shalt thou
cause the trumpet of jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh
month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound
throughout your land." It will be the time of Israel's jubilee when this
temple, Ezekiel beheld, will be erected in their land. Once more the
hand of the Lord rested upon the prophet. It is the seventh time that
this happened to Ezekiel, and not again after this. (See chapters. i:3,
iii:14-22, vii:1, xxxiii:22, xxxvii:1, xl:1.) In the visions of God the
prophet was brought into the land of Israel, which is conclusive
evidence that the vision he is about to receive concerns the people
Israel and not, as the spritualizing, allegorical school of interpreters
claim, the church. Ezekiel knew nothing whatever of the church and
therefore not a line of all his prophecies could intelligently be
applied to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. He finds himself upon a
very high mountain; towards the south he noticed the frame (or building)
of a city.[37] The high mountain is, no doubt, the mountain frequently
mentioned in the prophetic Word. "And it shall come to pass in the last
days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the
top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills and all
nations shall flow unto it" (Isaiah ii:2). "Beautiful for situation, the
joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north the
city of the great King" (Ps. xlviii:2). It is the place of His rest (Ps.
cxxxii:14), where the King is enthroned (Ps. ii).
[37] May also be translated "and set me upon a very high mountain, and
upon it was as the building of a city, on the south." It will be upon
that exalted mountain.
* * * * *
Then appeared in the vision the man with the line of flax and the
measuring reed. Zachariah beheld such a man with a measuring line in his
hand to measure Jerusalem (Zech. ii:13). In Rev. xxi:15 we read of the
heavenly Jerusalem, that wonderful city, "and he that talked with me had
a golden reed to measure the city and the gates thereof and the wall
thereof." And then follows the measurement of the city. The one who
measured in Revelation was an angel and the measure was that of an
angel. We shall make, when we come to the measurement itself, a brief
comparison between the measure mentioned by Ezekiel and the measure of
the city in Revelation. And the man with the measuring reed stood in
the gate. He addressed the prophet once more as "Son of Man." He was to
give attention to all. His eyes were to see, his ears to hear, he should
set his heart upon all that would be shown unto him and declare it to
the house of Israel.