Sermon Tone Analysis

*Inscription: Writing God’s Words on Our Hearts & Minds*

*/Part 59: The Watchman’s Duty/*

*Ezekiel 33:1-9*

*/August 21, 2011/*

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*Prep*

·         140-143

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Intro~/Communication card:

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Prayer

 

*Scripture reading: Ezekiel 1:4-27 NIV /condensed/*

 

I looked, and I saw a windstorm...with flashing lightning...The center of the fire looked like glowing metal, and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures.

In appearance their form was that of a man, but each of them had four faces and four wings.

...Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they went.

The appearance of the living creatures was like burning coals of fire or like torches.

Fire moved back and forth among the creatures; it was bright...

The creatures sped back and forth like flashes of lightning.

...I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature...

Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel.

As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the creatures faced; the wheels did not turn about as the creatures went.

Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around.

...and the wheels would rise along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

...Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was what looked like an expanse, sparkling like ice...

When the creatures moved, I heard the sound of their wings, like the roar of rushing waters, like the voice of the Almighty, like the tumult of an army.

...Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of sapphire, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man.

I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire... -

 

 

Trying to get some attention

 

Ezekiel is easily the *strangest* *book* of the OT and is arguably weirder than Revelation, making it the strangest book the Bible.

·         Ezekiel was a *young* *priest* deported to Babylon along with the group *Jeremiah* wrote to 29; he would have heard that message.

God called Ezekiel to be his *prophet*, his spokesman to bring God’s warning to these hard-heart people in exile.

Through Ezekiel, God uses *every* *trick* in the *book* to get their attention and turn this ship around:

 

 

*/1.

/**/Visions /*

 

Ezekiel uses colorful visions to speak God’s warnings and promises.

For instance, pretty much every *American* is familiar with this *song*:

 

·         “The toe bones connected to the heel bone...”

 

That is from the vision of the valley of *dry* *bones* (Ezekiel 37), where God promises that even though Israel will be as lifeless as a valley dry bones, God will breathe new life into them.

*/2.

/**/Illustrated prophecy /*

 

God also had him *act* *out* some of his prophecies:

 

God tells him to make a model of Jerusalem and “*play*” *out* the coming *siege* of Jerusalem – a grown man playing with models should get attention.

If that weren’t enough, he is only allowed to eat *8 ounces* a day, to symbolize the famine conditions in the city.

God also tell him to cook his food over *human* poo.

At this Ezekiel ask God to reconsider, and God lets him just use cow poo.

Another example: Ezekiel he *packs* his *bags*, digs a *hole* through a mud wall at dusk, covers his face, and leaves the compound.

Then he returns and explains:

 

NIV *Ezekiel 12:12-13* The prince among them will put his things on his shoulder at dusk and leave, and a hole will be dug in the wall for him to go through.

He will cover his face so that he cannot see the land.

13 I will spread my net for him, and he will be caught in my snare; I will bring him to Babylonia, the land of the Chaldeans, but he will not see it, and there he will die.

The prince is King *Zedekiah* (the last king of Judah).

And in fact, Zedekiah did try to sneak away during the siege of Jerusalem, before the Babylonians broke through.

And he was captured and taken back Babylon.

Q   But what about the prophecy that “he *will* *not* *see* it”?

In punishment for his rebellion, King Nebuchadnezzar had his *eyes* *gouged* out before he was taken to Babylon.

*/3.

/**/Graphic parables/*

 

Ezekiel also tells many *parables*, some of them very graphic to vividly illustrate Israel’s unfaithfulness to God.

In one of them, God condemns Judah for turning to *foreign* *nations* to *save* them rather than to him.

He makes is point quite graphically in one of my favorite verses in the Bible:

 

*Ezekiel 23:20 *There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses.

I’ve had people tell me that *sarcasm* is unbiblical.

Really?

You don’t read the Bible much, do you?

The Bible is not all nice and sanitized as we’ve been lead to believe.

Trying to get their attention

 

But the purpose is *not* *crassness* for the *point* of *crassness*.

It is to *warn* his people of their *sin* and its *consequences* while also *promising* *redemption* and *forgiveness*.

God has a message he is *desperate* for these people to hear.

The first *two* *thirds* of Ezekiel were written *prior* to the final destruction of Jerusalem in Lamentations.

·         We read Ezekiel like a story where we already *know* the *ending*, the bad guys win.

But from Ezekiel’s perspective, there is still some hope that his message *will* *be* *heard*, and God is speaking through him with increasing desperation.

·         It’s like that scene in “Three Amigos“ with bird calls.

We see a *similar* *progression* in the Bible – the message gets stronger and stranger, in hope that THIS will work.

The Watchman’s Duty

 

If we go back to *beginning* of the book, right after the vision of God’s glory, we see watch *Ezekiel’s* *calling*, the starting point that gave him the drive to do proclaim God:

 

*Ezekiel 3:16-21 *  16 ¶ At the end of seven days the word of the LORD came to me:  17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.  18 When I say to a wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood.

19 But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved yourself.

A watchman was a very important role in the *ancient* *world*.

It was his job to stand on the highest vantage point and constantly watch for enemies.

Day in and day out, scanning the horizon.

The *safety* of the entire population *rested* on *him*.

Q   How many of you are familiar with NORAD?

It is a massive underground bunker designed to track all threats to North America.

They are the *modern* *watchmen*.

Modern watchmen (and women)

 

As I read through the entire book of Ezekiel, I seriously *prayed* and *considered* which *message* God wanted me to bring to us today, and I believe it is our call to be *watchmen* and *women*.

·         Being a watchman is not some *weird*, *super*-*spiritual* calling.

·         I have heard this passage preached a lot of *weird* *ways*, so I was reluctant, but the best bet is not to ignore but correct.

As I have been in the habit of saying, *errors* travel in *pairs*.

Many of us have seen (and participated in) *goofy* *witnessing*, from cold calling to leaving Christian tracks in place of a tip.

·         But let’s not make the opposite error of *not* *speaking* up.

*EG*: *Preacher* talking to my *co*-*worker*.

Engaging Culture 2011

 

As you may remember, our *emphasis* as a church in *2011* is to “engage culture,” which we take from our mission statement:

 

/“We are a Christian community striving to glorify God and engage culture.”

/

 

As a church, we do really well at being a healthy *community*, but not as well at *evangelism*, at taking these great things and *offering* them to those around us.

 

·         The Elders began this year with a *challenge* to grow as a church in *health* and *size*.

Q   How are we doing?

It’s hard to tell.

Because of *summer* things are topsy-turvy, but I’ve watched people becoming part of the *community* and *growing*.

The *camping* *trip* and *baptism* was a highlight of the summer.

·         Yet at the same time, I know my *calling* as a *pastor*-*teacher* rather than an *evangelist* is part of what holds us back.

I am impressed by how God works through evangelist minded pastors, such as *David* *Luster*.

I have to focus my *efforts* on *Biblical* *preaching*; it is where I excel and the best thing I have to offer the church.

Our fundamentals as a church are *preaching*, *worship*, and *community*.

·         I think focusing on *these* *things* creates a healthy church that can help people grow.