Ezekiel 1:1-3 – Being an effective messenger of God

Like Jeremiah, the prophet Ezekiel who wrote this book was a priest. He was deported to Babylon at age 25 along with youths such as Daniel, Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego. Ezekiel was the son of Buzi. This passage tells us that he was living among the Jewish exile that had settled by the Chebar River.

The open heaven that he experienced on the 5^th day of the 4^th month in the 30^th year reveals to us the time the Lord moved him into the prophetic role. This would be some five years after he was brought to Babylon. As indicated by Numbers 4:2-3, a priest would have begun his priestly ministry in the temple of Jerusalem at age 30. The phrase, “the word of the Lord came expressly to Ezekiel…” was an indication that he was called into the prophetic work. As there was no temple for him to serve in Babylon, it was quite natural that he should be redirected into the prophetic role. His calling to this prophet role also coincided with King Jehoiachin’s 5^th year in exile. Verse 3 clearly said that the hand of the Lord came upon him. In other words, he became the divine messenger by the Lord’s clear touch.

Here in these three verses, we are given some characteristics of a prophet. They are also what we need to be God's effective communicators:

Firstly, like Ezekiel, we must be a person who has personally encountered God. Notice how Ezekiel spoke of His experiences using the first-person pronouns in these verses. Our effectiveness as God’s spokesman must be born out of a personal encounter with Him.

Secondly, like Ezekiel, we need to operate under an open heaven. This means that God is the source of our message. Only with an open heaven can we have a clear line of communication with God. The Bible is clear that if we draw near to God, He will draw near to us. If we are to be effective communicators of the truth of God, it is important that we are closely connected to God, by diligently spending Him regularly and consistently.  

Thirdly, like Ezekiel who saw the visions of God, we His redemptive agents also need to impart visions of God. How can we do it unless we ourselves have received visions of God? We can never have visions of God unless we take time to be with Him. Bear in mind that we are not here to display our eloquence or cleverness. We are here to speak of the goodness of God so that our audience will know who He truly is and what He is like. 

Fourthly, like Ezekiel, we need His hand to be upon us. How can we be a true blessing if God's hands are not upon us? Psalm 127:1 tells us that unless the Lord builds the house, we by our own effort will labor in vain. We need His hand upon us as we do HIs work. Without God, we cannot but without us, God will not. We need to co-labor as hands in gloves if we are to be effective.  

We are called to be God’s effective workers. So we need to be sure that we first have a personal encounter with Him and are walking under an open heaven. We need a heart that is ready and receptive to hear from Him. Know that we can only impart accurate visions of God when we have first heard and received from Him. To be effective, be sure also to prayerfully ask that His hand will always be upon us as we seek to serve Him.