Ezekiel 1:1-3 ~ Finding God's Will for Your Life

Ezekiel is one of the most well-known prophets in the Bible. He never planned or aspired to be a prophet, however. In his young adult years, he might have even been disappointed in the way that his life was turning out. The book of Ezekiel describes visions that he had for the future, including visions of times that resemble the ones we are living in. He also prophesied about events that would happen in his day. Before he could become a prophet, however, he became a captive. The first three verses of Ezekiel 1 describe how he went from captive to prophet, and how he found God's will for his life.

In Ezekiel 1:1, we see how Ezekiel was thirty years old when the book starts. In verse 2, we can see that he had been a captive for five years at the time ("the fifth year of Jehoiachin's captivity"). This means that Ezekiel had been twenty-five years old when he was taken into captivity.

In his early twenties, Ezekiel was probably living a normal life as a priest-to-be. The males in his family were priests, and from birth, he was told that he would grow up to be a priest. Levites of the right lineage had to be 30 years old before they could enter the priesthood, which we can see in Numbers 4:1-3 ~ "from thirty years old and upward even until fifty years." He probably started hearing Jeremiah's warnings that the country was in trouble, and that their sins would cause the inhabitants to go into captivity. When he was 25, Babylon came and took them away.

In captivity, Ezekiel could never become a priest, as he thought he was destined to be. The temple was in Jerusalem, and Ezekiel was living in Babylon. Perhaps he felt disappointed that his life was turning out differently than he expected, but he continued to follow the Lord.

At age 30, Ezekiel was at the river Chebar with other Israeli captives (Ezekiel 1:1). When there was no temple, Jews would sometimes meet at the river to worship, which we can see happening in Acts 16:13. More specifically, we can see in Psalm 137:1 how the captives would sit down and weep as they remembered Zion. It was at the river, among the other Jews, that Ezekiel's life would be changed forever. Ezekiel 1:1 describes his experience: "The heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God."

God's will for Ezekiel was not for him to remain in Jerusalem to become a priest. He was meant for something greater. Although he may have been disappointed at age 25, "the hand of the Lord was upon him" (Ezekiel 1:2). He continued to follow the Lord, even through his disappointment. At age 30, instead of becoming a priest in the temple, God sent him visions, and he became an exiled prophet that would see visions of things to come.

Many of us have experienced disappointment in our lives. We may have lost money in the stock market; perhaps we failed out of college or weren't picked for the promotion that we wanted. Maybe we were destined to be a sports star but were injured. Whatever you think you were meant to do, if your plans have to change, keep on following God, and eventually, God's will for your life will be made clear.