Lessons From Ezekiel – Lesson 2
First we looked at why God sends Ezekiel and that explains a lot of the over the top type of things we are going to see in Ezekiel. God sent Ezekiel because He wanted them to know that there was a prophet among them.
Then before we read Ezekiel’s opening vision we took the time to look at some other scripture that gives context. We read some of what John saw in Revelation. And we highlighted that John saw some of the same type of angelic beings that Ezekiel saw.
The creatures are very odd looking to us. Not what we typically think of when we think of angelic beings. Some people get distracted with the wheels and the oddness of the creatures but miss some of the things that we can learn from their example of service to our Lord.
Eze 1:14 And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.
Eze 1:20 Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the
Eze 1:20 Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went,
We don’t know exactly what their job is. But we do know this.
Where ever the Spirit wants them to go, they go. So wherever God wants them to go they go. They are obedient to do the job that God wants done. God sends them on some kind of errand and they go.
And notice they don’t get sidetracked. They don’t wonder around. They don’t turn aside from their errand to the left hand or the right hand.
And they are fast about it.
They ran and returned like a flash of lightning. Man that is fast. The attitude they have seems to be the Creator, the Lord wants this done so let’s get it done. He is worthy of not having delays and having to wait.
What Ezekiel saw also shows that God is involved in what is going on in the earth. These creatures are sent to do things on the earth by the direction of God. This vision with wheels and movement and angelic creatures running by the direction of God is odd to us but it shows action and direction and getting things done.
This would be an important message to those in captivity in Babylon who might see things as out of control or might see things with the view that God does not care and that God is not doing anything.
So this vision is very timely and appropriate for those people in their situation. It is also good for us today. Our God is active and He is working.
Ezekiel’s vision then turned from these creatures doing errands on the earth to Heaven. Ezekiel sees our Lord on the throne in Heaven.
Eze 1:28 … This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.
John got to see the Lord on the throne. And when Ezekiel sees that he falls upon his face.
After the vision God talks to Ezekiel and tells him why he is being sent, we already went thru some of that 2 weeks ago we are going to pick up with the rest of that conversation today in Chapter 3.
Eze 3:1 Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel.
Eze 3:2 So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll.
Eze 3:3 And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.
God uses an object lesson with Ezekiel. Physically eating is an object lesson of partaking something and making it a part of you. God is telling Ezekiel to partake of God’s word and make it a part of who he is. This object lesson is teaching Ezekiel to completely accept God’s Word and make it a part of him.
And Ezekiel eats the roll, and finds it sweet. The object lesson is showing that God’s word is good.
From the very beginning we see God dealing with Ezekiel differently. Everything is very visual and from the very first encounter there is an object lesson. This is foreshadowing to us what is to come. God is going to use Ezekiel in a unique way. This is something else that we have seen over and over again in the Word of God.
God uses different men for different jobs and in different ways. God is the master and He knows exactly how to match the man with the job. Over and over again He will send the right man to the right people at the right time in the right place.
Eze 3:4 And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them.
This is a big one. God tells Ezekiel go speak with my words unto them. This is what God wants. He does not want His preachers to use trickery, or philosophy, or just feel good messages. God does not want His men to concentrate on trying to manipulate or manufacture conviction.
None of that is in the job description. It is really quite simple. Just go speak my words unto them. Ezekiel did not spend 32 hours a week laboring and designing sermons that entertain and will keep the attendance up.
God just simply wants His words given to people. He takes care of the rest. He opens eyes and He brings conviction and He works in lives. He just wants His spokesman to give out His Word. And that is what we do. All of our mailers and what we put in driveways and what we send to the world via the internet is full of His Word.
And God is telling Ezekiel to take His word to a rebellious people. This is another thing that churches have gotten off track on. They mainly want to just give God’s word to people who are already close to God. And just want to give church invitations to people who are in rebellion to God.
That is not biblical. God wants His word taken to the rebellious. That means more than a small piece of paper that says come grow with us. God wants the rebellious to get His Word.
Eze 3:5 For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel;
Eze 3:6 Not to many people of a strange speech and of an hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee.
Eze 3:7 But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted.
Eze 3:8 Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads.
Eze 3:9 As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.
Ezekiel is being told that it is going to be hard. Most of them will not listen. But God wants the hardhearted to still get His word.
Eze 3:10 Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears.
Even thou my message is not going to be warmly received, Ezekiel you still receive it in your heart. Keep yourself right Ezekiel. You just receive it and accept my word and believe it. That is what really helps you to not to soften it or change it or play games with it.
And take what you have simply received in your heart and go and tell.
Eze 3:11 And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.
Hear again we see the free will of man. Whether they will hear or whether they will not. A reminder to Ezekiel of not only what God wants done but that it is up to them if they will chose to hear or not. If they will or if they will NOT is not something that Ezekiel can force.
Making them choose God is not in Ezekiel’s job description. He is just to have faith himself, receive the word himself, and then go simply speak God’s Word.
After giving these critical instructions God is finished with this first encounter.
Eze 3:12 Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the LORD from his place.
Eze 3:13 I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great rushing.
This all happened to Ezekiel without any warning. He was just sitting on the bank of a river in captivity. Ezekiel was a priest. Their job was to deal with the sacrifices and the meat and skin the cows and pour out the drink offerings and burn incense and so on. And all of that was to only happen at the temple.
Ezekiel can’t go to the temple. It is about to be destroyed. The other thing that Levites were to do is teach. Ezekiel can still do some of that but most likely he does not have too many manuscripts and he is with a people who do not want to be taught.
So Ezekiel is just sitting on the bank of a river just watching the water roll by. And all of the sudden and out of nowhere. Bam. All of this.
He sees visions of odd angelic beings serving God running errands of some kind. And then He sees the Lord Almighty on His throne. And then God talks to him and gives him a job speaking God’s word to a rebellious people so that they will know that there is a prophet among them.
I mean wow. Do you think that all of that just all at once is maybe a little overwhelming?
A little shocking even. We see this in Ezekiel’s reaction.
Eze 3:14 So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me.
Ezekiel is very transparent here. He says I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit.
He does not say why. What about this made him have some bitterness. We don’t know. Was it that most will not hear? Was it about the hard job he was given? We could speculate but it would not do any good. He is just being honest about how it affected him.
Bitterness is never good. No matter what the cause is. What does God do about it? Is Ezekiel rebuked? Does God slap him around for it? Does this make Ezekiel disqualified for service?
No. What does God do about it?
and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me.
The Lord does not leave Ezekiel. The hand of the Lord was strong upon me. Ezekiel could feel God’s presence. God made sure that Ezekiel knew that God was with him. God was going to help Ezekiel with this.
Eze 3:15 Then I came to them of the captivity at Telabib, that dwelt by the river of Chebar, and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days.
This whole thing was shocking. Ezekiel sat astonished for 7 days.
Eze 3:16 And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
We will cover what God says next time. But we see that God had patience with Ezekiel and let him have time to process all of this and deal with whatever this bitterness was. God understands us. He knows how much we can take and He knows the pace that we can take it.
We do not serve a hard taskmaster. We serve a loving heavenly all-knowing Father.