July 23, 2011 Strenthened to Go

Strengthened to Go
Read Ezekiel 1 - 3

Ezekiel 2:1-2 He said to me, “Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you.” 2 As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.

WOW! The LORD calls Ezekiel to prophecy. Jeremiah prophesied to warn Israel of impending exile. Ezekiel’s prophecies are during Israel’s exile in Babylon. God needs a man of power to continue to speak to his people in captivity.
Ezekiel means “strengthened of God” and note how the Holy Spirit strengthens Ezekiel. Often we think of God’s Spirit among the disciples at Pentecost and through the history of the church (if we ever think of him at all). But the reality is that the Holy Spirit powerfully carried forth the Father’s Word and the Father’s purpose long before Pentecost.
See here, for example, how the Spirit raised Ezekiel to his feet. I see this as literal and symbolic of the way God works among us as he calls us to do his will. He brings us to our knees to worship him. Then he raises us to our feet to go and do the work he has for us. As an army private rises when an officer enters the room and is ready to listen and do his officer’s commands, the Spirit brings us to attention, ready to listen to and do God’s commands.
God commands: “I am sending you…” Ezekiel had no choice, and neither do we. We are ordered through God’s Word to tell the Gospel in the Spirit’s power to a world captured by sin:
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (Matt 28:19)

Ezekiel had his orders. You have yours. In the Spirit’s power you are strengthened to go. Will you?