Then he brought me back to the door of the house; and
behold, water was flowing from under the threshold of the house toward the
east, for the house faced east. And the water was flowing down from under, from
the right side of the house, from south of the altar. He brought me
out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate
by way of the gate that faces east. And behold, water was trickling
from the south side. When the man went out toward the east with a line in
his hand, he measured a thousand cubits, and he led me through the water, water reaching the
ankles. Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reaching
the knees. Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water,
water reaching the loins {Ezekiel 47:1-4 NASB}.
This was
an incredible vision and encounter for Ezekiel; God touched him in a
spectacular way; He pierced the veil and saw God's glory revealed. Ezekiel had a
vision of holy waters, their rise, depth, and the healing virtue they contained.
He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his
innermost being will flow rivers of living water {
Jn.
7:38}.
This is a
prophecy of
Living Waters; John the Revelator saw the same Living Waters
in a vision in
Revelation
22. I long for God to touch me in a spectacular way. I know, I am supposed
to be deep and humble and tell you how thankful I am to see God in the mundane;
that I don’t need a spectacular experience to believe in God or trust His
faithfulness. I don’t need one to believe in Him, I do desire to
know Him more. I am grateful for the mundane, while anticipating
the spectacular. If I don’t encounter Him in this way, I still believe in
Him and know Him to be faithful and trustworthy.
Forever.
The
spectacular does not mean that I will necessarily experience God’s power like
Ezekiel, and I don’t just desire to witness a display of His power for a sign
or for the sake of having an experience. I want to know Him deeper and more
intimately than I ever have. I follow in the footprints of women and men of God who
sought the same; Moses witnessed God’s power, provision, and miracles in the
wilderness, yet, He still prayed for
God to show him His glory. He wanted to know God on a deeper level; not only
the provision of His hand, but in the intimacy of His face. He was called a friend of God.
You
are my friends if you do what I command you
{
Jn.
15:14}.
Elijah,
while hiding in a cave in fear of his life, had just witnessed God’s power on
Mt. Carmel, but he came to know God in a deeper way in the cave. He saw the
earthquake, fire, whirlwind, yet heard God in the still small voice. In studying
the original Hebrew in
1
Kings 19:11-14, some scholars suggest that Elijah did not only hear God’s
voice, but actually heard God’s
thoughts. A
spectacular experience indeed. In case you don’t believe that is possible let’s
read:
But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit
of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because
they are spiritually appraised. But
he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no
one. For who
has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we
have the mind of Christ {1 Cor. 2:14-16 NASB emphasis mine}.
God
continues to reveal Himself to those who seek Him. We can know the
thoughts of Christ through His Holy Spirit and the Word. The Word is a record
of His thoughts. A word of caution—if your experience or encounter with God
does not line up with His Word, you did not have an encounter with the Creator
of the universe; lean into Him like you never have before. His Word trumps any
experience or encounter we may have.
Not all
of us will encounter God in the spectacular way that Ezekiel did, however, He
does want to reveal Himself to us deeper as we grow in Him. He revealed Himself
to Moses at different times in deeper ways during each step of his journey to
the promise land.
We need
to discipline ourselves to recognize God in the mundane, but He does not expect
us to stay in the mundane, mediocrity of life. If He did, He would not have established
the Holy Place, or the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle; He would have built
the outer and inner courts only. The deeper you journey into the Tabernacle,
the deeper you experience the life, work, and ministry of Jesus and there you commune with Him (
read about the Tabernacle here).
If God did not want us to experience the spectacular, Peter and John would not have witnessed Christ’s transfiguration. He desires for us to see His glory.
He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation
of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power {
Heb.
1:3 NASB}.
God
brought Ezekiel through the waters at different levels; first his ankles, then the knees, and then up to his loins. Continue into the next verses and the water exceeds
his head. God wants to take us deeper and deeper in Him; not so that we can
have just some mystical experience, but that we can experience Him. He wants to know us face to face
just as He did Moses. These
men that experienced God in the spectacular, did not merely have an experience,
they had an encounter. My spirit cries out for an encounter.
