11/01/2025 – Week 1 of 13 – Ezekiel study – Chapters 1 – 3 / Nov 1st thru Jan 24th / Introduction – See 10/14/2025 post / Week 1 – Post 1 of 2 – Commentary
Our Semikkah7 read through the Bible in a Year Plan was only eight weeks long. This post 1 of 2 will cover excerpts from these first three chapters of Ezekiel, taken from “Be Reverent – OT Commentary Ezekiel” by Warren W. Wiersbe, ISBN 978-1-4347-0050-6. I will post our fellowship starter questions, a few from the book. Bear in mind, you can draw other commentary from Ezekiel through our Semikkah7 five posts dating back to 2020, covering chapters 1 through 6. I seem to recall I included a sermon amongst those five.
Let’s get started:
A Word From the Author: “Is the prophecy of Ezekiel a book that’s needed today? The eminent Jewish writer Elie Wiesel says, ‘No generation could understand Ezekiel as well – as profoundly – as ours.’ One thing is sure: Our generation needs the message of Ezekiel, for we are a people who lack the reverence we should have for the glory of God and the name of God… Yet Ezekiel’s message isn’t only a negative exposure of the sins of God’s people; it’s also a positive encouragement because of the future God has planned. The prophet closes his book with the glorious vision of a restored people with a renewed worship and the glory of God dwelling with them. The prophet gives Jerusalem a new name: “Jehovah Shammah — the LORD is there”. (48:35)
“Hallowed be Thy name!” “
Chapter One – From Priest to Prophet:
“Like Jeremiah (1:2), Zechariah (1:1), and John the Baptist (Luke 1:5 ff.), Ezekiel (“God strengthens”) was called by God from being a priest to serving as a prophet… It would have been much easier for Ezekiel to remain a priest, for priests were highly esteemed by the Jews, and a priest could read the law and learn everything he needed to know to do his work. Prophets were usually despised and persecuted. They received their messages and orders from the Lord as the occasion demanded and could never be sure what would happen next. It was dangerous to be a prophet. Most people resent being told about their sins and prefer to hear messages of cheer, not declarations of judgment.”
Jeremiah had been ministering in Jerusalem for four years when Ezekiel was born in 622 BC, but surely he grew up, he paid attention to what Jeremiah was saying. It’s likely that Daniel and Ezekiel knew each other before the captivity, though there’s no evidence they saw each other in Babylon. Ezekiel’s prophetic message was greatly needed in Babylon because false prophets abounded and were giving the Jewish people false hopes of a quick deliverance (usually by Egypt) and a triumphant return to their land (Jer. 5: 30-31; 27: 1-11; 28: 1-17).”
- Jeremiah’s letter (Jeremiah 29) told the Jews that they would be in Babylon for seventy years and therefore settle down, raise families, and pray for their captors. But Jeremiah also announce the ultimate fall of Babylon, a message the exiles were only too eager to hear.
“The most difficult task of a prophet is to change the people’s minds. This means pulling up the weeds of false theology and planting the good seed of the Word of God. It also means tearing down the flimsy through structures that false prophets build and constructing in their place lasting buildings on solid foundations of truth (Ezekiel 13:10; 2 Corinthians 10: 3-6. To prepare him for his difficult ministry , the Lord caused Ezekiel to participate in three dramatic experiences.
- BEHOLDING THE GLORY OF THE LORD (1) (pg. 14)
“… There are many unexplained mysteries in the vision Ezekiel had, but one message comes through with clarity and power: Jehovah is the sovereign Lord of Israel and of all the nations of the earth.
The storm (vv. 3-4). / The cherubim (vv. 5-14) / The wheels (vv. 15-21) / The firmament (vv. 22-25 / The throne (vv. 26-28. “… The glory of the Lord is one of the key themes in Ezekiel (3:12, 23; 8:4; 9:3; 10:4, 18-19; 11: 22-23; 39:21; 43:2, 4-5; 44:4).”
2. ACCEPTING THE BURDEN OF THE LORD (2:1 – 3:3)
“Ezekiel is called ‘son of man’ ninety-three times in his book, a title that the Lord also gave to Daniel (Daniel 8:17). ‘Son of Man’ is also a messianic title (Daniel 7:13), which the Lord Jesus applied to Himself at least eighty-two times when He was ministering on the earth. / (3) Don’t be afraid (2: 6-7) / (4) Receive the Word within (2:8 – 3:3) – …”The only motivation that never fails is doing all for the glory of God.”
3. DECLARING THE WORD OF THE LORD (3: 4-27)
The messenger (vv. 4-9). / The sufferer (vv. 10-15). / The watchman (vv. 16-21) / The sign (vv. 22-27 – “… ‘I am the Lord!’ is repeated fifty-nine times in this book, because it was Ezekiel’s task to remind his people who was in charge. The name of God used almost exclusively in the book is ‘Jehovah Adman – the Sovereign Lord.’ A.W. Tozer was right when he wrote, ‘God being who and what He is, and we bing who and what we are, the only thinkable relation between us is one of full lordship on His part and complete submission on ours.” A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1977), 102.
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Soli Deo Gloria!