Ezekiel 1 - 2/11/18
Play “Ezekiel Saw the Wheel”
So what is the story with that song? It’s a song I can remember learning in elementary school - but what in the world is it talking about? We’re going to talk about that today. If you have your bibles, join me in turning to the book of Ezekiel, chapter 1. It’s about 2/3 of the way through your bibles - Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel. Ezekiel is one of the Major Prophets - one of the longer books of prophecy in the OT - so in other words, it’s one of those books where the gold is still bright and shiny on the edges of the pages.
We don’t read the prophets - we say It’s all too confusing for me - I can’t understand what is going on! But sadly we miss a great blessing - for all of God’s word is inspired and IS profitable for us. What most people know about Ezekiel - if anything - comes to us from two songs: Ezekiel saw the Wheel - and - Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones. But over the next several weeks we are going to look together at this book and gain some insight to help us in our lives today.
If you have found Ezekiel, look with me in chapter 1, verse 1. I’ll be reading today from the NIV.
In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month on the fifth day, while I was among the exiles by the Kebar River, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. On the fifth of the month--it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin— the word of the LORD came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, by the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians. There the hand of the LORD was upon him.
We’ll stop there, and let’s pray for the hand to God to be on us today as well. Let’s pray. PRAY
Here in these first few verses of Ezekiel 1, we find a lot of information - but because we are often in a rush to get to the “good stuff” - we often jump right over these verses. But let’s consider what they tell us. Really, they give us the setting of the whole book, if we will take the time to consider what we see. First, they tell us of
COVENANTS - We see that Ezekiel is a Jew. He is part of the nation of Israel. He is part of the nation that God had called out separate from all the nations on earth because they were the apple of God’s eye. And lest we ever forget - that has not changed. Yes, Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world - red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight - and yes, we see that we are part of the church, the body of Christ - but never forget that God is not finished with the nation of Israel. We are called to pray for the peace of Israel. And when Christ comes back, riding his white horse in Revelation 19, He’s coming back to Jerusalem, to set up His throne as the King of Israel.
So Ezekiel is a Jew. His whole life was shaped by the covenants of God to His people. We also see a
COMMISSION - Ezekiel is a Priest. What did priests do? They led the Jews in ceremony. They would offer sacrifices at the temple and serve there. So Ezekiel had a special commission to serve God on behalf of his people. But the third thing we see here is that there has been a
CATASTROPHE - we see that in the word exiles. One of the keys to understanding the OT is to understand the 70 years of captivity in Babylon. A quick overview of the nation of Israel - back in Genesis God calls Abraham out of his homeland to come to the land of Israel. We see in Genesis four generations - Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. In the days of Joseph the Jews leave their homeland and go to Egypt for 215 years. Moses leads them out - the book of Exodus - but they fail to have faith to claim the land, so they wander around the wilderness for 40 years while that generation dies off. Joshua leads the next generation into the land and they settle there. David becomes a great king who brings the nation together in great unity - fighting enemies on every side and bring peace to the nation. His son Solomon has one of the greatest kingdoms ever - this is the golden age of Israel, the glory days. But following Solomon the nation is split into a northern half called Israel and a southern half called Judah. The kings of the north are ALL evil, and in 722 BC the nation of Assyria sweeps down from the north and wipes out the nation of Israel. The kings of the south are a mixed lot - some good and some bad - but when the Assyrians sweep south, there is a godly king Hezekiah and a godly prophet, Isaiah, who together call the nation to cry out to God. God sends his angel and in one night kills 186,000 of the soldiers in the Assyrian army. They turn tail and run back home.
Judah is spared because of her godly leaders. But in subsequent years, wicked leaders took the throne and the nation turned away from following God. So God warned the nation through prophet after prophet after prophet - and that’s what much of the OT is - prophecies that judgment for sin is coming on the nation. Babylon comes down in three waves of attack: in the first wave the princes of Judah and the influential leaders are taken captive - this is when Daniel goes to Babylon; in the second wave, 10,000 of the Jews are exiled - this is when Ezekiel goes to Babylon; and in the third and final wave in 586 BC all but the poorest of the poor are exiled, and Judah ceases to be a nation in their homeland.
So Jeremiah - who has for years warned of the coming judgment - remains with the remnant left in the land. Daniel is at Nebuchadnezzar’s court in Babylon. And Ezekiel is in the refugee camps in the countryside of Babylon.
So here are refugees - hostages - kidnapped prisoners - led away from their homeland and resettled in the land of their captors, hundreds of miles away from home. Their lives are forever changed by this catastrophe. We see in verse 2 that they even keep track of time by counting the years since the exile - On the fifth of the month--it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin. It would be like going through 9/11 in New York City or living in Puerto Rico through Hurricane Maria - your whole life goes through upheaval.
But for the Jews it is actually much more than that! Because they were God’s chosen people, they had believed themselves invincible. They thought surely God would come to their rescue - surely he wouldn’t let His people be exiled. Sort of like some Christians today hold to a pre-tribulational rapture because they think Surely God wouldn’t allow Christians to go through tribulation! Now I DO hold to a pre-tribulational rapture - but for other reasons.
And while they were facing exile, the false prophets in the land were preaching “safety and security” - everything’s going to be just fine. Just trust God - He would NEVER let his temple be taken!
So the Jews in exile are facing hopelessness! Their God - even though they weren’t following Him - but isn’t that always the way we live - we do our own thing and disregard God until we get in trouble, and then we expect Him to get us out of the mess we have created - their God seemed distant and defeated. They couldn’t understand why God would let this happen to them!
And I’m sure that some of you here can relate to this as well. Sometimes it is difficult for us to understand why God allows us to face the problems and heartaches that we do. After all, we are Christians, we are God’s children, He is supposed to be working all things for GOOD - so WHY does God allow us to go through difficult times?
There are several answers to that question, but the simple answer is the answer of Job - God knows what He is doing and we do NOT - so we simply need to trust Him. But sadly, many Christians walk away from God and church and their brothers and sisters when they feel disappointed.
Now think about these Jews - exiled from their homeland, crossing the wilderness, and they enter the land of Babylon. Think of the splendor of the realm. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. And surrounding the city of Babylon was a large moat. If an army could cross it, they would face a wall that was 311 feet high and 87 feet thick. That’s 30 stories tall. Six chariots could ride side by side on top of the massive wall. There was NO WAY the Persians were going to get over that wall. And if they COULD, there was a second wall inside that one. The Euphrates River flowed under the wall and provided fresh drinking water for the city.
For the Jews entering Babylon, they must have been overwhelmed with the massive power and prominence of this nation. While their God seemed distant and defeated, surely Babylon seemed impressive and invincible. They would have been filled with a sense of awe of their captors. And their captors treated them well!
They were not put in chains or thrown in dungeons - rather they were given land to farm, houses to live in. They had their own community. They just were out of their homeland. Yet for a Jew, homeland is everything. That’s why there is STILL continual fighting in Israel today over the land. Couldn’t the Jews just share the land? Well they feel that God GAVE them the land - and He DID! And so even though they were given a good opportunity by the Babylonians, they still were despondent.
In fact, sometime read Psalm 137 - it will give you a good idea of the feeling of the Jews at this time. By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy.
So the Jews are defeated and discouraged. But at this very time, Ezekiel is encouraged! In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month on the fifth day, while I was among the exiles by the Kebar River, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. While everyone is gathered by the river, hanging up their harps, having a pity party, wondering why God has forgotten them - here is Ezekiel, and God IS actively engaging him. Let’s never forget that the very time you may be frustrated by the silence of God, a brother right next to you may be overwhelmed with the presence of God.
It’s almost funny how sometimes people will criticize a sermon because they didn’t get much out of it - and yet someone else - who was sitting in the same sanctuary, listening to the same sermon - will share how that same sermon ministered to their heart and blessed them so very much! Here is Ezekiel, and God is showing Himself real and active and alive in the life of this priest.
Now back to verse 1 - In the thirtieth year - most scholars feel this is Ezekiel sharing his age - in HIS 30th year - he is 30 years old when these things take place. It is the 5th year of exile - verse 2 - so that means that Ezekiel was 25 years old during that second wave of exile when he came to Babylon. And he has now been in the land for five years. Daniel, who was taken in the first wave, has been in the land for 13 years at this point, and so by this time he would have been exalted in the government.
So what is important about Ezekiel being 30? Well, remember he is a priest. And when do priests begin their ministry? When they are 30! Numbers 4:3 - Count all the men between the ages of thirty and fifty who qualify to work in the Tabernacle. (NLT) That’s why Jesus waits until He is about 30 years old to begin His public ministry. It was the age that priests began serving. So Ezekiel starts his ministry - exiled from the temple, unable to serve in the traditional way - but God instantly gets his attention and he jumps into ministry with both feet.
I’ll never forget - in my first role as an associate pastor after our first year of marriage - the first Sunday we went to the church and that night they had a fellowship to welcome us. The next morning I get a phone call from a woman in the church - calling anonymously - who was having an affair with her boss. Talk about jumping into ministry with both feet! That’s what happens to Ezekiel - he is 30, so welcome to ministry - God commissions him with a task.
God gives Ezekiel visions - dreams in the daytime - that help give Ezekiel the perspective that he needs to be the servant that God is calling him to be. Ezekiel had prepared to be a priest - but now God changes that and says Ezekiel, you are going to be My prophet! And suddenly everything changes for Ezekiel.
Realize that God may call you to a different ministry than you expect. Ezekiel had prepared to be a priest - he was from a family of priests - it was quite a respected profession - but suddenly God calls him to do something very different. He gives visions to Ezekiel, and Ezekiel is going to be a prophet of God, calling the people of Israel to REPENT of their sins - and warning them that if they do NOT repent, then God’s judgment on them is certain!
Nobody in their right mind EVER wants to be a prophet. People don’t LIKE their sins pointed out. They mock the prophets, disregard the prophets, inflict PAIN on them. Remember what Jesus said - O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! The Jews NEVER liked their prophets! Because they never wanted to repent!
Ezekiel is called to a very special ministry. And he embraces it. Be prepared for what God has in store for you! Because you may not LIKE what God is going to bring your way - but when we embrace it and join God in His work - God can do incredible things through clay pots like you and me. We see God gives Ezekiel visions - vs 1 - His word - vs 3 - and God’s hand is on Ezekiel - the end of vs 3. God clearly has a purpose for Ezekiel. Because God had planned that when others looked at Ezekiel, they would know that God IS real and alive and active in their lives - even while they are in exile in Babylon.
The book of Ezekiel is filled with Ezekiel acting out God’s message in a variety of ways We’ll talk about that in a couple weeks — he ties himself up, he lies on his side for over a year - he has odd cooking practices - he shaves his head - his wife dies but he doesn’t mourn - all kinds of crazy things that DEFINITELY would have gotten the attention of the Jews in exile. WHY? The purpose of it all was so that when the people looked at the crazy things Ezekiel was doing, they would perceive the message of God. In Ezekiel 24:24 God says, 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.’ So when the people looked at Ezekiel, they would know there was still a God in Israel.
That’s the same message that David gave to Goliath. 1 Samuel 17 - David says, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.
And you know what - that is OUR call as well - that is YOUR high calling - and mine as well. That when others look at us, they are to see Christ living through us. Matthew 5:16 - In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. 2 Corinthians 2:15 - For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 1 Peter 2:5 - You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
What is the picture of a “living stone”? Throughout the OT, whenever anything significant happened, people would take a big stone and stand it up on end - think Stonehenge. And whenever anyone came by and saw this big stone standing on end, they would know it did not just happen to end up that way - they would know that something happened. In the same way, we are to be “living stones” - when others meet us, they are to see that there is something different - and we will have the opportunity to tell them about our Christ.
That is what God did through Ezekiel. Everyone who saw him and asked about the crazy things he was doing would hear the message of God. The exiles had to wait five years for God to speak to Ezekiel, and when God did, His prophet had a message that the people likely didn’t want to hear: God is the Lord of heaven and earth, and the judgment the people were experiencing was a result of their own sin. Yes, a message of repentance and judgment, but also a message of hope.
So what is God’s vision to Ezekiel - the book is filled with them, but let’s start with the first one found here in chapter 1 - Ezekiel saw the wheel, way up in the middle of the air. And as we begin, let me state that much of this vision we WON’T understand! There are three books of the bible written while the Jews are exiled and out of their homeland - Ezekiel, Daniel, and Revelation - and all three are what we call Apocalyptical books - books filled with sensational imagery. And those images are sometimes hard to figure out. But the KEY is not to miss the forest for the trees! Don’t get so caught up in figuring out the little details that you miss the bigger picture of what the whole message is trying to convey.
Let’s read starting with vs 4 - I looked, and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north--an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The centre of the fire looked like glowing metal,
5 and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures.
So a windstorm from the north - a message of judgment. And then four “living creatures” - why call them that? Because they are like NOTHING on this earth! In later chapters we will find out that these are cherubim, angels that worship and serve God. READ vs 5-14
So here is a description of the angels. Next we see Ezekiel’s wheels - Read vs 15-21
So some people read this and think UFO’s - others think Gyroscopes! I’ll give you another idea in a minute.
Read 22-25 - So above the angels is a platform of ice - and above that a brilliant blue throne. Above the throne, we find God himself. Read 26-28. This image reminds us of the vision of Jesus we see in Revelation 1.
But what does it all mean? We could try to identify each detail - but in reality we would just be making guesses. But let’s look at the bigger picture. And especially let’s try to imagine this from the point of view of someone living in Babylon in 600 BC.
In that time, in the same way that earthly kings rode in chariots, the ancients believed their gods rode chariots as well. And very likely what we have here is not a UFO - but a vision of God’s divine throne chariot. Daniel 7 presents us with a similar picture of God on His throne.
Some people see the four faces - a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle, and they see the four gospels. I think there are two better ideas - first, that these represent all of creation - In Genesis 9 when Noah comes off the ark, God establishes His covenant with all of His creation - here’s what He says: I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you--the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you--every living creature on earth. So a good likelihood that God is on His throne looking over all His kingdom.
A second possibility that gives the same message: the babyloniah zodiac signs were used to determine directions, and so these four images determined the quadrants of the sky - our points of the compass - N, S, E, W. Again the idea is the same - God is on His throne, overseeing all of His creation.
The wheels inside of wheels sound a lot like ancient astrolabes, tools the ancients used in determining the direction and location of the stars. The term “eyes” might refer to the “sparkling” or “twinkling” of the stars. So again, God is in the heavens, ruling from His throne that encompasses all the stars - the God of all creation, and He oversees all of His creation.
Really that is the same idea we find in Psalm 104 - one of my personal favorites - here’s how it starts out: O LORD my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty. He wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters. He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind. He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants.
So what does all that mean? During their time of exile, the Jewish captives might have easily believed Yahweh had abandoned them forever. Likewise, the Babylonians could have simply assumed their gods had defeated Yahweh and ruled the heavens and the earth unchallenged. But Ezekiel’s imagery sends a message to the Jews in exile—and to their Babylonian captors: You’re both wrong! Jehovah has not been defeated, nor has He turned away from His people, Israel. He remains seated in His chariot throne at the center of His domain—the entire cosmos. Even in the midst of difficult circumstances, we can know that an all-powerful God is active and present in our lives.
The Jews were sitting by the river singing the blues, but Ezekiel was right there with them reminding them to continue to have HOPE! And that is one of the greatest things we can do for one another: We ENCOURAGE one another with the greatness and the graciousness of our God. We instill HOPE. Just like Jonathan who came to his friend David - David is running for his life from King Saul, but Jonathan comes to him, and 1 Samuel 23:16 tells us, Saul’s son Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him to find strength in God.
Yes, the Jews are exiled from their homeland - they are in a foreign land - they have been there for YEARS, but God has NOT abandoned them. He still reigns supreme.
And no matter how impressive the Babylonian nation might seem - with all their walls and gardens and armies - God STILL reigns supreme!
In 1715 King Louis XIV of France died after a reign of 72 years. He had called himself “the Great,” and was the monarch who made the famous statement, “I am the state!” His court was the most magnificent in Europe, and his funeral was equally spectacular. As his body lay in state in a golden coffin, orders were given that the cathedral should be very dimly lit with only a special candle set above his coffin, to dramatize his greatness. At the memorial, thousands waited in hushed silence. Then Bishop Massilon came forward and began to speak speak for the funeral service. Slowly reaching down, he snuffed out the candle and said, “Only God is great.”
And that is the message to the Jews. Only GOD is great - not Nebuchadnezar! And God IS with them, even as they are in exile in a foreign land. This morning, like Ezekiel, let’s remember that no matter how bad the situation may seem that we find ourselves in - there is always HOPE - because our God is STILL on the throne. As the old saying goes, God is in His heaven - all’s right with the world! Let’s pray.
