A few weeks ago, I woke up and heard, “Listen like Ezekiel.”
I thought to myself, “Wow…..it’s not even 6am Lord, my eyes may be open but my brain is still asleep.”
My next thought was, “Wait…..wasn’t that the guy with the visions who saw the wheel? What does that have to do with listening?” So, after a couple cups of iced coffee I decided to do a little research about my man “Zeke.”
Turns out God said a lot to Ezekiel, and Ezekiel listened and proceeded to do what the Lord told him to do without question. I on the other hand complained immediately about it being too early…..again.
In Ezekiel:
God told him that the Israelites were stubborn but he wasn’t to be afraid of them or what they would say back to him, he just needed to obey.
Then next thing, God handed him a scroll, unrolled it in front of him and he read it…..and then told him to eat it, and Ezekial did. He even said it tasted sweet like honey. Ezekiel listened and obeyed.
God then tells him to go speak to the Israelites, even though they won’t listen to him as God and they probably won’t listen to him either, but that’s ok because God tells him he will make “his forehead like the hardest stone, harder than flint.” At this point I am sure Ezekiel’s wife was happy to hear about God making her husband extra hardheaded.
Ezekial said the Lord swept him away to where the exiles were living near the Kebar River, he then sat among them for a week trying to wrap his brain around everything that happened. Once again, I’m sure his wife was listening to what he was saying about his visions and being swept away by the Lord to another town and now his stubbornness (hard-headedness) was not his fault because God made him that way.
Ezekiel never wavered; the Lord spoke to him and told him that if he was sent to warn a wicked man and he didn’t then he would be held accountable for his blood. If I was Ezekiel, I would have questioned why I was responsible for someone I didn’t even know, but Ezekiel didn’t, he just listened and obeyed.
The Lord told Ezekiel to shut himself inside his house and be tied with ropes so that he could not go out among the people and his tongue was going to be stuck to the roof of his mouth so he could not speak. Ezekiel listened and obeyed.
The Lord told him that, “I will open your mouth and you shall speak to those that will listen and let the ones who refuse to listen go about their way.” Ezekiel listened and obeyed.
(I imagine Ezekiel’s wife coming home and being a bit perplexed about his situation, and he couldn’t even tell her what had happened.)
The Lord told him to take a clay tablet and draw the city of Jerusalem on it and show it being overtaken. Ezekiel listened and obeyed.
He told Ezekiel to lie on his left side and put the sin of Israel on himself and to bear the sin of Israel, one day for each year, 390 days. When he was done with that he was to lay on his right side and bear the sin of the house of Judah, 40 days. He was told to turn toward Jerusalem and prophesy against her and then he will be tied up with ropes so that he cannot turn from one side to the other until you have finished the days of your siege. Ezekiel listened and obeyed.
God told him to take a sharp sword and to shave his head and his beard, weigh it, and divide it. (I’m sure his wife had questions when she walked into the tent and seen him shaving his head with a sword.)
A third of it was to be burned with fire inside the city, another third he was to take it all around the city and strike it with a sword, and the last third was to be scattered by the wind. A few strands were to be put in his garment and a few to be thrown into a fire. Ezekiel didn’t question God, he listened and obeyed.
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Later in the book the Lord set Ezekiel in the middle of a valley full of bones and he told Ezekiel to prophesy to the dry bones and as he did, they came together and tendons and muscle grew, and skin began to cover them. Then breath entered them, and they became alive and stood up on their feet, a vast army. Because Ezekiel listened and obeyed.
These are only a few stories from the book of Ezekiel and as I am studying this book, I encourage you to do the same. One of the many things I gleaned from this study is that when the Lord speaks to me and tells me to invite someone to church or speak to someone in the store and I feel slightly uncomfortable, or too embarrassed- It’s hard to compare being slightly inconvenienced in Walmart or at a gas station to having my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth and not able to speak or being bound for a year and laying on one side.
But Ezekiel listened and obeyed.
When the Lord speaks to us do we try to interpret what he is trying to say? Gather with our friends and share what we heard? Sit and ponder about it? Go to social media and share what was said to get everyone’s opinion?
Or do we (I) just listen and obey…..like Ezekiel?
My man Zeke was hardcore!
