The Bible from 30,000 feet,
soaring through the scripture from Genesis to Revelation. So over in the
European area, there is a section of land
known as the UK-- the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom
is a conglomeration of England, Scotland,
Wales, and Northern Ireland. They have been in that
configuration called the United Kingdom for 218 years. So when we say the UK-- the United Kingdom-- that's
what most people on earth today think of. From a biblical perspective,
however, the term United Kingdom refers to
something vastly different, as by now you know. You know that it refers to
the 12 tribes of Israel, when they were
united as a kingdom under the rulership of King
Saul, King David, and King Solomon. That was the United Kingdom. That kingdom only
lasted 110 years. And then that
United Kingdom split into two sections, the north
being called the country of-- the north being called
the country of-- Israel. Israel-- the southern
kingdom being called-- Judah. Judah. Israel, after that
kingdom split-- remember how the kingdom split? Rehoboam, the son of Solomon,
tried to levy more taxes. Jeroboam the son of Nebat,
took the 10 tribes, and said, we're out of here,
hasta la vista, baby. He didn't actually say that,
but in so many words he did. So the kingdom split. The northern kingdom continued
as a viable, divided kingdom for 210 years. Then they were taken captive
in 722 BC by the Assyrians, as you know. And then the southern
kingdom remained coalesced for another 135 years. And they went into Babylonian
captivity in 586 BC, as you know. We find ourself dealing
with that last portion of information, the
kingdom, now long divided, that southern kingdom, going
into the Babylonian captivity. And we gave you the three dates
last week, 605, 597, and 586, were the Babylonians
came against the city and then finally destroyed it. We are dealing with
the prophet of Ezekiel at this particular
period of time. Now I went into the
ministry primarily because I had
certain role models that, who in the ministry,
made the ministry to me very attractive. I thought, oh, I'd
love to do that. If the prophets
Jeremiah and/or Ezekiel would have been my
role models, I probably wouldn't have gone
into the ministry. I would have severe
second thoughts. I'd say, no thanks. Ezekiel, like Jeremiah,
was also a priest, but was unable to
serve as a priest. Do you know why? Because right when he was
about to serve as a priest, the Babylonians took him captive
and brought him to Babylon. So though he was trained
for the priesthood, and should have
served as a priest, he went into
captivity in Babylon 11 years before the city
was destroyed in 586. So I mentioned there were three
dates, three deportations, and the final one
was the destruction. In 605, I mentioned a young man
was taken captive to Babylon. His name was Daniel. In 597 BC, that second attack
and deportation took place. At that time, Ezekiel
went into captivity, before he could serve
in the priesthood. And then years later,
the temple was destroyed. What that means is the prophet
Ezekiel had two well-known contemporaries-- Jeremiah and Daniel. Jeremiah, older than Ezekiel,
living in Egypt at the time. Daniel, however,
has been in Babylon before Ezekiel got there. And by this time, already
occupied, no doubt, a prominent position in the
court of Nebuchadnezzar, after interpreting dreams. And was made the captain of the
Magi, the wise men of Babylon, by this time. So sort of an
interesting overlapping of ministries going on here. Ezekiel, if you've read the
book, if you're familiar, with a very visual prophet. And I mean that twofold. He saw things. He saw visions. He saw the plan of God unfolded,
in a sense the glory of God unfolded, before him. Certainly in chapters one and
in chapter 10, this wild vision. But he also used visuals
to get people's attention. Lying on one side, lying
on another side publicly-- I mean, out in the public for
hours, for days, for months. And then shaving his head and
shaving his beard in public, hiding in a cave. Not showing emotion
when his wife died, a number of crazy
visual examples. And here's why-- God's people were not
listening to God's word. So to get their
attention, they used, he used a way to
get their attention. Because when the-- when
the prophet came and said, thus says the Lord, there
was an automatic turn off. And so he steps it
up a notch or two, by giving very graphic visuals. In our day, preaching in
pulpits, especially among those who are young,
seems to be a trend to try to get
people's attention, by bringing graphic
illustrations into the pulpit and doing all sorts of things-- sitting on beds,
standing on chairs, riding bicycles in
and around things. And all I can say is, OK. But that's an indictment that
you're dealing with a crowd of people that cannot or will
not listen to God's word. And let me remind you that
faith comes by hearing. It still is the case today. Faith comes by hearing and
hearing by the word of God. If you're a preacher,
be good enough to use words to paint
pictures in people's minds. And it will sink down. Every prophet of God did that. This guy and Jeremiah
are the exceptions. But that simply
points to the kind of recalcitrant hearts,
hardened hearts, that they were dealing with. Now the outline of the book
of Ezekiel is very logical. In fact, it is the
most logical of all of the prophetic outlines, or
of the books of the prophets. The first section is personal-- chapters one through three. The second section is national-- chapters 4 through 24. The third section
is international-- chapters 25 through 32. And the final, fourth
section is eventual. But a better description
would be eschatological-- dealing with end of times,
eschatology, the end of days and the glory of God. So because he uses
so many pictures, I've sort of divided the book
up like a picture frame-- four sides. And I'll be more specific now. Chapters one through three
deal with the commission of the prophet. Ezekiel is called by God. God's hand is on Ezekiel. God speaks to Ezekiel. That's his commission, the
commission of the prophet. The second section is
correction of the problem. That's the national,
where God is dealing with the nation
of Judah for her sin. And the reasons for
her sin, and what's going to happen
eventually, and that is the destruction of the temple. Remember, when Ezekiel preached,
he was a captive in Babylon. But the temple was still
standing for a few more years, but he predicted its demise. So commission of the prophet,
correction of the people. Third section, castigation
of the peoples-- plural. Now we're dealing
internationally with other nations around
the country of Judah. And then finally, conciliation
of God's purposes. That's the last section,
chapters 33 to 48. That is where Israel-- God sees it. The prophet predicts
it being restored, re-gathered in their land. In Ezekiel chapter
1, verse 1, we begin. And again, this is
a 30,000 foot view. We are flying over it. Making notes on a few areas. Looking down out of the airplane
in a few different texts and then zooming ahead. Chapter 1, verse 1-- now it
came to pass in the 30th year-- mark that-- in the fourth month,
on the fifth day of the month, , I was among the captives
by the Kebar River, that the heavens were opened,
and I saw the visions of God. Now when it says the
30th year, notice it doesn't say the
30th year of Jehoiachin or the 30th year
of Nebuchadnezzar. It just says the 30th year. So because of that,
we believe we're dealing on a personal level
with the prophet's age. That Ezekiel, when he gets this
vision, as a young captive, in that second deportation-- he's now in Babylon-- he is 30 years old
when this happens. Why is that significant? Because in the priesthood,
you begin your service when you turn 30 years of age. Which means he had his
birthday in Babylon. Which means he trained
for the priesthood, but he never was able
to serve in that temple that he longed to serve in. Why is that significant? Because of all the
prophets, Ezekiel will be given a
detailed description of another temple that
has never yet been built, but will be built-- not in the Tribulation period,
but in the Millennial Kingdom. Very detailed description-- he
gets to see it in vision form. So it says that, I was among
the captives-- verse one-- by the river Chebar-- or Kebar A better way of looking
at this is the Canal Kebar. There were two
rivers, as you know, in that area of the world. The Tigris River and
the Euphrates River, those were the two huge
rivers that watered the land. The people diverted that water
into canals for irrigation. Ezekiel was with a group of
captives who were camped out by that canal, the River Kebar. And it says the
heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. Now he'll see very
graphic visualizations of the glory of God. So this is a vision from God. This is not a
late-night pizza vision. This is not a spicy
falafel dream. This is something
that God gives to him. This priest, who is no doubt
very discouraged for a couple of reasons. Number one, he's a
refugee, he's a captive. Number two, he never got to
serve as a priest in Jerusalem. It would be sort of like
you're 15 years of age, your 16th birthday is tomorrow. You've gone through driver's ed. You go to the DMV, you think,
tomorrow, to get your license. But then, on the eve
of your birthday, the government
changes the law so that you have to
be 18 years of age to get a driver's license,
which by the way I'm for. [LAUGHTER] But imagine how your
heart would sink the day you turned 16, but never
got to see your dream realized. Now that's where they are. And I can't resist
but reading to you a few verses from a psalm
that will now it make sense. Psalm 137, you should
always keep that in mind whenever you read Ezekiel. By the rivers of Babylon,
there we sat down. Yeah, we wept when
we remembered Zion. We hung our harps upon the
willows in the midst of it, for there, those who carried us
away captive, asked us a song. And those who plundered
requested mirth, saying sing us one
of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the Lord's
song in a foreign land? If I forget you, oh,
Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill. If I do not remember
you, let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth. If I do not exalt Jerusalem
above my chief joy. That's a song psalm
written in retrospect of those who are in
Ezekiel's position, feeling what he
feels, not wanting to have mirth and joy, even
though the Babylonians are-- sing us one of
those Jewish songs. And they were saying, how can
we sing the Lord's song in such a condition? Well, that's where he is. Verse 5, let's skip down
there and move ahead. Also from within it,
came the likeness of four living creatures. It's getting better. And this was their appearance. They had the likeness of a man. That's the general appearance,
humanoid appearance. Each one had four faces. And that's where it departs
from the look of the human, because you and I have one. This creature, these
had four faces. And each one had four wings. Their legs were straight. The sole of their feet were
like the soles of calves feet-- holy cow. And they sparkled like the
color of burnished bronze. The hands of a man were
under their wings-- weird, huh? Little hands under their wings. On their four sides, each of
the four had faces and wings. Now we know what these are, if
we've read chapter 10, as well as chapter one. In chapter 10, this same
vision, these creatures are called cherubim. That's a Hebrew word. I-M is the male Hebrew plural. So a singular, being as a
cherub, or an angelic being, more than one, is cherubim
or cherubim, many angels. We know about cherubim. A couple of them appeared
outside the Garden of Eden in the Book of Genesis,
guarding the entrance. There were a couple of
cherubim whose wings touched on top of the
Ark of the Covenant, as a symbol of God's presence. They were in the vale-- embroidered beautifully in
the Tabernacle and the temple. Cherubim seems to be angels
who guard the presence of God. And they're always seen as a
symbol of the presence of God. Verse 9-- their wings
touched one another. The creatures did not
turn when they went, but each one went
straight forward. So you get, as you read this,
the idea that when they wanted to go one direction or the
other, the mind or the spirit just said, go right, and
[WHIRRING NOISES] like that, without having to turn. They didn't have wheel
wells, or tie rods, or steering wheels to bend. Just, it moved in
that direction. So they went straight forward. Now the Hebrew term
for this vision-- and you see it's a vision
of the glory of God, of the throne of God-- is called the Mare Kaaba. Some of you are familiar with
the Mare Kaaba, or the Mare Kaaba. It is the chariot, the divine
chariot, the throne car of God. I bring it up merely
to state if you ever delve into Talmudic
interpretations, especially the mystical writings, or a
really weird subset of Judaism, called Kab-- the Kabbalah--
Kabbalistic Judaism. It's very mystical and it's all
centered around what this is. It's all about this vision in
Ezekiel chapter one and 10. And there's weird
interpretations. No need, no desire to even get
into it, just to touch on it. Verse 10, as for the
likeness of their faces, each had the face of a man. Each of the four had
the face of a lion. On the right side, each of the
four had the face of an ox. On the left side, each of the
four had the face of an eagle. Now he's got our attention. Now it's sounding more familiar. But let's read on. Thus were their faces. Their wings stretched
upward, two wings of each one touched one another. And the two covered
their bodies. And each one went
straight forward. They went wherever the
spirit wanted to go. And they did not
turn when they went. OK, pause, think
back to our study in the encampment of
the children of Israel in the wilderness. In the wilderness,
there was the center of the camp, the Tabernacle. And on all four sides,
the 12 tribes of Israel were divided into
four main camps-- three tribes on the
south, northeast and west. And those three
tribes on each side were under the banner
of a single tribe. So on one side, they
were under the banner of the tribe of Judah, whose
insignia happened to be a lion. On another side, they
were under the banner of the tribe of Ephraim, whose
banner happened to be an ox. On the other side, they
were under the banner of the tribe of Reuben, whose
banner happened to be a man. And on the final side, they were
under the banner of Dan, whose banner happened to be an eagle. Fascinating, so far, right? All of that gives to us
at least an indication that maybe there's
something to this. Is there more? Yes, there is. It seems that what we saw in
the Tabernacle representing here by these cherubim is a
picture of the throne of God. And the Tabernacle was a model-- crude, albeit-- but a
model of the throne of God. Because when we fast forward
to the Book of Revelation, we also have these
four living creatures and the throne of God depicted
in the Book of Revelation. But what's beautiful is
looking at the four gospels alongside all of that. Four gospels-- not
three, not five-- four. The Gospel of Matthew is
the gospel of the Kingdom. The Kingdom is referred to
more than any other book. That's the lion. Then we have the Gospel of Mark. The word immediately pops
up a lot in that book. And we see Jesus moving
from place to place rapidly, like a servant would. And the animal of
servitude was the ox. Then become to the Gospel of
Luke, written by a Gentile doctor, especially with
the Greeks in mind, who idealized humanity. And they were looking
for the ideal man. And so the term son of man
is used frequently by Luke. And then the most majestic, I
believe, of all the gospels, soaring above the
other, is the Gospel of John, who depicts
Jesus as God, the son, God in human flesh,
the divine, the deity of Christ. And the end of that
book says, that you might believe that Jesus
Christ is the son of God. So again, I believe
depicted in the gospels, seen in the Tabernacle, and
in the Book of Revelation, and seen here in this vision
form, the presence of God, the full orb, glory of
God, in these creatures. Verse 15-- now, as I looked
at the living creatures, it gets weirder. It gets really cool weird. Behold a wheel was on the earth
beside each living creature with its four faces. The appearance of the
wheels and their workings was like the color of barrel,
kind of a goldish yellow. And all the four had that
same likeness, the appearance of their workings,
was, as it were, a wheel in the
middle of a wheel, like a wheel going in
one direction and a wheel going in another direction. Now this is a wild vision. And I have to give
you full disclosure. Some have looked
at this and believe this is proof positive
of the existence of UFOs. I just wanted you-- maybe-- some of you are
looking at me puzzled. Maybe you're among
those who believe this is your UFOs, don't know. I do know that 14%
of Americans believe in the existence of UFOs. But I also know that
14% of Americans believe that they've seen
Elvis before as well. So I don't think this is
UFOs, for a couple of reasons. Number one, Ezekiel has
no problem identifying what this is in chapter 10. These are cherubim. These are angels that are
around the throne of God. And this is a picture of kind
of a mobile throne of God, the presence of God,
dwelling with man. So it's not alien power. It's not horsepower. It's four cherub power,
better than 400 horsepower. I mean, this thing is a
magnificent designed entity. Verse 18, this is cool. As for the rims-- come on, rims? God has mags? They were so high,
they were awesome. And their rims
were full of eyes. None of you have rims
like that on your chariot. When the living
creatures-- verse 19-- went-- the wheels went
beside them, when the living creatures were lifted
up from the Earth, the wheels were lifted up. Wherever the spirit
wanted to go, they went. Because there the spirit went. And the wheels were
lifted together with them, for the spirit of the living
creature was in the wheels. So it speaks of sight,
intelligence, the omniscience of God, I see in that. OK, till now Ezekiel
has been just sort of looking at the
body, the chassis, under the hood a little bit. Verse 28 tells us it's the
appearance of the glory of God. It's the appearance
of the glory of God. Look at chapter 2, verse 1. And he said to me, son of
man, stand on your feet and I will speak to you. This is all that
personal section. Chapter one, God's
hand is on him. Chapter 2, God speaks to him. And chapter 3, as well. Then after that, chapter 4,
he's going to speak through him. Son of man, he said to
me, stand on your feet, and I will speak to you. Now that term, son of
man, I want to explain. It has a couple of different
usages in the Bible. Don't want you to get confused. Generally, it means--
and I say generally, especially in Ezekiel, because
it pops up over 100 times in the Book of Ezekiel. Son of man is a Hebraism-- Hebrew way of
saying human being. You're just the son of Adam. The son of a human being,
thus a human being. It's God's way of saying
I'm God, you're not. I'm God, you're a son of Adam. He's just simply calling
him out as a human being in generic terms. When we get to the
Book of Daniel, however, the term
son of man will be used in chapter 7 in
a very different manner. I'm just giving you a preview. This is now the trailer at
the beginning of the show. In chapter 7,
Daniel sees a vision of the ancient of days
that is God Almighty. And the son of man comes to him. And God Almighty gives to
the son of man in Daniel a kingdom, a dominion, a
power that is everlasting. That is the kind of
son of man that we read about when Jesus
is called the son of man in the New Testament. And you need to know that. When you read son of man
in the New Testament, it's a reference to
Daniel, chapter 7. How do I know that? Because when he said
he was the son of man, and he was called
the son of man, the Jewish leaders
wanted to kill him for assuming that title. If that just meant I'm a
human being, they wouldn't. But if it meant I am saying that
I am the fulfillment of Daniel 7, to whom the
ancient of days will give an everlasting
kingdom, that's different. So now you know the
distinction, right? Now we can move on. Verse 2-- then the
spirit entered me. This is all important. The spirit, God's spirit,
entered me when he spoke to me. And set me on my feet. And I heard him who spoke to me. And he said to me, son
of man, I am sending you to the children of Israel. Now hold that thought. If you think your calling
in ministry is hard-- maybe you have a home group that
is just driving you nuts. Or if you head a connect
group and everybody hates you in that connect group. I doubt that. But if you have a really tough
group you're dealing with, or a Sunday school
class you work with-- oh, these
kids are driving me-- it's a hard calling. Or you're a visiting
pastor, and you think your church is like
sent from not heaven, listen to this crowd. Son of man, I'm sending you
to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that
has rebelled against me and their fathers have
transgressed against me to this very day. So Ezekiel is sent to those
captives by the canal, between the Tigris
and Euphrates River. Chapter 3 is his commissioning. But it says the spirit entered
me in chapter 2, verse 2. Several times in this book
it says the spirit of God entered me. This explains how Ezekiel
was able to do what he did. How do you deal with
this group of people? How do you put up with
this difficult ministry? How do you lay on your side
for a few hundred days, then lay on your other side
for a few hundred days? How do you say what he said? How do you withstand the
taunts of these people? You can't, unless the spirit of
God enters you and enables you. Something else-- I
can't resist this. Look at verse 3. I'm sending you to
the children of who? The children of Israel,
to a rebellious-- what? Nation. Nation. Do you know what a goy is? Have you heard the term goy? So some of you have. If you have Jewish
friends or you've lived in Jewish
communities, a goy is a Jewish word for
a non-Jew, a Gentile. Goyim is the plural for lots
of Gentiles or Gentile nations. What's interesting
is, I'm sending you to the children of Israel,
to a rebellious goyim. He uses the term for
Israel that Israel used for rebellious
nations, ie, the Gentiles. God says to me you are like
they are to you, rebellious against your God. When God spoke of pagans, he
spoke of ha-goyim, the nations. OK, chapter 3 verse 1. Moreover, he said to me, son
of man, eat what you find. Eat this scroll and go speak
to the house of Israel. You wouldn't expect
parchment to taste very good. If you've ever eaten a
piece of paper, not good. Verse 2, so I opened
my mouth and he caused me to eat that scroll. And it goes on to say it
was sweet to his taste. But there's a principle here. Anyone who speaks
for God effectively must first internalize the
truth of God for themselves. The preacher must preach
first to the preacher and then to everybody else. Jeremiah 15 said, your words
were found, and I did eat them, and they were to me the joy
and the rejoicing of my heart. So he takes this
message, internalizes it, as seen in this
vision of the scroll. Verse 17 of chapter
3-- son of man, I have made you a watchman
for the house of Israel. Therefore, hear a
word from my mouth and give them warning from me. In ancient times, a watchman
was an important person in any city. A city in those
days was not large. It was quite small. A city was a few acres,
with a wall around it, and watchtowers in
it, and watchman would stand in the watchtower,
and they would watch. That was their job. They'd look out. It's not easy to do that. We stop for a few moments,
we take out our phone, because we can't
stand the boredom. We have to look at a screen. Imagine just watching, watching,
watching, watching, no watches, to watch just, watching out
there, to look for enemies, to sound the alarm. They were called watchman. In vineyards, there was
a little watchtower. And they got in the
watchtower and they watched from the watchtower. That's what they did. Their job was to watch,
to see, and to speak if there was a problem. So the term watchman is
a really good description of what a prophet did. In ancient times, prophets
weren't called prophets. They were called seers. In the early part of the Old
Testament, a seer, somebody who sees into the
future, and sees what the issue is with the people. Ro'eh is the Hebrew
word for see, seers. And then they were
called prophets. The Hebrew word nabi-- one who proclaims for God. But you put both those
roles together-- somebody who watches, sees, and somebody
who speaks if there's danger, and you have the term watchman. That's his job as a
prophet, a watchman for the house of Israel. And as a watchman, he
predicts in chapters 4 through 24, the fall of
Jerusalem, very graphically. So we come to the second
section in chapter 4, the correction of the problem. This is where the watchman tells
the people in captivity-- hey, you think we have it bad? It's going to get worse. The city of Jerusalem, you're
not going back anytime soon, as Jeremiah has written you a
letter already, saying you're going to be here 70 years. He's right, you're going
to be here a long time. You're not going back. In fact, the city of Jerusalem
is going to be destroyed. So chapter 4, verse 1,
you also, son of man, take a clay tablet and lay it
before you, and portray on it, or draw a picture on
this wet clay a city. Which city? Jerusalem. Lay siege against it. Build a siege wall against it. And heap up a mound against it. Set camps against it also. And place a battering ram or
battering rams against it, all around. Do you remember as kids
playing with army men? Anybody do that? OK, I'm not ashamed to do it. Some of the best
days of my life, playing in the front yard,
building little mounds and playing with army men. Ezekiel got to do that. That was part of this calling. That's kind of a
cool job, right? What's my next sermon? You're going to play army. You're going to build a
little model of a city. And you're going to
build battering rams. And you're going to-- [IMITATING BATTERING RAM]----
and make all those noises. And portray for the people what
is really going to happen over in the city of Jerusalem. He got to play war. Verse 4, lie also
on your left side. Lay the iniquity of the
house of visual upon it, according to the number of
the days that you lie on it. You shall bear their iniquity. For I have laid on you the
years of their iniquity, according to the
number of the days-- 390 days. So you shall bear the iniquity
of the house of Israel. When you have completed them,
lie again on your right side. And you shall bear the iniquity
of the house of Judah-- 40 days. I have laid on you
a day for each year. So I'm guessing that he lay
on one side, facing north, to depict the northern kingdom. And next, on his
other side, facing south to depict the
southern kingdom of Judah. The question I
get asked whenever I go through the book of
Ezekiel, teaching through it, is, did he lay there
24 hours a day? Probably not. He could have. And then God would have had
to supernaturally kept him from getting decubitus
sores that any patient lying in one position for a
long time would get. But probably just during
the daylight hours, the busiest part of the
day, he laid on his side. Then he got up and went home. Did it again for
a number of days. And then switched sides. My guess. Verse 12, and you shall eat-- you shall eat it-- this is a
concoction he has to make-- eat it as barley cakes
and bake it using fuel. So he has to make these
this meal of cakes using fuel of human waste. I don't want to be a prophet. I declare a non-profit
organization, right-- this is it. Well, Ezekiel is going
to feel the same way. The Lord said, so shall
the children of Israel eat their defiled bread
among the Gentiles. In other words, it's going
to get so bad in Jerusalem and where I drive them
in captivity later on. So I said, aw,
Lord God, indeed, I have never defiled myself
from my youth till now. I've never eaten what died of
itself, or was torn by beasts, or has abominable flesh
ever come into my mouth. This sounds a lot like Peter. When he saw those unkosher
things in that vision he saw-- four-footed beasts
coming down on a sheet. And the Lord said, rise,
Peter, kill and eat. And he, being obedient and
acquiescent, said, not so Lord, I've never done that. What Ezekiel is saying
is understandable. Look, I'm a priest. I'm kosher. I don't do human dung. I've never eaten like this. I've never eaten
food like this-- not so, Lord. Now what is going on? God is portraying
what life is going to be like when
Jerusalem is under siege. Verse 15, then he said to me,
see, I'm giving you cow dung. Isn't the Bible great? You who thought the Bible
never has fun stuff in it. This is pretty cool. God is saying, I'm
giving you cow dung. Just mark that. Instead of human waste, and
you shall prepare your bread over it. So what is God doing? He's making a gracious,
gracious concession that he can cook on
cow chips, cow dung. It was a very gracious move. Or I should say a
gracious moooove, right-- for that to happen. Some of these things
you can't resist. [LAUGHTER] By the way, in the Middle East
today, some of the Arab tribes still cook over
animal dung because of the scarcity of wood. It dries out. And they use it for fires. This all to say the siege
will be difficult. Chapter 6, verse 7, describes the siege. The slain shall
fall in your midst and you shall know
that I am the Lord. That is a dominant
theme in this book. You shall know that
I am the Lord-- 60 times in this book. God is saying I'm going
to get this message through your thick,
rebellious skulls-- I am the Lord. That's the purpose
of the captivity, to get them to know
he is the Lord. And it worked. When they returned
from captivity, they never went into this
blanket kind of idolatry ever again. But the visions continue. In chapter 9 and 10,
that weird merkava comes back, that four
cherub powered vehicle-- the presence of God,
the glory of God. But this time, Ezekiel
sees the vision of the glory of God
moving eastward, moving east, past the
city of Jerusalem, toward the Mount of Olives,
and then eventually leaving. The glory of God departs. God says, bye-bye,
I'm leaving you now, allowing now the
Babylonians to come in. Chapters 25 through 32
is that third section, the castigation of the peoples. There are nations around Israel. Seven nations are mentioned-- nations like Moab, and
Ammon, and Philistia, and Tyre and Sidon, and a large
section on the nation of Egypt. Four of them are
singled out because of their hatred for the Jews. I want to take you to
one really briefly. Chapter 28 is the fall of the
city of Tyre, up in present day Lebanon. And what's noteworthy about
this is in chapter 28, there is a segue between
the physical reality to a spiritual reality
in the same chapter. That is, some of the language
fits an earthly monarch. Some of the language
in the chapter clearly does not fit
an earthly monarch, but it does fit,
interestingly, Satan as the power behind the power. So he's addressing
an earthly monarch, but then he addresses what
appears to be an earthly monarch, but the
description cannot refer-- must refer to Satan. If you think this is wild
or unprecedented, it is not. Jesus did it with Peter. When Peter said, we're not going
to let you go to Jerusalem. We're going to take care of you. We're going to protect you, God. Jesus turned to Peter
and said get behind me. Satan. He called Peter "Satan?" Well, he wasn't really saying
you really are the devil, as much as I'm talking to the
power behind you who gave you that thought. So with that in
mind, chapter 28, verse 1-- let's move quickly. The word of the Lord came to
me again, saying, son of man, say to the prince of Tyre,
thus says the Lord God, because your heart is lifted
up, and you say I am a God. I sit in the seat of gods
in the midst of the seas. Yet you are a man and not a god. Though you set your heart
as the heart of a god. You see the word prince
that we just read? It's the Hebrew word nagid. And nagid means man at the top. And the man at the top
of this city of Tyre, according to Flavius Josephus,
the Jewish historian, was a man named Itto-Baal, II. If you're taking notes,
that's I-T-T-O-B-A-A-L, II. Itto-Baal, II, he was the
ruler of Tyre at the time. He was proud because
he was wealthy. He was proud because
he was powerful. He was proud because
of his location. I told you it before,
about the city of Tyre. It was an island. They thought they were
impregnable, impenetrable. Alexander the Great
finally took them over. Verse 11-- moreover, the word
of the Lord came to me saying, son of man, take up a
lamentation for not the prince, but the King of
Tyre and say to him, thus says the Lord God, you
were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and
perfect in beauty. He uses a different word,
not nagid for prince, but the word melech for
king, which in Hebrew is a common name for melech-- or for king-- melech. But what's interesting
is Ezekiel never uses the word melech for
any of the kings of Israel, except for one. And that's Jehoiachin. He never uses that term. So all of that to say, what you
now read following this cannot describe any earthly ruler. It reaches into the
spiritual arena, to the source, as it were. Look at verse 13-- continuing on to
the King of Tyre. You were in Eden
the garden of God. Oh really, when was
the King of Tyre ever in the Garden of Eden? Never. Every precious stone
was you're covering. The sardius, topaz, diamond,
beyrl, onyx, jasper, sapphire, turquoise, emerald with gold. The workmanship of your
timbrles and pipes-- those are musical instruments--
was prepared for you on the day you were created-- not born. This creature was created. Verse 14-- you were
the anointed what? Cherub. Cherub, singular cherub,
angelic being, who covers. So you were an angelic guardian. He saw cherubim in that
vision of the merkava. Now he's talking to
the King of Tyre-- you're the anointed
cherub who covers. You were like the angelic
guardian for the throne. I established you. You were on the holy
mountain of God. You walked back and forth in
the midst of the fiery stones. Verse 15, you were
perfect in your ways. The word perfect means
blameless or undefiled. You were perfect in
your ways, from the day you were created until
iniquity was found in you. That word, until,
could be argued is the saddest word
in human history. Because what follows until,
iniquity was found in Lucifer-- Satan-- is what plummeted
his fall, caused his fall, and plummeted the earth
thereafter into the curse that we now experience. Now Jesus refers to this
in the New Testament Book of Luke, chapter 10. He said, I saw Satan fall
from heaven like lightning. Whenever you read
that passage, you should remember two Old
Testament scriptures-- Ezekiel 14, which says
how have you fallen from Heaven, oh, Lucifer, son
of the morning, and Ezekiel 28, you were the anointed cherub
who covers until iniquity was found in you. So obviously, a
beautiful creature. Not horns, and a pitchfork,
and a little pointed tail. All that has coming from
Greek and Roman mythology. The god Pan, Bacchus, all
of that medieval picturesque stuff. It's not biblical stuff. He's a very beautiful creature. The Bible says, in Ezekiel, when
we see him, we're going to say, you're the one that
caused so much trouble? OK, let's close the book. Chapters 33 to 48 is about
the restoration of the land. It's the conciliation of all
of God's purpose for Israel. In this section, it
includes nine chapters that are devoted and detail
that temple I told you about, the millennial temple during
the millennial kingdom. The last section
has three parts-- the regathering of the Jews, the
regeneration of Jewish hearts, and the re-establishment
of the Jewish kingdom. All of that is in
the last section. Why is it here? To give the people in captivity
who think it's all over hope. It ain't over till it's over. You're coming back to Israel. But there's going to
be a kingdom set up, where Israel will be at the
center of the kingdom age on the Earth. So three parts-- Israel
is to be regathered. Chapter 36, verse 24-- for I will take you
from among the nations, gather you out of all
countries, not just Babylon, all countries, and
bring you into your own land. It's interesting, if
you go to Israel today, there are two immediately
apparent things you discover. Number one, Jews are speaking
a revived Hebrew language. Number two, they are doing
so in their ancient homeland, of which God promised they
would one day be there and do what they're doing. That happened on May 14th, 1948. I can't resist reading to you
a prediction or a citation from Encyclopedia Britannica. I've always loved them. I had a copy of
my own for years. I saved up, found a
used set, loved them. But I discovered a citation
in Encyclopedia Britannica from the 1911 edition, that
said an interesting comment. And I'm quoting-- "The possibility that we
can ever again recover the correct pronunciation
of ancient Hebrew is as remote a possibility that
a Jewish empire will ever again be established in
the Middle East." End quote. That was 1911. 36 years later, May 14th,
1948, David Ben-Gurion said, we're back. He didn't say it that way. He didn't quite say that. OK, Israel will be regathered,
Israel will be regenerated. Go down to verse 25. Then I will sprinkle
clean water on you. You will be clean. All of this is the
language of the priesthood. The priests would sprinkle water
on for ritual purification. I will cleanse you from all your
filthiness from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and
put a new spirit within you. I will take the heart of
stone out of your flesh, give you a heart of
flesh, the new nature to overcome the old nature. I will put my spirit
within you and cause you to walk in my statutes. And you will keep my
judgments and do them. Now that sprinkling
that refers to Israel is widened out by
the Prophet Isaiah, in his servant passage
about the coming messiah. Isaiah chapter 42-- Isaiah 52-- where he
says, and he, messiah, shall sprinkle many nations-- not one nation, many nations. All of this speaks
of the new covenant, beginning with Israel,
but then to all nations. As John the Baptist said,
behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the-- World. World-- it's for everybody. So what that tells us is,
how did Jews get saved? Not by being a Jew. A Jew gets saved the same
way a non-Jew gets saved. A Jew gets saved by believing
in the Jewish messiah, Jesus Christ, who shed
his blood for us. Everybody gets
saved the same way. The only advantage, Paul
will say in Romans-- I don't want to steal my
thunder for the upcoming Sunday messages-- but
the only advantage is God already deposited
all of that revelation. So you should be aware
of that in advance. Anyway, put that on pause. Save that for a few weeks. Chapter 37 is the
illustration of chapter 36. And now we get to the
vision of dry bones. Chapter 37, verse 1-- the
hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in
the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the
midst of the valley. That word could be
translated-- battlefield. And it was full of bones. He caused me to pass
by them all around. And behold, there were very
many in the open valley and, indeed, they were very dry. They're dead-- dead
in their dispersion, dead in their disobedience, dead
in their failed relationship with God, dead because of
the destruction of the city by the Babylonians. And he said to me-- son of
man, can these bones live, God asked Ezekiel. So I answered, Oh,
Lord God, you know. That's a safe answer. That's a good answer. God asks you something--
well, you know. Again, he said,
prophesied of these bones, and say to them oh, dry bones,
here the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord
God to these bones, surely I will cause breath to
enter you and you shall live. The word breath is
the Hebrew word ruah. That's ruah-- breath. It's also the word
spirit in Hebrew. Also the word wind in Hebrew. The Hebrew word for Holy
Spirit is ruach hakodesh. That is spirit, or breath, ha-- the holy, the holy spirit. So I will cause breath to
enter you and you shall live. That's chapter 37. It illustrates the coming
together, the regathering. Chapter 38 describes
an invasion of Israel and the defeat of the invader. Chapter 39 is the
cleanup afterwards. These are events that occur
after Israel gets restored back in the land. OK, so they're there now. 36 and 37 are fulfilled. Chapter 38 describes a
battle that will take place once Israel is in the land. The battle hasn't happened yet. It's a future battle. Some believe it's part of
the battle of Armageddon. I happen to believe it is apart
from the 70th week of Daniel, or the great tribulation period,
if you know your eschatology. Some see it melded
into the seven years. I see it as apart from
that, but leading to it. Does that make sense? If not, ask me
about it afterwards. Chapter 38, verse 1-- now the
word of the Lord came to me, saying, son of man, set
your face against gog-- that means leader--
of the land of Magog. Magog means modern day Turkey. Keep that in mind. The prince of Rosh,
Meshach, and Tubal, and prophesy against him. All of these are labels that
come to us out of Genesis 10, the table of nations. Josephus, Hesiod,
Herodotus say that these depict Russia and allies,
the allies of that area. Verse 5, interesting
ally, Persia, that's Iran,
Ethiopia, and Libya, that's North Africa, with all
of them with shield and helmet, Gomer, that is probably Armenia. Hold that thought. And all of its troops. The house of Togarmah--
that's eastern Turkey, from the far north,
with all of its troops. Many people are with you. When is Ezekiel
wrote this, there was absolutely no connection or
coalition between these people. What is interesting is
that today, as I speak, there is already a
coalition that is formed. Go look it up-- not
now, wait till later. A strategic coalition of
Russia, Iran, and Armenia and stuff that is going
on in the Middle East. Chapter 39 shows God destroying
the nations that attack Israel. It's the catalyst that
returns them back to God. Chapter 48, or 40 to 48,
is the rebuilt temple and the reorganization of a
national life during the 1,000 years. I just want to look at-- I don't have time. I want to look down at
chapter 48, the very last verse-- the tribal
allotments are given. The Dead Sea in Israel, it's
predicted in chapter 47-- get this. The Dead Sea, six times
saltier than the ocean. You don't want to
get it in your eyes. You drink it, you'll throw up. You will. You can float on it,
even if you cannot swim. The Dead Sea, it is predicted,
will turn into freshwater. There will be a river
from Jerusalem-- other prophets speak about this. And so the waters of
the Dead Sea are healed and fishermen spread their
nets from Ein Gedi to Qumran. You say, where is that? When you come to
Israel, I'll show you both of those places
at the Dead Sea. So last verse, chapter 48-- I'm finishing this book. Verse 35-- all the way around
shall be 18,000 cubits-- keep in mind this is describing
the environment of Jerusalem, expanded area of a holy
area and a huge temple, unlike we've ever seen
built historically. And the name of the city from
that day shall be the Lord is There-- the Lord is There. [APPLAUSE] OK, now I'm excited about this. The glory departed from
Jerusalem, chapter 9 and 10, Ezekiel saw it, and
probably those little hands, going bye-bye from
that little merkava-- see ya. So it departed. He predicts it's
coming back for good. And the name of the place
will be the Lord is There. The Hebrew name
for Jerusalem is-- the pronunciation--
it's Jerusalem, but the Hebrew pronunciation
is Yerushalayim-- Yerushalayim, the City of Peace. The new name-- it's in the
Bible, but very few know this. You will know this after this. It'll come about, in the future,
in the millennial kingdom, the 1,000 years-- it won't be called Jerusalem. It's going to be called-- what's the name? The Lord is There. The Lord is There. The Hebrew name is
similar to Yerushalayim but it is Yahweh-shammah. Yahwe-shammah is
the Lord is There. That's Hebrew. So not Yerushalayim,
but Yahweh-shammah. Remember that. Get used to that. Because that'll be a name for
1,000 years that that city will be called. Cool that you know. See, you've got
the inside scoop. OK, I just want to
close with this thought. I know I'm four minutes
overtime, but do you mind? Can I have one thought? Just give me one thought. And please hug those teachers
and kids for being so patient. I like teaching
through the Bible. And I like teaching in
end times eschatology. There is a tendency, especially
among young preachers, especially among
millennial young preachers, to avoid teaching eschatology. They don't teach it. I've been to churches where
they're 12, 15 years old and I was going to bring in
eschatological-- don't teach on that, don't teach on that. My people not have
any idea what that is. I go, really? You've had 15 years to
tell them and you haven't? You'll just confuse them. We don't give into end times. When you don't-- let me just
phrase it to you in a question. Why would you ever
rob God of that glory? It's God's glory in
creation, but also God's glory in the future
to rebuild what he said. So much of the Bible
is eschatological. Its future. Learn it. Get good at it. Be an expert at it. And then teach it. OK, enough said. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for your
glory that was depicted and that will fill the Earth,
beginning in Jerusalem, in that theocratic kingdom that
is coming with the Lord Jesus at the helm. We look forward to it. In his name we pray, Amen. We hope you enjoyed this message
from Skip Heitzig of Calvary Church. For more resources,
visit Calvarynm. church. Thank you for joining us for
this teaching from The Bible from 30,000 Feet.
