I fell on My face

STUDY: #921- CHURCH IN THE HOUSES FROM: DECEMBER 3 @ 9, 2016

TOPIC: "I fell on My face" Ezekiel 1:1-28 The time came for the people of Israel to be in great pain because of their separation from God. So God wanted to talk to the prophet Ezekiel, and how violent, strong and unfamiliar to the prophet! God will make Himself known as He wants; In this case, He did it with great force, authority and dominion as the Almighty God He is. Ezekiel would be affected to see His glory, presumably! (Ezekiel 2: 2) "As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me." The Holy Spirit Himself affirmed the prophet's weak body on his feet. Ezekiel was stunned, weakened, disengaged. The humiliation on our part is followed by exaltation on the part of God! Now Ezekiel began a great work as a prophet of the people and that humiliation was the best attitude to be able to do with great care the great work that God would send to do. By saying here "...on my feet ...", means that after his humiliation and prostration he stood straight and firm on his feet, straight, very disposed. When God entrusts you with a job, you cannot present yourself to His service as a child, but as an adult, not carnal, less talkative, not as a liar, conceited or arrogant. Let us learn that by seeing His glory we humble ourselves and stand on our feet. "On my feet" is the adequate attitude and way for the prophet to stand before God, for the one who was called to walk and to work for God (Ephesians 5: 8, 9 "...live as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, justice, and truth."); (Ephesians 6:15 "...and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.") The Israelites were in captivity, in the land of others shattered, shamed, humiliated and broken on all sides; many of them without families and without houses, without food, or clothes; totally alone. Ezekiel 2:3 He said: Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me..." God confronted every obstacle with his commandment. God commanded Ezekiel to speak to them and to work for that nation that was so affected, but so difficult and rebellious (Ezekiel 2:7 "You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen..."). Let us understand that the DUTIES are ours (they are our responsibility and must be brought to fulfillment) and that the EVENTS (whatever happens) correspond to God. Ezekiel 2: 4 "The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them: THIS IS WHAT THE SOVEREIGN LORD SAYS." God confronted their stubbornness with His name. Men will know even when they do not listen. The human being does not listen to warnings, advice and rebukes. Even when they do not listen, at least they will not have excuses for their perversity, for their great evil that causes them to intentionally do damage. Whether they listen or not we must warn them (Ezekiel 2:7); we must say what God wants to speak to them because the human being is rebellious against the power and authority. They are evil people. But, the righteous do not have to fear, the afflictions are for the great pains of those who do wrong. With the great revelation of the glory of God the divine authority can be understood. The glory of God came upon Ezekiel. The pain and humiliation for God was on behalf of Ezekiel, His chosen one; unfortunate that it was not on behalf of the people. In the great revelation we see

CHERUBIM (Ezekiel 1:5 "...and in the midst of it the figure of four living creatures."). The cherubim are considered the guardians of the glory of God! Their speed is like that of a lightning bolt. They know God directly; they know what they should to do with righteousness. Ezekiel 1:9 "Each one walked straight ahead." Each of them walked forward and had no need to turn around when they changed direction, because they had a face looking at each one of the four points of the sky. They were not mistaken and their work did not need to be done again. (You look at what has to be done, look at what is demanded from us!) They do not turn back or sideways WHILE THEY HAVE NOT FULFILLED THE JOB THAT HAS BEEN ENTRUSTED. In God one does not look back; let us remember the figure of salt, the wife of Lot. IT IS STRAIGHT AHEAD, and instructions have already been given by THE ONE WHO HAS THE GLORY! It is the Spirit that moves. To divert alongside, to the side, is rebellion against THE ONE THAT LEADS, which is the Spirit. Those cherubim indicate or symbolize the intensely pure and ardent justice of God. For which, God punishes through His angels those who like Israel HAVE BECOME HARSH AGAINST HIS GREAT PATIENCE! Do not mock His great patience! The fire emitted sparks and flashes of lightning as torches do, expressing the wonderful vigor of the Spirit of God in all its movements, "never resting and never tired." The righteousness and justice of God will at the end cause a ray of His rage to fall over the guilty, as it was now going to occur upon Jerusalem. All these forces described in Chapter 1 of Ezekiel reveal the gigantic and terrible energy of God's providence fulfilling His purposes. Something was true for Ezekiel and for those who know God; the revelation of the glory of God rises above the gods of the pagans to represent the true God who made them and continually sustains them. Who made you, who sustains you? The Spirit was in everything (Vs. 21); in THE WHEELS, FULL OF EYES (Vs. 18), thereby demonstrating the fullness of intelligent life, the eye being the window through which they looked. There was a total dwelling of the Spirit, that life related to God, holy and spiritual in all the fullness of His power. We have here the throne and God as a man with the appearance of surrounding fire (Ezekiel 1:26 "Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of sapphire, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man."). His tiled sapphire glory (Exodus 24:10) resembling Heaven when it is serene. Ezequiel heard the sounds of His glory (Vs. 24, 25). His power rests over the head of the cherubim. There came a throne with the Mighty God, with the Eternal One, with the Banner of Peace assuring everyone that the purpose of Heaven was to preserve rather than to destroy! Even when the divine work needed a deluge of wrath, God's fidelity will at last shine even stronger in favor of the children of the promise, as a result of the tribulations needed to prepare them for the final good. In short, A CORRECT ATTITUDE IS NECESSARY TOWARDS GOD BEFORE ENTERING ANY ACTIVE WORK FOR HIM! That is why the prophet Ezekiel said, "I fell on my face..." Ezekiel 1:28 "This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I FELL FACEDOWN, and I heard the voice of one speaking." AND YOU, WILL YOU DO THE SAME? Amen.