The Gospel According to Ezekiel, Chapters 10-11 (Part 1 of 2)

The Vision of God's Glory and Judgment

We are in the middle of a vision in Ezekiel's life, seeing the spiritual side of judgment coming upon Jerusalem from the Babylonian empire. This is God-initiated judgment for 430 years of sin, worse than the nations around them. They received direct revelation from God—the oracles of God, the law, statutes, and principles—yet had no excuse. Their sin was knowing what to do and deliberately rejecting it, thumbing their noses at God, choosing their will over His.

The elders and leaders in Jerusalem were imagining idols in their minds, worshipping them, their thoughts flooded with sin, hearts far from God. They even said, "God does not see us." We have freedom to live as gods of our own lives. This brings swift, horrific judgment.

In Ezekiel 10, the vision continues with God's fulfillment of judgment.

Then I looked, and behold, in the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim something like a sapphire stone, in appearance resembling a throne, appeared above them. And He spoke to the man clothed in linen... “Enter between the whirling wheels under the cherubim and fill your hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim and scatter them over the city.” And he entered in my sight.

This is the same man who marked foreheads last week with a cross for those grieving over sin. Now his task is to purify the city with coals of fire. See this fulfilled in Jeremiah 52:13.

Now the cherubim were standing on the right side of the temple when the man entered... the glory of the Lord went up from the cherubim to the threshold of the temple, and the temple was filled with the cloud and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the Lord. Moreover, the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty when He speaks.

The cherubim, throne-bearers of God, express His attributes, even in the sound of their wings.

The detailed descriptions reaffirm Ezekiel 1: Ezekiel sees the glory of the Lord enthroned, stepping down and returning. The main focus is the glory of the Lord, the foundational principle of the book. Even in horrific judgment, God's glory is central and the purpose. Amid atrocities, God becomes more desirable and beautiful—like a diamond against a black surface.

God remains intolerant of sin, moved by His justice and righteousness to purify the city with burning coals.

Our Response to God's Judgment

In Ezekiel 1, standing before God's glory, the natural response is to fall prostrate in worship, adoring His magnificence and majesty. These descriptions magnify God's glory, bringing it to our level of understanding. The glory of God is on display in Scripture.

We must see God in His judgment. If God is just but never reveals it, He misses glory from His creatures. It's not enough to see Him as loving, gracious, merciful—we must see Him as just and judge. If He did not act in justice, He would not fully exist as He is. To maximize praise, He reveals Himself fully in glory and judgment.

For Unbelievers: Awaken to the Need for Christ

As an unbeliever, this judgment awakens the need for Jesus Christ. Though God said He would not repeat this exact judgment, judgment itself will come—physical, spiritual, eternal.

See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven. ... Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:25-29)

There is no escape from God's judgment except for His remnant, those who cast themselves wholly on Christ. Old Testament saints like Moses regarded "the reproach of Christ" (Hebrews 11). From Abel onward, it was faith in the coming Christ. The only escape is being among God's elect.

For Believers: Gratitude and Acceptable Worship

For Christians, the response is gratitude: "Thank you, God, for the cross." In the face of terror from this wonderful, terrible God, we are moved to broken gratitude for Jesus, escaping not just physical but eternal judgment. This results in acceptable worship—a lifestyle mimicking the gospel, moving from sin to righteousness.

If struggling to worship, behold God's wrath. Our age overemphasizes love and mercy, twisting grace into license: "No consequences for sin." But God is love in His being, yet also justice and judgment. His love is for those marked by the cross, grieving over sin.

A lifestyle of worship thanks God in all things—even for salvation, grace, or displaying Himself in judgment.

Praise God in His Wrath

What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order that He would make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory. (Romans 9:22-23)

God displays wrath patiently (430 years here) to reveal His glory on vessels of mercy—people. Why hell? To make known His glory. All He is and does is worthy of approval, enjoyment, praise. We struggle to approve God's actions—catastrophes, persecution—because we lack understanding of His judgment. We presuppose He must act beneficially by our definition. See God as judge to approve and worship Him.

Chapter 11: Judgment on Leaders and God's Knowledge

Moreover, the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the Lord’s house, which faced eastward. And behold, there were twenty-five men at the entrance of the gate... “Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity and give evil advice in this city... ‘The city is the pot and we are the flesh.’”

This proverb means: "We are as safe as meat in a cooking pot"—no consequences, safe from nations and God. Same lie as before: "The Lord is not in the land." Echoes "Do not walk in the counsel of the wicked." Grace twisted into license persists today.

Therefore prophesy against them, son of man, prophesy! ... Thus says the Lord God, ‘I know your thoughts... You have multiplied your slain in this city... Your slain whom you have laid in the midst of the city, they are the flesh and this city is the pot.’”

God knows their thoughts—excruciating or encouraging, depending on your walk. Like the elders' mental idols, these civil leaders' minds are exposed. God sees internal dialogue, unwholesome thoughts, evil plans—in Jonah's flight, "before the face of the Lord."

And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. (Philippians 4:7-8)

I will bring you out of the midst of the city and deliver you into the hands of strangers and execute judgments against you. ... You have not walked in My statutes, nor have you executed My ordinances, but have acted according to the ordinances of the nations around you.

No place to run or hide. As Ezekiel prophesies, Pelatiah dies; Ezekiel cries:

Alas, Lord God! Will You bring the remnant of Israel to a complete end?

God responds: He is not destroying the remnant, but sinners. The exiles are His brothers, relatives—not far from the Lord as Jerusalem said.

Son of man, your brothers, your relatives, your fellow exiles and the whole house of Israel, all of them are those of whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘Go far from the Lord; this land has been given us as a possession.’

God as Sanctuary for the Scattered Remnant

Though I had removed them far away from the nations and though I scattered them among the countries, yet I was a sanctuary for them a little while in the countries where they had gone. The remnant was removed. They were scattered from this judgment. In the scattering of this remnant, they were not without a place of worship. They were not without protection. They were not without sanctuary. God Himself was their sanctuary.

Ezekiel 11:17 – Therefore thus says the Lord God, I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries among which you have been scattered and I will give you the land of Israel. When they come there, they will remove all its detestable things and all its abominations from it.

If you apply that in a spiritual sense, there's a day that will come in which the world that we will dwell in will be devoid of detestable things and abominations. What a glorious, amazing, wonderful place that will be when we are gathered into the heavenly Jerusalem.

Ezekiel 11:19 – I will give them one heart and put a new spirit within them and I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh that they may walk in my statutes and keep my ordinances and do them. Then they will be my people and I shall be their God.

The Exchange of the Heart of Stone for a Heart of Flesh

The people have a heart of stone—that idea of stubbornness and unwillingness, lack of desire to do what God wants. It's both the inability and the lack of desire. You can relate this to the New Testament principle of spiritual deadness. In the Old Testament, it's the unregenerateness of their flesh: a heart of stone, stubbornness to not do what God has said.

God Himself will do spiritual surgery: remove this heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh—a heart that's pumping, vibrant, soft and responsive to the things of the kingdom. It takes God for this to happen. This is an intense, graphic way of defining grace and our need for it. God's personal, unearned involvement in somebody's life grants them the life they need to be pleasing to Him. The remnant never deserved this. God takes out what separates you from Him and puts in what unites you to Him. He becomes the origin and source of your obedience.

1 John 3:9 – No one who has been born of God practices sin because his seed abides in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God.

John is not teaching sinless perfectionism—he says if we sin, we have an advocate, Jesus Christ, the propitiation for our sins, removing wrath and exchanging it for peace. But the emphasis is on this new heart: nobody born of God practices sin. Nobody born of God takes idols into the recesses of their minds or values and performs sin. Practice makes perfect, but nobody born of God looks at sin and thinks they need to improve in that area because His seed abides in him, and he cannot sin in that practicing, blatant, defiant, continuous way.

1 John 4:7 – Beloved, let us love one another for love is from God and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

One way to initiate true love in this church is to rely on the birth that has already taken place.

1 John 5:1 – Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God. And whoever loves the Father loves the child born of him.

Whoever believes that Jesus is the anointed one sent by God for total salvation—saving you from sin, bringing you into right relationship with God, where you enjoy Him and hate sin—has been born of God.

1 John 5:4 – For whatever has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith.

Do you need victory? To overcome the world, difficulties, sufferings? That heart of stone needs to be exchanged for a heart of flesh. If you're a Christian, you don't need victory—you've got it.

1 John 5:18 – We know that no one who has been born of God sins, but he who was born of God keeps him and the evil one does not touch him.

All these present-tense actions in 1 John—even faith itself—are preceded by the heart of stone being exchanged for a heart of flesh.

Philippians 1:6 – For I am confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

God's work in your life will not stop, cease, return void, or fail. It will be brought to perfect completion, ushering you into the new Jerusalem to enjoy God forever.

Judgment on Hearts That Chase Detestable Things

As for those whose hearts go after detestable things and abominations—it runs after them like a child chasing a toy. They're not giving up their sins. They may be sad when caught or when problems arise, but their hearts chase after these things. God says, I will bring their conduct down on their heads.

The heart of the issue is the issue of the heart. God looks into the heart, judges even the private thoughts. This is why we need God to exchange our hearts for a new one. It's the concept in John 3, where Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night, attracted to Him despite opposition. Jesus says you can't see the kingdom unless born again. Even in the Old Testament, regeneration was necessary—Deuteronomy spoke of circumcision of the heart, that internal operation of God.

Nicodemus asks, "How can these things be?" If you haven't experienced it, that should be your question. Jesus explained it's entirely God's work, no pre-existing condition. He refocuses: God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.

For the unbeliever, the question is not "How do I get regeneration?" but "Am I believing?" For the believer, hold onto present, continuous, saving faith—ongoing trust and reliance on God.

The Departure of God's Glory and the Prophet's Call

Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them. The glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood over the mountain east of the city. The Spirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God to the exiles in Chaldea, and I told the exiles all the things that the Lord had shown me.

As a closing point, recognize that judgment, like Ezekiel's prophetic watchman role, brings blessing when received. Go out and share this with God's people and those who are not yet His. The same vision holds both judgment and grace. For the unbeliever, God is gracious to you. For the believer, relish and rest in this sovereign God's personal involvement in your life. Trust and rely on Him.