Gadfly's Muse

Live You Dry Bones... Live!

[Shenandoah River, 2010, JAVanDevender]

Ezekiel 37:8-10   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.  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 was taken in his vision to a desolate valley strewn with dry bones.  Those whom he saw in his vision were not just dead.... they were decayed, sun-baked, skeletons.  God spoke and from the earth came meat, sinews, blood, organs, all in a dramatic recreation of the events in Genesis 2 when God took dust from the earth and formed Adam.  But, as with Adam's body... there was no life until breath was imparted.  The heart did not beat... the brain did not think... the lungs did not breathe... until breath was imparted.  God breathed into Adam the breath of life then and in this vision, He commands the four winds to bring back the breath that these bodies had exhaled in their dying gasp.

The symbology is exquisite.  Immediately, the dead "people" of Israel had been scattered throughout the earth in captivity.  As a people all that remained in their homeland was the dry bones of their pillaged society.  The cities were empty, mere shells of their former selves.  The vitality was gone.  The hope was gone.  The breath of life had departed to the four corners of the earth.  In the proper time, all that would be reversed.  God in His Sovereign providence would call them back and the land would again rejoice with laughter and delight in harvest.

Beyond the immediate there was the fuller sense...   What God does with Israel is a "type" of what He will do in the last days when the bones of His people will again be exposed.  When all those who have died in the faith will again be restored to flesh and sinew and the Glorified Christ will command His angels to gather their breath from the four winds and restore it to them again.  God will not be denied His people.  Death cannot prevent their reunion.  Nothing can stand before the living Christ who has defeated everything that opposed Him, rising triumphant over His foes, ascending to the throne of majesty and coming again in power and glory.

The dry bones of our bodies will fulfill this vision.  With our own eyes and not that of another, we will see our Redeemer and at last, at last... the valleys and plains will be exalted and the earth will rejoice with the sound of God's people inhabiting the land that has been set aside from all eternity for them to possess.

Happy Easter!

A Covenant of Peace

[Highway To Heaven, 2010, DJohanson]

Ezekiel 37:24-28  " David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them.  25 "Then they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, where your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell there, they, their children, and their children's children, forever; and My servant David shall be their prince forever.  26 "Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore.  27 "My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people.  28 "The nations also will know that I, the LORD, sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forevermore." ' "

This excellent photo taken by my friend Dave Johanson is of a site on the West Coast.  Aptly named the Highway to Heaven it is the kind of image and evidently was the kind of scene that arrests the attention and draws us into meditation.  The converging lines of cloud and horizon, the precisely spaced trees, all point to order and procession to eternity.  The detailed foreground is the present... the limitless sky is eternity, blue with promise.   Somewhere... out there... it all comes together... it all makes sense... and it will ALL be worth it.

Certainly that is God's message through Ezekiel in the passage above.  In some Scripture's most glorious language, the most precise foretelling, it conveys to us a Day, a Person, and a Promise.

There is that "Day", the "then" of God's foretelling.  It will be specific.  It will be historical.  It is coming.  The Present, the "now", which arrogantly insists on our complete focus, our complete attention, is a passing instant... full of sound and fury though we cannot say that it signifies nothing (sorry, Shakespeare).  It is a "ladder rung", one of uncountable many such, but spaced equally and finitely, all joined together through God's providential control.  Some "nows" are tougher than others, but seen in perspective, they all are steps along a path.  The "Day" is coming and the lines will converge.

There is that Person, the specifically claimed, uniquely defined "David" for whom a Throne is prepared.  A throne that once ascended will never be vacant again.  We shall have a King and He shall reign in truth and justice, having mercy on all who love Him and keep His commandments, even forever.  Glory and honor and privilege belong to Him and He is pleased to share it with His servants. 

And the Promise, that sin will be abolished.  In perfect harmony the people of God will possess pure hearts that love without selfishness, that give without restraint, that obey without compunction, that rejoice with sincerity.  A purified people ... in every aspect of their being.  Able again to think clearly without impediment and to build flawlessly.  When complexity yields to simplicity and elegance is natural.  The blue skies are infinitely inviting of further contemplation and God's people will spend eternity delving into their secrets.  We shall know as we are known but the delight of discovery shall not end.

What a glory .... Easter... the day that heralds the Day... the honor that crowns a King... the hope that attends the Promise.

Words and Actions......

[Jn_GameCap, 2009, JAVanDevender]

Ezekiel 33:30-32   " As for you, son of man, the children of your people are talking about you beside the walls and in the doors of the houses; and they speak to one another, everyone saying to his brother, 'Please come and hear what the word is that comes from the LORD.'  31 "So they come to you as people do, they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain.  32 "Indeed you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they do not do them.

G. K. Chesterton famously remarked "The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried." - Chapter 5, What's Wrong With The World, 1910. 

There's a wealth of truth in that statement.

One of the most difficult things in the world is to accomplish a fundamental change in life direction.  Whether it is at the macro / social level or the micro / individual level, people are fundamentally conservative.  However they presently think and live, whatever their general "native" outlook on life, formed over the progress of their life, so they general continue to think.  Small increments of change over time may bring about significant transformation, but large shifts in immediate outlook is resisted by every fiber of their being.

Thus, when confronted with the radical demands of Scripture there are those who, honestly, look at it and say... "That's not for me."  These remain lost and are enemies of Christ but at least they are honest enough to admit it.  Then there are those others... who, like the 'rich, young ruler', are attracted by the beauty and justice intrinsic to the Kingdom of God and the perfection of its King, come running to inquire of Him what they must do to be saved.  But upon hearing His demands... upon hearing how totally comprehensive is the fundamental alteration in their thinking, their lifestyle, their values, their allegiance, their morals, their priorities, etc. etc., they go away "sorrowing" or, like a moth to the flame, they keep flitting in and out of the Word.... intrigued, attracted and wistful... but never actually committing.

Often those in this latter category will, with some degree of self-deception, take to themselves the name of Christian and make an outward show of compliance.  But, like Aninias and Sapphira, when fundamental issues are at stake the claims of Christ do not prove to be the object of their most sincere desire. 

During the Passion week we celebrate the truly radical nature of the Kingdom of God.  This is when we remember how it required the suffering of its King for the purification of its people.  This is when we remember that the Via Delorosa is not only the path that He walked, but it is the path on which we must take up our cross and follow Him.  This when we remember that He gave up His life so that He may gain it... and that such is our task also.  This is when we remember that the life of joy and blessedness is when we find our joy in Him... in His work... in His people... and not in material or sensual comforts.  It is a Kingdom of transcendence... of works whose value is measured in eternity and whose reward is intimate fellowship with the God of all creation... and not pecuniary wages.

At every point... Chesterton was right... it is not that we try it and find that it doesn't 'work'... it does... it has... it will continue to succeed ... It is rather that we inquire into its nature, we discover just how astonishingly different it is... and we simply cannot bring ourselves to embrace it.

That is how hard it is for fallen man to discover the only life that can satisfy the deepest longings of his heart.  That is why our Christ came to die... so that our sinful hearts can be changed... and our desires can be transformed... and we can enter into the life He has brought.

Babylon Under Ominuous Skies.....

[Sailboat & Island, Bar Harbor, 2009, JAVanDevender]

Ezekiel 26:15-17  " Thus says the Lord GOD to Tyre: 'Will the coast lands not shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded cry, when slaughter is made in the midst of you?  16 'Then all the princes of the sea will come down from their thrones, lay aside their robes, and take off their embroidered garments; they will clothe themselves with trembling; they will sit on the ground, tremble every moment, and be astonished at you.  17 'And they will take up a lamentation for you, and say to you: "How you have perished, O one inhabited by seafaring men, O renowned city, Who was strong at sea, She and her inhabitants, Who caused their terror to be on all her inhabitants!

Ezekiel Chapters 26-28 are a fascinating glimpse into an intriguing and little discussed ancient civilization.  Tyre was a mercantile city built on a geographic island and on economic might of its sea-faring merchants.  In these chapters we hear of their wealth, the fabulous trade for exotic goods, the sensuous commerce and cultivation of money as the source of power.  Strategically positioned she was the natural intersection of land & sea for trade from both East and West.  Here was sophistication and hard-edged business.  Here was elementary 'capitalism' and the idea that 'business is business.'

Thus, in many ways, Tyre had much in common with the modern United States.  As an intersection and way point for goods... as a commercial power unequaled (still, though losing fast) in the world... our culture hinges on "the Almighty Dollar" and its range of impact.  We, like those of Tyre, have grown accustomed to always coming out on top... that the economic dependency on our markets by other nations will mean that we are "too big to fail.' 

But aside from false optimism, the sensuous culture inherent in a warped "commerce" mentality separates people from the truth of their own deviancy.  As goods and comforts increase there is less and less satisfaction in them.  The human spirit is restless... always looking for its eternal home.  Thing purchased with money never satisfy and when that hunger drives a spiral of ever increasing sensuousness, it is not too far down the path to where the true spirit, not of Tyre, but Babylon emerges.

In Rev. 18 the words of Ezekiel are not repeated verbatim, but so closely paralleled that their interdependence seems obvious.

Revelation 18:9-13    " The kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her will weep and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning,   "standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, 'Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.'  ¶ "And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore:  "merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, every kind of citron wood, every kind of object of ivory, every kind of object of most precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble;   "and cinnamon and incense, fragrant oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men.

Tyre was "Babylon" in her day... Babylon became "Babylon" in hers...  Rome became "Babylon" in her time... and we may be living in "Babylon" today.  If so, the hand of judgment will come upon us in the same manner as it came upon our predecessors.  Only a wholesale turning to the Lord our God can offer hope.  He is faithful and just to forgive, both men and nations.  May He show mercy on us.

Until He Comes....

[Purple, 2009, JAVanDevender]

Ezekiel 21:27  Overthrown, overthrown, I will make it overthrown! It shall be no longer, Until He comes whose right it is, And I will give it to Him

Even in the midst of the most terrible things that can happen, God brings a shaft of light... a glimmer of hope... a rope to hang onto.

We cannot imagine the depths of pain, terror, horror and whatever other descriptors you might want to add, that attended the fall of Jerusalem.  God says simply... "Overthrown..."  But the instrument of destruction was a cruel and ruthless people... the Chaldeans who neither spared nor cared.  Jerusalem was to fall... and viciously. 

The capital city of God was not to rebuild again... not in the same way... anywhere in the near future.  Seventy years would pass before the people would again trickle back in and begin the awful task of reconstruction.  But the splendor was gone.... and would stay gone.... until.... until....

And there it was: the glimmer of hope, the ray of sunshine, the momentary parting of the clouds.  "It shall be no longer until He comes whose right it is... and I will give it to Him."  There would come a day when the true King.... the promised Son of David... would again ride through the gates of the fair city.  There would come a day when glad hosannas would again ring out to the heavens... when children would laugh and wave palm branches... when the Lord Himself would say that if a proper glad welcome was not forthcoming that even the stones would cry out.

The promises of God are unalterable.  The King did arrive for His first entry into Jerusalem.  He came riding on a donkey... He came into His own things (John 1).  In fulfillment of this and numerous other passages. He came... to set the people of God back on a right footing with God.  To reveal that there is a God in Israel who neither slumbers nor sleeps nor forgets. 

They received Him but did not know Him.  They welcomed Him and then put Him to death.  But God's promises still abide.  Jerusalem belongs to Him.  Jerusalem is His Church and though His first coming to His city meant the fall of Israel yet His promise is now to all who call Him Lord, whether Jew or Gentile, Male or Female, Slave or Free. 

No matter where we are in our journey... no matter how big a shambles is our life... no matter how frustrating our walk or the level of despair we feel for our world and our future... yet this is certain.  He was promised... He has come... and He will come again.... The One to whom it was promised.... The One for whom all things were created.  The One who has bound Himself to us and shall not let us depart from Him.  He Whom death could not contain nor the grave hinder.  He is alive... He is coming back and when He does, God the Father will give Him all things... including us, as His subjects and brothers and sisters.

Maranatha, Lord Jesus.

Sovereignty and Freedom...

[Gourds, Nat. Apple Festival, 2008, JAVanDevender]

Ezekiel 18:4  "Behold, all souls are Mine; The soul of the father As well as the soul of the son is Mine; The soul who sins shall die.

Everything hinges on this... am I my own man or not?

It makes all the difference in the world as to how I am "at home" in my life.  At one extreme, among those religious or not, who understand our lives to be the outworking of a mysterious deterministic necessity, whether Divine or Scientific, the effect tends toward hopeless resignation.  What will be... will be.  What I am.... I am.  Tomorrow will be what it will be and I, by taking thought, cannot change it.

Life becomes flat and the idea of "right and wrong" dims and if carried to an ultimate extreme, disappears altogether.

On the other extreme there are those, religious and not, who say that our lives and the future are entirely potential.  They will be what we make them and ultimately neither God nor nature, Godlessly construed, can or will stop mankind from fulfilling whatever it deems expedient for its own ends.  Individually this comes down to "It all depends on me."  "I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul." (Henley, "Invictus").

Life becomes, proportionate to our immediate self-confidence, a measure of anxiety.  In its ultimate extreme, man becomes exorbitantly arrogant or immeasurably anxious.

God alone can bring these two extremes into balance.  Each of us, "all souls", belong to Him.  As the Master Potter He forms us to house His Spirit.  He shapes us according to our unique character.  He knows just where the hole is, which He will either enter or leave open to our hollow interior.  Yet each individual, in balance, is able to make his plans, initiate them, and strive to carry them out.  In doing so we will reveal the nature of our hearts.  We will demonstrate whether we seek to live in love for God and man or whether our only concern is to further our own selfishness and conceits.  God gives us the freedom to decide in accordance with the desires of our hearts and allows us to undertake to fulfill them.  But then He guides our steps... His sovereignty arranges and promotes or hinders and obstructs us according to His predestining grace.  It was impossible that Christ should not die, yet the awful sin of that event and the decisions that lead to it, were fully and completely the product of the free will choices that Pilate, the Sanhedrin, Jews and Gentiles alike, made.

We belong to Him... hook, line and sinker... yet the soul that sin shall die.. because his sins are his and his alone.  The plumb line hangs straight and true.  God is sovereign in all things... and man is free to choose in accordance with his own individual nature.

Life thus becomes hopeful and responsible.  We recognize the value of our own judgments and integrity, thus we are not robots, yet we have rest and comfort in knowing that no matter how far we are imprudent in some regard, if our motives and hearts are directed toward God, His sovereignty shall take all that we do and cause it to work together for good.  We cannot fail.

My Gold... My Silver.... My Food... My Children......

[SchoolKids, Feb 2010, JAVanDevender]

Ezekiel 16:17-21   17 "You have also taken your beautiful jewelry from My gold and My silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself male images and played the harlot with them.  18 "You took your embroidered garments and covered them, and you set My oil and My incense before them.  19 "Also My food which I gave you -- the pastry of fine flour, oil, and honey which I fed you -- you set it before them as sweet incense; and so it was," says the Lord GOD.  20 "Moreover you took your sons and your daughters, whom you bore to Me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your acts of harlotry a small matter,  21 "that you have slain My children and offered them up to them by causing them to pass through the fire?

In the "parable of the talents" [Matt. 25:14ff] Jesus makes it pretty clear that in the Kingdom of God, God's servants are stewards of HIS resources.  It is His gracious plan to put us in charge of His stuff and then expect us to use those things to His benefit and profit.  To some He gives much stuff.  To some He gives lesser amounts.  Some are entrusted with a wider range of treasures, others less.  But the same principle applies.  It is His stuff and it is to be used, appreciated, respected, and honored as such.

This passage in Ezekiel sharply reinforces Jesus' teaching.  What Jesus proclaimed was not something new... the essential principle that man is to be a diligent and faithful steward over God's resources goes back to Adam and Gen. 1.  That which Jesus and Ezekiel emphasize is how seriously God takes this relationship.

The people of God are characterized as being a lewd, lascivious wife who is not only unfaithful to her husband but goes out and hires men to sleep with her.  That's bad enough. .... it's more than bad enough.  But God goes farther, pointing His finger at His people and saying - "and how did you treat the good things that I have given you?  In what light did you consider MY gold... MY silver... MY food which I placed before you... MY children whom I gave you." 

What God is reinforcing here is an idea that we either forget or never actually realize.  When God gives us stuff... He doesn't pass over ownership... He doesn't give it to us as our possession.  Even our children belong to God.  Our very food... our income... our houses... the cars we drive... the relationships we gain... the church we attend...  the artistic and social abilities we demonstrate... they all belong to God.  We are essentially homeless, destitute beggars whom God is please to dress, feed and entrust with His household.  As is only just, He expects us to be grateful and to show that gratitude in the attitude we take toward His possessions.

Across the board, throughout the full range of human endeavor, it is God's intention that like Bach upon completion of a musical work, we inscribe the words "Soli Deo Gloria" - to God's glory alone... upon the finished work.  He expects every activity from parenting to painting, from victualing to vocation (sorry, I couldn't resist), to be consciously dedicated to the improvement of His Kingdom and to the advancing of His glory. 

It is a call to excellence as well as a call to humility.  Most of all it is a call to repent of our self-focus, our prideful appropriation of His supply, and our insistence that we be honored rather than Him... in everything.

I Will Give Them A New Heart....

[Ladies, Prayer Garden, National Martyrs Memorial, RK, 2007, JAVanDevender]

Ezekiel 11:19-20  "Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh,  "that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God.

What an incredible miracle is this whole business of conversion... "regeneration" to the more technically precise among us!

No one who has been present at the birth of a child, under normal circumstances, can deny the sheer wonder of it, especially if it is your own baby.  The seemingly ever renewing earth presents similar miracles to our senses in magnificent array.  A dead pond, full of scum and mud, the product of rain falling upon recently scorched earth after a forest fire, may in time, begin to tremble and stir as life is born into it.  The self-correcting actions of micro-organisms begin to filter the water and make it inhabitable and attractive for larger creatures.  From death, life will rise triumphant and a cycle will begin anew.  It is the ordinary miracles which are most astonishing when we pause and consider.

It is easy to pass over the miracle of conversion also.  It is seldom remarked by the world, it usually does not occupy the minds of the news media, it happens and the ripples spread, but other than by those closely affected, it is not is deemed very important.

But, if we pause and consider, .... if we let our minds and hearts dwell on the true nature of the event, what a different story is told.  In conversion / regeneration, God creates a whole new person out of the dead, dried up husk that previously went through the emotions of existence.  As the surface of a muddy pond begins to stir with implanted life, so the inner and outer workings of an individual begin to vibrate and resonate with hidden stirrings.  Where life was once preoccupied with idols, as existed in Korea for thousands of years, suddenly a new idea and new emotion begins to push those previous assumptions right out the window.  There is a real change ... a new "heart" begins to beat.  It is not a repair job that is being done... the old heart was dead... it is a transplant that is accomplished.

And what results accrue?  In the very place where the idols of the world around once reigned supreme, now ladies on their lunch break gather to eat, share their lives and pray.  Astonishing!   What a transformation!  What a supernatural event!

It is a modern fiction which treats this radical change in psychology, sociology and emotional nature as a mere foible, an amusing anecdote to be smilingly noticed as the world's notice moves on to "bigger" things.  This work of God, made possible only through great price, should be of supreme importance to all.  To those who have not experienced it, it should be the object of great longing and desire.  To those who know it and the One Who caused it, it is a pearl of great price, the value of which is such that a man would sell all he possesses to own it.  It should be a portion of our daily prayers of thanksgiving.  It is the glory of God to save men... not by a bare forgiveness of their sins... but by transforming them into new beings, fit for eternity with Him.  We should daily remark on this, notice it, express our gratitude for it, and live in its aura all day.  How can we grumble and complain in the face of this great gift we have received?  How different would our lives become if we simply gave this miracle the recognition it deserves and appropriated the attendant promise it conveys: "I am your God... and you, as evidenced by this gift I have given you, belong to Me!"

Ah, the magnificence of it all...  and of the joy that attends it.

Get A Shovel and Get To Work.....

[Barn Door, Covenant Village, 2009, JAVanDevender]

Ezekiel 7:13  No one will strengthen himself Who lives in iniquity.

We seldom pause to consider the relation between "strength" and "holiness."

There is, in my thinking, a direct and immediate connection between these two concepts.  Taken to the negative extreme, one has only to pause and consider the life of a dissolute person.  The preoccupation with pleasure undermines their moral resolve, the end justifying the means essential overwhelms their conscience, and the call of self-sacrifice falls upon deaf ears.  Such a person is undependable in virtually every respect and the weakness of their will is everywhere evident. 

How different are those to whom we credit 'strength.'  There are those men and women who walk among us that we instinctively recognize as having character.  It shows itself in various ways, not the least is an apparent self-confidence that is not divorced from humility.  They simply seem to "know what they are doing."  To them, life is miraculous but not arbitrary; mysterious but not without illumination.  Their steps are more surefooted and, not un-seldom, with attendant benefits to their life.  Regardless of their physical condition... they are "strong."

In my mind's eye I see my Savior in this light.  Strength radiated from him and drew to Him those whose lives were anything but strong.  His strength was rooted in His purity and holiness, in His moral perfection as well as His other attributes.  Similarly, it is not inconsistent that in healing those with physical problems he would sometimes begin with stating "your sins are forgiven you."  The relation between their guilt and the overall aspect of their life cannot be completely separated.  I am not suggesting that every person who is physically weak or damaged in some way bears that burden because of specific sins in their lives.  I am talking however about a fundamental strength, even to bear physical weakness, and its relation to purity of life, both absolute and relative.

"No one strengthens himself who lives in iniquity" God tells Ezekiel.  If our lives are a moral wreck, if we are living in a pig-sty of self conceit, hardness of heart and mind, dissipation and shamelessness, the discipline of "denying ourselves" cannot produce its fruit.  God forgives us of our sins but He sets us on the pathway and tells us "Go and sin no more", "Sin shall not have dominion over you."  We forget that salvation is unto sanctification and our strength in all measures is inseparable from our progress in it. 

As we survey the rubble of our lives what we shall see, always, is the proximity of a shovel.  God's command is clear... "Get to work!"

... yet they will know that a prophet has been among them.

[Pelicans, 2007, JAVanDevender]

Ezekiel 2:5  yet they will know that a prophet has been among them.

Flying in the winds of a gathering storm can be hazardous.  The developing intensity adds urgency to the need to find a safe haven.  Depending on your aircraft you may not be able to climb above the tempest and once enveloped in it, wind shears, pelting hail and downdrafts can "ruin your day."

Smart aviators don't take unnecessary chances.  They tend to live longer than the other type.

Ezekiel was called to fly before the gathering storm and make his presence known.  His life was to be his witness.  God's wrath was visible on the horizon to all who had eyes to see (cf. ch. 3:27).  Fierce winds were going to blow and the rebellious house of God's people would shudder and shake and then come apart at the seams.  Judgment then and judgment now and judgment to come, will begin with the house of the Lord (1Pet. 4:17).

In due time another prophet would fly on the winds of gathering darkness.  John the Baptist would come and call this same race to repentance.  "Turn and be saved" he would cry.  Like Ezekiel his passion was noticed, gaped at, and largely ignored.  On the day God had ordained the winds blew sharp and hot, the lightning crackled, the veil in the house of the Lord was rent in two, and a Roman centurion, terrified at what was happening and what he had done, cried out "Surely, this was the Son of God." (Mark 15:39)

What was true of Ezekiel and John the Baptist as individuals is true of the church of Christ as a body.  We are called to fly before the gathering storm of God's impending wrath and make our presence known.  We are to leave the world without excuse.  They must hear and repent or hear and be damned, but they must hear.  They must know that a prophet has been among them.  To fail in this task is to join those who will perish in the storm.  To fail is to blend into the background, to lose visible contrast, to become lukewarm and detestable (Rev. 3:16).  Whether our message reaps a harvest of lost souls or whether it stands as testimony to guilt, yet the message must be clear, .... it must be authoritative... it must be courageous. 

The prophet's life is not an easy one.  The winds in front of a storm can be treacherous also.  The biggest difference though is that one can see where one is going.  The clouds have not yet obscured your vision.  So, the people of God today must battle the winds... but with clear vision.  Our Christ proclaimed the presence of the Kingdom... He also proclaimed that "now is the judgment of the world" (John 12:31) and that "for judgment I have come into the world." (John 9:39)  We are the modern Ezekiels... the current John the Baptists... we have a message that is sweet to our taste but bitter to those who know not the Savior. 

We need to mount up the winds... sail where He blows us... and let all the world know:  "He is coming!"