Tag: Ezekiel

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Ezekiel’s version of Psalm 23.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search and find my sheep. I will be like a shepherd looking for his scattered flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day. I will bring them back home to their own land of Israel from among the peoples and nations. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel and by the rivers and in all the places where people live. Yes, I will give them good pastureland on the high hills of Israel. There they will lie down in pleasant places and feed in the lush pastures of the hills. I myself will tend my sheep and give them a place to lie down in peace, says the Sovereign Lord. I will search for my lost ones who strayed away, and I will bring them safely home again. I will bandage the injured and strengthen the weak. But I will destroy those who are fat and powerful. I will feed them, yes—feed them justice!” ‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭34‬:‭11‬-‭16‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Ezekiel, the prophet (spokesperson) for God writes about the Good Shepherd. I am told that Ezekiel wrote this while in Babylonian captivity and that he was a contemporary of Jeremiah and Daniel.

I was surprised to see a whole different version of Psalm 23 and John 10’s discussion of the Good Shepherd. Those other passages focus on the aspects of care and provision that a shepherd provides for their flock. Ezekiel uses the same imagery, but turns it into a compare/contrast of how the shepherd determines the health of sheep. In Ezekiel’s warning, God is not happy with fat shepherds tending to fat sheep while the majority of flock is barely alive, skinny and wasting away. God says that he will step in to shepherd His people himself and bring them back to health.

In the verses that follow, there is a stern word to those who get fat and keep favorites – specifically saying that to the leaders of Israel. Ezekiel even uses the object lesson/illustration of separation of goats from the sheep – a strong theme in the New Testament of separating those who God is for and those He is against. This version isn’t the toasty-warm, fuzzy-feels you’d get from David’s Psalm 23. This is a wake up call to leaders across all industries who have responsibility for others. Yes, in this context it is only speaking to the proper care of God’s people and God’s ability to step in to judge and overrule the extraordinary, self serving attitudes of Israel’s leaders. However, as one commentator writes, “This message of leadership, drawn from shepherding, is applicable to other occupations. Good leaders seek the interest of others before “feeding” themselves. Leadership that imitates “the Good Shepherd” of John 10:11, 14 is fundamentally an office of servanthood that requires genuine care for the wellbeing of subordinates. Managing people is not about power trips or holding one’s authority over others. Rather, godly and righteous supervisors seek to ensure that the people under their care are flourishing.” http://bit.ly/GG5123. The concept of servant leadership has been popular for over two decades, but it still seems to be difficult when money and power come into the hierarchy structures of businesses and organizations alike. It’s especially nauseating when there are “shepherding” missteps in the Church. I love the fact that God’s eternal Word and Ezekiel’s warning are very applicable today. For a few years now I have strived not to be a Senior Pastor or even a Lead Pastor. I have chosen to be known as our church’s CSO, Chief Servant Officer. Sure, our folks joke with me about the title, but it constantly reminds me that I am an under-shepherd to the good shepherd- Jesus!

Prayer

Dad,
How could I be anything else but be a shepherd that cares, gives, protects and even leads the folks you’ve given me responsibility for? You have led my life so well. You have placed amazing men and women over me (past and present) that are wonderful examples of being a servant. My desire is to continue to serve well. Please help me to grow in capacity to serve and lead as long as I am in position and have any kind of power to do so.

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God does a woodcraft object lesson with Ezekiel

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“Again a message came to me from the Lord: “Son of man, take a piece of wood and carve on it these words: ‘This represents Judah and its allied tribes.’ Then take another piece and carve these words on it: ‘This represents Ephraim and the northern tribes of Israel.’ Now hold them together in your hand as if they were one piece of wood. When your people ask you what your actions mean, say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take Ephraim and the northern tribes and join them to Judah. I will make them one piece of wood in my hand.’” Ezekiel‬ ‭37:15-19‬ ‭NLT‬‬

​I just love the physicality and practicality of God. In having a chat with one of His spokespersons, God tells him, “pick up a couple of sticks and write on them.” There is something wonderfully simple with connecting our God given senses to learn or teach a lesson. The more senses involved the better.

Ezekiel LOOKS for a couple of pieces of wood, he sees the perfect set, he puts thought into the type, length, maybe even circumference. Then Ezekiel picks up the wood, he FEELS the weight and roughness of what was once part of a tree. Maybe he HEARS the sounds as he cuts and carves into preparing the wood and as he does so takes in the aroma as pieces fall to the ground. Wood has its own unique SMELL, individual to the tree that it came from. I love the smell of fresh cut or carved wood!

God had Ezekiel participate not only in a wonderful object lesson by working with these two pieces of wood, but it is also a beautiful picture of craft time with God himself. I wonder if Ezekiel choose two different pieces of wood, different tree stock to represent the two very different tribes of Israel. Maybe one of them was dark and hard, dense and difficult to carve. Maybe the other was lighter, softer, easy to carve but also easy to make mistakes.

When I read these messages, these prophetic words, which by the way IS the point of the writing, I am delighted by the lesson, the idea and delivery behind them as well. God tells him to hold the two sticks together as if they were ONE piece of wood. Ezekiel, after selecting and preparing the woodcraft, would then practice the lesson so that he could easily share it with the people, “Then hold out the pieces of wood you have inscribed, so the people can see them.” God has Ezekiel walk around showing them this strange lesson, and it will make them curiously ask, “why are you showing us this?” Isn’t that the best teaching method ever? When the passive watcher wants to know more? Then Ezekiel told them that God himself will personally hold the two pieces of wood (representing the divided nation), just like they see before them. He tells them about God’s promise, “And I will make a covenant of peace with them, an everlasting covenant. I will give them their land and increase their numbers, and I will put my Temple among them forever.” Just so you know, God is speaking of Jesus as the peace covenant and we, being filled with the Holy Spirit, become the temple. God still speaks today and still gives us amazing object lessons to help us understand, even using our own senses to make the point sticky!

PRAYER:

Dad,
You’re greatness, your holiness and majesty of all might, authority and dominion does not mean you are not creatively and intimately involved with us even in the smallest details of a lesson or learning. Thank you for truly being with us, as a father and now also as a friend. Thankful for being mindful of both our weakness and our expansive wonder and curiosity.

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Journal entry from Ezekiel in 593 bc

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“On July 31 of my thirtieth year, while I was with the Judean exiles beside the Kebar River in Babylon, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. This happened during the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity. (The Lord gave this message to Ezekiel son of Buzi, a priest, beside the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians, and he felt the hand of the Lord take hold of him.)” Ezekiel‬ ‭1:1-3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

​On a nice, warm, summer day back in 593 bc Ezekiel is out by a river in Babylon. He tells us that they had been in captivity or exile for five years at this point. We are reading a journal entry of a man that lived over 2600 years ago! He writes about this extraordinary vision as he looks over the river and up into the sky. And, he knows it’s a message and feels the hand of God on him. Chilling right? Then, for the next several verses, Ezekiel describes what he sees.

I’ve got to tell you, I read this as a new believer and could not make any sense of it AT ALL. And, I remember thinking, “who CAN make sense out of this?” It kind of blew my mind when a special speaker came through our church and asked us, “as an ancient observer, how would you have described something “futuristic,” maybe something that would not exist for thousands of years ahead.” Like a vision from someone who travels through time? Whoa. I would never have imagined something so syfi, so cool.

I mean 593 bc could not have had, would not have had any modern day equipment, especially something that could fly! This was a theory I had never thought about – and I liked it! Is it true? I have no idea. Could Ezekiel have been describing a modern Black Hawk helicopter? The guest speaker seemed to think it could have been. Ezekiel could only use words of things that existed in his time to describe what he saw – most of which are animals with a mixture of human faces or features that only the great beasts of his day had. Rotor blades back then could only be described as wings – like a giant dragonfly!

It turns out the modern helicopter may have been designed by studying the dragonfly (The world’s leading helicopter manufacturer, Sikorsky, finished the design of one of their helicopters by taking the dragonfly as a model, IBM, which assisted Sikorsky in this project, started by putting a model of a dragonfly in a computer (IBM 3081)).

Yeah, Ezekiel could have been seeing a futuristic scene of a war and God was telling him to write it down and even share it with the leaders of Israel. This was not just a fanciful dream and Ezekiel wasn’t trippin on some wild mushrooms. There was a reason for it. Many of Ezekiel’s visions were straight out of scenes from the apocalypse, the end times, the final days of the earth and its struggle against evil.

There have been so many possible interpretations and theories of these stunning visions and when they come true in real life, folks will be able to say, “oh, that’s what Ezekiel saw!” So, if you just recently turned thirty, just know this is the kind visionary of stuff you can look forward to! j/k.

Unless I’m joining God as a warrior in his army, I’m not sure I want to be there when this future scene takes place, especially if it’s some kind of global world war. Either way, I know God has got this, He’s in control.

PRAYER:

Dad,
Wow! These Ezekiel (and others) visions are so amazing. We can only wait and watch as you bring about the finality of your grand story, the epic war and peace, the ultimate love and justice of all things! It’s all there – all written out beforehand for everyone, anyone to read and see for themselves. Either folks have heard or have seen your truth and make a decision. All of us have been given ample time and opportunity to do so. I am so very grateful for your Word and the plans you have for me and the entire world.