Ezekiel 39:27-29 – “When I bring them home from the lands of their enemies, I will display my holiness among them for all the nations to see. Then my people will know that I am the Lord their God, because I sent them away to exile and brought them home again. I will leave none of my people behind. And I will never again turn my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit upon the people of Israel. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”
Another day another prophecy of a major bloodbath, this one particularly graphic. God calls all the birds to come for a great feast on all the rotting flesh of the enemy nations. It’s hard to know what is hyperbole and what is literal, but it’s not pretty either way. In reading the chapter, I was reminded that God acts like a divine being, not a human being. Even though we are made in his image, he has a lot of license we don’t have to bring powerful, evil rulers under control.
The end of the chapter (the highlighted verses above) remind us of God’s goal in all of this bloodshed: the restoration of his people. He wants to bring them home. He won’t leave anyone behind. He wants to pour out his Spirit on them and never leave their side again. Whenever we find ourselves far from God, it’s not him who moved. He has never chosen to break his promises or walk away as we have.
Here’s your freedom for today:
You are living in a supernaturally unique time.
When God describes pouring out his Spirit on his people and never leaving them again, he’s talking about a reality that we now live in. The people in Ezekiel’s day could only imagine what that might be like. They could only dream of a Messiah that would someday come. Living during this time after Jesus’ life on earth, after God has given his Holy Spirit to his people in a unique and new way, is a huge gift. We continue to await for Jesus’ second coming that has been prophesied, but we have the Holy Spirit in us as a guarantee. He’s our rescue ticket, and he’s also giving us supernatural understanding and wisdom that wasn’t previously available to the masses. The prophets and priests lived that life, but the direct line of communication to God was cut off. Praise God today for his Holy Spirit, and ask him for more supernatural wisdom and insight.