In our study of the Book of Ezekiel, unlike other series on the Website, it’s almost a necessity for one to read the chapter being discussed … in order to follow my comments.

Chapter 3 consists of 27 verses, primarily showing Ezekiel experiencing the Glory of God … a second time! An Event that was first reported in chapter 1.

The Prophet has many “dark” days ahead in his ministry.

Rejection, personal tragedy, spiritual warfare as well.

So … I think to buttress his faith … God repetitively appears to the Prophet, building a foundation of assurance that the Lord is faithful, always keeping His Word, His Promises.

“Then I arose, and went forth into the plain: and, BEHOLD, THE GLORY OF THE LORD STOOD THERE, as the glory which I saw by the river of Chebar: and I fell on my face.” Ezekiel 3:23

If one is going to serve the Lord over a long period of time, it is a necessity that he be positive about the One He so loves, about the Character and Essence and Majesty of his Commander!

Moses once asked to see God’s Glory as well. “And Moses said, I beseech thee Lord, SHOW ME THY GLORY. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.” Exodus 33:18-19

Paul, I believe, saw God’s Glory the very day he was saved, Acts 9, on his now famous trip to Damascus.

John did as well, from the Island of Patmos.

We all (who believe in Jesus, who have trusted Him as Saviour) will see that Glory some day!

And when we do … we shall be changed!

“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, ARE CHANGED into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 3:18

Amen.

By the way, nowadays God’s Glory can also be “seen” via the pages of His Word!

By faith.

We learn something of the “Wonder” of God by means of the “Word” of God.

Wow!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Other chapter “nuggets” …

In verse 5 God classifies Hebrew, the language, as “not strange speech!” And “not a hard language!” I am currently reading a book on the history of the Hebrew tongue. Maybe that’s why I find this verse so captivating. God to Ezekiel: “For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel; not to many people of a strange speech and of an hard language, whose words thou canst not understand.” Ezekiel 3:5-6 (Hebrew may well be the “perfect” language” of all time. It may be the language of Heaven, of the Millennium! Read Zephaniah 3:9.)

Then in verse 15 Ezekiel the Preacher says: “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.” Notice the words “I SAT WHERE THEY SAT.” What a wise thing to do, thus identifing with the people in their hardships and suffering. (Remember … “People don’t care how much you KNOW … until they know how much you CARE!”)

Another Lesson tomorrow, the Lord willing.

 

The scholars often refer to them as “call narratives.” The Biblical accounts of God commissioning his men for service! I love those paragraphs of Scripture. I’ve even thought about preaching a week (Revival) from them, Jeremiah’s and Isaiah’s and Paul’s … others as well.

Today in Ezekiel chapter 2 we hear of another such “call to preach,” Ezekiel’s.

And the chapter is short enough we can review it all, being only 10 verses.

Verse 1 reports the Lord asking a prostrate Ezekiel to “stand up” to receive a message. The man obeyed and immediately he reports in verse 2: “And the Spirit entered into me.” The Holy Spirit, no doubt. (Two observations can be made. Obey God … “stand up” … and the Spirit can better fill you … “entered into me!” Thus, obedience is a precedent for Spirit filled living! Secondly, “receive God’s Word” eagerly … and the Spirit can “use you” more effectively. “And the Spirit entered into me when He (God) spake unto me.” Wow!

Verses 3 and 4 record the “call” precisely. Twice the verb “shalach” is here used, a few times meaning “to sow” seed in the field! God needs Prophets “among” His people. But then watch how realistic God is here: “I send (shalach) thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me.” Moses got into trouble calling the Jews “rebels!” But God can do so with no wrong … He is their Creator!

Verse 5 has a clause that has impressed me for years. “And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them.” They may obey, they may not obey (sounds like liberty, God given) … but at least they will know … A REAL MAN OF GOD HAS BEEN IN THEIR MIDST! Oh, that we Preachers would desire to live that way! That those to whom we minister would be aware of our sincerity and godliness and power.

Usually “call narratives” have some clause advising (and providing) “boldness, lack of fear,” in the face of opposition. Verse 6 for example: “And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.” I personally wonder if the “briers and thorns” may be part of God’s “hedge of protection” around Ezekiel. (Satan was pretty sure God had done this for Job. “Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side?” Job 1:10)

Ezekiel, don’t even fear their “looks!” The Hebrew here is “paniym,” their “faces!” Having now preached many years, I think I understand a little of what was meant here! Facial expressions tell a lot!

By the way, verse 7 gives the young Prophet his “message.” In general, anyway. God is talking: “Thou shalt speak MY WORDS unto them.” Ezekiel did not have to come up with his own material! What comfort!

Then in verse 8 for the first time (of around 90 times in the Book) … Ezekiel is called by God “son of man.” The Prophet’s proper name is only used in the whole Book two times! Elsewhere it is this title, “son of man.” By the way, when Jesus came to earth (the first time) He chose that very title for Himself! He used it of Himself a lot more than “Son of God!” Though He was (still is) both. (This truth probably makes Ezekiel a “type” of Christ in some number of ways. At least one could assume Ezekiel was one of Jesus’ favorite Bible characters … “son of man!”)

The chapter ends with a “roll,” a “book” being presented. One which Ezekiel was to “eat.” (Internalizing God’s Word, God’s Words!) Likely a scroll (made of papyrus perhaps), the unfurled document would have had on its outside a few words, like a Book’s “title” nowadays. This one did.

“And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein; and he spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.” Ezekiel 2:9-10, note the Book’s “key words,” its very “table of contents” … “lamentations, mourning and woe!” Again, written on the outside cover, likely!

And these three words summarize much of Ezekiel’s ministry, his preaching. Though, like all the Prophets, he too foretells of a future bright day for Israel, after so much darkness.

The Lord willing, next Lesson we shall look into chapter 3.

God’s Word, how exciting.

It “teaches” even as it “tells” it stories!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

 

Ezekiel’s first chapter is truly amazing, maybe thrilling too!

It records a “vision” Ezekiel is given, one depicting Almighty God!

It’s a “theophany,” in theological terms, an appearance of the Lord!

The Books first sentence helps here: “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 captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.” Ezekiel 1:1

Ezekiel is thirty years of age when his “ministry” officially begins, seems like we are being told.

Ezekiel identifies himself as being among the “captives” (slaves) … Jews relocated to Babylon by a military action. The Holy Land, invaded and overrun and stripped (with much more devastation to come, even by the Babylonians) … because of the sins of the people!

“Chebar” is the name of part of a canal system, an irrigation plan, that crisscrossed the City of Babylon. The name may mean “far-off!” We have just been given accurate historical information about one of the many “rivers” of the Bible.

But here’s the “key” to the chapter: Ezekiel saw that “the heavens were opened.” And thereafter he beheld “visions of God.” Using a synonym: “sightings” of God!

Then for the next 27 verses … God is depicted!

One of the fullest descriptions of His Majesty in all the Bible! (If not THE fullest!)

A cloud of fire … a whirlwind, glowing and bright!

Four living creatures, “cherubims” he calls them later. See Ezekiel 10:20.

And above them a “Figure” … radiant in Glory!

Then, a “Voice!”

Followed by the grandeur of a Throne!

Like a rainbow, Ezekiel reported!

(Sounds a lot like what John saw in the opening chapters of his Book of Revelation! In fact … the very Same God!)

Folks, this Vision of God deserves hours of study and chapters of writing. Read it today, several times if you can. I’m on my fifth time now.

But the chapter’s last verse has “arrested” me this morning.

“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.” Ezekiel 1:28

Moses wanted to see God’s Glory! (Exodus 33:18)

Ezekiel DID SEE God’s Glory!

(How about this? God’s Glory appeared in the darkest of circumstances! In captivity! Under divine chastisement! Danger everywhere!)

Note however what Ezekiel did, his response, to God’s Glory!

“And when I saw it, I fell upon my face.”

So did Daniel!

So did Peter, James and John!

And so shall we, some day!

On our faces, in adoration and worship and praise!

Hallelujah!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

 

The name “Ezekiel” means “God strengthens.”

The etymology? In Hebrew “el” is one of God’s Names, also meaning “to be strong.” Plus the verb “chazaq,” meaning “to prevail,” a battle term. In fact, “chazaq” is translated these ways in the King James Bible: “strong” 48 times, “repair” 47 times, “hold” 37 times, “strengthened” 28 times, “strengthen” 14 times, “harden” 13 times, “prevail” 10 times, “encourage” 9 times, “take” 9 times, “courage” 8 times, “caught” 5 times , “stronger” 5 times, and “hold” 5 more times. A pretty consistent range of meanings.

What a name!

As far as I can tell (amazingly) the proper noun Ezekiel is only used in the Bible two times, both in the Book that bears his name.

We learn almost immediately (Ezekiel 1:3) that the man was a “priest.” Here’s the verse: “The word of the LORD came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the LORD was there upon him.”

Also among the Prophets of the Bible … Jeremiah and Zechariah and John the Baptist were sons of priests, therefore Priests themselves!

Ezekiel was 30 years old when he began his ministry, Ezekiel 1:1 tells us this. That’s when all Israel’s priest began their “life work,” according to Numbers 4:1-3. They begin serving at age 30 and retired at age 50. Why so young? Apparently in order to teach (mentor) the younger priests.

Ezekiel probably knew the Prophet Jeremiah personally. As well as Daniel.

There were three different times that Babylon “deported” the Jews to her strange, foreign land. In 606 BC and in 597 BC and again in 586 BC. The so-called “mass” deportation would have been the one that occurred in 586 BC, then the city of Jerusalem was sacked and the Temple destroyed.

Ezekiel was taken captive in that first raid, in 606 BC. The scholars give 2 Kings 24:14-16 as a proof Text here. “And he (King Nebuchadnezzar) carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land. And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king’s mother, and the king’s wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all that were strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.”

So … Ezekiel has already been in Babylon for years before the final fall of Jerusalem. Around twenty years, if my math is correct.

Therefore Ezekiel would have been considered among the “intelligentsia” of Judah, at the time! The “cream of the crop,” so to speak. This practice is called “selective deportation,” taking all the potential leaders of a land first! Her most profitable citizens!

Then let me say this, when I think of Ezekiel the word “obedient” surfaces. Seems he did everything God asked of him, for all the years of his ministry!

Some strange (unusual) things too, one might add.

In reality … Ezekiel “acted out” a number of his sermons! Maybe his culture too had become more visually oriented than audibly oriented! Ours certainly has. A sad commentary alone!

And of course we will learn more about Ezekiel the MAN as we study the MESSAGE God delivered through him, chapter after chapter, for a total of 48 chapters in all.

True, a man and his message can never be separated!

Phillips Brooks, an American preacher of bygone years, defined preaching as “God delivering his Word … through human personality!” Not word for word here, but close.

I am excited … about a Book of Scripture thousands of years old!

Let’s learn … together … these next few weeks.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

 

 

I remember as a teenager being interested in the Book of Ezekiel, particularly the man for whom it is named. What a Prophet of God he was!

And as I tried to read its pages (48 chapters in all) I was impressed what I still think is the most often recurring clause in the Book. (I said clause, not phrase.)

Here it is, God speaking to His people: “And ye shall know that I am the LORD.”

Just now, sitting here at my computer, I have counted 25 times those words appear in Ezekiel! I should say “that string of words.” And I did not count several similar clauses!

God wanted (still does) His children … to KNOW that he is God!

Then I can say, without doubt, that God’s Glory, God’s Essence, God’s Name is of paramount importance!

He, rightly so, does NOT want to be forgotten!

In fact, He WILL NOT be forgotten!

Therefore, beginning tomorrow morning with an introductory lesson about the man Ezekiel, we shall endeavor to traverse the book he left us!

Last Series … Deuteronomy.

This Series … Ezekiel.

From Law to Prophecy!

Sounds exciting!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell