At one point in the reading, he was carrying his belongings with him to show that the people would only be able to take what they could carry. Even the ruler was going to have to carry his own belongings into captivity.
There was a lesson to learn for these people. They had forgotten the blessings given them; the prophets told lies because they were too caught up in the wrong doings of the people, or were too afraid to confront them. "They have envisioned futility and false divination, saving, 'Thus says the Lord!' But the Lord has not sent them...."(Ezekial 13:6) At any rate, Ezekiel told them what was going to happen and basically contradicted all the things the other prophets told them.
And, the people were taken into captivity, and it all came to pass like Ezekiel said. But Ezekiel didn't leave them without hope. He told them that some of the people would eventually go home. A remnant. In the book of Ezekiel, he calls them a twig. So, this massive amount of people were taken captive and a promise was made that some of their descendants would return home.
Hope, The people were given hope, despite all the awful things they'd done (and they did some pretty awful things like sacrifice their children). They were told they would be held accountable for their ways, individually. If a bad man turned good, he would be forgiven. If a good man turned bad, he would not. It was a matter of their current state of their hearts. The goodness or badness of a parent wouldn't have an impact. Each person would be accountable for their own self.
And still there was hope. Hope that a bad person would have a change of heart and become good. Hope that some of their people would go home. Hope that they wouldn't be in captivity forever, even though seventy years was a really long time.
There is a saying I've heard several times in my life. It goes something like this, "A man can live a month without food, three days without water, three minutes without air, but can't live at all without hope."
As I pondered these things, I spoke with an individual who is in leadership in our worship community. He mentioned to me that there was a teaching position available and I should contact the principal immediately, which I did later that afternoon.
Some people would call this collusion of events coincidence. I've never believed in such a thing. Many people will talk about karma and what goes around comes around. I do think people get what they planted. The people in the book of Ezekiel planted lies and negativity and it got them captured. When we treat others poorly, we wonder why we are poorly treated. I do believe there is some immutable law of the universe that must balance out good and bad and I think too many of us have seen this happen time and again.
But, as I said, getting all these messages at one time is not a coincidence. It was direction, a direction I am pursuing. I need to be back in the classroom. It is the ocean for this fish. It gives me permission to positively impact young people, be creative and even play some games. The education schedule has been in my lifeblood since...well, ever. I am out of sync not being in the place I belong.
There is a lot to do to get ready for the upcoming school year. Getting a license in my state is a convoluted procedure complicated by the fact that I've been out of the classroom a while now and that my original licenses were in two other states - Nebraska and Michigan.
Even if it takes me until the new year to get it all resolved, I know for sure, without a doubt, where I belong. Now it's a matter of getting there.
So, I am thankful for all the "coincidences" that have happened over the past three days. I now know the place I will find joy, blessings and fulfillment.