GLORY OF THE GOD OF ISRAEL
[p. 57] GLORY OF THE GOD OF ISRAEL
Ezekiel 8:1 - 4; Ezekiel 9:1 - 11
Ezekiel holds a very peculiar place among the prophets — he is not what may be termed an evangelistic prophet. I think that Isaiah stands out as the evangelistic prophet. You will recall how the Lord, in standing up to preach for the first time, turned to Isaiah for His gospel text. I take it therefore that Isaiah has a peculiar place in that way; and you will recall, too, how the eunuch who had been up to Jerusalem to worship, returning in his chariot through the desert, also read the book of Isaiah, and how that Philip, who is the one man in all Scripture called an evangelist, began at the same scripture that the eunuch read and preached unto him from that scripture — “Jesus”.
Jesus was foreseen by the prophet Isaiah in a peculiar way; he says, “In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple”, Isaiah 6:1. He records there the acknowledging of his sinfulness; there was ready to hand a means of cleansing, for one of the seraphim takes a coal from the altar, flies swiftly and touches the prophet’s lips so that he was cleansed, and hence John the evangelist records that “These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him”, John 12:41. John cites the chapter I quoted (chapter 6), and he quotes chapter 53 at the same time, and then he says, “These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him”. It was through what we may call an evangelical prophet he announced the glory of the King on His throne, and Isaiah announced the moral glory of the same One, in His path of suffering love in the world. “He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth”, Isaiah 53:7. ‘He was stricken’, he says, ‘for us’ — for the transgression of Jehovah’s people. “Yet it pleased Jehovah to bruise him; he hath subjected him to suffering ... by his knowledge shall my righteous servant instruct many in righteousness”. Isaiah 53:10 - 11 Such is the testimony, beloved friends, of Isaiah, the greatest of the prophets!
Now Ezekiel has another point of view. It is not a suffering Jesus, nor is it exactly Jesus on the throne; what he is pointed to is “the glory of the God of Israel”.
Isaiah saw the glory of the Messiah, for His name signifies that He was “Jehovah the Saviour”.
Ezekiel sees the: glory of God. The great counterpart of Ezekiel in the New Testament is Stephen, and, I may add, the counterpart of Stephen is Paul. Stephen sees Jesus in heaven “standing”, he says, “at the right hand of God”. Acts 7:55 Think of that! think of a man here looking through the heavens and seeing Jesus standing at the right hand of God. It says he saw “the glory of God and Jesus”. Well, now, Paul takes that up and he is more explicit, he says it is “the glory of God in the face of Jesus” — in the face of Jesus — think of that, beloved friends. “God who spoke that out of darkness light should shine who has shone in our hearts for the shining forth of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ”, 2 Corinthians 4: 6. It is the glory here in Jesus there, the glory in Jesus, and it is revealed in the heart of Paul for the shining forth of it, he says. It shone down here, it was reflected down here in Paul, as he moved about among the nations, in a circuit from Jerusalem round about unto Illyricum. As he moved about in that circuit there was the reflection of the glory of God in the face of a Man in [p. 59] heaven, shining out in that wonderful vessel. That is how Paul is regarded.
Ezekiel’s great view is “the glory of God”, so he says, “As I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God”. When God gives us visions they are visions in regard of Himself — visions of His glory, and the first chapter outlines a wonderful system — wheels, and cherubs, and a man, and lions and oxen. An irresistible force going straight on (verse 12) and on the top of it, in the amber spot, “the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it” (verse 26). That was what he saw, and then he describes the man and the description is none other than a description of the Lord Jesus — he began with his loins upward and from his loins downward. In that way He is a Man in the supreme place, who has got compassions. As the apostle says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the compassions of God”, Romans 12: 1. They are expressed in a Man — every divine compassion found its expression in that Man. This description, as I said, is from the loins. The loins are a well-known seat of the lower affections — there are higher affections connected with the heart, but what men need first of all are not those higher affections, but the lower affections that we get in the epistle to the Romans. “The compassions of God”, that is what men need to begin with — you need compassion — God has had compassion on man — he needs it.
Referring back to Romans 12, the writer says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the compassions of God”, in other words, it is the measurement downwards, it is God, in His compassion, going out to man. In Luke 7 “He had compassion” on the widow. Now, if you compare Luke 7 with John 11 you will see the difference. It does not say He had compassion on Martha and Mary — no. He loved them. That is the higher affection — from the loins up. John 11 opens with the statement, “Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus” (verse 5). Hence, death having come in and broken up the circle, He must break death. He groaned as He approached the grave of Lazarus, but that groan meant that death must be annulled, it was a scene befitting a power that could annul death. That word ‘groan’ implies the deepest movement of His being; He felt the power of death for those He loved — what a comfort for christians! and He looks at death in the way it affects us. He went into death and broke its power because He loved us. “Our Saviour Jesus Christ, who has annulled death”, 2 Timothy 1:10.
Luke 7 gives us the lower affections; ‘compassion’ and ‘love’ are two different words, hence Luke says He was moved with compassion for the widow. He does not give us her name or her son’s name, she is a widow and had an only son. A widow represents poor, needy, sin-stricken humanity. Are you aware of the ravages of death? Have they come home to you? Men shut their eyes to it; where death occurs all kinds of things are brought in to minimise its awful effect. In regard of the house of Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue, there is a little girl of twelve and she died. Death enters that house, and Jairus goes to the Lord and the Lord follows him to the house — think of that! The Maker of the universe following a man to raise his little girl. That shows the compassion of Christ, but, when He went in, what did He find? “the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly”, Mark 5:38. They were there to minimise the awful effect of death, they were making a tumult. The Lord says, ‘I cannot help you now, you must remove the flute-players’. I use it as an illustration of how death is sought to be minimised by contrivances that Satan has devised. We must confess that God has brought home the ravages of death to mankind in a way He never did before. One can well understand the expression, “O death”! Luke says the Lord was moved with compassion for the widow, it was the lower affections. God’s compassions are towards all men. He has compassion for everybody; He had compassion for the widow and He has compassion for you, and as it says in Romans 3: 22, “righteousness of God by faith of Jesus Christ towards all” — it takes in every man, every woman and every child.
Do you know Him? The christian knows Him; he knows how He has met him in his need, how he has peace through the blood of Christ, how the Holy Spirit has been given in the same connection, and then, as the scripture says, “his compassions fail not; they are new every morning”, Lamentations 3:22. Brother, do you know that? The freshness of divine compassions every morning — that is to say, God taking account of us in the needs of our bodies, and there are fresh mercies every morning.
Ezekiel sees, in this chapter 8, when he was sitting in his house — it is well that a man should learn to sit in his house — godly men know how to sit in their houses and look after their families. Ezekiel was sitting in his house, and the hand of the Lord fell upon him. The elders of the people of God were there — that is a good point, and then, as it reads, “the hand of the Lord Jehovah fell there upon me”. In his house with the elders of Judah — what must Ezekiel have been saying to them? Ah! he was a man of God, he would talk to these elders as to their responsibility. You know, that is what men think of least. Someone was saying to me yesterday: an unconverted man was speaking to him just yesterday, and saying how he had been ill, and he said, ‘You know, when a man is ill, he begins to think’. Yes, but perhaps you never shall be ill; you must begin to think under other circumstances besides illness God would have you think — “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation”. 2 Corinthians 6:2 [p. 62] God is speaking to you now, it is for you to think; and so the elders of Judah would suggest this responsibility in figure. What about your responsibility? You may say, ‘Well, I have my family, and my business’. Yes, what about your soul? There is a well-known instance of a man who had much wealth through business, through the fruits of his lands — “much goods laid up for many years” — he had provided for many years, as men do. Sharp businessmen look ahead to see how the markets are going, but when God comes in, what about his much goods? “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee”. Luke 12:20 “Thy soul” — not your wife, or your children, but your own soul shall be required of thee, you have got to give it up. That is your responsibility. It is the beginning of your responsibility — when God speaks to you, you yourself, must repent. The responsibility is individual. The house is divided — the husbands and the wives cannot repent together, they have got to do it separately. The question of having to do with God individually is a most important thing. One has to learn to enter into his closet, and shut to the door, to be alone with God. And so, in regard of your soul, it is an intensely individual matter between yourself and God.
Ezekiel the prophet says, the hand of the Lord Jehovah fell there upon me that was remarkable, and “the Spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heavens”. You get a fine view of things, a grand prospect, as you are lifted up between heaven and earth. I have no doubt that the tabernacle is a figure of the firmament between the heaven and the earth — it was there that the Lord was; and the Lord of glory, the Lord Jesus Christ was lifted up — He was lifted up from the earth. He died between the heaven and the earth, He was a spectacle for the universe to see. Have you seen Him? — the Lord of [p. 63] glory, hanging between two malefactors, for you. He says, “I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me”, John 12:32. But then it adds, “This he said, signifying what death he should die”. It was the death of the cross. He was lifted up from the earth. Have you seen Him there? As you see Him there you are drawn to Him — the prophet is taken by a lock of the head — one would feel that, and he adds that he was brought to Jerusalem. The Lord wept over Jerusalem. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets”, showing, as here, that her sins had mounted up to heaven, and God took account of them. And now, how about you tonight? What about your sins? What about them? They are all known to God, in citing that passage I cannot but finish it, “how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” Matthew 23:37 So we see Christ showing His compassion, “and ye would not”; and so it is with every one of us who rejects, and holds himself back from the Lord Jesus, rejecting the overtures of Christ, “ye would not!”
The prophet is shown a wonderful thing, he says “and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy”. Now, how is it, beloved friend, in regard of that gate in your heart? Is there a seat there for the image of jealousy? Now, God, in making you, had in mind that that heart was to be for Him. What is in that heart? What is in it, as God looks into it? “Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts”, Matthew 15:19 that is every heart naturally. Is that the state of your heart? or, has the Lord opened it? I often think of that dear woman called Lydia, who lived at Philippi; she was an Asiatic, but she lived in Europe and the Lord opened [p. 64] her heart — the Lord did it. There are things we cannot do, and what we cannot do the Lord does; what we can do, as His, He leaves us to do, hence “whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul”, Acts 16:14. Paul spoke the things but the Lord opened her heart. One seeks that the Lord may open hearts; I know, no matter how one may speak, if the Lord does not open the heart the door is shut. Take heed how you believe and what you hear. If the Lord opened your heart He wants you to hear the things spoken by Paul — that is the gospel; let the light of the gospel shine in.
Ezekiel saw “the seat of the image of jealousy” it may be in your heart tonight. That secret idol would make God jealous of your heart because He wants you. Every true christian here tonight loves God, and it is said of those that love God, “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to purpose”, Romans 8: 28. A whole number of things working together for good — we do not appreciate that but it is so. Things that may seem adverse are all working for your good because you love God, and He would have you love Him so that the light of Christ should come into your heart. Is the image of jealousy in your heart? “And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there”, it was alongside the image. The glory of God is, as it were, beside you. Think of the grace and compassions of God going to where that idol was! He allowed his glory to be there. Later on in Ezekiel he says, “there was only a wall between me and them”, chapter 43: 8. There is no more between God and you, the glory of God is here.
There is not anything that I am more sure of than that “the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ”, 2 Corinthians 4:6 is shining in His people here today. There is only a [p. 65] wall between you and them. The glory of God was there alongside the image of jealousy, the grace of God can come near in His people.
In chapter 9 the glory had gone out to the threshold — and I would warn you that the glory is about to leave, and the opportunity will be lost for ever. Give up that image of jealousy which disputes the rights of God in your heart! There is nothing more beautiful than the face of Jesus and the glory of God is in it — it is imperative for you to turn away from that idol to “the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ”.
In chapter 9 the judgment comes, and you will notice that the destroyers come in by the way of the upper gate. Judgment comes from heaven, it is a terrible thing to have to say that it comes from heaven — it is overwhelming. I think the deluge was a great type of God’s judgment; “the windows of heaven were opened”. Genesis 7:11 Everyone was engulfed in the presence of that awful deluge — it destroyed them every one. No one lived, except eight souls in the ark. What comes from heaven is overwhelming and so I would warn you tonight to take advantage of “the glory of God” and the outstretched hand, now. He is waiting on men to bless them, but when these six men come down there is no escape. Ancient men, young men, women and children, there is no escape whatever for the wrath of God is terrible, beyond my power to express. These men are sent with slaughter weapons in their hands, but there is the other side for your encouragement. The man with the inkhorn was among them — he was not out of sympathy with the men with the slaughter weapons, nor is any true servant of God with a right judgment. Not that the christian hastens judgment, but he knows it has to come and he is in sympathy with it. Hence Romans teaches us that “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven”, Romans 1:18, It will be overwhelming [p. 66] when it comes. This man with the inkhorn is clothed with linen, he is pure and holy, and he has got an inkhorn by his side. He goes out and he takes account of every person that sighs over the abominations of Jerusalem. It may be that you attach but little importance to that sigh that you give expression to, as you take account of the abominations that exist in that which bears the name of Christ in this world. God takes account of it, that is an indication that there is something of God in you — it is there and God knows it, so he says, “Go ... through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof” (verse 4). Now, that is a word of encouragement; anyone that sighs or cries for the abominations that are done today in that which bears the name of Christ shall not come into judgment — not one — “and, behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter” (verse 11). There was a report made, and I would say for your encouragement, if you are wont to sigh and cry for the abominations that exist, the mark is put on you, and I would say that you may do more than sigh and cry — the next thing is to leave the place. “Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity”, 2 Timothy 2:19. Have you done that? It is a serious thing to be found in a place where abominations exist. The New Testament shows you what to do — withdraw from the midst of it — and there is a very beautiful word of encouragement. “The Lord knoweth them that are his”. 2 Timothy 2:19 It corresponds with this passage, the man knew those that sighed and cried and so the Lord today knows those that are His, and those that are His feel, in some measure, the evil. I want you to more than feel it, I want you to act on the scripture which enjoins, “Let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity”. Leave the place. You say, ‘What am I going to do? Am I going to be isolated in the world?’ No, you do not need to be that, “follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart”, 2 Timothy 2:22. Not only those who sigh and cry, but those “that call on the Lord” and what does that mean? “Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved”. Acts 2:21 These people know deliverance every day for they “call on the Lord out of a pure heart”. They are the ones to be with.
May God bless His word!