“…. while I was by the river Chebar among the exiles, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.” -Ez. 1.1b
For Ezekiel, who functioned as a young priest of Judah, the bank of the river Chebar was hardly the ministry opportunity he would’ve had in mind when he laid his life down for service in the temple. The river Chebar was the territory of Babylon, and he was laboring among a people who had been exiled, and who were under the judgment of God.
It would’ve been a remarkably trying time for him, where all his expectations and ideals for God’s people had been shattered, and his own priestly desires had been walled in and suffocated by the cold reality of exilic experience. He was not where he had hoped to have been, and his people had totally fallen short of that for which he had prayed and labored.
…. the young priest had to pass through a waiting period of agonizing tension in which hope and fear alternated.
(Walther Eichrodt, EZEKIEL; Westminster Press, p. 54)
Ezekiel was likely being tossed to and fro by encouraging days, when a few of his kinsmen would come alive to the Law, and radically discouraging days, when others would curse him and the word he presented. Had God forsaken he and his people altogether? Was there any way to live as His people in the midst of Babylon? Could he bear the light of God in the soul-chilling surrounding of such darkness? Little did Ezekiel know that his own presence by the river Chebar would be the very extension of God Himself to a people in radical need of prophetic reality. Little did Ezekiel know what was coming. God Himself would break into the maze of questions and struggles to reveal the glory of His enthronement. And this is just what Ezekiel needed in such a time of shaking.
The coming of Yahweh to Ezekiel and the sending of the prophet to Israel show that God was still concerned with His mysterious and special purpose for the ‘house of Israel.’
…. God’s coming to keep faith with His people knew no barriers. In the full splendor of His regal glory God met His people in the midst of a heathen land.
(EZEKIEL 1, Walther Zimmerli; Hermeneia, Fortress Press; 1979, p. 140)
Perhaps you are reckoning with the same alternating emotions, going from hope to fear, from encouragement to discouragement. Perhaps you feel trapped in a type of Babylon, and you are wondering if there is any sense to your life and calling. Know this, dear saint: Just as the Lord was “still concerned” for His “special purpose for the house of Israel,” He is intensely concerned for you. He will “keep faith with His people.” Indeed, “He who began a good work in you will complete it, unto the day of Jesus Christ.”
You may be in the midst of a heathen land, but God will meet you even there. He will wash your feet, your hands, and your heart. He will be the balm of healing to your cracked soul. He will purify your lips and restore the praises of God to your mouth. He will mold and commission you, in the unique way He has appointed, to make you a voice in this generation. You need only to lift your eyes away from alternating emotions and distracting thoughts, and to see Him enthroned on high, “in the full splendor of His regal glory.” When the breakers are rolling over you and there seems to be no possibility of breathing, He is still enthroned, and extending His hand to you. He calls you today, even now, to come up above the tossing waves, and into the clear air of fellowship with Him.
Tags: Babylon,
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Walther Eichrodt,
Walther Zimmerli,
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Good word Bryan. As my focus has shifted from my own life over the years to interceding for the corporate church and our nation, I definitely shift b/w encouragement and discouragement. Has God forgotten us? Are we really in the midst of the era Daniel prophesied: “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.”? Or will that be fulfilled centuries later to a church that will be faithful till the end? Questions I wrestle with. I don’t think it’s automatic that we will see the fulfillment of that which we’re believing for and expecting. There must be a shaking, and there must be legitimate divine encounters and prophetic voices.
Any thoughts in this vein, Bryan?
I’m in harmony with you, Marcus.
The vision for the fullness of Christ in the church will not be automatic. There must be a shaking, divine encounters, and true prophetic voices. I may respond soon with a few more thoughts.
Grace,
BP
While this article may speak to the Body at this time in history, it strikes the heart of a mother labouring on behalf of her prodigal daughter . . . “expectations and ideals” shattered . . . longing to see God’s light break into her Babylon.
“Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Saviour and my God!” (Ps. 42)
He is the same yesterday, today and forever . . . thank you for the reminder . . .
Dear Bryan,
I want to share what came to my mind when I read what you said about Ezekiel’s expectations and ideals for God’s people having been shattered. During a worship service I saw a tornado. It spun furiously and began to move throughout the sanctuary, the tip of it lifting up and down. It would touch one chair, skip another chair and then touch down on yet another. Each chair that was touched was absolutely shattered but the chairs surrounding it were remarkably untouched. The tornado then made its way to the head of the church and there it turned upside down, becoming a Christmas tree. There were gifts under it and I could see that each had a name written on it. I thought to myself, I hope the people will be okay. They have gifts so I guess they will be, but then I realized how ridiculous that was, like I have the gift of healing, so I will be okay. And The Spirit corrected me, showing me that I was seeing it all wrong. He said, “those are not gifts, they are presents and only those who have THE PRESENCE will be okay.”
I later had a vision of Jesus at a drive thru restaurant and person after person coming through and ordering the healing of their choice but when asked if they wanted the Living Water to go with that order all declined saying it was, too hard to swallow. Jesus looked at me and said in a sad but matter of fact tone, “they will not stand.”
For a long time I didn’t understand why God would tell me of wonderful things and then also tell me of a terrible time to come. I knew that God is not bi-polar so I began to wonder if I am. He then took me through His prophets and I saw that He has always done that. I know now that I have a responsibility to share both or I am not giving people an accurate picture of Who He has revealed Himself to be.
God has said to me that trouble is coming. I asked Him what kind and He said, “madness: a grief so great people will wail and tear their hair.” But I also know that He is going to do “a great and wondrous work.”
I feel the most important thing for His people is that they truly know Him. When I first got saved I was like, “Jesus, why were you so mean to that poor little fig tree? It was not even the season for fruit!” You see, because I didn’t know Him I thought wrongly of Him and thinking wrongly of Him can cause you to become offended toward Him. I now know that fig tree should have produced fruit simply because The Master hungered. And so should we! But that will only happen when we are ONE with Him. That is the only way we will know what He hungers for and when He hungers for it.
And my concern for His people is that when they don’t really know Him (because of a hollow gospel being preached) then when they see and feel the destruction they will become offended and fall away. We have to trust Him and in order to trust Him we have to know Him; otherwise we could find ourselves standing in the precarious position of falling into offense toward Him. (and I am not talking about baby Christians here, there are many who should be mature by now but are still producing no fruit)
In a one month period of time 5 Christians came to me and told me they were mad at God. For one it was because of not having as much money as she wanted (she actually considered herself poor b/c of not having money to eat out) Another was mad because God had not saved her when she was a child so therefore the sins she had committed were actually His fault! Each reason seemed more ridiculous than the last and I was at a bookstore and flipping randomly though a book I stopped at a page that was about the parable of the 10 virgins with 5 not having enough oil and the door being closed to them. I go home and open my bible and there it is again. Then I turn on Christian television and the preacher is preaching on the parable of the 10 virgins and I actually became fearful for people because I know that God is not playing. He is not up there winking down on us and saying grace, grace, grace. We will be held accountable.
When God told me that He is sending me to the church, I didn’t want the church. I wanted the world. He kept saying, “there is a mission field out there called the church.” I kept saying, “I want to help the world!” On it went until one day it flashed though my mind of when, wanting to teach children I took some classes and I was thinking I really want to help children, could care less about the parents but really really want to help the children, then I pick up a textbook called, Child, Family, and Community and read, “the best way to help a child is by helping that child’s family.” And then God said to me, “the best way to help the world is by helping those who have been given the power to help the world.” And that is the Church.
God has great plans for His church but they won’t be automatic. Just like Her Bridegroom she will have to endure much hatred and she will be ravaged to such a degree that the world will laugh and say she is dead but then He will simply speak and she will get up and the nations will stand in amazement. And there is not a man on the face of this earth who will be able to put his name on her for she will be His, ALL HIS!
One time at church when they had an altar call for people who were hurting, it was like the entire church went forward. I went home and I was thinking, wow God, I know you have plans for your church but we are some messed up people and then I open my bible, look down and read that the lamp stands, from their base to their decorative blossoms were made of pure beaten gold. And that they were made to the exact specifications of GOD!
When I feel discouraged I remind myself of the cross and how what looked like defeat was actually the most incredible victory ever obtained and it was for us! How could He abandon us when He loves us so much! We just have to wait on Him no matter how long it takes.
Once when I was hurting emotionally I kept hearing that verse about how those who wait upon the Lord will mount up on wings as eagles but it didn’t lift me and yet it kept coming to my mind until I cried out saying, “Look at me God! I’m no eagle!” And the Spirit said, “Jesus did not come to earth an eagle. He came a common bird, an example to common birds everywhere that when they wait upon the Lord they WILL mount up on wings as eagles. They will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint.” And then I realized that when an eagle soars it is a beautiful thing, but when a common bird soars, that is when they will know that Jesus is God! (Hmmmmm. Makes me think of those 12 common birds who became men who turned the world upside down!)
Wait for the promise people wait for the promise! Once when reading in Acts I asked God what does tarry in Jerusalem mean to me, right now, today? He said, “Jerusalem is the place of waiting.” I flipped open my bible and read, Jerusalem is the place where God has chosen to be worshipped. So in the place of waiting, WORSHIP!
Thanks for adding these thoughts, Naomi and Wanda. May the Lord bless your lives in every way!
Thank you very much Bryan for the article. It has given me faith. We will see our Lord lifted high in our midst. Let God sound his voice in his Church, let God arise prophetic voices that preach “this gospel of the kingdo in all the nations”. May our Lord take off those who have taken lordship over His peolple and put His servants
Amen, Joel. May the Lord “sound His voice in His Church!”
Excellent! This is just what I needed today. Very encouraging and timely. Thanks and God bless
I’m happy to hear it, James. Thanks for replying, and may your life be marked with the grace and life of God, no matter what your “Chebar” is!