Sunday Evening, June 2, 1974 — Richmond, Virginia
Ministry given through Brother Stephen Kaung
We do thank the Lord that we may be together again.
Will you please turn to the book of the prophet Ezekiel, chapter 1? Ezekiel, the first chapter. I do not know how familiar you are with Ezekiel, so, for the sake of those who may not be too familiar, we will read the first chapter.
Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.
On the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin’s captivity,
the word of the Lord came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the Lord was there upon him.And I looked, and, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, a great cloud, with a fire infolding itself, and a brightness round about it, and out of the midst thereof as it were glowing metal, out of the midst of the fire.
And out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man.
And every one had four faces, and every one of them had four wings.
And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf’s foot: and they sparkled like burnished brass.
And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings thus:
their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward.
And as for the likeness of their faces, they had the face of a man; and they four had the face of a lion on the right side; and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four had also the face of an eagle.
And their faces and their wings were separate above; two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies.
And they went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; they turned not when they went.As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches: the fire went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning.
And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold, one wheel upon the earth beside the living creatures, for each of the four faces thereof.
The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto a beryl: and they four had one likeness; and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel within a wheel.
When they went, they went in their four directions: they turned not when they went.
As for their rims, they were high and dreadful; and they four had their rims full of eyes round about.
And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.
Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up beside them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.
When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up beside them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.And over the head of the living creature there was the likeness of an expanse, like the terrible crystal to look upon, stretched forth over their heads above.
And under the expanse were their wings straight, the one toward the other: every one had two which covered on this side, and every one had two which covered on that side, their bodies.
And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings like the noise of great waters, like the voice of the Almighty, a noise of tumult like the noise of a host: when they stood, they let down their wings.
And there was a voice above the expanse that was over their heads: when they stood, they let down their wings.And above the expanse that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone; and upon the likeness of the throne was a likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.
And I saw as it were glowing metal, as the appearance of fire within it round about, from the appearance of His loins and upward; and from the appearance of His loins and downward I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness round about Him.
As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about.This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of One that spake.
The prophet Ezekiel was one of the so-called four major prophets in the Old Testament. Now, of course, the term major prophet is very arbitrary. This division is man-made, according to the length of the book of each prophet. But anyway, Ezekiel was listed among the three great prophets at the time of the captivity of the children of Israel.
There was Jeremiah, who started to prophesy before Ezekiel. He prophesied during that period when the nation of Judah was going to enter into captivity. Even after they were taken into captivity, Jeremiah continued his prophesying in the land of Egypt.
Jeremiah was prophesying in the land of Judah. Ezekiel was raised up by God among the exiles in Babylon to prophesy. At the same time, we find there was Daniel. Daniel was there in the court, and he was one raised up by God as a great prophet.
So, during that period—before, at the time of, and after the captivity—we find God raised up three great prophets. Most probably they knew one another. Why? Because, even though Ezekiel never mentioned Jeremiah in his book, they were both of the priestly family.
Jeremiah prophesied in Jerusalem, where Ezekiel probably grew up. When he was young, Jeremiah was already used by God as a great prophet. So, most likely, Ezekiel must have heard Jeremiah prophesying, and he must have been greatly moved and impressed by Jeremiah.
Now, of course, Ezekiel mentioned Daniel in his book. In Ezekiel 14 and Ezekiel 28, you will find Ezekiel mentioning Daniel. Daniel, of course, lived in the royal court because he was of the royal seed. He was taken to Babylon before Ezekiel.
Daniel was taken to Babylon in the third year of King Jehoiakim. At that time, you remember, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, took some of the sons of the nobles as hostages, and Daniel was among them. He was trained to stand before the king.
So, during the period of exile and captivity, Daniel served in the Gentile court, and he served well for God. Ezekiel was taken into captivity during the reign of King Jehoiachin, a few years later. He lived among the exiles by the river Chebar, so he must have known Daniel. Ezekiel mentioned him twice.
He mentioned Daniel as a man of great righteousness and prayer. There he mentioned Daniel together with Noah and Job. Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were there, they could only save themselves; they could not save other people.
Then, again, in Ezekiel 28, he mentioned Daniel, saying that the prince of Tyre was wiser than Daniel. In other words, Daniel was a wise man. So these three prophets knew one another, and God used them to prophesy approximately at the same time, more or less, in different places and under different circumstances.
And by the witness of two or three, everything shall be established.
We do not know too much about the past history of Ezekiel. We only know that his name means “the strength of God.” That very name is a good testimony, because he lived in a time of great weakness among the people of God.
Even though the people of God were in great weakness, and manifested great weakness, so that they were taken into captivity, yet the strength of God remained unchanged.
His father’s name was Buzi. We do not know much about him; we only know that he was of the priestly family. Now, as you know, if a boy was born to a priestly family, his future was actually decided. He was to be a priest.
Because of that, he would be trained from childhood for that one service, for that one purpose: to serve God in the temple as a priest. So, most probably, Ezekiel, when he was young, when he was a boy, was trained toward that one aim of his life, and that was to serve in the temple.
But he did not have that chance. In the first chapter of Ezekiel, it says, “Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year.” This thirtieth year was the same as the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity.
Now, we do not know what that thirtieth year means. We only know that the thirtieth year there was the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity. In other words, it was the fifth year of Ezekiel’s captivity. Some people think probably the thirtieth year was his age.
In the fifth year of his captivity, he came to the age of thirty. Now, in the rule governing the Levites, which is applicable to the priests, a priest would be trained from childhood for that one service in the temple.
When he was twenty-five years of age, he would enter into the temple as an apprentice and assistant. He would assist the priests in the services of the temple. When he reached the age of thirty, then he would become a full-fledged priest. There he would serve the house with the rest of the priests.
Now, brothers and sisters, just think for a moment. This man Ezekiel was born in a priestly family. He was trained from his childhood just for one job—nothing else. He knew absolutely nothing but how to serve God in the temple.
His whole life was trained toward that one age. But when he was twenty-five, just at the time he could enter into the temple to serve as an apprentice, he was taken into captivity.
When he was thirty years old, instead of serving in the temple in Jerusalem, here he was with the exiles by the river Chebar. Most probably, it was the Grand Canal of the Babylonian king. He used slave labor to dig the canal, and most likely that is why these captives were there. They were taken to that place to dig the Grand Canal.
Instead of serving in the house of God in Jerusalem, there you find Ezekiel among the captives, the slave laborers, by the Grand Canal, doing digging. No wonder that, at that time, the agony of his heart was beyond description.
Suppose you are trained for one thing throughout your life, and yet, just before you are able to enter into that, you are taken away. There is no chance, no possibility.
Ezekiel looked back to Jerusalem. How his heart longed that he might be in Jerusalem, serving God in the temple, because that was in his mind. But there was no possibility. He was among the captives by the river Chebar.
At the very depth of his disappointment, the glory of the Lord appeared to him, and he was called to be a prophet.
Brothers and sisters, if you read the book of Ezekiel, you will find that he was a priest in heart, though a prophet by calling. He was different from Jeremiah. Jeremiah was a priest, but his main occupation was a prophet.
But here you find Ezekiel was different. In his heart, he was always a priest. Even after he was called by God to be a prophet, he was still a priest in heart.
Yet, at the time when he was at his end, as it were, there was absolutely no possibility of his being a priest serving God in the temple. As you read this prophecy, you know he prophesied that Jerusalem would be destroyed and the temple would be destroyed. There was absolutely no chance.
But God called him to be a prophet, to a higher service. He was not allowed to serve in the temple in Jerusalem because the temple was to be destroyed. But he was called to serve the people of God in captivity.
Which is a higher service: to serve the temple, or to serve the people of God that they may be the living temple of God?
God took him and translated his ministry from the outward appearance into the inward reality; from serving in the material temple in Jerusalem to serving the living people of God; from the temporal to the eternal; from the physical to the spiritual.
At the extremity, the end of man, God can give a glorious beginning. Now, that was Ezekiel.
Brothers and sisters, do you know that we too live in a very unusual time? If you live in an unusual time, the traditional and the conventional will not operate.
If the nation of Judah was in its peaceful day, surely you would find Ezekiel could serve God in the traditional way. He was born in a priestly family; therefore, his future was determined. He was trained to be a priest, and, after he was trained, he knew all the precepts and all the details of what he should do in the temple.
Then, when he reached that age, automatically, mechanically, technically, he would be in the temple, carrying out the service. But he lived in an unusual time. The traditional and the conventional did not work.
Not because it did not work was that the end of his service to God. As a matter of fact, it was a glorious beginning. Dear brothers and sisters, we are not living in the usual time; we are living in an unusual time.
Because our time is unusual, the way to serve God has to be unusual. The traditional and the conventional will not be able to operate.
Do not be at a loss because that is what you are trained for. You may think that because you are trained that way, if you cannot operate in that place, then you are finished. Humanly speaking, that may be true. But, dear brothers and sisters, God has something far better.
God desires that, in an unusual time, we shall touch the reality and not just the appearance. A priest may serve in the temple, but you will discover in the book of Ezekiel that the glory of the Lord had left the temple. It was just an empty house.
If it was an empty house, then the service was serving an empty house. There was no eternal value. He was just maintaining an appearance; there was no reality with it.
But instead, Ezekiel did not have a temple by the river, and yet he served the exiles, the people of God, with a service that had reality. Later we will mention that God did use him. In spite of all the difficulties—almost a hopeless situation—you find God used him in a very unusual way.
Dear brothers and sisters, I believe the Lord is doing the same thing today. Do not be discouraged. Do not think that because the door is closed, you must give up because the conventional and the traditional do not work.
The Lord is calling us into something much higher, much deeper. It is the spiritual, the real, that really matters.
Here, in the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity, when Ezekiel was thirty years old, he was by the river Chebar. I wonder if he was meditating, thinking.
Very often, you know, when a person is meditating, the Lord may appear to him. Just like John: there he was on the Lord’s Day, on the island of Patmos, and longingly he looked across the sea to the seven churches in Asia, which he had served so faithfully before he was exiled.
There you find John in the Spirit, and probably the same thing happened to Ezekiel. Here he was by the river Chebar, and you find that he was in the Spirit.
The heavens were opened, and he saw visions of God. The earth was closed, but the heavens were opened, and he saw the visions of God.
The word of the Lord came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, and the hand of the Lord was there upon him. Three things: he saw the visions of God, he heard the voice of the Lord expressly to him, and the hand of the Lord was upon him.
He saw, he heard, and he felt it. In other words, his whole being was taken up in the Spirit, and there he saw the visions of God.
Now, what were the visions of God? Even though we may not be given visions in the same way as Ezekiel saw, yet, in spiritual principle, this is a must in our life.
If we want to live a life pleasing and useful to Him, we must have vision. Not in the sense that we need to see something, hear something, or feel the touch of something physically, like Ezekiel. Even with Ezekiel, you know, it was in the Spirit.
But in our spirit, we need to see, we need to hear, and we need to be touched. We need that. That will bring us into usefulness in the hand of the Lord.
Ezekiel said, “I looked, and, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof was the look of glowing metal, out of the midst of the fire.”
He looked, and he saw a stormy wind coming out of the north, a great cloud from the north. Now, why did it come from the north? Jerusalem was east and west of where Ezekiel was, but he saw a cloud coming from the north.
I wonder if this is because God’s throne is set in the north. You remember in Isaiah 14, it speaks of the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. The north speaks of where God is—where His throne is.
Therefore, you find a great cloud coming from the north. It was a cloud, and yet it was a brilliant cloud. It was a cloud, and yet you find it was like fire infolding itself. There was a brightness there.
I wonder if this is what we call the Shekinah glory of the Lord.
This is the cloud that filled the house built by Solomon. When the glory of the Lord entered into the house built by Solomon, the whole place was filled with smoke, and the priests could not serve there. The glory of the Lord filled the whole place.
I wonder if it is the same cloud that the three disciples entered into on the Mount of Transfiguration. You remember, they woke up and saw that Moses and Elijah were going to leave. Peter, putting in a word, tried to retain them and said, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
In a minute, you find a cloud coming down. In the original, it was not a dark cloud; it was a shining cloud—the glory of the Lord. The Lord used darkness as His pavilion when He traveled, but inside it was full of glory. You can read that in Psalm 18.
So here you find God, the God who is on the throne, coming from the north, traveling toward the prophet. There Ezekiel saw a great cloud, a shining, brilliant cloud. Oh, the glory of the Lord coming toward him.
As the cloud came closer, he saw out of the midst thereof the likeness of four living creatures. At a distance, he only saw a cloud, a brilliant cloud; but when the cloud came closer to him, he could see that in the midst of the cloud there was the appearance of four living creatures.
Now, who were they? Here you find these four living creatures, and when you come to Ezekiel 10, you will find that these four living creatures actually were cherubim.
It is the same vision, and yet you find the word cherubim used instead of living creatures. You can look it up later on. But anyway, you find that in the midst of the cloud there were four living creatures, and they were cherubim.
Cherubim are a mystery to us. The first mention of cherubim was in Genesis 3. You remember, after man was driven out of the garden of Eden, God set cherubim with the flame of a flashing sword, guarding the way to the tree of life on the east of the garden.
That was the first mention of the cherubim. There was no description of the cherubim. Then, later on, you find Moses in the wilderness. God commanded him to build a tabernacle and the different pieces of furniture in the tabernacle.
You remember, God commanded Moses to build an ark. Upon the lid, which was the mercy seat, there were to be two cherubim facing each other, looking toward the ark, and with their wings covering the ark.
Not only on the mercy seat do you find cherubim, but you find that on the veil which separated the holy place from the holiest of all, there were cherubim embroidered with artistic work.
Not only that, but you find that the curtains of the tabernacle were embroidered with cherubim. Yet God did not tell Moses what the cherubim were like. Moses seemed to have no problem. God did not tell him their form and so forth, yet Moses had no problem.
He just built the cherubim over the ark. He embroidered the cherubim on the veil and the curtains. There was no problem.
When Solomon built the temple, you find that he used olive wood to carve two giant cherubim in the holiest of all. With wings of five cubits each, they stretched across the holy of holies, serving as a covering over the ark.
So, instead of two cherubim on the mercy seat, you find two more in the holiest place—four living creatures, four cherubim, in the holiest of all.
Everything was carved on the walls of the house, carved on the doors of the house, and even on the panels of the bases of the laver: cherubim everywhere. No description.
David mentioned cherubim in his psalms. He said that God is the God of Israel who sits between the cherubim. Hezekiah, in his prayer, said, “O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, who sittest between the cherubim.” They are always mentioned, but there is no description—no description.
It was not until Ezekiel that you find the cherubim described in detail. There is another place in the Bible where the cherubim are described: in the book of Revelation, in connection with the four living creatures.
Now, dear brothers and sisters, who are these cherubim? Here you find in Ezekiel that they were living creatures. This was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man. They looked like men.
When Moses built the tabernacle, it was according to the pattern God gave him on the mount. Everything was patterned after that which is in heaven.
You will remember in Ezekiel 28, it speaks of the anointed cherub that covered the throne of God. These cherubim that cover the throne of God in heaven seem to be angelic beings, and yet here you find the appearance of a man.
Every one had four faces: in front, the face of a man; on the right side, the face of a lion; on the left side, the face of an ox; and at the back, the face of an eagle.
They were all kings. Man is the king of created beings. The lion is the king of beasts. The ox is the king of domesticated animals. The eagle is the king of birds. All are kings in their different realms.
Here you find each cherub had four faces. But when you come to the book of Revelation, you find four living creatures, each with one face. They are changed when they come there.
Every one of them had four wings: two stretched out and joined together, serving as a chariot of the throne of God; and two covering their bodies, because before God everything must be covered.
Yet in Isaiah 6, the seraphim had six wings, not four. We wonder whether the seraphim and the cherubim are the same or different.
Their feet were straight. They were straight because they walked straight. They could go in four directions, but they never needed to make a right turn, a left turn, or a roundabout turn. They just went straight forward, straight backward, straight right, and straight left. Their feet were straight, never bent.
The sole of their feet was like an ox’s hoof. Why? Because an ox’s hoof is very steady—very steady. They would not stumble.
They went, every one, straight forward. Whither the Spirit was to go, they went. They turned not when they went. In other words, their action was controlled completely by the Spirit.
I believe the Spirit here is the Spirit of God. These living creatures were under the complete control of the Spirit of God. Whenever the Spirit of God went, they went, and they did not turn aside.
The appearance of these living creatures was like the appearance of fire and lightning, full of brightness. They traveled with the flash of lightning—swift, very fast.
Ezekiel looked again, and he saw by the side of the living creatures wheels—wheel within wheel. The rims of the wheels were very high and dreadful, full of eyes. When the living creatures went, the wheels went, because the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.
Now, brothers and sisters, these are the descriptions you find in the book of Ezekiel of these cherubim. We do not know who they are, whether they are angelic beings. We believe that they are real; they are not just ideas, abstract ideas.
Yet it seems that you cannot pin them down to a fixed form. They seem to be so adjustable. They seem to change their form from time to time. They are not rigid and fixed; they are more fluid.
In other words, concerning these cherubim, without defining what they are or who they are, we believe they are real. Yet in these cherubim, probably God wants us to see certain spiritual principles embodied by them.
These cherubim were creatures, living creatures. They were four in number. We wonder if they represent God’s creation as God designed it.
You know, in the first world, the highest of God’s created beings are the angels. For that reason, probably the cherubim were angelic in appearance. But when God made this world, in Genesis 1, you find the highest of God’s created beings was man.
I wonder if, because of that, the cherubim took the form or appearance of a man. Let me put it this way: I am not trying to define what or who these cherubim are. I do not know.
But I think probably, from these cherubim, we can learn some spiritual principles. No doubt God must have put some spiritual principles in these cherubim. They represent something.
Why is it that, after man failed, God set cherubim to guard the way to the tree of life? Can it be that, when man fails, God sets before man what He first designed man to be?
In other words, man can fail, but God’s design can never fail. God will not lower His standard. God’s standard is still there, and because God’s standard is still there, man has no way to get to the tree of life. There is no way.
These cherubim guarding the tree of life reminded man what he ought to be and what he was not. That is why you find the cherubim appearing for the first time in Genesis 3.
Again and again, you find in the tabernacle and in the temple these cherubim. Why? Because the tabernacle and the temple stood for God’s desire. He wanted to dwell among men, but He had to dwell among men in that expression—nothing less than what these cherubim represent.
One day, when our Lord Jesus was crucified on the cross, when He said, “It is finished,” and, “Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit,” Christ died on the cross outside the gate of Jerusalem.
There, within Jerusalem, the veil in the temple was rent from top to bottom in two. Hebrews says this veil represents the flesh of our Lord Jesus, the body of our Lord Jesus. Because He was broken, a new and living way was given to us, that we may enter into the holy of holies, the very presence of God.
If the veil represents the flesh of our Lord Jesus, then you know that all over the veil cherubim were embroidered. When the veil was rent, the cherubim embroidered on the veil were also rent.
Brothers and sisters, when the Lord was in the flesh, in one sense, His very presence on earth condemned everyone. He was the only One who could see the Father, but at the same time, He was the One who should bar everyone from the presence of God.
You remember the Lord said in John that when the Holy Spirit came, He would convict people of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment—of righteousness, because “I go to the Father.” In other words, He was the only One who was fit to see the Father’s face, and that condemned us.
We are not fit because we are not what we should be, what God designed us to be. We had fallen. But, dear brothers and sisters, when Christ died on the cross and He was rent, we were rent in Him. By His death, we died.
Then a living way appeared to us. We now can go to the Father.
So, if we look at it in this way, we can see that the cherubim at least impress upon us that they stand for God and for God’s purpose in creation.
He created angels, but the angels fell. He created man, but man sinned. He called Israel to be His people, and Israel failed. Brothers and sisters, who are represented by these cherubim today? The church—the church.
The cherubim, or the living creatures, were closest to the throne. They surrounded the throne, they supported the throne, and they carried the throne wherever God wanted to go. They were the chariot of the throne.
They are all in such oneness with the throne. They are under the throne. They are under the complete control of the Spirit. They are in one spirit with God. They are full of intelligence, full of eyes. They never turn hither and thither, but they always go straight. They are swift and full of holy fire.
Brothers and sisters, is that not a description of what the church is in the mind of God today?
Who can be closer to the throne today than the church of God? To whom does God commit Himself on this earth? To the church.
What is the church? The church is to be under the throne of God, to carry out His will. The church is to be filled by the Spirit of God and to go straight.
The church is to be intelligent enough to know the Lord. The church is to lead the universe in worshiping God, saying, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty.” That is what the church is.
When Israel failed, God had His cherubim. When the church fails, God still has His cherubim. That is what you find in Revelation. He still has His cherubim. Man may fail, but God cannot fail. Thank God for that.
But, brothers and sisters, do not stop at the cherubim. Here you find Ezekiel saw a cloud coming, and as the cloud came, he looked up and saw in the cloud the living creatures. They spread their wings as the chariot of God.
Then he looked further up, and he saw the expanse, clear as crystal, transparent. John the apostle saw the same thing: a glassy sea under the throne.
Before God, everything is transparent. God is light; there is no darkness in Him. There is no shadow or turning with God. So here you find, even at the feet of the throne, it is all transparent. Everything is transparent.
There he saw, upon the expanse, the likeness of a throne. Now, do not try to imagine a throne in a physical way. That is the problem when we read the Bible.
Just this afternoon, somebody asked me this question: “The Lord is sitting at the right hand of the Father. Now, we imagine there is a throne there, you know, and God sitting on the throne and the Lord sitting at His right hand.”
God has to use these figurative ways to explain to our finite minds. But do not try to visualize it in such a way as to limit it to a material concept.
God is trying to show us that He is on the throne. The appearance of the throne is full of fire, pure glory. One sits upon the throne in the likeness of a man. The upper part, the lower part—it is all like fire burning: holy, holy, holy.
In other words, God is on the throne. The cherubim are underneath, carrying the throne wherever God wants to go.
Brothers and sisters, it is good to catch a vision of what the church is in God’s eyes. We see too much on earth, and sometimes, because we see too much, we cannot see what we ought to see.
We look downward instead of upward. We look around instead of up. Oh, if only God allows us to see what the church is as He sees it.
They are represented by the cherubim, the living creatures, doing the will of God in perfect harmony with God.
No matter what happens, the throne of God is there. God is in full control, and He is working out His purpose.
Brothers and sisters, when Ezekiel saw that vision, what a comfort it must have been to him. He thought that, so far as his life was concerned, he was finished—finished at thirty.
So far as the children of Israel were concerned, it seemed everything was finished. But God showed him that, in spite of what happened on earth, God was still on the throne.
He still had His cherubim to carry out His will, and His will shall be done on earth as it is in heaven. Now, this is the vision that Ezekiel saw.
After Ezekiel saw this vision, he heard the voice of God calling him. You know, brothers and sisters, if God should appear to us, invariably there is a message to us; there is a calling.
God will not appear to us just to satisfy our curiosity, with no meaning and no purpose. If God should appear to us, He will call us to a definite calling. There is a commission coming to us.
It is not in vain. There is something that God wants.
Ezekiel saw this vision, and the voice of God came to him. God told him that he was to be a prophet. God was to send him to the children of Israel, especially among the exiles.
In one sense, it was a hopeless job. Why? Because he was sent to the exiles, and these exiles were a rebellious people. They would not listen.
But God said, “Whether they hear, or whether they forbear, let them know that there is a prophet among them.” Think of it.
It ought to be a very difficult job. The people, even the exiles, had hearts that were so hardened. They would not listen to him. They would rather listen to false prophets.
These exiles, when they were in captivity, of course longed to go back to Jerusalem. There were false prophets in Jerusalem and false prophets among the exiles prophesying that very soon God would let them go back to Jerusalem, that God would once again bless the nation of Israel.
Their ears were itching; they liked to hear these voices. To be a prophet under such circumstances was really an ungrateful, unthankful job. He was to announce judgment. He was to announce that there was no hope. They would not hear.
God told him beforehand, “I raise you up as a prophet among the exiles, but it is an unthankful job. Whether they hear or whether they forbear, let them know there is a true prophet.” That is all.
God gave him a roll of a book and asked him to eat it. In his mouth it was sweet as honey, but of course we know afterward he was filled with bitterness of spirit.
With the vision came the calling. He was called to the office. He was to be a prophet-priest—not just to prophesy, but to serve as a priest.
In other words, not only was he to prophesy and tell them the word of God, but he was to shepherd them, to help them, to restore them.
It was something to be done not in an objective way, as if the word came and he merely passed it on. No, he had to eat the word, assimilate it, and become one with the word.
He had to feel as the word of God feels. It was a very subjective experience. That is why you find that Ezekiel had to act sometimes, because he was entirely one with the word of God.
God set him up as a watchman. In Ezekiel 3, God said, “I set you up as a watchman. When you see danger coming, and if you do not warn them, they will die in their sins, but I will require their blood at your hand.”
But if you warn them and they do not listen, they die in their iniquity, but you are innocent. In other words, Ezekiel was set up as a watchman.
Brothers and sisters, we need to have a vision of God. We need to know God and know His purpose, His will.
Knowing that, we will be sent among God’s people with His word. His word should burn within us—not just an objective delivery, but it should burn within us.
We should serve as watchmen among God’s people, to warn. If we do not do that, the blood is upon us. Very serious.
It is a great privilege to be God’s spokesman. It is a great privilege to be a watchman: to know God’s will, to know what is coming, and to warn the people. But it is a tremendous responsibility.
Oh, how the church today needs prophetic ministry. Prophetic ministry today may not be welcome because it is not all “Peace, peace.”
Today, how we need watchmen to warn the people of God. But again, it is a very unthankful job. Ezekiel, when he prophesied, people would not listen to him.
But if you read the Bible, you will find that even though his prophesying was rejected in the beginning, afterward it did produce some fruit among God’s people.
How do we know? Because seventy years of captivity ended. When the call came for God’s people to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple, there was at least a remnant that was ready to go.
Now, who prepared this remnant? Ezekiel. Even though he was not able to restore all the children of Israel and turn them back to God, yet through his faithfulness there was a remnant that was ready when the seventy years were ended.
How often a prophet does not see his fruit while he is living. A prophet is not honored in his own country, but afterward you will find that his labor is not in vain.
So we, brothers and sisters, just as an introduction to Ezekiel, let us encourage ourselves with this. Whatever may be our situation, whatever we may see around us, thank God, His throne is always there.
He always has His cherubim, and His purpose shall be fulfilled. For those who have caught that vision are called to speak for God and to be watchmen to warn God’s people. Your labor shall not be in vain.
Our heavenly Father, we do praise and thank Thee. When man comes to his end, there is a beginning with the King of Thy glory.
O Lord, how we need to see Thy glory, that we may not only be able to press on, but that we may be useful in Thy hand to serve as watchmen among Thy people.
So, Lord, raise up people with vision, with word, and with careful watchfulness. Have mercy upon us, upon Thy people.
We praise and thank Thee. It is not all lost. Thou shalt gain what Thou dost desire to have. Thou shalt have it, and we want Thee to have it.
We ask in the precious name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.