the word of the LORD came directly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Kebar. And there the LORD's hand was upon him. Sermons
The prophet felt and knew that God was drawing near to him. This experience he could only express in language drawn from human relations. Spiritual realities were by him expressed in terms derived from the acts of bodily life. The "word" and the "hand" here spoken of are metaphorical, but they are strictly true; i.e. the just idea is, as far as may be by language and emblem, thus conveyed to our mind. If God reveal himself to man, it must be by means of the characteristics of man's spiritual nature; and such characteristics are pictured in the expressions here employed by Ezekiel. The "word" of the Lord means one thing, the "hand" another; yet the employment of both expressions is necessary in order to convey, with anything like completeness, the penetration of the prophet's nature by Divine truth, the commission of the prophet to undertake Divine service. I. THE QUICKENING AND ILLUMINATION OF THE MIND TO RECEIVE THE TRUTH. The word is the expression of the thought. The Divine word is the utterance of the Divine thought, and the Divine thought is truth. The expression here used implies a community of nature between man and God. God has thoughts and purposes which concern man's good; and man's highest well being is dependent upon the introduction of these into his spiritual nature. Man has not simply to hear and understand the word; it is for him to welcome and retain and ponder it, as a precious possession and a mighty power. The word of God, no doubt, came in a special sense to the prophets; there was a directness, an absence of any intermediary, in this communication. Through the prophet the word came to the people, to whom it might and did prove a word of enlightenment, of warning, of encouragement. That this might be so, the prophet's nature needed to be yielded up to the penetrating, purifying, illumining grace of God himself. II. THE SUBMISSION AND OBEDIENCE OF THE WILL PRACTICALLY TO ACKNOWLEDGE DIVINE AUTHORITY. The "hand of the Lord" is an expression frequently met with in the Scriptures. Nehemiah acknowledges the "good hand of God upon him." To interpret the expression, it must be remembered that the hand is the symbol of activity, of the practical nature, of direction, of control, of protecting power. Now, a man could not fulfil prophetic functions simply by hearing the word of the Lord; there was something for him to do. In truth, the relations between God and man are such that it is necessary that God should command, and that man should obey. And if this is true of men generally, it is manifestly true of those who were called to the prophetic office. They had need not simply of revelation, but of guidance, of authority exercised and conveyed. What is this but to say that they needed that the hand of the Lord should be upon them? It must be remembered that the Prophet Ezekiel discharged his ministry, both by the communication verbally of Divine messages, and by the performance of certain actions. Of these actions some were symbolical, and others were directly and obviously instructive and directive. Thus the prophet needed, not merely the word of the Lord to enter his mind, but the hand of the Lord to control and govern his conduct. APPLICATION. True religion is twofold. It enjoins upon us (1) the reception of Divine truth, as graciously revealed in various ways to the human intelligence; and (2) the subjection to Divine authority, as exercised with wisdom and compassion by him whose omnipotent hand can both point out the path of duty and service, and can clear away every obstacle which might prevent that path being pursued. - T. I fell upon my face. If we knew and could feel as much concerning God and Christ and heaven as we sometimes desire, probably it would make us insane. We have seen horticulturists pull down the awnings in their greenhouses. Plants may sometimes have too much sun: and so may we. () 1. See what mischief sin hath done unto us: it hath disabled us from partaking of our greatest good. The sight of glory is the happiness of the creature. 2. The sight of glory is an humbling thing. "The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it" (Isaiah 40:5); and then follows, "All flesh is grass." Glory will convince us that we are but grass. It is not hearing will do it — at least, not so effectually; seeing, and seeing of glory, doth humble mightily. Seeing of misery causeth grief, "Mine eye affecteth mine heart"; but seeing of glory causeth godly sorrow (Job 42:5, 6; Isaiah 6:5). Those that are thoroughly humbled with the sense of their own vileness and weakness are fittest to hear Divine truths and to receive Divine mysteries. Ezekiel falls on his face, and then hears a voice; so was it with Daniel. Flesh and blood is apt to be lifted up, to trust in something of its own; men look at, and like their own parts, their graces; some confidence or other we are apt to catch hold of; but we must let all go, be low in our own eyes, if we will be fit auditors of Christ; we must fall down at the feet of His throne, if we will hear Him speak from His throne. He giveth grace to the humble, they find the choicest favours at His hands (James 4:6). (). People Babylonians, Buzi, Ezekiel, JehoiachinPlaces ChebarTopics Babylonians, Buzi, Certainly, Chaldaeans, Chaldeans, Chalde'ans, Chebar, Expressly, Ezekiel, Kebar, Priest, RiverOutline 1. The time of Ezekiel's prophecy at Chebar.
4. His vision of four cherubim;
15. of the four wheels;
26. and of the glory of God.
Dictionary of Bible Themes Ezekiel 1:3 1265 hand of God
5263 communication
5395 lordship, human and divine
7372 hands, laying on Ezekiel 1:1-28 8474 seeing God Ezekiel 1:3-28 7775 prophets, lives Library God's Providence
"Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces. The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel. When they went, they went upon their four sides: and they turned not when they went. As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings were full of eyes round …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 54: 1908The Noble Results of this Species of Prayer
The Noble Results of this Species of Prayer Some persons, when they hear of the prayer of silence, falsely imagine, that the soul remains stupid, dead, and inactive. But, unquestionably, it acteth therein, more nobly and more extensively than it had ever done before; for God Himself is the mover, and the soul now acteth by the agency of His Spirit. When S. Paul speaks of our being led by the Spirit of God, it is not meant that we should cease from action; but that we should act through the internal …
Madame Guyon—A Short and Easy Method of Prayer 'Deliver us from Evil'
'But deliver us from evil.'--MATT. vi. 13. The two halves of this prayer are like a calm sky with stars shining silently in its steadfast blue, and a troubled earth beneath, where storms sweep, and changes come, and tears are ever being shed. The one is so tranquil, the other so full of woe and want. What a dark picture of human conditions lies beneath the petitions of this second half! Hunger and sin and temptation, and wider still, that tragic word which includes them all--evil. Forgiveness and …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture This State of Prayer not one of Idleness, but of Noble Action, Wrought by the Spirit of God, and in Dependence Upon Him --The Communication Of
Some people, hearing of the prayer of silence, have wrongly imagined that the soul remains inactive, lifeless, and without movement. But the truth is, that its action is more noble and more extensive than it ever was before it entered this degree, since it is moved by God Himself, and acted upon by His Spirit. St Paul desires that we should be led by the Spirit of God (Rom. viii. 14). I do not say that there must be no action, but that we must act in dependence upon the divine movement. This …
Jeanne Marie Bouvières—A Short Method Of Prayer And Spiritual Torrents The Prophet Jonah.
It has been asserted without any sufficient reason, that Jonah is older than Hosea, Joel, Amos, and Obadiah,--that he is the oldest among the prophets whose written monuments have been preserved to us. The passage in 2 Kings xiv. 25, where it is said, that Jonah, the son of Amittai the prophet, prophesied to Jeroboam the happy success of his arms, and the restoration of the ancient boundaries of Israel, and that this prophecy was confirmed by the event, cannot decide in favour of this assertion, …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament How Subjects and Prelates are to be Admonished.
(Admonition 5.) Differently to be admonished are subjects and prelates: the former that subjection crush them not, the latter that superior place elate them not: the former that they fail not to fulfil what is commanded them, the latter that they command not more to be fulfilled than is just: the former that they submit humbly, the latter that they preside temperately. For this, which may be understood also figuratively, is said to the former, Children, obey your parents in the Lord: but to …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great A Sight of the Crowned Christ
(Revelation, Chapter i.) "Since mine eyes were fixed on Jesus, I've lost sight of all beside, So enchained my spirit's vision, Looking at the Crucified." "The Lord Christ passed my humble cot: I knew him, yet I knew him not; But as I oft had done before, I hurried through my narrow door To touch His garment's hem. "He drew me to a place apart From curious crowd and noisy mart; And as I sat there at His feet I caught the thrill of His heart-beat Beyond His garment's hem. "Rare was the bread He broke …
by S. D. Gordon—Quiet Talks on the Crowned Christ of Revelation Appendix v. Rabbinic Theology and Literature
1. The Traditional Law. - The brief account given in vol. i. p. 100, of the character and authority claimed for the traditional law may here be supplemented by a chronological arrangement of the Halakhoth in the order of their supposed introduction or promulgation. In the first class, or Halakhoth of Moses from Sinai,' tradition enumerates fifty-five, [6370] which may be thus designated: religio-agrarian, four; [6371] ritual, including questions about clean and unclean,' twenty-three; [6372] concerning …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah Of Love to God
I proceed to the second general branch of the text. The persons interested in this privilege. They are lovers of God. "All things work together for good, to them that love God." Despisers and haters of God have no lot or part in this privilege. It is children's bread, it belongs only to them that love God. Because love is the very heart and spirit of religion, I shall the more fully treat upon this; and for the further discussion of it, let us notice these five things concerning love to God. 1. The …
Thomas Watson—A Divine Cordial Covenanting Enforced by the Grant of Covenant Signs and Seals.
To declare emphatically that the people of God are a covenant people, various signs were in sovereignty vouchsafed. The lights in the firmament of heaven were appointed to be for signs, affording direction to the mariner, the husbandman, and others. Miracles wrought on memorable occasions, were constituted signs or tokens of God's universal government. The gracious grant of covenant signs was made in order to proclaim the truth of the existence of God's covenant with his people, to urge the performance …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting An Advance Step in the Royal Programme
(Revelation, Chapters iv. and v.) "We are watching, we are waiting, For the bright prophetic day; When the shadows, weary shadows, From the world shall roll away. "We are watching, we are waiting, For the star that brings the day; When the night of sin shall vanish, And the shadows melt away. "We are watching, we are waiting, For the beauteous King of day; For the chiefest of ten thousand, For the Light, the Truth, the Way. "We are waiting for the morning, When the beauteous day is dawning, We are …
by S. D. Gordon—Quiet Talks on the Crowned Christ of Revelation Brief Outline of Ancient Jewish Theological Literature
The arrangements of the synagogue, as hitherto described, combined in a remarkable manner fixedness of order with liberty of the individual. Alike the seasons and the time of public services, their order, the prayers to be offered, and the portions of the law to be read were fixed. On the other hand, between the eighteen "benedictions" said on ordinary days, and the seven repeated on the Sabbaths, free prayer might be inserted; the selection from the prophets, with which the public reading concluded--the …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life Ezekiel
To a modern taste, Ezekiel does not appeal anything like so powerfully as Isaiah or Jeremiah. He has neither the majesty of the one nor the tenderness and passion of the other. There is much in him that is fantastic, and much that is ritualistic. His imaginations border sometimes on the grotesque and sometimes on the mechanical. Yet he is a historical figure of the first importance; it was very largely from him that Judaism received the ecclesiastical impulse by which for centuries it was powerfully …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Ezekiel 1:3 NIV
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