I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Ezekiel 1-4.

    I realized that my imagination of Ezekiel’s initial vision has long been incorrect. I have always attempted to picture the four “living beings” as forming a square with one of them on each side of the square facing out and a space in the middle between them. However, today I realized that Ezekiel was most likely describing them as being in a line all facing the same direction. Another thing I realized is that if someone made a drawing or painting of one of these in a context that did not evoke something from Ezekiel we would most likely think the image was a depiction of something demonic.

    I think it is important for us to look at Ezekiel’s commissioning. Like Ezekiel, most of us are not called to be missionaries to foreign lands. There are two sides to such a calling. On the one hand, it is easier because you already speak the language of those you are called to whom God calls you to speak. On the other hand, they are unlikely to be receptive to your message. God warns us that if our mission field is among our own people and culture that our target audience will be stubborn and hard-headed, intentionally misinterpreting the words we speak. Therefore we need to be just as hard-headed and obstinate. Further, God warns us that they will attempt to intimidate and frighten us into silence, but we must continue to speak up any way. There is one final piece of advice here regarding speaking God’s word to those of our own culture, perhaps the most important instruction. Before we attempt to speak God’s words to others we must take them to heart and let them shape our behavior.

    The final point in today’s passage that I want to highlight is God’s defining of the mission to which He was calling Ezekiel. God describes the task as being a watchman. His job, and in many cases our job, is to warn people about the consequences of their sins. If we fail to warn sinners and they do not change their ways, they will die and God will hold us accountable for their death. On the other hand, if we warn them and they do not change their ways, they will still die but god will hold us innocent of their deaths. This instruction applies to both those who are living in sin and those who were living righteously and fall into sin. However, we are not called to confront each and every person who sins, only those for whom God has given us a message. This passage does not give us any guidance on how we can distinguish for whom God has given us a message. Theoretically, it should be obvious, but in practice it can be difficult to distinguish if God has given us a message or perhaps we just want to use that person to gain attention for ourselves.