Ezekiel 1–32 (Part 1)

Richard Belcher provides an in-depth analysis of the first 32 chapters of Ezekiel. He emphasizes God’s messages of judgment and restoration. Belcher focuses on Ezekiel’s role as a prophet during challenging times, the symbolic acts he performed, and the visions he received, which illustrated the consequences of Israel’s disobedience and the hope of eventual redemption.

The following unedited transcript is provided by Beluga AI.

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This audio lecture is brought to you by RTS on iTunesu at the virtual campus of Reformed Theological Seminary. To listen to other lectures and to access additional resources, please visit us at itunes rts.edu. For additional information on how to take distance education courses for credit towards a fully accredited Master of Arts in Religion degree, please visit our website at virtual rts.edu. Okay, we come to Ezekiel. So turn into your bibles to the book of Ezekiel, and perhaps we ought to have the first three verses read for us. Are you ready, Miss Bj. Thank you.

¹ In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the Chebar canal, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. ² On the fifth day of the month (it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin), ³ the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the Chebar canal, and the hand of the Lord was upon him there. (Ezekiel 1:1-3, ESV)

Alright, a couple of things about this opening passage in Ezekiel. It mentions the 30th year, in the 30th year and the fourth month. It doesn’t say what this 30th year is or the 30th year from what. And so, people generally, the general consensus, not everybody agrees with this, that this is a reference to Ezekiel’s age, that he was called when he was 30 years old. Now, we know from what we heard read for us that Ezekiel is a priest. And so, age 30 would be a crucial year of his life as a priest, because normally age 30 is when he would begin his priestly duties.

However, he’s not in Jerusalem, he is in Babylon, as we see here by a particular canal. So God had another work for Ezekiel. God called him to be a prophet, but his priestly concerns are evident, as we will see in Ezekiel, the whole emphasis on God’s presence, the temple, important for a priest. And so the fact that he’s a priest has a lot to do with the way he talks about issues.

We also see that the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel, verse two, on the fifth day of the month, the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin. So if Jehoiachin was exiled in 597, which was what we call the second deportation, is actually when Ezekiel was exiled. If Jehoiachin was exiled in 597, and the word of the Lord comes to Ezekiel in the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin, what year are we talking about? The fifth year would be about 592. If Ezekiel is 30 years old in 592.

When would he have been born? About 622. That’s near what important date? Josiah’s reformation, discovery of the Book of the Law. Growing up in a priestly family, he would have experienced some of this and the importance of it. So in 597, when he was taken, when King Jehoiachin went into exile, he would have been 25 years old. But as the book opens, he’s clearly in Babylon with the exiles near this great river or canal. All the dates in the Book of Ezekiel are given in terms of Jehoiachin’s exile.

So, as you read through the Book of Ezekiel, if he dates a prophecy, they’re given in terms of the year of Jehoiachin’s exile. Jehoiachin was taken to Babylon in 597, and then Zedekiah, the final king of Israel, became king 597 to 599, 87, 86, when Jerusalem fell. But it seems like Ezekiel and the exiles regarded Jehoiachin as a legitimate king. And so that may be why all the dates in Ezekiel are given in reference to the exile of Jehoiachin.

It also may have been a convenient way to keep track of how long they had been in exile. Now, not all of them went in 597, but a significant portion of them went in 597. There’s evidence of Jehoiachin’s existence, obviously, in Babylon. There are some storage jars that have inscriptions belonging to Eliakim, which is another term for Jehoiachin. And it seems like Jehoiachin received favorable treatment. Certainly later on, we have evidence that he was released from prison and ate at the king’s table.

And some speculate that part of what Babylon was doing, at least perhaps early on, because after Jerusalem fell, it wouldn’t have mattered that you remove a king, you install another king, you take the king that’s removed. He’s in Babylon. He’s in exile, but he’s always there as a threat to be brought back. And so, Babylon may have used Jehoiachin in that way, but all of the. When you have a date in Ezekiel, it’s in connection to Jehoiachin’s exile. All right.

The message of the book, briefly stated, and this will not be a surprise as we’ve gone through the prophets: The fall of Jerusalem and the Babylonian captivity are necessary because God is correcting His disobedient people and keeping them from complete apostasy by establishing a repentant remnant. So, there is judgment. God is bringing judgment against His disobedient people. But then there’s the positive establishment of a remnant, the salvation angle as well. The first 24 chapters are laid out by two sets of visions, two sets of sign acts, and two sets of speeches.

So you have visions one through three, eight through eleven. You have what we’ll call sign acts, and we’ll come to talk about them, four through five, I think it is, and then twelve. And then you have a set of speeches, six and seven, and then 13 through 24. So that’s sort of the layout of the first 24 chapters. And these visions, as we will see, are also important for another set of visions, 40 through 48. And so all the visions will focus on God’s presence and the temple.

So we’ll just make our way through Ezekiel in light of this outline. So we start with chapters one through three, Ezekiel’s call and commission. And the book opens with this great description of the coming of the presence of the Lord, a theophany of God represented as coming in a great storm. As verse four says,

⁴ As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with brightness around it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, as it were gleaming metal. (Ezekiel 1:4, ESV)

And then you have described in this vision of the coming of God’s presence, four living creatures, verse five. dAnd they had the appearance, human likeness, which probably means that they stood upright.

⁵ And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had a human likeness, (Ezekiel 1:5, ESV)

They had human form. These four living creatures stood upright. These four creatures had four faces. Each creature had four faces. Each creature that stood upright had four faces. Verse ten describes their faces as for the likeness of their faces. Each had a human face. The four had the face of a lion on the right side; the four had the face of an ox. On the left side, the four had the face of an eagle.

¹⁰ As for the likeness of their faces, each had a human face. The four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle. (Ezekiel 1:10, ESV)

So four faces. Each creature, four faces. These faces were able to look in each direction, and these faces may represent the highest forms of created life. The face of a man, the face of a lion. Kings of beasts. The face of an ox, sort of the main domestic animal. And then the face of an eagle, the chief bird of the air. So four living creatures standing upright, each creature, four faces. Now, what’s emphasized in this vision is movement.

They had wings, and they had wheels. And the wheels are described in verses 15 and 16.

¹⁵ Now as I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them. ¹⁶ As for the appearance of the wheels and their construction: their appearance was like the gleaming of beryl. And the four had the same likeness, their appearance and construction being as it were a wheel within a wheel. ¹⁷ When they went, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went. ¹⁸ And their rims were tall and awesome, and the rims of all four were full of eyes all around. ¹⁹ And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose. (Ezekiel 1:15-19, ESV)

So you have these four living creatures, and you have wheels connected to each of the living creatures. Plus they had wings, and they were able to move in any direction. So movement is stressed in this particular vision.

Verse twelve mentions they moved at the direction of the Spirit. Now, what is being described here is sort of the base of God’s throne, because as Ezekiel, in this vision, begins to move above and upward, and he begins to scribe what is above these four living creatures. It says in verse 22,

²² Over the heads of the living creatures there was the likeness of an expanse, shining like awe-inspiring crystal, spread out above their heads. (Ezekiel 1:22, ESV)

And as Ezekiel describes what is above these creatures, his description gets much less precise. It was like this. It was like that. It looked like this. The description loses its detail because he’s describing the glory of God, which is specifically pointed out at the end of this chapter, the latter part of verse 28,

²⁸ …Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking. (Ezekiel 1:28, ESV)

this is God’s presence. This is God’s glory. You can’t describe it because you can’t see it in its fullness. And so, the description is much less detailed than the base of this chariot throne. Some people call this a chariot throne because it is movable. But the base is described in much more detail than that which is above these creatures. In Jewish tradition, in some places in the Jewish tradition, they say that this passage should not be expounded by anyone but a scribe who knows what he’s doing, a wise sage. Some Jewish tradition says that this passage should not be read because it’s describing the glory of God.

So in some of the Jewish tradition, they sort of be careful with this. But this is a description of God’s glory, God’s presence, which will be foundational for the rest of Ezekiel’s prophecy. And his response, verse 28, is to fall down on his face, which is the appropriate response when you’re in the presence of the glory of the Lord. And I think this vision is not only going to be important for the theology of the book, as we will see how this is worked out.

This fact that God’s glory is movable is what we’re going to comment on, but this vision has significance for Ezekiel’s ministry as a prophet. There’s going to be an emphasis in this book on Ezekiel’s humanity and frailty. Part of that comes out in the way he’s addressed. Ezekiel 2:1. He’s addressed as son of man, which in this context is not a messianic statement, but is a statement emphasizing his humanity, especially in the context of this great description of God’s glory. His humanity, his frailty, and his ministry is very much a ministry like Jeremiah’s ministry.

Jeremiah was in Jerusalem; Ezekiel is in Babylon. And although God calls the exiles the good figs, because God is going to work his future purposes through the people who are in exile, on one level, the people in exile are not that different than the people back in Jerusalem. And so God describes his people and the people to whom Ezekiel is going to be ministering.

In verses three and four of chapter two,

³ And he said to me, “Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to nations of rebels, who have rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day. ⁴ The descendants also are impudent and stubborn: I send you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God .’ ⁵ And whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house) they will know that a prophet has been among them. (Ezekiel 2:3-5, ESV)

And in verse six, it’s very much like what God tells Jeremiah, you, son of man, don’t be afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words. Though briers and thorns are with you, and you sit on scorpions, be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, which is very much parallel to Jeremiah.

⁶ And you, son of man, be not afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions. Be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. (Ezekiel 2:6, ESV)

Don’t be afraid of their reaction when you proclaim the prophetic word, because they are a rebellious house. So although, yeah, the good figs are in Babylon, a lot needs to happen to those good figs for God to use the exiles for His purposes.

And we will see when we get to the end of the book of Ezekiel, beginning in chapter 33, what is needed for restoration to take place and what God will need to do in that exilic community for restoration to take place. At this point, the people in Babylon are very much like the people in Jerusalem, a rebellious house, and they are not going to be very responsive to Ezekiel’s word, so very much paralleling Jeremiah in Jerusalem.

And Ezekiel is told by God to be faithful to preach the word of God, even if they don’t respond the way they should. By his faithful proclamation of God’s word, they will know that there has been a prophet among them. The seriousness of this responsibility of being faithful to proclaim the prophetic word comes out in chapter three, where God explains to Ezekiel that he is like a watchman. And if you look at, well, beginning in verse 17,

¹⁷ “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. ¹⁸ If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. ¹⁹ But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. (Ezekiel 3:17-19, ESV)

And that prophetic word includes the word of judgment. The first 24 chapters full of the word of judgment, just like Jeremiah. Now, there’s much more restoration in Ezekiel than there was in Jeremiah, but the first 24 chapters full of the word of judgment. Ezekiel, if you are not faithful to proclaim that word of judgment, I will require at your hand to make you responsible for the blood of the wicked because you did not fulfill your responsibility. Yes, they are responsible for what they do.

But if I give you a word that is to be to them a warning, and you’re not faithful to it, then you, Ezekiel, are responsible as well. I will hold you accountable because you were not faithful to proclaim my word. Quite a responsibility on Ezekiel, and quite a responsibility on us, as we are called to be faithful to God’s word. And if we are not faithful to God’s word, I think the same thing. Part of our job in being faithful to God’s word is to share the bad news.

There’s a lot of good news, but there’s a lot of tough stuff in scripture that God’s people need to hear. And pastors especially will be held accountable on the day of judgment for their faithfulness to proclaim the, as we say, the full counsel of God, to prepare people to meet their God. So it’s a tremendous, heavy responsibility that is placed on Ezekiel.

Here we have his response given to us, to the vision, to his call. His call comes particularly in chapter two, but his response especially comes in chapter three, verses 14 and 15.

BJ, could you read those verses for us again just to get them out in front of us?

¹⁴ The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, the hand of the Lord being strong upon me. ¹⁵ And I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who were dwelling by the Chebar canal, and I sat where they were dwelling. And I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days. (Ezekiel 3:14-15, ESV)

Well, several explanations are given to these verses. Some say that this is describing a prophetic trance related to his receiving of the vision. Others say that Ezekiel is in these verses identifying with God’s cause and is sharing the righteous anger of God against the sin of his people.

And so when it talks about I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, it would be his identification with the righteous cause of God. He sat overwhelmed among them for seven days, feeling the weight of the impending judgment that would come against God’s people. And I think that’s possible, that might be what these verses are talking about. I also think it’s possible this sounds a little strange, but hear it out. I think it’s possible that Ezekiel here is resisting his call.

The encounter with God, if you want to use that term, left him physically exhausted, emotionally disturbed. He’s not happy about what God has called him to do. He’s resistant.

¹⁴ The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, the hand of the Lord being strong upon me. (Ezekiel 3:14, ESV)

He’s resisting the call, but he’s feeling the strong hand of God upon him. You put this in context, and I think you can make an argument that it’s possible that Ezekiel here is resisting.

This would explain the overwhelming power of the vision in chapter one. This would explain what is said in chapter two, the first two verses, where the Spirit enters into him and sets him on his feet. This would explain what God says to Ezekiel in chapter two, verse eight. He warns Ezekiel,

⁸ “But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Be not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.” (Ezekiel 2:8, ESV)

You see, Ezekiel perhaps is resisting, and God says, don’t be like Israel. Don’t be rebellious. Don’t resist God’s word. Open your mouth and take my word. And Chapter 3:2, the way it’s stated. It stated fairly strong in Hebrew. I opened my mouth. This is Chapter 3:2.

² So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat. (Ezekiel 3:2, ESV)

It’s stated fairly strong in Hebrew. God caused him to eat the scroll, which was sweet in his mouth. This would also explain some of the things that take place in the rest of Chapter 3. God’s emphasis on the fact that he’s a watchman and that if he doesn’t be faithful to this calling, to proclaim God’s prophetic word, he will be held responsible for that.

So the whole watchman thing that follows, you have 3:14-15, these verses we had read. And then 3:16 goes on to talk about the whole issue of being a watchman. You also have in chapter three, again, you come back to this at the end of the chapter 3:22-27, another emphasis on the glory of the Lord. This overpowering emphasis on the glory of the Lord. And you have chapter three stating some unusual things related to his call, related to his ministry.

Ezekiel 3:24 says,

²⁴ But the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and he spoke with me and said to me, “Go, shut yourself within your house. ²⁵ And you, O son of man, behold, cords will be placed upon you, and you shall be bound with them, so that you cannot go out among the people. ²⁶ And I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth, so that you shall be mute and unable to reprove them, for they are a rebellious house. ²⁷ But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth… (Ezekiel 3:24-27, ESV)

Now, there’s a lot of debate about what these cords refer to. We’re going to see in one of the sign acts, chapter four, that he is bound with cords. And so maybe this is referring to that. But then you have the fact that he is mute, partially mute. It’s not a complete muteness, but it’s a partial muteness. He will not be able to speak unless God gives him a word to proclaim to God’s people. So Ezekiel couldn’t discuss the football game over the weekend. He couldn’t carry on small talk with anybody.

You couldn’t talk to Ezekiel small talk because his mouth is shut. He would only open his mouth and speak when God’s word came to him, which emphasizes the importance of when he does speak, he doesn’t speak in small talk. Nothing wrong with that. But in this particular situation, God says, I am restraining you, and you will only be able to speak when I give you a prophetic word which will enforce the importance of when you do speak, because things are so important that small talk takes away from the issues that are at hand.

And so all this, I think, relates to the call of Ezekiel. And I do think you can make a case that in Ezekiel 3:14-15, he’s resisting his call. But obviously, God overpowers him. He’s willing to follow God. He does fulfill the function of a prophet.

And then finally, before we take a break, what we see in these first several chapters, especially in chapter one, we see the mobility of God’s presence, the mobility of God’s glory, which is very significant for the rest of the prophecy. God’s presence is not tied to one particular locality.

We are going to see the implications for that in chapters eight through eleven. We will come back to this chariot throne and see how that works itself out in relationship to the temple. God’s presence is not confined to one place, which will have implications for what’s going to go on in the temple. And God’s presence is not confined to Jerusalem. There’s a very powerful statement in chapter eleven related to God’s presence being with the exiles, even though they are separated from the temple and the city of Jerusalem.

So the movability of this thing in chapter one is extremely important and will come into play later on in chapters eight through eleven, and then again in chapters 40 to 48, that new temple that we will eventually talk about.

This audio lecture is brought to you by RTS on iTunesU at the virtual campus of Reformed Theological Seminary. To listen to other lectures and to access additional resources, please visit us at itunes.rts.edu.

For additional information on how to take distance education courses for credit towards a fully accredited Master of Arts in Religion degree, please visit our website at virtual rts.edu.