Hello My Friend; Good day.
Our reading for today, February 12, 2009 is from Ezekiel chapter 1. Ezekiel was one we regard among the Major prophets of ancient Israel. His name means "God is strong", or "God makes strong". He had to be strong given all the things he went through at his young age. He was a young contemporary of Jeremiah and Daniel. He was called to be a prophet at the time Judah went into captivity in Babylon and his ministry of over 22 years was among the captives in the streets of Babylon. God was very kind and faithful to Israel for sending a prophet among the captives to preach, warn and motivate them to yield their lives back to God. God called Ezekiel when he just made 30, ready to enter into priesthood. His career was changed.
Verses 4-26 describe the strange vision which the Lord showed to Ezekiel. Please read up. The four living creatures had four faces; lion for strength, the ox for for diligent service, the man for intelligence, and the eagle for divinity and majesty. The four creatures can be said to symbolize the four Gospels and the early Church Fathers interpreted each to represent as follows: Matthew represents lion as he spoke of Christ as the Lion of Judah; Mark represents the Ox and spoke of the suffering Servant hood of Christ; Luke represents man and spoke of Christ as the perfect Man; John represents Christ as eagle, portraying Christ as the Divine Son of God full of Grace and majesty. In Revelation 4, we see a parallel of the vision of Ezekiel. The four living creatures are powerful symbols of God's judgment and the rainbow over the throne symbolizes God's compromising faithfulness. Remember in Genesis when god showed a rainbow in the sky to give Noah the assurance that He will never again destroy the earth with the rain and flood(see Genesis 9:8-17). In verse 28 Ezekiel saw God's Glory and fell down on his face. Think about this: in Isaiah 6:1-6, Isaiah saw the Lord in the year King Josiah died and that was when he was commissioned as prophet; in Exodus 3:1-12 Moses saw the burning bush and was commissioned to lead the Hebrew children out of Egypt; Peter, James and John saw the transfiguration of the Lord and were affirmed as the insiders of the Apostleship; Saul saw the light of the Christ he persecuted and was commissioned to be the Apostle to the Gentiles. Do you remember anything spectacular in your life that signified God's presence? How about a dream like Jacob had on the road, and wrestling with the angel? It was then that he knew the Lord was in that place and he did not even know it.
Ezekiel was called to be with the Israelite captives in Babylon to help them develop a sense of repentance and to be assured that though it would be longer than expected, the Lord will finally come through to restore them to their original homeland. Hallelujah. Amen.
Prayer for today: God is our refuge and strength, our very present help in time of trouble. Be still and know that God is able, faithful, and willing to help. Amen.
Apostle Ndueso Udoiwod.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
I have a few questions. Nice post today by the way, my question is does Ezekiel's age of 30 when he began his ministry for the Lord coincide with Numbers chapter 4 requirements for the men of Levi to enter into the ministry of God; because Jesus also waited until he was 30. Also, where does it document that Ezekiel was 30?
ReplyDeleteAlso are the living creatures angels?
Lastly, this looks like the vision John had on the Lord's day or the day of the Lord. Is it?
This chapter is really exciting to read a prophet describe how he saw the Lord in a vision and to share that with us...thank you for today's devotional.
nnu