SERMON: Old Testament Overview Part 11 - The Minor Prophets

SERMON: Old Testament Overview Part 11 - The Minor Prophets

December 12, 2023

Old Testament Overview
Part 11: The Minor Prophets

This Session:

Introductions
Ezekiel
Daniel
End Times?

I. Introductions

Last time, we considered the major prophets into the time of the exile.

II. Ezekiel

“Then they will know that I am the Lord” (75x).
NAME: “Ezekiel” [“Strengthened by God”]

A priest/prophet, like Jeremiah
One of 10,000 captives taken in the 2nd siege of Nebuchadnezzar, 11 years before the final overthrow of Jerusalem

DATE: 593 BC (1:2) to 571 BC (29:17)(written first to the exiles in Babylon)
THEME: Condemnation, consolation, and restoration
Full of strange signs to the people:

He shuts himself up in his home.
He binds himself.
He is struck dumb.
He was to lie on his right and his left sides for a total of 430 days.
He ate bread that was prepared over dung.
He shaved his head and beard, considered shameful.

A message for our social justice era:

“The soul who sins will die” (18:1-32)
We cannot charge the sons of this age with the sins of their fathers.
We also must see that the fact that we are responsible for our own sins.
Thankfully, there is a full atonement for sin the Lord provides in Christ, giving mercy to the sinner!

The new covenant:

Israel cannot just keep the law externally. They need a new heart.
Ezekiel 36:24–27
". . . I will cleanse you . . . I will give you a new heart . . . I will put My Spirit within you . . ."

OUTLINE:

I. Condemnation (1 - 32) WRATH
II. Consolation (33 - 48) RESTORATION

A. Restoration of Israel (33-39)
B. Millennial Temple (40-48)

Clues as to Satan’s origin and working behind the scenes:

Isaiah 14 — The 5 “I Wills”
Ezekiel 28 — “The anointed cherub who covers”
Revelation 12 — Summary of Satan’s attempts to thwart the Plan of Redemption

Restoration of Israel

A Vision of the Restoration of Israel (Eze. 37)

Brought back to life in the flesh
Later, breathed with the Spirit
“Then it will happen on that day that the Lord will again recover the second time with His hand the remnant of His people…” (Isaiah 11:11)

Fulfilled ultimately in May 1948

Why will God restore Israel? (Eze. 36:22–24)

Prediction of the Magog Invasion (Eze. 38 – 39)

Antichrist & Armageddon
The passage appears to anticipate the use of nuclear weapons (?).

Coming with the complete restoration is a prediction of a new temple (Eze. 40 – 48)

The Millennial Temple

Description of Millennial Temple
Highly detailed (not simply symbolic?)
All nations to worship there
Offerings and sacrifices resumed?

III. Daniel

NAME: Daniel
THEME: God’s sovereign plan for Israel. Israel's prophetic panorama.
DATE: 605 BC (1:1) to 536 BC (10:1)
OUTLINE:

I. Personal History of Daniel (1)
II. Prophetic Plan for the Gentiles/God is in Control (2 – 7)
III. Prophetic Plan for Israel (8 – 12)

Daniel and his friends:

Daniel “God is my judge”
Belteshazzar, “Prince of Bel”
Hananiah, “Beloved of the Lord”
Shadrach, “Illumined by the Sun God”
Mishael, “Who is God”
Meshach, “Who is like unto the Moon God”
Azariah, “The Lord is my help”
Abednego, “Servant of Nego”

Daniel 2 - 7 written in Aramaic (Gentile language), not Greek! The “times of the Gentiles” will continue until the Second Coming.
Daniel interprets Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, which predicts world history (Dan. 2)

The Rise of Babylon
The Rise of Persia
The Rise of Greece
The Rise of Rome
The Rise of a revived Roman Empire?
Destroyed by the rock!

Daniel 9 9:24–27 — 70 wks decreed on Jerusalem, people (See Luke 19:40–44)

There’s an interval, and then the coming prince shall wage war on the people of God.
The seventieth week hasn’t happened yet!

Daniel 11–12 deal with the intertestamental period and the final conflict, which we will discuss later.

Next Time:

The Minor Prophets (The Twelve)
Then:

The Final Writings (Esther, Ezra, Nehemiah)
The Intertestamental Period