THE FIRST PART: A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
From Captivity to the Return
Message Five—Ezekiel
Scripture Reading: Ezek. 1:1-26; 14:3-5; 36:25-27; 48:1-23
I. The subject of Ezekiel is God’s appearing to man in glory, His judgment upon both His people and the nations, and His recovery of His chosen people for the building up of a dwelling place as a mutual abode and complete expression for and of Himself—Ezek. 1:4-28; 5:8, 15. (The Subject of Ezekiel)
II. The Bible as a whole, and the book of Ezekiel as a miniature of the Bible, reveal that God’s eternal intention is to dispense Himself into His chosen people, making them the same as He is in His life, His nature, and His image but not in His Godhead, that they might be mingled with Him as one entity and be built together in Him to be His eternal habitation, the New Jerusalem—Ezek. 1:1; Gen. 1:26: (Holy Bible Recovery Version, Ezek. 1:1, footnote 4)
A. The Bible shows us clearly that God’s eternal purpose is to dispense Himself into a group of human beings; His intention is to dispense Himself into us that we may have Him as our life, that we may have His nature, and that we may bear His glorious image. (Life-Study of Ezekiel, msg. 1)
B. The book of Ezekiel shows us the same picture in a condensed way, revealing that God’s intention is to work Himself into us as our life and to mingle Himself with us that we might be built together in Him as life to be His eternal habitation. (Life-Study of Ezekiel, msg. 1)
III. There are fore sections in the book of Ezekiel; the first section of this book (ch. 1) presents a vision of the appearance of the glory of the Lord; in the second section (chs. 2—32) God comes as the consuming fire to judge His people and the heathen nations; after the judgment God comes in to recover His people by life; the third section (chs. 33—39) is the section of recovery; the fourth section (chs. 40—48), which concerns the holy building of God, comes out of the recovery by life and consummates the book: (Life-Study of Ezekiel, msg. 1)
A. Ezekiel is a book of visions; the first section of this book presents a vision of the appearance of the glory of the Lord, revealing how God is manifested, how God moves, and how God administrates His government through the four living creatures; through the coordination of the living creatures, God is able to move and administrate: (Life-Study of Ezekiel, msg. 1)
1. “Now in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth of the month, while I was among the captives by the river Chebar, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God”—Ezek. 1:1: (Holy Bible Recovery Version, Ezek. 1:1, footnote 1)
a. The opening of the heavens is God’s special visitation; the people of Israel had been damaged by Satan and carried away into captivity; as a result, the heavens could not be opened to them—Gen. 28:11-17; Mat. 3:16-17; Acts 7:56. (2016 WT, msg. 1)
b. There was a priest, Ezekiel, who was seeking God and contacting Him and who was connected to the heavens; the heavens could therefore be opened to him and could even come down to the earth, enabling God’s heavenly things to be seen by people on earth and to be fulfilled among them on earth—Gen. 28:17; Ezek. 1:3; Rev. 1:1, 9. (2016 WT, msg. 1)
c. Ezekiel saw visions of God—divine, spiritual, heavenly visions—in his spirit under an opened heaven—Eph. 3:3-5; Rev. 1:10; 4:2; 17:3; 21:10. (2016 WT, msg. 1)
2. The One signified by the glowing electrum, the Lamb-God, dwells within us as a priceless treasure for His expression— 2 Cor. 4:7. (2016 WT, msg. 1)
3. The four faces of the four living creatures signify the complete and adequate expression of Christ—Ezek. 1:5-6, 10: (2016 WT, msg. 1)
a. The four living creatures signify a corporate entity, the corporate Christ—the corporate expression of God; when God gains such a corporate expression, His purpose will be accomplished—1 Cor. 12:12; Eph. 3:10-11. (2016 WT, msg. 1)
b. The vision in Ezekiel 1 shows us that we need to be corporate and that we need to be in coordination—vv. 4-5, 12. (2016 WT, msg. 1)
4. “Upon the likeness of the throne was One in appearance like a man”—v. 26b: (2016 WT, msg. 1)
a. The One on the throne looks like a man, yet with Him is the likeness of the glory of Jehovah, indicating that the One sitting on the throne is both God and man; this is Jesus Christ, the God-man, the mingling of God and man—Ezek. 1:28. (2016 WT, msg. 1)
b. The One on the throne and the four living creatures both have the appearance of a man, indicating that the four living creatures on earth are the expression of the One on the throne; this is the manifestation of God in humanity—Ezek. 1:5, 26; 1 Tim. 3:15-16. (2016 WT, msg. 1)
c. As revealed in the Bible, God’s mysterious intention in His relationship with man is to mingle Himself with man and thereby to become the same as man and make man the same as He is in life, in nature, and in expression but not in the Godhead—John 1:12-14; 1 John 3:2; 2 Pet. 1:4; Rom. 8:29. (2016 WT, msg. 1)
B. In the second section of the book of Ezekiel, God comes as the consuming fire to judge His people and the heathen nations—Ezek. 20:6, 6:9; 13:4: (Life-Study of Ezekiel, msg. 1)
1. At the time of Ezekiel the people of Israel were degraded and unsuitable for God’s purpose; their degraded situation forced God to exercise His judgment upon them. (Truth Lessons, Lev. l, vol. 2, lsn. 29)
2. God’s judgment upon His people was based on three things: the righteousness of God, the holiness of God, and the glory of God—Gen. 3:24; 1 Cor. 1:30: (Life-Study of Ezekiel, msg. 14)
a. God’s righteousness was versus Israel’s injustice and oppression; during Ezekiel’s time the people used oppression and exercised robbery; on the basis of His righteous throne, God had to exercise His judgment upon all unrighteous and unjust things—Ezek. 22:29; Col. 3:15. (Life-Study of Ezekiel, msg. 14)
b. God’s holiness is God’s separation and sanctification, and this is versus dross; as God’s elect, God’s chosen people, the church should be pure gold, pure silver, and a pure treasure; however, like the people of Israel at Ezekiel’s time, the church has become dross—Exo. 19:5; Ezek. 22:17-22. (Life-Study of Ezekiel, msg. 14)
c. God’s judgment upon His people is based first upon His glory; anything that is versus God’s glory will surely provoke His judgment—Ezek. 8:2-4. (Life-Study of Ezekiel, msg. 14)
3. Chapters twenty-five through thirty-two of Ezekiel speak of seven nations that surrounded the nation of Israel; God executed judgment in four ways: by destroying these nations, by making them desolate, by making them very low, and by delivering them to the nether parts of the earth, that is, to the lower parts of the earth. (Life-Study of Ezekiel, msg. 15)
4. Whenever the condition among His people or in the world does not match His righteousness, holiness, and glory, God will exercise His judgment for the purpose of recovery. (Life-Study of Ezekiel, msg. 15)
C. After the judgment God comes in to recover His people by life—Ezek. 33:7, 11; Isa. 62:6-7: (Life-Study of Ezekiel, msg. 1)
1. In His recovery by life, the first thing the Lord does is to send the watchman to warn His people and cause them to repent, turn, and live—Ezek. 33:7, 11; Isa. 62:6-7; Matt. 3:1-2; Col. 1:28-29; Acts 20:26-27. (1998 TGC, msg. 3)
2. After the warning of the watchman, Lord Himself came in to be the Shepherd, He not only seeks but also searches—Ezek. 34:11-31; Luke 15:3-10; Matt. 9:36; John 10:11; 21:15-17; Heb. 13:20; 1 Pet. 5:3-4. (2001 FTTA-F, msg. 13)
3. In chapter thirty-six we see that the Lord recovers His people by life not only outwardly but also inwardly, by giving them a new heart and a new spirit and by putting His Spirit within them. (Life-Study of Ezekiel, msg. 18)
4. Chapter 37 reveals how God’s Spirit enters into His people in order to enliven them that they may become a corporate Body formed into an army and built up to be God’s dwelling place—vv. 1-14, 26-28. (2001 FTTA-F, msg. 15)
5. I hope that many will humble themselves before the Lord and pray, “Lord, I confess that I am not only sick and sinful—I admit that I am dead. My heart and my spirit are dead. Lord, I am completely dead and dry. I am like a pile of dead, dry bones. O Lord, I need Your life to come into me. I need You to breathe the breath of life into me so that I may live, that we may become a corporate body, formed into an army, and also built up as God’s dwelling place.” (Life-Study of Ezekil, msg. 18)
D. The book of Ezekiel begins with a vision of the appearance of the glory of the Lord and ends with a vision of the holy building of God; this indicates that God’s goal is the building and that the glory of the Lord, the judgment of God, and the recovery of the Lord are all for the holy building of God—Ezek. 40:1-48:35: (2001 FTTA-F, msg. 16)
1. God’s eternal purpose is to have a building as a mingling of Himself with His chosen people; whatever God does among His people and among the nations on earth is for His building. (Holy Bible Recovery Version, Ezek. 40:1, footnote 1)
2. In Ezekiel 40—48, a section on God’s building, three main things are covered: the holy temple, the holy city, and the holy land: God obtains a holy temple (chs. 40—44) and a holy city in the Holy Land; God dwells in the temple, and He dwells also in the city; In the temple God has fellowship with His people, and in the city God reigns among His people. (2001 FTTA-F, msg. 16)
3. After the building of the house of God, the Bible speaks of the river of God’s pleasures, the river whose streams gladden the city of God, a fountain coming forth from the house of the Lord, living waters going out from Jerusalem, and the living water flowing out of the house of God—Psa. 36:8b; 46:4; Joe. 3:18; Zech. 14:8; Ezek. 47:1-12: (2001 ITEROF, msg. 17)
a. The main factor that caused living water to pour out was the building up of the house—Ezek. 47:1a. (1998 MDC, msg. 6)
b. The flowing is by the side of the altar, showing that if we want to have the flow, we need the dealing of the cross; if we want to experience the flow of life, we must have a full consecration. (1998 MDC, msg. 6)
c. For the increase of the flow of life, we need to be measured by the Lord; the work, behavior, and person of God’s people must match the temple of God according to its design, its pattern, its laws, and its statutes—Ezek. 43:10-11. (1998 MDC, msg. 6)
IV. “If you are in the Lord’s recovery, be in the recovery absolutely, not halfway…The Lord Jesus desires and requires absoluteness…By being absolute we will be in the flow, and the flow will not be a trickle but a river to swim in; Then everything shall live where the river comes” (Life-study of Ezekiel, pp. 311-312). (Life-Study of Ezekiel, msg. 26)