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Ring of Truth provides 366 daily ‘proofs’ that the Bible is consistent throughout from Genesis to Revelation, and relevant for our lives today!
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Ezekiel 5:1
“Now, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber’s razor to shave your head and your beard. Then take a set of scales and divide up the hair.”
As we saw with Jeremiah, it’s not all ‘fun and games’ being a prophet of God.
Ezekiel has already had to identify himself with the rebellious people of God. He was bound by ropes in Chapter 3. He had to lie on one side for 390 days (that’s over 1 year) and eat grain cakes cooked over a fire of burning human excrement in Chapter 4, and here he had to shave off his hair and beard.
A third of his hair he had to burn, a third was to be cut by the sword and a third was to be thrown into the wind – all symbolic of what God was going to do with Israel. The sword would strike down a third, a fire would burn up a third and the rest would be scattered to the four winds – all over the world.
How often God uses natural parables to explain spiritual principles. Jesus did the same. (See for example Luke 15.) He is renowned for speaking in parables, giving us insight into the Divine, and unlocking the key to understanding spiritual reality. (See also Matthew 13.) And He had to endure many things, so that we could not only understand the plan and purpose of God, but also realise that He has gone through all we do and more, and yet He still remained faithful to God, and obedient to His will, regardless of the cost.
More than that, having endured all He did, He is not only able to sympathise with all our struggles and life experiences but also to give us strength, courage and hope to sustain us through them, both now and in the future (see Hebrews 4:14-16).
Ezekiel was both a prophet and a priest. He spoke God’s words, he enacted His ways and he interceded for the people. The ‘call’ to us is no less. It’s time for every follower and witness of Jesus Christ to do the same. We are called to identify with the people but speak the truth of God. (See also 1 Thessalonians 5:12-24 & James 5:16; 19-20.)
We do not need to experience everything other people go through but we do need to relate to having been independent and rebellious and to having been under the same divine sentence as them. We can also reveal that the forgiveness granted to us through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is available to them as well. Plus we can use our experiences to open the eyes of those who don’t yet know God so that they can find Him too.
In practice, it is good to intercede first and preach second. Once we have got a love for them and show it – they are more likely to listen to us.
Why not start today? In many ways the state of the nation is up to you.
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