The Valley of Despair
Credit © cover picture by Kevin Carden (christianphotoshops.com)
Throughout last year till this year, even as early as 2024, I remembered the Holy Spirit led me numerous times to Ezekiel 34, after all the feriocious going throughs, now I know why.
Before events take place, the Spirit of the LORD will always reveal in advance to prepare us and protect us.
Nothing catches God by surprise. He is sovereign and He knows our beginnings and the end. He knows our past, He holds our future, our beginnings and our ends, therefore we can trust Him and place ourselves in His sovereign hand.
~ Ezekiel 34:1-10 ~
1 And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,
2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them.
“Thus says the Lord GOD to the shepherds: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks?
3 “You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock.
4 “The weak you HAVE NOT STRENGTHENED, nor HAVE YOU HEALED those who were sick, nor BOUND UP the broken, nor BROUGHT BACK what was driven away, nor SOUGHT WHAT WAS LOST; but with FORCE and CRUELTY you have RULED THEM.
5 “So they were scattered because THERE WAS NO SHEPHERD; and THEY BECAME FOOD for all the beasts of the field when they were SCATTERED.
6 “My sheep WANDERED THROUGH all the mountains, and on every high hill; yes, MY FLOCK was SCATTERED over the whole face of the earth, and NO ONE WAS SEEKING OR SEARCHING FOR THEM.”
7 ‘Therefore, YOU SHEPHERDS, HEAR THE WORD OF THE LORD:
8 “As I live,” says the Lord GOD, “surely because MY FLOCK BECAME A PREY, and MY FLOCK BECAME FOOD for every beast of the field, because there was NO SHEPHERD, nor did MY SHEPHERDS SEARCH FOR MY FLOCK, but the SHEPHERDS FED THEMSELVES and DID NOT FEED MY FLOCK” —
9 “therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the LORD!
10 ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I am against the SHEPHERDS, and I will REQUIRE MY FLOCK AT THEIR HAND; I WILL CAUSE THEM TO CEASE FEEDING THE SHEEP, and THE SHEPHERDS SHALL FEED THEMSELVES NO MORE; for I WILL DELIVER MY FLOCK FROM THEIR MOUTHS, that THEY MAY NO LONGER BE FOOD FOR THEM.”
~ Micah 4:1-13 ~
GOD, THE TRUE SHEPHERD
~ Ezekiel 34:11-31 ~
11 ‘For thus says the Lord GOD: “Indeed I MYSELF WILL SEARCH FOR MY SHEEP AND SEEK THEM OUT.
12 “As a SHEPHERD SEEKS OUT HIS FLOCK on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I SEEK OUT MY SHEEP and DELIVER THEM from ALL THE PLACES where they were SCATTERED on a cloudy and dark day.
13 “And I WILL BRING THEM OUT from the peoples and GATHER them from the countries, and will BRING THEM TO THEIR OWN LAND; I WILL FEED THEM on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys and in all the inhabited places of the country.
14 “I WILL FEED THEM IN GOOD PASTURE, and THEIR FOLD shall be on the HIGH MOUNTAINS of Israel. There they shall LIE DOWN in a GOOD FOLD and feed in RICH PASTURE on the mountains of Israel.
15 “I WILL FEED MY FLOCK, and I WILL MAKE THEM LIE DOWN,” says the Lord GOD.
16 “I WILL SEEK WHAT WAS LOST AND BRING BACK WHAT WAS DRIVEN AWAY, BIND UP THE BROKEN, AND STRENGTHEN WHAT WAS SICK; but I WILL DESTROY the fat and the strong, and FEED THEM IN JUDGMENT.”
17 ‘And as for you, O my flock, thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I shall JUDGE between SHEEP and SHEEP, between RAMS and GOATS.
18 “Is it too little for you to have eaten up the good pasture, that you must TREAD DOWN with your feet the residue of your pasture — and to have drunk of the clear waters, that you must FOUL THE RESIDUE WITH YOUR FEET?
19 “And as for MY FLOCK, they eat what you have TRAMPLED WITH YOUR FEET, and they DRINK WHAT YOU HAVE FOULED WITH YOUR FEET.”
20 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord GOD to them: “BEHOLD, I MYSELF WILL JUDGE between the fat and the lean sheep.
21 “Because YOU HAVE PUSHED WITH SIDE AND SHOULDER, BUTTED ALL THE WEAK ONES with YOUR HORNS, and SCATTERED THEM ABROAD,
22 “therefore I WILL SAVE MY FLOCK, and they shall NO LONGER BE A PREY; and I WILL JUDGE BETWEEN SHEEP AND SHEEP.
23 “I WILL ESTABLISH ONE SHEPHERD over them, and he shall FEED THEM — My servant David. He shall FEED THEM and BE THEIR SHEPHERD.
24 “And I, the LORD, WILL BE THEIR GOD, and My servant David a prince among them; I, the LORD have spoken.
25 “I WILL MAKE A COVENANT OF PEACE with them, and cause wild beasts to CEASE FROM THE LAND; and they will DWELL SAFELY in the wilderness and SLEEP IN THE WOODS.
26 “I WILL MAKE THEM and the places all around My hill A BLESSING; and I WILL CAUSE SHOWERS to COME DOWN IN THEIR SEASON; there shall be SHOWERS OF BLESSING.
27 “THEN THE TREES OF THE FIELD shall YIELD THEIR FRUIT, and the earth shall YIELD HER INCREASE. They shall be SAFE IN THEIR LAND; and they shall KNOW that I AM THE LORD, when I HAVE BROKEN the bands of their YOKE and DELIVERED them from the hand of those who ENSLAVED them.
28 “And they shall NO LONGER be a PREY for the nations, nor shall beasts of the DEVOUR them; but they shall DWELL SAFELY, and NO ONE SHALL MAKE THEM AFRAID.
29 “I WILL RAISE UP FOR THEM A GARDEN OF RENOWN, and they shall NO LONGER BE CONSUMED with hunger in the land, nor bear the shame of the Gentiles anymore.
30 “Thus they shall know that I, the LORD THEIR GOD, AM WITH THEM, and THEY, THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL, ARE MY PEOPLE, ” says the Lord GOD.'”
31 “YOU ARE MY FLOCK, the FLOCK OF MY PASTURE; you are men, and I AM YOUR GOD,” says the Lord GOD.
Sometime in 2024, the Holy Spirit led Ezekiel 36 to me.
~ Ezekiel 36:1-15 ~
1 “And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, “O mountains of Israel, HEAR THE WORD OF THE LORD!
2 “Thus says the Lord GOD: “Because the enemy has said to you, ‘Aha! The ancient heights have become our possession, ‘”‘
3 “therefore prophesy, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Because they MADE YOU DESOLATE and SWALLOWED YOU UP ON EVERY SIDE, so that you became the POSSESSION of the rest of the nations, and you are TAKEN UP by the LIPS OF THE TALKERS and SLANDERED BY THE PEOPLE” —
4 ‘therefore, O mountains of Israel, HEAR THE WORD OF THE LORD GOD! Thus says the Lord GOD to the mountains, the hills, the rivers, the valleys, the desolate wastes, and the cities that have been forsaken, which BECAME PLUNDER and MOCKERY to the rest of the nations all around —
5 ‘therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “SURELY I HAVE SPOKEN IN MY BURNING JEALOUSY AGAINST the rest of the nations and AGAINST Edom, who GAVE MY LAND TO THEMSELVES AS A POSSESSION, with wholehearted joy and spiteful minds, in order to PLUNDER ITS OPEN COUNTRY.”‘
6 “Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains, the hills, the rivers, and the valleys, “Thus says the Lord GOD: “BEHOLD, I have spoken in MY JEALOUSY and MY FURY, because you have BORNE the shame of the nations.”
7 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “I have raised My hand in an OATH that SURELY the nations that are around you shall BEAR THEIR OWN SHAME.
8 “BUT YOU, O mountains of Isarel, you shall SHOOT FORTH YOUR BRANCHES and YIELD YOUR FRUIT to My people Israel, for THEY ARE ABOUT TO COME.
9 “FOR INDEED I AM FOR YOU, and I WILL TURN TO YOU, and YOU SHALL BE TILLED and SOWN.
10 “I WILL MULTIPLY MEN UPON YOU, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities shall be INHABITED and THE RUINS REBUILT.
11 “I WILL MULTIPLY UPON YOU MAN AND BEAST; and they shall INCREASE and BEAR YOUNG; I WILL MAKE YOU INHABITED AS IN FORMER TIMES, and DO BETTER FOR YOU than at your beginnings. THEN you shall KNOW that I AM THE LORD.
12 “YES, I WILL CAUSE MEN TO WALK ON YOU, My people Israel; they shall TAKE POSSESSION OF YOU, and YOU SHALL BE THEIR INHERITANCE; NO MORE shall you bereave them of children.”
13 ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Because they say to you, “You devour men and bereave your nation of children, ‘
14 “therefore you shall devour men NO MORE, NOR bereave your nation anymore,” says the Lord GOD.
15 Nor will I LET YOU HEAR the TAUNTS of the nations anymore, nor bear the reproach of the peoples ANYMORE, nor shall you cause your nation to stumble anymore,” says the Lord GOD.'”
The Renewal of Israel
~ Ezekiel 36:16-38 ~
16 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying:
17 “Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they DEFILED it by THEIR OWN WAYS AND DEEDS; to Me their way was like the UNCLEANNESS OF A WOMAN in her customary impurity.
18 “Therefore I poured out My fury on them FOR THE BLOOD THEY HAD SHED on the land, and FOR THEIR IDOLS with which THEY HAD DEFILED IT.
19 “So I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the countries; I JUDGED THEM ACCORDING TO THEIR WAYS AND THEIR DEEDS.
20 “When they came to the nations, wherever they went, they PROFANED MY HOLY NAME — when they said of them, ‘These are the people of the LORD, and yet they have GONE OUT OF HIS LAND.’
21 “But I HAD CONCERN for MY HOLY NAME, which the house of Israel HAD PROFANED AMONG THE NATIONS WHEREVER THEY WENT.
22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but FOR MY HOLY NAME’S SAKE, which you have PROFANED AMONG THE NATIONS WHEREVER YOU WENT.
23 “And I WILL SANCTIFY MY GREAT NAME, which has been PROFANED AMONG THE NATIONS, which you have PROFANED IN THEIR MIDST; and the nations shall KNOW that I AM THE LORD,” says the Lord GOD, “WHEN I AM HALLOWED IN YOU BEFORE THEIR EYES.
24 “FOR I WILL TAKE YOU FROM among the nations, GATHER YOU OUT of all countries, and BRING YOU INTO YOUR OWN LAND.
25 “THEN I will SPRINKLE CLEAN WATER on you, and YOU SHALL BE CLEAN; I WILL CLEANSE YOU FROM ALL FILTHINESS and FROM ALL YOUR IDOLS,
26 “I WILL GIVE YOU A NEW HEART and PUT A NEW SPIRIT WITHIN YOU; I WILL TAKE the heart of stone OUT OF YOUR FLESH and GIVE YOU a HEART OF FLESH.
27 “I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT WITHIN YOU and CAUSE YOU TO WALK in My statutes, and YOU WILL KEEP MY JUDGMENTS and DO THEM.
28 “THEN you shall DWELL IN THE LAND that I gave to your fathers; you shall BE MY PEOPLE, and I WILL BE YOUR GOD,
29 “I WILL DELIVER YOU from ALL YOUR UNCLEANNESS. I WILL CALL for the grain and MULTIPLY IT, and bring NO FAMINE upon you.
30 “And I WILL MULTIPLY THE FRUIT of your trees and the INCREASE of your fields, so that you need NEVER AGAIN HEAR the reproach of famine among the nations.
31 “THEN YOU WILL REMEMBER your evil ways and your deeds that were not good; and you will LOATHE yourselves in your own sight, for your iniquities and your abominations.
32 “NOT FOR YOUR SAKE do I do this,” says the Lord GOD, “let it be KNOWN to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel!”
33 ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “On the day that I CLEANSE YOU from all your iniquities, I WILL ALSO ENABLE YOU TO DWELL in the cities, and THE RUINS SHALL BE REBUILT.
34 “The desolate land shall be TILLED instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass by.
35 “So they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has BECOME like the GARDEN OF EDEN; and the wasted, desolate, and ruined cities are now FORTIFIED AND INHABITED.’
36 “THEN the nations which are left all around you shall KNOW that I, THE LORD, HAVE REBUILT THE RUINED PLACES and PLANTED what was desolate. I, THE LORD, have SPOKEN IT, and I WILL DO IT.”
37 ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “I WILL ALSO LET the house of Israel INQUIRE OF ME to DO THIS FOR THEM: I WILL INCREASE THEIR MEN LIKE A FLOCK.
38 “LIKE A FLOCK OFFERED as HOLY SACRIFICES, LIKE THE FLOCK at Jerusalem on its feast days, so shall the RUINED CITIES BE FILLED WITH FLOCKS OF MEN. THEN they shall KNOW that I AM THE LORD.”‘”
The Psalmist in the book of Psalms says that God’s gentleness makes us great. I thought this is true.
We all have our hurts, wounds, deep scars and scourges that make up our heart of stone, but as we yield to the gentle wind of the Holy Spirit, the LORD touches our hearts with His gentleness, He takes out our heart of stone and puts in a new heart of flesh. It is this heart of flesh that causes us to be tender and gentle to ourselves and the people around us and to one another in communion and fellowship.
When we are deeply hurt, wounded and wearied from the uncountable battles and storms of life, when we continually experienced being treated harshly with that heart of stone, we need gentleness and tenderness in our atmosphere so that we can once again feel safe to heal and to restore.
May the fresh gentle wind of the LORD blow afresh our hearts and restore gentleness to our spirit and tenderness to our hearts, that once again after such a long time we finally feel safe to breathe, safe to laugh, safe to love, and safe to trust. We should feel safe to make mistakes, safe to be our raw unacceptable and even the unliked self, for that’s who God made us and wire us to be. When the tangible love of God touches the atmosphere, reaching out to us, the love of God cast out every fear that empower us to resist in being the fake self, the likable self. The love of God causes us to feel accepted in His beloved and in each other’s presence. May we never have to feel fear in our midst again. May we never have to be traumatized by fear again. May we never have to hear the tauntings of those reproaches again. The love of God causes us to once again return to the childlike childhood, coming to Him as a child. In His presence, we can once again be foolish again, because He never reject us because of our foolishness. We are accepted in the beloved because Christ paid it all for us to be able to come to the Father as a child calling out Abba Father. He rejoice over us with singing, and quiet our fears with His love.
May our ears never hear the tauntings of fear that the enemy whispers but the gentle whispers of the Holy Spirit blowing afresh over us awakening love that was once upon a time familiar to us. Today, if you hear the voice of the LORD, He is here to lead us beside the still waters and makes us lie down where we no longer need to fear. Only Jesus gives us the unconditional, untainted, undefiled, uncontaminated love that we don’t deserve, all because of how good He is. May we continue to commune, abide, yield and stay in His presence where we truly see Him face to face.
There is wind in the valley. There is fresh wind in our valley of despair. The Holy Spirit is blowing afresh His fresh and gentle wind, blowing away every despair, every discouragement, every memory of pain, every rememberance of torment. He comes to testify the love of Jesus, He is the helper, man’s best friend, our comforter and our advocate. He comes to comfort us, turning every mourning into dancing, every sorrow into laughter, every rain into sunrise.
Come Lord Jesus come.
Come Holy Spirit, we welcome You. May we find strength in His presence. He comes to refresh us and renew us.
Leave a Reply