Hope Ezekiel 42

Blessed hope in assurance of the salvation of Jesus Christ!

As Creator, Jesus is Lord over all nature: the sun, the stars, the earth, and even the wind and storms. All must obey Him and His Word because Jesus is Lord of the storm. So when we face a crisis or storm, we can find comfort that our Lord Jesus is also the anchor of hope for our souls, and He goes before us into the presence of His Father, our heavenly Father (Hebrews 6:19-20). First5 

“Can you see the holiness in those things you take for granted – a paved road or a washing machine? If you concentrate on finding what is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul.” Rabbi Harold Kushner

Romans 15:13 ~ May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Romans 12:12 ~ Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

Hebrews 11:1 ~ Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Hebrews 6:19 ~ This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil.

1 John 3:3 ~ And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

Ezekiel 42

Measuring the Future Ezekiel could be called one of the most visionary prophets. God showed him spiritual insights that still stir the imagination 25 centuries later. Like other prophets, Ezekiel’s ministry among his people had two distinct phases: condemnation and consolation. 

The first 32 chapters of Ezekiel catalog the sure and future judgment of God on His own people and seven other nations. Incredibly, although Jerusalem had been defeated and many of her people had been deported, the exiles clung to the vain hope that God would never let His city and temple be destroyed. 

They missed the point that God’s ultimate commitment was to people—not places or buildings. 

In order to purify and preserve the people, God allowed the devastation of the Promised Land and the temple itself. Yet God also held responsible those nations that used their temporary domination of Israel as an opportunity to mock the living God. 

Ezekiel’s early messages focused on the coming of God’s judgment and the urgent need for repentance. The last part of Ezekiel represents a sudden change of tone. With the fall of Jerusalem, God’s terrible judgment had finally come. 

The weary and disillusioned exiles had lost all hope. But God filled Ezekiel with a new message. Although all immediate evidence pointed to hopelessness and despair, God invited His people to return to Him and to place their confidence in Him. Whatever their temporary setbacks and suffering, God was still in control. His purposes would win out, and His plans were specific. 

In fact, His plans were so definite they could be measured. Ezekiel received a vision of the dimensions of a new temple (recorded in 40:1–48:35) to demonstrate that fact. Many efforts have been made to understand the details of Ezekiel’s vision in such a way that the prophecy might be described as fulfilled. However, attempts to do this have failed. Those who eventually returned from exile did not use Ezekiel’s plans to rebuild Jerusalem. It is also difficult to interpret this prophecy as a symbolic description of the church in our age. The most confident statement we can make about the vision and its accompanying instructions is that it is a prophecy yet to be fulfilled. 

At the same time, we can apply these chapters to the present as examples of God’s planning, precision, and sovereignty. He maintains control of the events of history. When events seem chaotic, God reminds us to rest in His ability to bring order. Ezekiel’s vision of a new temple when the temple in Jerusalem had just been destroyed reassured the exiles: God would create beauty out of ashes. The people in Ezekiel’s day needed that vision of hope, and we still need it today. The NKJV Study Bible.