Inviting Revival: A Study of EzekielÀpẹrẹ

Has life ever felt like you were running a marathon? On those days, when I feel like I’m chugging and puffing and barely making headway, I get discouraged. I begin to ask: “What is my purpose, anyway?”

God led Ezekiel on an arduous seven hundred mile journey, from his lifelong home in Jerusalem to a settlement for exiled prisoners in Babylon. What Ezekiel reckoned to be the ruin of his life actually placed him on a path of revival. God longs to bring revival to us today, awakening us to the greatest purpose in history!

At the age of thirty Ezekiel would have begun serving in the temple in Jerusalem as a priest. Instead he sits exiled in Babylon with little to no hope of immediate return. Have you ever had a dream or a goal for which you spent years of your time and energy preparing? How did the fulfillment or God’s change of your plans make you feel?

Ezekiel feels despondent and begins the vision with a “stormy wind coming out of the north.” Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had invaded Judah from the north bringing Ezekiel and the exiles to Babylon, but Ezekiel described another arrival.

The Jews of Ezekiel’s day believed that God dwelt in the temple of Jerusalem. Being exiled in Babylon meant that they were far removed from the presence of the Lord and had presumably lost His favor. (See Moses’ warnings in Deuteronomy 29:24-28.) Ezekiel, speaking about a thick cloud coming, reminded them that the Lord was still with them in Babylon (Nah 1:3). He had not forgotten them.

The Lord opened the throne room of heaven allowing Ezekiel to view His holy dwelling. The four living creatures are seraphs, angelic creatures whose faces symbolize strength like a lion, the patience and diligence of an ox, the keen sight of an eagle, and the intelligence and tenderness of humanity. Beneath them were the wheels that went wherever the Spirit of God led them with eyes all around. There is nothing beyond the sight and scope of our God and He could see His people in exile. Their placement there served as part of His divine plan. The rainbow recalled God’s commitment to remember His promises.

Just like this vision reminded Ezekiel and his fellow exiles that God had not forgotten them, be reminded today, that God has not forgotten you. Wherever you are today, whether with dashed or fulfilled dreams, displaced, despondent or full of hope, God sees you.

And just like Ezekiel and the exiles, He has positioned you with purpose. Your circumstances may seem hopeless or the opposite of how you imagined your life to be at this point, but will you, like Ezekiel, fall face down and listen to the voice of your God speak to you? Maybe the thing you are reckoning to be the ruin of your life God plans to use to renew your purpose and revive your soul.