DCLM Daily Manna 2023: DCLM Daily Manna 29 December 2023: His Message, Not Ours
KEY VERSE: “And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell there upon me.” – (Ezekiel 8:1)
TEXT: Ezekiel 8:1-6
And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell there upon me.
2 Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber.
3 And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.
4 And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain.
5 Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.
6 He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations.
Prophet Ezekiel was called to be a spokesman for God at the age of thirty. Doubling as a priest, he was repeatedly employed to address the children of Israel during their captivity in Babylon. Ezekiel did not need any notice to be commissioned for service. Through visions, he received God’s messages, which, as an obedient messenger, he promptly transmitted to the people as they sought to hear from heaven in their distress. On one occasion, when the elders of Judah were in his house for consultation, God also came calling.
He lifted Ezekiel from their midst in Babylon to reveal to him their transgressions. His servant was made to be eyewitness of the idolatrous and immoral conduct of his compatriots back in Jerusalem. The Lord transported him to the “inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy”. The prophet saw “the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth”. A loving God who knows the consequences of dying in sin would always intervene through warnings from His servants. He does not wait until the unrepentant crosses to the other side, where he can no longer repent.
He looks for submissive servants to send to those who have gone astray so they would retrace their steps. Wherever these messengers are today, they never hesitate as they are called for the Master’s work. The invitation from the Lord is more urgent now than it was in the days of Ezekiel. With many dying into a Christless eternity and with the Lord’s imminent return to judge the world, the believer should not hesitate to preach the gospel to snatch souls from Satan. The Christian is the Ezekiel of today; he is required to tell the people that only God can deliver them from the captivity of sin.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: The wise believer preaches the Word with unrelenting vigour.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Revelation 15-17
Thank you for studying today’s Daily Manna – His Message, Not Ours – by Pastor W.F Kumuyi
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Daily Manna 29 December 2023
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