In this message we will continue to consider Ezekiel 1:1-3, three verses which are the introduction to this book. We have seen the date of the visions, and now we will go on to see the place of the visions, the person who saw the visions, and the conditions for seeing the visions.
The second point in the introduction is the place where Ezekiel saw the visions. Verse 3 tells us that the visions came to Ezekiel when he was “in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar.”
The place—the land of the Chaldeans—was not a good place, for Chaldea was the place where Babel began. The name Babel in Hebrew is the equivalent of Babylon in Greek. Thus, we may say that Chaldea was actually Babylon and that Babylon was Babel, the place where Satan collected the fallen people to rebel against God. The very place where Ezekiel saw the visions was the place where Satan instigated the greatest rebellion against God among the fallen people. That was also the place out of which God had called Abraham that He might have a chosen people (Gen. 11:6, 31). Unfortunately, at Ezekiel’s time most of God’s chosen people had been carried back to that place. Their captivity was their fall. They had fallen into the very place out of which their forefather Abraham had been called by God.
I would ask you to consider the situation of today’s Christians. Are most Christians in the land of Canaan or in the land of the Chaldeans? Surely the majority of Christians are not in the good land but in a place of degradation. For this reason the book of Ezekiel exactly fits the situation of Christians today.
When Ezekiel saw the visions, he was by a river. He says in verse 1, “I was among the captives by the river of Chebar.” The river of Chebar signifies the power of the enemy to damage God’s people (cf. Isa. 8:7-8). Chebar means “strong,” “many,” “powerful.” This river, the river of Babylon, indicates that Babylon was strong and powerful, and thus it signifies the power of Babylon in being against God’s people. Today the “river of Chebar” is the satanic tide of the age that carries people away from God to Babylon.
There are two rivers in the book of Ezekiel: the river Chebar in chapter one and the river flowing out of the temple in chapter forty-seven. The river Chebar carries the people of God away from God, but the river flowing out of the temple brings people into God’s life. We need to realize that these two rivers are still on earth today. One river is the trend, the course, the tide, of this world. This is the river of Babylon, the river in the fallen world, which carries people away from God. We praise the Lord that there is another river and that everything lives wherever this river comes.
Two rivers are flowing today. One river is of this world; the other river is of the holy land. One river carries people away from God; the other river brings people back to God in life. One river destroys the building of God; the other river builds up God’s dwelling place.
By which river are you—the river Chebar or the river that flows out of the dwelling place of God? You may say that you are by the river of living water which comes out of the dwelling place of God, but you still may have something of the course of this age, of the trend of today’s world. If you are still in the trend of today’s world, you are not by the river of living water but by the river of Chebar, and you are not in the holy land but in the land of the Chaldeans.
When the heavens were opened to Ezekiel, he was by the river of Chebar, but he was not in this river. Many of the people of Israel had been killed by the Babylonian army; others had died because of famine, disease, and wild animals. Nevertheless, the situation was not totally hopeless, for God still left some “dry land” by the river which had carried His people away. By giving them this “dry land,” God enabled them to stay alive and to be preserved. This indicates that God’s grace remained with Ezekiel, with King Jehoiachin, and with many others who had been carried away into captivity. If they had not been by the banks of the river Chebar but instead had been in the river, they all would have perished. Because of God’s grace they could still live by the river in the land of captivity. Although they could not live in Canaan and thus could not enjoy the abundance of grace in Christ, they could still enjoy some mercy in the land of captivity.
The visions recorded in the book of Ezekiel are urgently needed by today’s Christians and by today’s church. The more I contact the Lord and fellowship with Him and the more I observe today’s situation, the more I realize that the visions of Ezekiel are messages from God for the present age. The visions God gave to Ezekiel were for a people who were in captivity by the river Chebar. Today most of God’s children are also in the land of captivity. Instead of remaining in Christ as the good land of Canaan, they have fallen into captivity in Babylon, where they do not live in Christ properly and continually and where they do not enjoy the riches of Christ. This is the overall condition of Christians today. For this reason, I believe that the visions in the book of Ezekiel meet the need of God’s people today.