Ezekiel 2:1-3 - And
He said to me, "Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak to
you." Then the Spirit entered me when He spoke to me, and set me on my
feet; and I heard Him who spoke to me. And He said to me: "Son of man, I
am sending you to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that has
rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to
this very day.
Ezekiel was in the midst of a great vision. He had been overcome by God’s very presence…
so overwhelmed and broken that he could not even stand when God commanded him. God
was so impressed with Ezekiel’s humility that he sent his very spirit to help
him to stand so he could listen to the task God had for him.
God told him to preach to the people…whether they wanted to
listen or not. He said for him to not be
afraid to say exactly what God gave him to say. He knew that most of Ezekiel’s
life he would be relaying the words of God to deaf and rebellious ears…so he
told him that up front.
Several things struck me as important in these verses. First….God
did not explain everything to Ezekiel…just the part that he needed to know to
do his job. Next….God did not ask him to do this in his own strength…he filled
him with the spirit to take over when his humanness could not deal with the
task. Finally…God warned him ahead of time that he would meet resistance…just
like he did many of the servants he
called to preach his word.
It made me think of 2 Timothy 4:2-4 …where he exhorted young
Timothy not to give up…but to be ready no matter what to preach to the people
the truth that had been covered so well by false prophets and Christians who
had strayed so far they had written their own rules. He said…. “Be ready in season and out of
season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not
endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have
itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the
truth, and be turned aside to fables.”
He might as well be talking to any Christian called to preach today.
Deuteronomy 4:2 says…
“You shall not add to the word which I
command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord
your God which I command you.” And he
finished his words to John in Revelation 22:18 … “For I
testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone
adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are
written in this book” It is clear that
we are not to adjust it to fit our needs or wants.
Even if you have
not been called to be a preacher…there are times when God will give you a task
to do…and not explain the whole job. He expects
us to act on faith and just do it….till he releases us to the next task. He exhorts us all to listen to his words and
never change the message of truth he recorded for us in the Bible. He will fill us with as much of his spirit as
we need to complete the task for him. He
wants to fill his presence so completely that we become bold servants who fear
nothing but the wrath of God if we do not obey.
Father...thank you
for the reminder that you have called me to do a work for you. Forgive me for the times that I have doubted
my job…or wanted more information than I needed to finish it. Help me to always
pray for that filling of your Holy Spirit…so I will have exactly the strength
and courage I need to be bold and fearless and complete each task you give me
to do. Amen.
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