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Devotional thoughts (Monday through Thursday mornings) from the pastor of Exeter Presbyterian Church in Exeter, NH // Sunday Worship 10:30am // 73 Winter Street

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Ezekiel 3

There are at least two things necessary in the prophetic process of revealing the will of God. First, the prophet must hear the Word of God. From the standpoint of the hearer, this is not primarily an exercise of the ear, but an action of the heart, mind, and will. The prophet must have a readiness to believe and obey. This requires a work of God. The second is no less amazing. The prophet must speak the Word of God forthrightly with true love for God and love for His people.

The two actions are connected. Ezekiel symbolically eats the scroll of God’s Word as a sign of taking it in. Though it may be sweet in his mouth, it will not be sweet to everyone. He must speak this Word to the house of Israel. The prophet must die to himself in order to speak the truth in love. Only God can bring about such a death, and where the prophet dies in this spiritual sense, God is pleased to grant a resurrection. As the prophet ministers in the power of a new life, it should be clear that God is the one who speaks through such a messenger.

God sent Ezekiel to the house of Israel, a house that should have been humble at this moment in their history. They were not. Some day in the distant future, the Lord would send forth His apostles into foreign lands. They would go to men with strange customs and unknown languages. Amazingly, those people would hear the message of a Jewish Messiah God and would believe. They would count the scroll as sweet. The house of Israel, on the other hand, would reject the message of God. They had become stubborn in their rebellion. This rebellion was not an intellectual problem or a philosophical problem, as if the descendants of Jacob just could not accept the theology of their God, though they loved God Himself. The problem was presented in personal terms. God said to Ezekiel that the house of Israel had rejected God personally. They would be most stubborn, but in God’s raising up of His prophet the Lord made Ezekiel just as stubborn for the truth as they were stubborn for the way of rebellion.

The specific sons of Jacob that were to hear these words of the prophet would be those who were already in exile before the day of the destruction of Jerusalem. Ezekiel seemed to be transported from the glory cloud where He received this divine call to a particular location in a foreign land. This was an overwhelming experience of great bitterness, and the prophet sat there among them for seven days.

As a true prophet of the Lord, Ezekiel had to fulfill the role of a watchman for a city. The watchman was to keep an eye out for approaching danger. When he saw trouble, he would waste no time in issuing a warning to the city. If he did not issue a warning, he was guilty for abandoning his post. Ezekiel was a watchmen for the house of Israel in exile. He did not necessarily see trouble with his eyes, but he heard it with his ears, for God gave him the message that needed to be spoken before the people. If Ezekiel spoke this message truly, then he had discharged his responsibility. This is why, in the New Testament, Paul says to the Ephesian elders, “I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.” If Ezekiel would not speak the truth plainly, then he would be guilty, but if he did his part, and the people refused to listen, the blood was on their own heads.

With that clear warning, we would have expected Ezekiel to be earnestly speaking immediately, but instead the Lord surprisingly put him in a situation of speechlessness. Ezekiel would be mute, not because of the fear of man, or because of his own rebellion, but because of the will of God. The glory of God appeared to him, and He fell on His face as He had before. Once again, the Lord seemed to pick him up, and instruct him. Ezekiel would shut himself within his house as one who had been bound to this solitary life. His tongue would not work. He would be mute – physically unable to correct anyone. This, God said, was a judgment upon the house of Israel, because of their rebelliousness.

This period would come to an end as the Lord would speak to the prophet as the voice of the Lord Himself. The true prophet does not speak on his own. There were many false prophets throughout the history of God’s people. Many denied that there would be an exile to Babylon. Others claimed that those who were part of the early exile would soon be back in the land. These prophets spoke presumptuously. They had not heard from the Lord. They could not speak for the Lord. It would have been far better for them to have said nothing at all.

When Christ came as our good shepherd, He received the call directly from His Father. He had the instruction to lay down His life, that He might take it up again. He said, “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” There were occasions when He said nothing. This also was in accord with His Father’s will. Concerning His disciples, He said this: “All that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” He is the perfect watchman over the church. He has faithfully discharged His duties, and has given us the Word of life. He surely died to self in all that He said and did. Yet He did far more than the most faithful prophet, for He died in our place. He laid down His life, and took it up again. As those who have died to self and sin, let us walk now in resurrection life. Let us turn away from sin, and do everything that Christ has commanded.

posted by Pastor Magee @ 7:00 AM

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