Opening Scripture And Setup

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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 continues our verse-by-verse study through the book of Ezekiel, beginning in chapter 3, verse 7. Ezekiel has been called by God to speak to a rebellious nation, but the Lord makes it clear that success will not be measured by how many people listen. His responsibility is to faithfully deliver God's message. As the account unfolds, Ezekiel's life becomes a living illustration of a coming judgment on Jerusalem. Through dramatic signs, difficult obedience, and unwavering faithfulness, God calls his people to see the seriousness of sin and the certainty of his word. A farmer once noticed smoke rising from a distant hillstyle. He immediately rang an old iron bell to warn his neighbors that a wildfire was spreading. Some stopped what they were doing and hurried to safety. Others dismissed the alarm, convinced the danger was too far away to matter. By the time they saw the flames for themselves, it was too late to prepare. God's warnings are never meant to frighten people without purpose. They are given to call people to repentance while there's still time. In these chapters of Ezekiel, we'll discover that the Lord's warnings flow from his holiness, his justice, and his desire that people turn to him and live.

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All right, let's get into a study of God's Word. We are in the book of Ezekiel, and we'll be picking up in Ezekiel chapter 3, verse 16, in the middle of chapter 3. Chapter 1 and 2, and part of 3, we saw the glory of God coming to visit Ezekiel, this chariot that was carrying the throne of God and just uh overwhelming experience for Ezekiel. And he went ahead and went back to his home and spent seven days just quiet and um unpacking what he just saw. And that's where we pick up this morning in verse 16 of

Seven Days Later God Speaks

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chapter 3. Now it came to pass at the end of seven days that the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, I have made you a watchman in the house of Israel. Therefore, hear a word from my mouth and give them warning from me. God had told Ezekiel that uh he was calling him to something. But go home and wait till I come back and tell you more. And uh I could just imagine to be in the presence of God is just an overwhelming experience, and it takes a while to to uh decompress from it, I guess you can say that. I don't know if you've experienced, I haven't experienced this, I don't think anybody else has where they see the glory of God. But have you experienced the presence of God where it's just overwhelming to you? And I've I've felt that a few times, and and it's almost like it was too much, Lord. It's oh, it's too much, this is great. I love it, but this is I can't handle it. Have you experienced that? Well, he had seven days to decompress from seeing the glory of God, and now he's being told exactly what God is calling

The Watchman’s Job And Limits

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him to do. God is calling him to be a watchman. Now you know what a watchman does. They they stand in the watchtowers on the side of the city gate, and they they they look out into the distance and they see you know enemies coming, and they warn people the enemies are coming. They see a storm coming. Prepare, the storm is coming. They see a fire coming, they say, we gotta do something. Um the watchman is the one that sees the danger and declares it. But they're not responsible for changing the hearts. They're not responsible for causing people to do what they need to do as a result of that. All the watchman needs to do is declare the truth, to declare the warning, and whatever ears it falls on, it falls on. And in a way, I take great comfort in that because I am called to be faithful in sharing God's word to as many who come or as few who come to hear it. And when I declare the word and I declare the truth of the word, uh it's not my job to make you do what is right with it. But it's your job to take the word of God, what you have heard, and to pray about it, and to allow the Lord to work it in your heart, to change you, to conform you to his image. And this is what um Ezekiel is being called to do. And then uh the Lord continues in verse 18 When I say to the wicked, you shall surely die, and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. This is serious. The gospel is serious business. It's it's the message that brings life. But if we hold on to it, we're responsible for those who haven't heard it because we didn't declare it to the ones that God told us to declare it to. Does that make sense? Ezekiel, you are a watchman and you are in charge of making this warning, of declaring this warning. And if you don't, the people that I intended to hear that message will not hear it. And you will be responsible for that. And as Christians, not just the not just the preacher, all of us that call ourselves believers in Jesus Christ, redeemed, followers of the book, we're all responsible for declaring the truth to those that the Lord leads to us to declare it to. But if we don't, it's on us. Yet, verse 19, if you warn the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness for nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity. But you have delivered your soul. You did your part in this deal. You declared the truth, they heard it, they refused it. It's not your fault. But if you don't say anything, that's where we have big trouble. In 2 Peter 3.19, it's the heart of the Lord. Why does he call us to declare the truth, even if people are not going to receive it? Why does he delay his judgment? And this is the heart of God shared by Peter in 2 Peter 3.9. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, his promise to return, his promise for judgment, as some would count slackness, but is long suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but all should come to repentance. That's the heart of God. He desires that everybody would know him. And those of us that do know him, he uses us to declare that truth to others so that they would hear. And yet, in his sovereignty, he has given us the ability to say yes or no, to accept or reject the message that he gives. But in his love and his

Warning The Wicked And God’s Patience

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grace for us, he's found all sorts of ways to stretch out that judgment and to get the truth out to people. It's God's heart. And in this chapter, we'll be seeing some of the strange ways that God used Ezekiel to declare his truth and to draw people to himself. Romans 10, 14 says, and this is again going back to uh if we are given the word, we need to declare the word. How shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? We need to declare the truth of the gospel. Generally and specifically, there are specific people in your life that God wants you to be in contact with, in relationship with, and to share these truths. Are you seeking them? Are you declaring that message to them? If they come to faith, praise God. If they don't, it's not on you. Although our hearts still break. I know many people in my life that don't know the Lord, and I've declared it over and over again, and yet they haven't come to faith. And I don't I don't know what to do with that. And the Lord's heart breaks over that as well. So I guess that's where I land. It's the Lord's heart that they all come to faith. So let's participate with the Lord and give people the opportunity again and again to know the truth that will set them free. Back to our study, verse 20. Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him that he might die, because you did not give him warning, he shall die in sin, and his righteousness which he has done will not be remembered. But his blood I will require at your hand. It's one thing to not tell the truth to the to an unbeliever. It also applies to the believer, those that are walking in righteousness, those that are following after God, and they start going off track, and you don't say anything about it. I think of people in Calvary Chapel, like Bob Coy down in Florida. I don't know if you're familiar with Bob, but uh he was the pastor of the largest Calvary chapel in the world. And he was a dynamic speaker. The Holy Spirit used him to convict people and to draw people to himself. And yet he succumbed to temptations and it ruined his whole ministry, it ruined his family. Um, his wife divorced him, and he was uh let go from the church, and I'm not sure where he is today. I think of people like Robbie Zacharias, how in the world can Robbie Zacharias do the things that he did and be a faithful follower of Jesus? Part of our role in the body of Christ is to warn one another, to pray for one another, to lift one another out of these holes that we find ourselves in when we fall into temptation because we we are fighting a spiritual battle. Even when we're Christians, we're still walking in these bodies of death, as Paul describes them. And we need each other to lift each other. Sometimes we know we're walking in rebellion, but sometimes we just drift off into it and don't realize it. And people just say, Oh, there he goes again. Oh well, Christians are really good at persecuting their own. It shouldn't be that way. We need to be encouraging one another, challenging one another, praying for one another, and sometimes being tough with one another, tough love. And Ezekiel's being reminded you know, you need to declare the truth to everyone, the just and the unjust alike, because it's the declaration of the word of God that leads to repentance. And we need repentance to be right with God. Nevertheless, if you warn the righteous man that the righteous should not sin and that he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning and and you will have delivered your soul. If you go and and say an uncomfortable thing to a to a brother or a sister in the Lord, and they respond, it's a good thing. It's a good thing for you and for them. But if you don't declare the word, nothing will happen. Verse 22. Then the hand of the Lord was upon me there, and he said to me, Arise and go to the plain, and there I shall talk with you. So the Lord was speaking to him in his heart, and now the Lord's hand was upon him,

Warning Believers Who Drift

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uh, motivating him, moving him, and saying, Go. So he arose and went out into the plain. And behold, the glory of the Lord stood there, like the glory which I saw at the river Chibar. And I fell on my face. It's one thing when the Lord is speaking to me. I feel the presence of the Lord, his hand is moving me. That's one thing, and and it does cause you a good, healthy fear of the Lord, I hope. A fear and a joy all at the same time that God is working, but it's overwhelming at times. But then he sees the glory, the full glory of God again. But again, even that glory was not the full glory of God that we'll see in heaven, but it was enough to cause him to fall on his face. The holiness of God standing before him, and he just has to fall on his face with this idea that I'm unworthy to stand before you, Lord. Then the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet and spoke with me and said, Go shut yourself inside your house. This is the beginning of some of the interesting things that God calls Ezekiel to do. First, he empowers him, he fills him again with the Holy Spirit. Again, we talked last week about in the Old Testament the Holy Spirit would come upon kings to anoint them, or prophets to give them the word of God to declare. But the Holy Spirit would be upon a person. And in the New Testament, when we come to faith in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us. The Holy Spirit is the one who comes as the third person of the Trinity to come in us and dwell with us. And in this instance, the Holy Spirit actually came and dwelt within Ezekiel and empowered him to go and shut himself inside the house. He just told him, You need to go and declare these words that I declare to you, to them, because if you don't, you're in trouble. Now I'm causing you to go and lock yourself in your house. And you, O Son of Man, surely they will put ropes on you and bind you with them so that you cannot go out among them. The things that you're you're telling them, they don't want to hear, so they want to shut you up and tie you up and gag you so you can't speak. But the Lord is in the midst of this. I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth so that you shall be mute and not be one to rebuke them, for they are a rebellious house. I am calling you to go out and to rebuke and to share the truth of the word with them, but they don't want to hear it. So I'm gonna shut your mouth so you're not able to do it. I don't know about you, but I would start getting confused at this point. You said to do this, now you're saying to do this, but he's God has a bigger picture in mind. And God is not slack concerning his promises. Sometimes he builds up his message over time so that it has more of an impact to the people. And again, different ways to share the truth so that people might, something that is done might just click with people and cause them to repent and turn to him. But, verse 27, when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, thus says the Lord God. He who hears, let him hear, and he who refuses, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house. So Ezekiel, I'm getting you set to do something different here. I'm gonna cause you to go out there and declare my word, but I'm gonna I'm gonna bind your mouth so you can't speak. But after a period of time, I'm gonna open your mouth again, and you're gonna be able to declare some of the things that I am causing you to do between now and then. Now, what are the things that he's causing him to do? Well, starts in chapter 4, verse 1. You also, Son of Man, take a clay tablet and lay it before you and portray on it a city, Jerusalem. Now, he had gone home and now he's in his hometown. I do not believe he was uh locked in his home this whole time, but to prepare him he was. But he would come out, many commentators believe, into the city square every day and do these things that we'll see over the next few verses. Every day for over a year. And the first thing that he tells Ezekiel to do is to take a clay tablet. This is some people say it's kind of like a chalkboard and draw this depiction out on the chalkboard. Others believe that it was like the foundation of building something on, so he had a model of this that he was putting together to show people what was happening. So, first you want to put a city that looks like Jerusalem on this tablet. And then you lay siege against it by building a siege wall against it, and heap a mound against it, and set camps against it also, and place battering rams against it all around. So, in other words, you want to make this scene so people can understand that armies are coming against the city of Jerusalem. Because there were

The Glory Returns And Silence

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many prophets during that time that said, Oh, the Lord is with us, and the Lord will never let Jerusalem fall. And the siege or the captivity of Babylon that came in came in three waves. Daniel was taken in the first wave, Ezekiel was taken in the second wave, and Jeremiah was taken in the third wave. Right now we are in Babylon after Ezekiel had been taken in the second wave, before the third wave is happening. The false prophets were saying this wouldn't happen, and then it did happen, and now they're continuing to say, oh, oh, now that it has happened, we're not going to be here very long, we're going to have victory, and God is going to restore us to the city of Jerusalem. And what uh the message from Ezekiel is going to be as it as it plays out here is that no, Jerusalem will be conquered. And it will be conquered and destroyed, uh, unlike what the false prophets are saying. And so he's beginning to show this either in a you know a drawing or in a model depiction right there where he is. Moreover, take for yourself an iron plate and set it as iron, uh an iron wall between you and the city. So it's kind of like a big iron frying pan, and you put it between you and the city, and there's nothing that can hold you back. I mean, the iron is is is impenetrable, right? And so when the enemy comes against the city, there's nothing to stop it. Set your face against it, and it shall be besieged, and you shall lay siege against it. This will be a sign to the house of Israel. So as you're portraying what is going on, go ahead and pretend that you are taking over the city without using words. And this is going to be a message to the site to the house of Israel. A message that because you have denied me for so long, judgment is coming. Verse 4. Lie also on your left side and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it. According to the number of 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 days, three hundred and ninety days, so shall you bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. I'm not sure exactly. How the iniquity

Acting Out Jerusalem’s Coming Siege

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is laid on him by him laying on his side, but laying on his left side depicts the judgment that comes against the northern tribes of Israel. The ones that were taken captive by Assyria first. And apparently for 390 days, uh years they had been in rebellion with the Lord. And it's true that every king in the northern kingdom did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the northern kingdom of Israel did not have a close relationship with the Lord, and they rebelled for quite a while, and he was to lie there on his left side for 390 days to depict this. And there would be some sort of iniquity bared on him. We know our Lord took our iniquity upon himself. And that's what makes us right. Is that he took our sin upon himself and he gave us the righteousness of God. This is a symbol of that, I believe, to the people of Israel. And then verse 6 and when you have completed them, lie again on your right side, and you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah for forty days. I have laid on you a day for each year. So for at least forty years, the southern kingdom of Israel was in rebellion against God. The southern kingdom of Israel had good kings and bad kings, but more good kings than bad. But it got worse toward the end. And so that's when the uh the judgment came upon Judah and specifically Jerusalem.

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Imagine the patience and obedience it took for Ezekiel to lie on one side, then the other, for hundreds of days, as a living illustration of God's message to Israel. It was a vivid reminder that the Lord takes sin seriously, yet he is faithful to warn his people before judgment comes. Ezekiel's life became part of his preaching, demonstrating that God's truth is meant to be seen as well as heard. Join us next time on Come On Up as Pastor Carl continues this study in Ezekiel, as we'll see more of these dramatic signs as God reveals both the certainty of his judgment and the righteousness of his ways. We hope you'll be with us as we continue our verse-by-verse journey through this remarkable book. If this ministry is encouraging you through the teaching of God's Word, we invite you to prayerfully consider supporting Come On Up. To give,

Lying On His Sides And Closing

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visit themountaincross.com/slash donate. 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've been encouraged by the simple teaching of God's word on Come On Up, we'd love to welcome you to join us. And if you don't live in our area, let me encourage you to find a good Bible teaching church where you can grow in your walk with Christ if you're not already part of one. We also invite you to visit themountaincross.com where you'll find more verse-by-verse Bible studies, learn about the history and ministry of our church, and be able to contact us with your prayer requests or Bible questions. 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.