Monday 1 July 2013

Pilgrimage of Biblical Prophet Ezekiel to Mecca


Ezekiel (/ɨˈzki.əl/HebrewיְחֶזְקֵאלY'ḥez'qelHebrew pronunciation: [jəħezˈqel]), Arabic:حزقيال Hazqiyal, 'God will strengthen' (from חזקḥazaq[ħaˈzaq], literally 'to fasten upon,' figuratively 'strong,' and אלel[ʔel], literally 'God', and so figuratively 'The Almighty') is the central protagonist of the Book of Eziekel in the Hebrew Bible. Ezekiel is acknowledged as a Hebrew prophet. In Judaism and Christianity, he is also viewed as the author of the Book of Ezekiel that reveals prophecies regarding the destruction of Jerusalem and the Millennia Temple visions, or the Third Temple.

The Book of Ezekiel is the third of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, following the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah and preceding the Book of the Twelve. (The order is somewhat different in the Christian Old Testament). It derives its name from, and records the visions of, the 6th century BC priest and prophet Ezekiel.

According to the book, the prophet, exiled in Babylon, experienced a series of seven visions during the 22 years from 593 to 571 BC, a period which spans the final destruction of Jerusalem in 586. The visions, and the book, are structured around three themes: (1) judgment on Israel (chapters 1-24); (2) judgment on the nations (chapters 25-32); and future blessings for Israel (chapters 33-48)


Explanation on Bekka / Valley of Baca / Mecca

How lovely is Your dwelling-place, O Lord of Hosts. I long, I yearn for the courts of the Lord; my body and soul shout for joy to the living God ... Happy are those who dwell in Your house; they forever praise You. Happy is the man who finds refuge in You, whose mind is on the [pilgrim] highways. They pass through the Valley of Baca, regarding it as a place of springs, as if the early rain had covered it with blessing ... Better one day in Your courts than a thousand [anywhere else]; I would rather stand at the threshold of God's house than dwell in the tents of the wicked

Psalms 84 - Old Testament

  





Quran : Chapter 3 verse 96


Bakkah (Arabic: بكة‎) is one of the ancient names for what we call today: Mecca [Makkah].  'Bakkah' refers to the Kaaba and the sacred site immediately surrounding it, while 'Mecca' is the name of the city in which they are both located.



In the Book of Ezekiel (Ch, 40-47) ;

The Biblical Prophet Ezekiel  tells us about a journey had been done for him by the Lord (or an Angel) in his vision.

1) The Place and Time:

Ezekiel:

 40:1 In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten, in the selfsame day the hand of the LORD was upon me, and brought me thither.

40:2 In the visions of God brought he me into the land of Israel, and set me upon a very high mountain, by which was as the frame of a city on the south.


2) The shape of that Place:

Ezekiel describes to us the shape of that place in Chapters 40-43..:

42:15 Now when he had made an end of measuring the inner house, he brought me forth toward the gate whose prospect is toward the east, and measured it round about.

42:16 He measured the east side with the measuring reed, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed round about.

42:17 He measured the north side, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed round about.

42:18 He measured the south side, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed.

42:19 He turned about to the west side, and measured five hundred reeds with the measuring reed.

42:20 He measured it by the four sides: it had a wall round about, five hundred reeds long, and five hundred broad, to make a separation between the sanctuary and the profane place.

According to this shape, this place is foursquare in shape ..!

3) The Sacred House: (Ka'aba):

41:4 So he measured the length thereof, twenty cubits; and the breadth, twenty cubits, before the temple: and he said unto me, This is the most holy place.

41:7 And there was an enlarging, and a winding about still upward to the side chambers: for the winding about of the house went still upward round about the house: therefore the breadth of the house was still upward, and so increased from the lowest chamber to the highest by the midst.


 4) Going around the House & Zamzam water:

47:1 Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar.

47:2 Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side.

47:3 And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters were to the ankles.

47:4 Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the waters were to the loins.

47:5 Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over.

It's superabundant water coming down from under from the right side of the house and south of the altar.

"it was a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over"...Ezekiel in 47:5


*About the Altar:

41:22 The altar of wood was three cubits high, and the length thereof two cubits; and the corners thereof, and the length thereof, and the walls thereof, were of wood: and he said unto me, This is the table that is before the LORD.


5) Pilgrims and Pilgrimage:

44:15 But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord GOD.

44:16 They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge.

44:17 And it shall come to pass, that when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool shall come upon them, whiles they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within.

44:18 They shall have linen bonnets upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with any thing that causeth sweat.

44:19 And when they go forth into the utter court, even into the utter court to the people, they shall put off their garments wherein they ministered, and lay them in the holy chambers, and they shall put on other garments; and they shall not sanctify the people with their garments.

44:21 Neither shall any priest drink wine, when they enter into the inner court.




No comments:

Post a Comment