“Christ can never be known without a sense of awe and fear accompanying the knowledge. He is the fairest among ten thousand, but He is also the Lord high and mighty. He is the friend of sinners, but He is also the terror of devils. He is meek and lowly in heart, but He is also Lord and Christ who will surely come to be the judge of all men.” 

I read the opening chapters of Ezekiel again this morning, and when I walked my dog afterwards, I prayed that I would have the experience that Ezekiel had. Let me explain. In chapter 1 we read about Ezekiel’s encounter with the glory of the Lord.

In verse 28 we read this: “Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.”

And in Ez. 3 we find his commission to be a watchman for Israel (which is repeated in chapter 33). Verses 22-24 say this: “And the hand of the Lord was upon me there. And he said to me, ‘Arise, go out into the valley, and there I will speak with you.’ So I arose and went out into the valley, and behold, the glory of the Lord stood there, like the glory that I had seen by the Chebar canal, and I fell on my face. But the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet…”

The idea of falling prostrate before the living God is found all throughout Scripture. Indeed, in my personal concordance I have been recording every time a person had an encounter with the living God. One of the most common reactions is that of holy fear.

So often this comes in the form of falling facedown before God. Thus far I have recorded some 55 examples of this. It seems to me that this often contrasts with much of the flippant Christianity of today where Jesus is just our ‘buddy’ and go-to guy when we are in a jam, instead of the holy, righteous and almighty God that he is.

Of the 40 or so cases of this reaction in the OT, consider just a few more examples:

Abram: “Abram fell facedown, and God said to him…” (Genesis 17:3)

Moses: “Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them.” (Numbers 20:6)

Joshua “And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped…” (Joshua 5:14)

David: “David looked up and saw the angel of the Lord standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand extended over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell facedown.” (1 Chronicles 21:16)

Daniel: “While he was saying this to me, I bowed with my face toward the ground and was speechless. Then one who looked like a man touched my lips, and I opened my mouth and began to speak. I said to the one standing before me, ‘I am overcome with anguish because of the vision, my lord, and I feel very weak. How can I, your servant, talk with you, my lord? My strength is gone and I can hardly breathe’.” (Daniel 10:15-17)

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