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EZEKIEL

Ezekiel 1-2

Please turn in your Bibles to Ezekiel chapter 1, as we begin this fascinating and prophetic book. Before we begin, let me give you some background information that will help set the stage for what we will be studying in this book.

His name, "Ezekiel" means "God strengthens" or "Strengthened by God." And as we shall see, God did strengthen this man for this very difficult and prophetic ministry he was in. Ezekiel was both priest and prophet, although he never functioned as a priest in the temple of God because he was taken captive to Babylon before he reached the age of service for a priest. And Ezekiel’s ministry lasted some 22 years, from the age of 30 to the age of 52.

The Babylonian’s, in their first siege on Jerusalem, came in 606 BC and they took away to Babylon the cream of the crop, the best of the best. In that first deportation, during the reign of Jehoiakim, they took away Daniel and his three friends; Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Then Jehoiakim’s son, Jehoiachin became king after his father rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, and he only lasted three months and ten days before the Babylonians came upon the nation a second time, in 597 BC, carrying back to Babylon some ten thousand prisoners, including Jehoiachin and Ezekiel. And then, eleven years later, in 586 BC, the Babylonians made their third and final assault upon the Southern Kingdom of Judah, destroying the city of Jerusalem and the temple of God, and taking the remaining people back to Babylon as captives except for the sick, the elderly who remained behind.

At this point in the nations history things looked bad. There was no hope, things were black, and Ezekiel will be commissioned by God to speak to the captives in Babylon. And with all this heartache, all this devastation that has come upon them, you would think they would be ready to listen to God and the prophets that God has sent to them. But, as we shall see as we go through this book, they still were not ready to get right with God!

EZEKIEL 1

VERSES 1-3

1. This is speaking of Ezekiel’s age, that he was thirty years old at this point. That means he went into captivity when he was just 25 years old, in 597 BC, and now we are into the fifth year of Jehoiachin’s captivity, and Ezekiel’s, which would make Ezekiel thirty years old. The thing we should note from this is that if you were a Jew, you could go to war at the age of 20. At the age of 25, if you were a Levite, you could serve in the temple. And if you were a descendant of the priestly line of Aaron, you could function as a priest at the age of 30! The reason for this may be as simple as being more mature, especially when you were leading a people and representing the Lord to them.

2. Now both Daniel and Ezekiel were contemporaries in Babylon, captives. Daniel conducted his ministry from the city of Babylon itself, he was a statesman. On the other hand, Ezekiel was ministering from what you might call a prison camp north of Babylon, about 200 miles, by the River Chebar, in a place called Tel Abib. Both these men were about the same age and even though both were captives, chances are they never met each other, even though Ezekiel was well aware of the work that Daniel was doing.

3. Think about this for a minute. Ezekiel feels isolate, alone, cut off from his homeland, and yet he remains open to God, to hear the voice of God. That tells me that no matter where you are at, how isolated you may feel, God wants to speak to you, to comfort you, to encourage you. The question is, "Are you listening?"

VERSES 4-10

1. Have you ever seen the movie "Back Draft"? In it they had all those special effects with fire, and as the flames rolled they seemed to engulf each other, rolling over itself. That is what Ezekiel is seeing in this vision. Now keep in mind that Ezekiel is trying to describe a heavenly vision using earthly terms. These multicolored lights as we will see, describe stones that produced certain colors.

2. Now the focus of the vision are these four living creatures which we are told are Cherubim in Ezekiel chapter 10. These angelic beings each had four wings, their legs were straight and they had cloven feet, not like the feet of man. And they sparkled brightly a bronze color. Under their wings they had hands that were similar to the hands of a man. And when they moved, they didn’t have to turn around, because each one had four faces, and one of the faces was pointed in the direction they wanted to go.

Now each face of these creatures was different. Each one had the face of a man, the face of a lion, the face of an ox, and the face of an eagle. As strange as this may sound, what happens if we try to picture Jesus Christ in these creatures? Remember, in Psalm 40:7 it says "...‘Behold, I come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me.’" That means from Genesis through Revelation the Scriptures are testifying of Jesus. Let me show you what I mean regarding the faces of these creatures and their relationship to Jesus.

In the faces of these Cherubim we see a picture of Christ, which is also seen in the four gospels. First lets look at the face of a lion. Matthew portrays Jesus as the lion from the tribe of Judah. Matthew, in speaking to the Jewish people, shows that Jesus is the fulfillment of what the Old Testament prophets spoke of, He is the Messiah. In fact, Matthew quotes more of the Old Testament Messianic prophecies than any other Gospel because he was presenting to the Jewish people their Messiah. That is why the genealogy of Jesus that is found in this gospel goes all the way back to Abraham, the father of the Jewish people.

Next, lets look at the face of the man. Luke presents the humanity of Jesus to us. Over and over, some 25 times in this gospel, we see the phrase, "Son of man" used. And the genealogy of Jesus that Luke gives to us goes all the way back to the first man, Adam. Again, showing us the humanity of Jesus.

The next face we will look at is the face of an eagle. And an eagle speaks of power, majesty. John presents to us in his gospel Jesus as the "Son of God" with all power and majesty. Some 11 times John uses that phrase. And the genealogy that John gives us is found in John 1:1-2, which says "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God." It points to the eternal existence of Jesus and His divinity, that He is God!

And lastly, the face of an ox or a beast of burden. And Mark presents to us Jesus as the suffering servant. Mark 10:45 says "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." And, interestingly enough, Mark does not give us any genealogy for Jesus. Why? Because you don’t need to know the genealogy of a servant, that is not important.

And so in this vision of these creatures we see a picture of Christ that is presented to us in the four gospels also. We also read in Revelation 4:6-8, a similar vision that John has of heaven and the throne of God. He said "Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: ‘Holy, holy, holy, lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!’" The big difference here is these angelic creatures only had one face each while in Ezekiel’s they each had four faces.

Also, in Isaiah chapter 6, Isaiah is given a vision of the throne of God, and we read beginning in verse 1, "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!’" Isaiah 6:1-3. Here is another group of angelic beings called Seraphim.

I believe when we get to heaven we will be surprised at the myriads of different angelic beings that God has created for His good pleasure. When you look at the variety of life He has created on this planet, our God is the God of variety, just look at just the difference in man, the sizes, shapes, color and-so-on. So I have no problem with a variety of angelic beings that God has created.

VERSE 11

1. Two of their wings extended upward symbolizing exaltation towards God, and two of their wings covered their body which speaks of humility.

VERSE 12

1. Notice their complete surrender and obedience to God. Wherever the Spirit wanted them to go, they went, and they wasted no time, no need for turning, because one of their faces was pointed in the direction they needed to go.

VERSES 13-14

1. I believe Ezekiel is trying to tell us that these creatures moved very quickly, like flashes of lightening across the sky.

VERSES 15-18

1. Somehow, in some way, these creatures were connected to a wheel within a wheel, possibly like a gyroscope. And the rims of these wheels had eyes all about them, possibly referring to God being all-seeing, for the Cherubim were representatives of God.

VERSES 19-21

1. Now I don’t need to explain that do I? I mean you understand what Ezekiel saw right? If you do know, let me know! This is not easy to understand. Is he speaking literally or symbolically? I do know this, he is not describing some 20^th century technology, like an airplane, as some like to speculate. I may not fully understand these creatures with my finite mind, but imagine explaining a duck-billed platypus to someone who has never seen one. And of course that is far easier to describe than this heavenly vision that Ezekiel saw of these Cherubim.

2. Let me make one more point before we move on. In Ezekiel chapter 28 we are going to read of the fall of Lucifer, the anointed Cherub. That means when this Cherub fell, according to Revelation chapter 12, he took a third of the angelic beings with him. And the Scriptures tell us that they have the ability to transform themselves into angels of light, able to deceive people. Let me throw this idea out to you and you can either take it or leave it. Could all of these UFO sightings from around the world be nothing more than these demon’s, these fallen angels deceiving people? I believe it is a strong possibility, and I am not alone.

Dr. Vallee, an expert in UFO sightings and he was used as the model for "Lacombe" in the Steven Spielberg movie, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." Dr. Vallee has spent over two decades in serious UFO research. And he has come to the conclusion that UFOs are purposely hoping to "change our belief systems" and that they are engaging in a world wide enterprise of "subliminal seduction."

In his book, Messengers of Deception, he states that an "Impressive parallel [can] be made between UFO occupants and the popular conception of demons" and the UFOs can "project images or fabricated scenes designed to change our belief system." This is from an unbeliever!

Brad Steiger, who has investigated hundreds of cases, confesses that "Whether men and women claim to be in contact with Space Brothers, Ascended Masters, or spirits from the astral plane, they are all independently coming up with largely the same communications."

And lastly, Dr. Vallee says "Increased attention given to UFO activity promises the concept of political unification of this planet. This is perhaps the most commonly recurring theme in my entire study of these groups. Through the belief in UFOs, a tremendous yearning for global peace is expressing itself...Contactee philosophies often include belief in higher races and in totalitarian [dictator] systems that would eliminate democracy."

Whatever your view on this, you have to see that UFOs are nothing more than illusions, it is a deception, and I believe that these fallen angelic beings are behind it, and they are doing this for their own purpose, their own plan. They are preparing the world for the ultimate deception!

VERSE 22

1. The firmament means expanse or sky, and Ezekiel is just describing the beauty of it.

VERSES 23-24a

1. Ezekiel is describing the thunderous sound they made when they moved.

VERSES 24b-25

1. Here is something I find very interesting. Whenever they moved it was noisy. Whenever they stood still, as they were quiet, they heard the voice of God. Do you think God is trying to tell us something here? I think so! It is interesting that as we were moving into the technology age, as things were made to make life simpler, to give us more free time, the exact opposite has happened. We can now work from our home 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. We are in information overload. People don’t have time or they don’t make time to stand still, to listen to the still small voice of God. Psalm 46:10 says "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" In other words, spend time with Him, read His Word, mediate on the things of God and listen to His still small voice!

VERSE 26

1. Here is a picture of Jesus, post incarnation, post resurrection, sitting upon the throne. You see, the Scriptures say that God is spirit, but when Jesus became flesh and dwelt among us He took on the body of flesh, He became man. Ezekiel now see’s into the future in this vision that God has given him.

VERSES 27-28

1. John, in Revelation chapter 4, also saw a rainbow around the throne of God. The rainbow was a symbol of God’s grace, His promise that He would never destroy the earth again by a flood. Fire speaks of judgment. And that reminds me of the burning thorn bush that Moses saw in the desert. It was common for these bushes to burn, but what drew Moses to this one bush was it was on fire but it was not consumed. The thorn bush was a symbol of sin, the fire of judgment, and not being consumed, God’s grace. It was not the righteousness of God, or the holiness of God that drew Moses, but the grace of God. It is as Paul said in Romans 2:4, "Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?"

2. Now how did Ezekiel respond when he received this glorious vision of God’s throne? He fell on his face, he bowed his head before the Lord. People today are so flippant about all these visions of God they say they are having. There is no reverence, there is no bowing of the head before Him. Why? Maybe they aren’t receiving a vison of Jesus! You see, God is holy, He is pure, and for sinful man to approach Him any other way than on his knees with his head bowed is wrong! We are not God, He is, and we need to remember to approach Him that way, giving Him all the glory that his due His name, give Him the honor He deserves!

EZEKIEL 2

VERSE 1

1. This is a title used by God for Ezekiel, "Son of man," and it is used some 93 times in this book.

VERSES 2-3

1. This is hard to believe, but even at this point, as they are captives in Babylon, they remained hard-hearted, rebellious towards God. And the Lord is telling Ezekiel, these are the ones I am sending you to, these stubborn people.

VERSES 4-5

1. Now it doesn’t say if Ezekiel asked the Lord if there was any other ministries he could have, but this one was truly going to be a difficult one. And God is instructing Ezekiel to go and tell these people things that God is going to share with him, but don’t expect the people to listen, don’t expect them to hear what you are saying!

VERSE 6

1. This is not going to be an easy ministry, it won’t be an easy path because the people are not going to be interested in what you have to say. They are going to be more interested in having their ears tickled than hearing the Words of God. But don’t be discouraged. Don’t let their words cause you to fear. Don’t let their faces scare you. What an important lesson for us to hear and apply. Whatever God has called us to do, don’t be afraid, take those steps of faith and you will be blessed as you do the work of God, as difficult as it may be.

VERSE 7

1. Whenever you are involved in any ministry, remember this, you can’t please everyone, nor are you instructed to do that. If I listened to everyone’s instruction on what should take place in this church, it would be a mess, and a few people may be happy for a time, but that is not the issue. What is the issue? GOD! Now don’t get me wrong, I love to hear suggestions or comments, until they are presented to me as Law and unsubstantiated by the Scriptures. You see, I think Paul sums up what our focus should be, when he said in Galatians 1:10, "For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ." You see, our service is unto God, we need to do as He commands us, not to be men pleasers, but God pleasers! And if that is done, people will be blessed.

VERSE 8

1. They may not like what God has to say, but the Lord is encouraging Ezekiel to receive these words.

VERSES 9-10

1. This seems to be a scroll of judgment against a rebellious people, many who were now in captivity in Babylon! Yes, there are many blessings found in God’s Word, but there are also woe’s, judgments, that also need to be shared. People need to understand the consequences of sin!

2. Now we are just going to finish this thought here, and to do that we are going to get into the first few verses of Ezekiel chapter 3. Remember, the Scriptures are inspired, the chapters and verses are not, they were placed there at a later date for our convenience. And sometimes the thought continues on into the next chapter and we need to read on to keep the flow of the thought.

EZEKIEL 3

VERSE 1

1. As II Timothy 2:6 says, "The hard-working farmer must be first to partake of the crops." In other words, we first must feed on the Word of God before we can give it to others. You can’t give to others what you don’t have yourself. In Psalm 19:10 we read that God’s Word is "More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb." Job said of God’s Word, "I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food." Job 23:12. We are to be partakers of the Word of God!

VERSES 2-3

1. God gave Ezekiel this scroll to eat, but he only chewed it up, it seems that he didn’t swallow it. You can’t superficially feed on God’s Word and expect to grow. Yes it is important to know God’s Word but you must take it to the next step and apply it to your life. You see, you will never grow if you only superficially feed on God’s Word. You must let it become part of your life, you have to digest it!

2. Now Ezekiel was going out into a hostile environment, it was going to be difficult. Now don’t become discouraged, the work can be overwhelming at times. But if God is sending us, it will produce that which He desires. Let me leave you this evening with these encouraging words from Paul found in Galatians 6:9-10, words that were sent to me from someone to encourage me, and I believe they will encourage you. Paul said "And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith." And Paul said this in I Corinthians 15:58, "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."