Ezekiel 1:1-3, 36:24-30, 48:35, A Vision of Hope in Despair

Ezekiel 1:1-3, 36:24-30, 48:35, A Vision of Hope in Despair

 Immigrant Jesus! The Bible is a book that tells the history of immigration. Adam lived in the Garden of Eden &was forced to emigrate out of the garden. Noah encountered a flood & immigrated into the ark & then immigrated to a new world. Abraham, the ancestor of faith, immigrated from Ur of Chaldea to Haran &then Canaan. Joseph was trafficked by his brothers due to their jealousy &was forced to immigrate to Egypt. Jacob immigrated to Haran when his older brother Esau tried to kill him. Jacob &his sons immigrated to Egypt at Joseph’s invitation. Moses immigrated to the wilderness of Midian &then led the people &immigrated to Canaan again. Joshua &the Israelites also immigrated to Canaan. The northern Israelites were taken captive to Assyria. The southern Judah immigrated captive to Babylon. There was also a reverse immigration of returning to their homeland Israel. Jesus also immigrated from heaven to this world to save us. & after completing the work of salvation on the cross, he immigrated to heaven again. We who live on earth will also immigrate to heaven again when the time comes. The Korean people have many immigrants. There are about 7.5 million Korean immigrants scattered overseas. There are also many immigrant workers. Today we meet Ezekiel, a forced immigrant(1:1-3). He is not a simple immigrant, but an immigrant worker who strengthens his captive, desperate fellow Jews with the word of God. He is a worker of God who lives with them &cares for his immigrant compatriots. What is his status & what mission does he fulfill? What is our contemporary mission as immigrants? God shows us Jesus, the prophet, &watchman, through Ezekiel, an immigrant worker. Let us listen to the words He gives us.

1. Ezekiel, an immigrant worker: Immigrants who believe in Jesus

Ezekiel('God strengthens') was a priest('Priest I Ezekiel',1:3). In 597 BC, when he was 25 years old, he was taken captive to Babylon with King Jehoiachin of Judah(19th king) & people(1:2). While living near Tel Abib(today’s Nippur) on the banks of the Chebar River in Babylon, he was called to be a prophet in 592 BC(5 years after he was taken captive), when he was 30 years old(3:15;1:2-3). He served as a prophet for at least 22 years, until the 27th year of the captivity(571 BC,29:17). While living among his fellow exiles, he mainly prophesied to his fellow exiles. Therefore, his prophecy was a ministry to spread God’s word &comfort them. In other words, he was an immigrant missionary who carried out God’s ministry to his compatriots who were living as immigrants against their will. He takes on the ministry of ‘strengthening with the word of God’ to the spiritually, mentally, &physically weak people in captivity, as his name implies. We also hope that we will be filled with Jesus &His word, who strengthens immigrants with His word.

2. Prophet Ezekiel: True prophet (2:2-3, Deut.18:15,18) Be filled with Jesus Christ.

 The priest Ezekiel was given the calling & responsibility of God to be a prophet. He was sent by God(2:3,4). This means that he was not sent as a missionary to a foreign country. He was called & sent to preach the word of God to his fellow captives who had betrayed God through idolatry & were stubborn &hardened in their hearts(2:3-8;3:4,11). God sent the Holy Spirit to him, raised him up(2:2), &spoke to him. He was called to do something that could not expect good results & could not receive good responses(3:7;1:3-7). He is a prophet who must put God’s words into practice. God also allows him to experience humiliation. He had to lie on his left side for 390 days to bear the sins of Israel before his compatriots &on his right side for 40 days to bear the sins of Judah (4:4-8). During this period, he had to eat only one-third of the usual amount of food & water, &he had to bake & eat impure bread(4:9-17). He foretold that his homel&, Jerusalem, would experience severe famine, &that there would be a shortage of water, food, &fuel. He also had to cut off his hair with a sword & divide it into three parts to show the three types of tragic events that would happen to the people of Jerusalem(starvation, death in battle, runaway, 5:1-12). He had to move as if he were a captive being taken away with his belongings(12:1-16). He ate food while trembling & he announced that Jerusalem would be under siege & live in fear(12:17-20). He lost his wife around 588B.C. when Jerusalem was under siege by Babylon. Although it was something that happened during his captivity, God commanded him not to mourn, cry, or shed tears over the death of his wife(24:15-24). How heartbreaking & difficult it must have been to endure & control his grief like this. God showed him through the death of his wife the destruction of his country’s capital, Jerusalem. &his actions foreshadowed the national sorrow that the people of Judah would experience. In this way, he is called a prophet who serves through action & “a clown for God.” He acted according to God’s instructions with comical actions. As a prophet, he is a man of cool words who tells his compatriots in Babylon in chs1-24 that the tragic events in Jerusalem are a spiritual judgment of God. In chs25-32, he proclaims God’s judgment on the neighboring nations, showing that God rules over the entire world. Also, in chs33-39, he tries to restore the morality of his compatriots & make the remaining people a spiritually healthy community. In chs 40-48, he shows that God has established a new order. Let us all be armed with the words of Jesus Christ, the true prophet(2:2-3, Dt.18:15,18), & preach the word well.

3. Watchman Ezekiel: Watchman who looks at Jesus, the true watchman

 A watchman originally st&s on a watchtower on a city wall, watches the near & far, & informs the leader of danger(1S.14:16;Hab.2:1). The core of a watchman's mission is to blow the trumpet when there is danger. If the people die because the trumpet is not blown, the watchman is responsible for the blood(33:3-6). God appointed Ezekiel as the watchman of Israel. “I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore, hear the word I speak & give them warning from me”(3:17;33:7). However, the mission of the watchman is a spiritual one, to watch over the spiritual state of Israel & warn of its crisis. In other words, it is the task of hearing the word of God & giving warning to the people on God’s behalf. The watchman Ezekiel is God’s agent & tool who must convey only God’s word. And the word he conveys has divine authority. This also applies to our immigrant workers today. We are God’s instrument & agent who conveys God’s word. At the same time, we are given the great mission of proclaiming God’s blessings & judgments that will come upon our fellow countrymen with the authority of God’s word. If Ezekiel delivered the warning to his fellow countrymen to listen to God’s word, they would be responsible for their lives. However, if he faithfully proclaimed the message, he would no longer be responsible, regardless of the people’s response(3:18-21). In other words, if Ezekiel delivered God’s revelation &the wicked did not repent & died, he died entirely because of his own sin, & the watchman was not responsible. In any case, as the watchman of Israel, Ezekiel had the responsibility to warn, teach, & sound the trumpet of warning to his fellow countrymen. This was not just about loving, comforting, & giving words of hope to our fellow countrymen. It was not just about giving them a sense of safety. Ezekiel said that his fellow countrymen “must open their eyes to the more serious evils that surround them—--exposing their deceptions, & crying out loud that they are in danger when no one suspects an intrusion.” This position is important for the safety of his fellow countrymen. It suggests that our saints today have a responsibility to properly warn the world & human rebellion & its consequences.

 What is the mission of the blessed watchman? There are three things in 33:1-9. First, they must listen carefully to the word of God. “Hear the word of my mouth(7).” Faith comes from hearing. Since watchmen are instruments of the the Lord’s word, they must first listen carefully to Lord’s word. Immigrants are watchmen entrusted with Lord’s word. They must listen carefully to Lord’s word rather than to men’s word or the voices of the environment. Second, they must be on guard. Watchmen must not sleep or let their guard down for even a moment. They must be on guard against danger in advance. It means to keep your eyes wide open & watch your surroundings carefully. Today, ministers who have been appointed as spiritual watchmen must always be vigilant & thoroughly alert to prepare for Satan’s attacks. If they neglect their duty of vigilance, they will not be able to properly fulfill the mission entrusted to them by the Lord & will suffer great disaster. Third, they must blow the trumpet to warn. When danger approaches, they must blow the trumpet loudly to warn. If they warn when the enemy is coming, many friendly forces will escape &save their lives. This does not stop at simply warning, but must teach &admonish so that they follow the warning. Ezekiel listened to the word of God &armed himself. He kept his eyes wide open & did not let his guard down. He blew the trumpet of the gospel powerfully. The book of Ezekiel is the trumpet of the word of life that he warned & admonished. Dear saints, we are all small spiritual watchmen of this age who believe in Jesus, the true watchman. We must hold on to Lord’s word. The more difficult the times, the more we can hold on to God’s word. Let’s be vigilant about our surroundings &warn our neighbors that now is the time to wake up. Let’s encourage them to come to Jesus, Savior. May you become eternal stars in heaven, just as Dan.12:3 says, “Those who lead many to righteousness will be like the stars of the sky,” &may you receive the Lord’s blessings to your heart’s content.
 
 Immigrants, rise up!
God gives us a new challenge through the immigrant missionary Ezekiel. The environment in which he served must have been as difficult as that of today’s immigrant missionaries. He lost his beloved wife after five years of service. Furthermore, he could not express his sorrow. His fellow countrymen, the subjects of his ministry, were stubborn & would not listen to him.  He had to lie on his left side for 390 days & on his right side for 40 days in front of his fellow countrymen. During that period, he had to bake impure bread with cow dung & eat only 1/3 of the amount of water & bread he normally ate. These were the crosses that Ezekiel had to bear in order to fulfill God’s ministry. However, Ezekiel endured the difficult situation well & comforted his fellow captives entrusted to him by God with God’s word. He proclaimed a wonderful message of hope through the vision of dry bones in ch37 & the vision of the water of life coming from the sanctuary in ch47. In chs40-48, he speaks of the restoration of the Messianic kingdom(God’s kingdom), that is, the new temple, worship &earth, the new Jerusalem. In the last 48:35, Jehovah showed that He was with this immigrant land, the homeland, &the whole world through the name of the new city, “Jehovah Shammah”(Jehovah is there). Thus Ezekiel sang of God’s hope even in despair. He saw God’s golden sun even in the dark clouds(1:4). Today’s immigrant field is truly like a captive land. The culture &language are diverse. Therefore, we’re not free. The land we live in may be rich & affluent, but most people are worldly in spirit &soul. They live listless& tired lives due to violence, drugs, homosexuality, order destruction, & families breakdown. They say they’re lonely &alone. But we can’t just sit back &do nothing. Bethel’s God who met Jacob(Gn28), running away from Esau &immigrating, is our God. Hold on to this God. Also, look to Jesus Christ, the author &perfecter of faith(Heb.12:2) &move forward. Look to Ezekiel,a captive &a minister for his compatriots! Think of his pain &suffering! The HS & God’s Word captured him. I hope that the HS that came upon him will come upon us today, &we’ll be captured by God’s Word,living water. Even if we’re like dry bones, the HS’ll work anew & make us into a ‘very great army’(37:10).He’ll give you the blessing of restoration with the HS& God’s word. Immigrant workers! Let’s all hold on to God’s promise! He gives us an amazing promise in 36:24-30. “I’ll take&gather you from the nations, & bring you to your own.” “I’ll sprinkle clean water on you, cleanse you, take away your stony heart, give you a new spirit &a new heart within you.”Thus “you’ll be my people, &I’ll be your God.” Holy saints, let’s all hold on to this promise & do our best in the Word’s ministry while serving our neighbors today. Let’s follow the true prophet Jesus as small prophets, anticipate the future of this age. Also let’s follow Jesus’ example &become spiritual watch men, &like Ezekiel, let’s become saints who breathe new life & hope into our neighbors & live as channels of blessing. May we all be filled with God's grace & comfort & be able to carry out the precious ministry of Jesus' life, my life, & our life well. Amen.