Problem: Amillennial interpreters argue that the dispensational reading of Ezekiel 40-48 is heretical, because it contradicts the author of Hebrews, who claims that reverting to animal sacrifices is apostasy. For instance, Curtis Crenshaw writes, “The passage most commonly mentioned that represents great difficulty to dispensational literalism is Ezekiel’s temple vision.”[1] Likewise, Floyd Hamilton writes, “The restoration of the whole sacrificial system seems to dishonor the sacrifice of Christ… According to a literal interpretation of Ezekiel 40-48 the whole ceremonial law is to be again set up in Israel.”[2]
Ezekiel 38:4 Will God cause evil to happen in Israel?
Problem: Ezekiel predicts that God will bring Gog and Magog into the land of Israel. He writes, “I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out” (Ezek. 38:4). The language used is definitely God’s active will, whereby he brings the people to the land of Israel. Then it states, “You will go up, you will come like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your troops, and many peoples with you” (v.9). Later, we read, “I will turn you around, drive you on, take you up from the remotest parts of the north and bring you against the mountains of Israel” (Ezek. 39:2).
Ezekiel 37:11-25 Does this passage predict the modern regathering of Israel?
Problem: Does this passage refer to the modern regathering of Israel?
Ezekiel 28:1 Does this passage describe Satan or the prince of Tyre?
Ezekiel 26:3–14—How can Ezekiel’s prophecies be included in Scripture if they are wrong about Nebuchadnezzar?
Problem: According to the prophecies in Ezekiel 26, God would bring Nebuchadnezzar against the proud city of Tyre and would utterly destroy it. However, Ezekiel 29:18 indicates that Nebuchadnezzar failed to capture Tyre. How can these two statements be reconciled?
Ezekiel 20:25—Are God’s statutes evil?
Problem: Ezekiel tells us that God “gave them up to statutes that were not good, and judgments by which they could not live.” However, the Bible declares that God’s laws are perfect and holy (Lev. 11:45; Ps. 19:7; Rom. 7:7).
Ezekiel 21:26-27 – Who is the “one to whom it belongs” mentioned here?
Problem: Christian apologists often claim that this passage predicts the coming of the Messiah through the line of Jacob. However, critics claim that the language is too unclear. Which is true?
Ezekiel 20:25-26 – Did God command evil laws?
Ezekiel 16:47—Did Israel imitate the heathen or not?
Problem: In Ezekiel 5:7, the Israelites were condemned because they had “multiplied disobedience more than the nations that are all around” them. Yet, here in Ezekiel 16:47 they were condemned by God who said, “You did not walk in their ways nor act according to their abominations.”
Ezekiel 14:9—Did God deceive these false prophets?
Problem: Ezekiel declares that God “induced” the false prophets to speak and then would “destroy” them for doing so. But this sounds deceptive.