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Welcome to the Cross References podcast on the Book of Ezekiel. In this study, you learn how every small piece of the Bible tells one big story- and most importantly, how they all connect to the cross and Christ.
Whether you’re a newbie Christian or a veteran Bible reader, my goal is that God’s Word will make more sense to you after every episode.
Host: Luke Taylor
Can You Handle God’s Holiness?
Ezekiel 28:20-26
Ezekiel series, Part 49
Introduction
What’s one word you would use to describe Jesus? If you had to boil Jesus down to one word, what would it be?
I’ll tell you mine today. And you can tell me yours, or be thinking on it, if you want. Put it in the comments if you want to. There’s no wrong answer. Well, there’s probably some wrong answers, but I just want to know, what word comes to mind when you think about Jesus?
A second question: what might happen if you came face to face with Jesus? We see in the Gospels story after story of people meeting Jesus. Some get mad. Some fall to their knees. Some adore him. Some nailed Him to a cross. What would your reaction be?
We’re going to study a couple of peoples who had a visitation from God here at the end of Ezekiel 28, and that’s where we’ll start today, but it will take us on a journey to a few other passages as well.
And if you listen until the end of today’s lesson, we’ll even get to my favorite chapter in the entire Bible: John 18. Why is John 18 so cool? When you find out, it’ll knock you off your feet. Hear it all today on the Cross References podcast.
[theme music]
(Continued)
Welcome to the Cross References podcast, where you learn how every small piece of the Bible tells one big story- and most importantly, how they all connect to the cross and Christ.
This is Luke Taylor, and I’m changing my intro a little bit. I’m going to try changing around a few things on the podcast. I don’t want to get into a rut. I want to try new things. I want to freshen things up. I want to keep what’s working and drop what isn’t. So usually, here is where I say:
Whether you’re a new Christian or a veteran Bible reader, my goal is that God’s Word will make more sense to you after every episode.
I may drop that bit about being a new Christian or a veteran Bible reader. I feel like it’s a bit broad, like it’s a podcast for any Christian. And the truth is, when you make something for everybody, it kind of becomes for nobody. So I’m going to rework that intro. What I’d like to say is: this is a podcast who want to take their Bible study one level deeper. Not just get the surface level read-my-bible-for-today-check-it-off-the-list type of Bible reading, but this is for those who want to linger on a passage a little bit and pull a few things out before moving on. So I’m going to work on a shorter way to phrase that, but there you go, that’s what this podcast is for.
So a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, we entered a study of the book of Ezekiel; four score and seven years ago, I started into chapter 28. This chapter taught us a lot of things about the devil, and we’ve spent four or five episodes discussing Satan. And I’m ready to change the subject! Because we haven’t even finished the chapter! But we will today.
Let me remind you about some boring book outline stuff. I know outline stuff is boring. And so when I start talking about outlines, you’re going to want to tune me out because it’s boring. But I have a reason for bringing it up here. Chapter 28 is in a larger section of Ezekiel, from chapters 25 through 32, and these are the judgments against the Gentile nations. Earlier I billed this as 7 letters to 7 nations. It’s kind of a dark mirror of 7 letters to 7 churches in Revelation. We’ve gone through five of the nations so far, and during the fifth one, we got kind of side-tracked into this study of the devil. So today we’ll get back into it with the sixth one: the prophecy against Sidon.
The Prophecy Against Sidon
Ezekiel 28:20-24
20 The word of the Lord came to me: 21 “Son of man, set your face toward Sidon, and prophesy against her 22 and say, Thus says the Lord God:
“Behold, I am against you, O Sidon,
and I will manifest my glory in your midst.
And they shall know that I am the Lord
when I execute judgments in her
and manifest my holiness in her;
23 for I will send pestilence into her,
and blood into her streets;
and the slain shall fall in her midst,
by the sword that is against her on every side.
Then they will know that I am the Lord.
24 “And for the house of Israel there shall be no more a brier to prick or a thorn to hurt them among all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord God.
Sidon is an ancient city commonly associated with Tyre, which was the nation we spent several lessons talking about. Sidon was the capital or main city of an ancient people called the Phoenicians.
Now, what specifically did Sidon do to incur God’s wrath? Why is it one of the seven Gentile nations that Ezekiel pronounces judgment against? Frankly, we don’t know. It’s not specific in Ezekiel. The best guess we have is that they opposed Babylon. You say, what’s wrong with opposing Babylon? One of the interesting vibes of some of the prophets is that you shouldn’t fight back against Babylon. Jeremiah and Ezekiel basically said, “God is allowing Babylon to conquer you and just don’t even resist it, just surrender.”
And your cross reference here is Jeremiah 27:3. In that chapter, a few nations discuss an alliance against Babylon, and one of them is Sidon. So maybe that’s why God is calling them out here? We just aren’t sure, though. It doesn’t get specific about their sins.
But there’s a very interesting line shared here. If you’re a Bible underliner, I want you to underline this line, because as I was studying it, it just jumped off the page at me. And as I studied the passage more, I started to understand why. So underline a line at the end of verse 22. God says He will manifest His holiness in her. In Sidon. The flavor of this passage is very gloomy. Blood in the streets. The slain shall fall. And in the midst of all that, God says He will manifest His holiness in Sidon.
Now, what exactly does that mean? God is Holy. God is going to visit Sidon and manifest His holiness there. Well whatever that means, that sounds kinda nice, right? Holiness is a good thing. Except. This is not gonna be good for Sidon. There’s gonna be blood in the streets. So what’s that all about? Let’s keep reading.
Ezekiel 28:25-26
25 “Thus says the Lord God: When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and manifest my holiness in them in the sight of the nations,
Woah, there’s that line again. “Manifest my holiness.” This time in Israel. Underline it again. “Manifest my holiness.” This is the first time it’s talked about Israel in four chapters. Let’s keep going.
then they shall dwell in their own land that I gave to my servant Jacob. 26 And they shall dwell securely in it, and they shall build houses and plant vineyards. They shall dwell securely, when I execute judgments upon all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God.”
So these two verses end up being a nice little oracle directed toward Israel, put right here in the midst of a bunch of judgments being announced against gentile nations. And it’s actually literally right here in the middle.
Here’s where this boring outline stuff becomes a little less boring. Chapters 25 through 32 are eight chapters featuring oracles of judgment against seven Gentile nations. Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, Tyre, Sidon, and next time we’ll talk about Egypt. We’ve covered six of them in four chapters. The other four chapters are all gonna be about Egypt. Just Egypt. And right here in the midpoint of this section, four chapters on one side, four chapters on the other side, God includes these two little verses that speak quite positively toward Israel.
It is so literally in the middle. There are 97 verses on one side and 97 verses on the other side. And right in between that are two verses of blessing to Israel.
If you’ve studied Old Testament narrative structure, you might notice something interesting: God likes to tuck the most important thing in the middle. Look up chiastic structure if you don’t know what I’m talking about. It’s all over the place in the Old Testament. And the most important part is in the middle.
So what is in the middle here in the last two verses of Ezekiel 28? We see this same phrase again: I’m going to manifest my holiness within you. Well this was bad when God said it to Sidon. But it turns out to be very good when God says it to Israel. When God is talking to His covenant people, it’s going to be a very good thing. They’ll dwell securely in their land again. Their enemies will be destroyed; Israel will be restored.
So what’s the lesson here? God’s Holiness can be a very good thing or a very bad thing. And that depends entirely on you. It depends on where you’re at with God. We don’t know what Sidon did that was so wrong. And it doesn’t matter. If it was important for us to know, God would have told us. But here’s what we can safely say: Sidon was not right with God. And so when God’s holiness visited them, that was not gonna be good for Sidon. Because when you come face to face with God, if you aren’t right with God, it’s not good for you.
But what about Israel? Yes, most of this book has been negative toward Israel. But now they’ve been punished for it. And Israel is going to repent and recognize the error of their ways- a little late, but they will- and God will regather them back into their land. And Israel will be right with God again. And when God’s holiness visits Israel, they’ll be blessed. It’s going to be a very good thing for a forgiven and redeemed Israel to be in the presence of God.
This is what it means to come into contact with the presence of God. If you’re right with God, it’s a very good thing. If you’re not right with God, it’s a very bad thing. That’s why a Christian can go to church and the Christian can have a great time, singing praises to God, honoring God’s presence, and when God’s presence is honored, He shows up. That’s a manifestation of God’s presence. And when God is present, you’re in the supernatural. Miracles can happen. People get healed. But even more importantly than that: God is there, because He’s being revered.
But an unsaved person can go to that same church service and become very uncomfortable. A sinner is not comfortable in God’s presence. There’s going to be something churning in their stomach when they’re hearing about God’s holiness. Or if it’s manifesting right there. They aren’t going to be comfortable with it.
When God’s holiness manifests, there’s going to be an effect. But whether it’s a good effect or a bad effect depends entirely on you. Your heart. And how you respond to it.
If you’re right with God, God’s holiness brings a blessing. If you’re not right with God, it can actually bring a curse.
We’re going to dig into this concept a little more today right after this…
[musical interlude]
Housekeeping/Mailbag
Next time on this podcast, we’ll continue in Ezekiel by finally getting to chapter 29. That music you just heard was our “end of chapter” music, and I haven’t be able to play it all year. Well, we finally did it, we finally read all of Ezekiel 28, so next time, let’s see what God has to say to Egypt starting in chapter 29. Make sure you’re subscribed so you can get it!
Email: crossreferencespodcast@gmail.com
Can you stand in God’s holiness?
What would happen to you if you came to stand in God’s holiness? If God was literally before you, what would you do?
Let me give you my one word that I would use to describe Jesus. When I think about Jesus, I think about the word “fierce.” I like the word fierce because it sounds a little threatening. God is a bit threatening. God is holy. God is majestic. God is pure. And all that is great if you’re also pure, too, but I know I’m not. I know I have a lot of impurities in my heart. I’m saved, but I’m not perfect. God has a lot of work to do on me.
And yet I want to see Jesus. I want to meet this holy and fierce Jesus. I think of Jesus as fierce because fierce can mean a lot of different thing. “Fierce’s” first dictionary definition means powerful and destructive. That doesn’t sound too good. Fierce’s second definition is heartfelt and powerful intensity. That sounds like it can be good. It just depends on whether the fierceness is on your side or not. Fierce sounds kind of like holiness, doesn’t it? If God is gonna manifest His holiness, it can be very good or it can be very bad.
Everything Jesus did was fierce. He was fierce in anger, fierce in judging sin. But He was also fierce in loving people. Jesus never did anything causal. Jesus was always purposeful. Jesus was determined. Jesus was powerful. Jesus was fierce.
My favorite story about the ferocity of Jesus- and my favorite story in the Bible- is in John 18, when they come to arrest Jesus.
When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it.
Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons.
First thing I want you to notice: Jesus was in a garden knowing what came next, praying about it
Judas comes along with a “detachment of soldiers” other Gospels tell us how many it was altogether
600 men; 500 were regular soldiers, 100 were special elite forces of Roman soldiers
The word for the torches and lanterns means “with much fuel”
To get one man. In a garden. Praying.
Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?”
“Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied.
“I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.
Again he asked them, “Who is it you want?”
“Jesus of Nazareth,” they said.
Draw attention to verse v5
This is not something you have probably never picked up on before. They were flattened. They were knocked off their feet.
What activated it? Jesus said “I am”
This is not “I am he” (explain why it’s italicized)
All he said is “I am” Ego eimi
It is said that there are seven “I AM”s in the Gospel of John: Resurrection and the Life, The Way, the Truth and the Life, the True Vine
But they always leave out this one- and this is the best one
When God was in the burning bush, Moses said who are you, God said “I AM”
Jesus says “I Am” and it released the Spirit of God and flattened these soldiers
(this is what we pentecostals call “slain in the Spirit”) JK
Jesus’ words were powerful. Jesus spoke, things happened.
Jesus said “I Am” and 600 Roman soldiers were knocked off their feet.
Do you know why Jesus was doing this? He was saying, do you know where you’re about to put your hands?
Right before that, he keeps asking, “Who are you looking for?” He’s saying, “Do you even know what you’re doing? I want you to be sure you know who you’re looking for.”
I would not say they were blessed when they came into the presence of God. They were knocked on their butts. All Jesus said was two words. Look at how powerful He is. He can say two words and they fall off their feet. I wonder what’s going through their heads.
When you come into God’s Holy presence, that can be a very good thing or a very bad thing.
Think about that story in I Samuel when the ark of the covenant was stolen from Israel. Israel took it into battle because they thought it would bring them good luck. But they weren’t right with God, and they lost the battle, and they lost the ark. And when the high priest heard that the ark was taken, he said, “oh no, we lost the presence of God,” and he fell down and died.
But the Philistines weren’t right with God either, and having the Ark of the Covenant brought them sickness to their people. As the King James puts it, they got amrods in their secret parts. I’ll let you use your imagination as to what that was. But I can tell you, they didn’t want amrods in their secret parts. But that’s too bad, because they stole the Ark, so they had the presence of God in their midst, and they were sinners so it brought a curse, because you can’t stand in God’s presence and have an encounter with God’s holiness if you aren’t right with God. It’ll be very bad for you.
So they stick it on a cart and send it back to Israel and the Ark eventually ends up at the House of Obed Edom. And the Bible says, “And the ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household.”
Obed-Edom was right with God, and so when God’s holiness came into his house, it brought a blessing. I bet he was sorry to see it go three months later.
In Isaiah 6, it says that the prophet Isaiah was allowed to see God in a vision. And angels were flying around God saying “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty”
In Hebrew, they don’t have the word “very,” they just repeat the same word twice
Mad is “mad”; very mad is “mad mad”
When I steal one of my wife’s Oreos, she gets mad. If I take the last Oreo in the package, she is mad mad.
Isaiah 6 is the only place in Hebrew where they use the same word three times in a row
God is Holy, Holy, Holy
Let’s get back to Jesus. Our Holy Fierce King who was praying in a garden, waiting for his executioners to show up, and said two words to them and *boom* they were flattened.
And Jesus says to them, “Do you know where you’re about to put your hands?” You’re about to arrest a Holy holy Holy God.
Jesus says in a few hours after this story if he wanted to, he could call down 12 legions of angels to save him. A legion of angels is 6,000 soldiers. 6,000 times 12 is 72,000 angels.
Jesus is looking at this crowd of 600 men who came to arrest him and he could call down 72,000 angels to come to his aid and slaughter these guys, if he wanted to.
And Jesus Himself can sat two words and 600 men to fall to the ground
And Jesus is asking them, “Do you know where you’re about to put your hands?” A Holy Holy Holy God.
God is incompatible with sin.
God can’t just let ANYONE into heaven because sin and God can’t mix.
God is like a bug zapper. Sinful people are like bugs. When you come before God, and you have sin in your life, you’re fried.
The only way you can approach God is without the sin problem in your life.
When Isaiah saw God, he fell down and said “Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips”
Isaiah didn’t have a cussing problem, he just knew that he had a sin problem
And this Jesus who these men were going to try and arrest is not just Holy. He is Holy Holy Holy. He can call down 12 legions of angels to protect Him. And even if you could get past the angles, then you’re standing in the Holiness of a God who can say two words and flatten 600 men, and you’re not gonna last long against Him either.
But Jesus doesn’t call down a single angel to save him. This is the greatest act of love in history.
Jesus is going to allow them to lead him away and kill him, because he wanted to die for our sins.
And he does one more thing first.
Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)
Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”
Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus.
Sometimes you’ll hear that there are seven miracles in the Gospel of John, but that’s not true either, there’s an eighth miracle here.
Peter wakes up and sees 600 Roman soldiers laying on the ground and he says, “I guess Jesus needs my help.”
So Peter cuts off the ear of one of the men who came to arrest Jesus.
I heard it said that Peter is either the best swordsman in the world or he’s the worst swordsman in the world and I think he’s the worst because if 600 soldiers come to arrest you and you try to fight them, I don’t think you’re supposed to be going for ears.
And Jesus says, “No, Peter. Put away your sword.” Because Jesus didn’t come to bring judgment, he came to bear judgment.
He didn’t come to swing the sword, he came so that the whips and the thorns and the nails could come down on him.
And his last miracle before he died was that he healed the ear of one of the men who came to arrest him.
See what I mean when I say Jesus is fierce? Fierce in anger. Fierce about sin. Fierce in love.
Nobody in the Bible who came into God’s presence was able to stand because they had a sin problem.
Ezekiel meets God at the beginning of his book, he falls to his feet. Daniel meets God, completely collapses. If God even speaks to you through a burning bush, yank your shoes off quick because even the ground is holy there.
Remember that song “will I stand in your presence or to your knees will I fall, will I sing hallelulah, will I be able to speak at all”…?
Listen I don’t care what you do but I want you to know: you can stand. You can stand when you meet God because your sin problem can be taken away. Because of what Jesus did, our sin problem can be taken care of.
Because of what Jesus did, when you meet God someday, you’ll be able to stand.
Do you know Jesus, listener? Someday you will. Someday every person who’s ever lived will stand before Him. It’s unavoidable. You will meet Jesus. You will stand before the Holiness of God. And what will that mean for you?
It can either be a very good thing or a very bad thing.
Philippians says every knee will bow. But you can bow that knee today, and it’ll go a lot better for you when you meet Jesus face-to-face.
One more reason I like the word “fierce” is that fierce makes me think of a lion. And Jesus is the lion of the tribe of Judah. When CS Lewis wrote his Chronicles of Narnia, which had a Christ character named Aslan, he was a lion in the story.
There’s a passage in the Chronicles of Narnia- I believe it’s in the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. And Lucy is concerned when she hears about this lion. She says,
“Is he—quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”
“That you will, dearie, and no mistake,” said Mrs Beaver. “If there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”
“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.
“Safe?” said Mr Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”
That’s our Jesus. He is Holy. He is fierce. And He’s the King, I tell you.
Thanks for listening to the Cross References Podcast. This has been Luke Taylor, and I hope the Bible makes more sense to you after this episode.