EZEKIEL 1:1-3

INTRO

Well if you have your Bible this morning you can turn to the book of Ezekiel. Yes, you heard me right, the wild and crazy book of Ezekiel is where we will be for this morning and for a while as we start this series on one of the biggest books of the Bible.

-Besides, Isaiah, Genesis, and Psalms, Ezekiel is up there as one of the biggest books in the Bible.

-It is also one of the most complex and, can I just be honest, strange, books in the Bible.

- In ancient Jewish culture you were not able to read this book until you turned the age of 30 so that you did not get confused by it. It is definitely the deep waters of the pool. Have I freaked you out enough yet? So why would we be jumping into this complex, verbally aggressive, strange book here at living Rock? This is not in your notes, which I recommend having because we are going to cover a lot of background on Ezekiel today that will help you understand the rest of the book. But I wanted to take a moment on why we are doing this, some requests I have of you to expose some of my own fears, and then I need you to share with me a little bit.

WHY SHOULD WE READ THE BOOK OF EZEKIEL?

It focuses on God’s presence which is essential for us.

From the beginning to the end of Ezekiel and the Bible, we see that God wants to dwell his people. But when His people are rebellious and not walking in his ways, he is holy and can’t dwell with them. And so while Ezekiel has some strong languge to call the people of God back, it is out of love and desire to dwell. This is why we are here. This is how we will be not just a church that prays but a praying church, by focusing on God’s presence. This is how we will be a missional church and an equipping church, by focusing on God’s presence.

It points us to Jesus

In Luke 24 Jesus walks up on two sad and disappointed disciples. Jesus was just raised from the dead but they didn’t recognize him. He then rebukes them for being foolish and slow of heart” and then tells them from Moses all the way through the prophets, even crazy Ezekiel, how they pointed to him. This is important because if Jesus was able to see himself in Ezekiel, we should be able to see him in Ezekiel too.

It is God’s word

This goes with the other ones, but as 2 Timothy 3 tells us that all Scripture is God breathed and pofitable for teaching, encouraging, and equipping the people of God for the work of the ministry. I know that this is a core value for many of you, but we have to have this mindset when coming into Ezekiel because I get that it can be strange and confusing. But it is His word.

So those are some of the reasons why we are studying the book of Ezekiel. And in light of those things, I have some requests of you. Because there is some fear, and even some hesitancy going into this as your pastor. But I believe in you and I also know God wants you to know his word. But here are somethings I want to encourage you with as we journey through this.

REQUESTS TO HELP YOU JOURNEY THROUGH EZEKIEL

A.Be patient

What I mean by this is that Ezekiel is not as straightforward as a parable of Jesus or a letter from Paul about what to do and not to do. So if it does not connect right away, give it another chance. And another. Because it will help you love Jesus more, I promise. But it is not going to be a McDonals meal, it is going to be a slow smoker meal. Where you have to be patient knowing that meat is going to just fall off the bone once it is all done. Now you are all hungry right?

B. Dig deeper.

I am not going to be able to get to everything in this book. I know that. But because of that if you are coming up with questions or confusion about a certain passage, you know where I work and where I live. You have my phone number, email, however you want to reach out, please do. Or, I am creating a lesson plan for some of the life groups to walk with and dig a little deeper into the passage that we will be studying, so maybe find a life group doing that or start one!

Okay, so there are some of the reasons we are going this mingled with some of my fears and desires for us. Now I have some questions for you that I would love to hear your thoughts on.

So, just out of curiosity, how many of you have read Ezekiel recently?

How many have been absolutely confused by this book?

How many of you know some kind of scripture from Ezekiel? Ezekiel 37the valley of dry bones?

How many of you have eaten Ezekiel bread?

So, take a deep breath. We are going to learn about this man Ezekiel, what is going on in his life and the people of Israel. And I am going to do my darndest to go slowly through this to help us understand this wonderful, incredible book of the Ezekiel.

If you don’t have your notes, I would recommend taking some and storing it away in a spot that you remember because a lot of what I will be sharing today are foundational for understanding the book of Ezekiel. Let’s read the opening liens of Ezekiel and learn.

1 In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the Chebar canal, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. 2 On the fifth day of the month (it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin), 3 the word of the LORD came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the Chebar canal, and the hand of the LORD was upon him there.

Okay, I know we did not get far. And don’t worry this will not be the pace we go at for the next 48 chapters. But there are actually a lot of things going on in just this first verse. So the first thing you see is that it is the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month. Thirtieth year of what though? Ezekiel’s life. It is his birthday. And he is in a strange place called the Chebar canal. And he started having visions of God. Wow, that is cool. But who are the exiles and where is the Chebar canal and why is this happening on his birthday? Kind of a strange birthday present if you ask me. So lets start with the man this book is named after. Who is this Ezekiel? What should we know about him?

THE MAN EZEKIEL

Name meaning is always good to know for a prophet because, as we will see through this book, Ezekiel’s life was how God spoke through the prophet, not just his messages.

EZEKIEL’S NAME MEANS GOD STRENGTHENS/TOUGHENS

So this is good because Ezekiel is going to need a lot of strength as he is being called by God to speak to the people of Israel. We will see why in a minute, but this is not a very common name in the Old testament. It is somewhat obscure and different. But that matches the person. Ezekiel is a DIFFERENT GUY. And by DIFFERENT guy I mean that in a couple ways.

One way that Ezekiel was different was that

EZEKIEL WAS A PRIEST

This is important to know because priests in the community of Israel were to be set apart for the work of the temple. As you can see in chapter 3 that he was the son of Buzi, who was also must have been a priest too because that is the only way you can become a priest. If you were born in the tribe of Levi you were going to be working in the temple. No other choices. The reason this makes Ezekiel different was

He really knew his Bible. Like, this is what he grew up on. He didn’t spend time playing blocks and watching paw patrol. He was reading, and reading, and reading, and writing and writing and writing the torah. Specifically, Genesis, but also exodus, Leviticus, numbers, and Deuteronomy. This is really important for you to know because there will be times he is writing something, or communicating something and, while it may sound strange to us, it would make perfect sense to his readers who should be will versed in the torah as well. So I will be helping us understand those refrences, don’t worry, you don’t have to go read the first five books of the Bible by next week. If you do, great, but not need to.

Priests start their work at the age of 30 and go until 50. We already know when Ezekiel gets his first vision, on his 30th birthday. Can you take a wild guess, when he has his final vision? Yes, around 50. So why is that important for us to know. I think it communicates something that could be really refreshing to us today. God still cares about Ezekiel. God still cares about his people. Even while he is sitting by the Chebar river. But that means nothing to you so let’s talk about the Chebar river.

CHEBAR RIVER AND BABYLON

So here we have a map and on the left you can see Jerusalem and way over there on the right is the Chebar Canal. So, couple quick questions for you, where is the temple for the Jews? In Jerusalem. And if Ezekiel is a priest, shouldn’t he be by the temple? Why is he almost 900 miles away from his homeland? The one word in chapter one verse 1 that says he was with the exiles.

EZEKIEL WAS BORN INTO A TUMULTUOUS, WAR DRIVEN WORLD

In verse 2, you read a little paraphrase that says (it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin), meaning Ezekiel has already been five years of Ezekiel and the exiles living in Babylon. But how did the chosen people of God, the ones who were to be a light to the gentiles, who were promised the land that Abraham walked on, now in Babylon? They broke the covenant. If you were with us for the past couple months of our Elijah/Elisha series, you know that they were dealing with some really evil kings. And that was the tail end of hundreds years of disobedience. Hunderds of years of God’s patience where he kept telling them through the prophets and through the law to follow him otherwise destruction would come. But they did not listen. Or they had mini revivals and then wen back to their other gods.

Now, this is a rabbit hole that we could talk about and speculate over for a while, but since Ezekiel was born in the tribe of Levi that means his dad would have been a priest. His grandpa would have been a priest. Were they some of the faithful priests? Or were they pursuing other gods and deserting the temple for Sshera poles were sexual immorality ran rampant? Like I said, it leads to a lot of speculation, but if they were faithful Ezekiel still was bearing the punishment of the kings unfaithfulness. Or, his dad and grandpa were part of the problem which could lead to some father issues. Just something to think about.

But the biggest thing I need you to understand is that Ezekiel has seen some really hard things. People starving and being killed from the Babylonians coming and raiding their city. Just use your imagination for a moment and think what would you be doing if your whole life was just flipped upside down. You are in a foreign nation, different language, food, customs, and they set you and your friends up by a river just outside of the city of Babylon to live. How would you feel? I’m guessing Ezekiel is asking some hard questions by the Chebar river.

Questions like

What are we doing here God? Are we going to be here forever?

How are we to worship here? Are we still your people?

Do we adjust to the culture of Babylon, or do we keep our jewish culture?

What is your plan for your people now?

Because if you think about Ezekiel and the jewish people, they were promised to be in covenant with God, covenant as his people (mighty nation), and covenant for the land (Jerusalem) and now, all of those things are gone. They are not in the land anymore. They are not a mighty nation anymore. Their towns have been destroyed. There are only a small remnant barley living there right now. And where in the world is God in all of this? Well, that’s were this get’s hopeful and interesting when we read verse 3 again.

3 the word of the LORD came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the Chebar canal, and the hand of the LORD was upon him there.

WHAT WAS GIVEN TO EZEKIEL IN THIS DIFFICULT TIME OF EXILE?

GOD’S WORD AND THE LORD’S HAND

So God is speaking to Ezekiel and His hand is resting upon him in this foreign land, while he is fishing by a river, or whatever he is doing. And we will see next week that the all powerful, almighty, powerful presence of God comes in such an incredible way that it leave Ezekiel unable to move for 7 days. But that is for next week. I think, with all this information there is actually something God wants to remind us today that he is doing for Ezekiel.

GOD’S PRESENCE WILL ALWAYS BE WITH GOD’S PEOPLE IN THEIR MOST DIFFICULT SITUATIONS.

So, you may not be like Ezekiel were you are a war refugee living in a totally different land, but you may have had a hard week, a hard year, or even just a hard life. But I’m wondering if you are willing to see that Gods word is speaking to you right now. That his hand is actually on you right now able to help you in this difficult situation. His word wants to bring you comfort and breath on you to revive your heart for what you were made for despite the difficult circumstances that are happening in life right now.

But you may be asking, how is God’s word and his hand on me right now since I don’t feel it? I am more aware of the Babylonian army and city around me, so to speak, than I am the presence of God. How would it be helpful for me to remember these two little truths that God’s word and his hand is on me in this time.

GOD’S WORD

I feel like you already knew I was going to say something like this right? To spend time in God’s word. But how is knowing God’s word in this time helpful for Ezekiel and how is it helpful for us? Well they are actually one in the same.

GOD’S WORD FOR EZEKIEL/US

God’s word for Ezekiel was different for them then it is for us in the sense that his will mostly be judgement and prophetic of the destruction of Judah. However, as I said before that Ezekiel was a priest and therefore most likely had the Torah before him night and day studying who God was, remembering the culture of the people of God and doing his best to understand the story that God was playing out in this interesting and difficult time. But the things that were helpful for Ezekiel with God’s word that can be helpful for us in a difficult time are.

Reminds us who God is.

A lot of times during the difficult seasons of life, it feels like our connection with God gets cloudy or staticky. It does not mean that God has changed, it just means our season in life has changed. And what helps us remember who he is and what he has promised is His word, not our circumstances. This is something that will be repeated throughout the book of Ezekiel over 50 times of the statement “that they shall know that I am the Lord.” Which is really one of the reasons why they are in exile, because they didn’t know the Lord, His ways, or His commands because they were not spending time in His word.

And I think this is an essential thing for us today because, as I have said many times before, if the people of God are not spending time in the word of God, there will be no abiding a lot of deconstructing, a lot of listening to lies from the enemy, culture, or flesh and it is our main source of knowing Him. It may seem small, but I believe it is the hitch to help us into growth, maturity and Christlikeness no matter what season we are in. So if that is your desire to grow in the word, I would encourage you to start simple. Start with a psalm a day. read it, pray it, memorize it, sing it, and just see what happens. Maybe you are doing Bible reading already, try replacing your time at night or morning of netflix of social media checking with spending time in his word. I just heard an interesting fact from a neurologist the other day that the two most important times to creat healthy brain patterns in your brain are what you think about the moment you go to bed and the moment you get up. What if you started those two times of you world with God’s word and see what he says? It could be transformational.

Reminds us who we are

Ezekiel knew that he was a priest, that he was one of the people of God, and that he know that he should still follow this things in a unknown country. But how? The temple is gone, the annual feasts and celebrations can’t really be happening but the simple things such as worship, prayer, and fellowship could. Ezekiel used the word of God to remind himself of who he really was in such a confusing and tumultuous time. This goes for us too. Do you not know that you are a temple of the Holy Spirit? Do you not know that you are adopted into the kingdom of God? Do you not know that you are holy, blameless and above reproach? Do you not know that you are the righteousness of God? Because if you don’t, you should remember those things because that is how God’s word defines you. Let his word define you, not your situation.

GOD’S HAND ON EZEKIEL/US

In Daniel Block’s commentary on Ezekiel when talking about the hand of the Lord upon him, he says that Ezekiel was a man possessed by God. He was pushed, so to speak, into this role that was going to be very difficult and hard to speak to a rebellion people. But this picture of a hand in like one of a father on a son pushing him in strength and gentleness to be the man he is created to be. It is the picture of a good father walking alongside his children with strength and confidence that they will be sustained, no matter how hard the journey gets.

Do you need the hand of God on you in your life today? Do you need a good father to push you out of your comfort zone a little bit and walk alongside you to encourage you and strengthen you? If so, we have Jesus, sitting at the right hand of the father, interceeding for you, walking with you, cheering you on in this thing called life. And what is crazy is that he works through his body.

Invite prayer team and worship team.

If you need prayer today for the hand of God to help you through a difficult situation today, we want you to recieve that ministry today.