(Chuck Swindoll’s Section 1 — “Ezekiel’s Call and Commission,” chapters 1–3 — and Section 2 — “Prophecies Against Judah and Jerusalem,” chapters 4–24)
Memory Verse(s)
Ezekiel 3:17-19 (17) “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me: (18) When 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, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. (19) Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul
Overview|Background
Before Ezekiel ever preaches a word of judgment, God spends three chapters simply making him a prophet — dropping him flat on his face before a vision no man had words for, filling him with the Spirit, and handing him a scroll to swallow. Only after that does the message start: chapter after chapter of hard, specific, unflinching charges against Jerusalem for the idolatry, injustice, and covenant-breaking that were about to cost her everything.
These first two of Swindoll’s sections belong together. Section 1 (chs. 1–3) is the commissioning — who Ezekiel is and what authority stands behind him. Section 2 (chs. 4–24) is the content — the specific case God builds against His own people, delivered through sermons, street-theater sign-acts, and visions, all building toward the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC. You cannot get to the hope of the book’s back half (chs. 34–48) without walking through this front half first. Judgment is the hard door hope walks through.
Key Passage(s)
Ezekiel’s Call — Section 1
Ezekiel 2:1-10 (1) And He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak to you.” (2) Then the Spirit entered me when He spoke to me, and set me on my feet; and I heard Him who spoke to me. (3) And He said to me: “Son of man, I am sending you to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day. (4) For they are impudent and stubborn children. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ (5) As for them, whether they hear or whether they refuse—for they are a rebellious house—yet they will know that a prophet has been among them. (6) “And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you dwell among scorpions; do not be afraid of their words or dismayed by their looks, though they are a rebellious house. (7) You shall speak My words to them, whether they hear or whether they refuse, for they are rebellious. (8) But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.” (9) Now when I looked, there was a hand stretched out to me; and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. (10) Then He spread it before me; and there was writing on the inside and on the outside, and written on it were lamentations and mourning and woe.
The Case for Repentance — Section 2
zekiel 18:30-32 (30) “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways,” says the Lord God. “Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. (31) Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? (32) For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,” says the Lord God. “Therefore turn and live!”
Key Facts
Authorship & Time Period
Ezekiel takes its name from the priest-turned-prophet who wrote it, son of a man named Buzi. His priestly background shows everywhere in his ministry — he’s constantly drawn to the temple, the priesthood, and the glory of the Lord, even from exile in Babylon. Ezekiel 1:1 dates the start of his prophecy to “the thirtieth year,” almost certainly his own age — the very year he would have begun priestly service in Jerusalem, had Jerusalem not already fallen once and sent him into exile. He ministered to the Jewish exiles at Tel-abib on the Chebar canal, about a hundred miles south of Babylon, beginning in 593 BC and continuing for at least 22 years.
Type of literature
Prophecy & Historical Narrative
Characters
MAJOR CHARACTERS: Ezekiel and Yahweh
The Story
Summary
Sections 1–2 tell one continuous story: God drafts a reluctant, grieving priest into a job nobody would want — telling a stubborn, exiled people that the city they’re still hoping to see again is about to be leveled, and that it’s their own fault. Ezekiel doesn’t just preach it. He acts it out. He builds a miniature siege model of Jerusalem in the dirt. He shaves his head and burns, chops, and scatters the hair as a sign of what’s coming to the city’s population. He lies on his side for over a year bearing the nation’s sin. He is struck mute except when God gives him a specific word to speak. It’s strange behavior only because the message was too dangerous for ordinary words alone.
Major Events
- Ezekiel’s vision of the glory of God on the throne-chariot (ch. 1)
- His commissioning as a “watchman” and prophet to a rebellious house (chs. 2–3)
- Symbolic sign-acts foretelling Jerusalem’s siege (chs. 4–5)
- Prophecies of judgment against the mountains, idols, and leaders of Israel (chs. 6–7)
- The vision of God’s glory departing the temple, chased out by the people’s idolatry (chs. 8–11)
- A long series of oracles, parables, and warnings — including the watchman’s individual responsibility and the famous “the soul who sins shall die” teaching (chs. 12–24)
Themes
- God’s glory cannot dwell alongside idolatry
- Individual, not merely national, accountability before God (Ezekiel 18)
- The high cost — and higher necessity — of speaking an unwelcome truth
- Judgment as the means to repentance, not an end in itself
Outline of Ezekiel
Ezekiel’s book can be divided into four sections:
- Chapters 1–3: Ezekiel’s Call and Commission(this lesson)
- Chapters 4–24: Prophecies Against Judah and Jerusalem(this lesson)
- Chapters 25–32: Prophecies Against Foreign Nations
- Chapters 33–48: Prophecies of Israel’s Future Restoration
Where Do We See Christ?
Ezekiel’s call is a study in undeserved mercy toward a rebellious audience — the very posture Jesus takes toward us. God tells Ezekiel plainly that the house of Israel is “impudent and stubborn” (2:4) and likely to refuse him outright, yet He sends the prophet anyway, out of love for a people who hadn’t earned it. Centuries later, Christ would step into a rebellious world knowing full well it would reject Him — and He came anyway (John 1:11; Romans 5:8).
And the closing note of the memory verse — “why should you die… turn and live” (18:31-32) — is the same heartbeat that sends Jesus to the cross. God takes no pleasure in anyone’s death; He would rather absorb the cost Himself than see it fall on us. That is the gospel showing up seven centuries early, tucked inside a sermon about personal accountability.
Point of Application
How can we apply this to our lives today?
Most of us will never be handed a scroll to eat or told to lie on our side for over a year. But every man in this room has faced Ezekiel’s basic choice: speak the hard, true thing to someone you love and risk being resented for it, or stay quiet and let the silence do more damage than the words ever could. Ezekiel 3 doesn’t promise the watchman will be heeded. It promises he’ll be held accountable for whether he spoke at all. That’s a sobering, freeing kind of pressure — freeing, because the outcome was never ours to carry. Only the warning was.
Chapter 18 adds the other half of the lesson: no man gets to hide behind his father’s sins or his generation’s excuses. “The soul who sins shall die” (18:4) — it’s personal. God isn’t interested in blaming the crowd; He’s interested in you, specifically, turning and living.
Discussion Questions
- Ezekiel is told not to fear “briers and thorns” or the people’s looks (2:6). Where in your own life right now is fear of someone’s reaction keeping you from saying something you know needs to be said?
- God holds the watchman responsible for warning, not for whether the warning is received (3:18-19). Does that change how you think about a hard conversation you’ve been avoiding?
- Chapter 18 insists on individual — not inherited — responsibility before God. Is there a “that’s just how my family/generation is” excuse you’ve been leaning on that this chapter challenges?
- Ezekiel’s sign-acts made an invisible message visible and unavoidable. Is there a place where your actions need to catch up to — or replace — your words?
Closing Prayer
Father, You did not send Ezekiel to a people who deserved a warning, and You did not send Your Son to a world that deserved rescuing — and yet You sent both anyway. Make us watchmen who care more about faithfulness than about being liked. Give us the courage to speak the hard, true word to the people You’ve placed in our lives, and the humility to hear it ourselves when it’s spoken to us. We don’t want to hide behind excuses for our own sin, Lord — search us, and show us where we need a new heart and a new spirit today. Thank You that You take no pleasure in anyone’s ruin, and that the door out of judgment is always marked “turn and live.” In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Prayer List
Doc – renewed vigor to join us on Saturdays
Richard Brooks – faith and courage during the next stage of his journey in Christ
Bob & Gaynelle – Breast cancer (from Mike Arras)
Julia (Arras) – praise for health
Jim Allen, friend of Daryl, heart issue, praise
Jim Sachs – praise
Darryl’s employee Tara – lung cancer, in US
Darryl’s Son Jonathan and Wife Lizz – spiritual renewal
Tom and Jeanice – praise and prayers for continued recovery
Becky and Lee Davidson, health and healing, difficult situation
Jim & Melissa, father-in-law’s heart condition and spiritual health, marital closeness
Mike Arras’ daughter, praise
Mike Allen – sister Adele and brother
Joe & Deb – continued prayers for Deb’s Dad, travel for Deb
Brian – Job situation
JC – health issues
JC’s granddaughter Kylie, Tiffany, and Tommy
Todd – medical issues (sinuses, hands)
Wisdom about meeting location
Our country & our world
Gayle (Karl’s wife) – wisdom, peace, strength in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds
Karl’s friend, Jesse – PRAISE! Found a good church body to join
Additional Content
FOR GREATER HISTORICAL UNDERSTANDING: WHY A SIGN-ACT INSTEAD OF A SERMON?
Ancient Near Eastern prophets occasionally used dramatic, symbolic actions — not just words — to communicate God’s message, and Ezekiel is the most extensive practitioner of this method in Scripture. Because his audience had already heard warnings for decades and grown numb to them, God had Ezekiel embody the message physically: a scale-model siege, a shaved head with the hair divided three ways, a diet rationed like a besieged city’s. The strangeness was the point — it forced people who had stopped listening to at least keep watching.
This also explains why Ezekiel’s audience is described as “rebellious” so often in chapters 2–3 (over and over in just a few verses). It’s not incidental language; it’s the reason the message had to be delivered this way in the first place. Words alone had already failed for a generation.
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