The Calling of Ezekiel

A six part series on Ezekiel. One of the most colourful and interesting and perhaps mentally stimulating books you'll find in the Old Testament. Indeed, perhaps the whole Bible. If you've ever read it and have sort of wondered what the heck is going on, this is a great sermon series to listen to because I've also been scratching my head this week. And so hopefully, together, we'll be able to get a bit of a grip on this book of the Bible.

We're going to turn to Ezekiel 1 and we're going to read the whole first chapter there which gives us an opening and I guess it gives us a bit of an insight into what the whole book is going to be about. But again, it is just classically Ezekiel as you'll see. Ezekiel 1:1. In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the Kebar Canal, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. On the fifth day of the month, it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiakin, the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the Kebar Canal, and the hand of the Lord was upon him there.

As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north and a great cloud with brightness around it and fire flashing forth continually and in the midst of the fire as it were gleaming metal. And from the midst of it came the likeness of four creatures and this was their appearance. They had a human likeness but each had four faces and each of them had four wings. Their legs were straight and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf's foot. And they sparkled like burnished bronze.

Under their wings, on their four sides, they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus. Their wings touched one another. Each one of them went straight forward without turning as they went. As for the likeness of their faces, each had a human face.

The four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle. Such were their faces and their wings were spread out above. Each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another while two covered their bodies. And each went straight forward. Wherever the spirit would go, they went without turning as they went.

As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches moving to and fro among the living creatures. And the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. And the living creatures darted to and fro like the appearance of a flash of lightning. Now as I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the earth beside the living creatures. One for each of the four of them.

As for the appearance of the wheels and their construction, their appearance was like the gleaming of beryl. And the four had the same likeness, their appearance and construction being as it were a wheel within a wheel. When they went, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went. And their rims were tall and awesome, and the rims of all four were full of eyes all around. And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them.

And when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose. Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went and the wheels rose along with them. For the spirit of living creatures was in the wheels. When those went, these went. And when those stood, these stood.

And when those rose from the earth, the wheels rose along with them. For the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. Over the heads of the living creatures, there was the likeness of an expanse shining like awe-inspiring crystal spread out above their heads. And under the expanse, their wings were stretched out straight, one toward another, and each creature had two wings covering its body. And when they went, I heard the sound of their wings like the sound of many waters, like the sound of the Almighty, a sound of tumult, like the sound of an army.

When they stood still, they let down their wings. And there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads. When they stood still, they let down their wings. And above the expanse over their heads, there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire. And seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance.

And upward from what had the appearance of his waist, I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist, I saw as it were the appearance of fire and there was brightness around him. Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain. So was the appearance of the brightness all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.

And when I saw it, I fell on my face and I heard the voice of one speaking. So far our reading. Now we need to unpack that, don't we? We really need to try and get our heads around that. Before we do that though, it's worthwhile just giving a bit of an understanding of the big picture of Ezekiel.

Christians who want to form a habit of reading their Bibles regularly can get really intimidated by reading passages like this. So I always recommend buying a study Bible. Buying an ESV study Bible or a one volume commentary, and I forgot to bring it this morning, but the new Bible commentary I have, which is a nice thick book, but it has everything: comments and sort of explanations of the author and the main messages and the themes of a Bible book and so on. It's wonderful to have something like that as a companion to our reading. And trust me, I've had to use it with Ezekiel.

It's worthwhile having. So I want to recommend that to you guys, not just for Ezekiel, because unfortunately, in six weeks, we're not going to cover the whole book. So it's worthwhile having something like that if you want to get stuck in further. But looking at the book of Ezekiel, we get the impression that it's a book of prophecies. He is one of the prophets of the exilic period.

The book of Ezekiel is called the book of oracles, which foretell of a future existence for Israel and God's purposes for the nation of Israel and the nations. Now there are several themes in the book of Ezekiel. One of the major themes is the theme of prophetic announcement of oracles. On the one hand, oracles of doom, of things that will happen to the nation of Israel that will be painful, things that will be horrific even to experience, but also oracles of hope.

Throughout the book, there are warnings of calamity for Israel and what is coming, but in the second half of the book, there are calls for a restoration that's going to happen, hope for Israel. There is another theme woven into the book which is one of individual responsibility. The destruction that would come to Israel as a result of her waywardness is because God's people had abandoned God. Ezekiel would keep making that point. It's because God's people had abandoned God and had fallen into idolatry that she was punished.

But it wasn't simply guilt on a communal level like all of Israel did this. People were not being punished for the sins of their fathers. Chapter 18 makes a very clear case that individuals were accountable because of the sin each of them had committed. God tells Israel that restoration would come to them when a fundamental and enduring change of the heart happened in each of them. So individual responsibility is also emphasised.

And then a third and another important theme in the book of Ezekiel is the relationship that God has between His people and Himself. One phrase which occurs very frequently throughout the book is that the events that are prophesied, the things that would come to pass would occur so that you may know that I am God. So that you may know that I am God. So the calamities that befall Israel or the nations is not simply punishment, it is witness that Israel and the nations will know that there is a living God and His name is Yahweh, the Lord. So those are some key themes in the book of Ezekiel.

Now we come to chapter one. And if you were hoping for an easy gentle entrance into the book, think again. We find a man in the opening verses by the name of Ezekiel. Verse three says that the word of the Lord comes to Ezekiel in chapter one and it says that Ezekiel was a priest, a holy man. Now this happened, as it says, in the fifth year of the exile.

So if that is correct, then it was roughly May. In the very first verse, we read the phrase, in the thirtieth year, and we're not told what that's in relation to, you know, the thirtieth year of a particular king or whatever. So we assume that this is roughly what Ezekiel's age was, that he was 30 years old. Now this makes sense because Levites became official priests at the age of 30. So this was in line with that particular calling of a priest at the age of 30 and that could make sense.

Ezekiel sees an incredible vision and it lasts from chapter one all the way through to chapter three. So we're not done yet at chapter one. It is so terrifying and perplexing that in chapter 3:15, Ezekiel is overwhelmed at the end of that vision and for a week, he sort of sits in stunned silence. But in our passage in chapter one, we see Ezekiel having this incredible vision and there's plenty of detail there. We probably get lost in all the detail, but basically what Ezekiel is seeing is a giant chariot.

A giant chariot that God rides in. Right at the end of the chapter, God then turns towards Ezekiel and He begins speaking to Ezekiel. So why does God come to Ezekiel? Why this vision? Why Ezekiel?

Well, pretty obviously, God is wanting to communicate something. God is wanting to communicate something to Ezekiel, but through Ezekiel to the people of Israel. And so God needs a spokesperson, a messenger to bring a message to the people. And why is that? Well, because at this time, we've seen that they had been in exile for five years already, the people of Israel, in Babylon.

And hope was starting to fade that there would be a quick and easy solution to this political conundrum. Things were starting to look grim. And the question on people's minds were, where do we go? Who do we turn to? When you are rocked to your core, displaced in a foreign land, discouraged, disoriented, where do you go?

Who will stabilise you? Who will reorientate you? Well, what Ezekiel, who remember is also in exile, sees on the banks of the Kebar Canal in Babylon is exactly the type of thing Israel needed in their time of crisis. And so this opening chapter is a chapter that is supposed to bring comfort, to bring stability to Israel in their time of crisis. And God reveals three things, at least three things to Ezekiel that we're going to listen to this morning.

The first thing is God reveals His glory. The second thing is God reveals His presence. And the third thing is that the Lord reveals a message. Now the first is that we see God's glory. In verse five, Ezekiel sees four creatures.

They have a human shape, a human form that have four faces and two sets of wings. Now these faces is one of a man, one of a lion, one of an ox, and one of an eagle. I don't know how they quite fit on the head, but that's what it looked like. Each of these creatures stand next to what resembles to be a wheel. But these are multi-directional wheels because they are said to be wheels within wheels.

Now if you put a circle within a circle, you get almost a sphere. And we see that this throne chariot that is being described is omnidirectional. It says here that it doesn't need to turn. It just glides. Wherever the spirit leads, it goes.

And the image you get is the epitome of control and composure. There's no rockiness there. It's got like a great suspension. There's no clunkiness, no bumpiness. This is a chariot that doesn't even need to turn.

It glides. And on top of these wheels is one great platform of something that looks like crystal or glass. And on top of this platform, in the centre of it is what appears to be a huge throne made out of blue sapphire. And on top of this throne sits a figure who is radiant, whose appearance is like molten lava and fire. And all around him shines a brilliance like the colours of all the rainbow.

It is an absolutely breathtaking sight. And you are left wondering, who is this? Who is this? And then verse 28, the end of the chapter, Ezekiel tells us, this was the glory of the Lord. So why does Ezekiel see this and why does he need to tell us this?

Well, there's plenty of speculation as always with prophetic visions. There's all sorts of explanations about the four faces of the creatures. Some people, some commentators speculate that they are related to the vision of Daniel 7 and the four superpowers of the time that also had these animal characteristics, but those are said to be Assyria, Persia, Greece, and Rome. Others point out that each of these creatures represents an archetype of the class of creatures on the earth. So for example, the eagle is the king of the birds.

The lion is the king of the wild animals. The ox is the king of livestock, and the man is the ruler over them all. And so these creatures represent the epitome of creation. The highest point of what God has made in order to serve Him. Similarly, there are speculations as to what the wheels with these eyes that are embedded in them means and the meaning of the various precious stones that are mentioned in this as well.

But I think that they're not that important. At least not very important. Otherwise, we would have been told exactly what they meant and we wouldn't have to speculate. We will give you my understanding of it, but it serves as a warning again that to think that we can unlock secret messages in scripture and there's plenty of those weird things in Ezekiel, that's actually not what the Bible thinks of itself. In fact, it's probably heresy, the heresy of mysticism to think that there's a secret message mysterious to most people but available to me that I can unlock when the Bible says of itself, do this and you will live.

Psalm 119, the unfolding of your words, Lord, give light. It imparts understanding to the simple, not to the most intelligent, not to the ones who have been able to count up all the verses in the Bible, divided it by their birthday, multiplied it by the coordinates of their favourite restaurant in Jerusalem to find out that the wheels within wheels in Ezekiel are references to aliens and UFOs in that time and there are theories like that. God's word imparts understanding to the simple. And so before we get lost in all the details, with the eyes and the creatures with the four faces and probably more importantly that we take a step back and see more or less this picture. Wheels, four wheels, four creatures, a massive platform, and someone truly awesome sitting on top.

Why does God reveal His glory like this to Ezekiel? Well, when we are lost and desperate, sometimes the most reassuring thing for us to see is the glory and the majesty of God. When Job, remember the story, he was overcome with grief when he had lost absolutely everything in his life and in pain cried out the thing that we can so relate to, why God and why me? God doesn't answer Job in a nicely packaged little answer. God shows Job His glory and Job falls on his face in worship and says, the God who is this powerful surely knows what he is doing.

And so when we are tempted as Christians today to give up and shake our tiny little fists to God and say, why? Pray that you may see His glory. Take that drive out to the countryside in the night on a clear sky and you'll see that there's some sort of realignment and perspective that's given. In order to bring Israel comfort, God, just for a second, pulls back the curtain and reveals His glory to Ezekiel. And there is comfort in that.

The second thing is the Lord shows His presence. Ezekiel makes explicit mention, right at the start of the passage, that he is standing on the riverbank of the Kebar Canal, is in modern day Iraq today and in ancient Babylon at that time. Now why is it important for Ezekiel to point out where he was when this happened? Well, Israel, we know, had been exiled two and a half thousand kilometres away from Jerusalem. That's how far they were away from their homeland.

Two and a half thousand kilometres. And in Jerusalem, God had caused His glory to dwell on the temple there. God showed to Israel therefore and the world that Israel was His special people by His glory dwelling on the temple. But now with the exile, with everyone out of Jerusalem, we'll later find out Jerusalem is about to be destroyed, the temple about to be broken down. What does it mean for Israel to be in exile?

Has God been removed from them? Have they been removed from God? Could God see their suffering? And God comes to Ezekiel and His glory descends on the Kebar Canal and Ezekiel realises that God is not constrained to a building. And God is not oblivious to Israel's suffering.

This God is sitting on a throne chariot that moves at speeds and in directions and across dimensional planes that we don't even know exists. Oh, little human. Do you think I can't see what's happening? Do you think I don't know? This is so important for us to remember because again, it gives incredible comfort.

Our suffering should not be mistaken for God's absence. As God's absence. We don't suffer because God is missing. Our God is with us. If God is sovereign and He is omnipresent, then He is with us in the worst hospital beds.

He is with us on that gut wrenching phone call. He is with us and with our loved ones when the last heartbeat beats and when the final breath is taken. Our suffering is not a sign of God's absence. How God is that. He is present. And this brings comfort to hurting and disoriented people like Israel and like us because if God is present, then He also knows. He knows what we have gone through and He knows it more acutely than the most eloquent, articulate words you could string together could ever describe to Him.

And there is comfort in that. And Israel is shown that God is with them even in Babylon. And then thirdly and finally, and perhaps the most comforting of all, there is comfort in hearing God's message. This great and glorious King sitting on His throne chariot doesn't just flash across the sky and give a glimpse of His power and majesty on His way to deal with some urgent matter on the other side of the planet, this glorious King is not detached from His people and He has something to say to Israel. The King of glory sitting on His throne of sapphire and light turns His face towards a tiny little creature, a man by the name of Ezekiel, and He says in verse 28 that when Ezekiel sees the likeness of God's glory, he doesn't see God's face, only something that resembles the glory of God.

He is overwhelmed and his knees turn to jelly and he falls on his face. And chapter two then goes on, and we didn't read that this morning, but it goes on to tell us that the spirit of God enters Ezekiel and picks Ezekiel up like a puppet on strings. And He places him back on his feet again. And then the King of glory says to him in verse 4 of chapter two, son of man, I send you to the people of Israel. And you are to say to them, thus says the Lord.

And whether they hear or they refuse to hear for they are a rebellious house, they will know they will know that a prophet has been among them. And so what we find here is both the commissioning of Ezekiel as the messenger of God, but also a hint at the ministry Ezekiel would experience. A ministry of great personal pain and frustration because he's speaking to a rebellious people. A people who would hear but refuse to listen. But again, the fact that the Lord is sending His servant, Ezekiel, is already a comfort because He is sending a servant to speak words of life even after the servant must also speak words of death.

He is sending a servant who will speak words of doom, but also words of restoration and hope. And why is this comforting? What does it mean for God to send us a messenger? It means God cares. It means God cares.

And understand this well, friends. God has never shown you more clearly that He loves you than when He sent you the sweet, sweet sound of the first person who brought you the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We may think of some wonderful gifts that God has given us. We may think of a caring husband, a wonderful patient wife.

We may think of children to cherish, a family to love, a country that is safe, a job that is secure, wonderful gifts that God has given us. But the most magnificent gift of all is that one man, that one woman, perhaps a concerned mother, a gentle friend, a faithful pastor who once was sent to you to bring you the Gospel of salvation. Paul bursts doesn't he, in Romans 10, how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. In other words, if you understood then what you know now about the Gospel, what you would believe on that day, you would have kissed the feet that carried that messenger to you. You would have pulled out your best coffee for that friend that came to sit next to you.

You would have given your most comfortable chair to your mum to explain. You would have walked the pastor down the aisle, escorted him personally knowing what you would receive on that day. What does it mean for God to send a messenger like Ezekiel? It means that He loves His people and He wants them to be saved. And we need to hear this.

This morning, we need to hear it. God is so concerned about humanity now. He's not more or less concerned about humanity now than He was back then. And He is raising up and He is sending out raising up, sending out thousands upon thousands of Christians into the world to bring the Gospel to anyone who has ears to hear. My friends, it is a lie from the pit of hell that says we show love by keeping quiet.

And we show love to our coworkers and our school friends and our family members when we stay silent and we don't offer them the message of Jesus for the forgiveness of sin. That isn't love. That is hate. If you truly believe that God's word is true, humanity is bound for eternal death at the hands of a holy and unflinchingly fair God, it is not love to stay quiet. It is a God of love that sends a messenger to the lost.

And it is a Christian full of love that is willing to carry that message. God gives comfort to a wavering, suffering people by sending them a messenger. And so in ending, we see in the midst of confusion, we see in the midst of just complete turmoil and the suffering of God's people, that God wants to bring comfort. That's His first and foremost aim, to bring comfort. Firstly, by showing His glory, revealing that He is a God who is powerful and very, very big.

He can restore. He can do whatever He wants. God shows His presence that He is there right in the heart of Babylon, on the Kebar Canal of all places. And God is among His people. Thirdly, by sending a message to them.

Sending a messenger to call back those who are lost. Friends, the God we serve is a God who wants you to know Him and He will hold nothing back. And so in closing, I want to share with you something that author David Reading writes and puts in this way. He says, there is no other blessing that I can give you. No gift so precious.

No treasure so refreshing. Nothing that can provision you for the journey that we all have to make than to tell you that God is searching diligently for you. He is not a stationary God and He is crazy about you. The expense to which He has gone isn't reasonable, is it? I mean, the cross was not a very dignified ransom to pay.

To say the least, it was a splurge of love and glory lavishly spent on you and me. While we were still sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. Or as Jesus once told it, a shepherd having a hundred sheep, if he loses one, leaves the 99 to go after the one and searches diligently until he finds it. How God is that shepherd? In the midst of all that life can throw at us, in the midst of all the consequences of our own dumb actions, this is our comfort.

That God is glorious, that He is powerful and majestic, that God is present, and that God has sent a message that will draw us back. Let's pray. Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. We thank You, Lord, for what You have begun this morning in showing us again just something of who You are. You are the glorious King who reigns over this earth.

And God, that's just recalibrates and realigns our perspectives in such profound ways. And all the things of this world grow strangely dim in view of Your glory and grace. We thank You that You are the God who wants us to know Him. We thank You that You are the God who has not left some mysterious trail of crumbs for us to try and follow. But God, You are the God who has announced Yourself to the world both in the glory and in the humility of Jesus Christ.

We thank You for Your Son who has made it possible. We thank You that even with Him there was glory, there was presence, and there was Your message. Lord, we pray for those in our neighbourhood, and we pray for those in our family and our friends that don't know You, those who must know You, those who will one day face the unflinching fairness of a holy God. We pray, Lord, that You will work through us, that we may be the courageous message bearers. We thank You, Lord, that You can equip us as You did with Ezekiel even when he was so overcome and overwhelmed with pain and suffering and frustration.

We know that You are the God that can breathe Your spirit into us. Pick us up like a puppet on strings and place us back on our feet. We ask, Lord, that You will do this in us and through us for the salvation of many people, for the upbuilding of Your kingdom, we ask. In Jesus' name. Amen.