The following is an excerpt from a booklet I'm working on entitled, "Ezekiel: The Glory of the Lord."
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Ezekiel received his final vision of glory on the 10th
day of the first month (Ezek. 40:1).
This was a significant day because it was the day faithful Israelites
would select a lamb for Passover (Ex. 12:2, 3). For four days they would feed and care for the lamb, then
sacrifice it, apply its blood to their houses, and eat its roasted flesh with
bitter herbs (Ex. 12:6-8).
As we have said, the Lord called
Ezekiel to minister to the captives in Babylon. By giving Ezekiel this third vision at the beginning of Passover,
the Lord wasn’t promising a new exodus from Babylon. Instead, He was pledging that the first exodus from Egypt was
sufficient. Their deliverance, their
setting apart as a peculiar nation, their covenantal joining to Him—none of it
had changed in God’s mind. The Passover
Lamb was still the only salvation Israel would ever need, as complete and
efficacious as the day they left Egypt.
Because of the lamb, and not Israel’s faithfulness, they would be
restored to the temple, the city, and the land from which they were
exiled.
For
us, the death of our Passover Lamb, Jesus, is the only deliverance we will ever
need (1 Cor. 5:7, 8). His death joined
us to God through a new covenant in His blood.
If we find that we have wandered from God, if we find ourselves in some
sort of captivity because we have followed the self-preferring of the fallen
nature, we don’t need a new deliverance.
We need only remember that the deliverance wrought through the cross is
as effective and sufficient today as it ever was. Because of Christ, none of God’s thoughts toward us have
changed. His love is constant. “Let us
then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy
and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Heb. 5:16).
