Desperate times call for desperate measures. On the eve of national cataclysm, God called His prophet to dramatically demonstrate impending judgment through a powerdul object lesson:
"Now you son of man, get yourself a brick, place it before you and inscribe a city on it, Jerusalem. Then lay siege against it, build a siege wall, raise up a ramp, pitch camps and place battering rams against it all around. Then get yourself an iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city, and set your face toward it so that it is under siege, and besiege it. This is a sign to the house of Israel. As for you, lie down on your left side and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel on it; you shall bear their iniquity for the number of days that you lie on it. For I have assigned you a number of days corresponding to the years of their iniquity, three hundred and ninety days; thus you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. When you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah; I have assigned it to you for forty days, a day for each year" (Ezekiel 4:1-6)
God's national judgment was inescapable due to His people's sin, but Ezekiel's object lesson could effectively lead to individual repentance on the part of those who were responsive. And that seems to be the main point in it all: a public sign to indicate in advance the accuracy of God's word, and a sign to call the responsive to repentance.
There is a sense of desperation in the times we live in, and these seem to be times for desperate measures as well. The wickedness of humanity is "piled up as high as heaven" (Revelation 18:5), and God's judgment is as inevitable as it was in the days of Noah. Nothing can divert His global judgment but, as in Ezekiel's day, God's servants can be instrumental in influencing individuals for salvation and repentance.
The clear call of Jesus at the beginning of His ministry is the call His people must issue today: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:15). The time is fulfilled in this age; the final chapter of human history is quickly being written. The kingdom of God is at hand, and will soon come to complete fruition. The urgent final cry to "repent and believe in the gospel" goes out to all who will respond while there is yet time.
The methods God used with Ezekiel to declare His message suggests how He might communicate through us today. His message was conveyed, not so much through spoken word, but through dramatic, attention-getting object lessons. Perhaps He has already placed a simple but powerful idea in your mind as to how He would communicate His message non-verbally. If so, be willing to respond and express that message through the medium He has given you.
A popular song speaks of these being the days of Elijah and the days of Ezekiel, "declaring the word of the Lord". May we be a generation of 'Ezekiel's', willing to delcare His word using the methods He gives us.
Steve
© 2010, Steve Taylor
"Now you son of man, get yourself a brick, place it before you and inscribe a city on it, Jerusalem. Then lay siege against it, build a siege wall, raise up a ramp, pitch camps and place battering rams against it all around. Then get yourself an iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city, and set your face toward it so that it is under siege, and besiege it. This is a sign to the house of Israel. As for you, lie down on your left side and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel on it; you shall bear their iniquity for the number of days that you lie on it. For I have assigned you a number of days corresponding to the years of their iniquity, three hundred and ninety days; thus you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. When you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah; I have assigned it to you for forty days, a day for each year" (Ezekiel 4:1-6)
God's national judgment was inescapable due to His people's sin, but Ezekiel's object lesson could effectively lead to individual repentance on the part of those who were responsive. And that seems to be the main point in it all: a public sign to indicate in advance the accuracy of God's word, and a sign to call the responsive to repentance.
There is a sense of desperation in the times we live in, and these seem to be times for desperate measures as well. The wickedness of humanity is "piled up as high as heaven" (Revelation 18:5), and God's judgment is as inevitable as it was in the days of Noah. Nothing can divert His global judgment but, as in Ezekiel's day, God's servants can be instrumental in influencing individuals for salvation and repentance.
The clear call of Jesus at the beginning of His ministry is the call His people must issue today: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:15). The time is fulfilled in this age; the final chapter of human history is quickly being written. The kingdom of God is at hand, and will soon come to complete fruition. The urgent final cry to "repent and believe in the gospel" goes out to all who will respond while there is yet time.
The methods God used with Ezekiel to declare His message suggests how He might communicate through us today. His message was conveyed, not so much through spoken word, but through dramatic, attention-getting object lessons. Perhaps He has already placed a simple but powerful idea in your mind as to how He would communicate His message non-verbally. If so, be willing to respond and express that message through the medium He has given you.
A popular song speaks of these being the days of Elijah and the days of Ezekiel, "declaring the word of the Lord". May we be a generation of 'Ezekiel's', willing to delcare His word using the methods He gives us.
Steve
© 2010, Steve Taylor
posted by steve @ 9:19 AM
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