Last week we looked at 7 steps to Restore Hope in a World Where Desolation Surrounds Us. Those 7 steps were in many ways a preparation for action. It is the training ground to prepare us for the true labor of love in this world. If we are to labor for our nation’s future and the true mission of spreading the gospel message to the world, we must not lose sight of the Glory of God. Particularly as we see that this nation and the entire world are under siege of the evilest of forces in the heavenlies.
Our battle is not one of flesh and blood but rather a spiritual battle which requires us to wear the armor of God. Yet, we are also to labor. To labor in this manner, one must be willing to give it all—that requires it to be a true labor of love. That we are not able to do without being first filled with Holy Spirits power to truly love others and then to allow that power to flame forth without quelching it.
Ezekiel was called to such a task. No one listened. Ezekiel was called to a ministry of action more than words. The first captives from Jerusalem were taken to Babylon in 605 B.C., including Daniel and his friends. This after the messages of Jeremiah and Isaiah had been ignored. The people continued in their folly, idol worship, and sinful living with no regard for God or His commands. Then, March of 597 BC, Jerusalem was under siege by King Nebuchadnezzar because King Jehoiachin broke his word to King Nebuchadnezzar. At this time, King Jehoiachin surrendered in hopelessness. He and 10000 leaders and captives were taken to Babylon to place in service. Ezekiel was among this group.
Called to a Labor of Love
Ezekiel was 30 years of age when he was called by God to prophesy to the people. Having been born into the priesthood, he had completed all his training only to never be able to perform the rituals in Jerusalem. One’s priesthood did not begin until age 30. Hence why also Jesus did not start his ministry until age 30. But then Ezekiel was called to be a prophet.
Now it came about in the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was by the river Chebar among the exiles, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. 2 (On the fifth of the month in the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s exile, 3 the word of the Lord came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and there the hand of the Lord came upon him.) Ezekiel 1: 1-3 (NASB)
Suddenly he was given an amazing glimpse into heaven. There he saw a vision of God’s Glory surrounded by 4 cherubim that were around God’s throne. He also saw large wheels with “eyes”. The wheels reached between heaven and earth. These symbolizing God’s working on earth which never stops.
Filled with the Spirit: A Labor of Love
Ezekiel’s ministry was different than others. It was more than words. He at times had to lay on his side in front of the people doing a simulation of battle and destruction with miniature houses and temples. He also had to play the scape goat, lie on his right daily for 390 days (about 1 year) for Israel and 40 days (about 1 and a half months) for Judah. During this time, he had to eat bread made from the poorest grains, cooked over dried dung instead of wood signifying the depth to which the people had fallen. Another act to illustrate the depth of what was coming is recorded in Chapter 5.
5 “And you, son of man, take a sharp sword, take it as a barber’s razor, and pass it over your head and your beard; then take scales to weigh and divide the hair. 2 You shall burn with fire one-third in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are finished; then you shall take one-third and strike around it with the sword, and one-third you shall scatter in the wind: I will draw out a sword after them. 3 You shall also take a small number of them and bind them in the edge of your garment. 4 Then take some of them again and throw them into the midst of the fire and burn them in the fire. From there a fire will go out into all the house of Israel. Ezekiel 5: (NKJV).
Was it not a Labor of Love?
So, Ezekiel was commissioned to play out all these scenes trying to help the nation understand. Would they turn around and change their ways? No, but that wasn’t the point. The point was he was to do his part, remain faithful to the task at hand. Understanding only a remnant would repent and be save, he did exactly as he was told to. All this for the remnant who would believe.
5 “Thus says the Lord God: ‘This is Jerusalem; I have set her in the midst of the nations and the countries all around her. 6 She has rebelled against My judgments by doing wickedness more than the nations, and against My statutes more than the countries that are all around her; for they have refused My judgments, and they have not walked in My statutes.’ Ezekiel 5
How easy it would have been to seeth with anger toward the people for allowing this. Or to think, how unfair this is I am swept away in their destruction. Most of us would be angry toward God. He was captive in Babylon while his wife was left behind. And even after Jerusalem fell and his wife died in the siege, Ezekiel remained faithful to his mission. A true labor of love to God and the nation.
How could he do that? Continue with a labor of love for God and the people. He like Jeremiah and Daniel, understood they could not on their own strength. But with God they could.
God’s Purpose and His Own Labor of Love
11 ‘Therefore, as I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘surely, because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable things and with all your abominations, therefore I will also diminish you; My eye will not spare, nor will I have any pity. 12 One-third of you shall die of the pestilence and be consumed with famine in your midst; and one-third shall fall by the sword all around you; and I will scatter another third to all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them. Ezekiel 5 (NKJV).
All this because it was necessary to cleanse the nation of evil, because evil if left unchecked will destroy everything good or right. Yet, as Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Daniel all knew, the cleansing would come from God. Their mission was to spread the message. They were to be the light allowing God’s Glory to shine forth. They were not called to do the cleansing themselves. Instead, they were to spread the warning that God would judge them himself.
The Ray of Hope—God’s own labor of Love is to restore
8 “Yet I will leave a remnant, so that you may have some who escape the sword among the nations, when you are scattered through the countries. 9 Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations where they are carried captive, because I was crushed by their adulterous heart which has departed from Me, and by their eyes which play the harlot after their idols; they will loathe themselves for the evils which they committed in all their abominations. 10 And they shall know that I am the Lord; I have not said in vain that I would bring this calamity upon them.” Ezekiel 6 (NKJV)
So, they shall know that I am Lord. Perhaps that is the key to our own labor of love. The reminder of who He is. Our key point is to know He is Lord. And part of the key to our knowledge of who God is, is not thinking too much of ourselves.
A Vision of Great Sorrow that Drove Ezekiel’s Labor of Love
As I sat in my house with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell upon me there. 2 Then I looked, and there was a likeness, like the appearance of fire—from the appearance of His waist and downward, fire; and from His waist and upward, like the appearance of brightness, like the color of amber.
3 He stretched out the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my hair; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven, and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the north gate of the inner court, where the seat of the image of jealousy was, which provokes to jealousy. 4 And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the plain. Ezekiel 8 (NKJV)
A Vision of the Truth in Jerusalem
Transported to a place where he could see all the things happening around the temple, Ezekiel was able to see the people inside and outside the temple worshipping and sacrificing to other Gods. Steady, ever so patiently, God would warn the people. He sent prophets and even Godly kings, but their hearts were dark. He let them see the results of their folly what with the overtaking of Israel and the captives being removed. All to no avail. The depth of this sorrow drove the labor of love for Ezekiel. Because of their rebellion, Ezekiel watched as the Glory of God with His Chariot of cherubim departed the temple and moved to Babylon. God’s Glory went to be with the exiles.
Yet, the miraculous thing was he recognized that God was with him even in Babylon. He was not confined only to Jerusalem and his temple there. He was Sovereign over everything. God was present with Daniel, with Jeremiah, and himself. That was the hope that drove his own labor of love.
Psalm 139 (NKJV)
7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.
Jerusalem Fails—where is the hope restored?
God promises that there is coming a Messiah who will restore
11 ‘For thus says the Lord God: “Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day. 13 And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land; I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys and in all the inhabited places of the country. Ezekiel 34 (NKJV)
God will restore the people and will provide for them. His labor of love.
14 I will feed them in good pasture, and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel. There they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 I will feed My flock, and I will make them lie down,” says the Lord God. 16 “I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong, and feed them in judgment.” Ezekiel 34 (NKJV)
And what is the end point to know?
30 Thus they shall know that I, the Lord their God, am with them, and they, the house of Israel, are My people,” says the Lord God.’31 “You are My flock, the flock of My pasture; you are men, and I am your God,” says the Lord God. Ezekiel 34 (NKJV)
They shall know that I, the Lord their God am with them.
Restoring Hope as Only God Can Do
37 The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. 2 Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. 3 And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
So I answered, “O Lord God, You know.” Ezekiel 37 (NKJV)
Yes, only God knows who will respond and who will not, but we are to proclaim His name to all of whom we meet.
4 Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. 6 I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.” ’ ” Ezekiel 37 (NKJV)
Even when no seems to hear, we preach on.
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them. Ezekiel 37 (NKJV)
So, they looked like they were living, but without the breath of the Spirit they were not truly alive. They remained spiritually dead like many we meet each day.
9 Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” ’ ” 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army. Ezekiel 37 (NKJV)
The Vision explained
11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. 13 Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. 14 I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it,” says the Lord.’ ” Ezekiel 37 (NKJV)
We must be awakened from our own graves of sin. To be born again by accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
How Do We Ever Achieve a Labor of Love that Restores Hope?
Well. let us look again at the 7 steps we discussed last week.
- Do Not Be Afraid—Remember the Lord is our strength
- Seek God every day desiring to be in His presence
- Remember that it is God who Protects You
- Always Sing Out in Rejoicing and Praise for What He has done
- Be Quick to Cry Out for Repentance and Mercy for Sins, Knowing He Forgives
- Ask for God to guide you so you remain a light shining bright even in presence of enemies who want to take you down.
- Trust God, Wait Patiently on Him because you know of His Goodness
Now, as we recognized last week. We cannot do any of this in our own strength. Unless the Lord changes our hearts and takes control, we are helpless to do any of this. That is the hard thing for us to recognize. We want to be able to say, we had a hand in this. That is the problem. But in the end, if we in humility surrender all to Him, knowing we are not able to do this without Him. Only he can do this in us and through us. However, one day, one glorious day, we will be with Him eternally in the new heaven and earth. In that city which is named “the Lord is there” (Ezekiel 48:35) NKJV
DO YOU KNOW CHRIST AS YOUR SAVIOR AND LORD? He is our only Hope in Life and Death! Our Joy is found in Him.
Therefore if you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord: I urge you today. Go to my page titled How to Be Saved by clicking on this link. There is nothing more important than this; because He is the way, the truth and the life. Therefore, I urge you to seek Him today.
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©Effie Darlene Barba, 2024
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. Furthermore, I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned except for my own books. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
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