Glorious God
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Claim - The LORD is Glorious, whether we know it or not.
omniscient) and all powerful (omnipotent), however far away you feel from Him.
omnipotence), however far away you feel from Him.
Focus -
Focus - to explore the omnipresence, omniscience and omnipotence (glory) of God
Function - to bring us to our knees before the glory of God, whatever our circumstances.
PRAY
Today we start a new series in the book of Ezekiel.
Let me tell you why I think the book of Ezekiel is going to be good
for us as a church,
as individuals,
whether we believe in God or not,
here in WP, in 2017.
We live in a secular culture that denies the existence,
or denies the truth about
the one true God.
We live in country where many ‘so called churches’ dilute the truth, or deny the truth of God.
We live in country where many ‘so called churches’ dilute the truth,
or deny the truth of God.
We live in a time when even ‘so called evangelical churches’
‘When it rains it pours’ goes the saying, and for good reason.
have exchanged the truth of the bible
with a message from personal experience and personal revelations,
often for personal gain.
We live in a time where we are keen to sing ‘Jesus is my boyfriend’ songs
but not to fall face down before the creator of the universe.
Where obedience to Jesus is an option
not a requirement for Jesus Followers,
Where our service to God is all too often
placed a close second to
family life,
career
or comfort.
Where it is easy to ask God for things
but hard to ask God what he wants from us.
What we need then,
is to be reminded who God truly is.
What is he like?
What does he expect from us?
What should we expect from Him?
And Ezekiel is the book for us.
70 times in this book, God will declare
‘By my actions you will know that I am God!’
Ezekiel the man,
is credited by theologians as being the most
‘God-centred’ prophet of all prophets.
The book starts in the worst of circumstances
and gets worse and worse for God’s people,
until they are metaphorically speaking,
dry bones in the dessert.
But it is when they, and I pray we,
reach that point,
that we can then see the true grace of the Lord God almighty.
It is then,
that we will truly appreciate all he has done for us in Jesus.
It is then
that we will know how we should live,
sing and pray before him.
It is then that those who continue to deny God,
will see the horror of their ways.
It is then,
that we are left with nothing of any significance in this world, accept, our Lord God,
we are left at His mercy.
And as we will find,
that is the only place we will find any hope,
but a glorious hope it is.
‘When it rains it pours’ goes the saying, and for good reason.
So let us begin our journey with our tour guide and teacher, Ezekiel, as we read his personal diary, beginning in Chapter 1.
According to verse 1 and 2 it’s the 31st July 593BC,
and it is Ezekiel’s 30th birthday.
But it’s not the best of days for Ezekiel.
1 - Far from God
1 - Far from God
He was born 30 years earlier in 622BC
during the reign of King Josiah,
who, for once in Israel’s history,
was a king keen to bring about spiritual reformation to Judah,
the southern Kingdom of Israel,
where God’s people lived.
These were potentially exciting times to be born into the priesthood.
Not only was King Josiah tearing down the pagan places of worship
and removing the false priests,
but the Assyrians, who occupied Judah at this time,
were falling apart at the seems.
Not only might they retrieve political independence again,
but their people might repent and follow the one true God as well!
In fact, perhaps Josiah’s reforms are what will cause God to bless them yet again.
But for all Josiah’s efforts,
the hearts of the people did not reform.
The great prophet Jeremiah, of that same time,
would preach in the Temple in Jerusalem
that unless the people changed,
God would abandon the city of Jerusalem, home to the temple of God
which represented the presence of God with His people.
The people didn’t changed and in
609BC Josiah died in battle against the Egyptians
who now took temporary occupancy of Judah.
Josiah’s son, Johoiakim, was recognised as the new King, of occupied Judah.
but as you can read in Jeremiah,
he was greedy, arrogant and unjust.
But the Babylonians were to be the next world super power
under the lead of Nebuchadnezzar,
and they quickly invaded Judah for themselves.
Nebuchadnezzar took much of the Israelite nobility into captivity in Babylon,
people like Daniel,
and you can read of their experience in the book of Daniel.
King Johoiakim still held Jerusalem, the great capital and he wasn’t happy,
he launched a rebelion in 598BC
but was killed relatively early on.
Johoiakim’s successor, Jehoiachin held out for 3 months but then surrendered.
Babylon now took control Jerusalem, but did not destroy it, the temple still stood.
But, to avoid further rebelion 10,000 men
were deported and taken to Babylon,
in modern day Turkey.
Among them, a 25 year old trainee priest Ezekiel.
Everything he knew, gone.
When it rains it pours!
Thousands of men leave one city,
perhaps similar to the devastation of the World Wars that we remember today.
Cut-off from home and comfort.
5 years Ezekiel has now been in captivity.
Living in an Israelite refugee camp
by an irrigation plant by the River Kebar.
Today, his 30th birthday, is the day he should have been commissioned into service in the temple.
He had trained for this day, he was now 30 and eligeble for commisioning.
But he was 500miles from the temple,
from home.
Perhaps he went to the river
that day to lament his troubles in the words of
By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept
when we remembered Zion.
There on the poplars
we hung our harps,
for there our captors asked us for songs,
our tormentors demanded songs of joy;
they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
How can we sing the songs of the Lord
while in a foreign land?
By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept
when we remembered Zion.
There on the poplars
we hung our harps,
for there our captors asked us for songs,
our tormentors demanded songs of joy;
they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
How can we sing the songs of the Lord
while in a foreign land?
If I forget you, Jerusalem,
may my right hand forget its skill.
May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
if I do not remember you,
if I do not consider Jerusalem
my highest joy.
Remember, Lord, what the Edomites did
on the day Jerusalem fell.
“Tear it down,” they cried,
“tear it down to its foundations!”
Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction,
happy is the one who repays you
according to what you have done to us.
Happy is the one who seizes your infants
and dashes them against the rocks.
1-
The Message of Ezekiel: A New Heart and a New Spirit Introduction: Who, When and Where? (1:1–3)
By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept
when we remembered Zion.
There on the poplars
we hung our harps,
for there our captors asked us for songs,
our tormentors demanded songs of joy;
they said, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’
How can we sing the songs of the LORD
while in a foreign land?
He was far from God.
I’ve already describe the spiritual state our our
country, culture and church,
might I suggest that we
also are, in some sense,
in spiritual exile from God.
And closer to your own interests is perhaps our own lives.
Perhaps your body is failing or your mind is in despair.
Perhaps your marriage is on the edge.
Perhaps you’re battling debt or addiction
or drowning in stress.
Perhaps we are in mourning.
Perhaps your faith is struggling.
Our desire to convert many for Jesus is flailing,
`Our desire to convertimany for Jesus is flailing,
Our time in the bible is dry,
our prayer life is prehistoric
Our service is through grumbling,
We too are sat down and weeping by the river of Babylon.
It’s very easy to feel 500miles form God.
Set context for the book, and Ezekiel’s sad situation
Perhaps you think it’s His fault or his doing,
or perhaps you think you have sent him packing.
At some point,
or more likely many points of our life,
we may feel we are far from God.
Well, Ezekiel is about to have all that put in some perspective.
2 - Glory of God!
2 - Glory of God!
2 - The Glory of God!
2 - The Glory of God!
As he sits there, the wind picks up and dark clouds drive in fast
I looked, and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north—an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The center of the fire looked like glowing metal,
Great, my day just got worse,
the biggest storm I’ve ever seen is about to hit me hard.
But before he runs for shelter he realises this is no weather phenomena.
The imagery he sees before him will not be alien to him.
These 4 creatures, with 4 heads and wings would have spoken to him clearly.
The art work and statues around the city of Babylon
at this time
would have been very similar to this vision.
They represented deity,
power and significance.
They would often be seen painted holding up the skies.
Babylon was a hotpot of gods and mysticism,
but here in terrifying technicolour
the skies are filled with this awesome vision.
But these creatures are not static statues or still paintings.
Ezekiel would know the imagery implied by each of the
and know the imagery implied by each of the
4 faces that the 4 creatures had.
The imagery is found in the OT,
Both the OT and the Babylonians share the same imagery.
the word of God,
that he still clung too,
against the mysticism of Babylon.
The Lion portrays strength, courage and ferocity
The Eagle portrays swiftness and stately character
The Ox portraying significant value, fertility and divinity
And the Human face portraying wisdom and reason
4 corners of the earth
But as we’ll see in a moment,
this vision is significantly greater than the man made gods of Babylon,
for these terrifying,
magnificent,
powerful,
wise,
stately and courageous creatures
are not the object of the vision,
they are the merely the heavenly vehicle
that carry the throne of a God whose power must be infinitely greater.
A God who fulfils perfectly
the characteristics portrayed by the creatures below him.
There are 3 big words that theologians use to describe God,
and they are being displayed to Ezekiel and us in this vision,
The first 2 are seen in the imagery of the creatures
we have described already.
This God is not just powerful,
he is omnipotent -
meaning of unlimited Power,
and
He is not just knowledgeable and wise,
Omnipotent - Unlimited Power
Omniscient - Unlimited knowledge
he is Omniscient -
meaning of Unlimited knowledge.
Ezekeil goes on...
this carriage roars across the skies
in any direction it wishes,
without hesitation,
without effort,
as if outside of time,
Becasue, more than that, this carrage roars across the skies in any direction it wishes, without hestiation, without effort, almost outside of time, like flashes of lighneting. These are not stationalry statues,
like flashes of lightening. v14
These are not stationary statues.
Ezekiel intrigued by this movement
looks down the creatures to see wheels within wheels.
In the original language
Ezekiel’s grammer is poor and confusing,
he’s barely able to describe the magnificence,
or the mechanics of what is going on.
Wheels within wheels,
but more than that,
the wheels are not powered by the creatures,
v 12b
Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they went.
Unlimited presence
Bible translations struggle to interpret these verses
becasue the account is so confused,
but all the core commentaries agree
the word for Spirit is the same as the
Spirit that we will find entering Ezekiel
to commission him next week.
Its the same spirit that will breath new life into God’s people.
This is not, as the NIV suggests the spirit of the creatures.
This is the spirit of God Almighty,
the enthroned God above.
This God is Omnipresent - He has Unlimited presence.
He is everywhere by the power of His Spirit -
Cheribum - Deity
Eagle (swift and stately)
instantly and always.
Ox (value, fertility and divinity)
Human (Wisdom and reason)
4 corners of the earth
Wheels
Total and unrestricted freedom - in the power of the spirit
Spirit of life v 20,21
(Same spirit that will empower and revive Ezekiel)
A Picture paints a thousand words, but isn’t this the point - Ezekeiel struggeles to expoain the vision, the grammer is bad, the descriptions are not clear.
This may not sound too alien to us,
living after the New Testament.
Nothing can comprehend, describe, contain, explain the GLORY OF GOD
We are used to the idea of God
being present across the globe.
Used to His Spirit living in His people.
But for Ezekiel,
he was used to God’s presence
being represented by the Arc of The Covenant, kept safely in the Temple in Jerusalem,
Remember, Ezekiel is far from God, 500 miles in fact,
this can’t be God, can it?!!
As Ezekiel struggles to absorb the vision,
it dawns on Him, this is God himself in Babylon.
It’s time to look up to the throne
and check...
He moves his eyes back up from the omnipresent wheels,
past the creatures that suggest omnipotence, omniscience.
And as he does he takes in the
colossal crystal
transparent platform,
he sees the most radiant blue sapphire like throne.
Fire engulfs the legs of this man like God,
his upper body is like metal,
a brilliant light engulfs Him,
God has a man like appearance,
Genesis entres Ezekiel’s mind, ‘man is made in the image of God’ could this be.....
Bang - He falls to his face, he bows in fear,
it can’t be,
it could be...
I can’t have seen God,
perhaps I have just caught a glimpse of His glory,
no even that is too terrifying to perceive.
I can perhaps say v28b
The New International Version Chapter 1
This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. When I saw it, I fell facedown,
And that is our 3rd point
3 - Bow to God
3 - Bow to God
You see, He has seen the Throne of the ALL MIGHTY God -
The magnificence of the creatures below may be incredible,
but God is the one enthroned,
high above even them!
He does not mingle with other beings or manmade god’s as if equal.
He is of Fiery Transcendent Glory! -
3 - Bow down freely, or by force!
3 - Bow down freely, or by force!
FIRE
Throne of ALL MIGHTY God
Glory portraying the idea of ‘Weight and presence’
Trancendant Glory! - Weight/prescence
The deafening wings of the creatures below drop, the wheels stop -
Silence commands our attention,
some how even more terrifying than the power of his craft!
Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him.
This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.
ezekiel
A picture paints a thousand words, but not in this case.
I haven’t put an artists impression of this chapter on the screen deliberately.
- Ezekiel struggles to explain the vision,
the grammer is bad,
the descriptions are not clear.
Nothing can comprehend,
describe,
contain,
explain the GLORY OF GOD
It’s appropriate only, to bow down in worship
to the almighty King on the throne of the universe.
And now the Lord God speaks...
The Lord God will say a great deal to and through Ezekiel.
We will spend time going through it for the next 3 weeks and pick it up again in the new year..
And God Almighty will speak to each of us, through his Word in Ezekiel.
He is going to say to us - ‘Bow down to me’.
And like Israel, we will refuse.
He’s going to say to us ‘Bow down to me’
And we will refuse.
And then he will say
‘For the sake of my own glory,
I will make it possible for you to bow down’
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
That new heart is a transplant from God Himself - from Jesus.
And now we willingly
can join Ezekiel on his face,
bowing down to God Almighty.
You see, for the Christian today,
God is not 500miles away.
He hasn’t forgotten your pain,
he hasn’t run from your turmoil.
You haven’t pushed him away by your sin,
You haven’t pushed him away though your doubt or fear.
He has literally given you His heart.
God is here.
He will keep you and hold you,
he is your shepherd and guide.
You are secure for eternity
because he will not bring disgrace to his name.
His Glory is at stake.
If you know and love Jesus,
he cannot let his glory be tainted by trials and difficulties in our lives.
No, despite whatever makes us feel far from God,
God is not capable fo being far from us, we have his heart.
There is no promise of relief just yet,
no promise that our heartache will go, just yet.
No promise that Ezekiel will return to Jerusalem, he never does.
But there is a promise that God cannot deny his own glory,
so if you have His heart in you,
then when Jesus returns,
you will fearlessly stand in the presence of
when Jesus returns fearlessly stand in the presence of God Almighty and enjoy Him forever.
God Almighty and enjoy Him forever.
Whatever to
However far you may feel from God, or God from you.
God is here.
If you don’t know and love Jesus,
today is the day to see the glory of God,
accept his heart in exchange for your stone heart
and bow willingly and joyfully with His people.
The alternative is the opposite.
You may not bow now, in which case,
this pain filled life is the best you’ll ever know.
Because, when Jesus returns, you will still bow down, but it will be by force!
Because God’s glory is at stake.
As the glory of God roars roars into WP
in all the glory described in this chapter,
or as you see Him when you die -
you will bow down, but it will be by force for all eternity.
Will you bow down, willingly, accepting the heart of Jesus, or by force.
I want us to read this chapter repeatedly over the coming weeks and months, absorb the transcendent glory of God. Consider his power, presence and knowledge.
This book will ask us to do it freely, or force us to do it anyway.
4 living creatures
And bow before His awesome glory.
however bad or good our circumstances are today
We can shed a small but confident smile of Joy
mixed with a respectful reverence
Cheribum - Deity
the say same thing Ezekiel must have thought...
Lion (strength, courage, ferosity)
God is here.
Eagle (swift and stately)
Ox (value, fertility and divinity)
PRAY
Human (Wisdom and reason)
4 corners of the earth
Platform and throne
Total and unrestricted freedom - in the power of the spirit
Spirit of life v 20,21
(Same spirit that will empower and revive Ezekiel
Platform and throne
Figure like that off man (reversal of in the image of God)
Transfiguration of the son of God himself - same vision as John in Revelation 4
This is when he falls face to the ground.
The most God-centred prophet of all - because he appreciated the nature of God!! And this was only the appearance of the likeness of the glory of God!
GLORY - weight/substance
God is still separate/distant in glory - yet still near in Babylon! Not chummy. It is grace that allows us to know him in friendship, but it does not dissolve his transcendent occupancy of the throne of the universe.
Sovereign God
God is here.