Please turn in your Bibles to Ezekiel chapter 36, verses 24 through 28. For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will keep my judgments and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers. You shall be my people, and I will be your God. Amen. Father God, we thank you for this, your word, and we pray that as we begin to examine the beautiful book of Ezekiel, that you would help me to be clear and accurate in my presentation, each one of us to be helped and edified through our examination of it. May you be worshiped as we interact with your word, in Jesus' name. Well, as Rodney mentioned earlier, today is Reformation Day and Ezekiel deals with a lot of the issues that the Protestant Reformation dealt with. It contrasts the pure, sovereign grace of God with the works righteousness that the Jews of Ezekiel's day engaged in. And I love Ezekiel 36 particularly because it's sovereign grace written all over it. This book, like the Protestant Reformation, addresses and confronts head-on that false, sacred, secular divide that worships God on a Sunday but leaves God out of everything else that you do during the rest of the week. Ezekiel sought to bring reform to Israel's doctrine of God, its worship, how they treated the temple, the idolatry of both church and state, and many other areas. But I think one of the genius aspects of at least the Reformed side of the Reformation was that they saw that the lordship of Christ over all of life meant that none of life could be secular. All of life must be lived as unto God. All of life was made sacred. That is the Reformation viewpoint, which means that a plumber or a carpenter or a farmer can be just as effective in serving God with their calling as I can as a pastor. That was the Reformation view, and it is certainly the view of Ezekiel. And so the Reformed Church sought to bring reformation, not just to liturgy and things in the church, it sought to bring reformation to economics, politics, art, so many other areas of life, and that's why it resulted in more than merely a revival. It was a reformation that swept up all of life into the kingdom of God. So, in this book, We see that God is sovereign over those results. Ezekiel really was hoping for a reformation of the sizes that the Protestant Reformation would be. But in Ezekiel 33, God tells him, no, what you're seeing is fake. That does not really constitute even a revival, let alone a reformation. Don't get excited about that. But in any case, all of life comes under God's scrutiny in this book. Ezekiel deals with God's view of marriage outside the bedroom, marriage inside the bedroom. God deals in this book with politics, but not only judges the politicians and their political activities, but their hearts and their lives. He takes offense at business practices that are unethical. and economics that were false. One commentary says, Ezekiel's words touch on finance and debt, economic development, honesty, allocation of capital, workplace evaluations, fair return on investment, economic opportunism, success and failure, whistleblowing, teamwork, executive compensation, and corporate governance. And you'll have to read the commentary to see how this book deals with all of those things. It's an economic commentary, very unique, that seeks to apply the whole Bible, Genesis through Revelation, to the workplace issues that we go through every day. I don't agree with all of their conclusions, but I think it's a very notable contribution. But the point is, Ezekiel claims that God claims every square inch of life outside of us and every square inch of life inside of us. What do I mean by every square inch of life inside of us? Well, there were people in Ezekiel's day who were outwardly quite upright, but God was offended with the pornography that was going on inside of their hearts. And in chapter six, verse nine, God says, I was crushed by their adulterous heart. What goes on inside the heart matters a great deal to God. So just like Christ was not content to clean up the outside of the cup like the Pharisees did, Ezekiel was not content with outward conformity. He wants the Holy Spirit working, cleaning up the inside of us as well. That was a big part of his critique of what the pastors or the shepherds of his day were engaged in in chapter 34. It's a big part of his discussion of the Holy Spirit's work in chapter 36. Too many Christians think that what goes on between their ears is nobody else's business, but God reads your thoughts a whole lot more clearly than you read your thoughts. And in chapter 6, verse 9, God says, well, actually 14, verse 3, a very similar concept, that the idols that they set up in their heart, they didn't necessarily have idols outside, but he said the idols that they set up in their heart were things that bothered him as well. He addresses that in Ezekiel 14. So basically he says in that chapter, if you watch inappropriate videos on your phone, well they didn't have phones back then, but it was something very similar, the kind of stuff that they had. He says he's not gonna listen to your prayers. He says, son of man, these men put before them that which causes them to stumble into iniquity. Should I let myself be inquired of at all by them? And the implied answer is, no, I'm not going to listen to their prayers if that's what they're completely focused on, if the idolatry of their hearts has been captured by these things that lead them into sin. So Ezekiel really is a hard-hitting book that rips off the facade of a fake Christianity and wants us to have hearts that are lifted up before God and transparent. It's such an appropriate book for Reformation Day. So that's what I mean by saying that it claims every square inch of what goes on inside of us. What do I mean by every square inch of life outside of us? Well, in chapter 20, verse 16, he notices when we don't take seriously his Sabbaths. In 18.6, God says that there are certain common sexual practices and marriages that he takes great offense to. Your bodies are not your own. That's what Ezekiel says. They belong to God and you need to honor God even with your sexuality. In 18.7, he goes after people for taking advantage of the naive in their business practices. The same commentary said of that verse, God's denunciation of arrangements that provide no benefit for buyers does not have to be limited to securitized debt obligations. Ezekiel 18.7 is about loans, but the same principle applies to products of all kinds. withholding information about product flaws and risks, selling more expensive products than the buyer needs, mismatching the product's benefits to the buyer's needs. All these practices are similar to the oppression depicted in Ezekiel 18 7. They can creep into even well-intentioned businesses unless the seller makes the buyer's well-being an inviolable goal of sales transaction. to care for the buyer is to live in the terminology of Ezekiel. So the first half of the book is a detailed critique of every imaginable kind of compromise that we Christians can make And in the process says, you're not going to profit if you do that. It's not in your best interest to violate God's law. The second half of the book gives hope to Israel that what we can't do in our own strength, God can do through us. God knows we're not going to be perfect. He says it's direction, not perfection. Okay. God is pleased when we're in the boxing ring, we get knocked down and we get right back up and we keep duking it out with the world, the flesh and the devil. We get knocked down again. He is pleased when we do that. It's direction, not perfection. But when we give up and say, Oh, I don't know that I want to really fight. And we begin becoming friends with the enemy instead of, uh, continuing to fight with the enemy, which is the world, the flesh and the devil. Right. That's where we begin grieving the Spirit, and so Hebrews uses that metaphor of a boxing ring, and he says, you have not yet resisted the bloodshed striving against sin. He's asking, you said you were fighting? Where is the broken noses? Where is the cuts on your cheeks? Where is the sweat? I don't even see you sweating. It doesn't look like you're really fighting against sin very hard. Are you taking the battle seriously? Now, of course, the second half of the book does not ask us to do this on our own. That's the whole point of the second half. So the boxing metaphor is not entirely accurate. Christ will be right in the boxing ring with you, so to speak, strengthening your willpower, giving us motivation, changing our hearts, helping us to land those punches strategically. And in chapter 36, he promised to do inside of them what they absolutely could not do on their own. So the second half of the book gives incredible confidence in the power of the Holy Spirit, and we realize that eventually it is going to be transforming planet Earth. How many thousands of years in the future this is all going to be, we don't know. So where the first half of the book is a dark picture of every part of life being stained by sin, the second half of the book moves us ultimately into the messianic kingdom where every area of life will be transformed by God and made holy by God. The grace of God's kingdom will extend more pervasively than the sin in the first half of the book. Now when you realize how pervasively sin extends in the first half of the book, that's an astounding promise. As Romans 5 verse 20 worded it, where sin abounded, So that's the first half of the book, where sin abounded, grace abounded much more. That's the second half of the book, and I love that phrase, much more. I think it'll be an awesome thing, you know, as the kingdom of Christ advances, and more and more you're gonna begin to see people thinking godly thoughts, and having holy conversations, and their sex will be holy, and whether they eat or drink or whatever they do will be holy because they're going to be doing it as unto the glory of God. Zechariah promises eventually on planet earth there's going to be so much knowledge of the Lord, so much holiness, that everything's going to be dedicated to the Lord. Even the things that used to be considered unclean in the Old Testament, like horses, the bells on the horses are going to be holiness to the Lord, right? So let's take a look at this interesting character, Ezekiel. Ezekiel had already seen a lot of depravity and war and trouble in Israel before he got deported in the second deportation. He was 17 years old when Daniel had earlier been deported in the first deportation. That was in 605 BC. But Ezekiel had been left in Israel at that time, and he no doubt sorrowed at all of the people. This was the cream of the crop. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had been taken off. So just in terms of historical background, Nebuchadnezzar had three deportations. and three stages of his conquest. He first defeated Jehoiakim in 605 BC, carried off some of the cream of the crop of all of the citizens, including Daniel and his three friends. Jehoiakim remained in power, but later when Jehoiakim and his son Jehoiakin rebelled again, there was further punishment, and Nebuchadnezzar carried off another 10,000 hostages, including King Jehoiakin and Ezekiel. Now Ezekiel would have been 25 years old when he was taken to Babylon. Perhaps it just started his apprenticeship to the priesthood in the temple. So Ezekiel's captivity started, if you wanna just compare, where does this line up with Lamentations and Daniel? Ezekiel starts 13 years after Daniel chapter one. And it starts six years before Lamentations. Okay, so that gives you a little bit of a picture of where it lines up. Chapter one, verse one. Now it came to pass in the 30th year. 30th year of what? 30th year of Ezekiel's life. And that lets you know that when Ezekiel was in Israel, that was five years before, he was not yet a priest. A priest did not get inducted into their ministry until they were 30 years of age. Now they could start being apprentice and doing a lot of the work at age 25, but he grew up in the temple, he was hugely interested in the purity of the temple, intimately aware of all of the details of that temple. You see this in the book. No doubt trained for it for his whole life, but he was not a priest. Now it came to pass in the 30th year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river Chibar, that the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. So his prophetic ministry started that year. Verses two through three place this in terms of the chronology of Israel as a whole. On the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of King Jehoiakim's captivity, the word of the Lord came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar, and the hand of the Lord was upon him there." So if Jehoiakim was taken into captivity in 597, And this is five years later. You can put in the margin verses one and two, 592 BC. That's just six years before Jerusalem will be completely destroyed. The temple, everything gone in the third invasion. Now let's just do an overview of the whole book. In verse 4, God suddenly gave Ezekiel his first vision. Now this was a magnificent, brilliant cloud that he saw, and inside of this cloud were four cherubim angels who were standing on top of wheels within wheels that are spinning. like a chariot throne, and on top of the throne is a glorious being that is said to represent the glory of Yehoah. Now that Hebrew word for glory clues us into the fact this is none other than the glory cloud that used to be in the temple. And so any Hebrew who's picking up Ezekiel and his vision there, he's going to say, what on earth is the glory cloud doing in Babylon? The cherubim, the glory cloud, God's throne room is in the temple. That's where that's supposed to be. So what is going on? Well, the whole of the first section will resolve that puzzle. God systematically informs Ezekiel that the nation called Judah in Palestine is no longer his people. I'll just give you a couple of hints. Look at chapter 2, verse 3. And he said to me, son of man, I am sending you to the children of Israel to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day. Now, you're not going to catch the significance of this very strongly in the English. But when he calls them a rebellious nation, the Hebrew word for nation there is goy. It's a word that was reserved for the Gentiles. Very few times does the Bible use that term of Israel. So he's saying Israel's become a Gentile nation. It's now one of the goyim of the Gentiles. In fact, in chapter 16, he will repeatedly speak of Judah as Sodom. That's how bad it had gotten. That's the same thing that the book of Revelation does in A.D. 66. So these first two chapters alone completely overturn the message of the false prophets back in Judah who claimed that King Zedekiah, the last king, would restore the glory of Israel, and they claimed that all of the people who had been taken into Babylon in the first two deportations were accursed of God. They were abandoned by God. Don't listen to Ezekiel. Listen to us. If Ezekiel was truly of God, why would he be abandoned in Babylon? Now, of course, Jeremiah had earlier said, hey guys, it's the good figs that are going to be carried into exile, the bad rotten figs are going to be left in Israel to rot and to be destroyed. But they didn't believe Jeremiah either. They thought we are the people of God, God is in favor of us. This is very similar to the theology of some Christians today, who think, you know, God's got a covenant with Israel, and God has them as His special people, regardless of what they do. And Ezekiel argues against that. Well, in chapter 1, we find that the glory cloud had abandoned Judah, was now with the exiles in Babylon. God would reconstitute a new Israel in exile amongst the remnant. He would leave the temple, and in Ezekiel he's going to say, my new temple is the people of God in Babylon, and I'm going to make my glory cloud be with them. So it really fits as a perfect introduction to the whole first section. It's a remarkable theological statement. So section one, I wish I had put into your outlines what all the sections are, but I'll just give them to you, you can write them in. Section one is chapters one through 11, and it explores the question of why the glory cloud is in Babylon. God commissions Ezekiel to bring a series of accusations against Israel. We've already looked at some of those accusations in the introduction. They basically had ignored God's laws in every area of their lives, and he warns them, hey guys, the first two deportations that you have seen, they are nothing compared to the absolute devastation that's going to happen to the temple, to Jerusalem, and to the people who were there. And it's going to be soon. It'll end up being less than seven years. So this is the section where Ezekiel does some rather interesting drama. You can think of it as street theater. And those street theater things were designed to help reinforce the message, and he had to interpret what he meant by these things. For example, He built a small model of Jerusalem, and the picture doesn't reflect it very well, but he had model horses and soldiers, and he staged attacks against Jerusalem to tell them, okay, this is what's gonna be happening to Jerusalem fairly soon. I think that was one of the more fun of the street theaters he was engaged in. He shaves off his hair, he carefully weighs it, and then he divides the hair up into three piles, equal piles. There's one-third that he burns. One-third of the hair, he hits it with a sword, and then one-third he scatters to the wind, and he says, this is what's gonna happen to the people that are in Jerusalem. One-third will die of starvation and plague. One-third will be killed by the sword. One-third will be scattered to the winds. Now probably the most bizarre of all of the street theatrics is found in chapter four, where Ezekiel is tied up and he's lying on his left side for 390 days, and then he's lying on his right side for another 40 days. And God supernaturally kept Ezekiel from being able to move his body during that time. He ate and drank very limited rations, and he was to eat barley cakes. Barley was the food of the poor back then, but he ate barley cakes, and God said, they're going to be cooked over human dung in order to show the dire straits that the people of Jerusalem were going to go through. Ezekiel begged off from that. He said, please, Lord, don't make me eat this cooked over human dung. God said, okay, I'll relent. You can eat it cooked over cow dung, okay? So the point is, his office was a difficult office to get into. You would not want to sign up, say, oh yeah, I'd love to be a prophet. No, most of the prophets ended up dying, right? They had a tough, tough life, but He was called to it. He fulfilled it faithfully. And these early chapters are just filled with drama and very powerful metaphors. I think he must have been very, very skilled in what God called him to do. In chapters 8 through 11, Ezekiel is lifted up by the hair and flown in a vision. It's obviously not literal flying there. He's flown in a vision over to the temple in Jerusalem, and when he gets to that temple, he is shocked by what he sees. He sees this pagan image that the people are worshiping, and then he goes to another part of the temple, and he sees these women weeping and worshiping Tammuz, and he goes inside the temple. He sees sun worship and all kinds of idolatry. He comes to the realization Israel is without hope. It has apostatized beyond redemption. And in chapter 9, God has His angels put a mark on the faithful remnant who were in Israel to protect them. I love that image of the mark. God can protect His people during times of catastrophic judgments. In chapter 10, the glory cloud of God abandons the temple and it flies east to Babylon. And so it explains why the glory cloud's not in Israel, why it's in Babylon. And then he explicitly says at the end of chapter 10, by the way, this is what you saw in chapter one. So he brings it around full circle and explains the presence of God's glory in Babylon. The reason is God has abandoned his temple completely. But he also makes the important point that he had not abandoned his people. Okay, God went into exile with his people and promises he's gonna return them. I think that is the coolest thought, that God was willing to go into exile with them. Even in our most dire circumstances, God has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. He was there with Paul and Silas in the prison. He was there with the Apostle Paul when his ship went down. He had not abandoned him and we can praise God for his presence and his help. So, the first 11 chapters serve as an explanation. of the judgments that are going to be coming in the next two sections. So the first section, chapters one through 11. Section two, chapters 12 through 24, predicts imminent and catastrophic judgment against Judah. The third section, chapters 25 through 32, promise imminent and catastrophic judgment upon the pagan nations. God is an equal opportunity judger. All nations must bow before His Lordship or they will face the music. So all nations must submit to His laws, receive His grace, or be similarly judged. People who deny that America could possibly receive catastrophic judgment have either not read the Old Testament prophets who have read them with blinders on. God did not give us Ezekiel as some quaint history that, you know, is just dusty and has nothing to do with us. He gave us Ezekiel to tell us how God tends to judge nations and even give us hints as to the kinds of things we can expect that might indicate that catastrophic judgment is imminent. He helps us out. Well, let's go through section 2. In chapter 12, God asks Ezekiel to destroy the wall of his house by digging a hole in it and crawling through and bringing a bunch of his stuff out with him. And when the people ask him, what on earth are you doing? That would seem strange, wouldn't it? He tells them, OK, God told me to do this because The king of Judah, who's right now under siege, is going to soon dig a hole in a wall, crawl through with some of his belongings, but he's going to be captured by a King Nebuchadnezzar, he's going to be blinded, and he's going to be brought back to Babylon. And very shortly that was fulfilled to a tee. 2 Kings 25, 7 says, So the last thing that he witnessed was his kids being killed. a ghastly scene for him to remember the rest of his life. Now, in chapter 15, Ezekiel likens Judah to the wood of a wild vine to show why he's throwing Judah away. Now, if you've ever dealt with vines, I think you'll appreciate this metaphor. A vine of a good grape, it at least produces good fruit, right? But a wild vine, no. It's not good for fruit. It's not good for furniture. It's not even good for cutting a piece and putting a peg in the wall because it's so bendy. Anything you hang on, it's going to fall. It's not even good for firewood. You put it in the fire, it just smokes. It is worthless, only good to be thrown away. And that's what God said Judah had become. Utterly worthless, incredibly powerful metaphor. In chapter 16, he likens Judah to an orphan whom God had raised up, clothed, provided for, and eventually married. And yet Judah proved to be a rebellious and adulterous wife, and yikes, the descriptions of her adulteries are quite graphic. She is never satisfied with her adulteries, and unlike a harlot who charges people to sin with her, she paid tons and tons of people to sin with her. Indeed, she was worse than a harlot, and he calls her Sodom. The whole section is filled with metaphors, more street dramas that stand as a powerful indictment of Judah. Some of the most risque language in the entire Bible is included in chapter 23 as he likens Israel to two promiscuous sisters. It's almost embarrassing to read. But all of this stands as a covenant lawsuit against Judah, and it's such vivid, bold language that it captures the hearts of the remnant and draws them to the Lord. Now, the second section Actually, it's not the second, this would be the third section. Chapters 25 through 33 pronounces judgments against the pagan nations of Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, Tyre, and Egypt. I won't spend much time on this section. Most of the chapters are Tyre and Egypt because those are the ones that Judah admired the most. borrowed so much paganism from those two countries, very powerful and yet in a few short months they would be reduced to nothing under Nebuchadnezzar's hand. In chapter 33 Ezekiel is told that he must be a faithful watchman warning the people of danger to come so as not to have blood on his hands. This is a passage that I take very, very seriously as a pastor. I do not dare to give messages that soft-pedal God's Word, or God will hold me accountable for your sins, hold me accountable for any judgments or disciplines you receive. That's the kind of testimony it is. Anyway, at the end of chapter 33, A messenger comes to tell Jeremiah that all of this was fulfilled, Jerusalem has fallen, and then comes a stirring message in verses 30 through 33. In fact, I'm going to read that for you. This is chapter 33, verses 30 to 33. through 33. As for you, son of man, the children of your people are talking about you beside the walls and in the doors of the houses, and they speak to one another, everyone saying to his brother, please come and hear what the word is that comes from the Lord. So they come to you as people do. They sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them. For with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain. Indeed, you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument, for they hear your words, but they do not do them. And when this comes to pass, surely it will come, then they will know that a prophet has been among them." Ezekiel was pretty excited that a revival might be happening because crowds came to hear him. They loved listening to him. But God warns Ezekiel that this is counterfeit revival. This doesn't even remotely approach a reformation. It is counterfeit. And let me tell you, a lot of churches are satisfied if they have these six things. our church should not be satisfied with these six things. I believe that there are churches that are under God's judgment that have these six things. Let me quickly list them for you. First, God says in verse 30 that interest in the pastor and his message is not a sign of success or revival. And it's certainly not a sign of reformation. Even though the people listened, it was for the wrong reasons. According to Matthew 7, 22, there will be many who have sat under good preaching who will end up in hell. Second, verse 30 indicates that these people were spreading the message. They were like they were being evangelistic. They were inviting people to church. but God saw their heart. Third, they had faithful attendance at church. Verse 31 says, they come to you as people do, they sit before you as my people, but God did not consider that to be a necessary sign of revival. Yes, those things do happen under revival, but he says you can have those things without revival. It goes much deeper than that. Fourth, they seem to understand. Verse 32 says, for they hear your words, but they do not do them. Understanding without obedience just makes them more guilty. Fifth, they loved worship. They gave great devotion to God. I can almost see them in my mind's eye raising their hands, smiling, and telling God how much they loved Him. Verse 31 says, with their mouth they showed much love, but their hearts pursued their own gain. God was in their worship, but nowhere to be seen in their business, nowhere. Six, they enjoyed the preaching immensely. It was as interesting to them as going to a concert. He said, indeed, you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument, for they hear your words, but they do not do them. So how can things look so right, but be so wrong? Ezekiel is one of those books that looks at the heart and says that without a heart that's engaged with God, it's all for nothing. These verses call for our heart, our minds, our wills, our emotions, our entire being to be completely devoted to God. Radical holiness, holiness of heart, holiness of life. And what a great way to end the first half of the book and gradually transition into what God is going to do to change the situation, because we can't have self-reformation, can we? So the second half of the book says, pretty bad, right? Now let me show you what my grace is going to be able to accomplish in changing all of that upside down. Reformation can happen. Reformation did happen. It happened after the exile in the post-exilic community. He says it will happen in the future under the Messiah. And I love the second section of Ezekiel because it gives hope to Israel, but it gives hope to the nations, and eventually it gives hope to the entire creation. The hope for Israel is seen in the next section, that's chapters 34 through 46. So God tells the exiles that as a result of God's judgment upon Babylon, Israel will escape and come back to their land. He promises that the false shepherds of chapter 34 will be replaced by the true shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ. But in the meantime, He's also going to raise up imperfect shepherds who will seek to faithfully pattern their shepherding after the coming Messiah. And by the way, if you want, you fathers, you're called to be shepherds in your home. We elders need to study what does it mean to shepherd people? Well, chapter 34 says, here's bad shepherding, here's good shepherding. It's a great self-examination tool. But first of all, they must be restored to Israel. Ezekiel 36 speaks of Cyrus' future overthrow. of Babylon, Israel returning to the Lord and beginning to rebuild the cities of Israel. And I especially love the language of chapter 36, verses 24 through 34, which shows God will do by His Spirit within our hearts what they have not been able to do. This is not just political renewal. This is spiritual renewal. Now, I already read this earlier. But let me read it again within its context, the broader context. Chapter 36, verses 24 through 34. For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, bring you into your own land, and I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will keep my judgments and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers. You shall be my people and I will be your God. I will deliver you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and multiply it and bring no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of your trees and the increase of your fields so that you need never again bear the reproach of famine among the nations. Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight. for your iniquities and your abominations. Not for your sake do I do this, says the Lord God. Let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel. Thus says the Lord God, on the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will also enable you to dwell in the cities and the ruins shall be built. The desolate land shall be tilled instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass by. So they will say, this land that was desolate has become like the Garden of Eden and the wasted, desolate and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited. Then the nations which are left all around you shall know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted what was desolate. I, the Lord, have spoken it and will do it. and I read more of the context, so that you would not assume that this is during the time of the New Covenant. He's using New Covenant language for what he's going to do in the post-exilic community. This is why some commentators speak of them as being the prelude to the New Covenant. God's already beginning to introduce some of these New Covenant ideas as he moves to that time. But what a marvelous promise. Chapter 37. This is the Valley of Dry Bones that there's so much controversy over. It's the same wind of the Holy Spirit that in the previous chapter had renewed their hearts that is now going to raise up Israel and return them to the land. I used to think that this was a literal resurrection. Those of you who have been around me long enough know that I used to teach that. But I have been convinced, and most commentators, whether dispensational, historic, pre-, postmill, aumil, most commentators say this is not a literal resurrection. There's hints in the chapter that it's not. This is a metaphor of a nation that was 100% dead. scattered to the wind, being revived and brought back into the land. That's never happened before. So it's a remarkable metaphor of a nation coming back from death. Now this is immediately followed by the Battle of Gog and Magog in chapters 38-39. This took place during the time of Esther, Nehemiah, and Mordecai. Every Jewish man, woman, and child was slated for death by Prince Haman. But miraculously, God turned it all around and the Amalekites who were associated with Haman, they got killed themselves. And I've written a paper outlining 25 boring reasons why this chapter absolutely has to be during the time of Esther. I'm just gonna give you just a few of those reasons and not take too much time on that. First, Haman the Agagite, who was the villain of Esther, is mentioned in three verses in chapter 39, verses 11, 15, and 16. But instead of the word Agagite, it uses the root of that word, Gog. So Ezekiel calls him Haman of Gog, or Haman from Gog, but that would make him an Agagite. Second, according to chapter 38 verse 11, Jerusalem and other towns have no walls. That was not true in the time of A.D. 70 where some preterists put this. In fact, the only time that it would have been possible for Jerusalem to not have walls was in the first years of Nehemiah. Third, the battle engages exactly the same nations that were in the empire under Darius in his year 12 in the book of Esther. So India was not conquered by Darius until his 16th year, so it makes sense that India is not mentioned in this book either. All the other nations are, but not not India. And so there's only a small window of time when this battle fits. It fits the Battle of Esther. Fourth, there are three verses in Ezekiel 38-39 that indicate that this was an empire-wide conflict led by a prince. a mere prince, not the emperor. That would seem strange to people, that it's not the emperor who's addressed, but a prince, and yet this prince is called the chief prince, indicating there are other princes. Well, that perfectly fits the situation of Haman in the book of Esther. The emperor was deceived, he was not involved. Prince Haman alone led and organized the attack. Fifth, in both books, Israel has just recently come back into the land. Sixth, this occurs at a time in history when Israel is divided up into tribes. You can see that in 3719, for example. Now, this rules out fulfillment any time after the Middle Ages, because you can talk to any Jewish rabbi. By the time of the Middle Ages, the Jewish tribes were so intermixed and intermarried that there are no tribes that are discernible anymore. So it had to be fulfilled prior to 8300. Seventh, the people only used horses, and I won't give you all the references here, but horses, swords, arrows, bows, war clubs, and other ancient wooden instruments. So again, it doesn't quite make sense for a future to us on that as the premillennialists would have it. Now, the Gog and Magog at the end of Revelation, it's this same Gog and Magog that have been killed, but they are resurrected on the last day of history, okay? So it's a resurrected Gog and Magog. Eighth, though it is true that the fighting occurs in every province in Esther, and that the focus in Ezekiel is upon the battle in Israel. Chapter 39 gives two verses that hint, this is actually an empire-wide conflict. Chapter 39, verse 21 says, all the nations shall see the punishment. 39.6 says, God will send fire on Magog and on those who live in safety in the coastlands. So both passages, both books portray the fighting throughout the empire, not just in Palestine. Ninth, both books mentioned that it was anti-Jewish hatred that motivated it. Tenth, both books mentioned that the people wanted to plunder the Jews. Both passages say the planned destruction was reversed, came upon the enemy. Both passages say that Gentiles, some Gentiles sided with Israel. Both passages show the fear of God falling upon the Gentiles. There's a conversion of Gentiles to the true faith. And in both passages, Israel gains respect and influence among the nation. So I believe that this was the battle that occurred in the early years of Nehemiah, the book of Esther. Well, if that's the case, then chronologically it makes sense that the temple would be the next thing to be built. Well, that's exactly what happens in the next chapters, chapter 40 through 46. If you want a super brief introduction to this huge topic, Philip Morrow does a good job of showing that the intricate blueprints that Ezekiel 40-46 gives are indeed the blueprints used by Ezra, Zerubbabel, Nehemiah, and others in building that temple. This is in his book, The Hope of Israel. Now there are other scholars as well that I'll reference on the web, that have dug deep into the measurements, the history of it and all, and I'm not gonna have the time to do that this morning. But since it's obvious that not everybody agrees with me on this, what I wanna do is I want to quickly dispose of the only two alternative theories out there. The first theory is held to by dispensationalists who claim that this temple was never built and therefore it must be built in a future millennial temple. Now here's the problems with that view. First, Ezekiel is quite clear that the entire Levitical system of sacrifices must be literally restored to the temple. And I'll just give you one example. Ezekiel 43, 18 through 19. And he said to me, son of man, thus says the Lord God, these are the ordinances for the altar on the day when it is made. For sacrificing burnt offerings on it and for sprinkling blood on it, you shall give a young bull for a sin offering to the priests, the Levites, who are at the seat of Zadok, who approach me to minister to me, says God. Now, the premillennialists insist, well, when it's done in the future it's not going to be done for atonement, it's only going to be done as a memorial, just like we have a memorial service here. That is absolutely false. The very next verse says it's for atonement. So does verse 26. So does Ezekiel 45, 15, which says, These shall be for grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings, to make atonement for them. Verse 17 calls the sacrifices, offerings to make atonement for the house of Israel. So here's the problem. To claim that the whole Levitical system will be resurrected in a future millennium for atonement is a blasphemy against the finished work of Christ, completely contradicts the entire book of Hebrews. Now, they're right in making this a literal temple. I totally side with them on that and against a lot of Reformed people. Totally right on that, but they're absolutely wrong in making this temple future to us. This was Ezra's temple. Secondly, Ezekiel mentions a prince, and where this prince was allowed to make sacrifices, what his role would be. Premillennialists say that this prince is Jesus in a future millennium. By the way, so do those who take the opposite viewpoint, say there's nothing literal here whatsoever. But they do say that the prince is Jesus. Well, here's the problem with saying that the prince is Jesus. This prince has to offer sacrifices for his own sins. in Ezekiel 45, 22, and 46, 12. Jesus didn't have any sins. It doesn't fit Christ. This prince only owns part of the land and is prohibited from taking eminent domain over other people's property, chapter 46, 18. That does not fit Christ. He is the Lord and owner of all of life, and prohibition of eminent domain does not apply to him. Furthermore, Ezekiel has rules which govern how this prince and his sons can inherit land, where he's allowed to enter, where he can sit in the temple, where he cannot sit, none of that even remotely fits Jesus. That fits the rubble. It fits all of the later rulers in Israel. They were princes, not kings. So these were instructions for the post-exilic princes. Third, Take a look at the map that's in your outline. Chapter 48 gives the borders of the land around this temple. They're very specific borders that include the tribes of Dan, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Ephraim, Reuben, and all the tribes. Here's the problem. Those tribes no longer exist. Any Jewish rabbi will tell you that all of the genealogies were lost long ago, and by the Middle Ages, they were so intermarried, you can't distinguish one tribe, let alone all of the tribes. There is no way that these tribal divisions could be achieved in the future. And people say, oh, you're limiting the power of God. Premillennials say, God could have kept them. Even though they don't know what their tribal affiliation is, God could have kept them from intermarrying. all of this time, and maybe He will reveal to them by divine revelation in the future who's of the tribe of Naphtali, who's in the tribe. There's nothing even remotely like that in this text. This text is clear. They know what tribes they are from. And it actually gets much more specific. The offerings couldn't be done by any Levite, just any Levite. It had to be the Levitical family of Zadok who performed the sacrifices. 40 verse 46, 43, 19, 44, 15, 48, 11. No one could do any work unless they had a genealogy proving they were from the family of Zadok. There is no family of Zadok today, and so for these and numerous other reasons, the premillennial idea, and I used to be a premill, and I do respect them, but I do not respect the idea of resurrected sacrifices in the future, I'm sorry. It is grossly unbiblical, and it undermines the atonement of Jesus, but it's just not exegetically feasible. But I find the opposite and most dominant viewpoint to be equally problematic, where they ignore 98% of the details of this magnificent building, and they say that it's simply a vision of what the essence of New Covenant worship will look like. Let me give you an example. This is from the Geneva Study Bible. They say, Ezekiel's restored temple is not a blueprint, but a vision that stresses the purity and spiritual vitality of the ideal place of worship and those who will worship there. It is not intended for an earthly physical fulfillment, but expresses the truth found in the name of the new city, the Lord is there, Ezekiel 48, 35. God will dwell in the new temple and among his people. If that's all God intended to communicate, why didn't he do it in one paragraph instead of confusing us with nine chapters or 260 verses of detailed measurements of every nook and cranny of this temple, including the window sizes and insets, thickness of walls, stairs, thresholds, vestibules, hallways, gateways, doors, storage cupboards, cooking hearths, intricate carvings and decorations, tables, and a bunch of other detailed blueprint kinds of ideas? I could show you pictures that I didn't have room. I decided I'm just gonna try to keep things on one page. But amazing, if you follow the directions, very intricately, beautifully interwoven archways and how they built it in a way that even though it was made of stone, you could have multiple stories without things falling down. It makes no sense. if this was not intended to be a blueprint but was instead intended to only symbolize the simplicity of spiritual worship in the New Covenant. It seems the very opposite of the simplicity of New Covenant worship. This is Old Covenant worship entirely. And why the detailed instructions on how sacrifices were to be offered and what kind of clothing the priests had to wear to make sure they didn't wear clothing that would make them sweat. Why? If it's not literal real priests, why does 4422 say, they shall not take as wife a widow of a divorced woman, but take virgins of the descendants of the house of Israel or widows of priests. Even on the surface, it appears to be literal blueprints and instructions sufficient to guide Ezra and the other priests on how to do absolutely everything that needed to be done in that temple. It even specifies that the priest is to cover his head when he represents Israel before God in the holy place, but he's commanded to uncover his head when he comes out of the holy place and he represents God to the people. Why? because all glory except for the glory of God is to be covered in worship. So when he represents the people, he even wears their names on his breastplate, He is the glory of Israel. So that's why he had to be covered in the holy place. When he came off, he had to take all of that off. Why? Because now he's representing God to the people. So when Paul says that he based his ideas of head coverings, long hair on the Old Testament, was not teaching anything new, it's right there. It's all through Ezekiel. There's nothing new that Paul taught. He said to the Bereans, he praised them for checking out everything he said by the Old Testament. The point is, it sure looks like these instructions were intended to be followed by literal priests. Now second, what I've just said seems to be the case is actually explicitly stated in chapter 43, verses 10 through 11. In that paragraph, God explicitly tells Ezekiel, Israel must follow every detail of this blueprint. They're not just to ignore it and say, oh yeah, it's a beautiful symbol, and we're going to follow the symbol, meaning. Let me read that. Ezekiel 43, verse 10. And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the temple and its arrangement, its exits and its entrances, its entire design, and all its ordinances, all its forms, and all its laws. Write it down in their sight, so that they may keep its whole design and all its ordinances and perform them." I don't see how anything could be more clear. These were blueprints intended by God for them to follow. In fact, He uses a synonym for blueprint. It's the word design. Now, of course, the spiritualizers say, OK, then you're in trouble, Phil. Here's two objections that we bring to your ridiculous interpretation. First of all, if you're going to take this literally, you're going to have to completely change the landscape of Palestine, because this is a temple that is 60 miles square, and it's not going to fit. It's going to extend out over the Mediterranean. And my response to that is, you've been reading the King James, haven't you? The King James mistranslated that. And actually, the Hebrew doesn't have the measuring unit. It assumes we're going to use the same measuring unit that Solomon used, which was cubits, not reeds. But unfortunately, the King James put reeds in there, and it's in italicized, because it's not in the Hebrew, it's italics words. So this is why so many of the images of the temple are gigantic. They're way, way, way too big. If you use cubits, you got an ordinary-sized temple. If you use reads, then yes, it's extended way out over the city. But that's an easy objection to overcome. Second objection, not quite so easy. Their objection is, Phil, everybody, everybody agrees that the stream that comes out of that temple cannot possibly be a literal stream. It's a miraculous stream. Remember the stream is up to his ankles, then it's up to his knees, up to his waist, finally it's so deep he cannot swim over it, and it finally brings healing to all of the world. That's obviously not a literal. And so this is actually a pretty strong argument. If the stream that comes out of the temple is not literal, then maybe the whole temple is not literal. That's the gist of their argument. But even that is not entirely true. Yes, the temple is symbolic, just like Solomon's temple was symbolic, symbolized every facet of the person and work of Christ. But there are still literal temples that symbolize, and the same is true of the river, at least the river as it was in the temple and came out of the temple. I think I'm going to end this sermon by looking at this strange, but encouraging to me, river. Ezekiel 47, I'm beginning to read at verse 1. Then he brought me back to the door of the temple, and there was water flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the front of the temple faced east. The water was flowing from under the right side of the temple, south of the altar. He brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside of the outer gateway that faces east, and there was water running out on the right side. Was this part of the description literal? I believe so, and if not, it was at least symbolized by the literal water that literally flowed out of a literal temple in the first century with lots of documentation of this river, lots of documentation. The Gihon Spring was a powerful siphon spring that had sufficient water to push the water up Warren's Shaft and into the temple. George Wesley Bucon, Ernest Martin, quite a number of other scholars have done some fabulous archaeological and historical work on which of the four theories of the temple's location is true. You've got to realize this is not a settled thing. Academics to this day do not know for sure where that temple, well, I know for sure, but I'm arrogant, right? But anyway, his theory is that the temple was built right over the Gion Spring rather than a little further northwest over the place where the Dome of the Rock or Haram al-Sharif currently stands. Now I pointed out in a previous sermon that the huge platform area, Haram al-Sharif, is the remnants of the Roman fort known as Antonia, and the temple was immediately southeast of it but right next to it. Now, if that's the case, then it fits perfectly. Everything fits perfectly. There are certainly solid historical sources proving that the Gihon Spring was under the temple. Let me give you three. Aristides reported to King Ptolemy in the 2nd century BC his own eyewitness account of the glories of the temple. And in one place in that letter he said, and there is an inexhaustible supply of water because an abundant natural spring gushes up from within the temple area. Now, there has never been a place on the platform where the Dome of the Rock is where any water has come, period. They have to haul water there, okay? But on the oldest theory, which I hold to, of the temple's location, you do have water. Anyway, Aristides said that this vast water supply was carried under the temple through an intricate array of pipes that dumped water into cisterns. and eventually flowed out of the temple and into the city, providing all the water that the entire city needed. What marvelous symbolism, because it was kind of patterned after the heavenly throne that has that spiritual river coming out. It's to symbolize that water that the entire Jerusalem drinks. They have to drink from the temple. It's to symbolize every aspect of our lives has life only from the Holy Spirit of God. Anyway, Aristides pointed out that some of the water supply under the temple flowed to the area for sacrifices, was used to wash away the blood of sacrifices so quickly that he said the blood was removed, quote, in the twinkling of an eye, out through a different sewer system. So even the sacrificial area was pristinely clean. I always wondered how they got rid of the blood. Well, he describes it. And the water stream was loud enough that it could be heard running underfoot no matter where you went in that temple. And there are scriptures that speak of the noise of many waters under God's throne. Psalm 29.3, 93.4. Well, Aristides describes the sound of many waters under the temple. Okay, a second, very briefly, historical source. The book of Enoch, written around the same time, also mentions a stream flowing under the temple area. It's 1 Enoch 26, two through three. The Roman historian Tacitus said that the temple, quote, contained an inexhaustible spring. That's impossible if it was on the platform where the Dome of the Rock is. And Tacitus would have known exactly because he described the war, he described the destruction, of the temple. There's not a trace of Herod's temple left, not one stone, not one single stone. That's why they still, academics can't figure out where the temple is. There is no stone left. In fact, the ancient historians said the ground was plowed up. It was plowed up. It was a plowed field afterwards. So the Wailing Wall was part of the Roman fort, which makes it so, so ironic that the modern Talmudists treat this as a holy place. It's the place representing their enemies that destroyed them, as a number of Jewish scholars have tried valiantly to prove. But anyway, what the inspired Scripture itself says about the water end of the temple I think is most noteworthy. These verses do not make sense if the temple was on the spot of the Dome of the Rock. Psalm 87.7 speaks of springs of water being in Zion. Psalm 29.10 says the Lord sits enthroned over the flood. So that would imply the mercy seat, the God's throne, the Holy of Holies was over a flood of water. In fact, verse 3 says He is over the waters, plural. Joel 3.18 says, a fountain shall flow from the house of the Lord. Psalm 46.4 says, there is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High. So the literal river of waters that flowed from the temple symbolized the spirit that would flow from the temple at Pentecost. But because of the way this stream was diverted eastward, it may well have brought temporary healing to the Dead Sea. I haven't been able to find any historical evidence for that, but it wouldn't surprise me if we do find it. It makes sense to me. Now back to Ezekiel 47, the literal flow of water from under one of the gates, the east gate, symbolizes Pentecost falling upon the disciples gathered in the upper room of the temple premises, and as they left the east gate, they took the Spirit with them. Why? Because they're filled with the Spirit. And the flow of the Spirit grew larger and larger until it is destined to fill the earth with Spirit-filled Christians. Continuing to read at verse three. And when the man went out to the east with a line in his hand, he measured 1,000 cubits and he brought me through the waters. The water came up to my ankles. Again, he measured 1,000, brought me through the waters. The water came up to my knees. Again, he measured 1,000 and brought me through. The water came up to my waist. Again, he measured 1,000. It was a river I could not cross for the water was too deep, water in which one must swim, a river that could not be crossed. So he is describing a miraculous river here. He is fluidly moved from symbol to the thing symbolized, the healing influence of the Holy Spirit. He continues to describe this healing. Verse six is in following. Said to me, son of man, have you seen this? Then he brought me and returned me to the bank of the river. When I returned there along the bank of the river, there were many trees on one side and the other. Then he said to me, this water flows toward the eastern region. That would be the desert region, pagan region. So it symbolized the gospel going beyond Israel. It goes down into the valley, enters the sea, that would be a reference to the Dead Sea. When it reaches the sea, its waters are healed and it shall be that every living thing that moves wherever the rivers go will live. There will be a very great multitude of fish because these waters go there, for they will be healed and everything will live wherever the river goes. "'It shall be that fishermen will stand by it "'from En-Gedi to En-Egleon. "'They will be places for spreading their nets. "'Their fish will be the same kinds "'as the fish of the great sea, exceedingly many. "'But its swamps and marshes will not be healed. "'They will be given over to salt. "'Along the bank of the river, on this side and that, "'will grow all kinds of trees used for food. "'Their leaves will not wither. "'Their fruit will not fail. "'They will bear fruit every month "'because their water flows from the sanctuary. "'Their fruit will be for food "'and their leaves for medicine. So did God heal the Dead Sea for a period of time in order to serve as a symbol? I don't know, but if He did, then the strength of the symbolism is even better, but it's not necessary, it's not necessary. How much is literal, how much is symbolic is hard to make out, because Scripture sometimes does move fluidly between symbol and that which is symbolized, from the sign to that which is signified. If the river symbolized Pentecost, then the river of life brings the life in history as the Spirit transforms the planet. And that means there can be no restored paradise in our marriages or any other area of life without the Holy Spirit. So my position really is a blend of the strongest features of the literalist position and of the premillennialist and the symbolic position of the rest of commentators. And most types in the Bible are that way. They're not either or, they are both and. Just like Moses struck a literal rock in the wilderness, literal water flowed out, but it was a symbol. So we can't say because it was a symbol of Christ being struck and the Holy Spirit being struck, there was no rock in the wilderness. Both are true. So what are we to make of the overall flow of the book? Well, you can look at it through the lens of the Holy Spirit's presence. First part has the Holy Spirit forsaking the land of Israel, moving to Babylon. That's a scary state for the land of Israel to be in, but it's encouraging for the exiles. The Holy Spirit was with them. Chapter 36 shows the wind of the Holy Spirit blowing upon the hearts of individuals, making them ready to return. Chapter 37 shows the same wind of the Holy Spirit blowing upon the bones of national Israel, a nation no longer alive at that point, and yet by God's power they're made alive as a nation, restored to the land. Chapter 39, verse 29 says, it will not hide my face from them anymore. For I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel, says the Lord God." So this is the Spirit of God preserving His people during the battle of Gog and Magog. Next, the Spirit of God instructs Israel on how to make every detail of the temple. And in 43.5, the Holy Spirit lifts up Ezekiel, just like He did earlier in the book, lifts him up in the air via vision, takes him to a future not yet built temple, but it's going to be the temple that Ezra would build. And He says there, the glory of the Lord filled the temple. But chapter 47 shows that out of this temple would come Pentecost. Christ's parting instructions to his disciples in Luke 24, 49 to 53, was to wait in Jerusalem until they were endued from on high by the Holy Spirit. So just as Ezekiel says, you guys can't serve me without the power of the Holy Spirit. You've got to have the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, I don't care how spiritual you are, you cannot serve me without the filling of the Holy Spirit. So they wait for Pentecost. And Luke ends, they were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. It was in that temple, one of the upper rooms, meeting rooms of that temple, that Pentecost was poured out upon 120. They preached. The converts are filled with the Holy Spirit. They leave the east gate. They begin preaching and this presence of the Holy Spirit keeps growing and growing and is destined to eventually fill the entire earth with His healing. That is the beautiful message of Ezekiel. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this book that not only reminds us of our sin and of our helplessness, but also reminds us of the supernatural power of your Holy Spirit that can change hearts, that can change lives, that can change institutions and even politics. And I pray that you would do so, even in our day, that we would have a faith that where sin abounds, grace abounds much more. Fill us, oh God, with your spirit and enable us to be ambassadors taking this world for Christ. And I pray it in Jesus' name.