And He said unto me, "Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee." And the Spirit entered into me when He spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard Him that spake unto me. And He said unto me, "Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against Me: they and their fathers have transgressed against Me, even unto this very day. For they are impudent children and stiff-hearted. I do send thee unto them, and thou shalt say unto them, "Thus saith the Lord God." And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear (for they are a rebellious house) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them.
And thou, Son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. And thou shalt speak My words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious. But thou, Son of man, hear what I say unto thee. Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee."
And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and lo, a roll of a book was therein; and He spread it before me, and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations and mourning and woe." (Ezekiel 2:1-10)
And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and lo, a roll of a book was therein; and He spread it before me, and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations and mourning and woe." (Ezekiel 2:1-10)
Note that Ezekiel was recognized as a prophet. How do we know? The Word of the Lord came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the Lord was there upon him. (Ezekiel 1:3) Equally important to note that Ezekiel was not a soothsayer, or a palm reading type of prophet wherein he speaks specifics about one's personal future (as the modern day religious culture falsely presents as prophecy) -- but rather, Ezekiel heard the Word of the Lord. He also spake the Word of the Lord.
But there is manifold more herein. The Word that was not only with God but was God was made flesh and dwelt among us, so that we would have the privilege of beholding His glory. (John 1:1-14) This is why the scripture saith, "Lo, behold, the volume of the book is written of Me." Everything that God was about to do under the old covenant and into the New Testament was openly displayed, so that no one could plead ignorance. Thus, even in Ezekiel -- which is long before the dayspring from on high visited His people -- long before God willingly became our Saviour -- the Lord was warning us, and chastising us for our rebellion against Him. As the Lord through David proclaimed, "How oft did they provoke Him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert!" (Psalms 78:40)
It is no wonder David the psalmist asked the Lord, "What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? and the Son of man, that Thou visits Him?" (Psalms 8:4) And in another place, "LORD, what is man, that Thou take knowledge of him! Or the Son of man, that Thou makes account of him!" (Psalms 144:3)
These are good questions. In part, the good news salvation message was about the Lord God Almighty gaining a family for Himself -- a chosen people, a royal generation, who would be more than willing to give Him all the glory and honour and praise. He knew that for the veil to be torn from heaven to earth, there would have to be a blood sacrifice -- a purchase -- that only God Himself could make by robing Himself in flesh. He also knew that this would be His last will and testament.
"How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause He is the Mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator lives. Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood." (Hebrews 9:14-18)
The purchase was made and He showed Himself openly to one and all so that those who repent and are water baptized in His precious, holy Name -- the Name of the Lord Jesus -- would find abundant everlasting rest in Him. In the name of the Shepherd who willingly came and laid down His life for His beloved creation.
"After the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared ..." (Titus 3:4-7)
"To wit, God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself ..." (II Corinthians 5:189)
Nevertheless, He knew the cross had to happen if we were to experience His love. While they abode in Galilee, for example, Jesus said unto His disciples, "The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men; and they shall kill Him and the third day He shall be raised again." (Matthew 17:22-23; John 19:30; Acts 10:40) In another place, Jesus began to teach them that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. (Mark 8:31)
This explains why Jesus said, "A little while and ye shall not see Me, and again, a little while, and ye shall see Me, because I go to the Father." (John 16:16) But God raised Him up the third day and our world changed. The stone was rolled away, and the handkerchiefs that wrapped Jesus' head neatly folded in the tomb. After appearing to numerous disciples and followers (and in the transition from John into Acts), we begin to understand that this same Jesus whom ye/we have crucified is now both Lord and Christ. And that after the resurrection -- "until the day in which He was taken up, after that He THROUGH the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom He had chosen ..." (Acts 1:2-3)
Yes, this is the mystery that was held in the bosom of the Father from the beginning of the world.
"And to make all [men] see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ; to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly [places] might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord -- in whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of Him." (Ephesians 3:8-12)
Think on these things this day. Study the New Testament scriptures for yourself so that you too can be grounded in His truth. Stand in the offering plate.
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