November 14th Ezekiel 1 A. The Glory of the Lord
& the Commission of Ezekiel The
First vision of Ezekiel
1: 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. 2: In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of
king Jehoiachin's captivity, 3:
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. 4: And I
looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a
fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst
thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire. 5: Also out of the midst thereof came
the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had
the likeness of a man. 6: And
every one had four faces, and every one had four wings. 7: And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet
was like the sole of a calf's foot: and they sparkled like the colour of
burnished brass. 8: And they
had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had
their faces and their wings. 9:
Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they
went every one straight forward. 10:
As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the
face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the
left side; they four also had the face of an eagle. 11: Thus were their faces: and their wings were stretched
upward; two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered
their bodies. 12: And they went
every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they
turned not when they went. 13:
As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning
coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the
living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth
lightning. 14: And the living
creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning. 15: Now as I beheld the living
creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his
four faces. 16: The appearance
of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four
had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in
the middle of a wheel. 17: When
they went, they went upon their four sides: and they turned not when they went.
18: As for their rings, they
were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings were full of eyes round
about them four. 19: And when
the living creatures went, the wheels went by them: and when the living
creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up. 20: Whithersoever the spirit was to
go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up
over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. 21: When those went, these went; and
when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth,
the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living
creature was in the wheels. 22:
And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as
the colour of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above. 23: And under the firmament were
their wings straight, the one toward the other: every one had two, which
covered on this side, and every one had two, which covered on that side, their
bodies. 24: And when they went,
I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice
of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of an host: when they stood,
they let down their wings. 25:
And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads, when they stood,
and had let down their wings. 26:
And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne,
as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was
the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. 27: And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire
round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from
the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of
fire, and it had brightness round about. 28:
As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was
the appearance of the brightness round about. 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
2 God makes Ezekiel a prophet
1: And he said unto me, Son of man,
stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee. 2: And the spirit entered into me when he spake unto me, and set
me upon my feet, that I heard him that spake unto me. 3: And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children
of Israel,
to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me: they and their fathers
have transgressed against me, even unto this very day. 4: For they are impudent children and stiffhearted. I do send
thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD. 5: 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. 6: 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. 7: And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will
hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious. 8: But thou, son of man, hear what I
say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy
mouth, and eat that I give thee. 9:
And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book
was therein; 10: And he spread
it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written
therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.
Ezekiel, 3
1: Moreover he said unto me, Son of
man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. 2: So I opened my mouth, and he
caused me to eat that roll. 3:
And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels
with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as
honey for sweetness. 4: And he
said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and
speak with my words unto them. 5:
For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language,
but to the house of Israel;
6: Not to many people of a
strange speech and of an hard language, whose words thou canst not understand.
Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee. 7: But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will
not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and
hardhearted. 8: Behold, I have
made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their
foreheads. 9: As an adamant
harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed
at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. 10: Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I
shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears. 11: And go, get thee to them of the
captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them,
Thus saith the Lord GOD; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear. 12: Then the spirit took me up, and I
heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the
LORD from his place. 13: I
heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one
another, and the noise of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great
rushing. 14: So the spirit
lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my
spirit; but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me. 15: Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel-abib, that dwelt
by the river of Chebar, and I sat where they sat, and
remained there astonished among them seven days.
Ezekiel
the Watchman
16: And it came to pass at the end of
seven days, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 17: Son of man, I have made thee a
watchman unto the house of Israel:
therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. 18: When I say unto the wicked, Thou
shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the
wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in
his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 19: Yet if thou warn the wicked, and
he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his
iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. 20: Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his
righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he
shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin,
and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood
will I require at thine hand. 21:
Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he
doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast
delivered thy soul.
Ezekiel
is speechless
22: And the hand of the LORD was there
upon me; and he said unto me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there
talk with thee. 23: 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. 24: Then
the spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet, and spake with me, and
said unto me, Go, shut thyself within thine house. 25: But thou, O son of man, behold, they shall put bands upon
thee, and shall bind thee with them, and thou shalt not go out among them: 26: And I will make thy tongue cleave
to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a
reprover: for they are a rebellious house. 27: But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou
shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; He that heareth, let him hear;
and he that forbeareth, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house.
The book of Ezekiel the priest is probably the most unread
book of the bible. It deals with great prophecies that describe the coming
Kingdom even describing in great detail the Millennial Temple.
Ezekiel begins saying that he was with the captives of Babylon and he even gives us the exact date
in which he received it. The first thing he sees is a whirlwind coming out of
the north. It was a whirlwind of fire. And in the middle of the whirlwind was
what appeared to be four creatures alive. They appeared to be similar to a man
yet each one had four faces and four wings. Their feet went straight down and
looked like the feet of young cattle. They sparkled like shinning brass. They
had hands like a man under each wing - four hands. Their wings were joined to
each other enabling them to fly in any direction without turning around. All
four creatures had four faces, but their faces where of four types. One face
was like a man, one like a lion, one like an ox and another like an eagle. It
seemed that they had two sets of wings each. They had a reddish appearance like
glowing coals on a fire. And there came out what appeared to be flashes of
lightening. Ezekiel is struggling to describe these things and it’s a struggle
for us to understand what he is meaning. There were wheels within wheels.
Perhaps he’s describing a sort of halo like that which we see on the planet
Saturn. He sees a throne above them and a man sitting on the throne. Perhaps this
is a vision of Christ in glory. Then the Lord told Ezekiel to stand up so that
the Lord could speak to him. At that moment the Spirit of God entered into him.
The Lord tells him that he is going to be sent to the Children of Israel who
are wicked and backsliding. But the Lord says do not be afraid of them or of
their threatenings. He is not to concern himself in the outcome of his ministry
only in the faithfulness of its execution. Then the Lord showed him a scroll
and he was told to eat it. In his mouth it was like honey. He is warned that
Hebrew is a hard language. He is to be strong and not put off by his ministry.
Ezekiel heard the sound of rushing waters from the four living creatures. Then
he was carried away to Tel-abib and he sat with the people for seven days. Then
the word of the Lord came to him again saying (The Lord always addressed him as
‘Son of man’) Son of man l have made you a watchman (Lookout or Overseer or
Pastor) for the house of Israel.
The Lord explains that he is to have a very serious duty because if he refrains
from speaking the word of the Lord then the Lord will require his blood for the
people. Only if he speaks out will he deliver his own soul from death. Then the
Lord said to Ezekiel, go and shut yourself into your house and you will bind
your mouth so that you will not go and rebuke the people. Then the Lord said
Ezekiel when l tell you to open your mouth then you must say – This is what the
Lord says… The person who hears you - let him hear and he that refuses you -
let him refuse, because they are a rebellious people.
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