Use Your Freedom Of Speech By Speaking

7.4.21 Ezekiel 2:1–7

1 He said to me, “Son of man, stand up on your feet, and I will speak with you.” 2 The Spirit entered into me as he spoke to me and brought me up to my feet. Then I heard him speaking to me. 3 He said to me, “Son of man, I am sending you to the people of Israel, to disloyal nations, who have been disloyal to me. They and their fathers have rebelled against me to this very day. 4 These children of mine are brazen-faced and hard-hearted. I am sending you to them, and you are to tell them that this is what the LORD God says. 5 Then, whether they listen or do not listen—for they are a rebellious house—then they will know that a prophet has been among them. 6 But you, son of man, do not be afraid of them, and do not be afraid of their words. Even though briers and thorns surround you and you are living with scorpions, do not be afraid of their words, and do not be intimidated by the look on their faces, for they are a rebellious house. 7 You are to speak my words to them whether they listen or they do not, for they are rebellious.

The First Amendment to our Constitution states,

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Europe had a long history of religious wars, due to countries trying to enforce one religion over another. That is why many German Lutherans came to America in the 1800’s, because the German government tried to force the Lutherans and the Calvinists to join together in ways that compromised their faith. Our founding fathers wanted to make sure that religions were free from government control so that they could openly confess their faith without fear of being arrested and locked up.

However, the fear is coming back in America as we are being confronted with more and more immoral behavior and being told to accept it and promote it. How do we fight against this? We keep speaking!

Use Your Freedom of Speech by Speaking

Ezekiel was called to speak as God’s prophet with direct revelations from God. Who was Ezekiel? Approximately 90 times in Ezekiel the Lord addresses Ezekiel as “son of man.” He was just a human being, a frail mortal, a simple son of man, who brought nothing but weakness to the task. He was the son of a priest, taken captive to Babylon along with King Jehoiachin and the best of the Israelite people in 597 B.C. God called Ezekiel to warn the people of Israel to repent of their sins prior to the Captivity.

God told Ezekiel, “Son of man, I am sending you to the people of Israel, to disloyal nations, who have been disloyal to me. They and their fathers have rebelled against me to this very day. 4 These children of mine are brazen-faced and hard-hearted. God had been nothing but nice to the Israelites. He provided them with a beautiful land to live in and plenty of food. He gave them a wonderful way to worship Him and receive forgiveness of sins through the sacrificial system. He provided protection from their enemies. But the Israelites decided to worship other gods. They became entitled, spoiled and violent little brats. Most of the true prophets were threatened with death, put in prison, and even violently put to death.

Nonetheless, God sent Ezekiel to go talk to them anyway. I am sending you to them, and you are to tell them that this is what the LORD God says. 5 Then, whether they listen or do not listen—for they are a rebellious house—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.

Notice a couple of things. First of all, God wanted Ezekiel to explicitly say that his words were by revelation from God. This wasn’t just Ezekiel’s opinion or thoughts or suggestions. Secondly, he didn’t want Ezekiel to show any sort of fear, no matter how scary they looked or what they said. Since Ezekiel was representing God, God didn’t want to make the people think that He was somehow afraid of what the people might say or how they might look at them or treat them. That was no easy thing!

You probably won’t have a direct vision from God in your life, but that doesn’t mean that you don’t have clear and decisive words from God. You’ve been taught right from wrong, salvation from damnation. This isn’t a matter of opinion or interpretation, as some like to claim. So you see a classmate that you were confirmed with post a picture of herself getting drunk and flipping off the camera. Your favorite grandchild decides to get divorced because he’s having an affair. You know it’s wrong. Do you say something?