The gospel of power - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Ezekiel 8:1-4,

"In the sixth year, in the sixth month on the fifth day, while I [Ezekiel] was sitting in my house and the elders of Judah were sitting before me, the hand of the Sovereign Lord came on me there. I looked, and I saw a figure like that of a man. From what appeared to be his waist down he was like fire, and from there up his appearance was as bright as glowing metal. He stretched out what looked like a hand and took me by the hair of my head. The Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and in visions of God he took me to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner court, where the idol that provokes to jealousy stood. And there before me was the glory of the God of Israel, as in the vision I had seen in the plain."

Here is clearly portrayed the amazing aspects of the things of prophecy. God's prophet is taken, in a vision, by his hair, lifted up between heaven and earth and taken to Jerusalem. In Ezekiel's vision he was shown the idolatrous activity of the Israelites, the "utterly detestable things" in their worship of an idol of jealously. He was shown the seventy elders of Israel, each worshiping "at the shrine of his own idol" in the darkness. Ezekiel was shown the women of Israel mourning the god Tammuz. He was shown about twenty-five men, with their backs to the temple bowing down toward the sun in the east.

All these things were shown to Ezekiel by God in a vision as he sat in his house with the elders of Judah sitting before him. As Ezekiel witnessed the idolatry in the temple, idolatry that the elders of Judah themselves were engaging in, I wonder what the exchange might have been between Ezekiel and the elders as he returned from his vision? As these idolatrous elders watched Ezekiel being carried away in a vision, were they asking among themselves what Ezekiel might be seeing? What might God be telling him? I don't know that "awkward" is a strong enough word to describe the atmosphere in Ezekiel's home that day. Certainly "uncomfortable" does not come anywhere close to what the tension in the house that day might have been.

How could the elders of Judah, how could all the people be so foolish in their rejection of God, so foolish in their embrace of make-believe idols?

It all points to the deceptively perverse heart of each human being since Adam and Eve. How easy to delude ourselves! How easy to be fools in rejecting our Creator! Yet, given our free wills and a sinful nature, look at what mankind is capable of doing! It isn't just Jews - it is all mankind.

It is this very deceptive nature of our fallen hearts that the gospel is capable of penetrating. Dull, blind and deluded hearts can be reached by the unique and powerful gospel of God. Paul tells us the gospel is the power of God for the salvation of anyone who believes, Romans 1:16. How astonishing a message God has fashioned with the gospel!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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Trevor Fisk

trevor.fisk@gmail.com