again to the book of Ezekiel.
Today let's go to chapter 3. Ezekiel chapter 3, we'll be looking
at verses 12 through the end of the chapter. But let me just
say a few words as to the two previous messages that I have
brought in the last two weeks from this book. In the first
message from chapter 1, I tried to emphasize the fact that God
provided for His people. His people, that is the nation
of Israel, they were in captivity. And so God raised up Ezekiel
to minister unto them. Raised him up as a prophet. You
remember the difference between a prophet and a priest. A prophet comes from God to the
people. A priest goes to God from the
people. as the mediator of the everlasting
covenant. The God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ,
he is prophet, priest, and also king. Ezekiel was born a priest. He was in the tribe of Levi,
the family of Aaron. He was made a prophet. He never
was a king. But the mediator between God
and man, the man Christ Jesus, he is prophet, priest, and king. Let me show you this, if you
will. Look with me in Hebrews. Keep your place here in Ezekiel. But in Hebrews chapter one, the
very beginning of this letter, the apostle Paul brings this
truth out. Hebrews chapter 1, God who at
sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers
by the prophet hath in these last days spoken unto us by his
son. You see, he's a prophet. God
spoke to us by or in his son. whom he hath appointed heir of
all things, by whom also he made the world, who being the brightness
of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding
all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself
purged our sins. He's a priest. A priest offers
that one sacrifice that puts away the sins of God's people. And also we see that He is set
down on the right hand of the majesty on high. That He is upon
the throne as the God-man, reigning until His enemies are made His
footstool. And then last week we saw how
God prepared Ezekiel. So first of all, God provided,
and God always will provide for His people. He provided a prophet. That's what they needed. They
were in captivity. They needed a message from God.
And that's what men need today. That's what you need. That's
what all of us need. We all need to hear from God,
a message from God. And so the greatest need of God's
people in Babylon at that time was a man sent from God that
had the word of God, the message of God. And then last week we
saw how that God prepared Ezekiel to be a prophet by declaring
certain things in his hearing. Now today, we're looking at a
passage in which God gives Ezekiel his charge. Look in verse 17. Here's the charge that God gives
Ezekiel. Son of man, I have made thee
a watchman unto the house of Israel. Now here's the charge.
This is it, Ezekiel. This is what I'm charging you
to do. Therefore, hear the word at my mouth and give them warning
from me. That's the charge. You know,
it's customary today, and has been in my lifetime at least,
when a church ordains a man to be their pastor, that usually
there's two messages preached in the ordination service, sometimes
only one. But in the messages, there are
two charges. The first charge is to the pastor,
the man who's being set apart to the office. of a pastor. There's a charge given to him
and many times it's taken from the verse in 2nd Timothy. Preach
the word. This is the charge. Preach the
word. Be instant. In season. Out of season. Reprove. Rebuke. Exhort with all longsuffering
and doctrine. And then there is a second charge
normally given to the church to the church over which the
man is being set apart to be a pastor. And many times the
charge to the church is taken from these words in Hebrews chapter
13, verse 17. Obey them that have the rule
over you and submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls,
as they that must give account. that they may do it with joy
and not with grief, for that is unprofitable for you. So two
charges, to the pastor, to the preacher, preach the word, and
to the church, to obey them that have the rule over you. And the
reason being is because the pastor watches for your soul. Now, in
the verses we're looking at today, We're going to see Ezekiel in
two locations. And so as I read through these
verses, I thought, well, that's the best I can do as to my message,
dividing it into two parts. What took place with Ezekiel
in the first location, and then what takes place in the second
location. First, the location of Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv, notice that in verse
15. Then I came to them of the captivity
at Tel Aviv. Now this is the only time that
this place is named in the Bible. But we know that it was by the
river Shabar, which is about 200 miles from Babylon. They were in captivity in the
land of the Chaldeans, Babylon, But Babylon was the capital of
the country. Daniel, we know he was in captivity. He was actually in Babylon and
he ministered to the kings there. But the bulk of these Jews who
were taken into captivity were evidently at this place called
Tel Aviv. It was on the river Chebor. Ezekiel was carried there, lifted
up, the scripture says, lifted up by the Spirit from the place
where he was when he saw the vision. In chapter one, remember
he saw the vision of the likeness of the glory of God, that man
who is sitting upon the throne. And as I said, and you know this
is so, that was one of those many pre-incarnate appearances
of the Lord Jesus Christ before he actually came into this world
as a man. He appeared many times in the
Old Testament as a man, pre-incarnate, before he became a man. He appeared
as a man several times. And that's who Elijah saw upon
the throne. Now he's picked up, the scripture
here says, let's read in verse 12. Then the Spirit took me up
And I heard behind me a voice of great rushing. What I want
to say is four things that took place when Ezekiel is here at
Tel Aviv, or either coming to Tel Aviv or at Tel Aviv. There
are four things I want to point out. First of all, he heard a
voice and the noise of the wings of the living creatures. Verse
12 and 13, then the spirit took me up and I heard behind me a
voice of a great rushing saying, blessed be the glory of the Lord
from his place. I heard also the noise of the
wings of the living creatures that touched one another and
the noise of the wheels over against them and a noise of a
great rushing. What do we make of this? Well,
What I see here is that God testified to Ezekiel by what he heard,
that is the voice and the rushing of the wings. What he heard,
God testified to him that he was going with him. That God
was going with Ezekiel. He wasn't just sending him out
by himself. And this, of course, reminds
us in the New Testament, when the Lord Jesus Christ sent out
his apostles after his resurrection, he sent them into all the world
to make disciples of all nations. And then he said, and lo, I am
with you always. even unto the end of the age. The Lord Jesus Christ is with
those he sends out to preach. And Ezekiel is transported from
where he saw the vision to Tel Aviv where he's going to minister
to these people. And God is witnessing and testifying
to him in this way. I'll be with you. I'm going with
you. You know, we love that passage
in Isaiah 43. Let me turn back there just a
moment. Isaiah chapter 43 in verses 1 and 2. But now thus saith the Lord that
created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, fear
not, for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name,
thou art mine. Now notice, when thou passest
through the waters, You're going to go through the waters. Ezekiel,
you're going to go through the waters. But God is testifying
to his prophet in this way, that where he sent him, he was going
with him. He would always have God's presence
with him. When thou passest through the
waters, I will be with thee, and some of you. have gone through
some waters. Some of you have gone through
some deep waters. I've watched people in this congregation
over the last 40 years go through a number of different things.
But I can say this, this Word is so that when God put His people
through the waters, He went with them. He was with them. And I've
seen them come out on the other side praising God, and thanking
God that they had such a hope, such a foundation. Otherwise,
as the psalmist said, I would have fainted if I had not believed
to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. When
thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee. And through
the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through
the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee. Ezekiel, I'm sending you to Tel
Aviv, but I'm going with you. And what a blessing it is to
the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Today, after 2,000 plus
years, we still have his promise because this age has not ended. One of these days, it's going
to end. But so far, we're still in this
last age, this dispensation, and Christ is with us. He's with
those who preach the word, who take the word. Not only pastors,
but all who minister the word of God. Now notice the second
thing we see here. He went in bitterness and the
heat of his spirit. Verse 14. So the Spirit lifted
me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness. You notice in
the margin, bitter, in the heat, hot anger. Ezekiel, he went in
bitterness and the heat of his spirit. Bitterness and hot anger. Now you say, well, that's kind
of strange, isn't it? Well, remember this. Ezekiel
had seen and eaten the roll, not literally, but spiritually.
We saw that last time. And we saw what was written concerning
Israel on that roll. And it was lamentations, mourning,
and woe. He also had heard this from God. They're not going to listen to
you. They're not going to hear you. Notice that back in verse
7. But the house of Israel will
not hearken unto thee. They're not going to listen to
you, Ezekiel. They're not going to heed your
warning. They will not hearken unto thee, for they will not
hearken unto me. For all the house of Israel are
impudent and hard-hearted. No wonder we read that he in
bitterness and hot anger. How unlike today those of us
that God sends to preach the gospel. The Lord Jesus Christ
sent out his disciples. He sent us out with this assurance. Some are going to believe. Some
are going to listen. Some are going to hear. Not everyone. But God has His people. God has
His people who He has loved with an everlasting love. His people
whom He chose in the Lord Jesus Christ from before the foundation
of the world. His people whom He redeemed by
His precious blood on the cross. We don't need to go in hot anger
or bitterness because we know that some are going to hear. Some are going to believe. We
don't go in our own strength and our own power, but we know
God has his people in this world. And the Lord Jesus Christ said,
all, A-L-L. No one's missing. I love this,
don't you? All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. They will. They will. Well, he
told Ezekiel, they're not going to hear you. They won't hear
me. They're not going to listen to
you. But today we go forth preaching the gospel with this assurance.
Some are going to hear. Some are going to believe. And
usually the most unlikely people. The most unlikely people that
we would ever imagine hear the voice of the Son of God. and
live. Here's the third thing that I
point out to us. Ezekiel identified with the captives. Notice that in verse 15. Then
I came to them of the captivity at Tel Abib that dwelt by the
river of Chabar, and I sat where they sat, and remained there
astonished among them seven days. He identified with the captives. He was a captive himself. And
he witnessed firsthand their deplorable condition as a nation. They were dejected. They were
mournful. Remember in one of the messages
we looked at that psalm where we are told that they had hung
their harps upon the willows. And their captors demanded of
them one of the hymns, one of the songs of Zion. They couldn't
sing. He looked. He sat with them.
He identified with them. And you notice, sitting in the
Scripture is a way of showing grief. One of the ways in the
Word of God that men showed their grief, they sat with a person. And seven days, of course, is
the number of completion. When Job, when he had everything
stripped from him, all of his goods, his family, his health,
everything was gone. Those three friends who came
to comfort him in his suffering, they sat down, they sat down,
they sat there for seven days. and did not speak a word. That
was a sign of identification, empathy, sympathizing with the
sufferer. The scripture there in Job chapter
two says, so they sat down with him upon the ground seven days
and seven nights. And none spoke a word unto him.
For they saw that his grief was very great. Those were the three
friends of Job. So Ezekiel, he comes to Tel Aviv,
and he sets where the captives set, and he sets there seven
days. He identifies with them. You
know the Lord Jesus Christ, he identified with those he came
to save. This is what we read in Hebrews
chapter two. The apostle said, for as much
then, now listen, for as much then as the children are partakers
of flesh and blood, he also, the eternal son of God, in as
much as the children who were given unto him, and that everlasting
covenant, in as much as we, were flesh and blood. He did not take
upon Him the nature of an angel. An angel is a spirit, a pure
spirit. And those angels that fell, that
disobeyed God, God provided no Savior for them. But for man,
you and I, For as much as the children are partakers of flesh
and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same. He became
a man, and he did so, the apostle said, that through death, his
death, he might destroy him that had the power of death. That is the devil. Remember in
1 John we read, For the Son of God was manifested that he might
destroy the works of the devil. To do that, he had to become
a man. He identified with those he came
to save. Bone of our bone and flesh of
our flesh. Now the fourth thing that we
see here, he was made a watchman under the house of Israel. Notice
that in verse 17. Son of man, I have made thee
a watchman unto the house of Israel. Now, Ezekiel, he didn't
make himself a watchman. This is important. Only God makes
a preacher. Seminaries, colleges, Bible schools,
all of the many things that men have come up with to help men,
no doubt about that. But in the end, only God makes
a preacher. Only God. I, God told him, son of man,
I have made thee a watchman. He didn't volunteer to be a watchman.
He didn't sit in some evangelistic service and they sing 15 verses
of Just As I Am without one plea and they can't get anybody down
the aisle for any other thing. They get them down to surrender
for missionary work or preacher or something like that. No, no. He didn't make himself a watchman.
He didn't surrender to be a watchman. God said, I have made thee a
watchman. You know, it's interesting to
me in reading books that are written by men of this day, how
often they will say, God ask, God ask. I read the other day,
one who said, God asked Abram to leave Ur of the Chaldees.
Now my Bible doesn't read like that. Does yours? My Bible tells me
God said, Get thee out from among thy kinsmen. God called Abram. God made Ezekiel a prophet. He didn't make himself one. And
he had more to do than to empathize with these captives. He was to
be a watchman to warn them. to warn them. Notice verse 17. Therefore hear the word at my
mouth and give them warning from me. This was his charge. He was to hear God's word from
God and warn the nation of Israel. Notice in verse 18, God speaking,
when I say unto the wicked, thou shalt surely die. Does that sound
familiar? You ever heard that before? Ever
read that before? Thou shalt surely die? We know God spoke those words
to Adam when he placed him in the garden. And he commanded
him not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil. And he told him, in the day that
thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. God hasn't changed. Millenniums have gone on between
Adam and Ezekiel, but God hasn't changed. And let me tell us all
this again. He's not going to change. And
sin brings death. When Adam disobeyed God, in that
very day he died as God told him he would. He died spiritually. That relationship which he had
enjoyed with God was now severed. We know after several hundred
years he died physically. And he became liable to eternal
death immediately. Ezekiel, nothing's changed. The wages of sin is still death. It hasn't changed. Hasn't changed
in our day, has it? Don't you love that verse in
Romans chapter six and verse 23, where Paul said, the wages
of sin is death, but That's what we've worked for.
That's what we've earned, all of us. Death, the wages of sin
is death. But, not the wages, but the gift,
the free grace gift, the gift of eternal life. through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Through the person and work,
through the sacrifice and obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ, God
now gives eternal life. To as many as received him, to
them gave he the power, the right to be called the sons of God,
even to them which believe on his name. So let me read on through
these verses, but we see this is what took place when Ezekiel
was at Tel Aviv. Those four things I point out
to us. When I say unto the wicked, thou
shalt surely die, and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest
To warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, the same
wicked man shall dine his iniquity, but his blood will I require
at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked,
and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall
die in his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul. Again, when a righteous man doth
turn from his righteousness and commit iniquity, and I lay a
stumbling block before him, he shall die, because Thou hast
not given him warning. He shall die in his sin, and
his righteousness, which he hath done, shall not be remembered. But his blood will I require
at thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the
righteous man that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin,
he shall surely live, because he is warned. Also thou hast
delivered thy soul. There are those who appear to
be righteous. It's easy outwardly to appear
to be righteous and not be righteous. The righteousness of God's people
is the righteousness of God. It's the righteousness that is
imputed, that is charged to our account. That's the only righteousness
that justifies before God. And that righteousness is called
the righteousness of God because Jesus Christ is God and he obeyed. His righteous, his obedience,
his righteous obedience becomes our righteousness. Those of us
who trust in him, who believe in him. And that righteousness
can never be revoked. We know that so. Now notice the
second location. in verses 22 and 23. And the hand of the Lord was
there upon me, and he said unto me, Arise, go forth into the
plain. Now he was in Tel Aviv, and God
sends him out to the plain. Out on the prairie, I might say.
Something we might understand better. And rise, go forth into the plain,
and I will there talk with thee. Then I rose and went forth into
the plain, and behold, the glory of the Lord stood there as the
glory which I saw by the river of Chabar, and I fell on my face. Ezekiel, he's back on his face. He's back on his face. We saw
that last time, didn't we? He was on his face before God. And I'll just say that this is
where the grace of God puts all of those that he saves. He puts us not necessarily physically,
but spiritually on our face before God, recognizing our unworthiness,
his holiness, Ezekiel, in the plane, is back
on his face before God. I asked that question last time.
Let me ask it again. Have you ever been on your face
before God? Well, I know this. If you've
ever been on your face before God the first time, you're going
to be on your face before God many times as long as you continue
in this world. In fact, the Lord Jesus Christ
said, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom
of God. You have anything to brag about? You have anything to pat yourself
on the back about? Are you still poor in spirit? If he makes you poor in spirit,
you are. Blessed, happy are the poor in spirit. Proud, haughty,
self-sufficient, don't need anyone. I can always take care of myself. I'll do it my way. No, there's
no blessing upon that person. Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that
mourn. mourn over our sinfulness. We still have that old nature,
don't we? We mourn. We would live without
any sin. That which we would do, we find
we don't do. And that which we would not do,
many times, that's what we do. Blessed are they that mourn For
they shall be comforted. Blessed are they that hunger
and thirst after righteousness. Oh, to be righteous, to be like
Christ. That was Paul's desire, wasn't
it? That I might know Him, be found in Him, not having mine
own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is of
the faith of Jesus Christ. hunger and thirst after righteousness. And notice it says, they shall
be filled. I love the Beatitudes, don't
you? Ezekiel's on his face again before God. Now let me point
two things out to us. We might naturally expect now
that Ezekiel's going to hear this. Here he is out in the plain.
Ezekiel, go! Preach to this great assembly. But that's not what he heard.
Notice what he heard. Ezekiel. The Spirit entered into me, and
set me upon my feet, and spake with me, and said unto me, Go,
shut thyself within thine house. Didn't expect to hear that. Didn't
expect to read that, did you? That's what God told him. Get
in the house. Shut yourself up in the house.
God is teaching him and God teaches all those that he calls and puts
into the ministry. Our strength must come from him. Get along with God. Along with
him, hearing his word and receiving strength from him. And God told
Ezekiel, don't you expect any encouragement from the Israelites. It's going to be like, Ezekiel,
they're going to put bands on you. Notice that in verse 25. But thou, son of man, behold,
they shall put bands upon thee. and shall bind thee with them,
and thou shalt not go out among them." They would not literally
bind Ezekiel, but their conduct, their attitude would have that
effect upon this prophet of binding him, discouraging him in the
work. And the second thing I point
out in closing, Ezekiel must take comfort in knowing this,
that in hearing God's Word and speaking God's Word, it will
never be in vain. They're not going to hear you.
They're not going to listen to you. But Ezekiel, you hear the
Word at my mouth and you speak that Word. God's Word is never
in vain. Just like he told Isaiah, his
word is like the rain that comes down, and it produces, brings
forth fruit. And he told Isaiah, my word,
it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper
in the thing where to I set it. When we preach the word of God,
hear the word at his mouth and speak the word of God, we have
this assurance, this confidence. It's not going to be in vain. It's going to accomplish that
which God pleases. Well, I pray the Lord would bless
this word to all of us here today. Someone asked me after the message
last Sunday morning if I would be preaching through the book
of Ezekiel and I said no. So much of the book, I do want
to bring some more messages from the book, but so much of the
book is taken up with the Israelites in captivity and what they would
experience in captivity and going back into the land of Israel
after the captivity was ended. I pray the Lord would bless the
message to all of us here today.