Ezekiel 3: 5 – 15
‘What’s for dinner?’ Part 2
“5 For you are not sent to a people of unfamiliar speech and of hard language, but to the house of Israel, 6 not to many people of unfamiliar speech and of hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, had I sent you to them, they would have listened to you. 7 But the house of Israel will not listen to you, because they will not listen to Me; for all the house of Israel are impudent and hard-hearted. 8 Behold, I have made your face strong against their faces, and your forehead strong against their foreheads. 9 Like adamant stone, harder than flint, I have made your forehead; do not be afraid of them, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house.” 10 Moreover He said to me: “Son of man, receive into your heart all My words that I speak to you, and hear with your ears. 11 And go, get to the captives, to the children of your people, and speak to them and tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,’ whether they hear, or whether they refuse.” 12 Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me a great thunderous voice: “Blessed is the glory of the LORD from His place!” 13 I also heard the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels beside them, and a great thunderous noise. 14 So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me. 15 Then I came to the captives at Tel Abib, who dwelt by the River Chebar; and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days.”
There are three things I love to do, no rather there are four; sharing the golden nuggets of God’s Word with hungry believers; street evangelism; and conducting the services at weddings and memorial gatherings.
In the book of Revelation chapter 3 verses 14 through 21 our Lord Jesus Christ points out that He wants people to be cold or hot toward the Gospel. 14 “And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: 15 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. 17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. 21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”
I have learned in life that there are four types of people; (1) the rich – poor; (2) the poor – poor; (3) the poor – rich; and (4) the rich – rich. The rich/poor are those who are wealthy in this life but do not have the Lord Jesus. They may enjoy the riches of this cursed world now, but this is as good as it will ever get for them. The poor/poor are those who never have heard of the Gospel and also do not have worldly goods. This is the group that Christian ministries make their principal evangelistic outreaches. Then there are the poor/rich group. This group comes from group #2 [poor/pour]. Once you see the effect the goods news of Salvation has taken root in these people, it is a joy to behold. They are now ‘rich’ in knowing that they are right with God and have Him in their lives. Lastly you have the rich/rich group. What may sound unusual is that for the majority of Americans we fall in the last group if we have accepted Jesus Christ as a personal Lord and Savior. If you look at world statistics you will find that America is one of the riches nations of the world. However, our sins now are reaching up to Heaven and we are now experiencing the hand of our God upon our nation to wake us up.
The group our Lord expressed as ‘hot’ are to a large degree obvious to any onlooker. They cannot get enough of God. They want to learn about Him almost every chance they get. They are different then the worldly church who think they are Christians but are not. These are the individuals that you love to share God’s truths with and swap stories about the great things God Is doing.
Those individuals who have not heard the ‘Gospel’ would fall into the category of cold. In this category however, there are those groups of people who we have come to understand as ones who you can have more impact with your effort. For example, in many cases the ‘well to do’ over educated upper class are difficult to reach. Because of their riches they move and associate within their successful achiever friends. They have attained the American dream and believe it was all their efforts that got them this success. In many cases when you attempt to do something in their area you get the separation of church and state thrown back at you. You hear statements like, ‘Don’t bother me with your religious rhetoric’; or ‘I don’t want to hear about that Jesus stuff’. Our Lord says an amazing thing in the Gospel of Luke 14: 15 – 24 about what it would be like in the last days as far as reaching people.
”15 Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, “Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!” 16 Then He said to him, “A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, 17 and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’ 18 But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’ 19 And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’ 20 Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ 21 So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.’ 22 And the servant said, ‘Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.’ 23 Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. 24 For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.’”
If you have attempted any street ministry in the US, search your thoughts to find out how much time and effort churches make to evangelize the affluent areas? Where do you normally plan to go? You go to the poorer areas. Why? - Because they have not received the abundance of riches that the suburban area residents have. We know that we can share with these people and our message will be received more likely. We can offer them a new perspective of why we are here and where we are going. We can offer them the forgiveness and life in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior.
The indifferent ones are the worse group to try to reach out to. This could result from their parents having been Christian or they joined some religious establishment, as if these two reasons qualify them to be a Christian. Just because you see a person in a donut shop, it does not mean automatically that the person is a police officer. In the book of Acts, chapter 11 verse 26 we read, “26 And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.”
The people were called Christians because others saw in the Disciples of Christ, His characteristics. The followers of the Lord displayed some of His ways such as Love, Joy, Peace, Kindness, Goodness, Gentleness, and Self-control.
Ezekiel was instructed by God to go to the cold indifferent group of people. However, one thing about this group was unique. He was told to go speak to his own people – the Jews. There would not be barriers that would arise as compared to going to other nationalities, which would have language, cultural, and traditional differences.
Ezekiel would face however, something more difficult to deal with and that was ‘hard hearted’ people. We read this about God’s people in the book of 1 Samuel 8: 7 about the beginning of turning away from their God. “7 And the LORD said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.”
It is a direct warning to us in that those who have heard the truth and walked away become harder to receive any future message from God.
Remember that Ezekiel was a fellow captive. He lived through the horrible attack with his fellow Jews by the Babylonians. He lost loved ones. He also experienced being led away as a prisoner and marched hundreds of miles to a strange land.
You would at first think that his assignment should be easy enough. If you are a church leader you should realize the importance of evangelistic outreaches. Our Lord instructions to do this are described in the book of Acts 1: 8 right before He went back to Heaven. “8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Our principal responsibility is to reach out to the people in the area He has planted us. This is our Jerusalem and Judea. I see a lot of churches do nothing to reach out to the unsaved in their local areas. I do not know what reasons restrain them from evangelizing. I know some think they are so hot as teachers that people flock to them from far and wide to hear them speak. They reach some of the unsaved by faithfully following God’s Word instead of giving social lectures, yet they miss out on the bigger picture. Basically, they are stealing other Pastor’s flocks. They justify it in their minds because they feel that they are feeding the people. The apostle Paul comments this way about what I am saying in Romans 15:: 20 - 21,“20 And so I have made it my aim to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build on another man’s foundation, 21 but as it is written: “ To whom He was not announced, they shall see; And those who have not heard shall understand.”
You see the establishment now of mega churches because of these actions. Sometimes the movement is legit, as I have personally witnessed at the church I serve at, yet because there are false shepherds in today’s pulpits who are not ministering to God’s sheep, the sheep need to get out of those dead places in order to live. 2 Corinthians 6: 14 – 18 says, “14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? 15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “ I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” 17 Therefore “ Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.” 18 “ I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the LORD Almighty.”
The mega church leaders many times take everything upon them and deprive the church body from doing what God has called His people to do. Today you see a large church totally collapse if the head Pastor is taken out of the pulpit because he failed to distribute the work of the ministry to the saints. Ephesians 4: 11 – 16 tells us, “11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”
Sometimes churches hire un-anointed people to take over some of their programs. These people do not have a clue on how to reach out to others so they do the same old things as been done by others in order to fill out their individual ministry calendars as though they are doing fruitful ministries. Our Lord tells about this in His warning in 1 Timothy 5: 22, “22 Do not lay hands on anyone hastily, nor share in other people’s sins; keep yourself pure.”
These people do not come up with any new ways of reaching the lost. I witnessed 5 different suburban college and career church groups fighting over the opportunity to feed the homeless because no one had any ability to know of any contacts to allow them to bring their church group to do ministry.
If you have faithfully done part one of our Lord’s instructions, then He would open up areas farther away from your local location. This would be your Samaria and other places in the world. Acts 13: 1 – 5 reveals how the Holy Spirit picks and sends people on mission trips.
“1 Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away. 4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 5 And when they arrived in Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. They also had John as their assistant.”
It is a good thing to want to reach out to others but in truth many churches do not know how to go about it. Since they do not know where to go and minister they jump on various other ministries who currently send out missionaries. If they then find a spot to send a group to, they wind up over killing this mission location. Over and over again they send groups to the same area. I guess they want to cover their walls with pictures of the trip so they can think they are active in doing evangelistic mission trips.
When Romania was going through a revolution, I was asked to go and bring in food, clothing, medicine, and the Word of God to Romanian people. When we first arrived in country, we traveled to one of their major cities, Timisoara. The country was in total chaos. We visited a few churches who were run down but thriving spiritually. In one instance we visited this one church that looked modern and well kept. They took us on a tour through the church. I noticed various rooms were overflowing with cases of food and new clothing. This was quite a noticeable difference between all the rest of the churches we saw. Upon my secret investigation, it appeared that this church was taking advantage of American churches. This church pretended to be Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, and whatever; the various denominational churches in America were sending teams to this church. So, if a Methodist church wanted to donate money, etc., then they became Methodists until the American missionary team left. They would switch denominations as fast as changing clothes.
By the way we did not leave anything at this affluent church. We packed up our stuff and headed over the Transylvanian mountains, past ‘Dracula’s’ house and gave our needed supplies to people really in need. It was an amazing adventure we had with our Holy Spirit.
I have had the opportunity to go on about ten missionary trips. Some of these were quite dangerous and I have to say also quite thrilling to see God’s miracles happening right before your eyes.
I mention all of this because God informed Ezekiel that foreigners would have listened to his message but not his own people. Their minds and hearts were hardened. They did not want to hear anything about their Holy God. Since they would not listen to the Holy Yahweh, they would not listen to one of His messenger’s. Look at some references to this hard heartedness;
Isaiah 6: 9- 13, “9 And He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘ Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ 10 “ Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and return and be healed.” 11 Then I said, “Lord, how long?” and He answered:“ Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant, The houses are without a man, The land is utterly desolate, 12 The LORD has removed men far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. 13 But yet a tenth will be in it, and will return and be for consuming, as a terebinth tree or as an oak, Whose stump remains when it is cut down. So the holy seed shall be its stump.”
Jeremiah 1: 17 – 19, 17 “ Therefore prepare yourself and arise, and speak to them all that I command you. Do not be dismayed before their faces, lest I dismay you before them. 18 For behold, I have made you this day a fortified city and an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land— Against the kings of Judah, Against its princes, Against its priests, and against the people of the land. 19 They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you. For I am with you,” says the LORD, “to deliver you.”
John 15: 18 – 25, 18 “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. 21 But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 He who hates Me hates My Father also. 24 If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father. 25 But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’
The LORD God has a play on words when He tells Ezekiel, “I have made your face strong’. Ezekiel’s name means ‘God strengthens’.
The forehead can refer to ‘Wisdom’. Have you ever wondered when the Lord asked Solomon what He could give him? What was Solomon’s answer? 1 Kings 3: 5 – 14 informs us what happened. ‘5 At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask! What shall I give you?” 6 And Solomon said: “You have shown great mercy to Your servant David my father, because he walked before You in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with You; You have continued this great kindness for him, and You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. 7 Now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. 8 And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted. 9 Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?” 10 The speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. 11 Then God said to him: “Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice, 12 behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you. 13 And I have also given you what you have not asked: both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days. 14 So if you walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.”
Solomon asked God for wisdom. Why? The answer is that his father previously taught him about what he should ask God for as shown in 1 Chronicles 22: 6 – 16.6 Then he called for his son Solomon, and charged him to build a house for the LORD God of Israel. 7 And David said to Solomon: “My son, as for me, it was in my mind to build a house to the name of the LORD my God; 8 but the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood and have made great wars; you shall not build a house for My name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in My sight. 9 Behold, a son shall be born to you, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies all around. His name shall be Solomon, for I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his days. 10 He shall build a house for My name, and he shall be My son, and I will be his Father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’ 11 Now, my son, may the LORD be with you; and may you prosper, and build the house of the LORD your God, as He has said to you. 12 Only may the LORD give you wisdom and understanding, and give you charge concerning Israel, that you may keep the law of the LORD your God. 13 Then you will prosper, if you take care to fulfill the statutes and judgments with which the LORD charged Moses concerning Israel. Be strong and of good courage; do not fear nor be dismayed. 14 Indeed I have taken much trouble to prepare for the house of the LORD one hundred thousand talents of gold and one million talents of silver, and bronze and iron beyond measure, for it is so abundant. I have prepared timber and stone also, and you may add to them. 15 Moreover there are workmen with you in abundance: woodsmen and stonecutters, and all types of skillful men for every kind of work. 16 Of gold and silver and bronze and iron there is no limit. Arise and begin working, and the LORD be with you.”
A man who is faithful in studying and digesting God’s Word obtains God’s Wisdom. He becomes adamant in presenting crystal clear hard irresistible logic. The word ‘adamant’ by the way means ‘a diamond point’ Look at Jeremiah 17: 1. 1 “The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron; with the point of a diamond it is engraved on the tablet of their heart, and on the horns of your altars,”
Our Lord has instructed Jeremiah and now here Ezekiel to be ‘hard’ against the evil counter forces. He was to be ‘hard as flint’ in withstanding the people. He was not to let their threats or looks detract him from his duty.
With the hardness of a diamond God’s Truth can cut its way through all attacks and opposition. The diamond is the most crystal clear of valuable jewels. When the sunlight hits it, a prism of beautiful colors is displayed. When you honor the ‘Son’ of God, His Divine Love and irresistible light shines on the darkest of souls. I know that you are familiar with Hebrews 4: 12. Like a diamond it can cut through the toughest surfaces.
“12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
I want to express one more comment about verses 10 and 11 before finishing up this study. 2 Timothy 2: 15 instructs teachers to study the Lord’s Word with all diligence so that you may hear and understand what God wants you to say to His children. “15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
I know of a popular teacher who is good at accumulating other teachers’ lessons and put them together and teach as though it was his wisdom. These types are not obeying the instructions the Lord gave to Ezekiel to fully take His Word to heart before preaching it to His people. They are phony’s. They take the Word of God and share it without allowing it to sink deep into their own heart. That is why the Word does not show in these men private lives. They are two people. One who appears to have the Wisdom of God when he speaks but when he steps down from the pulpit his actions show that they have no place in his daily life.
You might comment that they are successful in their ministry, so that must mean something. Yes and no.
The Lord says that in the last days there will be a famine of His Truth
Amos 8: 11 – 12,11 “ Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord GOD, “ That I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine of bread, Nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD. 12 They shall wander from sea to sea, And from north to east; They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the LORD, but shall not find it.
Romans 2: 21, “21 You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal?”
Philippians 1: 15 – 18,“15 Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: 16 The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; 17 but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.”
The Lord loves people so much that He will even use these people to be a vessel to share His love.
The Holy Spirit displayed a lot of Himself in the book of Ezekiel. He lifted Ezekiel up. It is interesting that twice in verses 12 and 13 we read that he heard ‘the voice of a great commotion.’ In the book of Jeremiah chapter 10 verses 21 and 22 we find the word ‘commotion’ used also.
“21 For the shepherds have become dull-hearted, and have not sought the LORD; Therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered. 22 Behold, the noise of the report has come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, a den of jackals”
I see two inferences here. First of all as mentioned previously, the shepherds had failed to warn the people of their sins and rebellion against God and His warnings of Judgments. Again, many preach a nice and friendly social gospel not giving the people the truth. It is all entertainment and feels good lectures.
Ezekiel heard the roaring or an earthquake about to hit. In addition, to this coming danger Ezekiel hears the cherubim wings touch in harmony and rightly praise the God of all Creation for His Justice Is Righteous.
Micah 1: 3, “3 For behold, the LORD is coming out of His place; He will come down and tread on the high places of the earth.”
Hosea 5: 15, “15 I will return again to My place till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”
Revelation 16: 4 – 7,‘4 Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel of the waters saying: “You are righteous, O Lord, The One who is and who was and who is to be, because You have judged these things. 6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. For it is their just due.” 7 And I heard another from the altar saying, “Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.”
Ezekiel was lifted up and carried away by the Spirit. This was his first experience of traveling in this unique way. However, this was the normal means of quick distance travel for the Lord’s purposes. Look at these previous similar trips.
1 Kings 18: 12,“12 And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from you, that the Spirit of the LORD will carry you to a place I do not know; so when I go and tell Ahab, and he cannot find you, he will kill me. But I your servant have feared the LORD from my youth.”
2 Kings 2: 15 – 16, “15 Now when the sons of the prophets who were from Jericho saw him, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they came to meet him, and bowed to the ground before him. 16 Then they said to him, “Look now, there are fifty strong men with your servants. Please let them go and search for your master, lest perhaps the Spirit of the LORD has taken him up and cast him upon some mountain or into some valley.” And he said, “You shall not send anyone.”
Acts 8: 39 – 40,“39 Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip was found at Azotus. And passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea.”
He experienced a unique form of jet lag so he sat there at Tel-Abib for 7 days. Bitterness can refer to be ‘distress’ or ‘anguish’ Ezekiel was in the distress of bitterness of the sins and attitude of the Jewish exiles. However, the strong hand of God was upon him. When the Lord has His Hand upon you, you can’t just pack up and walk away as you see in the prophet Jonah’s attempt. Jeremiah also was overwhelmed at his lack of success with the Jews and wanted to quit. Look at what happened in Jeremiah 20: 7 – 12,
“7 O LORD, You induced me, and I was persuaded; You are stronger than I, and have prevailed. I am in derision daily; Everyone mocks me. 8 For when I spoke, I cried out; I shouted, “Violence and plunder!” Because the word of the LORD was made to me a reproach and a derision daily. 9 Then I said, “I will not make mention of Him, Nor speak anymore in His name.” But His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not. 10 For I heard many mocking: “ Fear on every side!” “ Report,” they say, “and we will report it!” All my acquaintances watched for my stumbling, saying, “ Perhaps he can be induced; Then we will prevail against him, and we will take our revenge on him.” 11 But the LORD is with me as a mighty, awesome One. Therefore my persecutors will stumble, and will not prevail. They will be greatly ashamed, for they will not prosper. Their everlasting confusion will never be forgotten. 12 But, O LORD of hosts, You who test the righteous, and see the mind and heart, Let me see Your vengeance on them; For I have pleaded my cause before You.”
Some teachers have suggested that the 7 days were for the consecration of a priest. I do not think this to be the case since he was called to be a prophet not a priest. I believe that the 7 days was the required time for mourning as indicated in Genesis 50:10, “Then they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and they mourned there with a great and very solemn lamentation. He observed 7 days of mourning for his father.”
Ezekiel was mourning for his fellow Jews who were spiritually dead.
We can learn from the life of Ezekiel that God has a personal concern relative to each one of us. We may think that God does not care about us because there are so many people in the world. We are maintaining the wrong thoughts. Our God Is so Awesome that He even knows the number of each person’s amount of hair. He Is in control of everything. He says, that the good work that He has begun in each one of us; He will see it to completion.
