Ezekiel 10+11

Introduction

This is now the seventh Sunday we’ve spent in the book of Ezekiel. In the first, we spent our time in chapter where Ezekiel recorded for us the vision he received of the glory of the Lord, who was enthroned on this strange chariot-throne with angels around it. And when Ezekiel saw the glory of the Lord he fell face down on the ground and he heard the voice of the Lord speaking to him.

And in our second Sunday in Ezekiel we heard what the Lord said to Ezekiel. The Lord was commissioning Ezekiel as a prophet and the Lord commanded him to go and speak to his people and to proclaim to them the word of the Lord. But the Lord warned him that the people will not listen. If the Lord sent Ezekiel to a foreign nation, they would listen to him. But his own people, the Lord’s people, will not listen because they were a rebellious people who are hard and obstinate.

In our third Sunday in Ezekiel we saw how the Lord appointed Ezekiel to be a watchman for the Lord’s people. As their watchman, he was to warn them of the coming judgment. It was his responsibility to warn them of the danger they were in unless they turned from their sin and turned to the Lord for mercy and forgiveness. And then we read how Ezekiel was confined to his home and tied with ropes. And the Lord also made him tongue-tied, so that he could not speak. The only time he was allowed to speak was when the Lord opened his mouth and enabled him to proclaim the word of the Lord.

In our fourth week in Ezekiel we studied chapters 4 and 5 where the Lord instructed Ezekiel to perform several mimes to signify what God was going to do to his people in Jerusalem and how he was going to send the Babylonians to destroy the city. And yet, while most of them will be killed, there will be some who are spared.

And in our fifth week in Ezekiel, we studied chapters 6 and 7, where the Lord instructed Ezekiel to prophesy against the high places in Israel where the people worshipped false gods and idols. And the Lord announced how he was going to send the Babylonians to cleanse the land. Just as God once sent a flood in the days of Noah to cleanse the whole world from all that defiled it, so he was going to send the Babylonians in the days of Ezekiel to cleanse the Promised Land from all that defiled it. All their high places, all their idols, and all the people who practiced idolatry, will be removed. God was going to cleanse the whole land.

And in our sixth week in Ezekiel, Ezekiel recorded for us a vision he received from the Lord, in which the Lord took him to Jerusalem and took him on a tour of the temple, where he saw the idolatry of the people and how they bowed down to all kinds of idols. Instead of forsaking all other gods, and worshipping the Lord their God, they went after other gods. Instead of remaining faithful to him, they went astray. And so, we see why the Lord was angry with them. And then, in the second part of that passage, the Lord commanded someone to go through the city and place a mark on the forehead of anyone who grieved and lamented over the detestable things which were happening there. And then he commanded six guards to go through the city and to strike down everyone who did not receive a mark on their forehead. And so, all who grieved and lamented and showed signs of penitence were spared; and everyone else was destroyed. God was going to destroy his wicked people in Jerusalem.

And so, the Lord’s message to his people in the day of Ezekiel has been up to now a message of judgment. Ezekiel is to be a watchman for the people to warn them of the coming judgment. Ezekiel was to perform mimes to signify what God was going to do when he came to judge them for their rebellion. God was going to send the Babylonians on them to cleanse the land of them. God has seen their idolatry and he was going to destroy them for it. It was a message of judgment. And yet, even when the Lord was announcing his judgment on his people, he also spoke to them about how some will be spared. Even though God was angry with his people for their persistent sin and rebellion, he wasn’t going to destroy them completely. He wasn’t going to wipe out the whole nation, because some will be spared. And I said that when he sent the Babylonians to cleanse the land, it was to prepare the land for the return of the exiles. The time would come when the Lord will release the exiles from their captivity; and they would be able to return to the land, which had been wiped clean by the Babylonians; and God would enable them to rebuild Jerusalem and to re-populate it; and he would enable them to worship him once again in the temple in Jerusalem, while they waited for God to send into the world the Promised Saviour–King, Jesus Christ, who would give up his life on the cross to pay for our sins and shortcomings and to reconcile us to God for ever.

And so, in the midst of judgment, there was a message of hope. And there’s hope in today’s passage as well. In the first part of today’s passage, Ezekiel receives a vision in which the glory of the Lord departs from his temple in Jerusalem. The Lord will not remain there any longer, because the people have defiled his holy house. And so, the Lord will depart and leave them to the Babylonians. But in the second part of today’s passage, the Lord promises good things for his people who are in exile.

The people in Jerusalem believed they were safe and the exiles in Babylon were under the wrath and curse of God. But in fact, the people in Jerusalem were under his wrath and curse, and the exiles in Babylon would experience his salvation.

10:1–22

Chapter 10 is all about the Lord’s departure from the temple. Once again, Ezekiel sees the Lord’s chariot-throne, the one he saw in chapter 1. So, he saw what looked like a throne made of sapphire which was above the expanse which was above the angels. Here he refers to the angels as cherubim. That’s in verse 1. And in verse 4 he tells us that the glory of the Lord rose from above the cherubim and moved to the threshold of the temple.

He says the cloud filled the temple. And he’s referring to the glory-cloud, isn’t he? This is the glory-cloud which led the people through the wilderness in the days of Moses and it signified God’s presence with them. This is the glory-cloud which filled the newly-built temple in the days of Solomon and it signified God’s presence with them. This same glory-cloud filled the temple in Ezekiel’s vision; and the court of the temple was full of the radiance of the glory of the Lord. Light filled the temple. But the Lord is not going to remain there. He’s on his way out of the temple and out of Jerusalem.

Ezekiel tells us in verse 5 that the sound of the wings of the angels could be heard as far away as the outer court. And perhaps the wings are making a sound, because the angels are preparing to leave. Like the noise you hear from the engines of a plane right before it starts to hurtle down the runway, the angels of the Lord were preparing to fly off somewhere else. They haven’t gone yet, but they’re getting ready to leave.

Let’s turn our attention now to verse 2 where Ezekiel records for us that he saw the man dressed in linen. This was the person from chapter 9 who went through the city marking the foreheads of everyone who should be spared from God’s wrath. And in verse 2 the Lord tells this man to reach into the chariot-throne and fill his hands with burning coals; and then he was to scatter them over the city. And as Ezekiel was watching, the man in linen went into the chariot-throne. And according to verse 6, he went in and stood beside one of the wheels of the chariot. And one of the angels took some of the fire — or the burning coals — and put it into the hands of the man. And the man took it and went out. Now, we’re not told what the man did with the fire, but presumably he did what the Lord commanded him to do in verse 2 and he scattered the fire or the burning coals over the city. In other words, this was an image to convey once again God’s wrath and anger and how he was going to destroy the city. God was, in a sense, going to burn it to the ground. And, of course, that’s what the Babylonians did do when they invaded the city and razed it to the ground.

From verse 9 Ezekiel focusses on the chariot-throne with the angels around it. So, he refers once again to the chariot’s four wheels, with one angel beside each wheel. And he described once again what the wheels looked like and how they moved in sync with the angels. He says in verse 12 that the bodies of the angels and their hands and wings were covered in eyes, as were the four wheels. He perhaps means they were studded with precious stones or jewels that gleamed like eyes. And he overheard someone refer to the wheels as the ‘whirling wheels’. And then he described the four faces of the angels, which differs slightly from his description of them in chapter 1. And when the angels moved, the wheels moved with them. And when the angels stood still, so did the wheels.

So, Ezekiel is focussed on the chariot-throne with its wheels and angels. But the chariot-throne is only significant because of the Lord who rides on it. And in verse 18 Ezekiel sees that the glory of the Lord departed from over the threshold of the temple and stopped over the angels who were with the chariot-throne. And while he watched, the angels spread their wings and they rose from the ground. And as they went, the wheels of the chariot-throne went too. They stopped at the entrance to one of the gates and the glory of the Lord was above them. And so, the chapter ends, with the Lord poised to leave the temple in the city. His holy house has been defiled by the idolatry and sinfulness of his people. And since his holy house has been defiled, he’s getting ready to leave it.

11:1–13

But then, at the beginning of chapter 11, Ezekiel tells us that the Spirit of God lifted him up and brought him to another gate. And there he saw twenty-five men. And among them he sees these two men whom he names. Since Ezekiel recognises these men, they must have been prominent people and well-known. And, indeed, Ezekiel tells us that they were leaders of the people. We don’t know anything more about the two men who are named or about the others who were with them apart from what we read here. But the Lord says about them that these are the men who are plotting evil and giving wicked advice in the city. And the Lord quotes them as saying that this is not the time to build houses. Why is this not the time to build houses? Look down to verse 6 for the answer, because in verse 6 the Lord says about them that they have killed many people in the city and they have filled its streets with the dead. It’s not clear whether the leaders of the city have murdered the dead, or whether they have had them executed under trumped-up charges. But it seems the reason there’s no need to build houses is because they’re able to take over the homes of the dead. Think of how Queen Jezebel arranged for Naboth to be killed so that her husband could take over his vineyard. It seems the same kind of wicked thing was happening in Jerusalem.

And go back again to verse 3 of chapter 11 where the leaders of the city are quoted as saying that the city is a cooking-pot and they are the meat. That doesn’t sound like the kind of position you want to be in. Who wants to be meat which is being prepared for dinner? But that’s not what they mean. They mean that so long as the meat is in the pot, then it’s safe. And they are safe so long as they remain in Jerusalem. In fact, they are safe because they’re in Jerusalem. As far as they’re concerned, God will not let Jerusalem fall to the Babylonians. As far as they’re concerned, God will protect Jerusalem from all danger. We were reading Psalm 125 on Wednesday evening where the psalmist says that as the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people. So, these people were counting on God to surround them and to protect them. But what they didn’t realise is that God is angry with them and that he was now determined to destroy Jerusalem because of their persistent sin and rebellion and their unwillingness to repent. And so, the Lord commanded Ezekiel in verse 4 to prophesy against them. Prophesy against them, because they refused to give up their sins and return to the Lord. And the Lord told Ezekiel to say to them that he knows what goes on in their mind. He knows their wicked thoughts. And he has seen how they have killed many people and filled the streets with the dead.

According to verse 7 Ezekiel is to say to them that the bodies they have thrown in the streets are the meat and this city is the pot. And he probably means that the leaders are like butchers who cut up meat before throwing it into a pot for cooking. So, they are like butchers. In other words, they are murderers. And God is now going to drive them out of Jerusalem.

Since the Lord knows their thoughts, then he knows they’re afraid of the sword. And the Lord is going to bring the sword against them. He’s going to send the Babylonians against them who will kill them with the sword. He’ll drive them from the city and into the hands of foreign armies. And look at how verse 9 begins and ends. It begins with ‘I will….’ So, God is speaking. He’s saying: ‘I will do this’. And what will he do? He says: ‘I will … inflict punishment on you.’ God is going to use the Babylonians to punish the people in Jerusalem for their persistent sin and rebellion and unbelief. They will fall by the sword and God will execute judgment on them at the borders of Israel.

It seems from what the Lord says that they will leave the pot — that is, they will leave Jerusalem — and will be killed near the borders of Israel. And we know from 2 Kings 25 that when Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians, the commanding officer of the Babylonian army took various officials from the city and he executed them at a place called Riblah. The word of the Lord through Ezekiel came true.

And even as Ezekiel was prophesying — and presumably this is still part of the vision — Pelatiah, one of the two men named in verse 1, died. Ezekiel was able to see in the vision the fulfilment of what the Lord had announced. And he fell down before the Lord and cried out in a loud voice: ‘Ah Sovereign Lord! Will you completely destroy the remnant of Israel?’ The Lord is sovereign. He is king over all. He can do whatever he likes. So, will he destroy them totally? Will he wipe the whole nation out? Is that his plan?

11:16–25

And that’s when the Lord reveals to Ezekiel his plan for those who are already in exile with Ezekiel. And it’s good news. And it’s good news because the Lord our God is merciful and gracious and he’s slow to anger and he’s abounding in steadfast love. We know he’s slow to anger because he put up with the sins of his people for around 400 years. And we know he’s abounding in steadfast love, because he was not going to destroy them completely. He doesn’t deal with us according to our sins nor repay us according to our iniquities, because he’s willing to treat us according to his mercy and he’s willing to forgive his people because of Christ, who is the mediator of his people and the one who makes peace between God and sinners. Christ was the mediator of God’s Old Testament people; and he’s the mediator of God’s people today. Because of Christ, who gave up his life on the cross to pay for our sins, all who repent and believe are not consumed by the wrath of God, even though that’s what we deserve for a lifetime of disobedience. And we are not consumed by the wrath of God, because Christ suffered the wrath of God in our place; and through faith in his name we are pardoned and accepted. And instead of being consumed, we are renewed and we’re restored. And that’s what the Lord reveals to Ezekiel in the following verses.

And so in verse 16 he says that although he sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet he has been a sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone. God is saying to them: I have been your sanctuary. So, I’ve been with you to protect you and to keep you safe and to guard you. I’ve sent you away, but I haven’t abandoned you. I’ve been with you.

And then he says to them in verse 17 that he will bring them back from the countries where they have been scattered and he will give them back the land of Israel. And so, what he’s talking about here is a new exodus. The original exodus was out of Egypt in the days of Moses. But now he was going to renew the exodus by bringing them out of Babylon and out of the other places where they had been scattered.

And he was bringing them to a renewed land. Look at verse 18: all the vile images and detestable idols which defiled the land will be gone. They will be removed and the land will be restored to what it was meant to be.

And so, there will be a renewal of the exodus and there will be a renewed land. And the Lord will also make them a renewed people with a new heart. So, look at verse 19 where God says that he will give them an undivided heart. An individed heart is a heart that is not divided between the one, true and living God and other gods. An undivided heart is a heart that is devoted to the Lord alone. And he will give them a new spirit and he’ll remove from them their old heart of stone and he’ll give them a heart of flesh. So, instead of being hard-hearted and rebellious, they’ll trust and love the Lord with all their heart. And when that happens, they will follow God’s decrees and laws. They will want to walk in his ways and to do his will. And what the Lord is talking about here is what the New Testament calls regeneration or being born again. And so, this is not only a message for the returning exile, but it’s a message for God’s people in every generation. It’s about how God promises to send his Holy Spirit on us to change us so that we’re able to turn from our sin and turn with faith to the Saviour for forgiveness. And once we’ve trusted in the Saviour, the same Spirit works in us to renew us in God’s image and to make us willing and able to do God’s will here on earth.

So, there’s going to be a new exodus and a renewed land and a renewed people. And there will be a new covenant. The Lord says about them in verse 20: ‘They will be my people, and I will be their God.’ That’s the essence of God’s covenant with his people: he promises that he will be their God and to take them as his people. That’s what the Lord promised his people in the days of Moses at Mount Sinai. But the people broke that covenant by going after other gods. And now, through Ezekiel, the Lord was promising to make a new covenant with his people. He was announcing to them that he would establish a new covenant with them.

But when will this new covenant be established? When will it begin? Well, on the day he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus spoke to his disciples about this new covenant. And he made clear that it would be established that same day by his blood or by his death on the cross, when he gave up his life to pay for the sins of his people and to cleanse us from our guilt. And in this way, he made peace between us. And in this new covenant — which God announced through Ezekiel and which he put into effect through Christ — God freely offers eternal life to everyone who believes in his Son.

And to enable his people to believe in his Son, he also gives them his Spirit. And so, he gives us a new heart and a new spirit — he regenerates us — to make us willing and able to believe. And the Spirit who enables us to believe also enables us to follow God’s decrees and to be careful to keep his laws. He gives us his Spirit to enable us to believe and to enable us to walk in his ways.

Conclusion

And so, God’s message through Ezekiel was not just for the exiles in Babylon, but it was for us and it was for God’s people in every generation. And after the message of judgment there comes a message of salvation and hope and renewal. And while chapter 11 closes with the departure of the Lord, whose glory went up from the city and stopped over a mountain to the east of the city, we know that a day was going to come when the Lord would return to Jerusalem. The Lord returned to Jerusalem in the person of his Son when he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and the people hailed him as the one who had come in the name of the Lord. And he came to offer himself on the cross as the perfect sacrifice for sins. He came to suffer in our place the wrath and curse of God. And by the sacrifice of himself, he has established this new covenant in his blood, which God announced through Ezekiel, so that all who believe in Christ receive peace with God.

The Lord who departed from Jerusalem because of the sins of his people returned to Jerusalem because of the sins of his people. He returned to put this new covenant into effect so that all who believe will never have to suffer God’s wrath and curse, even though that’s what we deserve. And he gives us his Spirit to regenerate us and to make us new people, so that we’re able to believe in Christ. And his Spirit enables us to walk in God’s way and to do his will here on earth. And then, God also promises to lead his people out of the nations where he has scattered us in this world in a new kind of exodus; and to bring us, not to the land of Israel, but to the Promised Land of Eternal Life in the new heavens and earth, where we will live in the presence of God. And for ever and for ever, he will be our God and we will be his people. And we’ll worship him for ever. And in the meantime, while we wait for that, we’re to follow his decrees and we’re to keep his laws and we’re to walk in his ways, relying on his Spirit to help us.