Peter Barnes | Ezekiel 1
SERMON NOTES
THE GLORY OF THE LORD
Ezekiel 1:1-28; Revelation 1:9-20
‘Ezekiel’ means ‘God strengthens’. Theodore Beza called Ezekiel ‘the most obscure of all the prophets.
Ezek.1-24 – before the fall of Jerusalem; Ezek.25-33 – oracles against the nations; Ezek..33-48 – hope for the future.
1. The history of the Exile.
– 1:1-3; Ezekiel in Babylon from deportation of 597 B.C.
– Israel wept in Babylon (Ps.137) but Ezekiel received a vision of God
2. The glory of God in Christ Jesus.
– 1:4-28; a cherubim-driven chariot in a vast cloud in which a man of fire sits. Calvin: ‘I scarcely understand it.’
– this is Christ (1:28; cf. Matt. 3:16; Acts 7:56; Rev. 1:17-18; 2 Cor.4:4-6)
3. The glory of God can be anywhere.
– 1:19-21 – not trapped in Jerusalem or Mecca
– can be threatening (Ezek. 10:18-19; Rev.2:5) or comforting in Christ (John 4:21-24)