April 17, Ezekiel 3
"Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a words from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me." - Ezekiel 3:17
Maybe it reminds you of the lonesome cowboy, sitting up, awake and alert while his fellows slept on their bedrolls around the campfire. Or maybe it sounds to you like a soldier on guard at the gate of a military facility. It could also be a security guard, keeping a lookout to protect workers during business hours or to protect the property after closing time.
In Bible times when walls were the primary defense for a city, the watchman posted in a tower along the wall was a critical component in the city's protection and defense. From his elevated vantage point, the watchman was the first to see approaching threats and sound the alarm for the people in the city to be ready for trouble.
God told Ezekiel he had appointed him as a watchman for the house of Israel. The Lord used the same idea when he commissioned Jeremiah, and Habakkuk took his stand at the watchpost and stationed himself on the tower to receive God's reply to his complaints. As the God-appointed watchman, Ezekiel listened to God and delivered God's message to the exiled Jews living in Babylon. God used the idea of an edible scroll to show Ezekiel that he could not speak God's word until he had received God's word. The watchman prophet had to internalize God's word, receive and assimilate it into himself before he could communicate it to others.
God told Ezekiel to receive in his own heart and speak all the words he heard from him. He was supposed to say what God told him to say. The Lord also closed Ezekiel up in his house and made him mute for some time. Then he released his prophet to speak what God told him when and where God told him to say it. Teachers must first and always be learners. This concept is especially important for teachers of God's word. God gives his messengers serious work to do with serious consequences for the teacher and those who hear him. The watchman must have the word of God to communicate it to others. Those who hear need receptive hearts. God told Ezekiel that these people had hard heads and hard hearts. He equipped his watchman with an even harder forehead than his audience so he would not abort his mission when the people rejected the message.
Teachers and those to whom they speak do not have the privilege to choose what they like and reject what they don't like from God's word, like diners in a cafeteria. Like Ezekiel, Paul was determined to preach the whole counsel of God and hold back nothing that would be profitable to those who heard him.
God transported Ezekiel to Tel-Abib to deliver the message to the captives there. When Ezekiel arrived and saw the ungodliness of the people, their poverty and their cruel bondage, he was astonished and sat mute for a week. That reminds me of Job's friends who also sat quietly for a week when they saw their friend's pitiful condition.
When Ezekiel ate the scroll, did it remind you of the apostle John in Revelation? Remember the angel gave John a scroll to eat that was sweet in his mouth but bitter in his belly. That's the same idea as Ezekiel receiving the word from God. It was sweet to him, but not because the words were words of doom. But it was sweet for him to know and have the opportunity to do and proclaim the word of God.
Ezekiel also experienced some bitterness in spirit when he went to Tel-Abib. Was it the severity of the message he carried? Was it knowing before he went that his own people wouldn't listen? We don't know for sure. But we do know that there was also a mixture of joy and sorrow for Paul as he preached the gospel. His own salvation by grace and the thousands he led to Christ surely gave him joy. But it broke his heart to see Israel reject Jesus.
This chapter reminds us that we must internalize God's word to be blessed by it and be a blessing to others with it. Our spiritual life is fed and sustained by the word of God. We must be receptive to all God tells us and be willing (and able) to share what we know to be true. Teachers, especially those who deal in God’s word and spiritual matters of eternal significance, must themselves receive and believe it before they speak to persuade others. It also reminds us that we will have both joy and sorrow as we hear, receive and share God’s word. We will know both the joy of salvation and feel sorrow for those who reject the good news of salvation in Christ. We can be at peace, knowing God will be with his faithful watchmen and messengers at all times.
Copyright © 2024 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Today in God's Word—April 2024
East Tallassee Church of Christ
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