What Did I Miss?

He asked me, “Have you been watching, son of man?” Then he led me back along the riverbank. [Ezekiel 47.6]

I am going to totally pull this verse out of context for the purpose of making a point.

“Have you been watching, son of man?” is a revealing question all by itself. It makes me consider God's Word and all the stories told therein that certainly have spiritual meaning. It makes me consider what has been going on in my own life and the spiritual meaning found there also.

“Have you been watching, son of man?”

Jesus identified Himself as "Son of Man," Ezekiel is called "son of man" here, and we should understand that we are identified as "son of man" as well. With this in mind, the question asked in Ezekiel 47.6 is appropriate for every human: “Have you been watching, son of man?”

Ezekiel was involved in quite a vision. The fact that we have all the details of this portion of Ezekiel's writing is proof that Ezekiel had indeed been watching... However, in the context of the Ezekiel 47.6, we see that something did surprise Ezekiel (as if perhaps he had missed a detail): 

When I returned, I was surprised by the sight of many trees growing on both sides of the river. [Ezekiel 47.7]

Something about the many trees growing on both sides of the river surprised Ezekiel - he hadn't noticed the trees before. He was obviously there by the river "before" because the narrative indicates that he "returned." So, for the presence of many trees growing by the river to surprise Ezekiel, he had no doubt failed to recognize them when he was there earlier.

The lesson for us here is simple. We should not be afraid to go back in our lives to see what we have possibly missed along the way. “Have you been watching, son of man?”

Father, help me today to reflect on where I have been in life and new understanding of things that were there that I missed...