The Book Of Ezekiel.

The Book of Ezekiel.

God Speaks to His Servant.

Ezekiel 3:22-24

And the hand of the LORD was there upon me; and he said unto me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with thee. [23] Then I arose, 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 Chebar: and I fell on my face. [24] Then 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.

These verses, in fact the final verses of Ezekiel chapter 3, shows how God took Ezekiel aside to speak with him privately. The Almighty laid His hand upon Ezekiel, in other words, God moved His servant apart, to a place, without the camp, to a separated place. The hand of the LORD, led Ezekiel to the 'plain' where God revealed His Glory unto His servant. The Holy Spirit of God entered into him causing him to stand and to speak. Here we see, as in Chapter one, the Glory of God revealed. This is a pre-incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ (a Christophony) here the Saviour meets the prophet, revealing God's Glory.

Hebrews 1:3 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, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

These verses are key to understanding the prophesy of Ezekiel. The Son of God comes to His Redeemed people to the camp at Chebar with direction and rebuke. 'As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten' saith the Lord.

It is the Head of the Church that comes amongst His wayward and rebellious people with His authorative Word.

First of all the Head of the Church brings the Word of God to reveal the true state of Jerusalem of old, the Holy City. (Ezekiel 4-5)

As the Saviour was on His way to the Cross, He cried thus,

Matthew 23:37-38 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! [38] Behold, your house is left unto you desolate

The prophetic Word concerning the seige of Jerusalem down through the ages depicts the seige of the Church, the body of believers. As the enemy besieged true Israel in the time of Ezekiel, so the enemy besides the Church up to and including our present generation.

Today government intervention, using equality and equal opportunity legislation is being used to starve God's people of the pure Word of God. The implementation of social control in churches is starving out Church discipline and doctrine. Secular innovations are turning our Churches into entertainment venues, starving God's people of God's Word in doctrinal purity.

In Chebar, true Israel was overwhelmed with concern for Jerusalem as they were held in the Spiritual ghetto. Ezekiel brought them God's Prophetic Word that Jerusalem would fall. Did this cause them concern ? No!!! Did it evoke prayer ? No !!! Does this even cause National Israel concern today ? No!!! They still reject Messiah.

As the same prophetic Word is applied to the Church today is there concern ? We do trust that as we study further in the Book of Ezekiel that concern will deepen and prayer might ensue.

Blessings in Christ. Rev Mervyn Cotton.