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The Consequences of Prophecy-
Inauguration & Responsibilities of a Prophet

While more and more modern Christians are beginning to recognize the beautiful gift that our Creator has provided us through His Modern Prophets, many fail to recognize the tremendous duty placed upon them. Through the Prophet Ezekiel, we see both the awesome glory of being exposed to God’s Voice and/or Presence, but also the insanely heavy burden entrusted to those God speaks through.

Ezekiel the Priest’s first experience with the prophetic began under extremely stressful circumstances. The Southern Kingdom of Judah had already had the first wave of exiles forced out by Babylon and Ezekiel was amongst the captives. At the Israelite settlement at River Chebar, Ezekiel began to have visions.

While there are several artistic interpretations of what Ezekiel saw, ranging from everything being symbolic of Israel, to descriptions of engineering surpassing today’s advanced technology, it was awe inspiring and tremendous. Ezekiel’s inauguration as a prophet allowed him a brief opportunity to bask in the Glory of the Lord, where he was filled with the Spirit, and afterwards was presented with a scroll of God’s prophecies for Israel, which Ezekiel was ordered to eat and was surprised to discover was sweet like honey.

God overly stressed the fact that Ezekiel would be sent to prophesy to the people of his own nation, in his own language, with his shared history: the House of Israel. Though God is not sending Ezekiel to a foreign land with a tongue he did not understand, God knows that foreigners would be more willing to hear and change their ways compared to the Israelites, who were hard hearted and stubborn.

God declared that He had made Ezekiel’s face stronger than the Israelites, so that when he confronts them, Ezekiel can stand firm when they challenge what he says. Even more, God has strengthened Ezekiel’s will so that he can butt heads with the religious order who refused to align themselves with God. Ezekiel is not to be afraid as his spiritual forehead was made strong like adamant and harder than flint, so he would not step back when they try to push against him because of their rebelliousness. God equipped Ezekiel to go to the captive Israelites, but recognized that there was a very good chance that they would not listen.

After Ezekiel’s encounter, he returned to the camp at Tel Abib and sat there amongst his fellow captives in astonishment for seven days. After a week of reflecting on what he had seen and heard, God spoke to Ezekiel yet again, declaring that He had made him a Watchman over the House of Israel. Ezekiel would be responsible for warning the People and the consequences of his failure to do so would fall on his head.

If a wicked man was doing evil, and was told to turn away from his ways, but chose not to, he would be condemned for his actions. But if Ezekiel failed to warn him and the sinful man died wallowing in his inequity, then Ezekiel would be responsible and his blood would be on Ezekiel’s hands.

This would even apply to a righteous man, who had been known to do Good throughout his life, but had turned away from the Creator. If instructed by God, Ezekiel’s failure to try to correct their path was the responsibility of the prophet. If God placed a stumbling stone before a once faithful person, and they died, their good works would be forgotten and Ezekiel would again be liable for failing to give him the opportunity to turn back to God.

God warned Ezekiel that the people would bind and restrict him from going out and correcting the captives because of their stubbornness, but if given a Word, Ezekiel was only responsible for speaking and the people would decide whether they would hear or refuse.

Despite his current position as a captive of the Babylon Empire, Ezekiel had been called out by God to reach his fellow Israelites in exile. If he failed to instruct those walking out of line with God’s Will, Ezekiel would be punished for their wrongdoing. But, if they were corrected and still chose to do wrong, their blood would be upon their own heads.

Modern prophets are tasked with a similar responsibility of needing to heed exclusively to God’s Voice. Some are called to try to correct the actions of an entire nation or its leadership, while others are set apart to shift the actions of everyday men and women. In either case, if instructed to correct, they have an obligation to warn those who are heading towards damnation.

God sent His Prophet Ezekiel during a major national crisis, even after many years of warnings from previous messengers. The first wave of exiles had already been removed, but their hearts were still turned away from God even when in the midst of the punishment that had been prophesied. The foolish continued down the same path that had led them to their current situation, but the wise heeded the words of God’s Prophets and corrected themselves.

During this global crisis, many of the things that once made our lives comfortable and stable are no longer able to be relied upon. Our lives have been uprooted and many feel that they are at the whims of forces far greater than themselves. Our world will continue to change radically, but we know that Our Creator has control over all things.

It is no small comfort to know that God still talks to His Sons and Daughters today through His Messengers. While not every prophet will be able to directly experience the same intense vision of God that Ezekiel had, nor will they all be tasked with turning an entire nation away from the destructive path it’s currently on, they are responsible for delivering God’s Message faithfully for the benefit and salvation of their audience.Whatever may come in the next few days, weeks, and months, we know that aligning ourselves with God’s Instruction will bless our families, communities, and countries.

Prepared by, Kent Simpson, Apostolic Prophet & Eric Sepulveda, PMT Administrator

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