The next point to consider is the person—Ezekiel—who saw the visions.
In verse 1 Ezekiel tells us that he “was among the captives by the river of Chebar.” As a captive in the land of captivity, Ezekiel was tested and surely must have felt perplexed, distressed, and depressed. This also may be our experience today. Sometimes when we come together with the brothers and sisters, we sense that we are in the land of captivity and we feel distressed and depressed.
Verse 3 speaks explicitly of “Ezekiel the priest.” As a priest Ezekiel was one who lived in the presence of God, serving God and being mingled with God. Ezekiel was this kind of person. Although he was in the land of captivity, he still lived in the presence of God and ministered before God. He was by the river Chebar, not in the holy temple, yet as a priest he looked to God, prayed to God, contacted God, fellowshipped with God, and waited for God. Because Ezekiel was such a person and contacted God in such a way, the heavens were opened to him, and he “saw visions of God” (v. 1).
We encourage all the brothers and sisters in the Lord to serve Him as priests. We all need to learn to pray to God, to contact God, to have fellowship with God, and to live before God. If we exercise as priests in this way, the heavens will be opened to us, and we will see God’s visions.
Ezekiel was the son of Buzi. Buzi means “contempt” or “despised.” Ezekiel was a prophet who was very much despised by the people and who was treated with contempt. In his ministry he received no glory. If you are an Ezekiel in the Lord’s recovery today, you should expect to be a despised person. Do not think that you will have any glory. Others will despise you and treat you with contempt.
Ezekiel means “God will strengthen.” It also means “the almighty One is your strength.” The name Ezekiel ends with the suffix el, which means “the mighty One.” On the one hand, he was the son of Buzi, despised by others. On the other hand, he was Ezekiel, strengthened by God, the mighty One. In 3:8-9a the Lord said to Ezekiel, “Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads. As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead.” He was despised and treated with contempt, but he was strengthened by God.
For Ezekiel to be the son of Buzi meant that he was a son of shame, a son of abasement. We might think that as a prophet his prophetic ministry would have been glorious. However, when we read the book of Ezekiel, we see that in fulfilling his ministry as a prophet, he was constantly disgraced and put to shame. God appointed Ezekiel to be a sign to the people of Israel, a sign of their being put to shame (12:6, 11; 24:24, 27). God required him to perform certain demonstrations, and in these demonstrations he became a prophet in disgrace. For instance, God told him to lie on his left side three hundred ninety days and on his right side forty days (4:4-6) and to eat bread prepared with cow’s dung (vv. 9-15). God also told him to dig through the wall of the city and carry out his stuff through the wall, and Ezekiel did as he was commanded (12:1-7). Furthermore, one day his wife suddenly died (24:16-18). Ezekiel surely was a son of disgrace.
Those who minister the Lord’s word today will also be sons of disgrace. When God’s people are in captivity, those who rise up to be God’s ministers, serving as His priests and seeing His visions, will have to bear the shame of God’s people. Because God’s captive people are in disgrace, God’s ministers will also be in disgrace as they minister God’s words.
Although Ezekiel was a son of disgrace who suffered shame and disgrace, the almighty God was his strength. Because he was empowered by God, Ezekiel could be strong in the midst of disgrace. As a man strengthened and empowered by God, he could bear all the shame and the disgrace in order to fulfill his ministry as a prophet of God, God’s oracle.