Eero L (7 Sep 2025)
"Did God delay the Day of the LORD by sending His Son as a Humble Servant?"

Dear John and the Doves,

Please accept my study on Ezekiel's prophecy in your letters. I think it's too many words on a fairly simple subject, but I still think it may shed some light to otherwise difficult issues with Bible interpretation.

Yours in Christ,

E.L.

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Did God delay the Day of the LORD by sending His Son as a Humble Servant?

We can see from the beginning of the Book of Ezekiel (Ezek. 4 onwards) that God is about to punish disobedient Israel and the sinful city of Jerusalem with a judgement that He will no longer delay (Ezek. 12:21-28). In the vision of chapters 8 to 11 God shows Ezekiel the abominations that are taking place inside the Temple of Jerusalem (Ezek. 8) and calls a man clothed with linen to carry out the judgement (Ezek. 9 onwards).

The Book of Ezekiel has various similarities with the Book of Revelation like the description of God's Throne (Ezek. 1, Rev. 4), the Roll of a Book (Ezek. 2, Rev. 5) and many others, in so much that you might say the main events of God's Judgement or the Day of The LORD described in the Book of Revelation (Rev. 1:10) have already been laid out in Ezekiel.

In Ezekiel's vision of chapters 8 to 11 God's Glory (Ezek. 8:3-4) is present at Jerusalem's Temple whereas in Revelation it resides in Heaven. Similarly the destruction of the city is carried out with burning coals from the Temple's altar (Ezek. 9:2, 10:2) by the man clothed with linen, whereas in Revelation the coals are gathered from the Heavenly altar by an angel who spreads their fire over the whole earth (Rev. 8:3-5).

In Ezekiel chapter 11 God promises to give Israelites "one heart" and "a new spirit" and to be their God (Ezek. 11:19-20). This is a reference to the New Covenant made by God through His Son Jesus Christ (Hebr. 8:10) which suggests that Ezekiel's vision didn't have its fulfilment in Ezekiel's time, but in the future.

At the end of the vision Ezekiel sees the Glory of the LORD, supported by Cherubim, leave Jerusalem and settle down on a mountain east of the city (Ezek. 11:22-23). This mountain is very surely the Mount of Olives where God would oversee the destruction of the city (Zech. 14:4). Many Bible scholars see here the connection to Jesus, but as separate events. However, in the Gospel of John we are shown a scene where two Angels are portrayed sitting at both ends where the body of Jesus had lain (John 20:12), now Resurrected. This scene is not a coincidence, but it is a replication of the Cherubim over the Seat of Mercy on the Ark Of Covenant (Exod. 25:18). Apostle Paul even says Jesus is the Seat of Mercy (Rom. 3:25). There are also two Angels present at the Ascension of Jesus Christ from the Mount of Olives (Acts 1:10), possibly the same ones who were also at the Tomb. Therefore it's possible that Ezekiel's vision of chapters 8 to 11 has its fulfilment in the Ministry of Jesus Christ.

Jerusalem was of course destroyed and its Temple demolished in 70 AD as Daniel also prophesied (Dan. 9:26-27), but the Mount of Olives did not break in two at the time as it would have if the Day of the LORD Judgement had happened then (Zech. 14:4). So I think God's grace time for us or the Age of Grace will end when Jesus will again stand on the Mount of Olives at His Second Coming.

My question is, with the above in mind, is it possible that God had His judgement already prepared for His First Coming through the man clothed in linen (possibly Jesus), but chose to send His Son as a humble servant instead to delay His sure Judgement on Jerusalem? The Apostles seemed to think like this, since they saw that God remitted the sins of the Old Covenant (Rom. 3:25, Hebr. 9:15) in Jesus Christ and expanded the Salvation to everyone (Acts 17:30, 1 John 2:2), not just the Israelites, but also expanded His Judgement from Israel to the whole Earth (2 Peter 3:7).

If what I'm suggesting is true, then we have to look at Old Testament prophecies through New Testament fulfilments, not only by Jesus Christ at His First Coming, but by the vision He gave to John in the Book of Revelation. This doesn't mean that the Old Testament prophecies are not valid anymore, but the way they are fulfilled is shown to us in the New Testament. This is really a simple question but will greatly help to interpret the Old Testament prophecies which otherwise would seem to be hard to fulfil to the letter. Jesus Christ and the New Covenant is the pivotal point of the Bible.