Friday, February 3, 2017

The Word and the Hand


UV 2192/10000 The Word and the Hand
The word of the LORD came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the LORD was there upon him.

Ezekiel 1 v 3

The word of the Lord comes as “rhema” or a specific, direct word to an individual as it came to Ezekiel. I He saw a vision of angels of heaven, sepharim who burned brightly like coal. It is a metaphor to indicate that the manger leader or manager burns with zeal with knowledge like the sepharim. The Lord sent him the word and vision to encourage the captives of Israel while they were exiles and slaves in Babylon. By the rivers of Babylon, the Jewish diaspora cried out to the Lord and God of their fathers. The rivers or the resources and pleasures of Babylon, a symbol of the world did not in anyway seduce thm. God heard their cry and sent the vision and word as an encouragement to them to hold onto their faith. The rivers of Babylon, also , symbolise discouraging circumstances, a hopeless and powerless situation where no redemption was in sight for the ancient Jews.
The Lord is closest to us when we are weak and vulnerable. We are also in a more receptive state of mind and spirit as the world’s distractors and diverters are virtually cut off. Especially, in the most discouraging, distressing and hopeless situations in life, we need to prepare to pray and intercede on behalf of people like a priest. The Lord will then have compassion on us and send us a word of encouragement to uplift us. He does so to demonstrate to us that His hand is upon us. He is with each of us as He was with Moses and Joshua, as a mighty warrior. He will vindicate our faith and restore us. Thereafter, we should always recall the uni-verse or the specific and direct word by which He confirmed our deep bonds with Him, His presence with us. We should share our testimonies to praise the Lord for His faithfulness and to encourage others in difficult or similar predicaments of life.
Two things then we should await- one, the specific word that come in the shape of a verse from scripture or a vision or prophecy. Two, the hand of the Lord or the specific actions that He sets in motion on our behalf and for our good. Jesus is known as the Wonderful Counsellor as He not only tells us what to do but behind the situation, His supernatural hand is at work to do miracles and wonders to help us. He sends His host or army of angels to extricate or lift us up as the case may require. He sends the Holy Spirit to strengthen us from within, to comfort us and give us grace and power or the ability to do what we normally cannot do.

Prateep V Philip

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