April 18, 2005

Reading through the Bible in one Year: Judges 5:1-6:35; Luke 9:57-10:16

Weekly Memory Verse: Ezekiel 2:4-5

Good Afternoon Brothers and Sisters,

Ezekiel 3 (NASB95)
¹ Then He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” ² So I opened my mouth, and He fed me this scroll. ³ He said to me, “Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your body with this scroll which I am giving you.” Then I ate it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth. ⁴ Then He said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them. ⁵ “For you are not being sent to a people of unintelligible speech or difficult language, but to the house of Israel, ⁶ nor to many peoples of unintelligible speech or difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. But I have sent you to them who should listen to you; ⁷ yet the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, since they are not willing to listen to Me. Surely the whole house of Israel is stubborn and obstinate. ⁸ “Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. ⁹ “Like emery harder than flint I have made your forehead. Do not be afraid of them or be dismayed before them, though they are a rebellious house.” ¹⁰ Moreover, He said to me, “Son of man, take into your heart all My words which I will speak to you and listen closely. ¹¹ “Go to the exiles, to the sons of your people, and speak to them and tell them, whether they listen or not, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ ” ¹² Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me, “Blessed be the glory of the Lord in His place.” ¹³ And I heard the sound of the wings of the living beings touching one another and the sound of the wheels beside them, even a great rumbling sound. ¹⁴ So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away; and I went embittered in the rage of my spirit, and the hand of the Lord was strong on me. ¹⁵ Then I came to the exiles who lived beside the river Chebar at Tel-abib, and I sat there seven days where they were living, causing consternation among them. ¹⁶ At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹⁷ “Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me. ¹⁸ “When I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. ¹⁹ “Yet if you have warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered yourself. ²⁰ “Again, when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I place an obstacle before him, he will die; since you have not warned him, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. ²¹ “However, if you have warned the righteous man that the righteous should not sin and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; and you have delivered yourself.” ²² The hand of the Lord was on me there, and He said to me, “Get up, go out to the plain, and there I will speak to you.” ²³ So I got up and went out to the plain; and behold, the glory of the Lord was standing there, like the glory which I saw by the river Chebar, and I fell on my face. ²⁴ The Spirit then entered me and made me stand on my feet, and He spoke with me and said to me, “Go, shut yourself up in your house. ²⁵ “As for you, son of man, they will put ropes on you and bind you with them so that you cannot go out among them. ²⁶ “Moreover, I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be mute and cannot be a man who rebukes them, for they are a rebellious house. ²⁷ “But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you will say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ He who hears, let him hear; and he who refuses, let him refuse; for they are a rebellious house.

Psalm 19:10 (NASB95)
¹⁰ They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.

Jeremiah 15:16 (NASB95)
¹⁶ Your words were found and I ate them, And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; For I have been called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.

Revelation 10:9-11 (NASB95)
⁹ So I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little book. And he said to me, “Take it and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” ¹⁰ I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. ¹¹ And they said to me, “You must prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.”^[1]

The symbols in this chapter are pretty easy to understand.  First Ezekiel is instructed to eat the scroll, the symbolism involved is that the word of God must first be digested by the believer and applied to his own life before he steps out in ministry.  God's word is sweet to our minds and soothing to our souls when we read it in our quiet place.  David, Jeremiah and the Apostle John all wrote similar things regarding the word of God. 

Those who were the recipients of the word were different though.  They were people who spoke the same language that Ezekiel spoke and they lived in the same land that Ezekiel lived in, they also were living according to the same customs that Ezekiel was accustomed to.  If we were to apply this to our day, it would be like an American preaching to Americans.  Unfortunately the comparison goes beyond just the surface because America has become similar to the Jewish people of Ezekiel's age.

God sent Ezekiel to a people that were stubbornly refusing to follow Him.  Ezekiel's job was not to convince the people of the truth of God's word, rather his job was to speak the word to the people.  God was responsible for their response.  The illustration in verse 8 is interesting because it brings to mind two goats beating their heads together.  God built toughness into his prophet that would match the toughness of the world that he went against.  If you see a prophet today, he is gauged by his opposition.  About the only thing I remember from physics is that for every force there is an equal and opposing force.  This bears true in spiritual realms as well.  God has certainly given his people and his prophet’s victory over the evil that they oppose, but God did not create them to be wimps.  They are tough men, toughened by their association with sin, and toughened by their study in the Word of God. If they are true prophets, their time in the word will season them and prepare them for the battle.  God seasoned Ezekiel and prepared him for war with those that he should be at peace with.  God equipped him for the task that He had called Ezekiel to do.

Interesting thought here though, the prophet is a foot-soldier in the war of God; he is not responsible for the outcome of his efforts.  He is only responsible to put forth the effort that his commander in chief demands of him.  The soldier is also sent into the battle to fight.  God sent Ezekiel to speak for Him to His people, whether they listened or not.

Verses 12-15 are interesting because Ezekiel heard the word of God, then considered the word of God and thought about it.  The Holy Spirit moved in his life and gave him the message regarding the word, and it was overwhelming to him.  He was very angry over the word and was motivated by the moving of the Holy Spirit on his heart.  I don't know what set Ezekiel apart from the rest of the people, but when he came to the exiles that lived beside the river, he caused great concern from them.  He was extremely angry, and sat silent for seven days.

Ezekiel was not just to be a spokesman to the people, God gave him a personal responsibility that was related to the task on hand.  He was to speak God's word, and if he did not speak the word, he held the guilt of that person.  It doesn't hardly seem fair.

Consider this angle though, the watchman was the one who sat on the gate of the city to warn the city of approaching enemies.  If the watchman was doing his job properly, he would speak out a warning so that the city could prepare for battle, and enter the battle ready for war.  If the watchman did not do his job, the city would be caught un-aware, and would be defeated by the enemy without realizing a battle was taking place.  Ezekiel in that sense was a watchman, who saw the danger and had the greater revelation of being able to see outside the circumstances that were in the city.  God gave him revelation that caused him to understand that the nation of Israel was in serious trouble.  His job as a watchman was not to take up arms himself, but rather to speak out about the danger that was lurking on the horizon.  The watchman bore the responsiblity of the fate of the city, if he kept his mouth shut, the city would certainly be destroyed, but if the watchman opened his mouth, the city had a fighting chance.  In that way, the watchman was responsible, Ezekiel understood this illustration because he knew the importance of the watchman.

Ezekiel 1:28-2:2 (NASB95)
²⁸ As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking. ¹ Then He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet that I may speak with you!” ² As He spoke to me the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet; and I heard Him speaking to me.

Ezekiel 3:24 (NASB95)
²⁴ The Spirit then entered me and made me stand on my feet, and He spoke with me and said to me, “Go, shut yourself up in your house. ^[2]

One other interesting thing about this chapter is that in verse 24 Ezekiel attempts to fall on his face before the Lord again. He is raised back up to his feet one more time.  I puzzled over this because everywhere else in the scriptures, if someone falls down in worship, God accepts that worship.  I think that the reason that he did not accept the worship at this time was because of the urgency of the situation.  God's people had forgotten how to worship Him.  Ezekiel was the watchman on the wall, and he was called to warn the people.  In order for the people to have a fighting chance God placed His prophet among the people to speak His words to them.

God promised Ezekiel that his way would be difficult, and that God would not always allow him to speak to the people.  God actually caused him to become mute until He placed the words into Ezekiel's mouth. 

Luke 1:20-22 (NASB95)
²⁰ “And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.” ²¹ The people were waiting for Zacharias, and were wondering at his delay in the temple. ²² But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them; and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple; and he kept making signs to them, and remained mute. ^[3]

We have a new Testament example of that with Zacharias in Luke 1 where God had caused him to become mute until John the Baptist was born.  In the latter part of that chapter, his tongue was loosed and he spoke prophecies concerning Jesus.  Think for a moment who he was speaking to, he was speaking to the nation of the Jews that were rebellious, obstinate, and refused to listen to the word of God.  In the end, they even bound Jesus up, and crucified Him on a cross because they were not willing to listen to His message. 

Today as we read these words, I would challenge you to consider them in present tense.  Our society is slowly going down the road to destruction, and they have stopped listening to the word of God.  Many preachers are standing in their pulpits on Sunday’s railing about the judgment of God and the need for repentance.  However, most people don't go to church and will never hear that message.  They will hear when you speak out about what God has done in your life.  They will also hear when you warn them and advise them to turn to the Lord with their troubles.  If we as watchmen who have been blessed with the vision beyond the wall of our cities do not speak out, who will?  Are we to allow our fellow men to go to hell un-aware of the danger?  Are we so crusty that we can't speak out to warn others of the danger of life outside of God?  We are the ones who have been blessed with the light of the word of God, are we going to extend that light to the rest of the world, or are we going to keep the knowledge of spiritual battles to ourselves?  We make the determination; Jesus removed the blood-guiltiness from us on the cross, but still left the responsibility on our shoulders to speak the word that He has placed in our mouths.

This is something to think about, I am going to close here, all comments are welcomed.

Father, as we consider Your word today, give each of us a boldness to speak out Your word to Your people, and to wake up the sleepers so that they will be ready for battle.

In Him,

Joe Turner.