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EZEKIEL

Ezekiel 3-5

Please turn in your Bibles to Ezekiel chapter 3 as we continue our study through the Word of God. And keep in mind that Ezekiel is now a captive in Babylon, he was taken away in 597 BC, during the Babylonians second siege upon Jerusalem. Daniel was taken to Babylon in 606 BC, during their first siege upon Jerusalem. So Ezekiel and Daniel were contemporaries in Babylon, although they were ministering in different locations. Ezekiel’s ministry took place about 200 miles to the north of the city of Babylon, in a place called Tel Abib, which was nothing more than a prison camp for the captives of Judah. Daniel, on the other hand, became a statesman and his ministry took place in the city of Babylon itself.

As we saw last week, the Lord commissions Ezekiel in chapter 2, and to continue the flow, lets pick-up our study in verse 9 of Ezekiel chapter 2. (Read Ezekiel 2:9-10). As Ezekiel looks he see’s a hand and in this hand of God is a scroll, a scroll of judgment against a rebellious people, many who had already been carried away as captives to Babylon.

EZEKIEL 3

VERSE 1

1. God now tells Ezekiel to eat this scroll. Now what is that all about? If this scroll represented the Words of God, then what the Lord is saying to Ezekiel, and to us, is this; you aren’t going to be able to serve the Lord and minister to people unless you first partake of God’s Word yourself. Remember what Paul told Timothy in II Timothy 2:6, "The hard-working farmer must be first to partake of the crops."

VERSE 2

1. Now for whatever reason, Ezekiel is going to chew on the Word of God, but he doesn’t swallow it. And we will see that in the next verse.

VERSE 3

1. God did not want Ezekiel to just chew on His Word, to superficially feed on it, because that won’t help a person to grow. God wanted Ezekiel to digest it, to make the Word of God become part of his life, to live what he knows.

2. And yes, this message was going to be one of judgment, but it was still God’s Word. You see, the sweetness came from the source of the words, God, rather than the content of the words, which was judgment. It is as Jeremiah said in Jeremiah 15:16, "Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts."

VERSES 4-5

1. God is sending Ezekiel to his own people, the Jews. There was no language barrier, no walls to breakdown, they were family.

VERSE 6

1. The Lord is now giving to Ezekiel the difficult part. You see, even though they were family, fellow Jews who understood the language, they are going to reject the message. In fact, God says that if He sent Ezekiel to a foreign people, they would have listened!

2. In the New Testament, listen to Jesus’ rebuke of those Jewish cities that saw His mighty works and still rejected Him. We read in Matthew 11:20-24, "Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent: ‘Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.’" With knowledge comes responsibility. You are accountable for what you know, and by rejecting it, the stricter judgment will come upon you!

VERSE 7

1. A language barrier can be overcome, but a hard heart, a rebellious heart is very difficult to overcome, as we see here with the children of Israel. Even at this point, when they are in captivity in Babylon, they still are rejecting the voice of God and the prophets of God. Now understand that even though there were individuals responding to the Lord, like Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Habakkuk, and-so-on, the nation as a whole had turned from the Lord.

2. Something we need to understand is we are ambassadors for Christ, we are representing Him to the people of this world. And as representatives of the kingdom of light to a world in darkness, we are many times going to be rejected by them, and they are not really rejecting us, but the King we are representing, the One who sent us to them. Don’t be discouraged, if they persecuted the Lord, they will persecute us also. As Jesus said in John 15:18-22, "If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘ servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin."

VERSES 8-9

1. This was going to be a difficult ministry that the Lord was placing Ezekiel in. There would be some evil looks towards Ezekiel. He would butt heads with these people. And as hard, as tough as things might get, the Lord is telling Ezekiel not to back down, don’t give up, stand strong in the faith! The words that God gave to Ezekiel are very similar to the words He gave to Isaiah and Jeremiah as they were commissioned by God. (Isaiah 6:8-13, Jeremiah 1:11-19).

VERSE 10

1. This is so important for us today. God is telling Ezekiel to pay attention, to listen to the voice of God. How is that done? Primarily through His Word and listening to His still small voice that is spoken to our hearts. And God tells Ezekiel to take in all of God’s Words, that means the blessings and the judgments, don’t edit anything out! May we also heed these Words of God and speak the whole counsel of God, not just the things we like!

VERSE 11

1. I think we worry far too often about how people are going to respond to what we say regarding the Lord and His Word. Let me try to take that burden away from you. God is telling Ezekiel, and us, to speak forth His Word, whether people hear it, whether they accept it or not. You see, it is not our responsibility that people get saved. Our responsibility is to be a farmer, and sow the seed of God’s Word in love. The Holy Spirit is responsible for bringing forth life in the hearts of the people.

VERSES 12-13

1. As God picks Ezekiel up to transport him to the captives in Tel Abib, he also hears the noise of the four Cherubim moving. And we dealt with these living creatures last time, and I’m sure I answered all your questions about them!

VERSE 14

1. Ezekiel recognized that his people were having to go through this judgment because they refused to listen and obey the voice of the Lord. And he may have been upset with them because of their rebellion, maybe feeling the same emotions that God felt towards the sinful nature and hard heartedness of these people. And as I have said, this was going to be a tough ministry, but Ezekiel was not going to accomplish this in his own strength, but the Spirit of God would equip and enable him to accomplish all these things.

VERSE 15

1. Too often people sit in their ivory towers and speak condemnation to the people below. They don’t want to get involved, they don’t want to come in contact with these people, and that is exactly the opposite of what God wants us to do. When you minister to people you need to sit with them, put yourself in their shoes. You need to feel what they feel. That doesn’t mean you need to sin with them, but you need to have compassion upon them and that won’t come when you are sitting in your ivory tower!

2. After the murder of John the baptist by Herod, Jesus tried to take His men to a deserted place so they could rest and get refreshed, they had just returned from a ministry that was very tiring, although very exciting. And in Mark 6:32-34 we read "So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves. But the multitudes saw them departing, and many knew Him and ran there on foot from all the cities. They arrived before them and came together to Him. And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. So He began to teach them many things."

Now understand the crowds were looking to take advantage of Jesus. They were interested in the supernatural, the healings, the feedings, a trick here and a trick there, He was entertaining. They had no intention of having their hearts changed, for the most part. So they came to Jesus for all the wrong reasons. And yet Jesus had "compassion" upon the people. The word literally means "I feel it in the pit of my stomach" or "to climb into the skin of another." In other words, Jesus felt their pain, their loneliness, their fear, their disappointments, and-so-on. And God wants us to do the same so we can minister to them the love of Christ. But unless you rub elbows with them, you won’t have compassion upon them and you won’t have the opportunity to teach them the things of God, to share with them.

VERSES 16-17

1. A watchman was a person who sat on the wall of the city and when he saw danger coming he would sound the alarm to warn the people. Obviously it was a very important position. To fail in your duty could mean the death of many people.

VERSES 18-19

1. A prophet of God was responsible to speak forth the Words of God whether it was good or bad, blessings or curses. And there are consequences for not acting. Now I don’t believe you can lose your salvation once you are saved. But God can chasten you for your failure to listen to Him. You see, I don’t believe these verses are speaking of our position, but in a practical sense. Paul, in speaking to the Ephesian elders in Acts chapter 20 said, "Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God." Acts 20:26-27. Paul gave the people the whole council of God and he was not guilty before God in fulfilling his responsibility towards man.

VERSES 20-21

1. Again, they were under the Mosaic covenant, we are under the New Covenant. And I believe what the Lord is saying to us is that we are our brothers keepers. We are to be watching out for each other, encouraging each other, rebuking in love when needed, correcting, and-so-on. Don’t let a family member head down a path of death and destruction. Paul, in Hebrews 10:24-25 exhorts us by saying, "And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching."

VERSES 22-23

1. Again, notice the reverential respect that Ezekiel has towards the Lord. He falls down before Him to worship Him.

VERSES 24-27

1. I know I sure could use this more in my own life. That anytime I am going to speak out of the flesh, that God would close my mouth. And when I spoke forth the Words of God, God would allow me to speak these words clearly.

EZEKIEL 4

VERSE 1

1. Ezekiel is going to diagram the things that would come upon Jerusalem. Kind of like the Tele-straighter of today that they use to diagram plays in football.

VERSES 2-3

1. Remember, Ezekiel was taken captive during the second siege by Babylon in 597 BC. The city did not fall until the third siege by Babylon in 586 BC. So Ezekiel is drawing a picture of what will happen to Jerusalem, and as we can see, the worst is yet to come!

VERSES 4-5

1. Ezekiel is going to lay on his left side for 390 days to represent the years that Israel sinned against the Lord. It was obviously a vivid object lesson for the people to see. Now don’t get the idea that he didn’t get up to eat and go to the bathroom, because he did. But the majority of his day was spent on his left side for 390 days. And he is not done yet.

VERSE 6

1. When he has completed those 390 days, he then is to turn over onto his right side and stay there for 40 days, representing the number of years Judah sinned against the Lord.

VERSES 7-8

1. Ezekiel was restricted to the position God wanted him in to make this illustration and try and get the peoples attention.

VERSE 9

1. This is the food he is going to eat during this time and it represented the food of famine, of the scarcity of food.

VERSES 10-11

1. He did not get too eat much, about 21.3 ounces of water and 8 oz of bread. And this again represented the famine that was coming upon Jerusalem.

VERSES 12-13

1. The use of dung for fuel, mixed with straw and left to dry was practiced throughout the Middle East where there was a scarcity of wood. This burning dung burned slowly and it did give off a foul odor, as you can imagine. But God does not tell him to use animal dung, but human waste, which of course was unclean to the Jew. And this was a sign of judgment against them.

VERSE 14

1. Ezekiel is horrified by this because he kept himself kosher, he obeyed the Mosaic laws, and now God wants him to defile himself! (Deuteronomy 23:12-14).

VERSE 15

1. God is gracious and allows Ezekiel to use cow dung to bake his bread with.

VERSES 16-17

1. This is a warning of the coming famine upon Jerusalem. It is going to get so bad that the women will boil and eat their own children. Many people will starve to death during this time.

EZEKIEL 5

VERSE 1

1. This guy must have been tough, he shaves his head and face with a sword! I complain when my wife uses my razor to shave her legs and then when I try to shave I hack myself up, wrapping toilet paper around my face to stop the bleeding, I look like the mummy. Well, it’s not that bad, but you get the idea. But can you imagine what Ezekiel looked like when he was done shaving with this sword!

VERSE 2

1. Ezekiel is to divide his hair into 3 parts. 1/3 he is to burn with fire which represents death by famine and pestilence. 1/3 is to be cut up with the sword, signifying death by the sword. And 1/3 is to be scattered in the wind representing their captivity.

VERSES 3-4

1. He is also to take a few pieces of this hair and hide them in his clothes. This represented a faithful remnant in the midst of judgment.

VERSES 5-8

1. God had set a standard for them to live by. But they didn’t live up to the standard. In fact, they had gotten so bad that God saw their behavior, the things that they were doing, worse than the gentile nations they drove out of the land of Canaan. They had become worse than the heathen nations!

VERSES 9-11

1. This judgment was going to be so severe, the famine so intense, that the people were going to resort to cannibalism just to survive! In Deuteronomy 28:53-58 God warned His people of this very thing if they turned from Him. We read "You shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and your daughters whom the LORD your God has given you, in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you. The sensitive and very refined man among you will be hostile toward his brother, toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the rest of his children whom he leaves behind, so that he will not give any of them the flesh of his children whom he will eat, because he has nothing left in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you at all your gates. The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because of her delicateness and sensitivity, will refuse to the husband of her bosom, and to her son and her daughter, her placenta which comes out from between her feet and her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of everything in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you at all your gates. If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, THE LORD YOUR GOD."

2. Again, we must keep in mind that God did everything possible to prevent this judgment from coming, but the people refused to heed His Words. They kept pushing Him and pushing Him farther and farther away until judgment came!

VERSES 12-13

1. Here we see the righteous judgment of God come upon this nation to awaken them out of their spiritual sleep.

VERSES 14-17

1. You would think at this point in time they would fall on their faces and repent of their sins. Tragically, at this point, they didn’t, even though many were already captives in Babylon!

2. We see the same thing today as people go to church and they leave as they came in, unchanged. The message doesn’t affect them. And they need to realize that the more truth a person has and rejects, the greater the punishment they will receive.

3. Let me leave you with these words to meditate upon, to think about. Paul, in Hebrews 4:12-13 said, "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account." May you allow God’s Word, by His Spirit, to cut away the hardness from around your heart and to draw you close to Him, to make you more sensitive to Him! You can hide your heart from a lot of people, but you can’t hide it from God, He knows all. Give Him the garbage in your life and let Him fill you with His Spirit and His love.