This week, we are focusing on the power of persuasive speaking. We are studying Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech and how his rich, evocative language, magnificent metaphors, and vivid imagery bring color and potency to his message. The Bible is full of this kind of language and King likely learned it from there. He was a minister, after all.
The Bible is full of poetic, compelling language art. Read Ezekiel’s powerful descriptive language, for example. The prophet had a remarkable literary ability to describe the indescribable. The same holds true for the books of Job and Daniel.
Ezekiel 1:25-28 paints an enthralling picture of the triumph of the Rider on the White Horse and our magnificent future home in the New Jerusalem:
Then there came a voice from above the vault over their heads as they stood with lowered wings. Above the vault over their heads was what looked like a throne of lapis lazuli, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man.
I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him.
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.
Think about how you can craft words and ideas as you use your voice to persuade and challenge and bring about change. And always let us, as the Apostle John did, respond to the Voice of the One whose radiance is as fire . . . and fall facedown in worship.
Reflect on the above devotional for this week.
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