Old Testament Survey EZEKIEL DR. BILL EGNER OCTOBER 15, Part 1 (ch. 1 32) Ezekiel! Warn My People! You Haven t Honored Me

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1 Old Testament Survey EZEKIEL Part 1 (ch. 1 32) EZEKIEL SUMMARIZED IN A WORD OR PHRASE: A Glorious God (see Deportations and Returns of the Israelites, p. 4) THE TIMES Complacency abounds; the countdown is on While Jeremiah is preaching in Jerusalem, Ezekiel is preaching to the Judeans already exiled to Babylon Jerusalem will fall! Even these exiles won t believe it It ll never happen! We re God s people! But they re about to lose their city, their nation and God s presence among them THE BASICS... Who: Who: Ezekiel ( God will strengthen ) When: July 593 through March 571 BC Where: To Judeans already deported to Babylon Why: Ezekiel, as a watchman for Israel, warned her of the judgment that was imminent and stressed the need for individual responsibility as well as national accountability before God. Each Israelite was personally to turn to the Lord. Likewise, the whole nation must ultimately return to him. R. H. Alexander LESSON THEME: Complacency brings loss Ezekiel! Warn My People! Ezekiel catches a glimpse of God s glory (1) His greatness and glory is virtually indescribable Ezekiel falls on his face in reverential awe He takes in God s Word (2) It s as sweet as honey He s appointed as Judah s watchman (3) He s equipped with the Word and through the Spirit for his ministry of warning You Haven t Honored Me Judgment is coming for your idolatry (4-7) Your dead bodies will be sacrifices to your idols The end is at hand I m withdrawing from you because of your unfaithfulness to Me (8-11) You d rather listen to false prophets and follow misguided elders and leaders anyway (12-17) Destruction is deserved & irreversible (18-19) I m Taking The City From You What you thought could never happen is just about to happen (20-23) You ve taken advantage of My mercy The unrepentant will receive no answer from Me Jerusalem, the spiritual harlot, will be judged The sign of the end of the siege (24) Ezekiel s treasure, his wife, suddenly dies He s struck dumb by the severity of his grief But I Won t Forget You One day I will fight against your Gentile enemies and will return you to My land I will be victorious over DR. BILL EGNER OCTOBER 15, 2017 COMING UP... OCT 22 Ezekiel OCT 29 The New Covenant (Hebrews) NOV 5 Daniel 1 7 NOV 12 Daniel 8 12

2 Ammon (25:1-7) and Moab (25:8-11) Edom (25:12-14) Philistia (25:15-17) Tyre and Sidon (26-28) Egypt (29-32) Summary Of Ezekiel 1-32 Judah had lost her vision of God; they no longer looked at Him with reverential awe They wouldn t confront and deal with their sin, even after clearly hearing God s Word Their complacency toward righteous change resulted in the unnecessary forfeiture of His land, His presence and His blessings Nonetheless one day God will conquer their enemies and return them to His land APPLICATION: Complacency brings loss (Complacency: a smug self-satisfaction with an existing situation or condition, often while unaware of some potential danger) The Cost Of Complacency Judah s smug satisfaction with her national religiosity caused unnecessary forfeiture of The land, the place where God s best would come God s real presence from their lives Their witness to other nations Virtually everything of lasting, spiritual value Complacency toward righteous change today will cause God s people to Forfeit Greater Intimacy With God Complacency grieves the Spirit Eph 4:30; we can bring sorrow instead of pleasure to the Holy Spirit by the way we live Eph 1:12-14; He will not leave us; He s the down payment of our redemption; He s our guarantee What depth of intimacy can we have if we live selfishly and insensitively toward the Spirit? No Christian should be smugly self-satisfied when he s living at the level of prevailing religiosity Forfeit Greater Conformity To Christ Complacency dulls our spiritual ears & hearts Ezekiel 4-7; it s the breeding ground for idolatry Ezekiel 20; the complacent should expect no new information from the Lord Rev 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22 Makes us less responsive to His Word and will Complacency keeps us immature Hebrews 5:11-14; to know is to do Forfeit Blessing The Church Complacency quenches ( stifles ) the Spirit Eph 2:10; I was redeemed to serve 1 Peter 4:10; I have been given a gift to serve 1 Thes 5:19; not using my spiritual gift is stifling (quenching) the Spirit 1 Cor 3:12-15; service that has passed through the Lord s fire will be rewarded by Him Complacency keeps me from deploying my gift for the building up and blessing of the Church Forfeit A More Powerful Witness Complacency degrades His Name Gen 12, 20; Abraham went to Egypt twice using a half-truth to protect himself 2 Sam 11; David took his foot off the gas and wound up committing adultery with Bathsheba 1 Cor 6:19-20; how we use our bodies will either bring honor or dishonor to the Lord Phil 1:20-21; we can bring reproach and/or dishonor on the Lord by how we live and speak

3 The Cost Of Complacency Those who re complacent toward seeking righteous change in their lives run the risk of Forfeiting greater intimacy with God Forfeiting greater conformity to the Savior Forfeiting building up and blessing the Church Forfeiting a more powerful and potentially more compelling witness to those who re outside of Christ How Would You Rate Yourself? Do you have a smug self-satisfaction with your existing relationship with the Lord? Do you have a smug self-satisfaction with your existing walk with the Lord? What things might you forfeit if you maintain your current level of intimacy and walk? Do you see the need for change? If so, what will you do about it this week? FOR NEXT TIME: LECTURE AUDIO & HANDOUTS ONLINE: ccbcfamily.org/sermons/old-testament-survey 2017 by Dr. John W. Egner unless otherwise indicated. All rights reserved. Judgment on Judah EZEKIEL Judgment on Gentiles Restoration of Israel fall foes future Ezekiel s preparation Ezekiel s prophecies against Judah and Jerusalem Ezekiel s pronouncements of judgment on surrounding nations Return of Israel to the land Restoration of Israel in the Kingdom 1:1 3:27 4:1 24:27 25:1 32:32 33:1 39:29 40:1 48:35

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