Evangelism Lessons in Ezekiel

· The ten northern tribes of Israel had been carried off to Assyrian captivity during 721 BC, but southern tribes of Judah were spared at this time due to Hezekiah’s righteous rule.

· Later on Mannaseh introduced idol worship to Judah and went as far as offering their children as human sacrifices in worship to the idol Molech.

· King Josiah ruled for 31 years (640-608 BC). He tore down the idol’s temples, destroyed the “high places” and restored the proper worship to Judah.

· Jehoahaz ruled for only three months and brought idol worship back to Judah before he was taken away as a captive to Egypt.

· Jehoiakim ruled for 11 years and in the fourth year of his reign Daniel was taken to Babylon along with some of the best of the land of Judah.

· Jehoiachin, son of Jehoiakim, ruled for three months and was taken to Babylon during the same deportation with Ezekiel.

· Zedekiah was installed as a puppet king in 597 and ruled for 11 years until Jerusalem and the temple were completely destroyed (part of Ezekiel’s warning to the exiles).

· During all of these times of the disobedience of God’s people, He time and time again sent His prophets to the people to warn them that they needed to repent or else they would be scattered among the nations as God promised through Moses. But Israel and Judah would not listen.

Ezekiel was a contemporary of Daniel and Jeremiah. Ezekiel was taken into captivity in the second wave, after the first in which Daniel was taken. Jeremiah was left in Jerusalem where he saw its destruction in 586 B.C.

The message of the Book

1) (First section of the bookà chs 1-24) Jerusalem must fall due to the wickedness of God’s chosen people

· Jews maintained false hope, fueled by the words of false prophets.

· God’s punishment will be just due to their worship of idols.

· The exiles must repent and turn back to God.

· Destruction is imminent and certain.

2) The Gentile Nations Will Not Escape God’s Judgement

Chapters 25-32

· The rejoicing at Judah’s destruction by the heathen nations would be turned to sorrow when they were destroyed.

· God rules in the affairs of all nations not just his chosen people.

3) The Nation is Restored and God Ushers In a New Order

Chapters 33-48

· Judah and Israel will be brought back to the land as one nation.

· God will save his righteous remnant and fulfill his promise of the Messiah.

I would like to focus mainly in this lesson on Ezekiel’s commission, but we will look at some other verses elsewhere. I would like us to examine the text and see what lessons we can learn to help us in our commission to preach the gospel.

I would like to look at 7 Lessons to help us in our Evangelism; lessons to exhort us to be more diligent in our service to the Lord.

The first point should give us a very good reason to be diligent in our service…

1. The task is not an easy one

Ezekiel was told ahead of time that he would not have many open hearts to God’s word.

not to many people of unfamiliar speech and of hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, had I sent you to them, they would have listened to you. 7 But the house of Israel will not listen to you, because they will not listen to Me; for all the house of Israel are impudent and hard-hearted.

God, knowing the hearts of the people, said to Ezekiel that they would not be willing to listen. You may think that this would be discouraging for Ezekiel to hear, but it didn’t stop him from doing what the Lord expected of him.

We have also been told ahead of time that the majority will not listen

"Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Few will be willing to humble themselves and to deny themselves the pleasures of this life to be right with the Lord.

But just because there will be few that will be saved doesn’t mean that we should put in half the effort! Ezekiel was still told to go and preach to the people to give them the opportunity to hear God’s word and to repent. He put in much effort, even to the point where obeying God put him into uncomfortable situations. We need to be willing to do the same. Even though only few will obey the Lord, we still need to try to reach as many as we can. We need to remember that obeying the Lord is not always comfortable, but it is always the right thing to do!

2. Remember the state of the people

The Lord shared with Ezekiel the state of the people.

And He said to me: "Son of man, I am sending you to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day.

Israel was no longer a holy people. They were rebellious and had turned away from the Law of God. Within this book, the word ‘rebellious’ is used about 20 times speaking of the Jews and their leaders! In chapter 5, the Lord says that they were actually worse that the nations surrounding them. They built alters to idols and even sacrificed their children to these so-called gods. They had the attitude that the Lord did not see these things that they were doing, but to their dismay He saw every single thing they were doing.

How about the people today in this world? They are not too much different from Israel in Ezekiel’s time. Just as Paul says to Timothy, the people in this world are “lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God ().”

That sounds like a pretty good description of what we see today!

The next point goes along with this point very well. We need to…

3. Remember the Lord’s Attitude Towards Sin

He was hurt by Israel’s sin, but now He had to show His justice because of their unwillingness to repent.

Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations where they are carried captive, because I was crushed by their adulterous heart which has departed from Me, and by their eyes which play the harlot after their idols; they will loathe themselves for the evils which they committed in all their abominations.

Say to them: 'As I live,' says the Lord God, 'I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?'

The Lord says to Ezekiel in the 21:6, “Sigh therefore, son of man, with a breaking heart, and sigh with bitterness before their eyes. 7 And it shall be when they say to you, 'Why are you sighing?' that you shall answer, 'Because of the news; when it comes, every heart will melt, all hands will be feeble, every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it is coming and shall be brought to pass,' says the Lord God."

Ezekiel was to sigh and have a broken heart over the judgment of the Lord that would be brought on Jerusalem.

The Lord says again in , "Cry and wail, son of man; For it will be against My people, Against all the princes of Israel. Terrors including the sword will be against My people; Therefore strike your thigh.

We need to develop the same attitude towards sin that our God possesses. Does the sin that we see hurt us? Do we desire to see those living in sin turn from their evil ways so that they can be saved? The idea that people are in sin and lost because of it should hurt us. The thought that the lost will receive God’s wrath for eternity should cause us just as Ezekiel and just as the Lord to be broken hearted.

Do we have the right attitude when we see people commit sin? Do we see sin the way that the Lord does? Or are we calloused to it? Does it just not bug us anymore because we see it so much?

The Lord makes a distinction between those who weep and mourn over sin and those who do not.

- God in a vision sends a man clothed in linen throughout Jerusalem to mark those who wept over the sins of the people. Those who wept were spared. Those who were not weeping over the sins of the people were killed.

Which attitude do we have towards the sin that we see around us?

We don’t want to be like the Israelites that Ezekiel and Jeremiah preached to.

Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed; Nor did they know how to blush

We need to guard ourselves from becoming calloused to sin and grow to look at sin the same way that the Lord does.

We need to have the correct attitude towards sin because we know the disastrous punishment for sin.

All sin leads to God’s righteous judgment. In the time of Ezekiel, the Lord said that He would judge His rebellious people.

Therefore I also will act in fury. My eye will not spare nor will I have pity; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them."

They would reap the wrath of God because of their persistent rejection of Him. He gave them countless chances to return to Him, but now His wrath would come and He would not hear them. What a terrible state to be in! As you progress through the first 24 chapters of Ezekiel, you see that God’s judgment is drawing nearer and nearer. They would reap what they sowed.

There are ungodly people today that just as Israel in Ezekiel’s time, will be judged by the Lord and receive His wrath unless they hear and obey the gospel.

in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power

We shouldn’t want anyone to receive this punishment.

4. Do not be rebellious ourselves

But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house

Our fate will be the same as those who are rebellious in the world if we ourselves are rebellious

People will not listen to a message when we are being a hypocrite! We need to be careful not to preach things that we ourselves are guilty of. Our actions can hinder the message from being followed by others.

5. We need to feed on the word of God

Do we hunger and thirst for God’s word like we hunger and thirst for food and water? We as God’s people need to treasure the scriptures. Only God’s word can satisfy the soul that is truly hungry. I love the words of the psalmist: “How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth!” Sweeter than honey! How sweet is the word of God to our taste? Is it sweet or is it bitter?

The only way we can be profitable to the Lord in sharing the gospel is if we are willing to devote time to His word. So many people never share the gospel saying that they just don’t know enough. It wouldn’t surprise me if these people are the same ones that never open up their bibles on days other than Sunday.

God expects us as His people to grow in our knowledge of His will.

12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

There is a point in which our God expects his people to be able to be skilled in the scriptures. The only way that will happen is if we feed on them! DAILY FEED ON THEM!

states that the word of God is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. It can only be profitable to us if we are willing to feed on it. We need to be willing to invest time into the scriptures if we want to be skilled in them and if we want to be thoroughly equipped for every good work. This doesn’t happen by accident! It takes desire. If we long to feed on God’s word, we will grow in our knowledge of the scriptures and be able to more confidently share the scriptures with the lost.

6. We need to speak the word of God

Then He said to me: "Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them.

And go, get to the captives, to the children of your people, and speak to them and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord God,' whether they hear, or whether they refuse."

Ezekiel only had the message that God gave. That’s what he was commanded to speak to the people. He was only to give a “Thus saith the Lord.” To speak anything else would lead to the same outcome for Ezekiel as the rest of the prophets that said that they were speaking on behalf of the Lord, but were not.

In chapter 13:8, the Lord said to these men who were giving a false sense of security to His people, “I am indeed against you.”

Only God’s word can satisfy man’s greatest need; fellowship with the God of Heaven. Only the gospel that our God has given can save. In Galatians chapter one, Paul wrote of those who were bringing a different gospel than what was first preached. He said that he marveled that the Galatians were so quickly turning to another gospel, which was not really a gospel at all. There is only one gospel that the Lord has given; one “good news” on how we can be set free from sin. Anything else is not good news, because it cannot save.

What if it preaching God’s word doesn’t work?

As we already spoke briefly about in our first point, the people did not listen to Ezekiel’s preaching. Time and time again the people would not hear God’s word. What could Ezekiel do? What does God tell him to do?

You shall speak My words to them, whether they hear or whether they refuse, for they are rebellious.

In this text and in many others the Lord sends Ezekiel time and time again to the people to continue to declare His word. The reason why: only God’s word could lead the people to repentance. Only God’s word could turn the people’s hearts back to Him. Ezekiel had nothing else to offer the people.

God gives us one tool to use in bringing the lost to Him and returning those who have fallen away to Him. HIS WORD

Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.

Paul is telling Timothy pretty much exactly what the Lord was saying to Ezekiel. Preach the word whether they want to hear it or refuse it. We need to use God’s Word to bring those in sin to the Lord.

This is what we see the Apostle Paul do. What did Paul do when the Jews continually rejected his message? Did he start preaching something different? Did he offer food, or fun and games to attract crowds? No he didn’t…

And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, "It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.

The wisdom of men wants to draw people to Christ by entertainment, but the Lord wants people drawn to Him by preaching Christ crucified. We save men by preaching Christ so their faith stands in God's power, not in man's wisdom. If men are not interested in that message, we have nothing else to offer. We need to only preach and practice what God prescribes in His word.

7. We Need To Remember That We are Watchmen

The welfare of lost souls depends on the willingness of God’s messengers to obey the commands that He has given.

"Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me: 18 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. 19 Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul. 20 Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die; because you did not give him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. 21 Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man that the righteous should not sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; also you will have delivered your soul."

I believe that the Lord is simply saying to Ezekiel that he will be held accountable for not obeying what the Lord commands him to do. He was commissioned to preach what God told him to Israel; to warn them about what was going to befall them if they didn’t repent. He needed to preach God’s word to the people to give them the opportunity to be right with the Lord again.

Do we see ourselves as the watchmen of the world today?

We have been given a commission to preach God’s word also.

As I stated earlier, we need to remember that there are lost people out there that if they do not hear the gospel and obey it, they will spend an eternity away from the presence of God! We as watchmen, need to warn those who are in sin what their lifestyle will lead to and tell them what the Lord has done for them through Christ so they may be reconciled to Him.

Do we believe that the gospel needs to be heard and followed by the lost so they may be right with God? Are we being God’s watchmen today?

Paul, an example for us of a watchman

"Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. 27 "For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.”

Paul declared the whole will of God everywhere he preached. He held nothing back that could help others get to heaven.

We need to be watchmen just as Paul. The Lord said to Ezekiel that if he failed to warn those whom he was supposed to that he would be held accountable. Ezekiel did as he was commanded. Paul did his duty as a watchman, and was able to say he was innocent of the blood of all men. Can we say that?

One of the most uncomfortable songs to sing about evangelism is #598 in our song books “You Never Mentioned Him To Me”. The chorus to this song is not something that should be said to someone that considers themselves as a watchman:

“You never mentioned Him to me, You helped me not the light to see; You met me day by day and knew I was astray, Yet never mentioned Him to me.”

Conclusion

SUCCESS? Ezekiel’s and Ours???

Ezekiel? Ezekiel was successful. No, he didn’t have everyone repent at his preaching. He wasn’t popular. BUT HE DID WHAT HE NEEDED TO DO TO OBEY AND HONOR THE LORD! That is success!!!!

We aren’t asked to do all that Ezekiel did, but we are commissioned by the Lord to preach a message just as he was.

Example (ch 4à to symbolize to the people the coming siege of Israel-He had to lay on His side for 390 days and while he was on his side he was rationing his food and water, eating defiled bread cooked over fire using cow dung as fuel). We don’t have to do that!!!

We are given a great responsibility though; we do need to go out into this world and to teach the word of God.

Have we been successful in fulfilling our duty? Do we plan on being successful in the future?

Once we realize that there are truly lost people out there that will be eternally separated from God if they don’t hear the gospel, and that this great task has been entrusted to us, we will as the Lord’s disciples do all that we can to get to heaven and to take as many people as we can with us.

I thank you for you kind attention.

We invite you if you are not in a relationship with God, or you are not following Him as you should, to make you needs known today while the Lord still gives you an opportunity.

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