Exciting overview of the Book of Ezekiel, sermon two

 

 

Sermon on Ezekiel, part 2

 

1.      Incidentals

 

As well as the broad sweep of Ezekiel, there are many just neat verses in it. Look, for example at Ezekiel 14:14 (and 20); “And though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver only their own souls by their righteousness, says the Lord Jehovah.”

Why Noah, Daniel and Job? Because each of these survived the loss of everything yet remained true to God. And God knows this, he knows their names, he knows what they have been through, and he is so proud of them. Like in Job, where God tells Satan, “Look at my servant Job, isn't he great!" Likewise, God knows each of our names, he knows what we have been through, and he is proud of us.  Not that this makes us proud!! God forbid!! Job would object to being named here, "don't you know that I complained for about 35 chapters straight?" Noah would say, "m preaching didn't save a soul, and as soon as I was delivered by God, I went and got drunk". And God would reply, my judgment stands, I know you are dust, I created you. I also know you trusted me with all you had. I saw when the widow gave her two small mites into the temple, and I know when, weak and frail as you are, you left all to follow me (Peter said to him, "We have left all we had to follow you!"). Don't tell me not to be proud of you! Don't tell me not to place a crown on your head! Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:712, 2 and Corinthians 1:8-10 writes about being troubled, perplexed, persecuted, despairing of life. But he also knows (in 2 Timothy 4:8) that God has prepared for him a crown of righteousness. Yes, we will rightly cast our crowns before him, yet remember, it is he who has given us those crowns. He knows what we have been through, he is proud of us, and he knows our names. Revelation 2:17 tells of God giving us a name that no one else knows. Indeed, ours is not to boast.

2) The effect on others

 

Returning to the big picture, much of Ezekiel focuses on how what God is doing with the exiles affects other groups around about. To look briefly at the three main groups, firstly we have -

A.    those still in Jerusalem, those who are not exiles;

11; 14-15. "Son of man, your brothers--your brothers who are your blood relatives and the whole house of Israel--are those of whom the people of Jerusalem have said, 'They are far away from the LORD; this land was given to us as our possession.'” The people living in Jerusalem claim that Ezekiel and the other Israelites who were taken to Babylonia are too far away to worship God. They also claim that the land of Israel now belongs only to them. 33:24, “Ezekiel, son of man, the people living in the ruined cities of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was just one man, and the LORD gave him this whole land of Israel. There are many of us, and so this land must be ours.’”

 

Those back home have written the exiles off. They think they are better than the exiles, and that they will inherit what the exiles have lost. They despise the exiles. One can imagine the 99 good sheep who didn't stray resenting the one stupid sheep who went astray, and deprived them of the company of their shepherd, just as the elder son resented his father's love for the returning prodigal. The danger for those who are not in exile is that they will pray like the Pharisee, "I thank you God that I am not like that sinner over there", and that they will think that by praying this, they are somehow pleasing to God!

 

When we see drunks, prostitutes and drug addicts, people who don't generally hang about in churches, we can become proud, selfish, greedy, and shallow Christians, and the danger is that we will despise them, think, "gosh, I’m glad I’m not like one of them". God hates it when we despise the exile, when we despise one of his sons or daughters who have fallen. Yes, we hate their sin, but we hate it because it hurts someone God loves. If you think Moslems are stupid, or want homosexuals to go to Hell, don't expect God to be on your side! The seriousness of this sin, its absolute importance to God, is seen in Ezekiel where it is just after those in Jerusalem despise the exiles that the glory of the Lord leaves the Temple (11:23).

B. The Edomites

 

The second group to look at are the Edomites,

 

•      Ezekiel 25:8 "This is what the Sovereign LORD says: 'Because Moab and Seir said, "Look, the house of Judah has become like all the other nations,"

•      Ezekiel 35:5 " 'Because you harbored an ancient hostility and delivered the Israelites over to the sword at the time of their calamity ¹⁰ " 'Because you have said, "These two nations and countries will be ours and we will take possession of them," even though I the LORD was there,

•       Ezekiel 35:12 Then you will know that I the LORD have heard all the contemptible things you have said against the mountains of Israel. You said, "They have been laid waste and have been given over to us to devour.”

•      Ezekiel 36:2 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: The enemy said of you, "Aha! The ancient heights have become our possession."

•      Ezekiel 36:5 this is what the Sovereign LORD says: In my burning zeal I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, for with glee and with malice in their hearts they made my land their own possession so that they might plunder its pastureland.'

Psalm 137:7 Remember, O LORD, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. "Tear it down," they cried, "tear it down to its foundations!"

(See also Obadiah 1:10-14)

 

Edom are the descendants of Esau, who despised his birthright, and traded it to fill his stomach. He valued a plate of stew more than the promise of God. He lived for the flesh, not for the spirit, and he should be happy, because he got what he wanted, yet he has always resented those self-righteous types who got the birthright. He is delighted when God's people stumble! "because you have harboured an ancient hostility". He mocks when they fall, he says "at last, the everlasting heights are mine! I was right to choose my stomach over God, and you others, you are no better than I am, I was right all along, welcome to the human race!" Those who remember the unholy glee of some when a number of tele-evangelists were caught in adultery will be familiar with this type of response. They celebrate when the righteous fall.

 

What defines humanity? (This is a major theme throughout Ezekiel; why are they exiles in the first place?) Edom says they, Edom define humanity. Edom = Adam (the same word-play is used by James in Acts 15), but before this even happens, God has spoken to Israel. In 34:31. God says to Israel. "you (not Edom)are Adam אָדָ֣ם אַתֶּ֑ם, and I am your God". God rejects the claim that humanity is defined by its desires of the flesh, and declares that it is Israel, those who struggle with God, who define humanity.

 

Son of Adam

34:31 is such an amazing verse! Not only does it hold out an incredible promise to Israel, but it does this on such an extraordinary basis. You see, everywhere else in the Book of Ezekiel, "Adam" is used by God as a term of humiliation, almost an insult. From the start, God callsEzekiel "son of Adam". Why? Because, as an exile, he has forfeited his right to be called "priest" or "Israelite". He isn’t in Israel, he is not in the Temple. Now, all he has claim to, all he can stand before God as, is his simple, unadorned humanity. Like the prodigal who says, "I am no longer worthy to be called your son". None of us like to stand naked before God, we prize our fig leaves; I’ve got a degree, I’m a westerner, I’m a missionary kid etc etc. I have some standing before God, I have something to offer — and God cuts through the garbage, and calls us simply "son of Adam". And yet now, in this verse, having lost all claims to privilege, somehow, in that very fact, God holds out hope.

 

Son of Adam, or, as it is usually translated, Son of Man. The very title that Jesus chose for himself. Jesus, born in a stable, parents refugees in Egypt, despised and rejected, no place to lay his head, did not come with a silver spoon in his mouth, making claims to special privilege or treatment. Jesus took this simple humanity, and through obedience and suffering transformed it into a glory we still cannot comprehend. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow - In Jesus, simple, rock bottom humanity has been exalted, and in that very humiliation and exaltation is our hope. His triumph was not just for priests, or Israelites, or rich people or scholars, for in Him is the promise for us all, to you, your children and to all who are a far off, and in Daniel we read of the saviour from heaven, (13-14) “I saw in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. And dominion and glory was given Him, and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations and languages, should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.”

 

This linkage between humiliation and universal rule is again found in Philippians 2:6-11;

“Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,

 ⁷ but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

 ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross! ⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

 

It is because he descended to the depths that he can save to the utmost! So ''you are Adam" a term of humiliation in Ezekiel, becomes transformed into a term of exaltation. It is only when we realize that we have forfeited all claims that the Father carries us home and prepares a feast for us. The promise isn't just to those who have never fallen, its to all who call upon the name of Jesus. And what a new relationship this is, what a blessing, what a freedom! Because if we were still back in the old Jerusalem, claiming some special privilege on the basis of some chosen fig leaf, we would have no joy, and we would have no rest. But the new promise is based on God's mercy, not our worthiness.

So, Edom think they have won, that our humiliation means our doom, and that we are all defined by our stomachs. But God overthrows this, declares that our humiliation is rather a precondition for a new relationship based on his love, not our merit, and that our true humanity is still to be found as we struggle with God.

 

3.      The nations around.

So, when the Godly fall into exile, some are disgusted, some are delighted, but the majority are more just interested bystanders. The theme of witness to the nations is strong in Ezekiel. “This is Jerusalem, which I have set in the centre of the nations." 3 times in chapter 20 alone, God addresses how his acts towards Israel are perceived by the surrounding nations, and chapter after chapter address the surrounding nations in oracles. Israel were called to be a nation of priests, carrying God's name in the world. Likewise, God's love for Israel has always been his chosen means for expressing his love to all humanity. The missionary heart of God is very clear in Ezekiel.

 

The way home, New Life

If the wages of sin are exile and death for the Israelites, the free, undeserved gift is new all life.

Now, in the prophet's original call, (2:3) God sends him to the Israelites, to rebellious nations, who have "sinned to the bone". (Most translations, on the basis of the Septuagint, leave out the plural, and also loose the idiom — but their division is caused by their sin, and the idiom and structure of his call are directly answered in chapter 37.)

 

God's answer to this initial situation is given 35 chapters later, in Ezekiel 37. Here, our young priest is grabbed and thrown into a valley full of dead men's bones. Now, as Ezekiel well knows, and mentions 2 chapters later, priests were not allowed near human bones, but here God has him crawling over them. He has tried to be clean, he has gone to rivers to pray on the Sabbath, is hoping for the best, but here it is as if God says, lets face facts, you are utterly filthy and contaminated, crawling with uncleanliness (nothing but a son of man), and Israel is slaughtered on the heights. God never makes light of our sin, and here forces the full reality and despair of it on the prophet.

 

Israel has sinned to the bone, and God does not give cosmetics to a leper. God's prophet must realize the extent of Israel's condition before God can act. We do not heal the wounds of God's people lightly, saying peace, peace when there is no peace, rather, God's prophet is defiled, and the true depth of Israel's sin is revealed. They had sinned to the bone, and from the bone, God will act.

 

What is God' s answer when we have sinned to the bone, when all we can offer Him are dead, lifeless bones?

Ezekiel 37:1-14!

“The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. ² He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. ³ He asked me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" I said, "O Sovereign LORD, you alone know." ⁴ Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! ⁵ This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. ⁶ I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.'  ⁷ So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. ⁸ I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. ⁹ Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.' " ¹⁰ So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet--a vast army. ¹¹ Then he said to me: "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.' ¹² Therefore prophesy and say to them: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. ¹³ Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. ¹⁴ I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD.' "

God's answer is his life-giving Spirit!

Isaiah 32:15-17 until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness become a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest. Then justice shall dwell in the  and righteousness shall abide in the fruitful field.

And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness, quietness and confidence for ever.

 

Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of the One who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the One who raised up Christ from the dead shall also make your mortal bodies alive by His Spirit who dwells in you.

 

Ezekiel 36:24-28 For I will take you from among the nations and gather you out of all lands, and will gather you into your own land. And I will sprinkle clean waters on you, and you shall be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from your idols. And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. And I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.

And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My judgments and do them. And you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers. And you shall be My people, and I will be your God. (11:19, 18:31)

Chapter 37 continues, 37:22 “And I will make them one nation in the land on the mountains of Israel, and one King shall be king to them all. And they shall not still be two nations, nor shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all.” Having dealt with their sin, their divisions disappear. God fixes the cause, and the symptoms go away.

In Jeremiah 31:21 we read, "Set up waymarks, make sign posts for yourself. Set your heart toward the highway, the way you went. Turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these your cities".

Remember how you got in this fix - the children of Israel had gone into exile when they gave up on the promises of God, valuing the lusts of the flesh above them. They had then derided the ability of God to punish, and finally, the existence of God at all. And so, you are indeed an exile, and a long way from God's temple. In Ezekiel therefore, God first convicts of sin, then punishes that sin (two steps we can, perhaps, appreciate), but then, having shown the worthlessness of their own choices, he does something we had no right to expect, in grace unmerited and unearnable, he reaffirms the value of his own promises. He rushes out to embrace one no longer worthy to be called his son, and hugs him and blesses him and carries him home.

 

This links into our final theme in Ezekiel, what it is to know God

 

"then you will know” (over 30x). Having doubted God's existence or relevance, conviction of sin and punishment reveal God to the exile. "When I punish you, when I drive you from my land, when I destroy your idols, Then you will know that I am God." And this clearly is one level of knowledge, people around us here may know God as an angry, distant judge, but how much more is it to know God as loving father. There is a beautiful progression, and a real triumph when God finally writes, and when I rescue you, and redeem you, and bring you home, THEN you will know that I am God. And when you are restored, in the temple worshiping, then you will know that I am God! Lord, your love at last has conquered! Having begun in grace and promise, the book ends in grace and fulfillment. Just as we are saved by grace and live by grace, and it is grace that takes us home.

Now is the time for worship

 

The last chapters of Ezekiel not only bring the exile home, not only focus on the New Jerusalem, but come to rest in the new temple. What else could the resurrected exile do but worship, where else could he be but in the Temple (“did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”). And so, Ezekiel ends in the new Temple. Why new? Because we are not the same people we were before we became exiles and experienced the undeserved grace of God. Maybe we thought religion was about obeying rules or being good. Now we have both failed the old religion, and been given a new life in union with Jesus — how could worship be the same as it was?

 

And so we come to the last verse! 48:35 "and the name of the city from that day shall be, ‘The LORD is there’" The book of Ezekiel again ends with the focus on what others see — a  missionary heart for the lost to the end. And that is how others see us — God is there - this truly is our crown and our treasure and what separates us from others — "Christ in you, the hope of glory", But if others name the city "God is there", how do we, the exiles who have been forgiven and restored, how do we the redeemed, name it? Not "God is there", but rather, "God with us!! Immanuel!"

 

In the book of Ezekiel, God searches out the sheep that is lost, and brings him home. And that name of that home is Jesus.

John 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, so that where I am, you may be also.

Revelation 22:3-5 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

Let us pray...

Exciting overview of the Book of Ezekiel in two sermons, sermon 1

 Sermon 1.

The Book of Ezekiel

                              Bringing the Exiles home, bringing the exiles back to worship

Made wrong choices? In the wrong place? The book of Ezekiel is for you!

1) God in grace going to the exiles

Today I would like to share with you a glimpse at the Book of Ezekiel. It is a book of incredible excitement and emotion. I hope to start with the first verse, and end with the last, so make sure you are comfortable!

1:1 Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.

The first verse captures so much! Every other prophetic book in the Bible, including the Revelation of John and the prophetic section of Daniel (so just don't go there) contains in its first verse the name of the prophet. But not Ezekiel! It’s like he is just blurting out words at the beginning — he is so excited he forgets to tell you who he is till verse 3 — and that verse is in the third person, like an after-thought.

“as I was among the exiles” - this is central to understanding this book - Ezekiel is 30 years should be being ordained in the Temple in Jerusalem after years but he is with the exiles. He has made bad choices, and as a result, is far from he should be, feeling far from God, in an unclean land (priests and cleanliness).

“the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God” - he doesn't deserve this, he is far from the Temple, yet, grace upon grace, God appears to him!! This is the excitement of Ezekiel, this is why he cant even stop to tell you who he is, he just has to tell you, "I didn't deserve it, but God showed himself to me!!"

Ezekiel has been thinking about how far he is from home, from God. Its most likely that it is on the Sabbath that God appears to him, because he tells everyone else 7 days later, most probably when they are all in synagogue. – (in Revelation 1:10 we read; I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet.)  As we make time for God, it is then that we hear him speak. He is also by the river. If Ezekiel is ritually unclean, because all land outside Israel is unclean (Amos 7:17), yet rivers were seen as being about as clean as you could get. (Daniel 8:2, 10:4 and 12:5-6 with the man above the middle of the river, Acts 16:13 “Then on the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to a place by the river, where we thought there would be a [Jewish] meeting place for prayer.”)

 

So Ezekiel is trying - he has tasted the bitterness of exile, longing for God, all the while knowing (or so he thought) that God is far away in Jerusalem. He has made bad choices, he is in the wrong place, does God even care about him anymore?? How could God possibly reach him way out here in exile?? Yet, grace upon grace, God hears his cry, and the good shepherd sets off to rescue his lost and helpless sheep.

Ezekiel is all about how God meets the exile and brings him home. It begins with grace and ends in the Temple. Note, as in Isaiah 6 and Revelation 1, every new work of God begins with a fresh vision of Him, and a new aspect of his nature. In Ezekiel, it is the sheer undeserved grace of God, leaving Jerusalem, coming to an undeserving exile, which blows the prophet away. It is the view of the lost sheep who had wandered away and has almost lost hope when he first sees the good shepherd who has left the flock and come all that way for undeserving him.

And this is no second-rate vision for a second-rate exile. It's the real deal (God sends the best!); the throne, the cherubim God himself, all flown in from Jerusalem for Ezekiel. Just as it is Jesus himself who is the good shepherd. This remains true today — who does God send to rescue people today? He sends those he describes in 1 Peter as chosen of God, holy and beloved, a royal priesthood — he sends us!

God's grace is not for Ezekiel alone - he is called to bring the exiles home (its not all about                 us!)!

Ezekiel 2:1-3 He said to me, "Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you."

 ² As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. ³ He said: "Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nations that has rebelled against me; they and their fathers have been in revolt against me to the bone to this very day.

So, how does God rescue those in exile?

In the book of Ezekiel, God takes three consecutive steps to take his people from exile to Jerusalem, from rebellion to worship.

The first step is conviction of sin.

1) Conviction

We need to understand how drastic our problem is. This is painful, and because it is a rescue mission, its aim is to save, not just to condemn.

 

2:7 You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious.

 ⁸ But you, son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not rebel like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you."

 ⁹ Then I looked, and I saw a hand stretched out to me. In it was a scroll,

 ¹⁰ which he unrolled before me. On both sides of it were written words of lament and mourning and woe.

 

3:1 And he said to me, "Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the house of Israel."

 ² So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat.

 ³ Then he said to me, "Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it." So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.

 ⁴ He then said to me: "Son of man, go now to the house of Israel and speak my words to them.

 

God's grace in convicting the exiles (words of lamentation and mourning and woe — BUT SWEET! — a divine paradox we often miss.) NOT "I liked what I saw but am not too sure about what I heard". Conviction of sin is itself an act of grace and love. The first point of contact between the exile and his holy God is usually this very work of the Holy Spirit, conviction of sin. As in John 16, 7-9, it is the one called comforter who will convict the world of sin. The first third of Ezekiel is largely concerned with convicting the exiles of sin. This is not separate to God's grace (“you came all this way just to tell me off?”), rather it is the first expression of it!

Read 4:1-5:5.

As we said, the exiles didn't just wake up one day and find themselves in Babylon — they are there because they sinned, because they trusted in anything rather than the living God. They had trusted in Egypt, Assyria, even Baal, things which had killed their own children, rather than in the living, holy God who had rescued them and blessed them. They preferred to worship idols. For us today, Colossians 3:5 tells us that greediness is idolatry, that is, putting self first, worshipping self, living for what you want and you like and you being the object of your time, money, thoughts etc. This is why they are now far from God, far from His temple. Ezekiel also acts as a sort of newspaper as to what is happening in far off Jerusalem. Through his acts, the exiles see the siege being prosecuted, see and feel the tiny amount of food those in the city have, and have the judgment of God incarnated before them through the prophet. ("is that all they have to eat?!")

The reason we need to have God convict us of sin, to see our sin through his eyes, is that, as exiles, we tend to minimize our own failings. We didn't really make a big mistake, it’s not that big a deal. And so obviously, we wont be here for long anyway, and zap, we'll be back home (See Jeremiah 29). So the prophet shows them the extent of their sin, and tells them they will be here for a lifetime. So the exiles try to dodge. In chapter 18, they decide to blame mum and dad. They were the ones who sinned, its just poor me who is paying for it. Dad didn't talk to me, mum burnt the porridge, how could I turn out ok? God doesn't have a word of it. Don't blame your parents or your upbringing etc., own up to your own sin.

 

How does God convict of sin? He doesn't have Ezekiel ride down once a week in a nice carriage to tell them what a useless bunch of losers they are, rather, day after day, week upon week, month and season and year Ezekiel remains tied up, in agony, and finally the people begin to comprehend the extent of their sin. Here is no smug self-righteousness, which can be so easily dismissed. It’s hard to go crook at a prophet of God lying in agony in the open market. (Why is that man still there? — over time they start to realize its magnitude.)

In this, the prophet is truly God's representative. The Bible often warns us for our own sake of how sin damages and hurts us. In the Book of Ezekiel, a book where God commands his own prophet to suffer over the sin of Israel, He also reveals the effect of Israel's sin on himself. 6:9 "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 departed from me"!, The exiles are feeling far from God, the things they had trusted/hoped in had not worked. How could they expect a God they had abandoned to care? The presence of God's prophet in their midst is proof that God has not abandoned them. The exiles are suffering, and in the prophet's pain they begin to realize that their sin causes God pain also, that he is not distant from them, but suffering with them.

 

The cost of reaching the exile.

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 Jehovah was strong on me.

Ezekiel is very human. Its easy to be a believer when you see the glory of God and are alone with him by the river, but trudging back to the fellow exiles in their villages, getting on that plane, there are times when we go in bitterness and heat of spirit, and the hand of the Lord is upon us.

Ezekiel's job is not just to win the argument, but the person. They need to not only understand what is happening, but to see the heart of God for them in it. He must midwife them through the loss of their hopes and draw them back into relationship with their saviour. God understands the pain of this process and does not do it casually. Rebirth, not sterile punishment is his goal; all his acts are based in and come from his love for us. Likewise, therefore, his prophet needs suffer with the exiles. To reach them, the seed of wheat must die. Because only deep speaks to deep.

The exiles have wandered away from God, chasing after the things of this world. Simply loosing what they have come to trust in for their hopes, future and identity in no way guarantees the exile will come back to their loving God. Despair, bitterness, even anger at God are all very real alternatives.

 

It is through the prophet that the exile comes to understand the reasons for what is happening. The message here is not only in the prophet's words, but in the very presence. God's love for those who have left him is again evidenced in that he asks his own servant to suffer for those who have turned their backs on him.

 

2. Judgement of sin

The destruction of false idols, the punishment of sin, is the second step on the way home for the exiles. When we are trusting in other things, and they seem to be working, then we don't have time for God. I remember my first time at uni, there were committed communists, radical feminists, all sorts passionate about a better world, convinced they had the answer. They had no time for Christians, they were too busy trying to save society/humanity/the planet. We see this in

Isaiah 10:33-4 See, the Lord, the LORD Almighty, will lop off the boughs with great power.

The lofty trees will be felled, the tall ones will be brought low.³⁴ He will cut down the forest thickets with an ax; Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One. Isaiah 11:1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.² The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him-- the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD-³ and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; ⁴ but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.

 

Sometimes it is only after those proud and mighty hopes have failed that the humble, tender shoot from the stump of Jesse will grow. Often we seem determined to try everything else before we finally turn to God for help. It is only after those other hopes prove worthless that we are ready to receive His word. It is only after the fire, the earthquake and the storm that the still small voice of God is heard. We need to learn that sin is destructive, that it is a lie, that it does not deliver what it promises. The house built on sand needs to fall, the tree in the desert needs to die. It is only when the promises of the distant land prove false, and he is starving and feeding pigs, that the prodigal comes to his senses and remembers his father. Because Satan is a liar and sells false hopes and appears as an angel of light, to deceive. This is not simply a pragmatic consideration but is a moral one.

Habakkuk 13 2:12-14 "Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed and establishes a town by crime! the nations exhaust themselves for nothing? For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

 

Jeremiah 51:47-48 For the time will surely come when I will punish the idols of Babylon; her whole land will be disgraced and her slain will all lie fallen within her. ⁴⁸ Then heaven and earth and all that is in them will shout for joy.

 

Revelation 18:20  Rejoice over her, O heaven! Rejoice, saints and apostles and prophets! God has judged her for the way she treated you.' "

So Jerusalem, city of sin, filled with the blood of the innocent, must be destroyed. But here is the thing, many people see it differently. Yes, they are deceived, and yes, it needs to be destroyed, in part to show that it is false, but this same people need to survive its destruction, and God sends his prophet to mid-wife them through this terrible calamity.

Again, for many, these idols seemed so positive, so good, and our job is to help them survive their fall. Ezekiel is the book of God's incredible grace to those who have gone astray.

How does God treat us when our idols collapse? How does he treat us when through grace, he destroys our idols?

 

Jerusalem is about to fall. For the exiles, it is their home, their families still live there, their future, all their hopes and identity are wrapped up in it. They have agonized while it was under siege, been proud as they held out month after month after month, and now, its end is come. City of sin, centre of all earthly hopes and identity, house where both God and self were worshipped, it must be destroyed if the exiles are to come home. And the exiles must survive its loss. And this survival is by no means a given!

 

This is the great crisis of Ezekiel’s time. How can God’s prophet shepherd them through this loss? He has already preached and performed graphic street theatre. Now his very life must stand in the breach.

3. Sacrifice

And so we come to 24:15-27.

“The word of the LORD came to me: ¹⁶ "Son of man, with one blow I am about to take away from you the delight of your eyes. Yet do not lament or weep or shed any tears. ¹⁷ Groan quietly; do not mourn for the dead. Keep your turban fastened and your sandals on your feet; do not cover the lower part of your face or eat the customary food of mourners." ¹⁸ So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. The next morning I did as I had been commanded. ¹⁹ Then the people asked me, "Won't you tell us what these things have to do with us?" ²⁰ So I said to them, "The word of the LORD came to me: ²¹ 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. ²² And you will do as I have done. You will not cover the lower part of your face or eat the customary food of mourners. ²³ You will keep your turbans on your heads and your sandals on your feet. You will not mourn or weep but will waste away because of your sins and groan among yourselves. ²⁴ 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.' ²⁵ "And you, son of man, on the day I take away their stronghold, their joy and glory, the delight of their eyes, their heart's desire, and their sons and daughters as well-- ²⁶ on that day a fugitive will come to tell you the news. ²⁷ At that time your mouth will be opened; you will speak with him and will no longer be silent. So you will be a sign to them, and they will know that I am the LORD."

Here judgement, grief and the possibility of redemption come together in the death of Ezekiel’s wife. Ezekiel incarnates his message and becomes a sign to his people. The next morning, the community are stunned — Ezekiel, we all know how much you loved your wife. She died last night, yet you are not grieving. We also know that you are a prophet of God, so tell us what this means. And he answers, it means that when the light of your eyes is taken away, and all you love on earth is destroyed, when Jerusalem falls (!), you also must not give in to despair or hopelessness, you also must keep on living.

How does God's prophet reach those lost in exile and in the things of this world? How, in a sense, does he gain the victory in this unpromising setting? He gains the victory the way we always do; Revelation 12:11. "And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony, and they loved not their life even unto death".

This is reasonable. The prophet's words are vital, explaining what is happening, but how do you witness to someone snared by this world and self? (as 1 John 2:16, phrases it, "all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life" or what Matthew 13:22 calls "the distractions of this world and the deceit of riches") You bear witness in your own flesh to the reality of another world, you bear witness in your own flesh that you worship not at the idol of self, but in the temple of the living God. In short, you bear witness in your own flesh to the reality of a different and superior choice, that his love is indeed better than life. (Hebrews 11:38 of whom the world was not worthy, wandering in deserts and mountains and caves, and the holes of the earth.)

 

If your desires/hopes/dreams are of things of this world, then you bear witness that you belong to this world. If your desires and dreams are for the things of God, you bear witness that your citizenship is in heaven. And there is only one way to show that God is more to be desired than life itself, and that is through daily dying to self. It is through loving not your own life even to death that others catch a glimpse of the all-surpassing beauty and worth of Jesus. Of course, if we grumble and complain the whole time, we simply bear witness that we would rather the things of this world, and that our God is a hard taskmaster. We give glory to God when we are happy in his service. And so, Ezekiel is commanded not to mourn. And I don't need to tell you that we are not up to this calling - that's why the victory in Revelation begins with the blood of the Lamb!!

Note also the grace of God to his prophet. Just as he had allowed Ezekiel to substitute cooking fuels earlier, so here, while the command is clear, "you shall not mourn or grieve", yet his wife dies in the evening, and it is in the morning that Ezekiel obeys. God grants him a night, free from prying eyes, to weep and to pull himself together. Even as he asks hard things, still he knows our frame, and cares for us.

Not only is he aware of it, even our just punishment for our own sins evokes his compassion! He includes it in his word, his prophet suffers it as proof that he shares it! He does not make light of their pain. When an exile is hurt by the consequences of the bad choices they have made, do we say, "serves you right, you should have listened to me", or, through God's grace and compassion, can we feel grief for their suffering (this is a really hard one)?

 

See God’s love for the exile! (While we were yet sinners Christ died for us!) Even before it happens, God models a way through for them in the life of his prophet.

God does not simply tell the exiles to get over it, he does not mock when their own gods prove worthless, his aim is not self-justification (18-32; “why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, says the Lord GOD: therefore turn, and live”). In this again, his prophet shows the path to life for them. Its hard to take offence at a man whose wife has just died. And when you know how much he loved her, yet he doesn't just fall apart, you  think to yourself, boy, his God must be something! And then, when Jerusalem falls, and all your hopes and dreams are crushed, you remember Ezekiel, and through grace and mercy, you too find the strength and opportunity to turn and be healed.

                  

More and more, we see millions celebrating their false idols, celebrating lies and deception. Exiles from the city of God. How do we convict them of sin? Are we, like Ezekiel prepared to show with our lives the pain their sin causes God? Are we, like Ezekiel, in love and hope, prepared to loose everything we love, if only they might know the way home to their Father? Let us pray for the grace he was given.

 

Rescuing the exiles is a costly task. It will cost Jesus his life, and we his servants are also called to complete in our own flesh what is lacking in his suffering. Victories are hard won in the kingdom of God. And yet, they are won, and there is a joy in them. See how that great verse in Revelation continues "They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them!" Through the grace of God, and his faithful servant, the exiles did survive the fall of Jerusalem, and next week we shall see how God leads them back to the Temple. This  is a book which ends not in Sorrow, but in worship, and it is right that we should worship him now.