In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the Chebar canal, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with brightness around it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, as it were gleaming metal. .- Ezekiel 1:1, 4 ESV
Warrior;
In J. Vernon McGee’s exposition on the book of Ezekiel he posits that this vision from Ezekiel is of the chariot of God as He rides triumphantly and irresistibly through time. Ezekiel saw visions of God. We do not have GOD Himself exposed, it is instead a VISION of the GLORY OF GOD, the presence of GOD’s AWE and POWER. How about you, when you dream do you dream of a bigger house, a more successful career, or do you dream of the awe and majesty of the God who seeks us out? A God who will inhabit our dreams, and dwell in us and DIE FOR US? If we truly want to Live a life of significance then we should seek a vision of GOD, from God. Proverbs 29:18 instructs us; Where there is no vision, the people perish.
Leader, Ezekiel was part of the second diaspora into Babylon. The Israelites were slaves in a foreign land, a land of pagans and idol worshipers; they were being disciplined by God for their lack of obedience. Psalm 137 was written about this time-event: By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung up our lyres. For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” (Psalm 137:1-3) In the midst of this tragedy and persecution Ezekiel was seeing visions of God. The VISION shows us HIS AWE and it reminds us of why we are to seek first His kingdom and his righteousness, HIS WILL for our lives- and everything will be taken care of! (Matthew 6:33)
Conduit, in our familiarity with Christ we forget: The Word of God says that our God is a consuming fire, (Hebrews 12:29), and God is light, (1 John 1:5). In his vision he sees a FIRE unfolding itself and a brightness was about it. It was a LIGHT flashing forth and it was revealing and concealing, it was obscuring and yet bringing- it is a light brighter than the sun. As McGee posits, “it could be compared to the inside of an atomic blast. It was incandescent, like lighting. “In Acts 26:13 Paul said, “as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me.” This is the GOD who sent HIS SON, to die so that we may spend eternity in HIS PRESENCE, under HIS AUTHORITY. The only way to GET TO THERE is from a place of AWE and reverence. A place of HUMILITY and GRATITUDE. For God so LOVED the world that HE DID something about it! (John 3:16) Do you so LOVE (verb) God, that you do something about it? A VERB is an action word! Commit your life to the ONE, who GAVE IT ALL, so that your daddy, ABBA Father is YOUR FIRST focus, FIRST priority- your FIRST LOVE!
Way of The Warrior- A Daily Devotional 