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On Oct 09, 2013: Ezekiel 1-10 Know That I Am The Lord · Teachings On This Day On FerventWord

• You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2013. We are here this evening in the book of Ezekiel looking at chapters 1 through 10. And beginning this incredible prophetic book. Now I like the way that George puts it. He says Ezekiel is a trippy book. He just told me that a little bit before service. And I know what he means because Ezekiel had some pretty incredible visions. He was asked by the Lord to do some unique and unusual things to demonstrate as a picture of the message that he was proclaiming. And so we have some interesting weeks ahead of us as we go through the book of Ezekiel for the next few weeks. Here as we look at the book of Ezekiel, we're looking at the fourth major prophetic book. We went through Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, finished those up last week. Now we're in the book of Ezekiel. We'll be here for about four weeks or so and then heading into the book of Daniel. So really great things that God has in store as we continue to go through the Bible in three years. Now the book of Ezekiel is written by, spoken by Ezekiel from 593 to 571 BC. I think of all the prophetic books, Ezekiel is probably the most precise as far as the dates are concerned because he does tell us throughout the time very specific dates regarding the prophecies that he gives. The purpose of his ministry was threefold, and you can see it in kind of the outline of this book. Number one, it was to declare the fall of Jerusalem. In chapters 1 through 24, he's declaring that Jerusalem will fall to Babylon. The second purpose was to pronounce judgment on the nations. And so in chapters 25 through 32, he's announcing judgment on various nations that were existing at that time. And then the third part is to give hope of restoration to the people of God. And so chapters 33 through 48 deal with that hope and more specifically the millennial kingdom and the things that are going to be happening there. Now Ezekiel was prophesying alongside of or around the same time as Jeremiah and Daniel. And so he was around that time frame where we just finished, you know, Jeremiah and Lamentations. Ezekiel's right there within that time frame and we'll see that as we look at the timeline. So Jeremiah prophesied leading up to the final destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon. Ezekiel began to prophesy a little bit later after Jeremiah, but he was prophesying from a different location. So you can see in 605 B.C., For the first time, Babylon conquered Jerusalem. And there were those who were taken captive from Jerusalem to Babylon, and then some were left in the land and they continued to live in Jerusalem. Daniel was amongst those who were taken captive, so he was in Babylon. Then the next time, in 597 BC, Babylon came back to Jerusalem, conquered it again because they rebelled again. And at that time, more captives were taken, including Ezekiel. So during the second captivity, Ezekiel was taken from Jerusalem to Babylon... And he's there in Babylon for a few years. And then in 593, he begins to prophesy. And so the first 24 chapters, he's prophesying about the third and final destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon, which is ultimately fulfilled in 586 BC. He continues to prophesy after that up until 571 BC. Here's what it looks like visually on the timeline. So you have the ministry of Jeremiah. And then Ezekiel, they're kind of all overlapping. And Daniel, all in that same time frame around the time when Judah was destroyed by Babylon and taken into captivity. The geography of Ezekiel is pretty simple. We have basically two main cities that are being focused on, or two main regions. That is Babylon and then Jerusalem. So Ezekiel is in Babylon with the rest of his Jewish captives. They're not captive in the sense like they're imprisoned, but they're relocated and forced to live in this new community. They're not allowed to go back to the home where they came from. And so Ezekiel Ezekiel is there with the rest of the captives. He's ministering to them, speaking to them about what's happening there, but then also what's happening back in Jerusalem where Jeremiah is and where Babylon is heading to destroy completely as they conquer it for the third time. And so that's kind of the intro into Ezekiel. And now we begin in chapter 1 looking at verse 3 as the key verse. It says, Here in the beginning, we see the commissioning of Ezekiel as God calls him to be a prophet. And that happens in verses 1 through 3. We see the word came to Ezekiel. The word of the Lord came to him. And the exact timing is given in verses 1 and 2 so that we know it's in 593 BC that Ezekiel begins to hear from the Lord in this way. At that time, he was 30 years old. Uh, which is interesting because he was a priest. And so if he had been back in Jerusalem, it would have been at this time that he would have been allowed to serve at the temple as a priest, but he's captive in Babylon. And so instead of serving at the temple, God says, I have a new task for you, something different in mind. You are going to be a watchman for me. You're going to be a prophet and you're going to speak my word to the people. Now all of this takes place by the river Chebar. And this is a main river that comes off of the Euphrates River, a little bit south of the city of Babylon. And so they're in the nation of Babylon, a little bit south of the city of Babylon. That's where Ezekiel lives, along with many of the other captives. And that's where God begins to speak to him. Well, he gives him this great vision in verses 4 through 14. Right off the bat, we just kind of jump right into an incredible vision of the four living creatures. He sees, it says in verse 4, this great cloud with raging fire. And so he sees this cloud coming. There's this fire. There's these coals. It's all this brightness. And he sees this incredible scene, which he then tries to describe for us. Now, seven times here in chapter one, he uses the word likeness. As he's describing these things, he keeps saying over and over again, it was like this, or it was in the likeness of this. He's not saying it was exactly this, but this is what it was like. And so you can understand Ezekiel is seeing something, And he's having a really difficult time describing it. I mean, the words that he's putting together just don't quite fully declare what he saw, but somewhat portray what he did see. And so we cannot really understand or imagine exactly what Ezekiel was looking at. But he gives us this likeness so that we can have somewhat of a picture to get somewhat of a glimpse of the vision that he saw. And so in verse 5 he says, Also from within it, that is the cloud, came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance. They had the likeness of a man. And so here he's describing this cloud and there's four living creatures that come from the midst of it. They're kind of like men, but they're kind of different as well. He says in verse 6, each one had four faces and each one had four wings. And so these creatures, these four living creatures have four faces each, not one face for each creature, but each of them have four faces and each of them have four wings. wings. So, you know, maybe if you're looking for a good costume idea for Light the Night, you know, you can follow Ezekiel's description here. But they have four wings and so they are able to fly. They have these capabilities and these features, but they also have four faces. So, And the faces are specific. In verse 10 it tells us, one of the faces is that of a man. One of the faces is that of a lion. One of the faces is that of an ox. And then one of the faces is that of an eagle. So all four faces. of the four living creatures had these four faces. He describes too also how they move. It says that they went straight forward. So they didn't like turn and go somewhere. They would go straight forward that way or straight forward this way or straight forward this way or straight forward backwards. They would just go, you know, I picture it, maybe it's kind of weird, but like an Etch-a-Sketch, you know, it's like only in right angles, you know, go straight, straight, straight. And so he describes it like this, saying that their appearance was like torches and And so you can see this light, this fire. But then also they're moving very fast. In verse 14 he says they ran back and forth like lightning. And so it's like the lightning version of the Etch-a-Sketch. You know, just all this flashing. Maybe he's seeing it in slow motion. Maybe he's seen too many movies. But he's like... And he's like watching them. You know, seeing the different sides of the creature. It's pretty amazing. This vision that he's having. There's a lot of sound effects for... Wednesday night, huh? All right. So then verses 15 through 21, you have wheels within wheels. So this vision gets a little bit stranger as he sees alongside of each of the four living creatures, there's these sets of wheels. And it's like wheels within wheels. And it makes me think like God had spinners, you know, like on the hook caps. Anyways, so it's wheels within wheels beside each of the living creatures. The rims were high, you know, so it was really tricked out. And then it was full of eyes. Now, as we try to visualize this, of course, it's like very like awkward and strange. Like it doesn't make sense. It doesn't sound beautiful. But Ezekiel is seeing something magnificent and beautiful. These wheels are alongside of each creature and they're moving in unison with the living creatures while all this is going on. Well, then in verses 22 through 28, we see that there's a throne above them. So there's this whole scene with these living creatures with these wheels. There's this firmament or this kind of platform above them. And on top of that is this throne with the appearance of a man. He says it's the likeness of a throne in verse 26. An appearance like a sapphire stone on the likeness of the throne was the likeness with the appearance of a man high above it. So three of the likenesses are right there in verse 26. Because again, he's trying to describe it. He can't say exactly what it is. But it's like a throne. There's like a man on it. It's like this brilliant color. There's bright lights. And so he sees this incredible vision. And this is the throne of God. And the presence of God that he is seeing. And so you can understand that. seeing this throne of God he's not fully adequate in explaining it like the apostle Paul said you know when he was caught up into heaven he said if I tried to explain it it would be unlawful the words I would use would be so you know so wrong as I tried to do my best to describe it and so Paul doesn't even try to describe it Ezekiel does Now throughout the years, many people have attempted to capture, you know, visually what does it look like, what did Ezekiel see. So here's a couple examples of some various ways that people have tried to picture. And so you can see the four living creatures and the wheels there and then the throne. Or you can see over this way, it looks like the four living creatures. It's more like a chariot than a throne, you know, with the wheels attached to the throne and then the four living creatures alongside. And then down below you have, you know, the four living creatures with the wheels and then kind of this crystal platform with the throne on top. And, you know, so various ways and maybe you picture it slightly differently in your head. But we don't know exactly what it looked like. But you know there's some maybe ideas for you to get a grasp of what Ezekiel is seeing. I think the main thing that I'd like to point out here in Ezekiel chapter 1. Is that what he is seeing is not mechanical. But it is spiritual. So some people have tried to, you know, take this and say Ezekiel saw a helicopter, you know, and there's the wheels and the spinnings and, you know, that kind of thing or some type of mechanical thing. But Ezekiel is not seeing something mechanical. He's seeing the throne of God, the presence of God, and there's this glorious things that are happening around it. And so it's a likeness. He's trying to describe it. It's not exactly like any of these things, but it gives us a little bit of a glimpse at what Ezekiel saw. Now the thing that he sees with these living creatures and their four faces is pretty interesting. As we remember, we talked about this back in the book of Numbers chapter 2, where as Israel camped the way that God instructed them to, they had specific positions around the tabernacle, around the presence of God. And as they camped around the presence of God, they would camp around, you know, one main tribe of Judah or tribe of Israel. And so you would have these four tribes. Now, each of the tribes had their banner. That's how they would, you know, identify themselves. And that's how everybody else would know where to go was by these banners that they would hold up and the symbols that were upon them. And so you had Dan who had the symbol of an eagle and they would camp on one side of the tabernacle. Then you had Judah who would camp on the other side with a lion as the symbol. Then you would have Reuben with the symbol of a man camp on the other side. And then Ephraim with the symbol of an ox or a calf and they would camp on the other side of the tabernacle. And so you would have these, you know, set up all around the tabernacle as the tribes of Israel camped around it. Well, it's interesting that these same symbols that would identify the tribes of Israel relate to the four faces of these symbols living creatures that Ezekiel sees. And this isn't the only time we see this. We also see it in Revelation chapter 4 where John is caught up into heaven and he sees the four living creatures with these four faces as well. And then also some people have taken it a little bit further and analyzed the four gospel accounts, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And I didn't prepare it, so I'm sorry I don't have all the details in front of me. But each one of the Gospels focuses on different aspects of who Jesus is. And so scholars, you know, kind of point to that, you know, well, Matthew represents this. Let's see if I could do it from the top of my head. Matthew is the lion of the tribe of Judah. Mark is the ox because he presented Jesus as a servant. Luke is the man because he focuses on the humanity of Jesus and then John is the eagle because he focuses on the deity of Jesus. And there's a little bit more details in there. And that might be taking it too far, but it is interesting that there are these parallels when you begin to talk about the presence of God, the throne room of God, and talking about Jesus Christ as God, that there's these parallels of these living creatures with these four representations or symbols that are part of it. So that's Ezekiel chapter 1, and now we move on to chapter 2. Verse 2 is the key verse. It says, God tells Ezekiel now in verses 1 through 5, I'm sending you to a rebellious nation. The Holy Spirit enters Ezekiel at this time and prepares him, first of all, to hear from the Lord, And then to speak for the Lord. It's interesting as you go through the book of Ezekiel. How he... highlights and points out the work of the Holy Spirit in his life. And so first the Holy Spirit is received to hear from the Lord. And that is true for us as well. If we want to hear from the Lord, we need to have the Holy Spirit to be filled with the Spirit. But then also if we're going to be speaking for the Lord, we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And so as you look through this, there's a lot of parallels to the call that you and I have in order, you To be a witness. To be a light. To declare the good news of Jesus Christ. And ministry always has to be done in the power of the Holy Spirit. It has to begin there. Ezekiel's ministry is going to be very hard. God is telling him here, I'm sending you to rebellious children. Check out verse 3. Son of man. So God is telling Ezekiel, I have a very difficult ministry for you. I'm sending you to this people that have been rebellious. And they were rebellious and their fathers were rebellious. And even to this day. They've been conquered twice by Babylon and taken into captivity and they're still rebellious. They're still refusing to hear from me. But he tells Ezekiel in verse 5, whether they hear or they refuse, they will know that a prophet has been among them. So Ezekiel, I'm sending you in. They're rebellious. This is going to be difficult. But whether they hear or not... They're going to know that a prophet has been among them. And so he tells Ezekiel in verse 6 and 7 to not be afraid. Don't be afraid, he says in verse 6, of their words or dismayed by their looks. They're not going to like what you have to say. They're not going to say nice things back. They're not going to, you know, have pleasant faces. We always talk about, you know, when one of us is teaching somewhere else, you know, we take someone with us to be a smiling face in the crowd because sometimes everybody's just like, you know, glaring at you. You're like, oh man, this is awful. It's not going so well. So, you know, we sit there and we smile for each other and have a nice face. So you're not dismayed by the faces of the people that you're ministering to. In the same way, They're going to be glaring at you, Ezekiel. They're going to be scowling at you. They're going to be upset with what you have to say. But don't be dismayed by their faces or by their looks. Again, this parallels our call to minister. You know, as we think about the flashlight fellowships, we'll be doing that tomorrow, 7 o'clock. I invite you to come out and join us. We think about these things, though. You know, what are they going to say? What are they going to think? What if they look at us? You know, we begin to be fearful about what people might say or how they might look as we reach out and offer to pray for them. But we need to not be afraid and not be dismayed by their looks. When God speaks to your heart to minister to somebody in the same way, you need to not worry about how they're going to receive it and how they're going to respond. In verse 7, he tells Ezekiel, speak my words whether they hear or refuse. How many times have you, I don't know, I've done it. Have you talked yourself out of sharing with somebody or doing something because you figure, ah, they're not going to receive it anyways? God tells Ezekiel, look, this is going to be hard. They're not going to receive it. But whether they receive or refuse, you are to speak my words that I give to you. And so he tells him in verses 8 through 10, eat the scroll that I give you. That is, receive the words that I have to speak through you. He says in verse 8, but you son of man, hear what I say to you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I give you. You see what God says there? Ezekiel, I'm sending you to a rebellious house. It's going to be a difficult ministry, but don't you be rebellious like they are and not receive the words that I'm giving to you. Don't be rebellious like they are. If Ezekiel would refuse to minister... and prophesy as God spoke to him, it would be as rebellious or rebellious just like the people were rebellious in worshiping these false gods. If we refuse to minister when God calls us, it's rebellion. If we refuse to step out as God calls us forward, it's rebellion. And so God says, don't be rebellious. Take this scroll. It's filled with lamentations and mourning and woe. And you could understand Ezekiel's ministry is not going to be popular. It's not, you know, one that anybody would volunteer for, but it is the one that God gave to him. And so he says, do not be rebellious. We, if we were like Ezekiel, right, we're probably thinking, God, I want a different ministry. Just like many people think today, I want a different gift. I don't want to serve this way. I don't want to have this ministry. I want to do something different. But God gifts us and he places us within the body of Christ the way that he sees fit. And so we need to be faithful and not rebellious and serve and fulfill the role that God has given to us and speak when God has spoken to us. Well, moving on now to chapter 3 of Ezekiel, verse 11 is the key verse. He says, God's making sure Ezekiel gets the point. It's not going to be easy. It's going to be difficult. They're not going to like it. They're going to have scowls on their face. But whether they hear or refuse, you need to say, thus says the Lord God. In verses 1 through 3, we see that he receives it from the Lord. This scroll, he eats it. It says, it was in his mouth like honey. He received this scroll from the Lord, these words that God was giving to him. And then verses 4 through 11, God says, speak my words to my people, whether they hear or not. Here's my words, Ezekiel, eat this scroll and then speak my words to them. He says, I'm sending you to a familiar people in verse 5. I'm sending you to the house of Israel. And he goes on to say, if I sent you to foreigners, they probably would hear you. They'd probably receive the message. But I'm sending you to your own family and they're probably not going to hear you. They're probably not going to listen to you. Verse 7, but the house of Israel will not listen to you. Notice why. Because they will not listen to me. For all the house of Israel are impudent and hard-hearted. He says, they will not listen to you because they will not listen to me. That's really important to see. If people will not listen to God, they will not listen to me. If they won't listen to God, they're not going to listen to what I have to say because they're not even willing to listen to God. Now, that doesn't mean that we shouldn't speak. And again, we sometimes talk ourselves out of speaking when God calls us to speak because we already like, we're like forecasting the end and they're not going to receive it. So I might as well not even speak. But that's not what God tells Ezekiel. God tells Ezekiel, they're not going to hear you. They're not going to listen to you because they're not willing to listen to me. But you are to go and speak anyways. So don't speak if God hasn't told you to speak because that's not going to be helpful either. But speak if God has told you to speak, even if the people will not receive it. He says in verse 9, I like this, I've made your foreheads strong. They're stubborn. They've got strong foreheads. They're going to be resisting you, but I've made your forehead strong. You're going to be able to resist them back and be able to persist in bringing forth my message even in the midst of difficulty. He says, I'm going to carry you through. It's going to be tough, but I'm going to give you the strength and you're going to be able to fulfill the ministry that I'm giving to you. And so he says in verses 10 and 11, hear my words and speak to Israel whether they hear or not. Now in verses 12 through 15, we see Ezekiel is finished with this vision and he sits there astonished for seven days. So starting in chapter 1, as he sees this glorious picture of God and then God's speaking to him, all of that's all one event happening and then now he just sits there astonished as I could imagine that's what we would do as well. For seven days Ezekiel He is sitting there astonished and overwhelmed at what he has seen. Then God speaks to Ezekiel again in verses 16 through 21. And he says, I have made you a watchman. So he's clarifying his ministry, his calling. He says, I've made you a watchman for Israel. Now a watchman has a responsibility to speak and to warn the people. The idea is, you know, you're there on a wall, if you're the watchman, and you're looking out, you're looking to see, is there any threats, any enemies coming? And if an enemy is coming, if you as a watchman don't say, hey guys, get ready, you know, the people are coming, the enemy is coming. If you don't warn the people, then everybody's caught off guard and they're killed, they're destroyed. And it's your fault because you were the watchman and you didn't warn them. Now, if you are faithful as a watchman and you see the threat and you say, hey everybody, there's a threat coming, then it's on them. You did your part. You announced it. If they respond and hide themselves or protect themselves or if they just ignore it and then are destroyed, that's on them. But you did your part as a watchman. And so God says, you're a watchman, Ezekiel. In verse 18, he says, when I say to the wicked, you shall surely die and you give him no warning nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way to save his life. That same wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. And so he says, you're a watchman, Ezekiel. You're going to be speaking to wicked men But you got to be faithful to say what I tell you to say. Because, well, they're wicked and they're going to die for their iniquity. But if you don't tell them to say, you know, if you don't tell them what I tell you to tell them, then I'm going to also hold you accountable. And their blood will be required at your hand. And so you're going to be accountable for those people that I'm sending you to. Now, if they don't turn away from their wickedness, that's on them if you're faithful to give the message that I give to you. But if you don't give the message, they're still going to die because of their sinfulness. But I'm also going to hold you to account for it. And so God is making Ezekiel responsible for the wicked person. Responsible for delivering the message. Going back to the prophet Isaiah, God was calling his people to repentance. And they wouldn't hear. Then... A lot of time passed. They still weren't responding. Jeremiah comes on the scene. He's calling the people to repentance. Now, as we've been studying through these things, and Isaiah and Jeremiah, I've also been communicating to you, the body of Christ, The need to repent. It's been a call for brokenness that I've been sharing for several many weeks now. A couple months that we've been looking at these things and seeing this call to repentance. The call for brokenness. And that is because as I study these things and I go through these things, I'm seeking the Lord. I'm asking the Lord, Lord, what do you want emphasized? What do you want to focus on? What are the things that you want highlighted as we go through these passages? And I have to be faithful to what God puts on my heart. And sometimes people ask me, well, why do you keep harping on that? I mean, whoever needs to repent has probably already repented already. But, you know, from teaching through these books and past experience, I understand, I really believe God has us here looking at these things with the call to repentance because, well, there's things that he's dealing with in the hearts of those that are here on a Wednesday evening. And so we need, and I need, to be faithful to To deliver the message that God gives me to share. Even if I could look around and think, I don't think Jake needs to repent. I don't think they need to repent. Maybe I don't need to preach repentance tonight. It doesn't matter if I think people will receive it or not. Or if I think they need it or not. I have to be faithful to what God puts upon my heart. In the same way, we, like Ezekiel, are watchmen. And as God speaks to our heart, we have to be faithful to communicate that. He holds us responsible for it. In verses 22 through 27, God tells Ezekiel, when I speak with you, I will open your mouth. And so we see a unique ministry that Ezekiel has. He has this ministry where God's going to be using him, but he's not going to be very active in the community unless God is speaking something through him. And he says, when I speak to you, check out verse 27. When I speak with you, I will open your mouth and you shall say to them, thus says the Lord God. He who hears, let him hear. And he who refuses, let him refuse. For they are a rebellious house. He's basically telling Ezekiel, you will only speak when you're spoken to. That is, when I give you the words to say, then you'll be able to speak and you'll be speaking my words to the people. This is great insight for dealing with rebellious people. God's sending him to a rebellious house. He's sending him to rebellious people. And when you and I have to deal with rebellious people, which we do, I think it's a good rule of thumb. Only speak what God says and when God says to. Only speak what God says. As you're dealing with rebellious people, only speak what God says. And when God tells you to speak, then be faithful to speak. Now this happens, we see in verses 22 and 23, Ezekiel goes on his own personal retreat. He gets away, he gets all off by himself in the plane, and there God is speaking these things to him. And I just want to throw it out as a good reminder. We need those times of getting away. Break away from the routine. Break away from, you know, the normal times of life. Get away with the Lord. Get alone with the Lord. Hear from the Lord. Because often times God has something special for you. And so when you have the opportunity for the men's retreat or women's retreat or marriage retreat. Or just you by yourself. Just getting away and getting alone with the Lord. God has something special in store for you. And so be faithful to participate in those things if you want to hear from the Lord. Alright, Ezekiel chapter 4 now. Verse 2 is the key verse. He says, So here, God tells Ezekiel now, he kind of, he's been hearing from the Lord and getting his instruction. Now is his first task. And God says, Draw Jerusalem on a tablet. So here's what I want you to do. Take a tablet and portray Jerusalem on it and then lay siege to it. Now, what God was dealing with through Ezekiel, we saw it very similar to what God was dealing with through Jeremiah. There were false prophets amongst them in Jerusalem and in Babylon who were declaring that the people would soon return to Jerusalem. That they were going to be set free from Babylon and allowed to return. That was false. The message of the false prophets. And so God through Ezekiel is giving a different message. He says look here's Jerusalem. Lay siege to it. They're going to be under siege. And then they're going to be conquered. Now along with this he tells Ezekiel. He gives him some further instruction in verses 4 through 8. That he's to do this on his side. He says lie on your left side for 390 days. And then lie on your right side for 40 days. As you lay siege to this drawing of Jerusalem that you have put together. So on your left side, he says, lay there for 390 days. This represents the iniquity of Israel for 390 years. And then on your right side, you have the iniquity of Judah for 40 years. And so for 40 days, you'll be on your right hand side. Now, the time references here, the 390 days, the 40 days, there's been a lot of discussion about what that might be referring to. As I look at it, I don't see any clear connection to anything. God knows exactly what he's talking about. Some suggest that it's the time, you know, until I think it's like 167 BC when the Maccabean Revolt happens and they regain authority over Jerusalem and they become, you know, they have the rights over their own nation once again. So maybe that's a possibility, but it just... No matter which angle I look at which scholar says, it's just not real convincing to me. So no clear connection for me, but God knows what it is. And so he's to lay on one side for 390 days and then the other side for 40 days. So a total of 430 days he's laying on his side. And during all of this, he says in verse 7, You shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem. Your arms shall be uncovered and you shall prophesy against it. So just to help you visualize this. So here's Jerusalem and he builds Jerusalem on a tablet and he's like this and he's setting up. Okay. All right. We've got the armies here. Build a siege ramp. All right. Okay. And attacking Jerusalem. Bing, bing, bing, bing. You know, you know. Maybe different sound effects for the tools that they had, the weapons that they had. But he's on his side. And then another 40 days, he's on his side this way. All right. Building a siege ramp. So for over a year, this is Ezekiel's ministry. So we're calling children's ministry the Ezekiel ministry now. So because he's more exhausting than I thought. Maybe it's just more embarrassing than I thought. Okay, so. He's laying there for a year. He's on the ground. He's got the tablet. He's portraying this siege. For over a year, he's making it very real so that when people see, they know exactly what he's saying. God did this a lot of times through his prophets. He would give these pictures... Because they weren't listening to the words. But so this way, for a year, can you imagine? For a year, a little bit over a year, they're watching him play war with this portrait of Jerusalem that he has etched on this tablet. During this time, he also has a very specific diet. In verses 9 through 17, God tells him to eat defiled food by weight. I commented this week, you know, I've heard of people doing the Daniel fast. I've never heard of anybody doing the Ezekiel diet. I'm not sure why. In verse 9, he tells them the contents of his diet. He can have wheat and barley and beans and lentils and millet and spelt. So that's the limit of what he can have. And he's to have it in a very specific amount. He gets 20 shekels of food a day. Now I hear 20 shekels, I'm like, wow, that sounds like a feast. You know, it sounds really good. But 20 shekels equates to about 8 ounces. So he's eating 8 ounces of food each day. And then in verse 11, he's to have a sixth of a hin of water each day, which equates for us, it's about 20 ounces of water. So, you know, a bottle of water and 8 ounces of this bread that he makes... or if you want to think about it differently, maybe like a half pound burrito, a Del Taco, right? Eight ounces. And that's, but that's all he could have all day. And for his fire, God says, use human waste. That's, that's, that's your cooking fuel. And Ezekiel's like, oh Lord, I'm a priest, you know, I haven't done that. Okay. All right. I'll give you cow dung. That's better, right? So here, cow dung, you can cook over the cow dung. You can make your bread. 8 ounces a day. You can have your water. 20 ounces a day. And that's what you're to eat. During this time. While you're laying siege. On your side to Jerusalem. To give this very clear picture. To the people. Of what is going to happen to Jerusalem. In verse 16 he says. Because as Babylon is laying siege. They have to carefully preserve their resources. And so they're just eating a tiny bit, just like Ezekiel. They're just drinking a tiny bit, just like Ezekiel. Just the bare minimum. And so Ezekiel is wasting away for a year in front of the people to demonstrate, to help them see, look what's happening here. In Jerusalem. This is what's going to take place. In Jerusalem. You're not going home there. God's not going to give you deliverance. You're not going to go back there. This is what's going to happen to Jerusalem. Now as he portrays Jerusalem on a tablet, we don't know if he's kind of drawing the skyline or laying out the, you know, the map of Jerusalem. But here's a quick look at the map of Jerusalem as expanded by Solomon. Now the walls would be a little bit different by this time because that was a couple hundred years earlier. But originally Jerusalem was just Mount Zion, the bottom section. And then Solomon expanded it northward because there at the temple mount where David sacrificed to the Lord that's where the temple was so he expanded it up to Mount Moriah and Jerusalem now is you know on Mount Zion as well as Mount Moriah and so if he was drawing this on the tablet this is maybe somewhat of what it would look like all right chapter 5 now verse 13 Thus shall my anger be spent, and I will cause my fury to rest upon them, and I will be avenged. And they shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it in my zeal when I have spent my fury upon them. So this is all continuing. This is all part of the same thing. God speaks to him. He gives him this instruction. Lay siege to Jerusalem, and now shave your head in verses 1 through 4. And divide the hair in thirds. We see in verse 2, he's to burn a third of the hair. He's to chop up with the sword a third of the hair. And then he's to scatter a third of the hair into the wind. And then he says in verse 3, take a small number of your hair and then bind it in the edge of your garment. And so he's giving this picture here. A third of the people will be burned. A third of the people will be killed by the sword. A third of the people will be scattered into various nations. And there will just be a small remnant that God is going to preserve. He says in verses 5 through 13, I will diminish you because you defiled my sanctuary. He's talking to the Jewish people. And he says, you've been rebellious. You've rebelled against my judgment. In verse 6, he even says, more wickedness than the other nations. In verse 7, he says, you've multiplied disobedience. And so we see there's just cause for this judgment that God is bringing upon Jerusalem because of this great wickedness, this multiplied obedience. I often say that if we do not understand God's judgment, you know, if you think it's not deserved or it's too harsh, then it's because we do not understand the sin of We don't understand the sin that demands this judgment that God is bringing. But sin demands judgment and they've multiplied it. More wickedness than the nations. He says in verse 11, you defiled my sanctuary. And again, so in verse 12, he gives the meaning here. He says a third of the people will be burned. A third of the people will die by the sword. A third will be scattered into the wind or into the surrounding nations. Basically, it's three strikes you're out for death. The city of Jerusalem. Strike one, you rebelled against God. Strike two, you knew God's word and still rebelled. Strike three, then you went even further and rebelled more than the other nations. And so God is bringing this judgment against them. Now the purpose, he says in verse 13, he says, "...they shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it." They're going to understand through this judgment that I, the Lord, have spoken it. And so it's a lesson for them. It's an announcement to them. It's also a lesson for the nations we see in verses 14 through 17. He says, I will make you a waste and a reproach among the nations that are all around you in the sight of all who pass by. And so you're going to be glorifying my name. If you don't do it willingly, then in your judgment, you are going to be proclaiming me. It's going to be a lesson for all the nations. Chapter 6 now, verse 14 is the key verse. He says, so I will stretch out my hand against them and make the land desolate. Yes, more desolate than the wilderness toward Dibla. In all their dwelling places, then they shall know that I am the Lord. God gives Ezekiel now this message to deliver. He says, I will bring a sword against the mountains in verses 1 through 7. Prophesy against the mountains, Ezekiel, and say, hear the word of the Lord. I will bring the sword against you and I will destroy your high places. Now Jerusalem was on a mountain. It was Mount Zion. It was also on Mount Moriah. There was mountains around it. And so he's speaking against these mountains and saying, I'm bringing a sword against you and I'm going to destroy your high places. This is the places where they would worship false gods. I'm going to destroy all of those places where you're involved in idolatry. But God is making it clear. It's me, the Lord says, who brings this sword against you. Now again, we see the point and the purpose in verse 7. The slain shall fall in your midst and you shall know that I am the Lord. And so he's bringing this sword so that they know that he is the Lord. In verses 8 through 10, he says, I will leave a remnant. There will be a few who escape. I think it's interesting in verse 9, he talks about being crushed by their adulterous heart. God says, I was crushed as you pursued all these false gods. It crushed me. It crushed my heart because you were adulterous. It's hurtful to the Lord to disregard him and to pursue other gods. And so in verse 10, he says, I will leave a remnant and they shall know that I am the Lord. He says in verses 11 through 14, I will make the land desolate. Verse 13, check it out. Then you shall know that I am the Lord. Notice a common theme here. You shall know that I am the Lord. It's about 60 times in the book of Ezekiel that God says, then you will know that I am the Lord. All of these prophecies through Ezekiel are so that the people will know that he is the Lord. And so when all of these things take place, they will know a prophet has been among them, that God has spoken, and that he is the Lord. Chapter 7, now verse 4 is the key verse. He says, In verses 1 through 9, God says, There's lots of repetition in these verses. He's saying the end has come. I'm not going to show you any pity and the judgment that I bring will be according to your ways. I will repay you according to your ways. This is according to what you have earned, according to what you have done. You are receiving this judgment. You receive is appropriate for your actions. He says in verses 10 through 19, the sword is outside and famine within. The sword is outside, that's Babylon is camped outside, inside the walls of Jerusalem. We read about some of the famine last week in the book of Lamentations. Very graphic and gross. The famine that takes place when siege is going on, this is what he says, there's sword on the outside, there's famine within. He tells him in verse 13, I like this phrase at the end of the verse. It says, no one will strengthen himself who lives in iniquity. You think you're going to come back from this, but you cannot strengthen yourself if you live in sin. You're not going to strengthen yourself. No one will if you live in iniquity. Instead, you will just experience the sword on the outside and famine within. Verses 20 through 27, we see that the land is filled with crimes of blood. And so God says, therefore I bring the worst Gentiles. Again, this is merited because of the crimes of blood that are committed there. The land is filled with it. And so I'm bringing the worst of the Gentiles. I'm bringing Babylon. Later on, we'll get into the book of Habakkuk. And the prophet Habakkuk was crying out to the Lord. He's there in Judah. He's like, Lord, there's all this wickedness going on. Why aren't you doing something? And God says, I am doing something. I'm bringing Babylon. And then Habakkuk says, well, wait a minute. Wait a minute. They're way worse than we are. Why would you bring them against us? He doesn't understand. He's shocked that God would use the worst of the Gentiles against to deal with the Jewish people. But that's what God is doing. And then God says, I'll deal with Babylon too. But first, they're going to be my instrument to deal with Judah. And so he's bringing the worst of the Gentiles because they filled the land with blood. So chapters 1 through 7 of Ezekiel are essentially one consecutive prophecy. So God reveals himself to Ezekiel. He gives him this call. He gives him the command, lay down on the ground. And so during this time as he's prophesying against the mountains, these are the words that he's sharing as he is laying siege to this Jerusalem he's put on this tablet. Now as we go into the next section, 8 through 11 of Ezekiel is the next vision and prophecy that Ezekiel receives. So chapter 8 now, verse 13 says, It says, We see in verses 1 through 4 that he is brought in vision to Jerusalem. So the time is, we find in this passage, that it's the sixth year, it's the sixth month, it's A year and two months later than the previous time. It's 592 BC. And so it seems like this is after the 390 and the 40 days. You know all that time has passed. He's finished laying siege to Jerusalem. And now God catches up in vision and takes him to Jerusalem. He sees the glory of the Lord there. The same vision he says from Ezekiel chapter 1. And there in Jerusalem, God tells him in verse 5 and 6, do you see the great abominations? And there's four abominations that are shown to Ezekiel here. The first abomination is an idol at the north gate. It's referred to as an image of jealousy because the Lord is a jealous God. And so they have this idol that's set up at the temple in the north gate. He says, do you see what they're doing, these great abominations? Then he says you're going to see greater abominations. And so the second abomination, verses 7 through 12, he sees the elders worshipping idols within the temple. And so at the north gate there's an idol. Inside the temple there are idols. He tells them dig into the wall, go through the door. And then he sees these 70 elders worshipping all kinds of idols within the house of the Lord. But he says you're also going to see greater abominations. In verses 13 and 14 we see the third abomination. And that is these women who are weeping for Tammuz. Now this is an idolatrous group here. They're worshipping at the north gate this fertility god. They believed... That during August through September, this God, this fertility God, would die. And then they would weep and cry. And then this fertility God would resurrect and then give them their crops and bless them with abundance. And so they were worshiping this false God there in the courtyard of the temple where the women would gather. Then the fourth abomination in verse 15 and 16 is that there were idolatrous men at the temple entrance worshiping the sun. And so they were inside the inner courts of the temple. So basically, in every part of the temple, we're seeing this idolatry going on. Their backs are to the temple. They're worshiping the sun. It's very symbolic. They've turned their backs on God and they're worshiping false gods. And so God says in verse 17 and 18, therefore I will act in my fury. They filled my house with idolatry. They've turned against me. And so I will act in my fury. Just a quick reminder. So here Ezekiel is with the Jewish captives in Babylon. Or maybe just a little bit south of the city of Babylon. He's taken by the spirit into Jerusalem. So he's not physically in Jerusalem. But God is giving him insight and showing him what's actually happening in Jerusalem. A couple hundred miles away. He's able to see what's going on in this vision that God is giving to him. Of the great idolatry that is there. Chapter 9 now verse 6 says, He says, And these guys come with battle axes, but there's one man who's dressed in linen and he has an ink horn. He has a pen. And so he tells them in verse 3 and 4 to go and mark those who cry over the abominations. So there's all this horrible abominations happening in Jerusalem. He tells the guy with the ink horn, mark those who weep over these things, who aren't just like turning a blind eye, who aren't participating in it, but those who this causes them to weep and to cry out. And so he goes out to mark those. God's paying attention to the righteous and he's going to take care of them. He sends the rest of the guys, verses five through seven, with their battle axes and he says, kill all those who do not have the mark. So those who aren't upset by the abomination that's happening in Jerusalem, they're going to be put to death. Now, this is symbolic, right? Because this actually happens with Babylon coming against the city of Jerusalem. People aren't just dropping dead by, you know, these angelic beings. But he's marking those who are faithful to God and he's saying the rest are going to be destroyed by the sword as Babylon conquers Jerusalem. Then in verses 8 through 11, he says that the iniquity of Israel and Judah is great. That's the issue. Again, if we don't understand the judgment, we don't understand the sin. The iniquity is exceedingly great and deserving of this judgment that God is bringing against it. All right, for our final chapter, chapter 10, verse 18 is the key verse. Then the glory of the Lord departed from the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim. Here in chapter 10, we're seeing now God is departing from the temple. When Solomon finished the temple, he prayed to the Lord and God heard his prayer and he filled the temple with his presence. And it was so filled that the priests could not go in and do their service that they needed to do because the glory of the Lord filled the temple. Now this is an important occasion because here in chapter 10, that glory of the Lord is departing. And so as the glory of the Lord departs, we see it happen and unfold here in chapter 10. He says in verses 1 through 8, scatter coals over the city. The guy with the linen, he goes back and God says, hey, take some coals from the midst of the altar and scatter it over the city. This is going to be an indication of judgment. Then in verses 9 through 17 we have the description again of what was going on with these four living creatures. There was the four wheels, the four cherubim. It's essentially the same description as Ezekiel chapter 1. He's seeing that vision again with the presence of the Lord. But it's a different context this time. It's the presence of the Lord departing from the temple. Verses 18 and 19, we see the glory of the Lord departed from the temple. And then verse 20 through 22, again, he says, this is the living creature I saw by the river. And so he's seeing the presence of God and he's seeing it move out of the temple. This was significant because the presence of God, remember with the tabernacle, God said, that's where I'm going to meet you. And that's why, remember the map of the camp of Israel I showed a little bit earlier? That's why they camped that way. Because in the center of their camp, that's where God said, I'm going to meet you. The presence of the Lord is there. And then when they built the temple, the presence of the Lord was there. But now God is saying, I'm removing my presence. I've spoken to you. I've called you to repentance. I've warned you. I've reached out to you over and over again. Now your time is up and I am removing my presence from the temple. Now the theme of Ezekiel is this phrase, you shall know that I am the Lord. And the thing that I will continue to ask throughout the book of Ezekiel is, when will you know that he is the Lord? What's it going to take for you and I to really know that he is the Lord? Because we can continue to resist God and receive, you know, what's due to rebellion against God. We can receive that and then know that He's the Lord. A lot of times, it's not until we hit rock bottom that we know that He is the Lord. But it doesn't have to be that way. When will you know that He is the Lord? Consider God's patience in this. He's removing His presence from the temple. It's significant. But it's also significant to think about when in time this is taking place. They've been in rebellion against God for a couple hundred years now. And God sends prophets and warnings and prophets and warnings. He sent judgments and they've been conquered by Babylon twice. And still God had not yet removed his presence. He was still there available for them. Come back to me. You can turn back to me. He was incredibly patient. God is holy and just and righteous and he pays back sin, but he's also gracious and loving and merciful. Sometimes people wonder, how can God be both of those things or all of those things? And the answer is very simple. It's his patience. He waited a long time to remove his glory. He gave them a multitude of opportunities, but now is the time. They've pushed him to the point where now he says, that's it. I'm removing my presence. The opportunity is gone. You're going to experience the judgment. There's no escaping it now. When will you know that he is the Lord? Don't just rely upon the patience of God. At some point, God will say, okay, that's it. I've given you enough opportunity. Now it's judgment day. And the same way you and I, we need to be responsive as God speaks. Don't resist. God told Ezekiel, he was a priest. He was righteous. He said, don't be rebellious like them. By not doing what I've asked you to do. So it doesn't necessarily mean that you have to be in some, you know, lifestyle of sin. But you could be in a lifestyle of resisting what God wants to do through you. What God wants to do in you. Whatever the case may be, don't be rebellious. Know that He is the Lord. And when you know that He is the Lord, you will be submitted to Him. And obedient as He speaks to your heart. Let's pray. God, I pray that you would help us to know that you are the Lord. Lord, help us that we would not wait until rock bottom to know, that we would not push you to that point, but Lord, that we would be responsive. Help us, Lord, to hear your voice, to see your call, to receive your word, and to not be rebellious, but to be responsive and obedient as you direct our hearts. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.