G’day and welcome to Partakers Christian Podcasts! Join us for uplifting Bible teaching, inspiring readings, heartfelt worship, powerful prayers, and fascinating church history. Whether you’re new to faith or growing deeper in your journey, we’re here to encourage and equip you. 🎧 Tune in, interact, and be inspired—wherever you are in the world.
Episodes
Friday Sep 05, 2025
Friday Sep 05, 2025
Part 5 - Hebrews 2:9
Jesus as representative man
“we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honour because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.”
Our writer quotes the psalmist (Psalm 8:4–6) in Hebrews 2:6-8:
“What is mankind that you are mindful of them,
a son of man that you care for him?
You made them a little[ lower than the angels;
you crowned them with glory and honour
and put everything under their feet.”
It is a tricky passage as is obvious from the lengthy footnotes in most English versions. The second line seems to be singular while all the other lines refer to mankind in the plural. It is the nearly unanimous opinion of modern translations that this is correct. The quotation refers back to Genesis 1:26 where God says, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” In an astonishing act God put the care of this world of ours in the hands of mankind. We haven’t done very well with it. As I write the main problem seems to be plastic in the seas. For centuries mankind has assumed that the oceans are so big we can dump anything we like into them and they will absorb it. It is now clear that there is so much plastic in the seas, which will break down into ever smaller particles without dissolving, that all the fish and other creatures in the seas will be poisoned by them. We have scarcely done any better with the land. We continue to fight over it with each other and generally mess it up.
But our writer can see good in even these problems. He goes on to say in Hebrews 2:9, “we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honour because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.”
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Thursday Sep 04, 2025
Thursday Sep 04, 2025
Malachi
Welcome to the last installment in our series about the minor prophets. Our final book is Malachi, the last book in the Old Testament. There is something very exciting about this book! Perhaps it’s the sense of anticipation contained within it. The first book of the New Testament lies just over the page! But before we get there, Malachi has serious words from God to convey to his people. The name Malachi means “my messenger” and this theme is picked up during the prophecy. It is likely that Malachi was a contemporary of Ezra and Nehemiah, writing in the mid 5th century BC.
To recap the history briefly, Judah had been permitted to returned from exile in Babylon in 538 BC by king Cyrus of Persia. Haggai and Zechariah had encouraged the people to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. God had promised his people great restoration and he had promised that he would dwell among them, but the political and social environment of the day remained very difficult. Judah was small in land area and in population; the second temple was an inferior shadow of the former magnificent temple; Judah was allowed some freedom to self-rule but they were still under the ultimate control of Persia and they endured a lot of hostility and opposition from their neighbours.
The people had become cynical and disillusioned and their worship had suffered as a result. Malachi’s prophecy is a loud wake-up call to the nation, urging them to turn back to God and renew their covenant commitment to him.
The prophecy consists of a series of charges that God brings against his people. God then anticipates the way the people will question the validity of the charges, defensively asking how they can be true. In each case, God explains why his accusations are valid.
The book opens with God’s declaration that he has loved his people. The people ask, “How have you loved us?”, showing their cynicism about God’s steadfast covenant love for them.
God’s first accusation against the people is that they are the ones who have not shown love, failing to honour God and despising his name. God outlines in more detail some examples of this in their behaviour.
The priests have been offering sacrifices that are offensive to God. The only animals acceptable for sacrifice in the temple were healthy, whole animals without sickness or defect. The priests were responsible for checking the condition of the animals that the people brought for sacrifice. They had neglected this duty and compromised their standards to allow the offering of blind, lame and diseased animals at the temple. God would rather that the temple doors were shut and no offerings brought at all rather than these half-hearted, second-rate offerings be made.
The people were trying to cheat God by keeping back the better animals for themselves and bringing the ones that were not fit for anything else to the temple. To use a lesser analogy, one way that we show our love for another person is the care we take over choosing a gift for them. How offended would your husband, wife, or friend be if you promised them a perfect gift, and they knew you’d bought it for them, and then on their birthday you gave them a second-hand, slightly damaged and rather dirty gift instead and kept the perfect one for yourself? How much worse it is to bring a defective offering to God, when the issue at stake isn’t someone’s birthday gift but the very serious issue of offering a sacrifice for sin!
In chapter 2 God makes a second accusation, this time regarding the way the people have abused the marriage covenant. Firstly, they have intermarried with people from pagan nations, who worship idols. Secondly, they have adopted a casual attitude to divorce, with men sending their wives away simply because they stopped feeling affection towards them. The people were perplexed and distressed that God appeared to have withheld blessing from them, not accepting their worship. God explains that their disobedience in regard to his standards for marriage is a part of the reason for this.
Another accusation follows quickly: the people have continually questioned God’s justice and doubted his ability to make just decisions. They have accused God of letting evil people get away with everything.
In chapter 3 God announces the coming of a messenger to prepare the way before him. The arrival of the messenger will be followed by the sudden coming of the Lord to his temple. In Old Testament history, the completions of the tabernacle and the first temple had both been followed immediately by the dramatic, visible presence and glory of the Lord filling the worship place. This hadn’t happened after the completion of the second temple but God promises that he will arrive suddenly, fulfilling the people’s desire for his presence in their midst. But God warns that this will not be a day of delight for all. As in the book of Amos, God tells his people that the coming of the Day of the Lord will bring judgement. The people of Judah had assumed that they were immune from judgement by nature of their identity as God’s people but God makes it clear that they will still be judged according to their faithfulness to him. Judah will be refined and purified through judgement.
God then accuses the people of stealing from him by not bringing him the proper tithe of their offerings. Similar to the situation with the animal sacrifices, the people were keeping back more than they should have done, causing offence to God. This charge is leveled against the whole nation, not just the priests. God challenges the people to test him, declaring that if they would only bring the whole tithe to him, he would bless them abundantly in return. The behaviour of the people in regard to their offerings demonstrates their lack of trust in God’s gracious provision. In chapter 3 verse 14 the people sum up their spiritual destitution by declaring that it is futile to serve God.
However, God takes note of a small remnant of faithful people who continue to worship him properly with a right heart. He carefully records their names to ensure that they are preserved.
The book ends in chapter 4 with the promise of the coming Day of the Lord, when evil will be judged and destroyed and those who have been faithful to God will be restored and healed. Malachi says:
“But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.” (Malachi 4:2 ESV)
The final words of the book declare that Elijah the prophet will come before the Day of the Lord. And there the Old Testament ends. So what happens next?
After Malachi put down his pen, there followed 400 years of prophetic silence. Seismic events occurred in the political and social landscape of the Middle East and Europe, and empires came and went. Then one day, an obedient priest called Zechariah had an extraordinary encounter with an angel of God whilst serving in the temple in Jerusalem. The angel announced the coming birth of Zechariah’s son, who was to be called John. After John’s miraculous birth to his previously infertile older mother, Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied over his newborn son. His song is recorded in Luke chapter 1. Strikingly, in verses 76-79 he says:
“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:76-79 ESV)
~
At last the promised sunrise of salvation was coming! When John the Baptist started his prophetic ministry, many Jews wondered whether he might be Elijah, returned to earth again, as Malachi had prophesied. John declared that he was not Elijah.
However, John was the fulfilment of Malachi’s prophecy about the coming messenger who would prepare the way for the Lord. Jesus himself identifies John as the promised Elijah. In Matt 11:11-15 he says:
Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. (Matthew 11:11-15 ESV)
In fact, this is just what the angel had promised Zechariah about his future son:
And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” (Luke 1:16-17)
~
Shortly after John’s birth, Jesus was born to Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem. The new parents took their little baby to the temple in Jerusalem to present him to God, as the law required for a first-born son. Mary and Joseph were quite surprised to be greeted by Simeon, a devout man who was waiting for the promised Messiah. Simeon was filled with the Holy Spirit and declared:
“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” (Luke 2:29-32)
~
The Lord had suddenly come to his temple, in the rather unexpected guise of a human baby. Simeon knew that this was the fulfilment of God’s promise.
No-one anticipated how Jesus would bring about that salvation. Even his own disciples didn’t understand it despite Jesus explicitly telling them that he would be killed and then raised from the dead and that he had to die for the sins of the world.
The forgiveness of our sins no longer depends on us offering sacrifices of animals to God. Praise God that we can have forgiveness of our sins through our identification with Jesus’ sacrifice of himself on the cross!
But now we are called to be living sacrifices (Romans 12:1)! Our whole lives are now meant to be lived as an act of sacrifice and worship to God. Perhaps Malachi’s words about half-hearted, inadequate offerings need to stir us today! If our attitude to our service to God and our giving of resources is focused on what we can get away with keeping, rather than what we delight to give, Malachi challenges us to consider how we are honouring God.
I really hope you’ve enjoyed this series. I’ve learned so much by reading and studying these fascinating books of prophecy and I’ve come to appreciate them in a whole new way. I pray that you’ve been encouraged to read them with me.
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Thursday Sep 04, 2025
Thursday Sep 04, 2025
Part 4 - Hebrews 2:3
Escaping salvation
Already the writer is warning his readers. This is a recurrent feature of this book. The warnings against turning away from faith having once started to follow Jesus are stronger in this book than any other in the New Testament. They cause considerable difficulty for those whose basic theology is strongly Calvinistic. Those people say: once saved always saved, which this book seems to contradict. We have to take scripture as more significant than any systematic theology so we need to heed what the writer says.
This first warning comes so early in the book it might be thought hard to justify. It raises the question: why do we come to faith? Many people in our culture, and perhaps yours too, come to faith and start to attend church because something has gone wrong in their lives or they feel a gap in the way they live. Those are not good reasons for starting to believe because they are ‘I’ centred. They come from the needs and the thinking of the individual. The true reasons we should come to faith are because of who Jesus was, and is, his death and resurrection. That is what the writer has emphasised in those first few verses of chapter one.
The reality is that most people do not come to faith for that good reason. What is hugely important is that they should then receive teaching that convinces them of the way it actually was. If they know that the Lord had the main guiding hand in what happened, that it was his initiative that brought them to faith in the first place, that the gift of the Hoy Spirit was his doing, then they are unlikely to try to leave faith because it is convenient for them. It may well be that if they are taught to do so they will be able to look back and realise that the Lord had for many years and in a quiet and non-aggressive way been leading them towards faith. Few people take the leap of faith when it is first placed before them. Most need many a nudge and suggestion before they get there. Our God is a gracious and kind God who deals tenderly with his people.
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Wednesday Sep 03, 2025
Wednesday Sep 03, 2025
Part 3 - Hebrews 1:8, 9
Jesus on his throne
a sceptre of justice will be the sceptre of your kingdom.
You love righteousness and hate wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions
by anointing you with the oil of joy.”
Hebrews 1:8-9
These verses are one of the many places where the very first words of this book are demonstrated. The writer started by saying God spoke through the prophets. In the second part of this first chapter he uses that fact to explain how Jesus was greater than the angels with some 7 quotations from the Old Testament. This is one of the most striking. It is drawn from Psalm 45: 6, 7. The ancient writer of the psalm will have thought he was writing a psalm of praise for a new king, possibly Solomon. It is a thoroughly secular piece, probably written to order, and greatly exaggerating the likely attributes of any earthly king and queen. It is hard to see what those reading it after the complete collapse of the Davidic dynasty after the exile can possibly have made of it.
But the writer to Hebrews can see its meaning centuries later. He can even use the rather curious reference to God in the first line of that quotation that makes little sense in the original. The gross exaggerations of the original make perfect sense applied to the perfect man, Jesus.
Attention is not often drawn to the quite amazing way in which things said centuries earlier referring to all sorts of situations and people suddenly come to life in the person and work of Jesus. Counting only those places where the NIV indents the lines there are 28 references back to the Old Testament in this book of Hebrews alone, most of them before the history of chapter 11. Our wonderful God, knowing what would happen, organised it so that his servants said things relating to their own circumstances that would be of use to other servants writing about his glorious Son.
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Tuesday Sep 02, 2025
Tuesday Sep 02, 2025
Psalm 140
For the choir director: A psalm of David.
1 O Lord, rescue me from evil people.
Protect me from those who are violent,
2 those who plot evil in their hearts
and stir up trouble all day long.
3 Their tongues sting like a snake;
the venom of a viper drips from their lips.
Interlude
4 O Lord, keep me out of the hands of the wicked.
Protect me from those who are violent, for they are plotting against me.
5 The proud have set a trap to catch me;
they have stretched out a net;
they have placed traps all along the way.
Interlude
6 I said to the Lord, "You are my God!"
Listen, O Lord, to my cries for mercy!
7 O Sovereign Lord, the strong one who rescued me,
you protected me on the day of battle.
8 Lord, do not let evil people have their way.
Do not let their evil schemes succeed,
or they will become proud.
Interlude
9 Let my enemies be destroyed
by the very evil they have planned for me.
10 Let burning coals fall down on their heads.
Let them be thrown into the fire or into watery pits from which they can't escape.
11 Don't let liars prosper here in our land.
Cause great disasters to fall on the violent.
12 But I know the Lord will help those they persecute;
he will give justice to the poor.
13 Surely righteous people are praising your name;
the godly will live in your presence.
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Tuesday Sep 02, 2025
Tuesday Sep 02, 2025
Part 2 - Hebrews 1:1-3
The real history of Jesus
In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
In just these three verses the writer sets out the full story of Jesus. He did not begin in Mary’s womb. He had been around for all the ages since the beginning of this world of ours-and even before that. Jesus was God, part of the Trinity, so he had to have existed before he was born a baby in Bethlehem. In his magnificent opening verses John says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Our writer here says in 1:2. “he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.” Paul, in Colossians 1:16, 17 manages to surpass that when he says:
“For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
It is very difficult to work out how it all worked. Jesus was, at that stage, not human. He was in heaven, working for the creation and establishment of the universe and, in particular, this world. In the Old Testament there are several ways in which aspects of God, parts of his essential identity, are referred to. He is Word, Wisdom and Spirit. John says Jesus was the Word (John 1:1). Matthew strongly hints that he was Wisdom in his 11:19, “ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.” He was an integral part of the Spirit as Luke 4:18 says, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me”. In Proverbs 8: 30 it is said of Wisdom that at the creation that she was ‘at his side’.
From all these glories Jesus descended that he might provide ‘purification for sins’, a very shorthand way of talking about all he did on this world of ours living as both God and man at the same time. The writer could have spoken of his ministry, his death and his resurrection but he chooses just those three words, ‘purification for sins’, to stand for those the greatest moments, probably just 3 years of them, of all time. Only then did he ascend to heaven and sit down at the right hand of God on high. From then on there was, and is, a man in heaven.
His role there is to ‘hold all things together’ (Colossians 1:17), to look after his people, to direct their prayers, particularly when they run out of ability to pray. There he waits the Father’s signal that it is time for him to return to earth and set up the New Heavens and the New Earth that we are promised. I wonder whether he is impatient for that day to come or whether he rests calmly in the confidence of his Father God.
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Monday Sep 01, 2025
Monday Sep 01, 2025
Part 1 - Hebrews 1:3
Jesus: the image of God
The word ‘better’ is oft-en seen as dominant in the book of Hebrews (I call it a book because it does not read like a letter or epistle. It is more like a treatise, but that is an unduly posh word!). But it is not the subject of this wonderful book; that is Jesus. The writer (no one knows who that was) starts his thesis with the statement that Jesus was ‘the exact representation of his being’. The ‘his’ is God. Like all good Christian thinking, writing and preaching everything starts with God.
One problem they had in those days was that they had not worked out how to advertise! They had no billboards lining the streets, no newspapers printed every day, no televisions to annoy us with their perpetual breaks for adverts, really very few opportunities to say what they were good at. Only the Emperor had an opportunity and that was with the coins. Everyone knew what the current emperor looked like because his image had been stamped on every coin. The coin was made of a comparatively soft metal. The stamp was made of very hard metal so that it could be pushed down under pressure on the face of the coin and thus you had the face of the emperor. This was what Jesus referred to in Matthew 22: 18 - 21 when he said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. Which rather caught them out because they were admitting that they had the picture of an idol in whatever they used in place of pockets.
The primary reference of the exact representation has to be to the character and actions of Jesus. He was supremely oriented to other people. He cared for them, he healed them; he showed great grace and mercy towards them. He set a completely new standard of human behaviour focused on love. That is what God was, and is, like. Most paintings that attempt to show God get it completely wrong. They portray a big old white man with a long beard looking very stern and judgmental. No! If we want to know what God is like we have to look at Jesus because if he is the exact representation of God that has to be what God is like: Jesus, probably a small brown man looking rather scruffy and dirty because he walked so many miles on dusty tracks is the nearest we can get to what God looked like. But we can get much closer in the non-visual things that matter so much more. He was a God of love indeed he was Love. So all those lovely things that Jesus did as he walked this earth reflect the personality of God himself.
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Sunday Aug 31, 2025
Sunday Aug 31, 2025
God - so what?
Ezekiel 36:22-28
The Context - Story of Ezekiel from Chapter 2 onwards...
- a. Symbolic Actions (4v1-5v17)
- b. Vision of Jerusalem (8v1-11v25)
- c. Symbolic Actions (12v1-20)
- d. Prophecy Concerning Israel (12v21-24v27)
- e. Prophecy Concerning Foreign Nations (25v1-32v32)
- f. Salvation for Israel (33v1-39v29)
1. A God who is holy (Ezekiel 36v22-23)
2. A God who gathers (Ezekiel 36v24)
3. A God who cleanses (Ezekiel 36v25) and operates (Ezekiel 36v26)
4. A God who indwells (v27)
5. A God to live for (v28)
Conclusion - What about you?
What about you? If you are already a Christian here tonight, then it is not because of anything you have done. It is because of the events at Easter that you are a Christian, when God took the necessary steps so that all people could have the choice to either follow Him or not. We are primarily Christians, not because we come to church services or just happened to have been born in a supposedly Christian country. We are primarily Christians, because God first chased and harried us into His arms. We are Christians, if you are one, because God first loved you. And as a tremendous lover, He beckons and calls people all the time to respond to His call, and back to Him.
When I was younger, in my more smug moments I used to congratulate myself for being a Christian. How proud I was that I, Dave Roberts, was a Christian and that God was a jolly lucky God that I had decided to follow Him. It was during one of my less self-deluded moments, that I examined myself and I found God pricking my conscience and correcting me, and I read the New Testament "For the Son of Man came, not to serve but to give His life as a ransom for many" (Mk10v45).
So... If you are a Christian here tonight, go show and tell the transformation that the all-powerful living God has performed in you. If like me, you are a Christian today, our sins were forgiven through Jesus' death on the Cross. That is when we had our "bath" as it were. That is the point when we were justified before God and we are declared His child. Having been justified already, we don't need a bath anymore! But we do need the equivalent of a foot-washing daily and or every time we take Holy Communion and a cleansing of our sin when we confess it before our God and repent.
If you are not a Christian here today, then God is actively pursuing you. I, of course, don't know the circumstances in which He is, but I do know that He is. He wants all people to be followers of Him. That is why He is gathering, cleansing, and indwelling His people. If you would like to know more about the Christian faith, then please don't leave here tonight without talking to somebody about it.
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Sunday Aug 31, 2025
Sunday Aug 31, 2025
God Comes To Town!
Ezekiel 1:1-4, 24-28 to 2:2
Introduction
I wonder if there anybody here that is 25 years old? Anybody turning 25 this year? How about those who wished they were turning 25 this year? Imagine you are a 25 year old and being trained for the family business. Then suddenly your enemies invade your city and take you away to a foreign land. That's what happened to Ezekiel 5 years before this passage of Scripture, when the Babylonians, led by Nebuchadnezzar in 597BC took 3000 Jews back to Babylon. This was the first deportation.
1. Ezekiel - who was he and how did he get there?
- His name means "God is strong"
- He was training to be a priest
- Now 30 years of age, if he had been in Jerusalem, he would have been ministering in the Temple.
- He was married to the woman who is described as the "delight of his eyes".
The reason that God had allowed His people to be taken into exile was because of their wickedness, utter disobedience and the dishonouring of His holy name. We know from other Old Testament passages that the people of Israel at the time, reacted in four different ways:
- There were those blaming the sins of their parents for their predicament and were totally pessimistic about life and everything.
- Others had abandoned their God, and given over to worshipping the Babylonian gods
- Some were false optimists saying, be happy it will be fine. We will soon be back in Jerusalem and God will be nice to us again. So just continue living as you are!
- Finally some were truly repentant of their own sins and yet had abandoned hope that God would rescue them.
This is the first of five visions that Ezekiel has. This vision is similar to that found in Revelation 1 where John writes while in exile on Patmos. It is also similar to that portrayed by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4v16 when God will return again, Jesus will come to judge the antichrist and his followers (Revelation 16v12-16, 19v11-16), bind Satan (Revelation 20v1-3) and judge the nations (Matthew 25v31-46; Joel 3v11-17).
When people find out that I am a Christian, some say "Oh I don't believe in a God or Gods". I generally ask them "What kind of God don't you believe in?" They then go on to describe what sort of God they don't believe in and they are generally surprised when I agree with them that I don't believe in the kind of God who they describe as being remote, impersonal, judgemental and delighting in the suffering He or she has probably caused. And I think Ezekiel at this time was out having his picnic at the river and maybe starting to think through all the things that had occurred leaving him in exile. Possibly he was starting to question God and then he sees what appears to be a storm approaching at speed. He just stands there, looking at it approach him.
I don't know about you, but if that had been me, I would have run in the opposite direction as fast as I could! But he just stands there and looks. Amazing. So what was this vision and what does it tell us today, some 2500 years later! It is very easy with this passage to just concentrate on the cherubim angels, which is what the strange creatures are that Ezekiel describes in v4 to v24. You only have to go to your local bookstore and find a plethora of books on angels and so called angel worship.
But that would be stop at verse 24 and not proceed further. We would then miss out on the God these angels are worshipping and obeying. However in order to satisfy any curiosity you may have about these cherubim, for that is what these creatures are, let me explain what the faces mean: .
- They each have four faces and each face is symbolic of a characteristic of a cherubim..
- The human face is to the front. This is to show that mankind is the pinnacle of creation. This shows the cherubim as being intelligent.
- The lion face is to the right and this reflects that the lion is the king of the wild animals. This shows the cherubim as being they are very strong and powerful.
- The ox face is to the left and this shows that the ox is the best of the animals that farmers keep. This shows the cherubim as being strong and patient.
- The eagle face is at the back for the eagle is the leader among the birds of the air. This shows the cherubim as being extremely quick.
2. How does Ezekiel describe this vision of God?
Ezekiel's first impression is the hearing of a voice from above the expanse over their heads. This voice came from a figure on the throne (v26). This figure was like that of a man. This should come as no surprise because mankind is made in the image of God. In the Old Testament, whenever God wanted to talk to man He took on the shape of a man such as when He appeared to Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 3). This is what is called a theophany, which is an appearance of God in visible form, temporary and not necessarily material.
Ezekiel describes what he saw as "the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord" (v28). For he knew that nobody could actually see God and live, such is the nature of God's holiness and glory. Sometimes, even in the evangelical church, we like to put God in a box. God must act only in this way or in this manner. Perhaps Ezekiel was thinking like that. Thinking that God is far away in the Temple of Jerusalem and has abandoned his chosen people. We can see from this passage that God is holy, universal, mission-minded and personal.
3. Holy God
This is seen in the fire, light and radiance described in v27. Because God is Holy, He is full of glory and majesty. However, it is not without some difficulty that we try to define what holiness is. Here are some of the things holiness is:
- Holiness is what separates God from all His creation. For God alone is holy and full of glory. Exodus 15v2 "Who is like you, O God, glorious in holiness!" Or Isaiah 60v25 "To whom will you liken me, or shall I be equal?" says the Holy One.
- Holiness is also a moral attribute of God, of purity and freedom from the stain of sin. Habakkuk 1v13 "of purer eyes than to behold evil and cannot look upon sin.
- Holiness is still more than that! It is in fact the sum of all His attributes!
- Perfect holiness, while to us is inconceivable, has been revealed. Revealed in the sinless man, Jesus Christ.
4. Universal God
He is universal, not just in presence but in absolute sovereign power and knowledge. In this vision of Ezekiel's, you can feel the power and presence of God. It must have been quite a sight! God's presence and power are seen in the throne! This is the climax of the vision and it seems it is only now that Ezekiel realizes what he is looking at! He collapses face down!
Omnipresent - God is wholly present everywhere. God fills the universe in all it's parts without division Psalm 139:7-12; Jeremiah 23:23-24. God was not only in the Temple in Jerusalem, but God was also in Babylon!
Omnipotent - God has power to do all things that are the object of power. With God all things are possible Luke 1:37. He is El Shaddai or God Almighty. Jerermiah 32:17-18 Nothing is too hard for you. Omnipotence is an essential to God. If God were not all-powerful then He would not be God and not be worthy of worship. This is the God who created the universe with His eternal and infinite power! This God bids his angels to obey and they do! Just as he is fully present everywhere, He is also all powerful and unlimited in power. This is the God who parted the Red Sea to allow the Israelites to escape the Egyptians army. This is the God who stopped the sun during Joshua's time. This is the God who made iron to swim by Elisha's hands. His power is evident in that the visible works of creation are His handiwork. He made everything around us, out of nothing! That is power. He not only created it, but He sustains it and gives it life! All things are possible with God and nothing impossible. But there are of course things God cannot do. He cannot do anything contrary to His own nature. He cannot for instance declare something infinite if it is finite.
Omniscient - God has perfect knowledge of all things - actual, past, present, future and possible. O Lord, you have searched me and you know me, You know when I sit and when I rise...You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways (Ps. 139:1-2a & 3). He knows all things, past, present, and future, and therefore he knows all that we do (which includes the remembrance of all that we have done), all that we think (and the record of those thoughts), and all that we say.
The Baptist Confession of 1689, describes God as: "The Lord our God is but one only living and true God; whose subsistence is in and of himself, infinite in being and perfection...", that God is in "every way infinite" and that His knowledge is "infinite, infallible, and independent upon the creature, so as nothing is to him contingent or uncertain." God knows all things, and is able to accomplish all of his most holy will. Israel had forgotten these things about their God: He is not confined to just the Temple in Jerusalem. He is all-powerful and able to do all things according to His will. He is all knowing and can see even the hidden sins of His people. That is why they were in exile in Babylon, because they had not given God the honour due His name. They had sinned and actively disobeyed Him and the following chapters, God reveals through the visions, words and actions of Ezekiel, just how wicked Israel had become!
Mission minded God He is on a mission. He came to Ezekiel to call him and use him as His spokesperson or prophet to those who were in exile. Ever since Genesis 3 and the fall of man, God has been on a mission to bring and call people back to Himself. That was the purpose of the nation of Israel, to be a light to all nations of the goodness and glory of God! That was purpose when God, who is outside of time and space, entered human history taking on human flesh and restricted Himself in a human body as the man we know as Jesus Christ. Jesus whole mission was one of calling people back to life in God.
Personal God. God is personal! He speaks and commands with authority (2v1)! So often in the church today, God is seen as a father figure or as wanting to be friends. These things are true, yet of themselves, they are not a full picture and sometimes the stress laid on this approach tends to bring God as a person down to the same level we are - weak, feeble and pitiable. As we have seen here, God is full of divine majesty and wonder. Yes God is personal, but He is also great. Remember that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom! Jimmy Bakker, the disgraced US televangelists was interviewed in jail, and was asked the question "When did you stop loving the Lord?" To which he replied, "I never stopped loving him. But I did stop fearing him!"
5. What does all this mean?
We have seen through the vision of Ezekiel that God is holy, all-powerful, mission-minded and personal. Israel had forgotten these things and was now in exile because of it. What does this mean for us, as God's people today, some 2,500 years after Ezekiel? When you go back to work or to college or where ever you interact with others, what does all this mean? We are to actively worship our God. By worship I mean living a life worthy of God 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Worship is not just singing songs on a Sunday but is a whole life devoted in obedience to the God we serve. Borne out of this worship and obedience, we also are on a mission. We are to honour the name of this all powerful God by living entirely for Him. That is what evangelism is, and we are all called to do the work of an evangelist, just as Ezekiel was called to speak God's word to people.
What is evangelism? Evangelism is showing and telling others of God's message of reconciliation to all people of all time. It is not forcing people to adopt Church standards (1 Corinthians 5v12) and nor is it simply a message of join the church as a symbol of good works (Ephesians 2vv8-10). This gospel says that everybody has sinned against God (Isaiah 53v6; Romans 3vv10-11); nobody can earn their reconciliation with God (Ephesians 2v9); that God sent His Son Jesus to be born, crucified and resurrected so that salvation can be had for all people of all time (John 3v16; 1 Timothy 1v15); and that it is by acquiescing to God by faith in Jesus alone that people are saved (John 5v24; Acts 16v31).
Why evangelize? The prime motivation for evangelism is out of gratitude for what God has done, in that we love because He loved us first. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5v14, "For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died." As His servants we are to tell and live of God's reconciling message As I said before, we are all to do the work of an evangelist, following the example of Timothy (2 Timothy 4v5). Scripture dictates several reasons for members of His church to share their faith. Jesus commands us to tell others of God's reconciling message. In the last words of Jesus' earthly ministry, His church was commanded to be witnesses for Him (Acts 1v8). Evangelism is an expression of love for God, through obeying His commands (John 14v15). So we worship with a life of obedience, which is an act of witness to the Great God we serve and live for, telling others about Him. We also teach and speak His word. The authority of the Bible is what we read and teach.
6. We speak God's word.
The Bible is the Word of God, and is the instrument of the Holy Spirit to bring people to faith (Ephesians 1v13) and ongoing sanctification (Ephesians 5v26). Paul writes that all of it is "God Breathed" (2 Timothy 3v16), in that it is inspired by God and has its origins in God. It is not just the ideas, but also the words that are inspired by God (1 Corinthians 2v13). The Bible is capable of being understood by all God's people. God the Holy Spirit enlightens Christians minds, so that they can understand spiritual truths (1 Corinthians 2vv10-16). Through interacting with the Bible, the church teaches, rebukes, corrects and trains people for the purpose of righteousness (2 Timothy 3v16). By interacting with the Bible, Christians keep from sinning (Psalm 119v11), are comforted (Psalm 119v52), have their minds focused on God (Psalm 43v3) and are sustained in a daily spiritual life (Deuteronomy 8v3).
The church also interacts with Bible, as the Bible is a link to the apostles and prophets, who are the foundation of the church (Ephesians 2v20). There are five main ways in which members of the Church can interact with the Bible. Public reading of Scripture was regular in Israel and in the early church (Nehemiah 8v3). Presently due to high literacy, Scripture can easily be read in private as well as corporately. Memorization of the Bible was commended to "lay up His words in your heart" (Job 22v22). By reading and memorizing the Bible, meditating on it helps understand the implications of life's occurrences and God's blessings (Joshua 1v8).
These three interactions lead to a fourth, obedience. By obeying the Bible, the Christian learns to obey God, because it is His authoritative word (Deuteronomy 31v12) The teaching of the Bible receives the main emphasis in the New Testament, such as at the Church's birth and Peter's address to the crowd (Acts 2). After they were dispersed due to persecution, the Apostles continued preaching and teaching (Acts 8v4). Luke gives thirteen different words for preaching, and over thirty are used in the entire New Testament.
Conclusion
I don't know about you, but sometimes I feel like I am in exile. I don't mean as an Australian living in England, the mother country! Although sometimes it does feel like I am in exile! We are living in a country, which despite its Christian heritage, evangelical non-compromising Christians are being increasingly marginalized by a society, which decrees that, all religions or none are equal, and that to declare otherwise is simply arrogance and divisive. How are we to react? When you are faced with a crisis or some trouble, how do you react? Are you like the ancient Israelites that Ezekiel was sent to? Do you trust in the holy, all-powerful, all knowing, personal God or do you trust in other things?
- God is coming again!
- Be Holy and be obedient!
- Live a life worthy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ
- Trust fully in the God of your salvation
- Go tell somebody!
Finally, if you need prayer for something related to what I have said today, then find somebody to pray for you. And if you cant find somebody to pray for you, then come and find me.
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Saturday Aug 30, 2025
Saturday Aug 30, 2025
Psalm 69
1 Save me, O God!
For the waters have come up to my neck.
2 I sink in deep mire,
Where there is no standing;
I have come into deep waters,
Where the floods overflow me.
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3 I am weary with my crying;
My throat is dry;
My eyes fail while I wait for my God.
4 Those who hate me without a cause
Are more than the hairs of my head;
They are mighty who would destroy me,
Being my enemies wrongfully;
Though I have stolen nothing,
I still must restore it.
5 O God, You know my foolishness;
And my sins are not hidden from You.
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