Sermon Central
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Ezekiel: God Knows What He Is Doing!
Contributed by David Wilson on Feb 17, 2011 (message contributor)
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1. Pastoring A Rebellious People
Contributed on Feb 17, 2011
God calls Ezekiel to minister to a tough crowd with a tough message!
Chapter Two of Ezekiel, following the amazing vision of God’s glory in Chapter one, describes God’s call to Ezekiel as well as his mission. He is to go to a people who are discouraged and disgruntled. However the reason for their discouragement and bitterness is a failure to recognize ...read more
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2. Wargames And Dirty Kitchens
Contributed on Mar 3, 2011
God calls Ezekiel to play wargames and cook in unsanitary conditions in order to visually desmontrate the plight of the rebels in Jerusalem. Praise God we get to use Powerpoint for visual impact today!
In Ezekiel chapter 4, the prophet beings to prophesy to the people with visual aids! VERSES 1-8 Wargames in the Bible! Since I love to play boardgames based on military conflict, this passage is sort of fun. In this section, Ezekiel is commanded by God to create a visual representation ...read more
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3. Shave And A Haircut
Contributed on Mar 10, 2011
God commands Ezekiel to visually demonstrate how severe the destruction of Jerusalem is going to be and restates that He has just cause to judge these people.
In Chapter 5, the prophet Ezekiel continues his prophetic parade of visual aids. In this chapter he is told to shave with a sword and burn his hair. A serious student of the Bible will note that Ezekiel’s visual demonstrations (and the historical events that they represented) follow ...read more
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4. Silver And Gold Have I Much- But What Good Does It Do Me?
Contributed on Mar 23, 2011
God's bleak message of certain judgment continues as Ezekiel describes the basis for judgement, the certainty of judgment, and the completeness of this judgment. A bleak, doom and gloom text reminds us of the holiness of God.
Ezekiel’s proclamation from the Lord in chapter 7 is one of the strongest prophetic messages ever offered. It is a message of sure and certain judgment that is no longer something that is coming—but something that has arrived. This message is something of a summary of the message of ...read more
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5. Executioners And A Scribe
Contributed on Apr 7, 2011
After God showed Ezekiel the extent of the idolatry of Jerusalem, he then shows Ezekiel that in spite of His anger, a remnant will be preserved.
In Chapter 8 we saw God’s bold demonstration that the people of Judah were more than deserving of His divine judgment, if for no other reason, their idolatry. When they faced the North (the direction of their kinsman nation of Israel, which had already been judged) and sneered at them, there ...read more
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6. The Irony Of The Cooking Pot
Contributed on Apr 21, 2011
Ezekiel's vision of what is taking place in Jerusalem continues and God declares that the positive preachers among them are wrong! The crisis would not soon be over!
VERSES 1-3: Bad Advice Now we see Ezekiel taken to the eastern gate in the city of Jerusalem where he sees a group of twenty-five men. It is interesting to note that he names several of these men. Excavations of Jerusalem have uncovered more than 250 bullae (clay seals used on official ...read more
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7. Leavin' Town- But Not On A Jet Plane!
Contributed on Apr 28, 2011
Once again, God give Ezekiel a dramatic presentation in order to communicate the fate of King Zedekiah and the nobles in Jerusalem. Ezekiel obeys and THEN is given the meaning of his visual aids.
VERSES 1-2: How to ruin your Spiritual Vision God begins this prophetic cycle with a reminder that the people Ezekiel is ministering to are rebellious. Further, their lack of response to Ezekiel’s message is based on their spiritual insensitivity which was brought on by their rebellion. ...read more
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8. Those Who Seek God But Aren't Really Seeking God
Contributed on May 12, 2011
Some of the exiled elders come and sit before Ezekiel as if they are ready to hear from God and God shows Ezekiel that these people aren't really ready to hear His voice and pronounces more judgement, while calling for repentance.
VERSES 1-5: “Are you talking to ME?” -- God Some of the elders come and place themselves before Ezekiel. This is symbolic of a desire to be instructed by a rabbi. It indicates a desire to hear from God, even if it is half-hearted as we will see in this study. For a moment, ...read more
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9. Wood That's Good For Nothing
Contributed on May 19, 2011
God asks a series of rhetorical questions designed to get the people facing the sad fact that despite being called by God they were no better than the nations around them. In fact, because they refused to bear proper fruit they were worthless to God.
VERSES 1-5: Israel as a Vine Ezekiel was not the first prophet to refer to Israel as a vine. We see this in the song of the vineyard that is found in Isaiah 5. Also, as we study this chapter, it would be good to remember Jesus offered a reference of Himself as the true vine and the need for ...read more