Ezekiel and Revelation
Ezekiel shared his vision with the exiled rulers as a warning. As they saw the Lord’s destruction of the old Jerusalem, they would purify themselves in anticipation of the new Jerusalem promised to them by God (1 John 3:3).
The book of Revelation has the same purpose. Most of the seven churches already contained the seeds of their own destruction—abating love, beasts (false kings), false prophets and spiritual prostitutes. The small judgments Jesus brought in these letters prefigure the major judgments in the letter to the “eighth church,” old Jerusalem, who was in bondage with her children (Galatians 4:24-25).1 The new army of God (the seven churches) saw the bodies of the old mighty men (Judah) fall in the wilderness (Hebrews 3:12-18).
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1 Amos follows the same pattern, dealing with seven nations (including Judah) before he gets to the point and prophesies against Israel, the eighth, to demonstrate that God’s judgment is not biased.
