If I Were a Bird

Recently I had three separate people, in three distinct settings begin a thought with, "If I were a bird." 

Bizarre, right? At the first comment, I began to joyfully hear Nelly Furtado's "I'm Like a Bird" song in my head. By the third comment, in a matter of just forty-eight hours, I was curious. I could not recall ever hearing anyone share such a thought before, and then to have a few in a short matter of time had me wondering. Seemed either an odd coincidence or God was getting my attention. 

 

 

Just as I was pondering my options a new worship song came across my feed, "If I Were a Bird" by Mission House. Turns out the song is at least two years old but it was new to me. Right then and there, I opted for the “God was speaking” to me option. 

 

 

I have a dear friend who, not long ago, received a prophetic word that she is like an indigo bunting. The name itself seems fitting for my beautiful confidant, but the unique details of the fowl reveal the uncanny similarities to my pal! Driving down the road while listening to the worship song, I was reminded of her story when suddenly, I heard, "She understands me as an eagle, I want you to understand me as ox."

 

 

This word from the Lord blew me away. I was familiar with the scriptures in Ezekiel and Revelation that refer to the heavenly visions of the lion, ox, man, and eagle, but these marked sections of the Bible were not my area of expertise. What does understanding God as an ox even mean?

 

 

The first chapter of Ezekiel is interesting to say the least. Ezekiel's eyes are opened to an intense spiritual scene while he is in exile. What Ezekiel described is like a human with ox feet, wings, and four faces. The face of a man was in the front, the lion faced the right side, the ox faced the left side, and the eagle faced the back. Weird, huh?

 

 

Verse 12 struck me, "And each went straight forward; wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go, without turning as they went." (AMP) 

 

 

There was lots going on in the vision but I was interested in the fact that the living creatures followed the Spirit of God. The scripture went on to describe huge wheels that move with the beings. The spectacle is surprising and spectral. In the midst of the awesome and awful experience, Ezekiel is commissioned to go to the people of Israel.

 

 

John's vision recorded in the book of Revelation closely matches Ezekiel's vision. Worship is what distinguished John's encounter. We are told that the creatures never stop saying, "Holy, Holy, Holy [is the] Lord God, The Almighty [the Omnipotent, the Ruler of all], who was and who is and who is to come [the unchanging eternal God]." (AMP)

 

 

At the praises of the four creatures, the twenty-four elders fall down and throw their crowns at the feet of God, in worship.

 

 

Consider reading for yourself the two similar accounts of men who come into contact with the spirit realm. I am guessing you will have questions of your own after reading them. 

Proverbs 25:2 tells us, “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out the matter.” (AMP) This "king" shall continue to search for the meaning of God's words to me. I will share what else I discover next week.

Until then. . .