Survey of Ezekiel
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Ezekiel - “God makes strong” (3:8)
Ezekiel - “God makes strong” (3:8)
Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads.
Facts about Ezekiel
Facts about Ezekiel
Ezekiel was written when the prophet was 30 years old (1:1)
Ezekiel is a collection of 52 Oracles
Each Oracle begins with, the word of the LORD came to me’ or ‘the hand of the LORD was upon me’.
Ezekiel is full of repeated words, and phrases: “I will”, “son of man”, “I am the LORD,” which point us to the purpose of the book.
I. Author and Setting
I. Author and Setting
A. Author
A. Author
The Author of the Book is Ezekiel.
B. Recipients and Date
B. Recipients and Date
Ezekiel was written to the exiled nation of Israel.
The book was written between the dates of 597 B.C. and 571 B.C.
Dr. Steve Lawson says it was written in 593 B.C.
This was the time when Judah had been led into exile by Babylon and their king Nebuchadnezzar. Ezekiel was a young priest and prophet that was among those who were exiled. This was a time of great hardship and apostasy among the people of God. Jehoaichin was the king over Judah at the time, however Nebuchadnezzar had appointed Zedekiah as the leader over Judah.
Ralph Alexander explains, “Zedekiah and the exiles were buoyed by the false prophet’s messages that Nebuchadnezzar’s power was soon to be broken and the exiles would return triumphantly.”
This is the setting in which Ezekiel was called to proclaim God’s truth to God’s people. Over and over Ezekiel would record these words, “The word of the LORD came to me: Son of Man,…followed by a command for Ezekiel to deliver God’s truth to God’s people.
Ezekiel wrote the book between the dates of 597 B.C. and 571 B.C.
C. Genre
C. Genre
The book of Ezekiel is a book of prophecy. However, the book is made up of a combination of literary devices. Ezekiel is made up of dreams, oracles, riddles, and prophetic sign-acts.
The New Bible Commentary The Book of Ezekiel
Despite a reputation for obscurity and for textual difficulties, the book of Ezekiel has a very clearly defined structure. It is a collection of 52 oracles, divinely given messages or visions, described by the prophet Ezekiel. There is only the barest minimum of narrative supplied to give a context to each of the oracles. However, the beginning of each oracle is clearly indicated by one of two phrases—‘the word of the LORD came to me’ or ‘the hand of the LORD was upon me’.
The New Bible Commentary The Message of the Book
As a whole the book of Ezekiel consists of initial warnings of calamity followed by promises of restoration.
D. Structure of the Book
D. Structure of the Book
I. The Call and Commission of Ezekiel (1-3)
I. The Call and Commission of Ezekiel (1-3)
II. The Judgment of God on Jerusalem (4-24)
II. The Judgment of God on Jerusalem (4-24)
III. The Judgment of God on Foreign Nations (25-33:20)
III. The Judgment of God on Foreign Nations (25-33:20)
IV. The Future Hope and Restoration of God’s People (33:21-49)
IV. The Future Hope and Restoration of God’s People (33:21-49)
II. Main Themes and Doctrines
II. Main Themes and Doctrines
Main Characters
Main Characters
A. Main Characters
A. Main Characters
•God
•Ezekiel
•Israel
There are no doubt other Characters in the book of Ezekiel, but the entire book centers around these three. And tonight as we seek to survey the book of Ezekiel the interaction between God, Ezekiel, and the people of Israel will be our focus.
So how does Ezekiel open the book, how does begin this prophetic declaration of the Word of God.
Looking back to the 1 chapter we opened with we see the Ezekiel opens up with the unveiling of the.....
B. The Glory of God
B. The Glory of God
We have already read the entirety of the vision and if you are like me when you read it it doesn’t take long to get lost in all of the attributes Ezekiel sees in this vision, however make no mistake there is one central attribute of God that Ezekiel makes clear, and that is the bright, majestic, sparking, and radiant Glory of God!
Look with me at verse 28 of chapter 1. Ezekiel writes,
Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.
Chapter 1, 8, 9, 10
Now I want you to think for a moment about the brightest, most radiant, beautiful, display you have ever seen.
Maybe it is a fireworks show you will never forget,
maybe it is a laser light show that you love to go to every year,
maybe it is a Christmas light display you load up and go see,
maybe it is a lightning storm you witnessed that is imprinted upon your mind.
But what happens when we see these things? We gaze, we look in awe, we stare and are captivated by the beauty and brightness. We oo and ah in amazement.
Now contrast that to what Ezekiel did when he witnessed the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD! What happened, he fell on his face. I don’t know how long he witnessed this vision we read about in chapter 1, but at some point Ezekiel was so overwhelmed by the transcendent majesty of God, he fell flat on his face as a dead man...
Why does this book open this way? Why is it that God unveils his majestic power and authority this way? Because he is about to commission Ezekiel to go:
Preach to the people of Israel, a nation of rebels, transgressors, who are impudent, and stubborn.
He calls Ezekiel to go and not be afraid, nor dismayed at their words, or even by the fact that he will sit on scorpions.
He calls Ezekiel to eat a scroll filled with his words.
Later He tells Ezekiel that his wife is going to die and he is not to mourn.
Prophesy against powerful nations.
Therefore God opens his calling and commission up with an unveiling of his brightness, radiance, otherness, and glory to embolden Ezekiel to be courageous as he fulfills his commission.
R.C. Sproul explains, “What set a prophet of Israel apart from all other men was the sacred auspices of his call. His call was not from men. He could not apply for the job. He had to be selected—chosen directly and immediately by God. And the call was sovereign; it could not be refused. The job of a prophet was for life. There was no quitting or retiring with pension.”
This is why God’s unveiling of His glory was so important for Ezekiel.
Chapter 1 is not the only place God displays His glory.
In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, with the elders of Judah sitting before me, the hand of the Lord God fell upon me there. Then I looked, and behold, a form that had the appearance of a man. Below what appeared to be his waist was fire, and above his waist was something like the appearance of brightness, like gleaming metal. He put out the form of a hand and took me by a lock of my head, and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the gateway of the inner court that faces north, where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy. And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the valley.
Ezekiel 10:18-
Ezekiel 8:1-
In chapter 8 about 6 years in to Ezekiel’s ministry God lifts Ezekiel up by the hair of his head and again unveiled His own glory. He points Ezekiel to the abomination of his people, not just abominations but the vile abominations of his people. The LORD explains the judgment and wrath he is going to pour out on his people and Ezekiel is the mouth piece that must deliver the message.
Then we again see the glory of God in chapter 10.
Then the glory of the Lord went out from the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. And the cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth before my eyes as they went out, with the wheels beside them. And they stood at the entrance of the east gate of the house of the Lord, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them.
Again following the vision of the glory of God,
Ezekiel records,
And the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and he said to me, “Say, Thus says the Lord: So you think, O house of Israel. For I know the things that come into your mind.
God again sends him out in the power of the Spirit to preach condemnation on the house of Israel. Here is what we need to understand Ezekiel was called to an impossible task for a son of man. For anyone who was born of the flesh alone. There is no way that Ezekiel would go out and preach this message of judgment without having a divine call. Therefore God consistently revealed His glory to Ezekiel so that he would go out in the power of God to fulfill the commission of God.
Let me ask you, do you and I fill our eyes, our minds, and ultimately our hearts with the glory of God revealed to us in His Word?
Do we have a view of God that is high and exalted, that is transcendent and majestic? Do we see the glory of God so front and center in the Scriptures that we are prepared to forsake all and follow His call and fulfill his commission?
The glory of God alone ought to be the means and motivation for the man and woman of God to fulfill God’s call on their life. But praise be to God there is way more!
The second doctrine of God Ezekiel presents to us is,
B. The Sovereignty of God
B. The Sovereignty of God
Now tonight due to time I am going to present two repeated phrases that are all throughout the book of Ezekiel that affirm the sovereignty of God.
“I will.....” and “I am the LORD”
Now before we partially survey these terms I want to make sure we understand what we mean by sovereignty.
the quality or state of being sovereign, or of having supreme power or authority.
the status, dominion, power, or authority of a sovereign;royal rank or position; royalty.
In other words in my definition one who by power, position, rank, and authority is in complete control and has total authority.
Here we go, the I wills....
And I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth, STOP RIGHT THERE
I will speak with you, I will open your mouth,
I will break the supply of bread in Jerusalem
I will execute judgments
I will scatter
I will withdraw
Ezekiel 5:16-17
Who is acting, who is exercising power and authority? God is!
when I send against you the deadly arrows of famine, arrows for destruction, which I will send to destroy you, and when I bring more and more famine upon you and break your supply of bread. I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will rob you of your children. Pestilence and blood shall pass through you, and I will bring the sword upon you. I am the Lord; I have spoken.”
You have feared the sword, and I will bring the sword upon you, declares the Lord God. And I will bring you out of the midst of it, and give you into the hands of foreigners, and execute judgments upon you.
You have feared the sword, and I will bring the sword upon you, declares the Lord God. And I will bring you out of the midst of it, and give you into the hands of foreigners, and execute judgments upon you. You shall fall by the sword. I will judge you at the border of Israel, and you shall know that I am the Lord.
Then he said to me, “Son of man, dig in the wall.” So I dug in the wall, and behold, there was an entrance. And he said to me, “Go in, and see the vile abominations that they are committing here.” So I went in and saw. And there, engraved on the wall all around, was every form of creeping things and loathsome beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel.
God will act as Sovereign in order that His people will know that he is the Sovereign Lord.
I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. And I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you.
Ezekiel 36:24-
Ezekiel
We see that God is in control of famine, of beasts, of mouths, of hearts, of Spirits, of actions, of obedience, of cleansing, of people. And we have probably not hit 1/3 of God’s I wills statements.
Time after time God says I will do these things He closes with....
“I am the Lord” approximately 82 times.
God acts in order to affirm who He is! Every thing the LORD God does it is to display and protect his glory, while at the same time affirming his authority, position, and power over all of creation!
This brings us to the question why? Why is it that God must unveil His glory and show his prophet and his people His sovereignty.
One of the primary reasons is because of.....
C. The Abomination of God’s People.
C. The Abomination of God’s People.
Why is it that God is calling and commissioning Ezekiel. Because of the sinfulness, wickedness, and lewdness of the nation of the Israel. These are just a few of the things God condemns His people for. But one of the primary thing God charges his people with is their Abominations.
The Word Book of the Old Testament explains, The word abomination can be translated, “things of horror.” As with the verb or the noun the abomination may be of a physical, ritual, or ethical nature and may be abhorred by God or man.....These acts were sure to bring God’s wrath on those who perpetrated them.
Let’s look at the way Ezekiel presents the abomination of God’s people.
First, Ezekiel points to their,
Abomination through Idolatry
Abomination through Idolatry
And the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their hearts, and set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces. Should I indeed let myself be consulted by them?
Ezekiel 14:2-
Do you see it, the people of God had been worshipping false God’s they had taken their idols into their hearts. We don’t need to unpack what the LORD thought about idolatrous worship do we? He had written in stone his prohibition of idol worship. He had already judged Israel in the past for idol worship and here they are again taking idols into their heart.
Notice next how the LORD responds,
Ezekiel 14:
Therefore speak to them and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Any one of the house of Israel who takes his idols into his heart and sets the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet comes to the prophet, I the Lord will answer him as he comes with the multitude of his idols, that I may lay hold of the hearts of the house of Israel, who are all estranged from me through their idols.
The LORD says he is going to take hold of their heart if they continue in their idolatrous worship.
Application Question…Do we think Israel is the only one who has an abominable idolatry problem?
Here is the problem as we have heard from the reformers, our hearts are idol factories. We are constantly drawn to remove God from the throne of our hearts and replace them with idols of this world. Think of all the ways the world puts idols in front of the people of God.
We stick Fatheads of athletes on our walls.
We have Bobble heads on our desks and dashboard
We (men) can be given over to an idolatrous pursuit of Deer Heads to hang over our mantles.
We can be given over to an idolatrous worship of President heads we stuff in our wallet.
We are obsessed with taking selfies of our own heads because of our obsession with ourselves.
What then are we to do?
“Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: Repent and turn away from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations. For any one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel, who separates himself from me, taking his idols into his heart and putting the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet comes to a prophet to consult me through him, I the Lord will answer him myself. And I will set my face against that man; I will make him a sign and a byword and cut him off from the midst of my people, and you shall know that I am the Lord.
Ezekiel 14:
Here we seek Ezekiel presenting the grace and mercy of God to the people of Israel. Ezekiel tells the people if they will turn from their idolatrous ways and turn back to the LORD he will forgive. But if they refuse to repent God will set His fact against them and they will be cut off from Him and once again, they will know that He is the LORD!
Notice next Israel’s,
Abomination through Adultery
Abomination through Adultery
“But you trusted in your beauty and played the whore because of your renown and lavished your whorings on any passerby; your beauty became his.
“How sick is your heart, declares the Lord God, because you did all these things, the deeds of a brazen prostitute,
God had just explained how he had give Israel her beauty and privilege. How he had covered her nakedness, bathed her, anointed her, clothed her, and adorned her. And what does she do? She trusted in her own beauty and exposed herself and prostituted herself to anyone who came by.
Ezekiel 1
Do you see how this horrified the LORD?
Ezekiel 16:20-
This is just the beginning,
And you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your whorings so small a matter that you slaughtered my children and delivered them up as an offering by fire to them? And in all your abominations and your whorings you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, wallowing in your blood.
Israel’s adultery and abominations turned into the assassination of her sons and daughters, making ungodly sacrifices of her children, delivering them up by fire.
They had forgotten that God covered their nakedness and washed off the blood they had been wallowing in! Now they were back wading in the blood of there own slaughtered children.
The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother. They played the whore in Egypt; they played the whore in their youth; there their breasts were pressed and their virgin bosoms handled. Oholah was the name of the elder and Oholibah the name of her sister. They became mine, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem. “Oholah played the whore while she was mine, and she lusted after her lovers the Assyrians, warriors clothed in purple, governors and commanders, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses. She bestowed her whoring upon them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them, and she defiled herself with all the idols of everyone after whom she lusted. She did not give up her whoring that she had begun in Egypt; for in her youth men had lain with her and handled her virgin bosom and poured out their whoring lust upon her. Therefore I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the Assyrians, after whom she lusted. These uncovered her nakedness; they seized her sons and her daughters; and as for her, they killed her with the sword; and she became a byword among women, when judgment had been executed on her. “Her sister Oholibah saw this, and she became more corrupt than her sister in her lust and in her whoring, which was worse than that of her sister. She lusted after the Assyrians, governors and commanders, warriors clothed in full armor, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men. And I saw that she was defiled; they both took the same way. But she carried her whoring further. She saw men portrayed on the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion, wearing belts on their waists, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them having the appearance of officers, a likeness of Babylonians whose native land was Chaldea. When she saw them, she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoring lust. And after she was defiled by them, she turned from them in disgust. When she carried on her whoring so openly and flaunted her nakedness, I turned in disgust from her, as I had turned in disgust from her sister. Yet she increased her whoring, remembering the days of her youth, when she played the whore in the land of Egypt and lusted after her lovers there, whose members were like those of donkeys, and whose issue was like that of horses. Thus you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians handled your bosom and pressed your young breasts.” Therefore, O Oholibah, thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I will stir up against you your lovers from whom you turned in disgust, and I will bring them against you from every side: the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, desirable young men, governors and commanders all of them, officers and men of renown, all of them riding on horses. And they shall come against you from the north with chariots and wagons and a host of peoples. They shall set themselves against you on every side with buckler, shield, and helmet; and I will commit the judgment to them, and they shall judge you according to their judgments. And I will direct my jealousy against you, that they may deal with you in fury. They shall cut off your nose and your ears, and your survivors shall fall by the sword. They shall seize your sons and your daughters, and your survivors shall be devoured by fire. They shall also strip you of your clothes and take away your beautiful jewels. Thus I will put an end to your lewdness and your whoring begun in the land of Egypt, so that you shall not lift up your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore. “For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will deliver you into the hands of those whom you hate, into the hands of those from whom you turned in disgust, and they shall deal with you in hatred and take away all the fruit of your labor and leave you naked and bare, and the nakedness of your whoring shall be uncovered. Your lewdness and your whoring have brought this upon you, because you played the whore with the nations and defiled yourself with their idols. You have gone the way of your sister; therefore I will give her cup into your hand. Thus says the Lord God: “You shall drink your sister’s cup that is deep and large; you shall be laughed at and held in derision, for it contains much; you will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow. A cup of horror and desolation, the cup of your sister Samaria; you shall drink it and drain it out, and gnaw its shards, and tear your breasts; for I have spoken, declares the Lord God. Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have forgotten me and cast me behind your back, you yourself must bear the consequences of your lewdness and whoring.” The Lord said to me: “Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Declare to them their abominations. For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. With their idols they have committed adultery, and they have even offered up to them for food the children whom they had borne to me. Moreover, this they have done to me: they have defiled my sanctuary on the same day and profaned my Sabbaths. For when they had slaughtered their children in sacrifice to their idols, on the same day they came into my sanctuary to profane it. And behold, this is what they did in my house. They even sent for men to come from afar, to whom a messenger was sent; and behold, they came. For them you bathed yourself, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with ornaments. You sat on a stately couch, with a table spread before it on which you had placed my incense and my oil. The sound of a carefree multitude was with her; and with men of the common sort, drunkards were brought from the wilderness; and they put bracelets on the hands of the women, and beautiful crowns on their heads. “Then I said of her who was worn out by adultery, ‘Now they will continue to use her for a whore, even her!’ For they have gone in to her, as men go in to a prostitute. Thus they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah, lewd women! But righteous men shall pass judgment on them with the sentence of adulteresses, and with the sentence of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands.” For thus says the Lord God: “Bring up a vast host against them, and make them an object of terror and a plunder. And the host shall stone them and cut them down with their swords. They shall kill their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses. Thus will I put an end to lewdness in the land, that all women may take warning and not commit lewdness as you have done. And they shall return your lewdness upon you, and you shall bear the penalty for your sinful idolatry, and you shall know that I am the Lord God.” In the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, write down the name of this day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day. And utter a parable to the rebellious house and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: “Set on the pot, set it on; pour in water also; put in it the pieces of meat, all the good pieces, the thigh and the shoulder; fill it with choice bones. Take the choicest one of the flock; pile the logs under it; boil it well; seethe also its bones in it. “Therefore thus says the Lord God: Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose corrosion is in it, and whose corrosion has not gone out of it! Take out of it piece after piece, without making any choice. For the blood she has shed is in her midst; she put it on the bare rock; she did not pour it out on the ground to cover it with dust. To rouse my wrath, to take vengeance, I have set on the bare rock the blood she has shed, that it may not be covered. Therefore thus says the Lord God: Woe to the bloody city! I also will make the pile great. Heap on the logs, kindle the fire, boil the meat well, mix in the spices, and let the bones be burned up. Then set it empty upon the coals, that it may become hot, and its copper may burn, that its uncleanness may be melted in it, its corrosion consumed. She has wearied herself with toil; its abundant corrosion does not go out of it. Into the fire with its corrosion! On account of your unclean lewdness, because I would have cleansed you and you were not cleansed from your uncleanness, you shall not be cleansed anymore till I have satisfied my fury upon you. I am the Lord. I have spoken; it shall come to pass; I will do it. I will not go back; I will not spare; I will not relent; according to your ways and your deeds you will be judged, declares the Lord God.” The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, behold, I am about to take the delight of your eyes away from you at a stroke; yet you shall not mourn or weep, nor shall your tears run down. Sigh, but not aloud; make no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban, and put your shoes on your feet; do not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.” So I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died. And on the next morning I did as I was commanded. And the people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things mean for us, that you are acting thus?” Then I said to them, “The word of the Lord came to me: ‘Say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the delight of your eyes, and the yearning of your soul, and your sons and your daughters whom you left behind shall fall by the sword. And you shall do as I have done; you shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men. Your turbans shall be on your heads and your shoes on your feet; you shall not mourn or weep, but you shall rot away in your iniquities and groan to one another. Thus shall Ezekiel be to you a sign; according to all that he has done you shall do. When this comes, then you will know that I am the Lord God.’ “As for you, son of man, surely on the day when I take from them their stronghold, their joy and glory, the delight of their eyes and their soul’s desire, and also their sons and daughters, on that day a fugitive will come to you to report to you the news. On that day your mouth will be opened to the fugitive, and you shall speak and be no longer mute. So you will be a sign to them, and they will know that I am the Lord.” The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, set your face toward the Ammonites and prophesy against them. Say to the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord God: Thus says the Lord God, Because you said, ‘Aha!’ over my sanctuary when it was profaned, and over the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and over the house of Judah when they went into exile, therefore behold, I am handing you over to the people of the East for a possession, and they shall set their encampments among you and make their dwellings in your midst. They shall eat your fruit, and they shall drink your milk. I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels and Ammon a fold for flocks. Then you will know that I am the Lord. For thus says the Lord God: Because you have clapped your hands and stamped your feet and rejoiced with all the malice within your soul against the land of Israel, therefore, behold, I have stretched out my hand against you, and will hand you over as plunder to the nations. And I will cut you off from the peoples and will make you perish out of the countries; I will destroy you. Then you will know that I am the Lord. “Thus says the Lord God: Because Moab and Seir said, ‘Behold, the house of Judah is like all the other nations,’ therefore I will lay open the flank of Moab from the cities, from its cities on its frontier, the glory of the country, Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim. I will give it along with the Ammonites to the people of the East as a possession, that the Ammonites may be remembered no more among the nations, and I will execute judgments upon Moab. Then they will know that I am the Lord. “Thus says the Lord God: Because Edom acted revengefully against the house of Judah and has grievously offended in taking vengeance on them, therefore thus says the Lord God, I will stretch out my hand against Edom and cut off from it man and beast. And I will make it desolate; from Teman even to Dedan they shall fall by the sword. And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel, and they shall do in Edom according to my anger and according to my wrath, and they shall know my vengeance, declares the Lord God. “Thus says the Lord God: Because the Philistines acted revengefully and took vengeance with malice of soul to destroy in never-ending enmity, therefore thus says the Lord God, Behold, I will stretch out my hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites and destroy the rest of the seacoast. I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I lay my vengeance upon them.”
“And after all your wickedness (woe, woe to you! declares the Lord God), you built yourself a vaulted chamber and made yourself a lofty place in every square. At the head of every street you built your lofty place and made your beauty an abomination, offering yourself to any passerby and multiplying your whoring.
Ezekiel 23-24
Notice the double woe!
Ezekiel 16:
The whoredom goes on and on. They are displaying their abominations for all the world to see!
God says,
“How sick is your heart, declares the Lord God, because you did all these things, the deeds of a brazen prostitute, building your vaulted chamber at the head of every street, and making your lofty place in every square. Yet you were not like a prostitute, because you scorned payment.
D. The Everlasting Covenant from God.
D. The Everlasting Covenant from God.
He said you are worse than a prostitute because you didn’t even receive payment, you commited these abominations for pleasure not payment…Israel had become a nation that had no shame!
“For thus says the Lord God: I will deal with you as you have done, you who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant, yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish for you an everlasting covenant. Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you take your sisters, both your elder and your younger, and I give them to you as daughters, but not on account of the covenant with you. I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the Lord, that you may remember and be confounded, and never open your mouth again because of your shame, when I atone for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord God.”
Ezekiel 16:59-62
Sound familiar?
How will God respond to the abominations of His people? This brings us to the next doctrine of God taught in Ezekiel.
D. The Justice of God
D. The Justice of God
And I will judge you as women who commit adultery and shed blood are judged, and bring upon you the blood of wrath and jealousy.
God Justice is a specific justice. He brings it up on those who commit adultery.
Ezekiel 16:
God’s justice is because of his jealousy. He desires his people to love worship, and serve Him alone!
J.I. Packer explains God’s jealousy as a “zeal to protect a love relationship or to a
Notice,
As I live, declares the Lord God, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel. Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die.
As I live, declares the Lord God, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel.
Ezekiel 18:3
Ezekiel 18:
Who shall receive God’s justice? The soul that sins, not the entire people group, not the entire family, and not an entire ethnicity.
He says it again,
The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.
As for his father, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother, and did what is not good among his people, behold, he shall die for his iniquity. “Yet you say, ‘Why should not the son suffer for the iniquity of the father?’ When the son has done what is just and right, and has been careful to observe all my statutes, he shall surely live. The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.
The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself. “But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die.
God’s justice is perfect, righteous, and put upon the individual who sins against Him!
Ezekiel 18:20-21
However notice that even in the justice of God, he provides a way of escape.
“But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die.
Ezekiel
Of course the problem becomes no one can keep all of God’s statutes. That is why repentance is never alone, it is always accompanied by faith. To avoid the just punishment of God it is not enough to just turn from our wicked ways, we must trust in Christ alone as the only one who can keep God’s command perfectly.
We have seen the glory of God, the sovereignty of God, the abominations of God’s people, the justice of God, the next doctrine we see in the book of Ezekiel is,
E. The Wrath of God
E. The Wrath of God
Turn back to chapter 5 with me for a moment. The LORD says of Jerusalem,
You have not walked in my statutes,
You have not obeyed my rules,
You have committed abominations,
You have defiled my sanctuary with all your abominations, In response to this we see God’s wrath is,
A Furious Wrath
A Furious Wrath
“Thus shall my anger spend itself, and I will vent my fury upon them and satisfy myself. And they shall know that I am the Lord—that I have spoken in my jealousy—when I spend my fury upon them.
Ezekiel 5:
Vent my fury - do you get the idea of God’s wrath building, and building, just waiting to explode. Radiator ILL.
Remember God’s justice not only comes from his jealousy, but his wrath comes from his love and jealousy for his people.
God’s wrath is not only furious, his wrath is
A Fiery Wrath
A Fiery Wrath
Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. As one gathers silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into a furnace, to blow the fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and I will put you in and melt you. I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst of it. As silver is melted in a furnace, so you shall be melted in the midst of it, and you shall know that I am the Lord; I have poured out my wrath upon you.”
A Consuming Wrath
A Consuming Wrath
Ezekiel 22:
Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have returned their way upon their heads, declares the Lord God.”
As we have been saying,
A Jealous Wrath
A Jealous Wrath
Ezekiel 22:31
therefore thus says the Lord God: Surely I have spoken in my hot jealousy against the rest of the nations and against all Edom, who gave my land to themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and utter contempt, that they might make its pasturelands a prey. Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I have spoken in my jealous wrath, because you have suffered the reproach of the nations.
A Blazing Wrath
A Blazing Wrath
But on that day, the day that Gog shall come against the land of Israel, declares the Lord God, my wrath will be roused in my anger. For in my jealousy and in my blazing wrath I declare, On that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel.
Ezekiel 28
God is a glorious, sovereign, just God! He is also a God of wrath. Don’t mistake God’s hot, fiery, burning wrath for a unrighteous, uncontrolled, unbridled anger that we are familiar with. God’s wrath is perfectly righteous, because He is perfectly holy.
What then was God’s purpose behind revealing His wrath to His people? To cause them to fear Him and to fall on their face in repentance and return to Him. To leave behind their abominations and lewdness.
Tom Ascol - Fear God
This brings us to the next doctrine of God Ezekiel presents.
Ezekiel 36:5
F. The Holiness of God
F. The Holiness of God
God’s holiness is not some abstract attribute.
Paul Washer writes, “Holiness is the preeminent attribute of God and the greatest truth that we can ever learn about Him. Every other divine attribute is simply an expression of His holiness in that it demonstrates that he is distinct from His creation and absolutely separate a completely different Being.”
We must understand that before in order to rightly understand Ezekiel’s proclamations of the holiness of God and what God wants us to understand about His holiness.
First, notice,
God’s Concern for His Holiness
God’s Concern for His Holiness
But when they came to the nations, wherever they came, they profaned my holy name, in that people said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord, and yet they had to go out of his land.’ But I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came.
Ezekiel 36:
God is concerned about the holiness of His own name. Israel was guilty of profaning it, blaspheming it and apart from repenting and turning from their unclean talk they would experience the just wrath of God.
Because of,
God’s Vindication of His Holiness
God’s Vindication of His Holiness
“Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.
God will set apart His name, he will protect, consecrate, the sacredness of His name. That means He will separate those who profane it from it.
Before God cuts off His people, He again shows His grace, mercy, and faithfulness to fulfill His promises.
In we see,
God’s Display of His Holiness
God’s Display of His Holiness
Ezekiel 36:22-
So I will show my greatness and my holiness and make myself known in the eyes of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.
Ezekiel 38:23
God say’s I will show you again how great and holy I am. I will make sure you know how I am like no other. I am giving you one more opportunity to repent of your sin of profaning my name.
There is one more truth Ezekiel presents, it is,
God’s Protection of His Holiness
God’s Protection of His Holiness
“And my holy name I will make known in the midst of my people Israel, and I will not let my holy name be profaned anymore. And the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel.
Ezekiel 39:
Ultimately God is very concerned with His holiness, He will vindicate, and protect his holy name. He will not allow His holiness to be profaned.
Consider Isaiah’s response to God, as he saw His holiness! He said I am undone, I am a man of unclean lips....How did God protect His holiness? With a hot coal to the lips of Isaiah!
I don’t know about you, but when I consider all of these doctrines of God it can leave us in a place of fear and despair. When we consider the sins of God people, their idolatry and adultery and we recognize the blazing wrath with which God will pour out his justice on all who have profaned his name we have to admit we fall into that number who deserve God’s jealous wrath poured out on us.
However, like the rest of the Scriptures Ezekiel does not leave us there. Toward the end of the book Ezekiel prophesies of,
G. The Hope of God’s People
G. The Hope of God’s People
“Therefore thus says the Lord God: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for my holy name. They shall forget their shame and all the treachery they have practiced against me, when they dwell securely in their land with none to make them afraid, when I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them from their enemies’ lands, and through them have vindicated my holiness in the sight of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the Lord their God, because I sent them into exile among the nations and then assembled them into their own land. I will leave none of them remaining among the nations anymore. And I will not hide my face anymore from them, when I pour out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, declares the Lord God.”
Ezekiel 39:25-
The Mercy of God
The Mercy of God
“Therefore thus says the Lord God: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for my holy name.
Ezekiel 39:
God’s people ought to be fearful of his holiness, but thankful for His jealousy. He loves his people so much and is committed to keeping them that he has shown mercy by not giving them the justice they deserve. God has alway had a plan to show mercy on whom he will show mercy.
There is also hope in,
The Spirit of God
The Spirit of God
And I will not hide my face anymore from them, when I pour out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, declares the Lord God.”
Ezekiel
In the context of the restoration of God’s people we see God promise to pour out His Spirit. God’s Holy Spirit is the only hope we have as His people. Apart from the Spirit being poured out on us, being poured into us we have no hope of being made alive in Christ. We have not hope of regeneration, conversion or salvation. Even in the Old Testament book of Ezekiel we see God’s Spirit providing hope for His people.
The book ends with a vision of hope as through Ezekiel God presents a vision of the New Temple. Chapter 40 through 48 display the beauty and magnificence of the New temple where God’s people will ultimately worship Him forever! And the last verse of the book provides us with the hope filled promise of,
The City of God
The City of God
The circumference of the city shall be 18,000 cubits. And the name of the city from that time on shall be, The Lord Is There.”
Ezekiel 48:
Why do we have hope? Why do we look forward to the city of God?
Because the LORD will be there. He is already on the throne, Father and Son side by side. On that day the Son will come and gather His bride, the one whom God is jealous for and gather her unto Himself and we will be with Him forever!
III. The Message of Ezekiel
III. The Message of Ezekiel
A. Main Point
A. Main Point
The Book of Ezekiel is written for the purpose of unveiling the glory of God, affirming the attributes of God, uncovering the abominations of the people of God, and promising the Hope found only in the Son of God.
Ralph Alexander writes, “Ezekiel spoke to his contemporaries, declaring to them the faithfulness, holiness, and glory of God. Their God would bring judgment, cleansing, and ultimate blessing through which all peoples might come to know that the God of Israel was the one true God. The Lord desired to turn the exiles of Israel away from their sinful ways and restore them to himself….He gave the hope that one day the true Shepherd, the Messiah, would come to lead the chosen people Israel.”
Finally we come to the redemptive purpose of the book of Ezekiel.
B. Message of Jesus
B. Message of Jesus
One of the places we see Jesus in the book of Ezekiel is,
1. God’s Everlasting Covenant
1. God’s Everlasting Covenant
“For thus says the Lord God: I will deal with you as you have done, you who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant, yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish for you an everlasting covenant.
“My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes. They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children’s children shall dwell there forever, and David my servant shall be their prince forever. I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Ezekiel 16:
Ezekiel 37:
This new everlasting covenant will be mediated by the Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.
Hebrews
His death provided the redemption and reconciliation for the people of God. He took on the sinfulness of man that all who would repent and believe in Him might receive His righteousness and the promised eternal inheritance!
Secondly Ezekiel points to,
2. God’s Plan of Propitiation
2. God’s Plan of Propitiation
English Standard Version Chapter 21
14 “As for you, son of man, prophesy. Clap your hands and let the sword come down twice, yes, three times, the sword for those to be slain. It is the sword for the great slaughter, which surrounds them, 15 that their hearts may melt, and many stumble. At all their gates I have given the glittering sword. Ah, it is made like lightning; it is taken up for slaughter. 16 Cut sharply to the right; set yourself to the left, wherever your face is directed. 17 I also will clap my hands, and I will satisfy my fury; I the LORD have spoken.”
How would God ultimately satisfy his own fury?
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
We have seen Jesus in God’s everlasting covenant, God’s satisfaction of His fury, we also see Jesus as,
3. God’s Shepherd
3. God’s Shepherd
And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the Lord; I have spoken.
Ezekiel 34:23-24
The entire chapter of was a condemnation of the shepherds of Isreal.
They did not strengthen the weak,
They did not heal the sick,
Ezekiel 34:25-27
“I will make with them a covenant of peace and banish wild beasts from the land, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. And I will make them and the places all around my hill a blessing, and I will send down the showers in their season; they shall be showers of blessing. And the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be secure in their land. And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke, and deliver them from the hand of those who enslaved them.
They did not bind up the injured,
They did not bring back the straying,
They did not seek the lost,
Instead they ruled them with harshness.
Because of their failure and dereliction of duties, God said I will judge, I will rescue, and ultimately,
I will set up one Shepherd!
“My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes. They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children’s children shall dwell there forever, and David my servant shall be their prince forever. I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
We know God did set up David as one shepherd, and one king, but he was not the eternal Shepherd King! David did great things as a king but he also fell short as king. There would be a Shepherd and King to come that would not falter, that would not allow the kingdom of God to be divided, but this Son of David would come and be the Good Shepherd, who would call His sheep and His sheep would hear his voice and return to His fold.
Ezekiel 37:24-
What about you tonight?
Have you ever been confronted with the glory, holiness, wrath, and justice of God? Has God revealed Himself to you and made you fall on your face before Him?
Have you recognized your abominations, your idolatry, and your adultery before God?
Have you turned to your only Hope, the wrath satisfying Son of God, Jesus Christ? He is the mediator of the New Covenant, the only way you can recieved the eternal inheritance.
Is the Good Shepherd calling you to himself tonight?