Opening Scripture And Series Context

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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 study in Ezekiel, looking at how the Lord continues to use Ezekiel as a living message to the people of Israel. Through the prophet's unusual actions, the model of Jerusalem under siege, and the signs of coming judgment, God reveals the seriousness of Israel's rebellion and the consequences of turning away from him. Yet even in judgment, we see the heart of a God who warns before he acts. A watchman standing on an ancient city wall carried a great responsibility. If he saw an approaching army and sounded the alarm, he gave the people a chance to prepare. But if he ignored the danger, the consequences could be devastating. The watchman's job was not to create the danger or decide how people would respond. His job was simply to faithfully sound the warning. Ezekiel was called to be that kind of watchman. He was to faithfully proclaim God's word, even when the message was difficult and the people did not want to hear it. Through Ezekiel, the Lord reminds us

Ezekiel The Watchman Warning

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that his warnings are expressions of his mercy, inviting us to turn from our ways and return to him. So, turn in your Bible to Ezekiel chapter 4, beginning at verse 7, as we join Pastor Carl with today's message.

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Therefore, you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem. Your arm shall be uncovered, and you shall prophesy against it. The arm, the right arm, representing the arm of the Lord's strength, power, authority, and nothing to cover it, just declaring the truth of it. Lots of symbolism here. And the people are this is like a mime that he's doing in the town square. People are like, what is this fella doing? Verse 9. Also take for yourself wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt, and put them into one vessel and make bread of them for yourself. What does this remind you of? It reminds you of Ezekiel bread. This is where it comes from. They got that formula from this passage. And the idea is Ezekiel bread is very healthy for you. It's for the health conscious person. If you want to be blessed and you want to have a healthy life and a healthy body, you eat Ezekiel bread. But as we look at this prescription here, it's not necessarily to have a wonderful healthy life, is it? This is in the midst of judgment. And this is a picture of what would happen to the people in Jerusalem. And the idea was you gather anything

Symbolic Siege Rations And Famine

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you can find to put together some bread because there's very little left. And during the number of days that you lie on your side 390 days, you shall eat it. And your food, which you shall eat, shall be by weight, 20 shekels a day, and from time to time you shall eat it. Now, 20 shekels a day is somewhere around eight ounces. So you make this Ezekiel bread, but you eat only eight ounces a day, and you kind of spread it out over a few times in the day. This is not to give you strength, this is to keep you from dying. You're going to lose some weight, Ezekiel. And when when when when judgment falls on Jerusalem, there will be great famine, there will be great shortages, and it won't be pretty. This is what I want you to depict. You shall also drink water by measure. One sixth of a hen from time to time you shall drink. Now, to be healthy, you ought to be drinking at least half an ounce per pound that you weigh. So if you weigh a hundred pounds, you should be drinking 50 ounces of water a day. If you weigh 200 pounds, you should be drinking a hundred ounces a day. And how much is a pint? Sixteen ounces. He's going to uh he's gonna need an IV after this is all done, right? That's what it's like when famine comes. That's what it's like when judgment comes. There are things that happen in our lives sometimes where you just need to get what you can get and not the best things that are most healthy for you. You're just desperate to get whatever you can. And you shall eat it as barley cakes, bake it using fuel of human waste in their sight. So you're gonna bake this bread, but you're gonna the charcoal that you're gonna use is human waste. And uh that should shock you. And that was the that was the intent. This is this is crazy, because the reason why is there's no wood left. Because when when the Babylonians come in, they're gonna burn everything down to the ground. All you got is wood comes out, and that's what you're gonna cook with. Then the Lord said, So shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, where I will drive them out. That's why I want you to use the human dung, because that's what they're gonna have to use. You're suffering like they're suffering. And so I said, Oh, Lord God, are you serious? An appalling appeal uh Ezekiel gives. Indeed, I have never defiled myself from my youth until now. I have never eaten what died of itself or was uh torn by beast, nor has abominable flesh ever come into my mouth. I think of Peter when he sees the vision of the sheet coming down, all these bugs and different things coming down, and the Lord says, Take and eat. And Peter says, No way, Lord. That's it's not right. And then the Lord said, Would I made clean, I made clean, now eat it. And that was a symbol of going and fellowshipping with Gentiles. They need the gospel too. And here, Ezekiel is is is being told to do this, and he makes an appeal to God, and in verse 15, God says to him, See, I am giving you cow dung instead of human waste. You shall prepare your bread over it. All right, I'll give you a break. You don't have to use the human waste, but you can use uh cow pie from the field. And supposedly that burns better and smells a little better, and it's a little more but it's still it's still you don't want to do it. But he did it, and the Lord gave him a little grace there. Moreover, he said to me, Son of man, surely I will cut off the supply of bread in Jerusalem. They shall eat bread by weight, with anxiety, and shall drink water by measure and with dread, that they might lack bread and water, and be dismayed with one another, and waste away because of their iniquity. What does sin lead to? Death. And this is a picture of what would happen to people who for many years had rejected the goodness of God and counted on their own kingdom, their own riches, their own world that they have built, and it all comes crumbling down. And in times of famine, um we have to parse out what is available for everybody, because there's not a lot, and you can get this much a day, this much a day. And and in many communist nations um that would be the case, wouldn't it? Because there's not enough food to go around, you rationed this much for every day. You have a portion.

Defiled Bread Ezekiel Appeals

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And he would be living that out in front of them. Chapter 5, verse 1 says, And you, son of man, take a sharp sword and take it as a barber's razor, and pass it over your head and your beard, and take the scales to weigh and divide the hair. Now he's having him do something else. He's having take a sword, which is the symbol of judgment, and using it as a razor to shave his head and his beard, at least cut it down, which is a shameful thing to do for a man in Israel. The beard represents your wisdom and and and your blessing of God. And if you cut it, you've lost that blessing of God, and you really aren't as wise as you thought you were, and and you are you are rejected. If a priest would cut his beard, the priest would lose his job. And now Ezekiel, as the priest, is being told to do this thing that God is wanting him to do that will risk his very position. But he's in his position because God has put him there, and this is the job that God has given him to do, because it represents a bigger picture. Because it represents an embarrassment to him. The people of Israel represent an embarrassment to God because they've rejected him so much. They've lost their wisdom, they've lost their place. This is a picture of the people in their hearts. Verse 2 You shall burn with fire one third in the midst of the city, and when the days of the siege are finished, then you shall take one third and strike around it with the sword, and and one third you shall scatter in the wind. I will draw a sword after them. When the city is sieged, people will lose everything that they took their pride in, everything that that made them who they were. Verse three You shall also take a number of them and bind them in the edge of your garment. Then take some of them again and throw them into the midst of the fire and burn them in the fire. From there the fire will go out into all the house of Israel. I've heard and I've never smelled it. The the smell of human hair is is is terrible. It's it's offensive. And he's being called to burn his hair in front of the people in this town, and they would smell it. And the idea was to help them to understand that the people in Jerusalem, even the people here that think they're going back to Jerusalem, it's going to be destroyed, and they're going to smell this smell because it's going to be the smell of bodies that are being burned. Verse 5, thus says the Lord God, this is

Shaved Hair Sign Of Judgment

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Jerusalem. I have set her in the midst of the nations and the countries all around her. Israel was supposed to be a shining light to represent the goodness and grace of God to the nations around them, but instead she has rebelled. She has rebelled against my judgments by doing wickedness more than the other nations, and against my statutes more than the countries that are around her, for they have refused my judgments and they have not walked in my statutes. What a sad and offensive picture it is when people of God look worse than the world. I know a lot of good heathens in this world that have done great things that look a lot more Christian than many Christians. We should take heed to that. Do we reflect Jesus to the world around us, or do we look worse than the world around us by the things that we do and the things that we say? Verse 7. Therefore, says the Lord God, because you have multiplied disobedience more than the nations that are all around you, have not walked in my statutes or kept my judgments, nor even done according to the judgments of the nations that are all around you. The other nations, even though they aren't following God, they have some set of morality. Therefore, thus says the Lord God, indeed, I, even I, am against you. God who has called you to his own, who has chosen you as a nation, is now against Israel, and will execute judgments in your midst in the sight of the nations. They will see this happening. You will be an example to them of what it means to rebel against God and to experience the judgment of God. And I will do among you what I have never done, and the like of which I will never do again because of your abominations. Therefore, fathers shall eat their sons in your midst, and your sons shall eat their fathers, and I will execute judgments among you, and all of you who remain will scatter to all the winds. Wow, that's heavy. And there is a reflection of that in the book of Lamentations. Jeremiah again came in that last wave, and he saw the destruction of the city of Jerusalem and the uh the famine and the desperation that followed. This is what Lamentations 4 10 says. The hands of the compassionate women have cooked their own children, and they became food for them in the destruction of the daughter of my people, and the destruction of Israel, and the destruction of Jerusalem. Unheard of things happen because of desperation, because a people has rebelled against the Lord and not sought the Lord, and are just desperate of finding a way to sustain life. So they eat each other. Verse eleven Therefore, as I live, says the Lord God, surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things and with all your abominations, therefore I will also diminish you. My eye will not spare, nor will I have any pity. These are the people of God who have experienced the blessings of God by following and worshiping after the after the Lord their God, who uh who determined to follow after

Israel’s Rebellion And Horrors Ahead

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God and to fulfill his law and his commandments. And yet they drifted off and they went their own way and they rebelled against the law. This was the story of Israel again and again. They would come to that place and God would bring some discipline, some judgment upon them from the other nations. They would cry out, they would recognize that they have sinned against God, God would restore them, they would be in blessing, they would follow after God, and then they drift away again into their own ways and be pulled away by the lures of the world. And there are all sorts of things that speak to us from the world. I thought of three of them. Um there's there's movies and there's music, and there's even mimes. And memes. But acting, you know, we we just love to be entertained. And and movies and and music, they all fall into that. We we we love these songs because they make us feel different, and and and I I you know, I grew up in in the 70s and 80s, and and I always liked some of that music that was popular back in the day. And I go back and listen to it today and go, oh, they messed up that song. Those are terrible lyrics, which I never really paid attention to before. I just liked how the song sounded. But the lyrics, you know, dictate a worldly attitude to life. And it encourages you to push aside the things of the Lord. And as we go and we meld in the world, we're to be in the world, but not of the world. We're to be an influence on the world, but a lot of times the world is an influence on us and gets us off track. When we recognize that, we need to repent to turn back to the Lord, otherwise, judgment will come on us. It will take us astray and it will cause us to be ineffective in our faith. One-third of you shall die of the pestilence and be consumed with famine in your midst. One third shall fall by the sword all around you, and I will scatter another third to all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them. Thus my anger shall be spent, and I will cause my fury to rest upon them, and I will be avenged, and they shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it in my zeal, and I have spent my fury upon them. This is heavy. The Lord is gracious, He gives us life, He gives us ways to live out our life that is good, not only for now, but for eternity. And when we decide to go in our own way, we grow in our pride, no, thinking that we know how to live our lives the way we want to live our lives. And we we we spend less and less time with the Lord. It upsets the Lord. And judgment has to come. But even this judgment that he brings is designed to turn their hearts back to him. Because this is his chosen people, he loves them, and he wants them to be right with him, and yet they've gone astray. 14. Moreover, I will make you a waste and a reproach among the nations that are all around you in the sight of all who pass by? Again, as a Christian participating in the world, uh influencing the world, being part of life

Heart Check Living Among The World

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in the world, uh, do you look like the world or do you look like Jesus? Do those in the world laugh when you stumble and fall and rebel against God? Yeah, you're a great Christian. Or are they convicted? As they see a consistency of faith. No matter what comes your way, and eventually they come and ask you something. Can you pray for me? My mom has cancer, and I don't know if I believe, but I know you do. Would you pray for her? How we carry ourselves in the world means everything. So we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit and motivated by Him. Be careful to speak the words that He gives us to speak and not those of our own. Because sometimes those are pretty ugly, aren't they? Verse 15. So it shall be a reproach, a taunt, a lesson, and an astonishment to the nations that are around you. When I execute judgments among you in anger and in fury, and in furious rebukes I the Lord have spoken. When I send against them the terrible arrows of famine, which shall be for destruction, which I will send to destroy you, I will increase the famine upon you and cut off your supply of bread. So I will send against you famine and wild beasts, and they will bereave you. Pestilence and blood shall pass through you, and I will bring the sword against you. I, the Lord, have spoken. And I believe at the end he would share these words with the people. But would they hear it? Would they be changed? Or would they rather go to those that are saying the things. That they want to hear. The false prophets that said everything's going to be alright. We'll be back in Jerusalem in no time. Our God is good. You know, false teachers declare the goodness of God, but it's twisted. Do we know the truth of God? Do we understand the messages that the Lord gives us even when they're uncomfortable? Do we accept them? Do we walk in them? May he challenge our hearts this morning. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for your warnings. Not only is this message to Israel and specifically Jerusalem before this third siege, but it's to us as your people as well, to us who you have given the Holy Spirit to dwell in us, and yet somehow we find ways to drift away from you, to resist the work of your spirit, and to go in the way of our flesh, to go in

Prayer Closing And Ministry Invitation]

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the way of popularity, acceptance in the world. And Lord, that's not what you've called us to. You are rejected, so we can expect to be rejected. And yet, as we walk a life that's faithful, that's filled with the Holy Spirit, that reflects the grace of God, eventually there will be people that come and want to know that grace. Father, help us to grab a hold of the big picture so that others would see the grace of God. Help us to walk in that way. We thank you and we praise you in Jesus' name.

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Amen. Today we've seen the seriousness of God's message through the prophet Ezekiel as the Lord showed Israel that their rebellion and idolatry had brought consequences. And through Ezekiel's actions, he revealed the certainty of Jerusalem's coming judgment. Yet even in this difficult message, we are reminded that God is holy, righteous, and faithful. His warnings are meant to turn hearts back to him. Join us next time on Come On Up, as Pastor Carl teaches from Ezekiel chapter 6, where the Lord speaks against the mountains of Israel and exposes the false worship that had drawn his people away from him. We'll see again that God desires a people who know him and worship him alone. 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, visit themountaincross.com slash donate. Your gifts help make this broadcast possible. Thank you for partnering with us as we simply teach the Word of God. 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 appreciate the simple teaching through the word that you hear on Come On Up, we would love for you to come join us, because that's exactly what you'll find when we gather together, opening the Bible and allowing God's Word to speak for itself. And if you're not local, we encourage you to find a good Bible-teaching church where you can grow in your faith and be part of a community of believers. 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.