BibleScribbler

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Ezekiel, Vision, Bitterness, and Silence

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Ezekiel 3
 14 The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, the hand of the Lord being strong upon me. 15 And I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who were dwelling by the Chebar canal, and I sat where they were dwelling. And I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days.
16 And at the end of seven days, the word of the Lord came to me: 17 ‚ÄúSon of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me.”

Ezekiel saw this great vision and then went away bitter and sat among the people. He was overwhelmed and didn’t tell anybody about it or share it for 7 days, then God came back and said , “Look, I made you a watchman, you gotta tell people this stuff!”

I found myself in Ezekiel 3, sitting around with a vision but bitter because I’m overwhelmed among the people in exile that didn’t have the vision. God IS telling me to quit being bitter. God IS giving me a chance to share the vision.

Cindy said, “wow, what’s next” and I thought ahead to Ezekiel 4. “I think I get to eat bread cooked over poop.”

“Great!” she said.

A Prophet is a Prophet is a Prophet

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And whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house) they will know that a prophet has been among them.  Ezekiel 2.5 ESV

Just like Jesus had absolute sovereignty and knew who He was and is who He is regardless of what other people thought or think, Ezekiel was going to be a prophet of God whether the people listened or not. There would be no question as to his authority or origins, but if the people chose not to listen, their judgment would be just.

How great would it be to live in such a way, that though people may argue or disagree, there would be no question that certainly God was present in your life?!

I think of the man born blind that Jesus healed, “All I know is that I was blind but now I see.” There is no denying the truth when it happens in real life right before you. Those that denied it in Jesus’ day knew the condemnation they would receive, ie. the rich man going away sad, the people shouting “let the blood be on our hands, Caesar is our King!”

Babylonian Commander Nebuzaradan cares for the Poor

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Jer. 39:10 But Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard left behind in the land of Judah some of the poor people, who owned nothing; and at that time he gave them vineyards and fields.

A commander of the Babylonian army sees fit to give land to people that are poor, but the people of Israel did not. They would not celebrate the Sabbath of the Land or return land to the family from which it came in the year of Jubilee.
What evil shame Nebuzaradan testified to when he gave the poor in the land vineyards and fields to work.

Get Your Dead Body Off My Property!

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Jer. 20:1 ¬? When the priest Pashhur son of Immer, the chief officer in the temple of the LORD, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things,
Jer. 20:2 he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put in the stocks at the Upper Gate of Benjamin at the LORD’s temple.
Jer. 20:3 The next day, when Pashhur released him from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The LORD’s name for you is not Pashhur, but Magor-missabib.
Jer. 20:4 For this is what the LORD says: ‘I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; with your own eyes you will see them fall by the sword of their enemies. I will hand all Judah over to the king of Babylon, who will carry them away to Babylon or put them to the sword.
Jer. 20:5 I will hand over to their enemies all the wealth of this city—all its products, all its valuables and all the treasures of the kings of Judah. They will take it away as plunder and carry it off to Babylon.
Jer. 20:6 And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house will go into exile to Babylon. There you will die and be buried, you and all your friends to whom you have prophesied lies.’”

Wow.

The priest “had” the prophet beaten. Like it was a decree or a hit. And then he’s imprisoned which means he would have just sat w/ his wounds for the night and not received any care or help or food, and then released.

The Jews took where their bodies were buried very very seriously, so for him to not have his body buried in Israel would be a real disgrace. It’s like God doesn’t even want their dead bodies in His land.

Levites from Libya

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Is. 66:19 ¬? ‚ÄúI will set a sign among them, and I will send some of those who survive to the nations‚Äîto Tarshish, to the Libyans and Lydians (famous as archers), to Tubal and Greece, and to the distant islands that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory. They will proclaim my glory among the nations.
Is. 66:20 And they will bring all your brothers, from all the nations, to my holy mountain in Jerusalem as an offering to the LORD—on horses, in chariots and wagons, and on mules and camels,” says the LORD. “They will bring them, as the Israelites bring their grain offerings, to the temple of the LORD in ceremonially clean vessels.
Is. 66:21 And I will select some of them also to be priests and Levites,” says the LORD.

I read this and I am just amazed.

I get goosebumps and tears in my eyes.

Libyans, Lydians, and Greeks, and other people from the nations WILL BE SELECTED TO BE PRIESTS AND LEVITES.

In the 8th Century B.C., God tells the world that He is going to bust out of Abraham’s ancestry and out of the tribe of Levi and call priests from the nations. That blows me away. I don’t know why. I already know and experience GOD living IN me, so why am I so blown away that we are made into Levites.

I guess because that would have been such a crazy thing for Isaiah to say to the Jews then. That would be like saying I’m going to turn these druggies on the street into the elders and preachers of megachurches. awesome.