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Sword & Trowel 2016: Issue 1 am called home.’


Ezekiel was a priest, and had been taken into captivity by the Babyloni- ans along with 10,000 others about 598 BC, and moved from Jerusalem to a location southwest of Babylon. He was twenty-five at the time and appears to have been in the land of captivity for five years before the Lord laid upon him a tremendous burden – his prophetic call. The opening words of the chap- ter – ‘Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year’ – are most commonly understood to refer to Ezekiel’s age when called. He says he was at a settlement by the river of Chebar, a waterway off the great Euphrates. He describes how, for him, ‘the heavens were opened’ and he saw visions of (or from) God. Thinking firstly of a call to min-


istry, we observe that Ezekiel was living among the people. He was not someone parachuted in from


Jerusalem to minister to these cap- tives; he was one of them. They knew him and he understood them: he had been closely observed by his fellow captives, tilling fields for survival, and sharing in raising the heavy tribute demanded by their overlords. He clearly lived an exem- plary life among them. By his commissioning he would


have an immensely unpopular ministry among them, calling them to repentance, but they would not be able to reject him on account of his character. They would not be able to say, ‘We know him and his background. We know what kind of a hypocrite he is.’ He was someone who had earned standing among them, who was unblameable. Also, he had suffered as they had suffered, having been seized in an invasion, not knowing what would become of him. Like them, he had to start life all over again in the barren area of


OVER TWELVE YEARS TELEVISION BROADCASTING T


he Tabernacle’s Do You Have Faith? television programme transmits every Saturday at 8pm on Revelation TV with a sermon of Dr Masters and an accompanying apologetic or biographical feature. Programmes follow a pattern of ten evangelistic messages alternating with ten teaching sermons. The broadcasts have gained a very considerable following since their inception in 2003, and viewers have also responded from throughout Europe. Airtime rental is expensive, but many people, including those unsaved, explore religious channels and view Do You Have Faith? With vast areas of Britain now bereft of meaningful witness we pray for instrumentality toward them. Current UK channels are Sky Channel 581, Freeview HD Channel 241


and Freesat Channel 692. Programmes are also carried by a number of overseas radio stations including in the USA.


page 28 When God Commissions


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