Wed.’s Devo - The Overwhelming Presence of the Lord

Read: Ezekiel 1:1-3:15; Hebrews 3:1-19; Psalm 104:1-23; Proverbs 26:24-26 Ezekiel means “Whom God will strengthen” and “God will Prevail”. His father was a priest which means he was a priest also, giving him a certain amount of clout with the people. God called him to prophesy in the fifth year from the date of his being carried to Babylon with King Jehoiachin (599 B.C.) The best of the people of Judah had listened to the prophets and surrendered to Babylon. They had been told by the prophets that this was the only way they would be safe. The ones who stayed were the ones who were attacked by the Chaldeans and most of them died as despised people. *** God appeared to Ezekiel by the river Chebar which flows into the Euphrates River. He lived close by in Tel-Abib were the elders would come to inquire of him God’s messages to him. They were eager to return to Jerusalem, but he taught them that they must return to the Lord first. *** In his first vision the Lord showed him a huge storm cloud that flashed with lightning and shone with brilliant light. Inside the cloud was fire and in the middle of the fire was something like gleaming amber. From this center came the four living creatures. Each had four faces, four wings and legs with feet like calf hooves. The creatures shone like bronze. They had human hands under their wings. *** The faces were human in the front, a lion on the right side, an ox on the left and an eagle at the back. One set of wings touched the wings of the one beside it and the other pair of wings covered its body. They went in the direction that the spirit chose them to go. *** As he watched them, four wheels appeared below them. The wheels went with them and there was a wheel within a wheel. In the wheel was the spirit that moved them up or down or sideways. Above them was a crystal canopy and when they moved their wings it sounded like waves crashing, or the voice of the Almighty or like the shouting of a mighty army. When they stopped and put their wings down, a voice spoke from the crystal canopy above them. *** When Ezekiel looked up on the crystal ceiling there was a throne made of blue lapis lazuli. On the throne sat a figure who looked like a man. He shown like fire in his splendor. He had a halo like a rainbow. When Ezekiel saw it, he fell to his face to the ground. *** The Lord spoke to him and told him to stand. The spirit helped him stand and he listened. The Lord said that he was sending him to the nation of Israel which was a people who had continually been a rebellious, stubborn, hard-hearted nation. Whether they listen to his words or not, at least they would know that a prophet was among them. God told him not to fear them even though they would threaten him and scoff at his messages. They wouldn’t listen because they were totally rebellious but he was to speak to them any way. He then gave Ezekiel a scroll filled with funeral songs, words of sorrow, and pronouncements of doom. He was to eat the scroll. It tasted like honey in his mouth. *** He was to take these messages back and give them to the stubborn Israelites who would not listen. He was not to be afraid of them but continue to speak what God had given him. *** The spirit took Ezekiel back to the exiles in Tel-abib and sat overwhelmed for seven days before he was able to speak. *** In Hebrews, Jesus was compared to Moses in that they were both building God’s house. Moses was the shadow of Jesus. Jesus Christ is in charge of Moses’ house and Jesus’ house as God’s son (the Old Testament and the New Testament house). Jesus is also our Apostle and High Priest. *** The writer of Hebrews warns them not to have a heart of unbelief that the children of Israel had under Moses. They were so rebellious that God had to kill them in the wilderness and didn’t allow them to enter into the rest he had prepared for them. We cannot be that people now. We must enter into God’s rest and trust him to take care of all that is going on around us. *** Lord, we put our future in your hands. We put the future of our nation and our children and grand children in your hands. We choose to rest in your presence.