Ezekiel’s Seventy Years,
Page 6
Ezekiel 1:3 states that “The word of Yehuveh came expressly unto Ezekiel. . . .” That’s our invitation! If we will seize Yehuveh’s strength, firmly hold on to Elohim, He will speak to us, too. We have as much right to understand the words of Yehuveh as any other of His children, and this name tells us in the simplest terms how we can do so. “Let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me; and he shall make peace with Me. He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit.” Isaiah 27:5, 6.
According to James Strong, the name Buzi, Ezekiel’s father, is from entry 0941, “the disrespected,” from entry 0936, a primary root meaning “to disrespect, despise or hold in contempt.” This word is composed of the Hebrew letters bet (“b”), vav (a consonant-vowel used here to indicate the vowel “u”), zayin (“z”), and yod (“i” or “y” ending). From this James Strong assumes the derivation to come from entry 0936, a word which has the same first three letters. However, with equal validity, the vav could be a vowel added to a word which had the letters bet and zayin, such as the primary word entry H0958, letters bet—zayin—aleph,which means “to cut through, to divide, to cleave, to spoil.” Rather than those who “seize Yehuveh’s strength” being born of those who are “despised,” it is far more in harmony with spiritual truth that they are born of those who “cut through” the “inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit” to find “the ancient paths.” Jeremiah 16:19; 18:15.
Are you one who seizes Yehuveh’s strength because you come from a past of cutting through the lies to find the ancient truth? If so, you will not only understand this book, but you will embrace this history and appreciate the perspective these insights will give you.
The Thirtieth Year
Ezekiel starts the story with the thirtieth year. Thirtieth year of what time-span? Some speculate that this is the thirtieth year of Ezekiel’s life; others that it is the thirtieth year of the Jubilee cycle. Most consider it to be referencing ancient time. Almost no one considers that the entire book of Ezekiel refers to the modern history of Israel, yet their experience is described in detail in this book right down to the dates for various events. It is more than a fascinating study; grasping the experience of the sixty-nine years which have already passed, we have a cemented certainty of what is to happen in “the rest of the story.” We can prepare!
When the seventy-years are properly placed in history, the numbers in this book all connect with their historical markers! Starting in the spring of 1938, the thirtieth year falls in the spring of 1967 to the spring of 1968. Simple math! The fourth month, fifth day, as noted in Ezekiel 1:1, falls on 13 June 1967, just three days after the end of the Six Day War. Needless to say, tensions in the Middle East continued to be exceptionally high in the aftermath of the war. Already Russia, “a whirlwind . . . out of the north,” was making commitments to assist Egypt and Syria with military equipment, training and assistance. The events of the summer of 1967 are perfectly detailed in the Ezekiel 1 prophetic history, to the very date of 13 June 1967! That should get our attention immediately!
The Month and Day
Anciently all time keeping was marked by the movements of the sun, moon and stars. When the seventy-year prophecy has been rightly placed in historical time and when this time-keeping system is rightly understood, it is a simple matter to determine the dates. From Zechariah’s dating of the end of these seventy years, the historical placement is defined to be from the spring of 1938 to the spring of 2008. From there it simply requires becoming familiar with astronomical mechanics to determine the month and day in the appropriate year. I have used a basic astronomy software, EZE COSMOS, for the calculations.
[It should be noted that true astronomical time-keeping is observed, not reckoned [calculated], and therefore every determined date is an estimate accurate within a day. For purposes of this discussion, these estimates are suitably accurate for correlation with historical these events.]
Gael Bataman
Originally Written: 7 June 2006
Latest Update: 20 November 2007
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