Ezekiel's Call

Ezekiel’s Call

Ezekiel 2:1-8

Primary Purpose: God equips those who He calls to service.

Some miners and settler in British Columbia were stripping Fort Alcan

of lumber, electrical appliances and plumbing when they made a amazing

discovery. While dismantling the jail they found that the mighty locks were

attached to the heavy doors and 2 inch steel bars covered the windows, but

the walls of the prison were only wallboard made of clay and paper, painted

to look like iron. A good heave against the wall by a man would have burst

the wall down. Nobody ever tried because nobody thought it was possible.

Many christians are prisoners of fears that are nothing when pushed up

against. Satan can do nothing against a son of God, but he loves to put

barriers of paper mache in the path of a believer to make him think he is

stopped.”

When God calls us to do difficult tasks for him like He did with

Ezekiel-- He calls us to face it with courage. We cannot be afraid of what

God has already overcome. To Joshua, the Lord said, “Be strong and

courageous. Do not be terrifed; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God

will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

To Isaiah the Lord said, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be

dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will

uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

I think that’s why God appeared to Ezekiel in the first chapter the way

He did. Ezekiel needed to remember how big God is. He needed to

remember that the God who calls him could protect and provide for his needs.

Ezekiel is going into the exile camp with a unpopular message. I don’t know

if you’ve ever had to give someone bad news. The message is unpopular and

will hurt those you care about. There is nothing fun about giving bad news.

You can become unpopular in a hurry. People may cross the street to avoid

you. People will stop associating with you. It can feel very alone sometimes.

Ezekiel had a unpopular message of repentance and judgment and the people

could not have been less receptive to his words. But, we see in this passage

that:

1. God equipped Ezekiel with courage v.6-7; 3:8-9. He gives him the

courage to face the people each day. He gives him the courage to say “Thus

saith the Lord.” The Lord used two verbs to describe the people of God in

this passage “rebelled” which means to refuse allegiance to, to rise up

against, a sovereign and “revolt” which means to violate covenant duties,

breach covenant relations”. The people of God were in open rebellion

against God, but God still loved them enough to want to warn them, to speak

to them about their sins.

2. God encourages Ezekiel to be a man of integrity. We cannot speak with

authority against a sin if we are involved in it. 2:8 God calls his people to be

sanctified, to be holy, to be different. The witness we have among people in

our community is a sermon in itself. It gives us credibility or it robs us of it.

I heard a story about two preachers who lived in the days before

automobiles. The two of them met in a certaint own. The first asked the

second how he was doing. “Furious!” replied the second. “Someone has

stolen my bicycle and I think it’s one of my church members! I don’t know

what to do.”

The first preacher said: “Here’s what I’d do. I’d preach the Ten

Commandments this Sunday and when I got to “Thou shalt not steal” I’d

really hammer it home. The second preacher said, “I think I’ll take your

advice.”

The next Monday, the first preacher ran into the second one and saw

that he ws riding the bicycle. He said, “I see my advice worked.” The second

replied, “Not really. When I go to “Thou shalt not commit adultery, I

remembered where I left my bicycle.”

People are watching to see if we are people of integrity or not.

3. God evaluates Ezekiel’s success not on numbers, but on obedience 2:5,7.

Recently I felt God leading me to go to a house where I did not know the

person. I wanted to invite the person to church. I went though I wasn’t sure

what kind of reception I would get. As I approached the house, a man asked

me what I wanted. I told him and that I had some information about our

church that I wanted to share with him. He gave me some excuse about a

task he had to do and went to the house next door. I decided to give him a