The book of Ezekiel gives us a glimpse of who Jesus is in the Old Testament (O.T).
An excellent book, which on the onset may seem extreme. Ezekiel is a prophet who was asked not to cry when his wife died to symbolize absolutely no sympathy for Israel, a book in which even the dry dead bones come alive. A beautifully written book in which the fall of the proud one and the means of redemption from the clutches of the fallen are recorded. Ezekiel 28 records the fall of God’s angel Lucifer and Ezekiel 34 avers Jesus to be the True Shepherd with a covenant of peace (Ezekiel 34:23-25) and showers of blessings (Ezekiel 34:26).
Ezekiel 1 records the vision, the prophet Ezekiel has wherein he witnesses the visages of the heavenly creatures. Each had four faces, one face was like that of a lion, one face was like that of an ox, one of a man, and one of an eagle. This beautifully ties into the new testament wherein in Matthew – Jesus is portrayed as the Lion of Judah (Face of Lion) Mark – Jesus is portrayed as the servant (Diligent service as an Ox) Luke – Jesus is portrayed as the the son of man (face of a man) and in John – Jesus is portrayed as the Son of God (Eagle symbolizing a divine bird, soaring the heavens).
In Ezekiel, Jesus is the True Shepherd, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the diligent Servant, Son of Man, and the Son of God with a new covenant.
It is the eight anniversary of the infamous and heinous attacks by kamikaze terrorist groups commonly referred to as the September 11 attacks or the 911 attacks. Although superficially it may seem as if the attacks were orchestrated against the American public, when America had to surrender its innocence of the nation’s invincibility, on deeper thought, it was an attack against all those whom the terrorists deemed as ‘infidels’; those who did not belong to their faith. It came with the slaughter of many innocents and eight years later, we remember the fallen.
But in our remembrance, let us NOT just remember those fallen on the day of the 911 attacks, but let us also remember those who are under the bondage on THE fallen (Satan and his angels).
In the wake of the 911 attacks, the then President of the United States, George W. Bush Jr., said the following words in his Radio address to the nation – “This will be a different kind of conflict against a different kind of enemy. This is a conflict without battlefields or beachheads, a conflict with opponents who believe they are invisible”. While President Bush eluded this reference to the physicality of the war at that time, it is nonetheless accurate of a war that began centuries ago, when God cursed the fallen one (Satan)in the garden of Eden who had tricked God’s priceless of creation to fall from their relationship with God (Genesis 3:15).
We are in a conflict (at WAR) in spiritual realms with an enemy that is invisible to the human natural eye. But this INVISIBLE enemy is NOT INVINCIBLE as God has equipped us with an armor (Ephesians 6:10-18) and endowed us with weapons of warfare(2 Corinthians 10:4).
We are all called to work for God and sadly many of us stop at being just workers for God. We are not to be mere workers but warriors as well, engaged full time in spiritual battle, snatching those under the clutches of the fallen one so that they no longer are fallen. We are asked to beat our plowshares (workman’s items) into swords (warrior item) and our pruninghooks (fisherman’s item) into spears (warrior item) and let those who are weak proclaim that they are strong (Joel 3:10). Those who were commissioned to work and rebuild the Temple of God under the leadership of Nehemiah, held in one hand the materials for the building and in the other hand a weapon (Nehemiah 4:17). We are called not to be just workers but warriors as well.
Equipping ourselves with the armor of God, let us affirm to engage in spiritual battle this day, and when we win this day, the 11th of September will no longer be known as an American memorial day, but as the day all followers of Christ Jesus declared in one voice: “We will not go quietly into the night (darkness)! We will not vanish without a fight! We’re going to live on (abundantly)! We’re going to survive (death has no power over us)! Today we celebrate our Independence Day (by no longer staying fallen or under the bondage of the fallen one)!”
Points to ponder:
Are we engaged for spiritual warfare? Are we equipped with the Armor of God? Let not just work, but fight as well.
Joel 3:10 (KJV) 10 Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.
2 Corinthians 10:4 (KJV) 4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
For your viewing pleasure, our 3 year old son telling us the Armor of God. Note how he ends it with, “the word of God, the Bible” 🙂
