Ezekiel 13

Message: To the false prophets (both male and female) of Israel. To the inventors of prophecies. Maintain the purity of the Gospel. Rid false prophets from our midst.

Time: To Ezekiel, from the Lord.

What the Lord is Saying:
Many try to do the work of the Lord, by prophesying, but do not really have the gift. The false prophets will be banished from the community. They aren't honest with the people. They tell them all is well when there is no peace in the land.

Promise: The Sovereign Lord speaks. They will know that "I am the Sovereign Lord."

Ezekiel 12

Message: To a rebellious people.

Time: A message to Ezekiel from the Lord.

What the Lord is Saying:
The Lord gives Ezekiel a message to a people that do not see the Lord. They have eyes, but refuse to see. Ears, but refuse to hear.

Pretend you are being sent to exile. Pretend for the benefit hopefully of these that don't want to listen to the Lord. Don't look back. Dig through the walls and leave. Ezekiel did this, during the day, and all watched. They will ask, "Why are you doing this?" And you reply from Me that it is a sign of what will soon happen to them.

Rebellious people do not want to listen to their leader (The Lord), but the Lord will show them that He is real. The will fall into captivity, some will die, some will not only so they can share of what the Lord thinks of the detestable things we do.

Promise: The Lord says, "If I say it, it will happen." Prophecies will come true.

Ezekiel 11

Message: (1) The wicked counselors or leaders of Israel get their sentence; (2) The Jews in exile get hope.

Time: The Spirit takes Ezekiel to the east gate of the temple.

What the Lord is Saying: 
(1) The leaders are wicked and not allowing the people to build houses stating they are melt in a melting pot, but the Lord through Ezekiel lets these individuals know that they brought on the injustice for these people. And while he is speaking, one of the leaders suddenly die and the others wonder if they are next, though we don't know why the leader died as it could have been natural.
(2) A message goes out to the Jews that are scattered and they are reminded that the Lord will be their sanctuary and there is hope in their future. This will return to the land and remove the images they have worshiped instead of God in their life. God will give them a new heart. But, those that long for these vile images will receive bad outcomes. Their sins will be repaid for.

Problem/Promise: Leaders are held to a higher standard. The Lord will restore His people.

Ezekiel 10

Message: The Glory of the Lord leaves the temple. The glory of Israel was over them.

Time: Ezekiel sees a vision of the glory of the Lord, departing. 

What the Lord is Saying: Ezekiel sees some sort of vision of the glory of the Lord. He sees the angels and is told to take a handful of burning coals and scatter them over the city. From what I've seen so far in Ezekiel, he is receiving pictures of the judgment that is coming on Israel and Judah by the Chaldeans. Man thinks this judgment is coming from men, but it needs to be clear that this is the judgment from God worked out through men. And in no way does this mean that the men that are carrying it out are somehow holy. God uses what he wants to judge.

But, it is clear her that the Lord is at work. The angels had four faces, an ox, a human face, a lion face and the face of an eagle. Each of these forms obviously represented something. 

The glory of the Lord is seen leaving the temple. God is leaving these people by way of a chariot. This is significant. His presence is departing from them. 

Promise: The Lord carries out his plans. People think they know everything about God and try to keep God under wraps, but the Lord can move away from people. We must always trust in Him and surrender to Him.

Ezekiel 9

Message: The execution of the idolaters.

Time: Son of Man cried into Ezekiel's ears with a loud voice.

What the Lord is Saying: All the idolaters will be killed except for those who have the mark. The mark represented the people that repented of their sin and lamented over their sin. The people of the Lord were absent, not seeing, and had forsaken the land.

Problem: The guilt of the House of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The sin of Israel is not something that Ezekiel had to figure out. It was shown to Ezekiel.

Ezekiel 8

Message: Ezekiel is carried away by the Son of Man to see the abominations done by the chosen Israelite's.

Time: Ezekiel, before the elders of Judah, in his house.

What the Lord is Saying: Ezekiel saw a form of man before him, a vision of God, and the Son of Man took Ezekiel up with him to look to the north and see (an image of jealousy) the abominations being committed by the people of Israel. Ezekiel saw all the idols that the people had been worshiping. Before him were the leaders committing evil, women weeping for Tammuz (this signified that paganism had deeply affected the women of Israel), men with their backs to the temple worshiping the sun (this was obviously another pagan ritual to honor the sun with their backs to the temple). And there was also the idea that they think it is a big deal, but it is not.

Problem: People willfully reject the Lord, choosing anything else to worship.

Promise: God will be honored.

Ezekiel 7

Message: An End. The people have been able to enjoy themselves, so they think, but in the end their is judgment and wrath and they will know that the Lord is Lord.

Time: 594 BC about. Ezekiel speaking to the mountain.

What the Lord is Saying: Lord (the numbers in parenthesis are the number of times this is mentioned in the text), "I will send my anger upon you (2); I will judge you according to your ways (2), and I will punish you for all your abominations (2); my eye will not spare you (2); I will not have pity (2); I will soon pour out my wrath upon you;"

Your doom is here. Violence has grown. Wrath has arrived. No abundance of the people remains.

Riches cannot save you in the day of the wrath of the Lord. Their beautiful ornaments, their abominable images, their detestable things--they are all unclean.

Promise: People will not that "I am the Lord (2)."

Ezekiel 6

Message: This is a sermon or prophecy against Israel for their idolatry. It is a painful one. People will be slain by the sword.

Time: This is near 595 or 594 BC.

What the Lord is Saying: The people will not just receive judgment because of their idolatry, but they will also loath themselves for the evils that they have committed. The far off will die of pestilence, the near shall fall by the sword and those who are left by famine.

Promise: Through all of this judgment and fury, the people will know one thing for sure, that "I am the Lord." The phrase "I am the Lord" is mentioned 4 times in this chapter.

Ezekiel 5

Message: Jerusalem will be destroyed. Ezekiel continues to prepare to give the message to Israel.

Time: Ezekiel is probably about 31 or 32 now and he is continuing to hear from the Lord of the judgment that awaits Jerusalem.

What the Lord is Saying: Ezekiel is to shave his beard, in a very exact manner, placing the clippings into three equal, weighed out parts. One third in the center of the map of Jerusalem and will burn in the fire for the days of the siege of the city. The Lord placed Israel in the center of all surrounding nations and yet the surrounding nations were more obedient. Israel rebelled. And so people will be punished more than anyone has been punished by God before. Parents will eat their children.

Then take another third and strike them with a sword around the map of the City. This is the third that be slaughtered by the enemy outside the city. Another third scattered to the wind.

What amazing pictures of the seriousness of people's sin and how we can see so clearly what God thinks of sin. All will see what the Lord thinks of His people that are rebellious and turn from Him.

Problem: You know the amazing thing here is there is a obviously a message in the Gospel that the Lord deals with sin. People will die in their sins. But, also, his people, whom He has called, are now responsible to live in a way that is worthy of their calling. And the Lord will not be kind to those who call on His name and yet rebel from Him at the same time. This is hypocrisy at its best.

Ezekiel 4

Message: Prior to Ezekiel beginning to speak to Jerusalem/Judah/Israel, he is to carry out a sign of their punishment by lying on his right and left side for a total of 430 days.

Time: Not sure when this occurred. It was probably about 595 BC.

What the Lord is Saying: The Lord asks Ezekiel to take a brick and engrave the city Jerusalem's name on it. Put a wall against it and put an iron griddle between you and it. He is then to lie on his left side for 390 days, equal to the number of years of their punishment, to bear their punishment. [This 390 days represents the period from 976 BC, the approximate year in which the glory of the Lord entered Jerusalem temple during Solomon's reign tunil Jerusalem's fall in 586 BC.] Then turn to his right side and lay on it 40 days, 1 day for each year for the punishment of the house of Judah, most likely referring to a generation of people. Your food will be barley cake and water. This is unclean bread and it is prepared in unclean ways. The bread will be measured as the water will be. This signifies the way their lives are lived, by exact measurement, not by hearty blessing. Judgment awaits.

Promise: The church is responsible for disciplining its flock. And the church is held responsible is they do not do this.

Ezekiel 3

Message: This is really the continuation of chapter 2 and marks the call of Ezekiel.

Timing: Ezekiel is 30 years old and this is about 594 BC.

What the Lord is Saying:
The Word of God that Ezekiel receives is like food. He is to educate Himself in God's word, so that as he speaks it will spew out. The people you are being sent to speak the same language of you. But, this does not mean they will listen. On the contrary, they will not. They do not listen to me and they will not listen to you. But, no matter what: speak and say, "Thus Says the Lord." [It is interesting that in verse 6 Ezekiel learns that if he went to the Babylonians, those of foreign speech, those folks would listen.]

Ezekiel then spent time praising the Lord, beholding His majesty.

And the Word of the Lord continued to speak to Ezekiel. My words of warning need to be your words of warning. When you hear a warning, you are to pass it along. If you do not, the people will still die in their, but the accountability will rely on you. If you do warn and then do not turn from their sin, they will still die in their sin, but you will have delivered your soul. 

Problem: Israel had the intellectual capacity to believe, the problem was their hard hearts. God must give new hearts to His people (Ezekiel 11:14-21; Ezekiel 36:22-27). But, we must preach the truth, no matter how the hearer accepts our message.

Evangelism Verses

Ezekiel 3:18-19 -- We are to be warning people. It is our responsibility.

If I warn the wicked, saying, ‘You are under the penalty of death,’ but you fail to deliver the warning, they will die in their sins. And I will hold you responsible for their deaths. If you warn them and they refuse to repent and keep on sinning, they will die in their sins. But you will have saved yourself because you obeyed me.

Ezekiel 2

Message: Ezekiel is called and commissioned to speak to the nation of Israel. It will not be easy.

Time: It was probably about 594 BC and Ezekiel was 30 years old.

What the Lord is Saying: This is a great passage. God is calling Ezekiel to go to Israel. This won't be a happy trip, but a very challenging one. The people he will speak to are stubborn and hard-hearted. This is great encouragement to us in our time. People will not be shaken. They are stuck in their ways. And it does not matter if they hear or not, either way, they will at least know someone has come.

Amazing message. I mean we are so much about good outcomes and results. God does not always call us to get results.

He tells them to not fear them or their words. They may threaten you but do not be afraid. Do not join them in their rebellion. Only eat from the Lord.

That is very convicting. Do not join people in their rebellion of God. We have rebellion all around us and how often do we just go along with it rather than standing up and proclaiming that it is wrong. We don't stand up often? Why. Because we fear the outcome. But, God says that the won't listen, but what is important is I speak.

Promise: When God calls, we listen and obey. We listen because He is our Father. We obey Him because we love Him.

Ezekiel 1

Message: This was hard for me to see without using a commentary. The first 3 chapters of Ezekiel speak to his calling. And chapter 1 is a picture he saw of God in all his glory and splendor coming down from heaven and presenting Himself.

Time: It was probably about 594 BC. Ezekiel was 30 years old.

What the Lord is saying:
God is difficult to describe. And His appearance is difficult to behold. What I see hear is that Ezekiel was describing something amazing. There could be angels all around. This could be a clear vision of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. As they moved it was like an army moving. The power that Ezekiel witnessed must have been incredible.

Promise: Why God is made known, man falls on his knees. This is what Ezekiel did. When he realized that this was the glory of the Lord, he dropped to his face.

Ezekiel Introduction

[Adapted from Albert Barnes Commentary on Ezekiel and TableTalk entries for September 2012]

The chief scene of his ministry was Tel-Abib in northern Mesopotamia (Chaldea/Babylon), on the river Chebar, along the banks of which were the settlements of the exiles. He began his ministry at the age of 30. He lived in a house of his own, was married, and lost his wife in the ninth year of his exile. He was a priest and the son of Buzi and was part of the group that Nebuchadnezzar took from Judah to Babylon in 598/597 BC.

What went on in the period during which Ezekiel prophesied?

• Ezekiel was called in the same year King Zedekiah (made king of Judah by Babylon in 587 BC) came to visit Babylon
• the destruction of the temple, the sack of Jerusalem, and the final deportation of its inhabitants; this happened when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem completely in 586 BC; all the Judahites went into exile except members of the lower class
• Gedaliah‘s short regency over the poor remnant left behind in the country, his treacherous murder, and the flight of the conspirators, conveying Jeremiah with them into Egypt
• Nebuchadnezzars conquests in the neighboring countries, and especially his prolonged siege of Tyre.

What was going on in the minds of the people when Ezekiel prophesied? First of all, the prophecies were against Egypt. The king of Egypt was new and his reign affected Judah. Judah's control was first seized by Nebuchadnezzar when several of the leading men of Judah were captured in 605 BC. The Judahites felt their only hope was the help of Egypt. But Egypt had been inactive. Judah wanted to break from Babylon and ally themselves with Egypt. But, Ezekiel's message to the Jews (Judah/Israel), was to show them their future was not found in freeing themselves from the Chaldeans, but in repenting of their sins and turning to the God of their fathers. 

Again, the Jews felt that deliverance came, not from God, but through Egypt. And yet they were able to see Egypt (Hophra) attempt a diversion as Jerusalem's final siege was occurring by Babylon. But, Egypt retreated. This is when Ezekiel's prophecies began. The thinking of the Jews at the time was that they would always be blessed by God. The problem was they were recognizing their sin first. They wanted blessing with out repentance.  

Ezekiel's message was focused on:

1. God abhorred idolatry. He hates sin. Sin, without repentance, has consequences. 
2. While feeling like the Chaldeans were unwelcome, Ezekiel needed to show Judah that the Chaldeans were instruments of God. Don't resist.
3. He had to shake their confidence in promises. There is a nature to these promises. Not a condition, but a repentance. 
4. There is a divine government and God is in control.

Ezekiel's message is similar to Jeremiah's. The difference being that eventually with Ezekiel, the people listened. 

His message can be viewed in 3 parts:

1. There is public condemnation of judgment on rebellious people.
2. Unfaithful shepherds and rebellious people need to beware.
3. There is renovation and blessing

Obadiah

Message: This is a prophecy against Edom for its treatment of Judah. These two nations rivalry began as a rivalry between two brothers--Jacob and Esau. Years later, their people are still dealing with the same tension.

The message here is also that God's people will always came back on top. And only because he calls them His people. He has set them apart. And many other people will be judged because of their bad behavior or their sin. The message here is not that obedience results in acceptance. It's that disobedience results in rejection. Acceptance is based on being chosen.

Time: The exile of Judah into Babylon. It is thought that this is similar to the time of Lamentations, that is 586 BC.

What the Lord is Saying:
Let's attack Edom.

Your pride has deceived you. The view you had of yourself let you down. You think you are strong because of where you live and the safety of your surroundings and your location, being high in the mountains. But, nothing is out of reach for the Lord.

When thieves come, though they still, they often still have a heart and leave behind something for the poor. But, not so when the Lord comes for you. Nothing will be salvaged. Everything will be taken. Those that you thought were on your side will turn against you. They may offer peace, but they will only plotting to deceive and destroy. Friends you trusted will trap you. There will be no wisdom left in Edom. All will be removed.

Why?

Because of the way you treatment Judah. As they were being attacked you stood by and did nothing. Before attackers came you were their friends, but as they were attacked, you became an enemy. But, you also gloated over them. You rejoiced in their misfortune. You stole from them when they were at their weakest. You acted as judge and jury.

But, don't think for a moment that God isn't always in control. God will judge all godless nations. Your evil deeds will fall back on you. Nations will disappear.

However, Jerusalem will be a refuge. And a place that will welcome escapee's. Edom will be no more (today this is southern Jordan). God's people will take over this land.

Problem: Sin always has a consequence.

Promise: God's people will be rescued by Him.

Psalm 2

Message: Nations and people may plot and devise plans against the Lord and take stands that God is not real or think that His ways are not real, but God is there. He is in control. The world exists because of God. He holds all things together. We don't serve our plans, but rather we serve the Lord and His plans for us.

Time: Not sure if this refers to a time period or is more in general speaking of Israel and how nations are instruments of the Lord, set up by Him, and controlled by Him.

What the Lord is Saying:
On the heals of reading Lamentations, where we see the sorrow of Jerusalem at the hands of being judged by Babylon. We must remember that God uses Babylon as the judge. Babylon does not act independent of God. God is always at work. So, it makes me think, anytime we see a nation at war or the people suffering, is their a judgment of this people occurring by God? Because in the Bible, this is what we see.

An outline by William Barrick, professor at the Masters Seminary:
I. The World Conspires against Their King (2:1-3)
  -- Rulers plot against the Lord. They have anger. They make plans, but those plans are futile. They think they can free themselves from the Lord.
II. The Father Confirms His King (2:4-6)
 -- But the Lord laughs at those that think they can make plans against Him and against His people and against His Chosen Nation, against the King of Jerusalem.
III. The Father Confirms the Son (2:7-9)
 -- This outline speaks of the Father confirming His Son. The Son is mentioned. Is this Jesus? In verse 6, someone is referenced as the King of Jerusalem. Is this Jesus? I'm reminded of the David and Giants song that Jesus is the King of the Jews and Jesus, when crucified, is charged with being the King of the Jews. So, that seems to confirm it. 
IV. The World Contemplates the Son (2:10-12)
 -- So, Nations, consider God's Son. He is the Ruler of you and you must submit to Him. 


Promise: This Psalm ends with a great promise. "What joy for all who take refuge in Him." The entire Psalm is people plotting against the Lord, the Lord, upholding His domininion and power, the Lord upholding His Son and nations must bow before the Lord. And then the encouragement to those that do follow the Son, here we have the promise. There is joy for all who take refuge in Him. We have joy when we hide ourselves in Him.