Thurs.’s Devo - The Awesomeness of God

Read: Ezekiel 1:1-3:15; Hebrews 3:1-19; Psalm 104:1-23; Proverbs 26:24-26
Ezekiel was the son of the priest Buzi who was a faithful priest of the Lord’s. I have to remind myself that there were a remnant of faithful believers in God in the midst of the rebellious people that Jeremiah prophesied against, just as there were scribes and Pharisees during Jesus time that were pure in heart. Ezekiel was one of these. He left Jerusalem willingly because he believed what Jeremiah said that they were to go with the Babylonians and serve them in their land; one day they would return. God started to speaking to Ezekiel when he was to Babylonia and was camping by the Kebar River.
God took Ezekiel into a bizarre vision much like Daniel would have years later. He saw these four creatures in the midst of a windstorm. They were lit with light and had a forward face of a man, a face of a lion on the right, an ox on the left and an eagle in the back. They were on wheels within wheels so they could travel forward and backwards on one wheel and side to side on the other. So, picture the wheels as an “X” if you were looking down on them. These faces corresponded with powers in the natural then and men who would later rule spiritually.
The man stood for Greece and the man, Luke who wrote his Gospel to the Greeks and his message was that the Messiah was the Son of man. His wheel was connected with the eagle behind him which stood for Rome and the apostle John who wrote his Gospel to the Church. His message was that the Messiah was also the Son of God.
The ox, a creature of burden stood for Persia and the apostle Mark whose audience was the Romans and whose message was that the Messiah was a Servant. He was on the same wheel going side to side with the lion who stood for Assyria and the apostle Matthew whose audience was the Jews and his message was that Jesus was King of the Jews.
Jesus became a man that he might show us the way to heaven. We are born as a man - a sinner but we are saved to soar in the Spirit. We go from man to eagle.
Jesus began as a servant, under the weight of sin. Once we are saved we are resurrected as a king. We serve here on earth just as Jesus did, to be raised kings and queens. We go from ox to lion!. How awesome is that?
In Hebrews we read that Moses was the faithful servant, testifying what was to come in the future. But Christ was the faithful son over the house we are a part of. Moses built the structure but Jesus came and filled it with his Spirit. Hebrews encourages us over and over to just believe. Believe the Word and everything that it says because it is true.
Lord, open the eyes of our understanding to see your great and marvelous plan.