DAY 28: GOD CHOSE EZEKIEL

 THE RHEMA WORD FOR TODAY

(A DAILY DEVOTIONAL WITH PREACHER SAM)

 

TOPIC: GOD CHOSE EZEKIEL

DATE: 28 SEPTEMBER, 2020

BIBLE READING: EZEKIEL 2

MEDITATION/MEMORY VERSE: EZEKIEL 2:3 (CEV)

Ezekiel, I am sending you to the people of Israel. They are just like their ancestors who rebelled against me and refused to stop.

 

Finally, we now know who a prophet is and the difference between the gift of prophecy and the office of a prophet. But the question is, ‘are there still prophets today?’

The two verses that have been used to support that there are no prophets today are Ephesians 2:20 and Hebrews 1:1-2.

 

Ephesians 2:20 NKJV

Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone.

 

The above simply means that the church the body of Christ is been built on the spiritual foundation of the apostles and the prophets. Notice ‘apostles’ was mentioned first before ‘prophets’. “And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets…” (1 Cor. 12:28 NIV). Now remember we said that an apostle is a church planter while a prophet builds, so apostle Paul meant the same when he wrote to the church in Corinth, “… as a wise master builder (church planter) I have laid the (spiritual) foundation, and another (a prophet) builds on it.” (1 Cor. 3:10 Parenthesis Mine). I will urge you to read 1 Corinthians 3:9-11 in context with Ephesians 2:20. And the Bible says, “This work must continue.” (Eph. 4:11-13).

 

 

 

Hebrews 1:1-2 NKJV

God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, trough whom also He made the worlds.

 

Take note of that phrase, ‘In these last days.’ That was used on the day of Pentecost recorded in Acts 2, ‘what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel: “In the last days,” God says, “I will pour out my Spirit upon all people… and they will prophesy.”’ (Vv. 16-18 NLT). Now, linking Hebrews 1:1-2 with Ephesians 2 that we just looked at now, the Spirit that has been poured out upon all people, are the people of God ((Eph. 2:18). “So now you are no longer strangers and aliens. Rather, you are fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s family.” (Eph. 2:19). So Christ being the chief cornerstone is the head of the body of the family of God (Eph. 2:20). “In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit” (Eph. 2:21-22 NIV).

Now back to Hebrews 1:1-2, God speaks to us, not in various ways, but through His Son; the chief cornerstone and final revelation of God. He speaks to us through the body of Christ and He has appointed unto the body ‘prophets’. And this must continue until we all reach oneness in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God (Eph. 4:11-16).

The ministry of the Old Testament prophets ended in John (Lk. 16:16), they prophesied about the coming of the Messiah (Lk. 24:27, 44). There are still prophets because Christ is coming the second time, that was why He warned against false prophets- because there are true prophets ordained by God in these last days (Mat. 24:11, 24). Also, God does nothing on this earth without first revealing his plan to His prophets (Amos 3:7). So there are still prophets today because God is still acting.

Speaking of false prophets, there are false prophets around. If their prophecies do not tally with the word of God, then discard such prophecies. But never despise prophesying (Deut. 18:20-22; 1 Jn. 4:1-6; Mat. 7:15-20; 2 Pet. 2:1-3; Deut. 13:1-18; 1 Thess. 5:19-21). And Ezekiel, our today’s case study, was ordered by the Lord to proclaim the judgment of God against false prophets (Ezek. 13).

Now, who is Ezekiel? Ezekiel was a priest who was captivated by the Babylonian (Ezek. 1:1-3). This was the only prophet apart from Daniel I suppose that God referred to as ‘son of man’. There’s a difference between ‘son of man’ and ‘the son of man’. Jesus is ‘the son of man’; explaining His humanity. But Ezekiel referred to as ‘son of man’; explains the frailty of man. So Ezekiel was not a perfect vessel, but a yielded vessel. God did not choose Ezekiel just because he was a priest, but He chose him because of His background as a Sovereign King- He qualifies the called and takes the glory.

God is still calling out to you, “Stand up, son of man.” Stand up from your frailty, stand up from your failure. “I want to speak with you,” let’s see what I can bring out from you, let’s talk about a better tomorrow. I want to speak with you, so son of man stand up.” (Ezek. 2:1 Paraphrased).

 

DECLARATION: THANK YOU LORD FOR SEEING ME AS A WORTHY VESSEL! THANK YOU FOR CHOOSING ME AND QUALIFYING ME TO YOUR GLORY!

 

FURTHER STUDY: EZEKIEL 3