Ezekiel 1 - 7

Ezekiel 1 – 7

 

Not gonna lie, I've been pretty intimidated by these chapters.  I'm not an expert on prophecy, symbolism, and I can't tell you what this all means!  Creatures with wings, four faces of a man, lion, ox, and eagle.  Nope!  Don't know.  Not my specialty.  I've been thinking and praying for the last couple days what to write, what to communicate, and I know that God is good and that He makes it happen.  There are great themes in the book of Ezekiel, but I'm going to focus on what I know and the questions I ask: Who is God?  What is He like?  How should I act towards Him? 

 

In chapter 1 we see an image of God – an appearance of His "likeness."  We know from Exodus that no one can see the face of God and live, but Ezekiel saw this brightness, glow, rainbow of amber and color and his first reaction and response was falling flat on his face.  John does the same in Revelation.  Kinda makes you wonder if that's a taste of what Heaven will be like: awe-filled by God's glory. 

 

I started making a list of notes of what I observed I think it's better than me trying to reconstruct paragraphs.

 

God:

He speaks, His voice is heard with instructions and a mission

Gives us nothing we can't handle, and conforms us to the tasks at hand

Many times reminds Ezekiel not to be afraid

Is a God of wrath, anger, and judgment.  He punishes when it's deserved.

But still reveals His mercy by leaving a remnant who will live

Reveals Himself through His voice, gives out his hand, the Spirit (Trinity)

Is Zealous.

But ALL happens for His glory, that his name be known.

 

Us/Man/Ezekiel:

Called to do hard things, very hard things.

Go to our own people and also the mission to the Gentiles.

Have to be self sacrificing and obedient – take up others burdens.

Mission may be dangerous and unthinkable.

The Word is like honey, needs to be in us in order to work for him (the eating of the scroll)

We have to step out or our norms, traditions and comfort zones to serve: what we eat  (chapter 4 bread and water rations) shaving the hair, beard, our identities may have to be alerted in order to effectively serve  

 

There are many more points that I have in my head and unfortunately this is kind of a rough draft.  There will continue to be challenging themes and interpretations, but I know to focus on God and His character and how I can be a better servant.