God Calls the Prophet
In Ezekiel 2, we see God reach out to Ezekiel and speak a calling into his life. Ezekiel was from a family of priests. He wasn’t a prophet by birth which is a very different calling. But Ezekiel apparently had a heart for God and was open to being used by God in whatever way God wanted to use him. In this day and time it was rare since the idolatry of Israel was so great that it caused God to exile them to Babylon.
There are a couple of things that I noticed about this passage. One is that God says over and over again that he is sending Ezekiel to a rebellious house. God uses the world rebelled or rebellious 7 times in the first 8 verses of chapter 2 of Ezekiel. He also used the words or phrases, “obstinate children”, “stubborn” and “transgressed”. Right from the very beginning, God wants Ezekiel to know that he is sending Ezekiel to a people who have failed to live up to their calling.
The second thing is that Ezekiel was to share God’s word with them whether they listened or not. Some would end up listening to Ezekiel, but it was a small minority. When I say small, I mean less than 10 people. I mean 40 years of ministry with only a hand full of people to show for it. Ezekiel’s calling wasn’t about numbers, it was about being faithful to do what God told him to do. God said to him, “but you shall speak My words to them whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious.” Ezekiel 2:7. This was symbolized by Ezekiel eating a scroll that contained words of mourning, lamentation and woe.
There is another place in scripture where the analogy of a book is used. In Revelations 10:8-10. It says that it made the stomach of John bitter, but it was sweet as honey in his mouth. It was sweet because they are God’s words, but it was bitter because the end result was God’s wrath. Ezekiel’s message was one of wrath and judgment also since it is described in three different ways: mourning, lamentation and woe.
God sent many prophets during the time of Ezekiel and before. Some of the major prophets of the Old Testament lived during or before the time of Ezekiel. Jeremiah and Daniel both lived during this time. Daniel in the throne room of Babylon and Jeremiah in Jerusalem. Other prophets worked up to this time to warn the people and had been martyred for their faith. The people simply didn’t want to listen, but God kept sending these men to a “rebellious house”. This is because God wanted to warn the people out of love for them. He wanted them to repent and turn back to Him so that he could bless them.
This is the same reason that he send missionaries to far places and pastors out today. This is the same reason he gave us the great Commission to tell people about him. Our mission is the same today because love warns. Love also waits. It is waiting for people to repent. IN 2 Peter3:9-10 “The Lord is not slow about His promises as some count slowness, but is patent toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass with a roar and the elemtns will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.”
There are a couple of things that I noticed about this passage. One is that God says over and over again that he is sending Ezekiel to a rebellious house. God uses the world rebelled or rebellious 7 times in the first 8 verses of chapter 2 of Ezekiel. He also used the words or phrases, “obstinate children”, “stubborn” and “transgressed”. Right from the very beginning, God wants Ezekiel to know that he is sending Ezekiel to a people who have failed to live up to their calling.
The second thing is that Ezekiel was to share God’s word with them whether they listened or not. Some would end up listening to Ezekiel, but it was a small minority. When I say small, I mean less than 10 people. I mean 40 years of ministry with only a hand full of people to show for it. Ezekiel’s calling wasn’t about numbers, it was about being faithful to do what God told him to do. God said to him, “but you shall speak My words to them whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious.” Ezekiel 2:7. This was symbolized by Ezekiel eating a scroll that contained words of mourning, lamentation and woe.
There is another place in scripture where the analogy of a book is used. In Revelations 10:8-10. It says that it made the stomach of John bitter, but it was sweet as honey in his mouth. It was sweet because they are God’s words, but it was bitter because the end result was God’s wrath. Ezekiel’s message was one of wrath and judgment also since it is described in three different ways: mourning, lamentation and woe.
God sent many prophets during the time of Ezekiel and before. Some of the major prophets of the Old Testament lived during or before the time of Ezekiel. Jeremiah and Daniel both lived during this time. Daniel in the throne room of Babylon and Jeremiah in Jerusalem. Other prophets worked up to this time to warn the people and had been martyred for their faith. The people simply didn’t want to listen, but God kept sending these men to a “rebellious house”. This is because God wanted to warn the people out of love for them. He wanted them to repent and turn back to Him so that he could bless them.
This is the same reason that he send missionaries to far places and pastors out today. This is the same reason he gave us the great Commission to tell people about him. Our mission is the same today because love warns. Love also waits. It is waiting for people to repent. IN 2 Peter3:9-10 “The Lord is not slow about His promises as some count slowness, but is patent toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass with a roar and the elemtns will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.”
