Welcome And Setting Ezekiel’s Scene

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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. Last time, Pastor Carl introduced us to Ezekiel's astonishing vision of God's glory as it appeared by the river Chabar in Babylon. Today we pick up in Ezekiel 1, verse 24, where the sound of the living creatures gives way to a voice from above the expanse, and Ezekiel beholds the glorious throne of the Lord. Overwhelmed by the vision, he falls on his face. Yet the God of infinite majesty does something remarkable. He speaks, he calls Ezekiel to stand, commissions him to carry his message to a rebellious people, and feeds him a scroll filled with God's word before sending him into the ministry. A veteran blacksmith once took on an apprentice who was eager to begin shaping glowing steel. But before handing him a hammer, the master simply said, First, learn to listen. For weeks the young man watched, listened, and learned the rhythm of the forge. Only then was he ready to shape the metal. The master knew that the skill begins with hearing. So it is with God's servants. Before Ezekiel could speak for the Lord, he had to hear from the Lord. Before he could proclaim God's message, he had to receive it into his own heart. Now, here's Pastor Carl.

The Sound And Sight Of Glory

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And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings and the noise of many waters and the voice of the Almighty, a tumult like the noise of an army. And when they stood still, they let down their wings. Not only was it a sight to behold, but it was a sound to behold. You know, surround sound doesn't come close to what he experienced there. It shook them to the core. This is the power of God. And a voice came from above the firmament that was over their heads. Whenever they stood, they let down their wings, and above the firmament over their heads was the likeness of a throne, an appearance like a sapphire stone. On the likeness of the throne was a likeness of the appearance of a man high above it, but not just any man. Verse twenty-seven. Also from the appearance of his waist and upward I saw, as it were, the color of amber, and the the appearance of all around it within it, and from the appearance of his um of his waist and downward I saw, as it were, the appearance of fire and brightness all around. Our God is a consumering fire, isn't he? Our God led the Israelites in the wilderness as a pillar of fire at night and as a cloud in the day. It was this fire that earlier was described as developing and consuming itself. It just kept burning and burning and burning, much like the burning bush that Moses ran into, where he came face to face with the great I Am. These are all just glimpses into the glory of God. And all these colors and all these stones are brought out in the book of Revelation as well. Just these are consistent visions of what heaven will be like. These are consistent images of what the glory of God through the person of Jesus will be like. Verse 28, like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. We sang about that. That around the throne of God will be rainbows of color. And again, it just falls short of the brightness and the majesty of what we will experience.

Falling Face Down Before The Throne

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This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of our Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face. Wouldn't you? It's overwhelming. I can just imagine, just when we get there, it's just so strong and so overwhelming and so so wonderful, but so so fearful. We're just gonna fall on our faces and say, Holy, holy, holy. We're gonna be like Peter, get away from me. I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm a sinner, I'm a fallen man. But as the Lord did to Peter, he'll say, Get up. I've made you pure, I've made you holy, and now you can stand in the presence of the glory of God. Wow. And he fell on his face and he heard the voice of one speaking. This is a lot like what we saw in Revelation chapter four. After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking, and saying, Come up here, and I will show you the things that which must take place after this. Immediately I was in the spirit, and behold, a throne set in heaven, and one sat on the throne, and he who sat on it was like a jasper and a Sardis stone in appearance, and there was a rainbow around the throne in appearance, like an emerald. John saw the throne in heaven, Ezekiel saw the throne here on earth, and the one sitting on the throne said to me, Son of man, stand on your feet, and

Standing By The Spirit’s Power

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I will speak to you. Then the Spirit entered me when he spoke, and set me on my feet, and I heard him who spoke to me. And a quick theological thing. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit would come upon people. In the New Testament, Jesus said, I must go so that I can send you the promise of the Father, the Holy Spirit, who will dwell in you. And when we become Christians, we have the Holy Spirit come and dwell within us. This is what happened to Ezekiel at that moment as well. The Holy Spirit came inside of Ezekiel and caused him to stand on his feet and gave him the strength to do what he needed to do. How much do we need the Holy Spirit to do the work that God has called us to do? Absolutely, totally, we need the strength of the Holy Spirit to be able to stand, to declare the truths of God's word, to have compassion, the compassion of God on others that are our enemies. We need the Holy Spirit. Ask the Lord to fill you with the Holy Spirit, to refill you with the Holy Spirit. We need his power, we need his strength. And he said to me, Son of man, I am 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. Ezekiel, these others are singing songs about or refusing to sing songs about their homeland because they miss Jerusalem and they're upset about what happened, but they don't realize that they're here because they have lost me, because they have rebelled against me. And you, Ezekiel, who are now being ordained to be a priest of the Most High God, and not only a priest, but a prophet to speak to these people. These are the words that I'm giving you. This is the reason why I'm visiting you right now in this place. For they are impotent, which means they uh they're shameless. They walk in their sin and they don't care. They're proud about it. And they're stubborn children, they're hard-headed. And I'm sending you to them, and you shall say to them, Thus says the Lord God, don't speak of your own opinion, don't speak of your own experience. Speak the words that I give you to speak, Ezekiel. As for them, whether they hear or whether they refuse, for they are a rebellious

Sent To A Rebellious House

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house, they will know that a prophet has been among them. Ezekiel, it's not up to you to cause them to turn, to repent, and to be made right with you. That's my job, the Lord says. Your job is to declare the truth. Your job is to give them the words that I give you and leave the rest with me. And you, Son of Man, do not be afraid of them or be afraid of their words. Though briars and thorns are with you, and you dwell among scorpions, do not be afraid of their words or dismayed by their looks, though they are uh a rebellious house. When you have to stand up against great forces of evil, not only will you feel uncomfortable, but uh many times you will be threatened physically. How many of the disciples ended up in jail? How many of the disciples were martyred for their faith? Ezekiel, you need to understand you're going against the grain. But that's okay because I'm with you. So don't be afraid. Be bold, because I am with you. And the only way we can be bold to proclaim the message of the Lord in a hostile nation is if we are infilled with that Holy Spirit, because He gives us the boldness. It's not the boldness that we work up within ourselves, but it's the boldness that He brings. And our confidence is in the Lord and not ourselves. You shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or whether they refuse, they are rebellious. But you, Son of Man, hear what I say to you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house.

Fear, Boldness, And Hostile Ground

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Open your mouth and eat what I give you. You are what you eat, right? And what do we what do we fill our hearts and minds with? Do we fill it with the word of God that brings power and brings alignment with God's will for us? Or do we fill it with all sorts of other things that the world has to offer? Shiny things, enjoyable things, things that the flesh just loves to eat up. The Lord is telling Ezekiel, focus on the things that I give you. Listen, partake of it, make it part of you. When we take communion in a few minutes, it's to remember what the Lord has done and to symbolically partake of him as we do in the Word of God. Partake, let it change you from the inside out. Now when I looked, there was a hand stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was on it, and when he spread it before me, there was writing inside, and on the outside, and written on it were lamentations and mourning and woe. The Bible has good news, and the Bible has bad news. But the good news comes after you understand and experience the bad news. Amen. Chapter three. Moreover, he said to me, Son of man, eat what you find, eat the scroll, and go speak to the house of Israel. Make it your own. Partake of the word. Allow it to change you from the inside out. So now you're not just trying to be a Christian, but the Lord is actually working in and through you and making you more like Him. So I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat that scroll, and He said to me, Son of man, feed your belly and fill your stomach with this scroll that I give to you. So I ate. And it was in my mouth like honey in sweetness. When the word comes alive. And you know, you could have been reading the Bible here and

Eat The Scroll And Take It In

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there for all your life, and then one day something clicks and and it all starts to make sense. It's exciting, it's it's wonderful, it's it's sweet tasting, isn't it? This too reminds me of something that happened in Revelation chapter ten, verse eight. Then the voice which I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, Go take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the earth. So I went to the angel and said to him, Give me the little book. And he said to me, Take and eat, and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be sweet as honey in your mouth. As we eat the word of God, taste and see that the Lord is good. You realize the goodness of God, but then you also understand the results of the sin on earth and the judgment that's coming, and the rebellious hearts that refuse to hear the message, and it becomes bitterness in our stomach. That doesn't mean we stop. It means we continue to declare the goodness of God, the forgiveness that God makes available through his son. Verse 10 Then I took the little book out of the angel's hand and I ate it, and it was sweet as honey to my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter. And he said to me, You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings. John's marching orders were to tell of what was coming in the future, to warn and encourage the people in the here and now, and people that were to come in the future. Ezekiel's message was to those at that time in Babylon that were stuck in captivity. His message was to bring them freedom if they were to hear it. Then he said to me, Son of man, this is back in Ezekiel chapter 3, verse 4. Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak my words to them, for you are not sent to a people of unfamiliar speech, of hard language, but to those who are the house of Israel, not to many people who are of unfamiliar speech and hard language whose words you cannot understand. I'm not sending you to give a message to the Babylonians who speak in words you don't really understand, but you soon will, because they're going to teach you and you're going to be assimilated into the culture. But I'm sending you to the house of Israel. The ones who have rebelled, the ones who are experiencing the judgment of God right now. That's who I'm sending you to. And I want you to go and declare my words to them if they listen or not. Surely I had sent, had I sent you to them, they

Sweet Like Honey, Bitter Within

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would have listened to you. If I would have sent you to the Babylonians, I believe they would have repented and turned. And I think of, you know, Jesus said things like, Woe to you, Khorazan, that if the works that were done in your town were done in Sodom and Gomorrah, they would have repented. You think of Nineveh, a people who were far from the Lord. And even Jonah did not want to go and prophesy to them. He was expecting the judgment of God to fall upon them because he didn't like them. But he still declared the words of the Lord, and they responded. Another aspect of this is God wasn't sending him to get a lot of numbers. Which group of people will listen to me most? Let's go after that group of people. God was saying, No, I'm not sending you to the people who might actually repent and turn to me. I'm sending you to this people. My people, my chosen people who have rebelled against me. They need to be restored. And your ministry may not be very fruitful, Ezekiel. But that's not up to you. I want you to go to them and declare the truth. Declare the words that I share with you. The house of Israel will not listen to you because they will not listen to me. Don't take it personal. If they hated me, they'll hate you too, Jesus told his disciples. For all the house of Israel are impotent and hard-hearted. They have no shame. They're gonna do what they do, they justify what they do, and they don't want to hear anything other than that. Don't confuse me with the facts. I like my life. Behold, I have made your face strong against their faces, and your forehead strong against their foreheads. You're gonna butt heads with these people. But it's okay, I'm giving you strength in your head. Their stiff neck will make your neck even stiffer. Like adamant stone, harder than flint, I have made your forehead. Do not be afraid of them or be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house. The Lord taking different approaches, different ways to tell Ezekiel the same thing. They're gonna fight against you. But don't let that stop you. Because I love them. And I'm gonna give you a heart of compassion for them, and I'm gonna give you a head that's strong, so that you can give them some tough love.

Faithful Witness Without Measuring Results

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Verse 10. Moreover, he said to me, Son of man, receive into your heart all my words that I speak to you, and hear with your ears, and go and get to the captives, to the children of your people, and speak to them, and tell them, Thus says the Lord God, whether they hear or whether they refuse. Then the Spirit lifted up, and I heard behind me great thunderous voice, and that voice said, Blessed is the glory of the Lord from his place. That's probably just one of many sentences that these these cherubs say. We know they say, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God who might Almighty, who was in Israel. Is and is to come, and they would be continually praying that before the throne. They also say, Blessed is the glory of God in this place, which is his place. I also heard the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels beside them, and a great thunderous noise. He was shaken up at the beginning of this vision, and he was shaken up during the vision with the words that the Lord was giving him to share, and now he's being shaken up as the Lord makes his departure. So the spirit lifted me up and took me away. And I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit. He went away in bitterness because he he sees the sweetness of the Lord, but he but he sees the problem of a rebellious people, and now he's being given this job to go, and now he needs to go and digest all this for a little while. All this happened, but the hand of the Lord was strong upon me. And then I came to the captives at Tel Abib. This is where he lived. This is where the others were singing that psalm that we read at the beginning. And I dwelt by the river Chabar. And I sat where they sat and remained there,

Shaken By God’s Departure

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astonished among them for seven days. He came back and he listened to them, refusing to sing the songs of Jerusalem that their captives told them to sing, listening to their mockings, sitting there pondering what he had just seen. And it took him seven days to understand.

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What a powerful reminder from God's Word today. Before Ezekiel could speak to others, he had to eat the scroll himself. God's message became part of him before it ever came through him. That's a challenge for every believer to receive God's word with willing hearts before we seek to share it with the world. Be sure to join us next time on Come On Up as Pastor Carl continues in Ezekiel 3, where the Lord appoints Ezekiel as a watchman for the house of Israel and teaches us what it means to faithfully proclaim his truth. If these verse by verse Bible studies are encouraging your walk with Christ, would you prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? Your financial gift helps keep Come On Up on the air, reaching listeners with the teaching of God's Word. To make a secure donation, visit themountaincross.com slash donate. Thank you for partnering with us in sharing the gospel. 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. You're also invited to our Faith Film Night, featuring faith-based films on the first Monday of every month. It's a great opportunity for fellowship, encouragement, and quality Christian entertainment. For upcoming movies and event details, search for Faith Film Night on Facebook. We also invite you to visit themountaincross.com. We'd love

Seven Days Of Silent Astonishment

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to hear from you and encourage you in your walk with Christ. Thank you for listening today. Come on up to the mountain with us again 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.