Ezekiel 2 - Speaking God’s Truth - 2/25/18
Turn with me this morning to Ezekiel 2. It’s about 2/3rds of the way from the front of your bibles, Isaiah, J, L, E, Daniel. We began looking at this unique, crazy prophet last week. Crazy, not because he is out of his mind, but crazy because the things he says and does grab the attention of the people of Israel. He preaches to the people through “acted out” messages - he ties himself up, he lies on his side for over a year - he has odd cooking practices - he shaves his head - his wife dies but he doesn’t mourn - all kinds of crazy things that DEFINITELY would have gotten the attention of the Jews in exile. But he does all these things so that when the people looked at the crazy things Ezekiel was doing, they would perceive the message of God. In Ezekiel 24:24 God says, Ezekiel will be a sign to you; you will do just as he has done. When this happens, you will know that I am the Sovereign LORD.’ So when the people looked at Ezekiel, they would know there was still a God in Israel.
Remember we looked at the setting of the book. Because of their sin, the Jews were exiled out of the nation of Judah and taken hundreds of miles away to be housed in the resettlement camps in Babylon. But even then, the people still had stubborn, rebellious hearts and were not ready to return to following the Lord.
Last week we saw that while the Jews had thought that God had forsaken them, and while the Babylonians thought that they had defeated the God of Israel, God shows Himself to Ezekiel as still on the throne, high and exalted, and in control of everything going on in Babylon where these exiles found themselves. And that is a reminder for us as well that even when we go through difficult circumstances, we need not doubt the ever-present help of the Lord. We remember that God is STILL on His throne, and in charge of the affairs of men.
God chooses Ezekiel to be His spokesman, and today as we look at chapters 2 & 3 we are going to learn some lessons from Ezekiel’s life that will help us faithfully discharge the calling that God has given us as well to share His message with others. Because every Christian here today has been given a high calling, a charge, a command, a mission, a duty - to share with those around us the message of the gospel. But as we look at Ezekiel’s life and ministry we will find a perspective that goes against what we typically think in regards to sharing the gospel. We often think the highest goal is to see as many people saved as possible. But that is NOT our goal. We’ll talk about that more as we get into these chapters. But as we begin, let’s start by asking God to open our eyes to see His truth and how it applies to our lives. Let’s pray together. PRAY
The first thing we will see here in chapter 2 is . . .
The Man - we see the preparation of Ezekiel to be God’s messenger. We ended chapter 1 seeing that God is present with His people. And Ezekiel is humbled before God. Look in 1:28 - This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. When I saw it, I fell face down, and I heard the voice of one speaking. He said to me, “Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you.” As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.
So we see that God has a message TO Ezekiel, and God gives a message THROUGH Ezekiel. But it takes the power of the Holy Spirit to hear it and share it. And that truth is the same for us today. It doesn’t matter how slick your gospel presentation is - apart from the working of the Holy Spirit, it is useless! Some evangelists will get people to laugh and cry and rush down the aisle to pray a prayer - but a few hours later the emotions are gone, and everyone can see there is no difference in the life of that supposed “convert.”
You can memorize the Romans Road or the Four Spiritual Laws or any of a number of ways to get people “saved” - but they are all meaningless apart from the working of the Holy Spirit. Because lest we ever forget - WE can save NO ONE - only GOD can save a soul! Scripture is clear that the unsaved will not even understand the gospel apart from the divine intervention of the Holy Spirit. 2 Corinthians 4:4 - The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. So don’t be surprised if the truths you understand so clearly don’t make sense to someone who is unsaved. 1 Corinthians 2:14 - The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
So in light of that, what do we need to do? PRAY! Far more important that memorizing more scripture - and don’t get me wrong, I am completely in favor of memorizing scripture - but that means nothing without the intervention of the Holy Spirit stepping in and “turning the light on.” So PRAY for those you wish to see come to faith in Christ. Don’t badger them. Yes, share a witness to them, but let GOD be the one who does the work in their hearts.
Ezekiel needed to see God’s presence to prepare him to be God’s messenger. And in the same way you and I need to be reminded of the greatness and glory of God. Through prayer, through meditation on the word, through worship - we need to never forget that anything good that will be accomplished will come because of what GOD does through us - not because of our feeble efforts!
The next thing we see in chapter 2 is . . .
The Mission - Ezekiel is sent to reach the unreachable. Vs 3 - He said: “Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their fathers have been in revolt against me to this very day. The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says.’ And whether they listen or fail to listen--for they are a rebellious house--they will know that a prophet has been among them.
The Jews had prided themselves in being the “people of God.” But they were NOT! And the truth is that today many of those we need to share the gospel with are people who “go to church” and consider themselves good moral people - but they need to see that they are LOST and hopeless without the forgiveness and salvation that Christ offers.
God uses the word “rebellious” 16 times in this book. And He says they are a rebellious “nation” - that was the word used to describe the Gentiles. The Jews prided themselves on being God’s people - but God says “you’re just like the Gentiles.” And the truth is that many who claim to “follow God” live just like the atheist or pagan.
God tells Ezekiel that the Jews are obstinate and stubborn. Literally, God says they are “hard of face” and “firm of heart.” Hard of face - they raise their heads in defiance. My dog Fletcher is obstinate - he gets jealous of my other dog Portia, so Fletcher will raise his head and begin with a low growl. He sets his face in defiance. And then “firm of heart” - refusing to yield, even though you know you are wrong. One of my favorite quotes about evolution is from a PhD - George Wald - who said “there are only 2 possibilities about how life arose. One is spontaneous generation, arising to evolution, the other is a supernatural creative act of God…I will not accept Creation philosophically because I do not want to believe in God. Therefore, I choose to believe in that which I know to be scientifically impossible, spontaneous generation.” That is stubbornness - knowing you are wrong, but choosing to hold to a wrong belief.
To this rebellious, obstinate, stubborn people, God sends Ezekiel as a messenger. And in verse 4, God tells him, Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says.’ Ezekiel is NOT responsible for their response. He is not responsible to try to manipulate them to accept the message. He simply needs to be faithful to declare it. It is sort of like the old town crier who came to the town square, rang his bell, and said “Hear ye, hear ye.” He was simply passing on the message he had been given.
So many Christians try to change God’s message to make it more palatable or to be politically correct. They will go so far as to say that God didn’t really mean what He says in His word. But we don’t ever need to “apologize” for the truth of God’s word. We simply need to tell others what God has to say. They will choose whether or not they will believe.
And that’s what we see verse 5 saying - Ezekiel’s goal was not to worry about the response - simply to be faithful to sharing God’s message. In the same way, we need to not worry what choice others will make - but simply seek to share God’s truth. We don’t need to try to find the person “most likely” to believe - because the person WE think most likely to listen may be the hardest heart. Rather, we simply seek to live an authentic Christian life before all, so that when they see us, they will see God in us - they will see that we sincerely believe what we say. So Ezekiel’s mission is to declare God’s truth - regardless of the response.
Then we see the Mindset that God wants him to have. Vs 6 - And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious house. You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious.
God tells Ezekiel the same thing that He tells so many of His servants: Fear not! Don’t be afraid! Don’t be afraid of the person or their words. Don’t be afraid of their actions or their threats. Because the truth is that Satan loves to use intimidation to “shut us up.” If you worry what people think of you - whether they consider you a friend - whether they will talk nicely about you - then you will probably NOT be the messenger that God wants you to be.
The truth is that people can be like briars and scorpions - prickly and dangerous, sharp and stinging. They will attack you, mock you, make fun of you. They will call you names. You will be the “butt” of the jokes in your workplace. They will try to embarrass you. But in all of that, we are reminded as Ezekiel was - don’t be afraid. The Jews had a history of attacking their prophets. Remember Jesus says, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! The Jews NEVER liked their prophets! Because they never wanted to repent! And at this very time that Ezekiel is with the exiles, Jeremiah is back in Judah with the Jews left in the land there. Because Jeremiah is faithful to declare God’s message, the Jews threw him into a pit filled with mud - read Jeremiah 38 some time.
But Ezekiel is called to not be “terrified” (vs 6) of what might happen. Because he is sent as the messenger of Almighty God. Ezekiel had been given the vision of God on His throne so that Ezekiel could keep a right perspective. We don’t fear what others might say and do, because we answer to God alone! So HOW is Ezekiel going to share God’s message. That’s the next thing we see here:
The Means - Read 2:8-3:4 - We see that Ezekiel is to internalize God’s message. God tells Ezekiel to be obedient - not to be rebellious like the Jews he is sent to. And that obedience is seen by a willingness to embrace the mission and message of God. It seems an odd picture for us to look at “eating a scroll” - but the key idea is “internalizing” God’s message. God’s word is called milk, meat, bread, and honey. It is described as that which we “take in.” Remember what Jesus says in Matthew 4:4 - Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Let’s remember that God’s truth is only of value when we “take it in.” It doesn’t matter how many scripture verses you have memorized - it matters whether we believe them and live them out in your life. Because when we truly take in the word of God it will change you.
We see in verse 10 that God’s message is one of lament and woe: it was a message of judgment. And there was writing on both sides of the scroll - God had a lot to say to the Jews. But down in 3:3 we see that as Ezekiel “eats” it, it is sweet as honey. Let’s realize that following God’s commands brings pleasure. And even passages of judgment can be sources of joy for us. Don’t just read the “joyful” passages of scripture - let all of God’s word speak to your heart. That’s one of the reasons we’re going through Ezekiel - because even unknown prophets in Babylon can have a great message for us in Owosso today.
So God takes His man Ezekiel, moves him through the Spirit, gives him a mission, remind him to be faithful, and has him internalize God’s word. Then God points out to Ezekiel. . .
The Mission Field - Read 3:5-9 Ezekiel’s mission field is like ours. It might seem glorious to go serve God cross-culturally - and we need to pray that God raises up workers to serve in foreign fields - but for those who are not called to serve cross-culturally, we need to pray that God helps them to see that they STILL have a mission field: their own backyard. God tells Ezekiel that it actually would be EASIER to go to a people who se language he couldn’t understand. Because even though there might be a language barrier, the message would be quickly received.
Instead, Ezekiel is sent to a people whose language he CAN understand - but whose hearts are hard. The hardest mission is to reach people who are set in their ways and refuse to respond to God. God calls the Jews “hardened” in verse 7. It is the picture of cement or concrete setting up. You can budge it. So how do you witness to someone who is hardened? You allow God to harden you - so you will be firmly set on sharing the gospel no matter how hard it is to reach that person. God “hardens” you so that you can put up with whatever “abuse” they might give to you.
Verse 9 - God tells Ezekiel, I will make your forehead like the hardest stone, harder than flint. It is interesting that the name Ezekiel - which means “God is strong” - can also mean “God hardens” - and that’s what God does for Ezekiel. God hardens him to make him up to the task of declaring God’s message no matter how much opposition he may receive. In the same way, when we think about sharing the truth of God with others, Satan will try to cause us to fear and to shut our mouths. But faithfulness to God causes us to be firm and speak out boldly. The next thing we see Ezekiel doing is
Meditation - Ezekiel takes time for reflection on what God has told him. Read 3:10-15
In verse 11, Ezekiel is reminded that the results are up to God. In vs 12, he is reminded that the God of all creation is with him. In 14, Ezekiel is personally moved by the message of God. And we always want to share that which has moved us personally. We never want to share God’s truth because we think we “have to” - rather we want to share God’s message of salvation with others because we truly believe it and have let it change our lives. And then in verse 15, Ezekiel comes to the exiles - he interacts with the very people he is to share God’s message with. We never want to view ourselves “better” than others - instead we realize we are ALL just sinners saved by the grace of God. It is the act of “rubbing shoulders” with the unsaved that gives us the chance to share with them personally. We never want to remove ourselves from interacting with the unsaved - even Jesus was the friend of sinners and ate with the prostitutes and tax collectors - we are IN the world, but are not to be OF the world. Ezekiel is overwhelmed with the message, but it is one he needs to share. So what is . . .
The Message - READ vs 15-21 Why is Ezekiel in silence for seven days? This was the typical period of mourning. Look back in Genesis 50:20 - Joseph mourns seven days when his father dies. So this was the beginning of Ezekiel’s ministry of “acting out” God’s messages. We will look next week at several of those “sermons in shoes.” But by his week of silence, Ezekiel gets the attention of the people, so that when he DOES speak, they pay attention to what he has to say.
And God’s message? Vs. 17 - God has made Ezekiel a “watchman” to the Jews. Think of an air raid warden in Britain in WW2, the person who sounded the alarm as bombers approached so that the people could flee to the safety of the shelters. If he doesn’t cry out when the enemy attacks, he is responsible for whatever happens. Stationed in a lookout tower on the city wall, a watchman was responsible to sound a trumpet for soldiers and civilians in the city at the sight of approaching danger or attack. God asks Ezekiel to give people fair warning of the present crisis: they will experience the consequences for being a rebellious nation.
So what is the meaning for our day? We often like to focus on the “good news” of the gospel - God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. And while that is true, we can never overlook the stark reality of sin: It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. The gospel is only “good news” when we understand we are lost and hopeless apart from forgiveness of a merciful God. Some of the exiles were blaming God for their sad plight, while others blamed their ancestors. Ezekiel made it clear that each individual is held responsible and accountable before God (We’ll look at that more when we get to Ezek. 18).
Finally, let’s consider the . . .
Method that Ezekiel uses. Read vs 22-27 Ezekiel lives as a sign to the nation of Israel. So God has him do some very strange things. In verse 24, he is to shut himself up in his house. In verse 25, we see that the people bind him up. Maybe they think he is crazy and is a danger to himself - maybe they just don’t want to listen to him - but they bind him. Then God causes him to be mute - vs 26 - he cannot speak. When God has a message, THEN he can speak, but after the message is delivered, he is mute again.
Who would want to live like that? But that is the life of a prophet! It doesn’t seem to make sense to us what God is doing with Ezekiel. But the truth is that often it doesn’t make any sense to us why God allows US to go through the trials and difficulties that we face either. But like Ezekiel, we need to have the determination that if it accomplishes the purposes of God, then God can do with us as he pleases. He is the potter and we are the clay. We exist for His glory alone!
Let’s realize that many times the things that we think are our limitations are often the very thing that God uses to accomplish His will. Joseph, sold into slavery, rotting away in prison, is in the very spot for God to elevate him to save the whole world from starvation. A little Jewish girl, captured by the enemy, made to be a house servant, is the very one used to bring Namaan to find salvation. Daniel, captured and kidnapped, taken to a foreign land, witnesses to the most powerful man in the world. And on and on it goes. Never resent the situation you find yourself in, but be faithful in whatever circumstances you meet.
In verse 27, we see that Ezekiel reminds the people who TRULY is in charge: the Sovereign LORD! And as we go through the book, we will see that Ezekiel IS faithful in giving God’s message, even if only a few respond. In the same way, our focus should always be on faithfulness, not just on numbers. It is interesting, that one of the most stubborn and bitter of God’s prophets is Jonah - and yet he has one of the most “successful” evangelistic campaigns. And he didn’t even WANT to see the Ninevites saved! But Ezekiel is faithful to God, and God’s blessing is on him.
Today, as we think about sharing a message with others - don’t get worried about the words you will use - don’t be afraid of what others will think - don’t try to manipulate and persuade - but pray, and leave the results to God. Be faithful in taking the opportunities that God gives you, and even though you may struggle as you share from the heart, when we take advantages of the open doors that God gives us, He is glorified, and that is why we exist: to bring glory to Almighty God. May He be glorified in our lives and our witness this week. Let’s pray.
