journey through the bible ezekiel:visions of god

EZEKIEL: VISIONS OF GODJourney Through The Bible

Bible Readings: Ezekiel 2:1-9, 3:1-15. (Page 587)Mark 9:2-13 (Page 714)

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Thursday, 30 October 2014

• Jeremiah Prophesied in Jerusalem.• Ezekiel Prophesied Babylon.• Ezekiel was among the first exiles taken to Babylon in 597 BC.• The Lord gave Ezekiel visions of what was happening in

Jerusalem 1,200 km away.

EzekielJeremiah

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597 BC. - 610 BC


Strange Prophetic Acts

At the beginning of his ministry Ezekiel was compelled by the Spirit to lie paralysed on one side and cook strictly limited food for over 2 years.

He had to draw a picture of the city on a clay tablet and then build siege walls around it like a model.

In front of the exiles Ezekiel acted out the siege and the distress of people in the city they loved.

Ezekiel’s Prophetic Enactments

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Ezekiel Saw Visions of God’s Glory

Ezekiel received an overwhelming vision of the Lord enthroned in His glory and majesty.

Ezekiel was trying to describe something which really cannot be described with words.

He used words like “The centre of the fire looked like glowing metal, and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures.”

Ezekiel’s Vision of the Throne of God

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The impact of the Spirit of God was so great he physically collapsed.

“This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell face down, and I heard the voice of One speaking. He said to me, “Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you.” As He spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard Him speaking to me. He said: “Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me; they and their ancestors have been in revolt against Me to this very day.” (Ezekiel 1:28–2:3, TNIV)


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The fact that he saw the God of Israel in the land of Babylon was in itself a revelation.

The Jews thought God could only be present and worshipped in the temple in Jerusalem.

The Lord showed He was not restricted to the temple or even the land of Israel but was truly Lord of all the world and all peoples.


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God took the initiative to reveal Himself to Ezekiel.

Throughout the Bible God takes the initiative. He comes to men and women. He reveals Himself to whomever He chooses. He does not wait for people to get ready for Him or prepare themselves.

Jesus is the greatest example of God’s taking the initiative; Jesus came into the world to seek out the lost.

God Reveals Himself

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“Then on September 17, during the sixth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity, while the leaders of Judah were in my home, the Sovereign Lord took hold of me. I saw a figure that appeared to be a man. From what appeared to be His waist down, He looked like a burning flame. From the waist up He looked like gleaming amber. He reached out what seemed to be a hand and took me by the hair. Then the Spirit lifted me up into the sky and transported me to Jerusalem in a vision from God. I was taken to the north gate of the inner courtyard of the Temple, where there is a large idol that has made the Lord very jealous. Suddenly, the glory of the God of Israel was there, just as I had seen it before in the valley.” (Ezekiel 8:1–4, NLT)

Ezekiel Travels In the Spirit to Jerusalem

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Ezekiel sees what all the elders and leaders of the people are doing in secret. He sees them worshipping idols in dark rooms of their houses. He sees women worshipping and adoring the pagan goddess Tammuz. He sees priests bowing down to the sun as it rises in the morning even in the temple of God itself.

“Then He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the room of his idols? For they say, ‘The Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land.’ ”

Ezekiel Travels In the Spirit to Jerusalem

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Ezekiel sees the Glory and Presence of the Lord leave the temple and rest on the gates of the city.

Then the Presence and Glory departs from Jerusalem completely.

God abandons the city that He chose. The Temple that He promised would be where His Name would rest had become a spiritually empty shell.

Because of the people’s sin the Lord abandoned His own temple and His chosen city.

The Glory of the Lord Departs from the Temple

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“Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. Don’t you realise that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, Who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honour God with your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:18–20, NLT)

If a Christian persistently sins against the Holy Spirit Who lives in them, the Holy Spirit will depart from them.

Believers are Temples of the Holy Spirit

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The climax at the centre of the book is in Chapter 24 when the Lord tells Ezekiel that the siege of Jerusalem has begun.

“In the ninth year, in the tenth month on the tenth day, the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, record this date, this very date, because the king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day.” (Ezekiel 24:1–2, TNIV)

Ezekiel acts out a symbolic picture of the spiritual state of Jerusalem. He fills a pot full of meat and water. He lights a fire and heats the pot until the meat burns away and the pot becomes red hot. This is a symbolic picture of what the Lord was doing to Jerusalem – He was cleansing it of all the useless dirt.

Believers are Temples of the Holy Spirit

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“Also the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, behold, I take away from you the desire of your eyes with one stroke; yet you shall neither mourn nor weep, nor shall your tears run down. Sigh in silence, make no mourning for the dead; bind your turban on your head, and put your sandals on your feet; do not cover your lips, and do not eat man’s bread of sorrow.”

So I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died; and the next morning I did as I was commanded.” (Ezekiel 24:15–18, NKJV)

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The most painful prophetic message ever given to a prophet:


“Say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am about to desecrate My sanctuary—the stronghold in which you take pride, the delight of your eyes, the object of your affection. The sons and daughters you left behind will fall by the sword. And you will do as I have done. . . . You will not mourn or weep but will waste away because of your sins and groan among yourselves. Ezekiel will be a sign to you; you will do just as he has done. When this happens, you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.’” (Ezekiel 24:21–24, NIV84)

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The most painful prophetic message ever given to a prophet:


Chapter 28 - “The King Of Tyre”

Son of man, take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre and say to him: This is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: carnelian, chrysolite and emerald, topaz, onyx and jasper, lapis lazuli, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared. You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones’. (Ezekiel 28:12–14, TNIV)

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The Fall Of Lucifer


Many bible scholars see in these verses a prophetic description of the creation and fall of Lucifer who became Satan.

“You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendour. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.” (Ezekiel 28:15–17, TNIV)

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The Fall Of Lucifer


The last part of Ezekiel contains two great visions of restoration. They are introduced by one of the most comforting promises in the whole of scripture.

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgements and do them.” (Ezekiel 36:26–27, NKJV)

Only the Lord can restore us to Himself.17

The Promise: A New Spirit Within You


The Hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And He led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, You know.” Then He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.” (Ezekiel 37:1–6, ESV)

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The Vision of the Valley Of Dry Bones


The dry bones were a prophetic picture of the spiritual condition of the people of Israel in the time of exile. They felt like a dead people. In fact the nation had died and was in effect buried never to rise again.

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“Therefore, prophesy to them and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: O my people, I will open your graves of exile and cause you to rise again. Then I will bring you back to the land of Israel. When this happens, O my people, you will know that I am the Lord. I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live again and return home to your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken, and I have done what I said. Yes, the Lord has spoken!’ ” (Ezekiel 37:12–14, NLT)

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God Begins the process of spiritual restoration.

The people are powerless to save themselves.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23, NLT)

Forgiveness and eternal life can not be gained by your own efforts and works. The Lord freely offers both forgiveness and new life because He loves you.

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Restoration


The book closes with a long description of a new temple and a restored promised land.

Some scholars think Ezekiel's temple is a symbolic vision of the restored relationship between God and the people.

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The Vision of the New Temple


This phrase occurs over 60 times in the book. God reveals Himself to be sovereign.

He sees people's sinful and helpless situation. He takes the initiative to reveal Himself and to call them back to Himself.

He punishes sin because He is so totally and completely holy and sinless.

After punishment He restores. He even raises from the dead.

What God did for the nation, He can do for individual men and women.

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“That you shall know that I am The Lord.”


What God did for Israel He can do for individual men and women.

“At one time you were dead in your sins. Your sinful nature was not circumcised. But God gave you new life together with Christ. He forgave us all of our sins. He wiped out the written Law with its rules. The Law was against us. It opposed us. He took it away and nailed it to the cross.” (Colossians 2:13–14, NIrV)

The free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23, NLT)

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“That you shall know that I am The Lord.”


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