DIVINE ENERGY IN ORDER TO HEAR

DIVINE ENERGY IN ORDER TO HEAR 

"And He said unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak with thee" Ezek. 2:1

After the vision in Ch. 1 come the voice; and the first command of the voice was that the man, who, prostrated by the glory of the vision, lay upon his face, should stand upon his feet, and hear the words of Jehovah. Let us consider this carefully. 1st came the vision, and therefore, whatever was to be said would come to this man with the authority of all that was revealed in that vision. There is no doubt that through all his ministry, whether Ezekiel listened to the voice, or spoke the messages entrusted to him, he did so in the consciousness of the glory of Jehovah as he had seen it in those visions. But when that vision had been seen, and the soul had responded in the act of worship which expressed itself in prostration, there was something more to be done. That prostrate soul was called to a new attitude, for which it had been prepared by the vision and the prostration. It was that of STANDING ERECT BEFORE GOD in order that face to face he might receive the word of God. In order to the delivery of His message God requires more than the worship which at its highest consists of the cessation of activity. He needs a man ERECT, in the attitude of alertness and attention, READY FOR ACTION. Remember this was not a call to stand erect to utter the word of Jehovah but to hear it. And yet more carefully observe what follows: "The Spirit entered into me . . . and set me upon my feet." This is the DIVINE ENERGY, enabling a man to come to the height of his manhood, and so to find readiness to hear the word of Jehovah. Those of us who are called to prophetic ministry might with profit have these words engraved before our eyes in the places of preparation for our work. Here are words to hang on study walls.