Baggage Boogie
One Year Bible: November 5
Ezekiel 12:1-14:11
The Baggage Boogie
“Bring your baggage outside during the day so they can watch you.” (Ezekiel 12:4-5)
Have you ever made a scene carting your luggage, or is that just me? You know that people are watching, right? Is there a gracious way to lug in multiple suitcases, a briefcase, snacks, pool equipment, and dog supplies? Just askin’ for a friend, and my toes and shins…
Well, the friend in this story is Sovereign God, and this is the task being asked of Ezekiel.
He is supposed to pack his baggage and cart it out in broad daylight, because “watching eyes” …WILL BE WATCHING.
(See, there is some validity to our phobias!)
And now for the rest of the story…”Then in the evening, as they are watching, leave your house as captives do when they begin a long march to distant lands. Dig a hole through the wall while they are watching and go out through it. As they watch, lift your pack to your shoulders and walk away into the night. Cover your face so you cannot see the land you are leaving. For I have made YOU A SIGN for the people of Israel.” (Ezekiel 12:4-6)
Did you catch that part? Ezekiel is not just supposed to TELL them some little parable; he is supposed to LIVE the parable. God has made him as a SIGN for the rebellious people of Israel.
He is to dig a hole and leave like a man heading into exile. Then he is to eat and drink like a man shaking in fear because the time of prophecy is coming to pass. But the people are saying, ”Time passes, and prophecies come to nothing.” (12:22)
The Lord is replacing their old proverb with a new one, “The time has come for every prophecy to be fulfilled.” (12:23) False prophets keep saying, “He’s talking about the distant future. His vision won’t come true for a long, long time.” (12: 27)
So, Ezekiel is called upon to do “The Baggage Boogie” with a blindfold on his eyes, covering his face, so that he cannot see the land that he is leaving, because he is a SIGN!
Interesting that God has him cover his face and hide his eyes. The metaphor of “eyes that don’t see and ears that don’t hear” was not just used in the case of Ezekiel, but also by Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Jesus. God desired to lead His people away from exile and into an eternal covenant with HIM, but they had other evil obsessions.
Why are they so blind and not listening even with Ezekiel’s very best boogie?
How many prophets had God sent these people at their peril?
Do you want to know THE SECRET?
Jesus tells us what it is in Matthew 13: 14-38. He begins by saying that what Isaiah said about them is true, “You people will listen and listen, but you will not understand. You will look and look, but you will not really see. Yes, the minds of these people are now closed. They have ears, but they don’t listen. They have eyes, but they refuse to see. If their minds were not closed, they might see with their eyes; they might hear with their ears; they might understand with their minds. Then they might turn back to me and be healed.”
Why are their minds closed? Jesus tells a parable of good seed in a field and of the weeds. He then asks them, “Where did the weeds come from?” The man answered that an enemy planted the weeds and asked Jesus if he was to “go and pull up the weeds”. Jesus said that he should not pull up the weeds because he might pull up some wheat along the way. They are to grow up together until HARVEST TIME.
This is the season of fall and pumpkins are growing before our eyes, and it is the time of HARVEST. God is the only one who knows the time of reaping, harvesting, and judgment.
This passage goes on to tell of the mustard seed. It is the smallest of all seeds, kind of like you and me… and Ezekiel. He will use this little mustard seed to grow into the largest of garden plants even though it starts out quite small. Jesus ends this passage by telling us the Big Secret. It is the hidden factor behind all the evil we see in the world masquerading as light.
Let us listen intently, “I will speak using stories; I will tell things that have been SECRETS since the world was made… The man who planted the good seed in the field is the SON of MAN. The field is the world. The good seed is the people in God’s kingdom. The weeds are the people who belong to the Evil One.” (Matthew 13:14-38)
The Lord of the Harvest WILL and DOES judge the evil one, but like Ezekiel, He often asks us to pray, be obedient, and be HIS SIGN to a lost world around us. When you are a movin’ and a groovin’ and pulling your baggage, you are going someplace and everyone is watching to see where you are going. (It’s not just your phobia. It’s your calling… “to walk worthy”.
It’s called “The Baggage Boogie”, and that’s the story the world needs to see from us! We need to show them where we are headed…Out of Exile and into Eternity, Out of Captivity and into Glorious Light. Now that’s something worth dancing about!
