e195 A Watchman Who Witnesses the Glory of God (I have a spirit-crush on Ezekiel)

This is Faith to Witness 99, motivating us to hear God and share the Shepherd. 

Season 3 Episode 195  Part 1 – A Watchman Who Witnesses the Glory of God (I have a spirit-crush on Ezekiel)

Here’s the gist, human. Ezekiel was a man that listened to God tell him about the “river” and a hope for the future. A man that God took further, beyond the exile, to the return, and the exacting nature of his glory and how he would dwell again with his people. A man that heard God describe his glory. And who showed him what it looked like. A man that heard God prophecy this: “The Lord is there.” A man living through his prophetic life with such spiritual endurance that it makes me feel closer to God. With all my senses.

I mean. That is my spirit-crush.

It comes in two parts. The first part is Ezekiel, the watchman. The witness. 

And the second part is what Ezekiel saw, what he experienced of the glory of God. 

Today we look at how God calls Ezekiel, and how God defines being a witness in the life of Ezekiel. Although I think it is something of a challenge to think of a prophet as a role model, Ezekiel makes me think it is possible. 

Join us.

E195

The prophets of God in the Bible have captured my personal focus over the past couple of years. That I would gain a better sense of the chronological and periodic context within which they lived. And what God’s purpose for each of them was, what distinguishes them from each other. Why God? Why that man, why that woman. Oh, and the timeframe for their prophecies in relation to when the prophecies came true. How a prophet holds the time gap from the Lord’s command to when it actually happens. The time span alone calls for some pretty amazing courage. Living in a constant state of ridicule all around, I am sure. Not to mention the patronizing words of a chosen people that did not take heed. 

So this is a good time to clarify this: The period of Babylonian captivity came in stages, beginning in 606 B.C. when many of the king’s family were taken to Babylon. People of royal affiliation, 3,000 people. This included Daniel, Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego. So Daniel’s dream interpretations, his night in the lion’s den, and his friends’ experience in the blazing furnace, which we looked at in e194, were largely within the city of Babylon and the upper echelons of royal administration with King Nebuchadnezzar. 

Ten years later, in 596 B.C. a second group of exiles were taken as captives to Babylon. This group was made up of priests and skilled craftsmen, including Ezekiel, who lived-in the surrounding area of Babylon. It is recorded, though their exiles were 10 years apart, that both prophets started prophesying in c.620. They had different audiences, and when Daniel was exiled he then had an “exile audience in Babylonian captivity’ as I understand it.

God uses different voices, and people with different leadership skills to reach unique audiences based on circumstance and context. It was easy growing up to just think of the prophets as delivering a centralized global message to a chosen nation, but they each had a role in a specific time and place that tilled the ground for repentance within this nation. Repentance within different tiers of society: economically, socially, politically, and geographically. That said, well…

I might have a spirit-crush on Ezekiel.

I’m Kathryn Bise, your host.

The Witness of a Watchman

Ezekiel means “God strengthens” in Hebrew.  He had his first vision at age 30. Not unlike the age of Jesus, our Savior, starting his ministry at 30. He was very young, unlike Moses, but the way God speaks with Ezekiel reminds me of Moses. The intimacy, the details, the assuring, and circling back. More of a “heart view” of the rebellion people claim and what the heart’s intent does. 

Last year when I did my Bible read-through I had 16 post-its on this guy. He is known for the divine power expressed in his dreams—this alone captures the attention of scholars—but my tags hint at what has my spirit all a-flutter. In general, that God’s voice through Ezekiel is about the condition of the heart, the tempestuous direction of sin, the false gods that co-occupy the human soul, how that happens, and this young man who from 30 to 80 years old  carried the “watchman” verdict from God’s mouth to his obedience, a man who must have been a witness of witnesses. A man not beneath the smell of cow dung, you remember, right? A man who lost his earthly female love to give Israel a metaphor, a sign. That just as Ezekiel’s wife was a “delight to his eyes” and so the Temple was the same to the Israeli nation. Both would be taken away. And they would not mourn but lay dormant, subject to the finality of God.

First, we learn about Ezekiel’s vision from God. Then, in Ezekiel chapter 2 we see the presence of God’s spirit:

Ezekiel 2:1-8

2 He said to me, “Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you.” 2 As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.

3 He said: “Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have been in revolt against me to this very day. 4 The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’ 5 And whether they listen or fail to listen—for they are a rebellious people—they will know that a prophet has been among them. 6 And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or be terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people. 7 You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious. 8 But you, son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not rebel like that rebellious people; open your mouth and eat what I give you.”

God goes on to instruct Ezekiel to literally eat the scroll of his words, so he could tell the Israeli nation what God wants. God tells Ezekiel he will harden his heart FOR the Lord. That as stubborn as the nation is, Ezekiel will stand his ground as witness. (Ezekiel 3:8)

Ezekiel responded as the son of man. This was how God addressed him, the son of man, to remind Ezekiel that he had a mortal identity, completely dependent on his Creator. 

When Your Witness Overwhelms You

Ezekiel’s response is a powerful mix of human nature and God’s Will moving through it. 

Ezekiel 3:14-15

14 The Spirit then lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the Lord on me. 15 I came to the exiles who lived at Tel Aviv near the Kebar River. And there, where they were living, I sat among them for seven days—deeply distressed.

Ezekiel went to his group in exile to process what God had just called him to. He was overwhelmed. Yet he waited for his next step. In chapter 3, God names Ezekiel as the watchman for this nation:

Ezekiel 3:16-21

16 At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me: 17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. 18 When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. 19 But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their evil ways, they will die for their sin; but you will have saved yourself.

20 “Again, when a righteous person turns from their righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before them, they will die. Since you did not warn them, they will die for their sin. The righteous things that person did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. 21 But if you do warn the righteous person not to sin and they do not sin, they will surely live because they took warning, and you will have saved yourself.”

We are Witness to Each Man’s Righteousness

God makes the terms clear: Ezekiel needs to warn the people of Israel of their sin. He has been called to not only watch for their behaviors, but to warn them and dissuade them from their evil ways. If he does not warn them, he will be accountable for their blood. If he does warn them, yet they do not turn from evil, they will still die, but Ezekiel will have saved himself. So, Ezekiel does not take on the sin of others, but he must watch. He must warn.

In my mind, he must witness with the words of his Sovereign Lord.

Then God reinforces the accountability of every human being for following the righteous way or the evil way. One person’s righteousness cannot save another person. It is non-transferable, no matter how great, how faithful that person is. 

Ezekiel 14:12-14

12 The word of the Lord came to me: 13 “Son of man, if a country sins against me by being unfaithful and I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its food supply and send famine upon it and kill its people and their animals, 14 even if these three men—Noah, Daniel and Job—were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign Lord.

We are witness to each man’s righteousness. What comes next is such a wonder to me, yet it has the gravity of accountability weighing it down. God, in speaking to Israel says:

Ezekiel 20:41

41 I will accept you as fragrant incense when I bring you out from the nations and gather you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will be proved holy through you in the sight of the nations.

That our actions will represent the holiness of God. This will be beyond extraordinary when we get to Part 2, the glory and nature of God revealed to Ezekiel. Just the same, as being a watchman is part of our witness, so is representing God’s holy nature.

Your Witness Will Cost Your All

Sometime around the 9^th year of Ezekiel’s call as a prophet God took away from him the “delight of your eyes.” And asked him to stand tall, stand strong as a living metaphor of what Israel was about to lose. 

Ezekiel 24:15-18

15 The word of the Lord came to me: 16 “Son of man, with one blow I am about to take away from you the delight of your eyes. Yet do not lament or weep or shed any tears. 17 Groan quietly; do not mourn for the dead. Keep your turban fastened and your sandals on your feet; do not cover your mustache and beard or eat the customary food of mourners.”

18 So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. The next morning I did as I had been commanded.

We are talking about the life of a man who has been called to watch, warn, and dissuade a nation that is runaway with sin, a man who has been called to groan quietly and not mourn the death of the person he loved most. Both of these spiritual mandates require the strong arm of God. 

In the twelfth year God renewed his command and his commitment to Ezekiel. He would have been 42, by my math. God again brings clarity to the power of Ezekiel’s witness as a watchman.

Ezekiel 33:6-9

6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life, that person’s life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.’

7 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. 8 When I say to the wicked, ‘You wicked person, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak out to dissuade them from their ways, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. 9 But if you do warn the wicked person to turn from their ways and they do not do so, they will die for their sin, though you yourself will be saved.

When God Authenticates Your Witness

And then God spiritually authenticates the life and purpose of Ezekiel in such a beautiful way. 

Ezekiel 33:30-33

30 “As for you, son of man, your people are talking together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, saying to each other, ‘Come and hear the message that has come from the Lord.’ 31 My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to hear your words, but they do not put them into practice. Their mouths speak of love, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. 32 Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice.

33 “When all this comes true—and it surely will—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”

Watchman, indeed. Thank you Ezekiel. Thank you Lord.

Thanks for taking in a decent amount of scripture from the book of Ezekiel today. It’s a fifty+ page book filled with the depth and breadth of God’s story. So let’s just take a moment to understand what is at stake with how we witness, when we witness, to whom we witness. Because we are watchmen for the lost ones. God is clear. And Jesus asks us to take up our cross. Ezekiel took up his cross in losing his wife, his most precious love in earthly life. 

So I leave us to think about a heart-piercing question today, trust me I am doing overtime on this one, because I can take cues from a thirty-year old prophet who heard God tell him he is to be a watchman. 

Am I missing opportunities to watch for, to warn, to dissuade, and I will add, to persuade someone to accepting Jesus as Savior and Lord? 

Are you missing opportunities? While sin is a formidable opponent, and bigger yet, the enemy who originates all sin, the very nature of God lifts us up, the Spirit can “raise us to our feet” just like God did with Ezekiel.

Join us for Ezekiel, Part 2, e196, to hear, to see, to know what Ezekiel experienced. A watchman who witnesses the glory of God.