June 1, 2014

EZEKIAL 1 – 7

Like Jeremiah, Ezekiel ministered in the years immediately preceding and immediately following the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. However, unlike Jeremiah, who remained in Judah, Ezekiel ministered primarily to the exiles in Babylon. Ezekiel, a priest of the Jerusalem temple, was one of the many Judeans taken to Babylon in the deportation of 597 B.C. His prophetic call came only a few years after his deportation, and the prophetic oracles within his book can be dated between 593 and 571 B.C. His book contains some of the most difficult and disputed prophecies in the Old Testament.

History

After the death of King Solomon, the *Israelite nation became divided. 10 of the 12 tribes set up a separate country with their own kings. These 10 northern tribes turned away from the Lord their God. After several centuries, God sent the nation called Assyria to fight against them. In the year 722 BC the 10 tribes went into exile in Assyria.

At that time, God did not remove the two southern tribes. These two tribes formed the nation called Judah. But during the next 100 years, the people in Judah became very evil. They became as bad as the 10 tribes, or even worse.

Ezekiel does refer to Judah as Israelites. During Ezekiel’s life, Judah was all that remained of the original nation called Israel. But some of the *prophecies in the book are for all the Israelites.

The agreement that God made with Israel warned the people. It said that the people must obey God. If they did not obey, God would send them into exile among the nations. This happened to the 10 tribes. It would soon happen to the people who lived in Judah.

In the year 598 BC, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked Judah. After three months, the new king of Judah, Jehoiachin, handed over the city called Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar.

In the year 597 BC, Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin, his family and the leaders of the people to Babylon. Among these was a priest, Ezekiel. Nebuchadnezzar made Zedekiah, who was the uncle of Jehoiachin, king in Jerusalem.

Zedekiah was not loyal to the king of Babylon. So, the Babylonians destroyed the cities in Judah. Then in the year 586 BC, they destroyed Jerusalem. The Babylonians killed most of the people in Jerusalem. But they took some people to Babylon.

Ezekiel the prophet in the first chapters: 

All that we know about Ezekiel is in this book. His name means ‘God gives strength.’ Ezekiel was born in the year 627 BC. He belonged to the family of Zadok, who was a famous priest. Ezekiel went into exile at the same time as King Jehoiachin in the year 597 BC. His wife died in the 9th year of his exile.  The book is full of Ezekial’s personal experiences.

Ezekial was:

Son of a priest  2. Carried away captive to Babylon 3. His vision of God, ch. 1  4. His Call 1:3  5. His commission and Enduement 2:3  6. His spiritual food 3:1-3  7 His Task...a spiritual watchman 3:4-11 17-21  8. Ezekial declares the highest of inspiration “Thus saith Jehovah”!

The *vision of the *glory of God – Ezekiel 1:1-28

· This was a very special experience for Ezekiel. He felt the power of God. He saw the special angels called cherubim. He saw God’s throne. He even saw an impression of God’s glory. And then God spoke to Ezekiel.

1:1 Ezekiel was one of the exiles from Jerusalem. He was here with other exiles by the River Chebar. The Babylonians knew this river as the Grand Canal. It flowed south and east from the river Euphrates at Babylon. It was deep and wide enough for large boats. They carried goods to and from Babylon. The river also provided water for use on the farms. Ezekiel’s home was in Tel-abib, which was near this river.

The 30th year probably refers to Ezekiel’s age. He was the son of Buzi, a temple priest. Ezekiel would have become a priest at the age of 30. But he went into exile before he could begin to work as a priest in Jerusalem. So, he received his first vision at the date that he qualified to be a priest. It was the 5th year during the *exile of King Jehoiachin. Ezekiel saw these visions on the 5th day of the 4th month. It seemed that ‘the skies opened’. In other words, it was as if Ezekiel could see beyond the skies. He ‘saw visions of God’. God gave Ezekiel a glimpse of his (God’s) glory.

Verses 2-3 King Jehoiachin was still the proper king of Judah. But the Babylonians took him into exile in 593 *BC. Zedekiah ruled over Judah instead of Jehoiachin. This was the 5th year during that *exile.

God spoke to Ezekiel as (God) would do many more times in this book. Ezekiel was aware of God. He felt the power of God upon him.

The country of the Chaldeans was the southern part of the country called Babylon.

Verse 4 In the vision, Ezekiel records the stormy wind that comes from the north. The glory of the Lord came from that direction. The cloud hid the complete glory of God. The bright lights showed something of that glory as it shone through the cloud. The glowing ‘metal’ was the creatures and the throne as they approached.

Verses 5-7 Ezekiel then saw the 4 creatures in the cloud. He describes these creatures. He records that their shape seemed like the shape of men. But each creature had 4 faces and 4 wings. And each creature had two legs like a man; but the feet were like the feet of a cow.

These 4 creatures reflect the power of God. The 4 faces of each of the creatures look in all directions. This is to show that God has power over the whole earth. They carry the throne of God.

Verses 8-11 These creatures are the cherubim. Their task is to show that God is holy. They have hands like the hands of a man. The hands show that they are strong. And, that they can work. They are the servants of God. They go where he orders. They do what he tells them.

Each of them has 4 faces. They each have the face of a man, of a lion, of an ox and of an eagle. These faces are in the same order on each cherub. The human face is to the front. The lion face is to the right. The ox face is to the left. The eagle face is at the back. Of all the animals on earth, men and women are superior. The lion is the king of the wild animals. The ox is the best of the animals that farmers keep. The eagle is the leader among the birds of the air. These faces are an expression of the power of God in all that he has made.

The face of a man shows that the cherubim are intelligent. The face of a lion shows that they are very strong and powerful. The face of an ox shows that they are patient. They are servants of God. The face of the eagle shows how quick they can be. They immediately do what God wants. And there is no delay.

Each cherub has two pairs of wings. The upper pair stretches out to touch the wings of two other cherubs. They moved in the form of a square so that each one touched two other cherubs. When they moved they were all in perfect unity. Their other pairs of wings covered their bodies.

Verse 12 The cherubim could move in any direction but they did not turn. Their human faces were toward each of north, south, east and west. As they went, they did not need to turn. The Spirit of God controlled the cherubim. They went as he directed.

Verses 13-14 The fire was in the middle of the cherubim. So, Ezekiel saw the bright light and the flames of a fire. The fire was so bright that flashes of lightning came from it. The cherubim moved at the speed of lightning.

Verse 15 There was a high wheel by each of the 4 creatures. The 4 wheels were the same. Ezekiel saw this vehicle, which carried the throne of God. Above the 4 wheels were the 4 creatures. The 4 creatures carried the *throne.

Verse 16 Each wheel seemed to have a wheel inside a wheel. In other words, each wheel had another one across its centre. The wheels shone with the colour of beryl. Beryl was a precious stone that may have been a pale green colour.

Verse 17 The vehicle did not travel on the ground but through the air. So, the wheels were not there to move the vehicle. It moved in all directions but the wheels did not turn.

Verse 18 A wooden wheel would have heavy nails in the edge that touched the road. These were for strength so that the edge of the wheel would not wear out quickly. Ezekiel saw that, instead of nails, there were eyes all round the edge of the wheels. There were many eyes. They looked in all directions. They could see all things. We can hide nothing from God. He sees and knows everything.

Verses 19-21 The cherubim had control of the wheels. When the cherubim moved, the wheels had to go with them. The Spirit of God had control of the cherubim. Where the Spirit went, the cherubim had to go.

Verse 22 The cover above the cherubim was a platform for the throne. From below, the cover was like the sky. Light shone through it as light through ice or a precious stone.

Verses 23-25 The cherubim had 4 wings each. With two, they stretched out to the next cherub. With the other two, they covered their bodies. When they moved, the noise of their wings was loud. Ezekiel describes that noise in three ways. It was like the sound of the sea. It was like the voice of God. And it was like sound of a large army.

The sea moves with a force that nobody can oppose. The waves crash in and out. They come and go. And nobody can stop them.

Like the noise of a storm is the voice of God. The power of God as he speaks is awful. It would make the bravest person afraid.

The sound of a large army ready for battle brings fear into the heart of a man. God spoke. The cherubim stood still and lowered their wings.

Verse 26 Above the cover, Ezekiel saw something that was like a throne. It shone like a sapphire and it was bright blue.

On the throne, there was a person. In form, he was like a man. But he was not a man. God shows himself here in a form similar to a man.

Verse 27 The effect of the vision hid God from direct view. The lower part of the figure glowed as with fire. The upper part glowed with an inner light. It had a colour like metal, when it glows in a fire. There was a bright light that shone with many colours round the throne.

Verse 28 The light was like the colours of the rainbow. All this light reflected the glory of God. The whole vision showed the glory of God.

Ezekiel felt that he was standing there in front of God. The sight was so magnificent that he fell down. Clearly, he was full of fear. Nobody can see God and live. Ezekiel did not see God Himself. Here was an impression of the character and glory of God.  This vision of the Lord was to prepare Ezekiel for the work that he had to do. Then God spoke to him.

The Lord tells Ezekiel what he must do – Ezekiel 2:1-3:27

· God told Ezekiel that he (Ezekiel) would have to obey him (God) completely. The people were already opposing God. So, they would oppose Ezekiel when he told them God’s message. But Ezekiel still had a duty to declare God’s message. God was giving the people one more opportunity to obey him.

The Lord will destroy Jerusalem – Ezekiel 4:1-5:17

. God gave this prophecy to Ezekiel. It was an unusual kind of prophecy. God told Ezekiel to make a model and to carry out certain actions. The purpose of those actions was to show what would happen to Jerusalem and its inhabitants.

Enemies will destroy the country called Judah – Ezekiel 6:1-7:27

· God told Ezekiel about the awful punishment that the people in Judah would suffer. They would suffer because of their sin, especially the worship of false gods. They would die because of war, disease and hunger. Those people who did not die would become exiles. But they would know that the Lord is God.

· The events in this *prophecy happened in the year 586 BC, when the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem.

ADDITIONAL LESSONS:

God hates sin

To “eat” the scroll – we should devour the Word so that It becomes a part of our being!

No matter what people’s response, we must speak when God instructs us to do so!

The people may oppose you. They may refuse to listen. They may attack you. But just as Ezekiel had to obey, we must obey God and speak His words to them.  Unpleasant but a joy to be obedient.

We are as a look-out -- a special type of guard. The look-out would stand on the wall of a city. His job was to watch for enemies and other dangers.  The LORD has mercy and wants “them” to hear!

The Lord struck Ezekiel dumb for seven years. But during that period, Ezekiel had to speak many messages from God. He remained in his home except as God led him. When Ezekiel did speak, the results were not his problem. He was just the agent of the Lord. All that he said was the messages of the Lord. The people were responsible for their own actions. They could choose to listen or they could refuse to listen.  WE must speak as the LORD directs...perhaps it would be helpful if we were DUMB otherwise!  And perhaps restricted to our house.

The people will desire peace but there will be no peace. As the disasters increase, they try to find help. The prophets pray to the Lord but the Lord does not answer them. Their leaders and wise men have no answers. There is no hope and they are in despair. Even the king and the prince are afraid of the terror that will come upon them.

They deserved all their troubles. The Lord was punishing them because of their evil behaviour. Then they will know that God is the Lord.  WHAT WILL BECOME OF OUR USED-TO-BE GREAT COUNTRY?