Corona Devo 1844

Okay, don't think I'm crazy, but has God ever given you a dream/vision/notion/idea/or an invitation that we knew was from Him?  We can call it (try to define it as) whatever we want, but if God gave us a vision, I think we would remember it. 

We might possibly remember the exact date that it occurred.  We would probably remember how old we were when we saw it.  

If God gave us a vision (Has He?), we would most likely also know who we were with when we saw it, and I would think that we would remember exactly where we were at when it "happened". 

If God whispers something to our spirit, we would know it and we would remember the details of the vision and of the moment we were privy to it.  

~~~

Ezekiel was a priest for the Israelites during Old Testament times.  As a priest, he had studied God's Word, and He was familiar with the (historical) ways of God.  Ezekiel was a man living for God and sharing the Word of God with others.  

One day without warning, and without him being "qualified" for it, Ezekiel saw visions of God, and he marked that day down in his memory.  He recalled the date (On July 31), Ezekiel knew how old he was (of my thirtieth year).  He knew who he was with at the time of the vision (I was with the Judean exiles), and he knew exactly where he was at (beside the Kebar River in Babylon).  And Ezekiel even remembered and documented who was and who wasn't in authority at that time: This happened during the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity (Ezekiel 1:2).

When Ezekiel saw visions of God, he remembered what it felt like (How could you forget?), and He said that he felt the hand of the Lord take hold of him. 

If...and I know it's a big "if", but if we have ever had a similar encounter with the Lord, this would probably be what it would feel like: as if the Lord's hand had taken hold of us.

(Have any of us ever seen visions of God?)  

I love that Ezekiel shared his details, because I think it brings us right into that amazing moment with him (and the Lord).  

In reading the Bible (Ezekiel Chapter 1), we enter in to that vision when God touched Ezekiel with His knowledge/insight/intention. 

On July 31 of my thirtieth year, while I was with the Judean exiles beside the Kebar River in Babylon, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. (2) This happened during the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity. (3) (The Lord gave this message to Ezekiel son of Buzi, a priest, beside the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians, and he felt the hand of the Lord take hold of him.)  ~Ezekiel 1:1-3

Ezekiel saw something all right, and the vision he beheld was of living beings.  The details are pretty wild.  So wild that we might have trouble believing what Ezekiel saw and said, except for the facts that (1)--it's found in the Bible (God's inerrant Word), and (2), Ezekiel had already established authenticity and believability by kicking off his comments with simple, valid, provable facts: like the date, his age, his location and other local (specific) details. 

We can trust the information of God's Word, even if we cannot fully understand it.  

And so, at age 30 on July 31st, while he was with the Judean exiles beside the Kebar River in Babylon, Ezekiel felt the hand of the Lord take hold of him, and here is his vision:

As I looked, I saw a great storm coming from the north, driving before it a huge cloud that flashed with lightning and shone with brilliant light. There was fire inside the cloud, and in the middle of the fire glowed something like gleaming amber. (5) From the center of the cloud came four living beings that looked human, (6) except that each had four faces and four wings. (7) Their legs were straight, and their feet had hooves like those of a calf and shone like burnished bronze.

(8) Under each of their four wings I could see human hands. So each of the four beings had four faces and four wings. (9) The wings of each living being touched the wings of the beings beside it. Each one moved straight forward in any direction without turning around.  

(10) Each had a human face in the front, the face of a lion on the right side, the face of an ox on the left side, and the face of an eagle at the back. (11) Each had two pairs of outstretched wings—one pair stretched out to touch the wings of the living beings on either side of it, and the other pair covered its body. (12) They went in whatever direction the spirit chose, and they moved straight forward in any direction without turning around.   

(13) The living beings looked like bright coals of fire or brilliant torches, and lightning seemed to flash back and forth among them. (14) And the living beings darted to and fro like flashes of lightning...

(22) Spread out above them was a surface like the sky, glittering like crystal. (23) Beneath this surface the wings of each living being stretched out to touch the others’ wings, and each had two wings covering its body. (24) As they flew, their wings sounded to me like waves crashing against the shore or like the voice of the Almighty or like the shouting of a mighty army. When they stopped, they let down their wings. (25) As they stood with wings lowered, a voice spoke from beyond the crystal surface above them.  

(26) Above this surface was something that looked like a throne made of blue lapis lazuli. And on this throne high above was a figure whose appearance resembled a man. (27) From what appeared to be his waist up, he looked like gleaming amber, flickering like a fire. And from his waist down, he looked like a burning flame, shining with splendor. (28) All around him was a glowing halo, like a rainbow shining in the clouds on a rainy day. 

This is what the glory of the Lord looked like to me. When I saw it, I fell face down on the ground...  ~Ezekiel 1:4-14, 22-28

I'm not going to explain the vision and the beings that Ezekiel saw when he felt the hand of the Lord take hold of him, but I will support the fact that he saw them. 

I think we can wholeheartedly agree and believe that God does put his hand on us sometimes to give us dreams/visions/notions/ideas/or an invitation   He certainly did for Ezekiel.

We can trust (and marvel!) at the information of God's Word, even if we cannot fully understand it. 

Blessings,  

sarah  

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com