The Babylon Project Crusade
“The Prophet Ezekiel begins with a formal prologue introducing himself and the date God appeared to him, July 31, 593 B.C. He then describes the vision of God he received and how this manifestation of God’s glory compelled him to fall down on the ground.” Holman Commentary
Living in Times of Uncertainty
“In 1857 an article appeared in Harper’s Weekly, which said: ‘It is a gloomy moment in history. Not for many years has there been so much apprehension. Never has the future seemed so incalculable. In France the political cauldron seethes. Russia hangs like a cloud on the horizon. All the resources of the British Empire are sorely tried. Of our own troubles in the United States, no man can see the end.’”
“Little did the author of the Harper’s Weekly article know in 1857 that his nation would soon be engaged in a civil war. In a similar way Americans and many across the world fear that the events of September 11, 2001, may not be the last of their kind. There is great uncertainty about our national security and what the future holds. The prophet Ezekiel, along with many of his countrymen, had been sent into exile from their homeland. There was undoubtedly some hope of a quick return, but there was also much uncertainty about the future.”
“In times of uncertainty, believers need to be assured that God is with them. It is perhaps in the gut-wrenching experiences of life when we are most in need of God’s presence.”
“God is a revealing god. He desires that we have a relationship with Him and sense His presence. Apart from His revelation of Himself, we could never know Him. He reveals Himself in Scripture. We, like Ezekiel and his exiled countrymen, need assurance that God is with us. God ministered to the exiles in a mighty way through a vision indicating that He was still with them.”
“In the midst of exile, Ezekiel saw visions…of the Lord of Israel. This revelation shaped his life and ministry from that time forward.”
“Ezekiel was thirty years old when he received this heavenly vision, the same age as Jesus when he saw heaven open at this baptism. Since the thirtieth year was a mark Ezekiel’s inauguration into the priesthood, one can only imagine the disappointment he must have felt. In the year he was to carry out his priestly functions, he sat as a captive in Babylon.”
“Because of Ezekiel’s character we can assume that he looked forward to serving God in the high calling of the priesthood, not for his own glory and exaltation but to minister to God and to God’s people. Ezekiel waited and diligently applied himself for almost thirty years. What a disappointment! Instead he was to carry on with the other exiles taken to Babylon at a location near the Kebar River.”
“Being removed from their homeland…meant they were cut off from their families, friends, and properties.”
“Surprising, if not incredible, the heavens were opened and I (Ezekiel) saw vision of God. This is truly a statement of God’s intervention and grace. God was revealing Himself at this critical moment, perhaps the most critical moment Judah had yet faced. In a similar way at critical times in history God revealed Himself to Moses at the burning bush and Isaiah at the temple. On those occasions as here with Ezekiel, the initiation for the visitation of God lay with God alone. The prophet had nothing to do with the timing or the disclosure. The prophet was certainly not seeking an experience.” - Holman Commentary
“Ezekiel therefore possessed an unshakable certitude, that the indescribable vision which he has been found worthy to see does not proceed from his own spiritual power, but God in person is introducing him into a new dimension of reality, the strangeness and terrifying sublimity of which far transcend all that is imaginable to man.” (Eichrodt, 54)
(Continued Next Post)
