Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20070422.htm

THE PREINCARNATE MINISTRY OF JESUS CHRIST
Part XXVI: Other Reputed Theophanies Of The Preincarnate Christ
D. Christ's Ministry To Ezekiel: Equipping For Ministry To Spiritually Calloused People
(Ezekiel 1:1-2:6)
  1. Introduction
    1. In our calling as believers to disciple the nations, Christ promised as One Who has been given all power to be with us to make our way effective, and that even to the end of the age, cf. Matthew 28:18-20.
    2. Ezekiel's call to minister to spiritually calloused fellow Hebrews illustrates the great power of God behind us as we do His will, insight that encourages us to obey God even in the face of strong resistance:
  2. Christ's Ministry To Ezekiel: Equipping For Ministry To Spiritually Calloused People.
    1. Besides appearing as the "Angel of the Lord", the Preincarnate Christ is believed by reputable theologians to have appeared in other Old Testament "theophanies" (John F. Walvoord, Jesus Christ Our Lord, p. 54).
    2. One such passage is Ezekiel 1:1-28 (Ibid.), and its wider Ezekiel 1:1-2:5 context shows Christ's revelation in the awesome glory of His deity with the angels to equip His servant, Ezekiel to minister effectively to spiritually calloused fellow Hebrews who would resist his words and persecute him (as follows):
      1. Ezekiel's ministry was to the Hebrew Babylonian captives by the Chebar Canal that "branched off from the Euphrates just above Babylon and flowed east of the city . . . through the site of ancient Nippur and then reentered the Euphrates near Uruk (biblical Erek)." (Bib. Know. Com., O. T., p. 1226)
      2. As such, his call of God was to "keep before the exiles the sins which had brought God's judgment on them and to assure them of God's future blessing in keeping with His covenant," a difficult task since the exiles were then dwelling in Babylon for judgment because of their rebellion against God! (Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978 ed., p. 1138, "Introduction to the Book of Ezekiel: Contents")
      3. To equip Ezekiel for this ministry, God gave him a vision of His great power that would motivate and equip Ezekiel to stand firm for God before those who opposed to his message and to withstand their resulting mistreatment, Ezekiel 1:1-28 (Ibid., Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 1227-1229):
        1. God revealed His glory to Ezekiel in the vision of a mighty storm cloud that came from the north and had a frightening display of light, flashes of lightening, glowing metal, etc., Ezekiel 1:1-4 NIV.
        2. In this cloud were four great, powerful angelic spirit beings who provided a chariot platform above them upon which the Lord sat on a throne and rode the chariot, Ezekiel 1:5-14, 22, 25-26 NIV.
        3. Beneath these angels were the chariot's enormous wheels that had huge rims full of eyes to symbolize the omniscience of God Who rode above the chariot's platform, Ezekiel 1:15-21 NIV.
        4. When Ezekiel heard the voice of the Preincarnate Christ in the seat above the platform of this great heavenly chariot, he fell on his face, too weak to stand before His majestic glory, Ez. 1:22-28 NIV.
      4. Having given him this display of His great power and glory, the Preincarnate Christ equipped Ezekiel to stand up to hear Him, and boldly to speak God's truth to the spiritually hardened exiles, Ez. 2:1-6:
        1. Ezekiel's physically-drained state at the mere sight of God's awesome power was countered by God's putting His Spirit within him to enable him to stand up to hear God's message, Ez. 2:1-2.
        2. The Lord then informed Ezekiel that he was being sent to a spiritually calloused people, but that he was still to proclaim, "Thus saith the Lord" and to deliver God's message unto them, Ezekiel 2:3-4.
        3. God promised that even if the people would not accept that message, He would make them know that God's prophet had come unto them, Ez. 2:5. Accordingly, Ezekiel was not to fear the people nor their words regardless how negatively they would respond to his ministry, Ezekiel 2:6.
        4. The equipping for Ezekiel to obey this call in the face of such hardened human opposition would thus be God's enabling Spirit (Ezekiel 2:1-2; 3:7-9) and the memory of this great display of God's might that stood behind him to support his words and ministry when facing such opposition!
Lesson: The Preincarnate Christ gave Ezekiel a glimpse and symbolic enabling of His power to equip and to motivate him to minister to hardened Hebrews even if they rejected his word and mistreated him.

Application: If God has directed us to minister His truth to others, we are not to fear rejection or mistreatment by them, for God is greater than such hearers and their responses, and we must recall our accountability to Him and His provisions in the ministry and keep serving Him!