I felt it on my heart that God wanted me to read Ezekiel, so that's where I started next. The prophet Ezekiel, like Daniel (around his age) and Jeremiah (around 20 years older), warned the children of Judah of the impending destruction that would take place at the hands of the Babylonians.

"As for the likeness of their faces, each had the face of a man, each of the four had the face of a lion on the right side, each of the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and each of the four had the face of an eagle." (1:10)

In the gospels, each of the four represents Christ in a different form. Matthew, with Christ as a lion, representing strength and royal authority. Mark represents Him as a bull, a symbol of service and power. Luke shows Christ as a man, a symbol of wisdom and divine character. John represents Jesus as an eagle, a sign of deity. I never knew that those characterizations had root in Ezekiel, and these creatures are described as "in appearance like a flash of lightning." (14)

"Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory the Lord. So when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard the voice of One speaking." (28)

Add another one to the list of Moses, Isaiah, and Saul who weren't exactly cracking jokes when the Lord let His light be shown. This is the light that gives contrast like we've never known. I need the light of God in my life, otherwise I am just a rat in a maze. I know enough to say that everything in this life comes and goes, and I need God's vision to be like a rainbow in my life so I am not blind as a bat.

"Lie also on your left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it. According to the number of days that you lie on it, you shall bear their iniquity....then you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days." (4:4,6)

The first time I read Ezekiel was about 2 1/2 years ago, when I first came to Purdue. I read through it rather hurriedly, bored at times to be honest. The endless visions I found terrifying and discomforting, to say the least. Reading it again, with the knowledge that God is trying to speak to me in His word, will hopefully bring out much more than ever before. It would seem like having to lay on your side for over 400 days would cause some pretty serious muscular atrophy, but such as the weight put upon prophets in times of wickedness. For "no prophet is accepted in his own country." (Luke 4:24)