Scripture Text: Ezekiel 1:1-3:27
Memory Verse: “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me.” Ezekiel 3:17
Introduction:
To accomplish His purpose among the exiles of Judah, God selected a man from the priesthood. Just as Jeremiah had been previously called from the priestly line, Ezekiel now responds to God’s beckoning. At the time he is called, he’s 30 years old (Ezekiel 1:1), which was the appropriate age for a priest to begin his duties (Numbers 4:1-3, 23).
Switching roles from priest to prophet should be understood as a somber choice, if indeed Ezekiel had any choice in it. Priests were highly respected and valued by the Jews, while prophets were often despised, rejected, and persecuted. In those hard times it was quite dangerous to be a prophet. When a people feel they need encouragement, the last thing they desire is for a man to be openly declaring their faults and failures, and spewing declarations of judgment due to their sins.
When Ezekiel was born, Jeremiah had been prophesying in Jerusalem for four years. Surely Ezekiel had paid close attention to what Jeremiah had been saying and could hardly have missed the terrible way his prophetic predecessor had been scorned and mistreated. The office of a prophet was not one Ezekiel would likely have chosen for himself. When God points the finger and calls Aman, it is but for the man to respond and surrender his will to that of the Divine.
Ezekiel’s ministry was badly needed in Babylon, where false prophets abounded with the notion of giving the Jews false hopes of divine deliverance (usually through the assistance of Egypt, and not crediting the power of God directly). The true prophet’s labor would be a difficult one, since it involved changing people’s minds. Like Jeremiah, Ezekiel would have to root up the deeply seated tendrils of false theology and selfish desire, and plant God’s Word. To prepare him, the prophet is led through three dramatic experiences: (1) beholding God’s glory (Ezekiel 1:1-28); (2) accepting God’s burden (Ezekiel 2:1-3:3); and (3) declaring God’s message (Ezekiel 3:4-27).
Studying the Word
Lesson Study
- In what two specific ways was Ezekiel given authority among the people as God’s chosen mouthpiece? (Ezekiel 1:3)
- How was the holy presence of God linked in Ezekiel’s first vision to the brutal Babylonian army that had ravaged Judah? (Ezekiel 1:4)
- Discuss the significance of the cherubim seen in this vision. (Ezekiel 1:5-14)
- Envision together the “wheel in the middle of a wheel” (Ezekiel 1:16), and the spirit of it that had authority over the cherubim and bound them together as one. (Ezekiel 1:15-24). Ezekiel 1:18 states that the rings of the wheels were so high that they were “awesome” (“dreadful” in KJV), meaning in the Hebrew, invoking exceeding fear, or demanding absolute reverence. Does this seem consistent with what Proverbs says is the beginning of all wisdom: the fear of the Lord?
- Describe Ezekiel’s vision of God’s throne in Ezekiel 1:25-28 and compare it to Ezekiel 1:4. How did this vision effect Ezekiel? Compare this to the Apostle John’s vision and the effect it had on him in Revelation 1:10-17.
- When Ezekiel is called to be a prophet, how does God instruct him? (Ezekiel 2:1-10)
- What kind of spokesman did God enable Ezekiel to be? (Ezekiel 3:8-12)
- What responsibility did Ezekiel have as a “watchman?” (Ezekiel 3:16-21)
- What kind of impact do you think it made when Ezekiel shut himself up in his own house, and could only speak the utterances given him by the LORD? (Ezekiel 3:22-27)