The Calling of Ezekiel
Download MP3This morning we are beginning a new series on the major prophets. It'll last us all the way till Advent, about forty weeks or so. This obviously is not going to be an exhaustive verse by verse study that we're used to because otherwise, going through the major prophets would take us, not just forty weeks, probably about forty years or at least a decade. But we will look in-depth at, a number of the key chapters throughout these prophetic books. We're gonna spend eight weeks in Ezekiel, probably twenty five weeks in Isaiah, and then another seven or eight weeks in Jeremiah, which should give us, I think, a good feel for the prophets.
Joel Brooks:Now, if you have never studied any of the profits before, just know that you are about to enter into a really strange world. These prophets didn't just live 2,700 back in time from us or about 7,000 miles away from us. Their culture is so different than our culture, they might as well be on another planet. And yet what you will find is that people are still people. And God is still God.
Joel Brooks:And his word is enduring. It is timeless. And so he still speaks to us today through these prophets. Now all three of these prophets we'll see are very different, but I thought I would start us off with a bang and that we would just go ahead jump into the deep end of the pool and look at Ezekiel this morning. So turn in your Bibles to Ezekiel.
Joel Brooks:We have the first chapter there in your worship guide. We couldn't fit all the text in. Ezekiel's the most, he's the most unusual, we'll say, of all of the prophets. The the the most unique. Other people's description of Ezekiel has not been so kind.
Joel Brooks:One commentator that I read this week said, Ezekiel suffered from hallucinations, paranoid delusions, and was likely schizophrenic. Even early on in in rabbinic history, rabbis would tell their students that they should not read from Ezekiel till they were at least 30 years old, lest they be discouraged about God's word. I thought a whole lot about how we could best begin a study like this, and I came to this conclusion. The best way for us to start into Ezekiel, into this prophetical world is not by me, starting to explain to you the history or the context or the authorship or the genre of apocalyptic literature or really anything like that, but by us just jumping in and actually reading a sizable portion from Ezekiel himself. It's the best way to get into this prophetic world.
Joel Brooks:And so what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna take about ten minutes, and we're gonna read the first three chapters of Ezekiel out loud. I told some of my pastor friends I was doing this, and they said, Joel, you're crazy, for one preaching through Ezekiel, but then just taking time to read it. But this is the word of God. And so settle back, listen, and really, really concentrate and try to put yourself in this strange new prophetical world of Ezekiel. In the thirtieth year and fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the Chabar Canal, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.
Joel Brooks:On the fifth day of the month, it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin, the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, and the land of the Chaldeans by the Chabar Canal, and the hand of the Lord was upon him there. As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the North, and a great cloud with brightness around it, and fire flashing forth continually, And in the midst of the fire, as it were, gleaming metal. And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance. They had a human likeness, but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings.
Joel Brooks:Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the soles of a calf's foot. And they sparkled like burnished bronze. Under their wings, on their four sides, they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings, thus. Their wings touched one another.
Joel Brooks:Each one of them went straight forward without turning as they went. As for the likeness of their faces, each had a human face. The four had the face of a lion on the right side. The four had the face of an ox on the left side. And the four had the face of an eagle.
Joel Brooks:Such were their faces. And their wings were spread out above. Each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another while two covered their bodies. And each went straight forward. Wherever the spirit would go, they went without turning as they went.
Joel Brooks:As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches moving to and fro among the living creatures. And the fire was bright and out of the fire went forth lightning and the living creatures darted to and fro like the appearance of a flash of lightning. Now as I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, each for each of the four of them. As for the appearance of the wheels and their construction, their appearance was like the gleaming of barrel, and the four had the same likeness, and their appearance and construction as it were a wheel within a wheel. When they went, they went in any of the four directions without turning as they went.
Joel Brooks:And their rims were tall and handsome or awesome, and the rims of all four were full of eyes all around. And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them. And when the living creatures rose from the Earth, the wheels rose. Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went. And the wheels rose along with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
Joel Brooks:When those went, these went, and when those stood, these stood. And when those rose from the earth, the wheels rose along with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. Over the heads of the living creatures, there was the likeness of an expanse shining like awe inspiring crystal spread out above their heads. And under the expanse, their wings were stretched out straight, one toward another. And each creature had two wings covering its body.
Joel Brooks:And when they went, I heard the sound of their wings, like the sound of many waters, like the sound of the almighty, a sound of torment, like the sound of an army. When they stood still, they let down their wings. And there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads. When they stood still, they let down their wings. And above the expanse over their heads, there was the likeness of a throne, an appearance like sapphire.
Joel Brooks:And seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance. And above from what had the appearance of his waist, I saw as it were gleaning metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what I had the appearance of his waist, I saw as it were the appearance of fire. And the word was bright was brightness around him. Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around.
Joel Brooks:Face and I heard the voice of one speaking. And he said to me, Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you. And as he spoke to me, the spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. And he said to me, son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to nations of rebels who have rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day.
Joel Brooks:Their descendants also are impudent and stubborn. I send you to them, and you shall say to them, thus says the Lord God. And whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are rebellious house, they will know that a prophet has been among them. And you, son of man, be not afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words. Though briars and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions, Be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are rebellious house.
Joel Brooks:And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house. Not rebellious like the rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I give you. And when I looked, behold a hand was stretched out to me, and behold a scroll of a book was in it. And he spread it before me, and it had writing on the front and on the back.
Joel Brooks:And there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe. And he said to me, son of man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll and go speak to the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth and he gave me the scroll to eat. And he said to me, son of man, feed your belly with the scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.
Joel Brooks:Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey. And he said to me, son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with my words to them. For you are not sent to a people of foreign speech in a hard language, but to the house of Israel. Not to the peoples of foreign speech in a hard language whose words you cannot understand. Surely, if I sent you to such, they would listen to you.
Joel Brooks:But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me, because all the house of Israel have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart. Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. Like Emery, harder than Flint, I have made your forehead. Fear them not nor be dismayed at their looks for they are rebellious house. Moreover, he said to me, son of man, all of my words that I shall speak to you, receive in your heart and hear with your ears, and go to the exiles to your people and speak to them and say to them, thus says the Lord God, whether they hear or refuse to hear.
Joel Brooks:Glory of the Lord from its place. It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures as they touched one another, and the sound of the wheels beside them, and the sound of a great earthquake. The spirit lifted me up and took me away. And I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit, the hand of the Lord being strong upon me. And I came to the exiles at Tel Aviv who were dwelling by the Chabar Canal.
Joel Brooks:And I sat where they were dwelling. And I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days. And at the end of the seven days, the word of the Lord came to me. Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me.
Joel Brooks:If I say to the wicked, you shall surely die, and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered. But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning.
Joel Brooks:And you have delivered your soul. In The hand of the Lord was upon me there. And he said to me, Arise, go out into the valley, and there I will speak to you. And so I arose and went out into the valley, and behold, the glory of the Lord stood there like the glory that I had seen by the Chabar Canal, and I fell on my face. But the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and he spoke with me and said to me, go shut yourself within your house.
Joel Brooks:And you, oh, son of man, behold, cords will be placed upon you, and you shall be bound with them so that you cannot go out among the people. And I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth so that you shall be mute and unable to reprove them, for they are rebellious house. But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, thus says the Lord God. He who who will hear, let him hear. And he who will refuse to hear, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house.
Joel Brooks:This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You would pray with me. Lord, thank you for your word. But Lord, may your words remain and may they change us.
Joel Brooks:We pray this in the strong name of Jesus. Amen. Ezekiel seemed to be born at just the right place at just the right time. At the peak of King Josiah's reign, if you've read through your Old Testament, you know Josiah was one of the very few kings, good kings of Judah. He had found in the palace an old copy of the Torah.
Joel Brooks:And he brought it out, and he didn't just dust it off. He he opened it up. He read it, and then he commanded that all of the land of Israel that they should obey the words found in the book of the law. And the word that we would use to describe what happened during this time would be revival. Revival spread all across the land.
Joel Brooks:It is likely that Ezekiel, he grew up in the midst of a thriving faith community. Likely had an enormous youth group at the time. And he looked forward to being a priest just like his father. It's the perfect time to be alive. But rarely does life turn out the way that you think it will.
Joel Brooks:And even more rarely, does it derail as much as Ezekiel's life derailed. And his life That revival that had swept through Israel. Memory. That the golden age for Judah and its spiritual reformation was just a distant memory. And now over the last two decades, well, their people have been marked by a rapid moral and spiritual decline.
Joel Brooks:In order to understand Ezekiel, you really do need to get a little history lesson, and I'll be brief. In June, when Ezekiel turned 13, the king who brought about these reforms, King Josiah, he died, and things got bad quickly. Within just a few months, the following king reintroduced all of the old pagan cults, and also he sold themselves out to Babylon as a vassal state. Babylon was the rising power of the day. In June, the king decided that he didn't want though the taxation without representation, and so he quits paying taxes to Babylon.
Joel Brooks:And right after he refuses to pay any more taxes, he dies, leaving his 18 year old son as king and with a mess. I mean, 18 year old boy, he just inherited a ticked off Babylon. And he did the only thing that he knew he could do. He unconditionally surrendered to Babylon as they were approaching Jerusalem. The year was May.
Joel Brooks:And the people of Jerusalem were exiled. Not all of them. There was actually a number of exiles that will happen over the next decade, but this exile here, this first one, was when Babylon would take the cream of the crop of Israel, would take out all the the educated, all of the the craftsmen. They were sent off to go and to live into Babylon. And they left behind in Jerusalem all of the poor corrupt, kinda riffraff people.
Joel Brooks:Those were the ones that Jeremiah would stay and he would minister to them. Jeremiah and Ezekiel were contemporaries, but Ezekiel was sent off into exile while Jeremiah stayed. It's probably why Jeremiah was such a sad, sad prophet, the people that he had to deal with there. Now because Ezekiel was an educated priest, he was one of the ones sent off into exile. He would have been 25 years old at the time, and he already felt like his life was over.
Joel Brooks:I mean, the last fifteen years, what a change. Ezekiel would have had to walk over 700 miles. Did he know you could get to Canada and 700 miles from here in Birmingham? That's 2,000,000 steps, and he would have felt every one of them. Any of you wish you could go back in time, maybe to when you're in college, and change your degree?
Joel Brooks:Any philosophy majors out here? Social studies? I was a communications major, and the year I graduated, the Internet and email came out. Try having a communications major pre Internet. When I moved here to Birmingham after having that, you know what my communications major qualified me to do?
Joel Brooks:Work in a warehouse and drive a forklift for three years. Ezekiel, well, his major was theology, Torah Theology. He just completed his seminary training to go into work in the temple that was 700 miles away. Here he is stuck, and he feels like his life is already over. But here he is stuck and he feels like his life is already over.
Joel Brooks:Ezekiel would never return to Jerusalem. His new reality is living in this pagan land amongst a people who are increasingly becoming pagan. They used to be the people of God, but now he's not so sure because they have by and large abandoned God. And certainly, it seems like God has abandoned them at this point. Study in Ezekiel is this, how do you live in a culture that is in moral and spiritual decline?
Joel Brooks:Our culture. I'm actually a pretty optimistic person. I think our the church's best days are ahead. But I know a lot of people, you know, who will say like, you know, what we're doing now would make Sodom and Gomorrah blush. You know, we're going to hell in a handbasket.
Joel Brooks:I can say this when when I compare the youth group that I grew up in and and what church the influence church had and culture when I was younger, well, it does seem like that has diminished. I mean, I remember when, and I mentioned last week or two weeks ago that, you know, I went to church every Sunday morning, every Sunday night, every Wednesday night, then we had Friday night skate night. You know, you couldn't miss that. But I played basketball in high school and Wednesday night practice, they would cut it short. They ended practice early for everyone because you couldn't compete with church.
Joel Brooks:And so you would send everybody who goes so they could go to Wednesday evening church. Just think of a world in which sports had less influence on culture than the church. That's that's the world I grew up in. So just even looking in that, you can see, okay, the church's influence seems to have declined. We certainly are less spiritually literate than we were thirty years ago.
Joel Brooks:Culture that seems to be a moral and spiritual decline? Well, this text, it teaches us four things. And then we have to speak the gospel with absolute clarity. Let's look at all four of those things. First, the vision of God on his throne.
Joel Brooks:After five years of living in Babylon, Ezekiel turned 30. 30 would have been, the year that he could have finally entered into temple service. And perhaps as he was pondering what life could have been like, it was at that moment he is suddenly given a vision. A huge dust storm comes in and which would have been a common enough sight in this land, but this was not a usual dust storm. There's there's flashing light.
Joel Brooks:There's fire in it. There seems to be something in it like glowing metal. As it gets closer, he sees four winged creatures, each with different faces. One with the face of a man, one with the face of a lion, one with the face of an ox, and one with the face of an eagle. Now for those of you who are not familiar with apocalyptic literature, these prophetic images, they're a little jarring.
Joel Brooks:That's the point. They're supposed to be jarring, a little confusing. They're supposed to be jarring, a little confusing. And They're supposed to be jarring, a little confusing. God gives visions like this to startle us, to wake us up to some new reality.
Joel Brooks:I mean sure, God could just use words. He could have just said, hey Ezekiel, I want you to know I'm glorious. But does that have the same impact as seeing a vision like this of God in his glory? No. This this vision is startling as it is.
Joel Brooks:It wakes us up to the glory of God. Now these four weaned creatures with the four different faces, each of those communicates a different attribute of God. They're actually if you study apocalyptic literature, they're common apocalyptic symbols. The human face represents intelligence. The lion represents royalty or kingship.
Joel Brooks:The ox represents strength. And the eagle, well, the eagle typically represents compassion. Throughout scripture, you have God being described as as the the eagle who bears us up on eagles wings. He keeps us from falling. Now these creatures, they have their wings.
Joel Brooks:They're stretched out and they're touching one another and they're kind of forming a type of square there. Picture that. They're forming a square. And next to each one of these winged creatures, there's a wheel. And within that wheel, there's another wheel going another direction.
Joel Brooks:So it's kind of forming this kind of ball or this sphere. And the point is this, these wheels don't just go in a straight line, but they can move in any direction. All the while facing the same direction, but moving in any direction. And they're moving rapidly around. Things are moving fast.
Joel Brooks:And what we see here is God is omnipresent. He can be anywhere, everywhere, all at once. We then read that these wheels are covered with eyes, which is another standard apocalyptic image, meaning that God is all seeing. So to summarize this, so far God is revealing himself through these images to Ezekiel. He's revealing that he is intelligent.
Joel Brooks:He is the king. He is strong. He is compassionate. He is omnipresent, and he is omniscient. Now on top of these wheels are some kind of crystal expanse, and on top of this expanse, there's a a kind of a throne.
Joel Brooks:And this is where Ezekiel really begins to lose his ability to communicate. He's kinda like a kid with a box of crowns trying to draw the Grand Canyon. He just he can't. Or maybe a a better image would be, he becomes like a teenage girl. He says the word like so many times.
Joel Brooks:I mean, he he can't describe what it actually is, so he's like, it's like this. It had it was like the person's waist. It was kind of glowed like metal. It kind of looked like fire. There was something like a rainbow.
Joel Brooks:And then after struggling for a full minute, Ezekiel finally summarizes it all by saying it was kind of like the appearance of the glory of the Lord. If you're struggling with what it looks like, well, I do have some images here. These are variations. One of them I think might be from AI, that you could just put in. But you could tell artists are struggling as they're reading this to communicate what exactly that they are seeing in this.
Joel Brooks:So it's okay if you struggle a little bit to make sense of this. But God is showing he's intelligent, he's kind, he's strong, he's compassionate, he's omnipresent, he's omniscient. Vision like that in the temple, but not 700 miles away in Babylon. But God is showing that he's thrown as mobile. In the church.
Joel Brooks:He rules and reigns at your office, at your home, amongst your neighbors, in the halls of your high school or college. There is not a place on earth that Jesus is not reigning. Next, we see this, that we are to consume God's word. God gives Ezekiel a scroll, which he has to eat. The scroll is full of lamentations and woes, mourning.
Joel Brooks:I had to fly to Dallas this week, and whenever I fly, I like to go into the the little bookstores that are there because they always have such rich theology sections. I I I really I do. I love looking at their their quote theology sections, and and I looked all over this week, and I didn't find one theological or religious book that was about Lamentations and woes. But they put all of the books you know, they have the little the little rack there. You know what it's always called?
Joel Brooks:Inspirational reading. That's what the religion is supposed to be. Inspirational reading there. Not one book about woes. But this is what Ezekiel is supposed to eat.
Joel Brooks:It's the last thing he wants to do is to consume that. I mean, who who wants to read all of those hellfire damnation verses of the Bible? I mean, those are the parts you just kind of skip over to get to the God has a wonderful plan for your life. God just wants to bless you. But Ezekiel, he takes these and he eats this scroll full of woes on both sides, meaning it's packed full of them.
Joel Brooks:The strangest thing, instead of it being bitter, he found it sweet. Sweet as honey. God's word, even when it's full of woes, tastes delicious. And what's happening here is Ezekiel, as he's reading God's word, he's beginning to understand and see things from God's point of view. And when he sees things from God's point of view, he cannot help but say, God, you are right to do this.
Joel Brooks:This evil needs to be eradicated. Now later, Ezekiel is gonna plead that God has mercy on the people. But right now, he's rejoicing in God's righteous judgment. God's word, even when it's full of those hard sayings, is still sweet. Next, we see that God calls Ezekiel to be hard headed concerning his faith.
Joel Brooks:As a matter of fact, he, I like to use the image. He wants Ezekiel to go all Jack Reacher on the people. Any of y'all Jack Reacher fans? I I've read most of the Jack Reacher novels. You know, it's also now it's a a show on Amazon Prime.
Joel Brooks:I'm in a small group of pastors, and a lot of times when we get together, we are we all tell what we're reading. I mean, I don't fit in, guys. I mean, I mean, like, we're in there they're like, you know, I'm reading Augustine's Confessions for the fifth time, you know, and they're they're going all around. Gets to me. I'm like, another Jack Reacher novel, guys.
Joel Brooks:But, if you're not familiar with Jack Reacher, Jack Reacher is a really big, big dude who's not scared to fight and implement his form of justice. I mean, you just love him. And one of the things he typically does whenever there's some confrontation, he's in front of the guy and he goes, alright, I'm gonna give you to the count of three. And he goes one, two, and then he just go he goes ahead and he head butts the person. He never gets to three, and he always leads with a head butt because there's something primal about a head butt, and it lets you know the other person know you're just a little crazy.
Joel Brooks:And sure it's gonna hurt you a little, but as long as your head is harder, it's gonna do way more damage to the other person. God tells Ezekiel, you're about to butt heads. You're about to get in a head butting fight, but don't worry. I have made your head so much harder than theirs. It's as hard as stone.
Joel Brooks:So Ezekiel, do not back down. Don't do it. Be courageous. Be unyielding. When it comes to butting heads, I've made your head harder.
Joel Brooks:And church, we have the same call. We are not to back down in regards to truth. It does not matter how hard headed our culture is, our head is to be harder. And that means no matter what, you know, every blog out there is saying or every TikTok video, every podcaster, every newscast, what every professor or so called expert out there is spouting out against God's word, We stand with God's word. Period.
Joel Brooks:We're to be unyielding, uncompromising, hard headed when it comes to God and his word. Never, never, never compromise. The whole world might be in a moral and spiritual decline, but we are not going with them. God's word, no matter what it says, is gonna be sweet to us, and we're gonna hold the line. Now after this little pep talk by by God, Ezekiel goes off full of passion and conviction.
Joel Brooks:I mean, he's ready to just talk on to the people. He's he's ready to obey God here. But then notice what happens when he actually gets there. When he actually gets to the people and he looks them in the eye, he starts singing, they're people. These are these are like, these are my people.
Joel Brooks:And he just sits down and he doesn't say a word. We we read that he was completely overwhelmed now with the mission of God. I mean, he goes from so high, ready to take on the world to the moment he is face to face with his people. He's like, I can't do this. I can't.
Joel Brooks:And he sits in a stupor for seven days. You ever feel that way? I mean, maybe after a Sunday, you get all fired up. You know, Joel talking about Jack Reacher going out. We're gonna die.
Joel Brooks:Butt some heads. Sing some great songs. I mean, you're ready to take on the world, but then it's a completely different story once you're actually face to face with the people that you love. And even though you know they're rebelling against God, you just so find it so hard to say anything. Ezekiel finds himself unable to do it.
Joel Brooks:So he just sits in a stupor overwhelmed. So if you've ever felt that way, know that you are not alone. It's exactly what Ezekiel feels. Sending Ezekiel to go out and to change hearts. That's not what he's supposed to do.
Joel Brooks:He can't go out there and bring about revival. That's not Ezekiel's task. That's God's task, not Ezekiel's. All those things about changing a person's heart or getting them to repent, those they are outside of Ezekiel's control. He cannot change anyone.
Joel Brooks:That's not his mission. That's not your mission either. Your mission is faithfulness. Period. You are to go and you are to tell people about the glory of God whether they listen or not.
Joel Brooks:You have had a vision of God that's so glorious, his glory simply has to be told whether people are listening or not. It's still his name is so great, it must be proclaimed. Whether people listen or refuse to listen. But you will proclaim it so loud that when you leave people will know, even if they've rejected you, they will know a profit's been in our midst. Or at least when we think of a profit, someone who has met and knows God.
Joel Brooks:So Ezekiel's mission is faithfulness, not results. The final thing that's needed as we try to reach a culture and moral and spiritual client and decline is that we have to be clear about our message. Clear about God's word and his gospel. God, he literally shuts Ezekiel's mouth up and makes him mute to where the only time he could speak is when he actually says, thus sayeth the Lord. When God gives him a specific word.
Joel Brooks:Think about not talking in that kind of culture. I mean, Ezekiel is going down the street and you were like, hey, what's up Ezekiel? How are you doing? Nothing. Hey, Ezekiel.
Joel Brooks:How's the wife and kids? Nothing. He's completely mute unless God gives him a specific word. We obviously we were not called to live this way now. It's a unique call to Ezekiel, but I do think there's something we can learn from it.
Joel Brooks:As Christians, we need to make sure that the one thing we are absolutely clear on is God's word and his gospel. We boldly tell people the good news of Jesus and then everything else, no matter how important, everything else, our thoughts on politics, our thoughts on immigration, our thoughts on Doge, or welfare, or whatever it is, distinction between those things. If you're going to be passionate about something, be passionate about the gospel. Is that what people think you're passionate about? Are you saying all of these other things and presenting them as gospel truth?
Joel Brooks:Don't waste your passion or your words on those things because ultimately they don't matter. Proclaim Jesus. You know, Ezekiel was given this crazy vision of God. I mean, all the angelic beings and glowing chariot and eyes and all of that. But we too have been given a image of God or a vision of God in the person of Jesus.
Joel Brooks:We know that Jesus, he's intelligent, strong, compassionate. He's a king who sees us. He's promised to be with us to the end of time. And Jesus is our king. And our king, he didn't hand out all the woes and judgments.
Joel Brooks:He took them upon himself so that we might know God's forgiveness and mercy. If you're going to be passionate in proclaiming anything church, proclaim that. Pray with me. Lord Jesus, we thank you once again for your servant Ezekiel. And Lord, I just so look forward to what you're gonna teach our church through this prophet.
Joel Brooks:And we just wanna say speak for your servants who are listening. Thank you, Jesus, for being our king, for being intelligent, compassionate, strong. You always see us and you know us from the inside out. And you come to us with mercy and forgiveness. May we cling to you with everything we have, and may we proclaim you with equal passion.
Joel Brooks:We pray this in the strong name of Jesus. Amen.
