Your Customized Calling, Ezekiel 3:22-27

God showed up in a whirlwind with flashes as lightning and the sound of many waters.

The hand of the Lord was strong upon Ezekiel, He entered him and lifted him and said to him, “Go and speak to the rebellious house of Israel.”

In this passion, and in this zeal, Ezekiel was released to his mission field beside the River Chebar.

Did he challenge like Elijah saying, “How long will you falter between two opinions?” 1 Kings 18:21.

Or command like Joshua, “Choose you this day whom you will serve?” Joshua 24:15

Or stand in water and call like John the Baptist “Repent!” Matt. 3:2.

Did he spin like a whirlwind and declare “Thus says the Lord, ‘You are a rebellious house!’” (God called them that about 10 times in the last two chapters).

Did he do anything like that?

Ezekiel 3:15, Then I came to the captives at Tel Abib, who dwelt by the River Chebar; and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days.

Sitting silent like a bump on a log was not exactly what the Lord had in mind when He said.

Go

Stand

Speak My Word

Do not fear

Do not rebel

Sounds simple. 

Hard, but simple. 

Which is characteristic of God’s commands.

Instead of standing and speaking. He sat in silence, with the rebels.

Have you ever disobeyed God?

 Obey the laws of the land (Romans 13:1-2, 1 Peter 2:13).

What’s the speed limit?

Have you ever sinned with your words? 

Eph. 4:29. Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building up the one in need and bringing grace to those who listen.

Have you ever sat silent when God told you to speak?

Have you ever not done what He told you to do?

Ever felt like you missed your moment?

He called, He knocked, I didn’t answer. Now, it’s too late. I missed my chance.

Ever felt like that?

You’re not alone.

Guess what?

God knew you’d blow it before He ever asked you to do it.

Put yourself in Zeke’s shoes. God called me by name. He gave me a ministry. Set me up, and sent me out...

But I dropped the ball. No. Worse, I never even picked it up.

I let, fear of failure, cause me to fail, by staying silent and doing nothing.

At the end of life more people regret what they didn’t say, what they didn’t do, than what they did.

The songs unwritten, unsung are the most regretted.

The Good news is:

God knew you before He called you, and He never makes mistakes.

That means, God knew before He ever sent Zeke to speak, that he’d spend a week sitting on his hands in silence.

For we don’t have a Great High Priest who can’t be touched with the feelings of our infirmities but was tempted in all points just as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews 4:15. 

That means, Jesus was tempted just like we are, so He knows exactly how we feel.

So, God did not remove Ezekiel’s calling. He didn’t kick him out of Prophet training.

We know because we’re studying his book that’s 48 chapters long.

God will give Ezekiel amazing prophecies like Ez. 37, the rebirth of Israel. (May 14, 1948).

Like the war that’s taking shape right before our very eyes, (Ez. 38-39).

So, what does God do when He gives us an assignment, and we blow it?

He looks at the heart more than the hands.

When He looked at Ezekiel, He saw a man, that would fear, and fall, and fail, just like us.

He also saw a man that would get back up, and obey, not rebel.

And so, God showed up again, not with rebuke, but with Truth.

Son of man, I’ve made you a watchman. (That wasn't only meant for Zeke, but us too).

A watchman on the city wall watches for danger. Be it fire or storm or enemy. They are the eyes and ears of the city. The first responders. The security of the city lay largely on the alertness of the watchman.

A watchman for the Lord, is the eyes and ears of the Lord, watching, waking and warning a sleeping people. Watchmen for the Lord are responsible and accountable in some degree for another’s eternity.

There will be blood on the hands of a watchman who fails to watch and wake and warn.

God made the weight of a watchman’s responsibility abundantly clear to Ezekiel (and us).

However, Zeke, was more of a Silent Knight, than a siren screaming in the night (at least for now).

So, God’s great compassion, customized the calling just for Ezekiel.

He does the same just for you.

22 Then the hand of the Lord was upon me there, (by the riverside where he’d been sitting for seven days) and He said to me, “Arise, go out into the plain, and there I shall talk with you.”

God shows up right where we’re at.

He comes to us, in the mess we’re in.

The Lord loves us right where we are.

Too much to keep us there.

He appears with a plan.

If truly serving the Lord, you’ll never run out of things to do.

If actively following Jesus, you’ll never be bored.

Arise go.

23 So I arose and went out into the plain, and behold, the glory of the Lord stood there, like the glory which I saw by the River Chebar; and I fell on my face.

The same glory!

He hasn’t sidelined you.

He wasn’t taking you to the woodshed.

Obedience brings understanding. 

You fall to your face in humble honor. Oh Lord thank You for remembering me, a sinner.

24 Then the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet, and spoke with me and said to me: “Go, shut yourself inside your house.

Entered me. Set me. Spoke with me.

 In Ezekiel’s day it was selective and rare for the Spirit to enter a person. They were chosen vessels the Lord used as His voice.

When from the heart you genuinely surrender to Christ, die to yourself, allow Him to be Lord, then He enters in, sets your feet on the straight and narrow, and keeps you there by speaking to you, this is the way, walk in it.

Christian won’t be something you do, but someone you are.

The Word of God will come alive in and through you saying:

Christ in me the hope of glory! Colossians 1:27.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! Philippians 4:13.

I am more than a conqueror through Him who loves me! Romans 8:37.

Go shut yourself inside your house.

Now this is where God customizes the calling just for Ezekiel.

God specializes in taking our mess and making a message.

So, when you mess up, don’t give up, give it to God.

Watch how God turns Ezekiel’s mess into a message.

Notice the object lesson.

The Word of God through the man of God was removed from a rebellious people.

Soon the Word of God through the Church of God will be removed from a rebellious people. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, 1 Corinthians 15:52.

The silence will speak.

Ezekiel, the Silent Knight, was sent home, not benched, not laid off, not fired, but on special assignment.

25 And you, O son of man, surely they will put ropes on you and bind you with them, so that you cannot go out among them.

Folks debate over whether this is literal or figurative binding.

In context what’s probably being said is something like this:

O son of man, try as you may to go out and speak to them, due to their impudent, hard-hearted, rebellious attitude, your hands will be tied.  

26 I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth, so that you shall be mute and not be one to rebuke them, for they are a rebellious house.

So, I will withhold giving you anything to say to those rebels.

The Gift of Silence.

27 But when I speak with you (Divine Timing), I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God’ (Divine Words). He who hears, let him hear; and he who refuses, let him refuse; for they are a rebellious house.

Say what He gives you. Plant the Seed. Leave the results to God. You’re not responsible for their response.

Notice, the Greater, is the One to break the silence.

If you’re not speaking to someone. You be the one to reach out, break the silence. It doesn’t mean you’re weaker, or in the wrong, it means you're following God, and He isn’t weaker, He isn't wrong, ever.  

A time to speak.

Ezekiel became a Silent Knight, he went silent except for when God gave him something to say, then, he’d speak God’s word and often with dramatization and then go silent again.

No elaboration, no idle conversation.

This created curiosity.

So, the gift of silence made the heart grow fonder.

Folks would come to him, to see if he would speak or perform some bizarre dramatization.

This appears to have continued, until the fall of Jerusalem, about seven years later, (593-586 BC).

After that Ezekiel spoke more freely.  

Interestingly, that’s about one year for each day, Ezekiel sat silent by the riverside.

Divine Probation?  

We understand this timing because of what is stated later in Ezekiel:

And on that day a survivor from Jerusalem will come to you in Babylon and tell you what has happened. And when he arrives, your voice will suddenly return so you can talk to him, and you will be a symbol for these people. Then they will know that I am the LORD.” (Ezekiel 24:26,27, NLT)

On January 8, during the twelfth year of our captivity, a survivor from Jerusalem came to me and said, “The city has fallen!” The previous evening the LORD had taken hold of me and given me back my voice. So I was able to speak when this man arrived the next morning. (Ezekiel 33:21,22, NLT)

Some prophets were strong orators, but Ezekiel used object lessons.

Like shaving his hair with a sword and burning it. Like building a mini model of Jerusalem. Like laying on his side for hundreds of days and eating over a fire made of human dung (well, that was revised to be cow manure).

Why?

Lord willing, that’s what we’ll look at next week.

Let’s pray.

Lord Jesus, we give to You our lives, our mess, our everything. Thank You for turning the mess into a message and customizing a calling just for us to be used by You to lead others to You. So, when all is said and done we will see Your smiling face and hear Your beautiful words, “Well done.”

Thank You, Lord.

We love You, forever.

Amen.

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Your Better and Enduring Reward, Hebrews 10:32-39

There is available to you a great reward, above and beyond all you could ever ask or think. It will never fade, grow old, or break.

This enduring reward is for the enduring.  

³² But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated (born again), you endured a great struggle with sufferings: ³³ partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated; ³⁴ for you had compassion on (the prisoners) me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven. ³⁵ Therefore do not cast away (blind Bart, Mark 10:46-52) your confidence, which has great reward. ³⁶ For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:

³⁷ “For yet a little while,
And He who is coming will come and will not tarry.
³⁸ Now the just shall live by faith;
But if anyone draws back,
My soul has no pleasure in him.”

(vs 37-38 quote from Habakkuk 2:3-4)

³⁹ But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.

Recall the former days. Can you remember back when you were first illuminated, first born again? You may remember the day and hour the Lord came in and changed your life.

And then some may say, “I don't even remember when I became a Christian.” I was raised in a Christian home. I was brought up believing in Jesus and I simply grew into knowing and loving and serving Him.

Like that question we often ask couples: “So, how did you two meet?”

How you came to know Christ is your story. You should intentionally remember it. It’s your and His, HIStory.

Remember the former days. Remember the things that we've been through. Good and bad. Smooth and bumpy. Better or worse. Richer or poorer. Before Christ and after.

Remember the former days. Revelation 2:4- 5. The first letter to the seven Churches, Jesus tells us to do the same thing.

“I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; ³ and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary.

So far so good, you’re doing a good job, I appreciate it, thank you. But something’s missing. You’re going through the motions, but your heart is no longer in it. The spring in your step, the gleam in your eye, the smile on your face, the joy on your face, is gone.

This is not good. We need to talk.

⁴ Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

Jesus didn’t go anywhere. He’s still committed to the relationship. He still loves you more than you could ever imagine.

But you left. For whatever reason you let your heart grow cold, apathetic, distant.

He’s still waiting, reaching, knocking, calling...

But you no longer remember the former days.

So He says:

 ⁵ Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.

Lampstand represents the Church. (Revelation 1:20).

If you’ve left your First Love (Jesus), and don’t repent, one day He will come quickly and remove the Church... and you’ll be left behind.

Remember your former days,

Psalm 103:1-5.
Bless the Lord, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
² Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget not all His benefits:
³ Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases,
⁴ Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
⁵ Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Forget not. Remember the former days in which after you were illuminated. Jesus said at the last supper, do this in remembrance of me. Do you remember what you've come through? Do you remember what He’s done for you?

My sister, journals. It's a great way to help us remember. On this date, God did that. On this date, the Lord said this. On this day, I prayed this, and lo and behold, the Lord answered.

Remember the former days after you were illuminated. You endured a great struggle, a great fight of affliction. What they went through is an example for us.

We have struggles in our country, persecution against Christians, it’s going to get worse, but currently nothing compared to what our Church founding fathers went through.

They had to acknowledge Caesar is God to be allowed into the marketplace. In other words, they were unable to buy and sell unless they became politically correct.

One day that will mean taking the mark of the beast, selling your soul, so you can eat. Revelation 13:16-17. (Pray you escape this Great Tribulation).

They became impoverished outcasts and martyrs. Our word “martyr” comes from the Greek word martus, which means, witness. So many witnesses for Christ were killed, the word for witness came to be akin to martyr. 

How did they handle it? (remember they are our examples).

They joyfully accepted the plundering of their goods. (Hebrews 10:34).

If someone breaks your car window because of your Jesus bumper sticker, how would you handle it? Joyfully? Prayerfully. Or curse the person and damn them to hell?

For being a disciple of Christ. For preaching the gospel...

Matthew was martyred by the sword in Ethiopia

Mark was dragged to death by horses through the streets of Alexandria, Egypt.

Luke was hanged in Greece.

John was boiled in oil, but miraculously survived, so he was exiled to the prison Island of Patmos, where he penned the prophetic Book of Revelation, and was the only apostle to die of old age.

Peter was crucified upside down, feeling unworthy to die as Jesus.

James, leader of the church in Jerusalem, was beaten to death after he survived being thrown from the pinnacle of the Temple.

James the Son of Zebedee was beheaded by Herod in Jerusalem. His faith convicted his executioner to convert and accept the same fate.

Andrew was crucified in Greece, and preached Jesus to his tormentors until his last breath.

Bartholomew was a missionary to Armenia where he was flayed alive.

Thomas preached all the way to India until stabbed to death with a spear.

Matthias was stoned and then beheaded.

Paul was beheaded by Nero in Rome. His writings, from prison, continue to change the world.

Others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. Of whom the world was not worthy.) Hebrews 11:36-38

None of them, not even one, renounced their faith.

Light shines brightest in the darkest night.

If that’s the price of being a disciple, would you still be in?

 Could you joyfully accept these things knowing you have a better and an enduring possession. Hebrews 10:34.

Is your relationship with Jesus better than everything else?

If you lost everything, would you still hold fast to Jesus and feel like you've lost nothing?

Is there an earthly possession or relational possession, that would be a deal breaker? If God takes my spouse or my child or my loved one or my job or my money or my health, then that’s it, I'm through.

Is that the case?

We must examine our hearts.

Is there something or is He the better, the best, the enduring possession? He must be number one priority and they are our example. They went through all these things, became martyrs, became impoverished, and they held fast.

Even though, they were sorely tried and tempted to give up. That’s why Hebrews was given. To tell them to hold fast, to The Anchor that holds and endures, forever.

Proper perspective is powerfully important. You see, this life is but a vapor. We're here today, gone tomorrow.

So, if it's not so great on this earth, so what, we can endure.

Jesus said (John 16:33), “In this world you will have tribulation—” We will have a great fight of affliction. “—but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

We're in a wrestling match. We're in a race. So don’t be surprised if they’re trying to outrun you. Don’t freak out if they’re trying to pin you. They’re supposed to. It’s a race. It’s a fight. Opponents are inevitable.

Fight the Good fight for the prize. Run the race to win.

If you don’t quit, you win.

Weary not in well doing, for in due season you shall reap if you faint not. Galatians 6:9

We will struggle.

It's not a lack of God's ability.

It’s for our accountability. We are in the battle we put ourselves in when we rejected Him way back in the Garden. And every single day since then.

We were doomed for destruction.

God is Love. He sent His Son. Jesus came and fought and won. Now we simply need to pick up our cross and follow Him off the battlefield.

Don’t drop the cross, even though it gets heavy, keep your eyes on the Prize, and keep putting one foot in front of the other. 

Hebrews 10:35, Therefore do not cast away your confidence which has great reward.

Hebrews 11:6, Without faith, it's impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."

Do not cast away. There’s a great fight of affliction to get you to cast off Christ. Just take a break, indulge just a little, you deserve it, no need to be so diligent, relax, cast away...

That’s the door for leaving your First Love, to lukewarm, apathy.      

Do not go there!

No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. Luke 9:62. 

If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me. Matthew 16:24.

 

There is available to you a great reward, above and beyond all you could ever ask or think. It will never fade, grow old, or break.

However, this enduring reward is only for the enduring.  

He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Heb. 11:6).

Moses understood the riches of Egypt couldn’t compare to God’s Great Reward.

By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. Hebrews 11:24-26.

Moses is our example.

The disciples are our example.

God is in the middle of it all cheering us on, toward the reward waiting for those who endure to the end.

 Cast away is one word in the original text and only used one other time in Scripture, in Mark 10:50. Blind Bartimaeus was on the roadside begging when he heard Jesus was passing by. So, he shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” They told him to shut up. But Jesus told them to tell him to come to Him. So, blind Bart immediately cast away his garment and went to Jesus. Before you can blink, Blind Bart was blind no more and following Jesus.

That garment he cast away was his government issued welfare cloak that said, “I’m blind, I’m a victim, all I can do is beg.” But Something told him he had a better, enduring, eternal reward awaiting. All he had to do was cast away that old victim identity and follow the Victor.

The Lord told the Hebrews not to cast away the cloak of Christ and return to the blindness of Judaism.

Dear Church, the Lord calls, to put on the Lord Jesus and never cast away, for the blindness of religion or the bondage of pleasure for a season.

For after you have done the will of God, you will receive the enduring promise.

After.

After you win the fight, you get the prize.

After you finish the job, you get paid.

 After the labor pains, you receive the baby.

After enduring, you receive the enduring reward.

“For yet a little while,
And He who is coming will come and will not tarry.
³⁸ Now the just shall live by faith;
But if anyone draws back,
My soul has no pleasure in him.”

Hebrews 10:37-38.

Take one step into eternity, and look back, you’ll see our time here is but a blip, a breath, a vapor.

So what if the chair is uncomfortable. So what if pictures are ugly. This is just the dressing room to prepare to meet the Groom.

In a little while He will come.

Then, we enter Life.

Are you ready?

Let’s pray,

Lord Jesus, we pray we’re ready. If not, please let us know. Give us strength to endure and not draw back so we and all those You’ve given us, will hear You say, “Well done”

We love You, forever.

Amen.

 

Prayer Requests:

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This was feed for you to read. Now it’s Seed for you to sow.

Thank you for sharing.

 

I have made you a watchman, Ezekiel 3:1-21

The making of a watchman.

Luke 21:36, Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

All children of God are called to be watchmen.

The process to becoming a watchman begins easy. With something we're all good at and enjoy doing.

Eat.

Moreover He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” ² So I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat that scroll.

³ And He said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly, and fill your stomach with this scroll that I give you.” So I ate, and it was in my mouth like honey in sweetness.

Son of man, (not specifically, “son of Buzi” (his dad) but generally, “Ben Adam” son of mankind) which includes you if you’re born of a human.

So, this is personal, not only to Ezekiel, but also to you.

We can say as Ezekiel said:

He said to me. Eat this scroll that I give you. Don’t miss the powerful point that God initiated the conversation. He showed up for a visit. He went to Ezekiel. He comes to you. It’s what He does.

He shows up. He came to Adam and Eve. He came to Noah. He came to Abraham and Sarah, and even Hagar. He came to Isaac and Jacob and Joshua, and David and Solomon, and Daniel, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and on down the line to you and me as a Babe in a manger.

He’s the same yesterday today and forever, He still comes. Whenever we gather, He comes in the middle.

He’s come here and now, wherever you are. Don’t miss Him, or ignore Him, or take His Presence for granted.

As with Ezekiel, He stretches out His hand with His Word, (Ez. 2:9).

As with His disciples at the last supper, He says, take eat, what I give you. Matthew 26:26.

Feed your belly. Fill your stomach.

In other words, eat what’s set before you. Clean your plate. Eat what I give you. Don’t search for chocolate and ice cream, when I give spinach and broccoli.

I know what you need.

I’ve come to you, why do you run from Me?

Why seek sermons that tickle your ears fatten your flesh, leaving your soul empty and sick with no appetite for the Life giving feast I prepared for you?

If you eat first the True food I give, you’ll have no appetite for the deceitful delicacies of the world.

2 Timothy 4:3, Matthew 6:33, Galatians 5:16-17.

He says to all born of man, eat what I give you.

But then, the command becomes more specific, only for those born of man and born again.

 Those who obey and feed and fill up on His Word, He sends.

To them He gives the commission:

GO.

⁴ Then He said to me: “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them. ⁵ For you are not sent to a people of unfamiliar speech and of hard language, but to the house of Israel, ⁶ not to many people of unfamiliar speech and of hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, had I sent you to them, they would have listened to you. ⁷ But the house of Israel will not listen to you, because they will not listen to Me; for all the house of Israel are impudent and hard-hearted.

Are you born again? If so, you’re called to go.

However, note, the Great Commission is specific.

Only go to those I send you.

Only say what I give you.

Jesus is our example.

He did what His Father told Him to do. John 5:19.

He said what His Father told Him to say. John 17:8.

John 17:9. “I don’t pray for the world, but for those You’ve given Me.”

John 5:1-15. At the pool of Bethesda, Jesus healed one, out of perhaps 1,000. That man told the religious leaders. So, they sought to kill Jesus, because it was on the Sabbath.

Jesus didn’t say, “Oh Dad why’d we heal that jerk?”

Jesus understood:

“A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.” Matthew 13:57.

Ezekiel was fixin’ to find out.

Go where you’re sent, to whom you’re sent. Leave the results to God. Only God can discern the thoughts and intents of the heart.  

Don’t chase needs.

Trust God. Plant Seeds.  

Their response is not your responsibility.

⁸ Behold, I have made your face strong against their faces, and your forehead strong against their foreheads. ⁹ Like adamant stone, harder than flint, I have made your forehead; do not be afraid of them, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house.”

DIVINE PROVISION

He invites all to come to His feast and eat.

To those who come and eat what He gives, He sends.

To those He sends, He equips.

Where God guides, He provides.

He gave Ezekiel a hard head and thick skin for the rebellious house he was sent to.

God gives grace for the calling.

No superhero can hold a candle to the love and care and grace we’ve witnessed right here in our family as silver haired saints have cared for loved ones.

Zechariah 4:6 tells us it’s not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit says the Lord.

Psalm 127:1, Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.

¹⁰ Moreover He said to me: “Son of man, receive into your heart all My words that I speak to you, and hear with your ears. ¹¹ And go, get to the captives, to the children of your people, and speak to them and tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ whether they hear, or whether they refuse.”

DIVINE FRUITION

At first, he ate; feed your belly, and fill your stomach.

Now, He says, receive into your heart.

The Seed has gone from head to heart.

This can only be caught, not taught.

For those who stay the course, the Seed takes root in your soul and blossoms, bearing fruit.

Now God’s Words are your words.

Now, the people you’re sent to are now, your people.

This is when Life gets exciting.

You do what you do because you, get to, not because you got to.

Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4.

Commit your works to the Lord and your thoughts will be established. Proverbs 16:3.

This leads to Divine intervention, and passion and purpose and clarity of vision.

¹² Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me a great thunderous voice: “Blessed is the glory of the Lord from His place!” ¹³ I also heard the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels beside them, and a great thunderous noise. ¹⁴ So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away...

DIVINE INTERVENTION

The Spirit lifted me up, most likely means lifting spiritually rather than physically, since it appears he winds up in the same place as when he started; by the river Chebar.

In our walk to becoming a watchman there will be moments, His Presence is strong.

Like the song, Heaven came down and glory filled my soul.

We’ll catch a glimpse, on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10.

However, what we see might not be what we expect.

¹⁴...and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the Lord was strong upon me.

DIVINE PASSION

Like a coach giving an impassioned speech before his players hit the field. The Lord gets Ezekiel fired up for the mission before him.

A righteous indignation welled up in Ezekiel.

Then, filled with the zeal of the Lord Ezekiel hits his mission field...

 ¹⁵ Then I came to the captives at Tel Abib, who dwelt by the River Chebar; and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days.

DIVINE COMPASSION

EMPATHY

Or... APATHY?

What? Filled with the zeal of the Lord, Ezekiel sat down like a bump on a log?

Was he overwhelmed by the vision and calling?

Was Ezekiel sitting where they sat, to get to know them? To show empathy toward them? After all, they were captives.

Was he waiting seven days to reflect the time for consecrating priests?

Was he sitting from Sabbath to Sabbath?

Some folks say those things, but it’s just conjecture.

When interpreting Scripture context is king. So, let’s look at context over conjecture.

They’d already been in captivity for five years (since 597BC). So, sitting for seven days now doesn’t seem to make sense.

It’ll be seven years or so before Nebuchadnezzar destroys Jerusalem (586 BC), so that’s not it.

It’d be another 55 years before Cyrus takes Babylon and releases the captives (538 BC).

So, what’s Ezekiel doing just sitting there for a week?

Perhaps God is asking the same thing. I filled you with My Word, calling, and zeal, and now you just sit there in silence? What are you doing?

What would you do?

You’ve been hanging out with family and friends for five years, now all of a sudden, God tells you they’re rebellious, impudent, hard-hearted, hard headed.

 And I’m sending you to tell them.

Oh, and they won’t listen to you, because they won’t listen to Me.

But go anyway.

That’s probably why God pumped him up full of passion before turning him loose.

How do you start? Where do you begin?

Instead of standing up and speaking out, he sat down to ponder and became bewildered.

A simple way to prevent that is to: 

Obey right away.

Now, perhaps because of his passive procrastination the Lord shows up and spells it out in a way that’d make him take his calling more seriously.

¹⁶ Now it came to pass at the end of seven days that the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 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.

²⁰ “Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die; because you did not give him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. ²¹ Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man that the righteous should not sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; also you will have delivered your soul.”

DIVINE PURPOSE

If we will eat what God gives, stay the course until it comes to fruition and we obey right way, God will provide clarity to our Divine Purpose.

He made it crystal clear to Ezekiel.

A watchman is a serious calling. They sit in towers on the city wall watching for danger. Be it fire or storm or enemy.

They are the eyes and ears of the city. The first responders.

The security of the city lay largely on the alertness of the watchman.

A watchman for the Lord, is the eyes and ears of the Lord, watching, waking and warning a sleeping people.

Watchmen for the Lord are responsible and accountable in some degree for another’s eternity.

You are called to be a watchman.

To watch, to wake, to warn.

Yes, you are your brother’s keeper.

Mark 13:33-37. Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch.
Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning— lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!”

The waking of a watchman.

EAT what He gives.

GO to whom He sends you.

SAY what He tells you.

DO what He shows you.

Leave the results to Him.

Stay the course.

Obey right away.

Receive His:

DIVINE PROVISION

DIVINE FRUITION

DIVINE INTERVENTION

DIVINE PASSION

DIVINE PURPOSE

Be a faithful watchman who saves souls and makes disciples and hears Him say, to you and all those He’s given you, “Well done.”

Let’s pray.

Lord Jesus, thank You for showing up, for coming to us, for being Immanuel, God with us. Please forgive us for ignoring Your Presence. We don’t want to do that anymore. We want to be Your watchmen, hearing You, seeing You, watching, waking, warning, those You give us. So we all, will one Day, hear You say, “Well done.”

We love You, forever.

Amen.

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