Ezekiel 2:1-10
And he said unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee. 2 And the spirit entered into me when he spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard him that spake unto me. 3 And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very day. 4 For they are impudent children and stiffhearted. I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD. 5 And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them. 6 And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. 7 And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious. 8 But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee. 9 And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein; 10 And he spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.
INTRODUCTION
Let me ask you a question. Have you ever tried to help someone who simply wouldn’t listen? Maybe a parent warning a teenager. Maybe a friend trapped in addiction. Maybe you witnessed to someone who laughed at you. Maybe you’ve told your child the same thing a hundred times. “Don’t touch that. Don’t go there. Don’t do that.” Yet they ignore every word.
Let me ask you something. Would you keep talking if you knew ahead of time they weren’t going to listen? Most of us would probably quit. We’d say, “What’s the use? Why do I keep warning them of the same thing over and over again? I’m just going to stop talking. Why talk? Why warn? They won’t listen.”
That’s exactly where Ezekiel begins. God calls him to preach. But before Ezekiel ever says one word God tells him something shocking. “They’re not going to listen.” Imagine applying for a job. The employer says, “We’re going to hire you. Nobody will appreciate you. Most people will reject what you say. Some will become angry. Some will hate you. Do you still want the job?”
Would you take that job if you knew everyone would hate you? Let’s see what the prophet Ezekiel does right here.
I. GOD MAKES EZEKIEL STAND
Ezekiel 2:1-2
And he said unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee. 2 And the spirit entered into me when he spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard him that spake unto me.
Notice the first command. Not go preach. Not go speak. What’s the first command you see right there? Stand. “Son of man STAND upon they feet.” Get up. Stand up. Why? Because Ezekiel has just seen the glory of God in chapter 1. He fell on his face.
Now God tells him, “Stand up.” Then something amazing happens. The Spirit enters Ezekiel and sets him on his feet. Imagine a little boy trying to lift something far too heavy. His father walks over. Puts his hands underneath. And together they lift it.
That’s Ezekiel. God never asks him to stand alone. God isn’t asking you to stand alone in this life. God gives him the strength to stand. God gives you the strength to stand. Sometimes the hardest part of serving God is simply standing. Standing when others compromise. Standing when people laugh. Standing when you’re the only one.
Before God tells Ezekiel to speak, He teaches him to stand. God didn’t call Ezekiel to be successful. God called him to be faithful. I want you to remember this as well. God simply wants us to believe in Him and to be faithful to Him. When nothing else around you is doing that, you continue to do that.
II. GOD TELLS HIM THE TRUTH
Ezekiel 2:3-5
And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very day. 4 For they are impudent children and stiffhearted. I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD. 5 And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them.
Imagine hearing this assignment. You’re not going to a revival where everyone is happy to see you come preach. You’re going to rebels. Notice how many times God emphasizes it. He says, “They have rebelled.” He says, “They have transgressed.” He says, “They are impudent.” That means shameless, stubborn, disrespectful, and not embarrassed by doing wrong. He says, “They are stiffhearted.”
God isn’t hiding the difficulty from Ezekiel. In this life, God never promises easy. He doesn’t hide the difficulty from us. Life is hard. Life tests us. We are put through trials constantly.
God is preparing Ezekiel for this difficult task he is about to take on. Imagine a doctor telling a patient, “This surgery will be painful. Recovery will be difficult. But it’s necessary. You MUST go through this pain to reach the other side.” That’s what God is doing here. He’s telling Ezekiel exactly what to expect.
Then comes one of the greatest verses. Look closely at verse 5 there. “Whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.” Forbear means to refuse, to ignore, or to not listen. Think about that. They have the choice to listen or not to listen.
Whether they listen or refuse, what is Ezekiel supposed to do? Does he do something different if they refuse to hear him? No, God is telling him that he’s going to preach no matter if they listen or don’t listen. Ezekiel still has to preach. Why is that? Make sure you hear me on this.
Success isn’t measured by their response. What you do for God isn’t measured by the response you get from someone else. Success is measured by Ezekiel’s obedience to God. Many times, people quit or don’t do what God asks because someone else is discouraging them. When I’ve thought about quitting things in life, it’s because other people have discouraged me.
We can’t allow that to happen. The Scriptures today show us that. We learn from God’s words. Why are you doing something? Is it for God who never discourages you from doing good or is it for others who usually discourage you from doing good. If you’re doing something for God, you should never quit. Do it no matter what this world thinks.
Imagine a mailman delivering letters. His job isn’t to make people read the mail. His job is to faithfully deliver it. Many people throw the mail away. But the mailman keeps delivering.
That’s Ezekiel. That’s every preacher. That’s every soul winner. Our responsibility is to faithfully deliver God’s message. God didn’t call Ezekiel to be successful. God called him to be faithful. God didn’t call you to be successful. He called you to be faithful.
III. DON’T BECOME LIKE THE PEOPLE YOU’RE TRYING TO REACH
Ezekiel 2:6-7
And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. 7 And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious.
Be not afraid. Neither be afraid of their words. “Though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions.” Even though these people will hurt you, don’t be afraid of them. Notice something. God spends more time talking about Ezekiel’s courage than He does about the people’s rebellion. Why?
Because fear silences truth. When you’re afraid, the truth won’t come out of you. Imagine a firefighter arriving at a burning house. The flames are huge. People are screaming. Would he say, “It’s too dangerous. I’m going home.” No. That’s exactly why he came. He’s ready for this fight. And it’s not an easy one. He could die. But he has no fear and he gets the job done.
God tells Ezekiel to “speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.” God wants the truth being preached no matter if people will listen or not listen. “For they are most rebellious.” It doesn’t matter if they want to hear it or not, preach it to them. They don’t have to listen. Go anyway. Now watch what God says next in verse 8.
Ezekiel 2:8
But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee.
The world’s rebellion isn’t a reason to stop preaching. It’s the reason we must keep preaching. We don’t give up because the world makes things tougher for us. That’s when we get stronger. God says something powerful. “Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house.” Think about that.
God is saying, “Don’t become like the people you’re trying to change.” That’s very easy to do. You can fall for that so be very careful. How many churches have compromised trying to reach the world? We MUST be careful of that.
How many Christians have lowered God’s standards hoping the world would like them? God says, Don’t do that. Speak My words even if the world hates you. They first hated God. Keep speaking the word of God. Whether they hear or whether they refuse.
IV. NOT ALWAYS GOOD NEWS
Ezekiel 2:9-10
And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein; 10 And he spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.
Then God hands Ezekiel a scroll. Why? Because God doesn’t want Ezekiel speaking his own opinions. He wants Ezekiel speaking God’s words. For example, God doesn’t want me coming up with my own things to preach here. He wants me to preach His words.
Imagine a lawyer standing before a judge. Instead of reading the law, he makes up his own law. The judge that knows the law would stop him immediately. The authority isn’t in the lawyer. The authority is in the law. The authority isn’t in Ezekiel. The authority is in God’s Word. The authority is not in our own words. The power is in God’s words.
Notice what’s written on the scroll. Lamentations. Mourning. Woe. Not because God enjoys judgment. But because that’s exactly what the people needed to hear.
Sometimes the most loving message is the one people least want to hear. For example, people who love alcohol hate when I preach against alcohol, but it’s the message they need to hear. A doctor who hides cancer isn’t loving. A preacher who hides God’s truth isn’t loving either.
God didn’t ask Ezekiel to write a new message. He simply asked him to faithfully proclaim His message. God didn’t call Ezekiel to be successful. God called him to be faithful. You won’t be successful in THE WORLD as you stay FAITHFUL to God. You must understand this. But you will be successful in God’s eyes and that’s what truly matters.
CONCLUSION
Let me ask you one final question. What if nobody listens? Would you still tell your family about Jesus? Would you still stand for truth? Would you still read your Bible? Would you still come to church? Would you still preach God’s Word? Ezekiel did.
Not because people applauded him and thought he was so awesome. Not because crowds gathered to hear Ezekiel. Not because everyone agreed with Ezekiel. He did it because God told him to.
Remember the mailman. He doesn’t decide which letters are important. He faithfully delivers every one. He doesn’t get rid of the advertisements because he thinks they are worthless. He doesn’t get rid of the bills because he knows you don’t want to see them. He faithfully delivers all the mail.
God has never asked us to change His message. He has only asked us to faithfully deliver it. Because one day we won’t stand before the people who rejected God’s Word. We’ll stand before the God who gave us His words to teach and to preach.
So don’t measure your life by popularity. Don’t measure your life by applause. Don’t measure your life by numbers. Measure your life by one question: Have I been faithful to what God asked me to do? Because in the end that’s what matters. Stay faithful to God no matter what.
Let’s pray.
Leave a Reply