Lessons From Ezekiel and Mount Trio

Recently I read through Ezekiel, a prophetic book in the middle of the Bible. Elissa encouraged me to share some things I learned, so here we go! :)

Ezekiel was an amazing man. In his commission in chapter two, God says, “And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou doest dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. And thou shalt speak my words unto, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear…” (Ezekiel 2:6-7) God gave him some hard messages to deliver, and asked him to do some strange things as illustrations. Ezekiel never complained, never backed down - even in chapter twenty four where Ezekiel’s wife died and God told him not to mourn, because it was a sign and lesson for the people of Israel. I struggled with that; questioned why God did that to the poor man. But it gave me even more respect for Ezekiel, his humility, his acceptance of whatever God said, and His never-ending heart for the children of Israel, rebellious and stubborn as they were.

Although I couldn’t comprehend a lot of the visions God gave Ezekiel, I got one thing out of them: God is holy, so much holier than we grasp. In chapter ten, Ezekiel sees some of the glory of the Lord, and He can’t even describe the cherubim articulately – some of God’s created beings. What must God Himself be like? I feel our society, modern worship culture, has lost sight of the holiness of God. This is the same God whose glory Moses couldn’t stand to see, and when He came down on Mount Sinai, the Israelites had to cleanse themselves and keep away from the mountain, because the glory was so great it would’ve killed them.

A common thread throughout the visions and messages for His people was God’s unending love for them. He calls them rebellious from the beginning, and finds plenty of other synonyms along the way. He foretells destruction and ruin. But in it all, His heart comes through. He’s not angry; He’s grieved. He yearns over His children, and makes every effort to prove Himself to them – that He is faithful and all He wants is them to choose to come back to Him. Ezekiel thirty-four describes this beautifully: “For thus saith the Lord God; behold I, even I, will both search my sheep and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that He is among His sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep that are scattered; so will I deliver them out of all the places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring then to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick… Thus shall they know that I the Lord their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord God. And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God.” (Ezekiel 34:11-16 & 30-31)

The passage which impacted me most was the first half of Ezekiel thirty-seven, where Ezekiel describes his vision of a valley of dry bones which, at the word of the Lord, come to life and become an army. It was such an inspiration, and has become a vision in my own life. But maybe I’ll share that in another post. :)

I hope I’ve taken a few of these lessons from Ezekiel into my life – learning to humbly accept what God asks, being willing to be used by God, ask for a heart that yearns over people like God does, having respect for the supreme holiness of God, and learning to trust that God is still God in things I don’t understand. 

Take courage friends, if God used Ezekiel to spread His message, He will use us if we’re willing. If you’re feeling distant from Him, or experiencing cloudy and dark days, know He’s still there. In fact, He’s not on some far away throne in the sky, He’s out there looking for you. He’s by your side, and He will pull you through to His pasture. And in the end, the only thing any of us will be able to say is that He’s the Lord, our God.

~

What have you been reading or studying? Have you ever read Ezekiel? Do you think we have lost sight of God’s holiness?