Exiles, Fog, And A Ready Light

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Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, and we shall walk in his paths.

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Welcome to Come On Up, the radio ministry of the Mountain Cross in Waynesville, North Carolina. Today, Pastor Carl begins a journey through the book of Ezekiel. The prophet Ezekiel wasn't standing in Jerusalem's temple when God called him. He was a captive in Babylon, far from home, among people who wondered if God had abandoned them. Their sorrow echoes the words of Psalm 137. By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion. A story is told of a lighthouse keeper who faithfully polished the great lens every day, even during weeks of thick fog when no ships could be seen. Someone asked why he bothered when no one was out there. The keeper replied, The ships may not see me, but the light must always be ready. That is the message that bursts onto the pages of Ezekiel 1. Even in exile, even in grief, even when God's people could not see the way ahead, the glory of the Lord came to them. God was not confined to a temple or limited by a nation's borders. His throne was moving, his purposes were advancing, and his presence had not departed. Stay with us as we discover the God whose glory meets his people wherever they are, beginning in Ezekiel chapter 1. Here's Pastor Carl.

Psalm 137 And The Pain Of Babylon

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Alright, as we study the book of Ezekiel, let's begin by going to the book of Psalms. It makes perfect sense. It will make perfect sense. Psalm 137, and we'll read part of it, beginning at verse 1. It said, By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea 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 of us a song, and those who plundered us requested myrrh, saying, Sing one of those songs of Zion. How shall we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land? If I forget you, O 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. And this is a psalm that's written by the folks that have come over and they were by this river, and uh their their captives weren't quite the same as what Israel experienced when they were in Egypt, when they were put into slavery. Uh in Babylon, they were kind of brought into society and and and taught new ways to do things, and they were assimilated. That's the word I was looking for, assimilated. And yet they remembered their homeland. They remembered Jerusalem and how the things used to be, and they really couldn't celebrate and sing these songs. But it's interesting because they had fallen into idolatry. They had been living life like the Babylonians were living their lives. They kind of forgot the Lord, and that's why they were taken captive in the first place. It was part of God's judgment upon his people because they left him. And now they even in this mourning, in this thought of it, it's not the way it used to be, we can't sing these songs, they aren't missing their relationship with the Lord, it looks like. It looks like they are missing the old times in Jerusalem, the old religious ways, the old memories. Which means they were still stuck in the sin that brought them to Babylon in the first place. Does that make sense? And after a while they would enjoy Babylon and enjoy the life that they were given there, kind of like it is in our nation today. I just like to make money and I like to have a good family, and I like to do this and that, and and we miss the Lord. Do you live for your life? Do you live for your family? Do you live for your positions or your your your kingdom that you're building? Or do you live for the Lord in the land that God places you?

When We Miss Comfort More Than God

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Now, in comparison, this prophet Ezekiel was also taken captive, and instead of saying, I'm not going to sing songs of joy anymore because I'm not in Jerusalem, the Lord actually visits him with an amazing vision. And that's what we're going to enter into this morning. So Ezekiel chapter one, verse one begins like this. Now it came to pass in the third thirtieth year of the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the Rid River Chibar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. And he gave me these words to share. Verse two. On the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of King Jehoakim's captivity, the word of the Lord came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chibar, and the hand of the Lord was upon him there. Ezekiel was a man who was being trained to be a priest. And I think the way they do that is from age 20 to 30, you enter into an internship, and at age 30, you are anointed and set on your assignment to be a priest of the Most High God. Now, halfway in the middle of that, he was taken captive along with others. I think he came, was captive in that second wave from Jerusalem. And he finds himself in Babylon pondering,

Ezekiel Called Far From Jerusalem

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I'm 30 now, and I should be in Jerusalem serving as a priest, and yet I'm here in Babylon for five years already. And it was at that time that the Lord came upon him. The hand of the Lord was upon him there. And then I looked, and behold, a whirlwind was coming out of the north, a great cloud with raging fire engulfing itself, and brightness was all around it, and radiating out of the midst like the color of amber out of the midst of this fire. Also from within it came the the likeness of four living creatures, and this was their appearance. They had the likeness of a man. Each one had four faces, and each one had four wings. Their legs were straight, and their soles of their feet were like soles of cattle's feet. They sparkled like the color of burnished uh bronze. The hands of a man were under their wings on their four sides, and each one of the four had faces and wings. And commentators have attempted

The Four Living Creatures Revealed

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to explain these things through the millennia. And I'm not going to try to explain and tell you precisely what all these things mean. But I'll attempt some of it. Uh in a minute we'll see that uh not only do they have a face of a man, but they have a face of four other creatures. But man is the one that God has has designed, has chosen to take care of this earth. Man was made a little lower than the angels, and this angel has a face of a man. What an interesting connection. There was also a face of a lion and the face of an eagle, and the face of I just went blank. An ox. I think so. Well, we'll see it in a few minutes here. But but but showing this power and majesty and unity, you'll see it here, and strength and ability to help. These were not angels that had just wings, but they had hands, so that they can get into the work and they can do what they're being told. And as we go on, you'll see that this these creatures were led by the Spirit of the Lord. Without hesitancy, they went exactly where the Lord led them to go. And Ezekiel is beginning to see this and trying his best to describe it. Their wings touched each other. The creatures did not turn when they went, but each one went straight forward as they were guided and directed. As for the likeness of their faces, here we go, each one had the face of a man, and each of the four had a face of a lion on the right side, and each of the four had the face of an ox. So man is the one who is in charge of creation. The lion is like the king of the jungle. He has strength and and authority. The ox has strength to get work done. And the eagle uh is is the king of the heavens, you could say. So these creatures represented parts of God's creation. How God works in and amongst his creation. And again, that that doesn't that that falls short of describing what is going on here. It's interesting, in the book of Revelation, John saw four different creatures, each one having a face of his own. There was one with a man, one with an ox, one with a lion, one with an eagle. And it could be that those were the faces that were looking at him, but they had the three other faces around the rest of their head as well. Because this is the same thing that John saw as Ezekiel is seeing here. Thus were their faces, their wings stretched upward, and two wings of each one touched one another, and two covered their bodies. They were powerful, yet they were humble. They were powerful, yet it seems like they need to protect themselves, but they don't, because they they are these powerful creatures from the Lord. And as you can see in a few minutes, actually bringing the Lord into the picture, escorting the Lord. Verse 12, and each one went straight forward, and they went wherever the spirit wanted to go. And they did not turn when they went.

Going Where The Spirit Leads

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You realize that uh Satan or Lucifer was the chief cherub. He was the cherub that guarded the throne of God. And pride entered into his heart, and he wanted to exalt himself above the throne of God. And he and a third of the angels rebelled and left heaven. This is a creature that did not rebel. These are creatures, these cherubim that we see here are creatures that are fully into following the Lord. And they're yielded to the Lord, and they're guided by the Holy Spirit, which sounds a lot like something that Jesus was telling Nicodemus in that chapter where he said, You must be born again. John 3, 8 says, The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes and and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. Just like these creatures go as the Spirit leads, that is God's will for each of us as believers in Jesus Christ. If you have surrendered your life to Him, if you have asked Him to take control of your life, the Holy Spirit lives within you, and He guides you and He directs you in the way you should go. Even if it doesn't make sense, we say yes, Lord, and we go. Or do we? Sometimes we say, I don't know, Lord, I just don't understand that, and I just don't want to go that way. But this is God's will for us. This is God's desire for us that we would follow and go, even when we don't understand, to places that He desires to take us, to use us, to bless us, to bless others, to bring them into a knowledge of Him. Back in our study, verse 13. As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire. It reminds me of that passage in Isaiah, where Isaiah is brought before the throne of God, and an angel brings a coal from the altar, the altar of the prayers of God's people that are being offered up to the Lord. And he's taken that uh piece of coal and the the the creature places it on his lips to make him pure before the Lord. Because Isaiah said, I can't be here. This is way beyond me. I am I am not holy, I do not need to be here. And he was made clean. Same sort of thing. These are coming like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches going back and forth among the living creatures. They're going straight, they're going exactly where they're supposed to be going, but somehow they're zipping around back and forth as well, like lightning. Like light. The glory of our Lord. He's described as the light of the world. And he told us as believers that we are now light of the world. So as God is working through his agents, his agents bring light as well. The fire was bright, and out of the fire went lightning, and the living creatures ran back and forth in appearance just like a flash of lightning. And what does that remind you of? Jesus even said at the end in Matthew 24, 27, he says, For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. When the Lord comes back, it's gonna look a lot like what Ezekiel is seeing in this picture. It's gonna be amazing, it's gonna be bright, it's gonna be scary. Because Jesus is the light of the world. And when his glory shines, there will be no darkness that can escape it.

Wheels Within Wheels And God’s Chariot

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Now, as I looked at the living creatures, 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 beryl or or or shined bronze. And all four had the same likeness. The appearance of their workings was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel, which is very interesting, and people have have come up with all sorts of explanations of what this was back in the 70s, um when when UFOs were a big deal, and now they're becoming more and more of a big deal again. Uh people will say this is a vision of a UFO that's coming down. And you might see that because you have a wheel, and a wheel kind of looks like a saucer that's flying. Some people say this this is a jet, this is a this is an airplane because um of how the propeller works and it spins inside the other thing. Even jets, you know, have parts that move inside and inside, and it could be all these things, but those still fall short of what this is. This is this is the glory of God. Commentators call this the chariot of God, and in a few moments you'll see the throne of God on the chariot coming in the midst of all this. And again, you you need to back up. Ezekiel's trying his best to explain what he's seeing. He's trying to explain the unexplainable. And so, I'm going to try to explain a little bit here. Um, other commentators I have heard is uh saying it's not a wheel and a wheel like this, but it's a wheel in a wheel. In other words, in in perpendicular to each other. In other words, these are these are made so they could go any direction, any time, anyway. And they're spinning uh together in an impossible way, but but God is the the king over physics, right? And he makes it work in this awesome thing that we can't begin to understand. And as we go on, we'll understand the purpose of these wheels, even if we don't fully understand what these wheels are. Verse 17, when they moved, they went toward any one of four directions, up, down, sideways, you know, both ways, and all four ways, and did not turn aside when they went. Always going exactly where they need to go, whatever direction that was. And as for their rims, they were so high, they were awesome. It's one of those raised trucks, but it's even bigger than that. Just imagine giant wheels, and he didn't know what else to say. It was just awesome and just awe-inspiring. I just I didn't know how else to describe this. They were just big, big wheels. And their rims were full of eyes all around, the four of them. Just eyes all around. They see everything in every direction they go, which is, I believe, a symbol of our Lord. Because he goes everywhere, he is everywhere, and he sees everything. And even even the the glory of this image that that Ezekiel sees, does it fall short itself of the glory of God and his holiness and his ever-presence, if we want to call it that. It's just amazing things here. Verse 19, and when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them, and when the living creatures lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up. Perfect unity, perfect tandem, not directed by individual will, but yielded to the will of God. Because in verse 20, 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 creatures was in the wheels. It seems like they were so yielded, they were so sold, they were they were committed to doing the will of God that their heart was with the Lord in the wheels, and and it all just worked in tandem together. Are we so committed to the Lord where we can't tell where we are and where the Lord is? Because the Lord has taken us over so much that his will is our will. Lord, get me out of the way so people can't tell the difference between me and you when it's all you working in and through my life. And when these went, these went, um, where these stood, these stood, and where these Were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up together with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. No accidents. This creation of living creatures and wheels and and all combined together, whatever it was, it just worked exactly the way that God intended it to work.

Crystal Firmament And Sovereign Order

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And the likeness of the firmament above the heads of the living creatures was like the color of an awesome crystal stretched out over the heads. The term firmament is first used in the book of Genesis during the time of the flood when there was a firmament above and a firmament below. And that firmament seems to talk about our atmosphere. And so Ezekiel's trying to describe that there is this plane, this atmosphere that I saw. And above it, the heads of the living creatures were just so awesome in this colours. And under the firmament, their wings spread out straight, one toward another. Each one had two that which covered one side, and each one had two that covered the other side of the body. He's just trying to describe that. So one is above this glory, this firmament above, and then you had a firmament below, and they were like going through it all, and and it was like you got heaven on one side and earth on the other side, and they they invaded both. They were part of it all. And I know I'm falling short of trying to explain this. In the book of Revelation, something similar to this firmament is described as a sea of glass before the Lord. Just pure and bright and holy.

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Those living creatures and the wheels within wheels, moving wherever the Spirit directed, remind us that God's purposes are never random and his throne is never threatened. What may seem mysterious to us is perfectly ordered by the sovereign hand of God. We hope you'll join us next time on Come On Up as Pastor Carl continues this study in the book of Ezekiel. We'll continue the account of the chariot of God and follow how the awesome vision of God's glory leads to Ezekiel's call and commission as the Lord's faithful watchman. Until then, may the Lord strengthen your faith as you trust the one who reigns over every circumstance and whose glory fills heaven and earth.

Next Steps, Church Invite, And Website

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The Mountain Cross is a group of believers in Jesus who seek to grow in faith by simply teaching the Bible, verse by verse, chapter by chapter. We meet Sundays at the Smoky Mountain Cinema in Waynesville beginning at 10 a.m. If you're in our area, we'd love to have you join us. If you enjoy the simple teaching of God's Word here on Come On Up, that's exactly how we study God's Word together each week. And if you don't live nearby, we encourage you to find a good Bible-teaching church where the scriptures are faithfully taught and Jesus Christ is honored. We also invite you to visit themountaincross.com. We'd love to hear from you and encourage you in your walk with Christ. Thanks for listening today. Come on up to the mountain again with us next time as we seek to learn more from the Lord through His Word. Come On Up is sponsored by The Mountain Cross, a Calvary Chapel fellowship.