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The Bible Breakdown
Ezekiel 02: Strong All by Yourself
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The More We Dig. The More We Find.
Well, hello everybody. Welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, pastor Brandon, today Ezekiel, chapter 2. Today's title is Strong, all by Y'all Self. Strong, all by Y'all Self. Now you've got to make sure you're spelling y'all self correctly, that's Y-O-apostrophe-S-E-L-F, because Ezekiel's a gangster man. He don't mess around, he is crazy, and we love him for it, and we're going to find out all about that in just a moment. I cannot wait. My hope is, by the time we're finished with Ezekiel, he is going to be one of your favorite people of the entire Old Testament. All right, so we're going to get on it in just a moment. So if your Bibles want to open up with me to Ezekiel chapter two, don't forget, if you're new around here, to make sure you like, share and subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast. I'm so thankful for how our community is continuing to grow, especially in the podcast, and I would love for some of you podcasters to leave us a five-star review. It really does help us a lot because, as people are looking for a community to become part of, they read through the comments and they read through those reviews and they want to know what to expect when they're reading through this. So make sure you leave us a five-star review and let people know how you're connecting with God's word. Also, for everybody, our rallying point is the Bible breakdown discussion on Facebook. I want to make sure you go there, you sign up for the different alerts if you do that with Facebook or whatever, but make sure you engage with us, because the more we dig, the more we find Okay, all right.
Speaker 1:Well, if you have your Bibles and you're in Ezekiel, chapter two, remember, the overall theme of Ezekiel is God's promise of renewal. God is promising them because, remember, we just got through reading Jeremiah and at the end of Jeremiah the nation was destroyed. Everything is just decimated. The Babylonians came and took over. They've carried most of the people away to exile. There's a few still left in Jerusalem just to kind of keep up with things, but it's a just disarray. And Ezekiel comes along and he says guys, this is our fault, we've done some bad stuff, but God has promised that after 70 years we get to come back if we get our act together. And so the whole thing in Ezekiel is it's talking about God's promise of renewal. But first they have to realize they need God's renewal. And so for the first few chapters. Ezekiel is all about sharing with them that they're in trouble, that they've done all kinds of wrong things, and what we're going to see in this is so interesting.
Speaker 1:And I want to tell you something about Ezekiel. I don't know if he would be everybody's best friend. Okay, because Ezekiel he's mean. Okay, he's probably not a nice guy, but he would definitely be the life of the party because he's crazy. God has always got him doing these strange things that God will use as metaphors, and I wonder if it's because the nation of Israel was in such disarray, because, if you think about it, their homeland has been destroyed, and so I wonder if they're just so, just in this blah place where Ezekiel's having to do this crazy stuff, just to get their attention. And we're going to see some of the crazy stuff that God gets him up to in order to get there. He uses all these different metaphors, and if you think you've heard it all, you haven't. Okay, ezekiel is one of a kind. That's why I love him so much, and so let's dive into this and let's see some of what God is beginning to do, as he's calling Ezekiel into ministry.
Speaker 1:Here we go, ezekiel, chapter two, verse one, and we're going to stop right here, because it says stand up, son of man. Now we got to make sure we talk about this, because he gets called son of man like 90 times and if we're not careful we're going to get confused because Jesus refers to himself as the son of man and we're going to think it's the same thing. And Son of man. You know, come over here. And it's not intended to be a term of derision, like nowadays if someone said, hey boy, come over here, and you're not actually a boy, you know you're a man, then they're being disrespectful. But at that point it was just pointing to hey, human, hey you, who are not God. You know he's just saying hey buddy, hey buddy, come on over here. You can almost look at it as like a nickname of sorts, right? Well, the difference is is when Jesus, in the book of Mark especially, refers to himself as the son of man, he is actually referring to a passage in the book of Daniel where Daniel talks about when the Messiah comes, he will be the son of man, but he'll also be God. So he was talking about this mystery. So when and you'll notice that when Ezekiel is called son of man, it is just that generic son of man. But when Jesus is called son of man, the word the is put in front of it. So it's the son of man. And so to make sure you understand the difference, so from now on, for 90 different times when you hear the phrase son of man, that's his way of saying hey buddy, hey boy, he's talking. Say hey, you human. He's talking to him like that and it's just intended to be kind of like a nickname. Okay, all right, so let's try again.
Speaker 1:Ezekiel, chapter two, verse one stand up, son of man, said the voice. I want to speak with you. The spirit came into me and he spoke and he set me on my feet and I listened carefully to his words. And here it is again. He says son of man, I am sending you to the nation of Israel, a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me. They and their ancestors have been rebelling against me to this very day. They are stubborn and hard hearted people, but I am sending you to say to them this is what the sovereign Lord says. So, in other words, he's saying I'm going to make you a prophet, so you're going to speak to them. What I give you to say.
Speaker 1:Verse five and whether they listen or refuse to listen, for remember they are rebels. At least they will know that I have had a prophet among them. Son of man, there he goes again. I do not fear them or their words. Do not be afraid. Even though their threats are going to surround you like needles and briars and stinging scorpions, do not be dismayed by their dark scowls. Even though they are rebels, you must give them my messages, whether they listen or not, but I wouldn't tell you. But they won't listen, for they are completely rebellious. Son of man, listen to what I say to you. Don't join them in their rebellion. Open your mouth and eat what I give you. Then I looked and I saw a hand reaching out to me and it held a scroll which he unrolled, and I saw both sides were covered with funeral songs, words of sorrow and pronouncements of doom. So, in other words, the story begins. Up until this point, he's been beginning it and now you're going to get started.
Speaker 1:And so here's the question, and that is this based on what God's word says, what can we apply today? Well, in the world we live in, we live in a world that's full of all different kinds of people. There's sweet people. There's not so sweet people. There's people with a religious background, a non-religious background, but we all have one thing in common and that is this we all have a sin nature and for many of us, one of the biggest issues we deal with is we don't mind hearing about Jesus as long as he is our friend.
Speaker 1:We don't mind hearing about Jesus as a nice guy, as a great teacher. We don't mind hearing about Jesus as a savior, but he better not be talking about being my Lord, because I'm in charge of me, I'm going to do things my way and really, if you think about it, that is a rebellious spirit where we want to be in control of our own destiny, in control of our own stuff. Jesus can come along and help me do my life, but I'm going to do my life my way. And so, if you think about it, we're not that dissimilar from the people that Ezekiel is being sent to, in that, if we're not careful, we rebel against the lordship of Christ. We have no problem calling him savior. We have a big problem calling him Lord. I don't mind if God sits beside me, but I don't want him to sit in front of me. I don't mind letting him be my co-pilot, but I'm going to keep my hands on the wheel. And if we struggle with that and we struggle to keep God on the throne of our life, imagine what people that don't know him deal with, can I tell you?
Speaker 1:I think one of the biggest issues to people receiving Christianity is they don't want God to be exclusive. They want to be able to shop around and do their life their way, and you know what they need. They need someone in their life who is going to tell them. This is what the Lord says, and I love how God told Ezekiel. He says even if they refuse to listen, at least they will know they've had a man of God, a prophet, a man of God among them. Now, there's a balance here. We don't want to be that jerk, right. We don't want to be that person who's acting holier than thou and all that kind of stuff. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about living our lives in such a way so that, whether or not someone receives Jesus, at least they know what it looks like for a Christian, or what a Christian is supposed to look like. They know what it looks like.
Speaker 1:I'm going to put it to you like this If the people you work with found out that you were a Christian, would they be surprised? Would they be shocked to find out that you love Jesus? If so, can I be? Very respectfully, you're doing it wrong when people find out you're a Christian when you get up the courage and you tell them hey, I'd love to invite you to come to church with me. I'd love to tell you more about Jesus.
Speaker 1:You know what they should say. They should say you know, you never said so, but I knew there was something different about you. There's just, there's just something different about you. Not you, you're not, you're not prideful, you don't act like you're better than anybody else. It's just you've got a, you've got a joy, you there, there's something that that you're. There's just something. There's just something. You know what that is. It's because I'm not living my life for myself anymore. I'm in love with Jesus. I'm thankful for who he is and what he's doing in my life.
Speaker 1:And what God is telling Ezekiel is. He's like listen, these jokers ain't going to listen. They're crazy, but at least they're going to know a man of God was in their midst. Can I tell you that's what God wants for us. He wants us to live our lives in such a way so that, whether people around us listen to him or not, at least they'll know there was a man or woman of God in their presence. Do people know that about you?
Speaker 1:Let's pray together right now, god, thank you so much for today. Thank you, god, that you are with us and you are for us in every way. I'm so thankful, god, that we can walk in your presence, we can know you and because of that, because we can know you, god, we can know what it is to be a light in dark places. I pray, god, that we will accept that challenge, not as a place of pride, not as a place of arrogance, but a humble acceptance that you want to show the world your goodness through us. So let us embrace that and be the best followers of Christ that we can be. In Jesus' name, we pray Amen. Anyway, what God's Word says in Ezekiel 34, verse 14, it says I will put my spirit in you and you will live again. God's promise of renewal is he wants to fill you with His presence every day. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow. For Ezekiel, chapter 3.
