Key Text: Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears (Jeremiah 3:10).
Ezekiel was a member of the aristocracy deported to Babylon with King Jehoiachin when Nebuchadnezzar began a series of deportations after the collapse of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Even though Ezekiel had not been a prophet among them (2:5), God sent him to the children of Israel, a rebellious nation, to prophesy in the name of the Lord. The Prophet was told not to be afraid, for “harder than flint have I made thy forehead” (3:9). God also told Ezekiel, “Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the world at my mouth, and give them warning for me” (3:17). The Prophet saw doom advancing upon Judah and he reminded the people of the sins which had brought about the disaster and urged them to repent. God gave Ezekiel a “spirit of hardness” to sustain his ministry as prophet to the exiles and the “Spirit lifted me up” (8:3). Tel Abib was the main city for the Jewish captives who may have included some of the ten tribes taken long before in the conquering of the northern kingdom of Israel. Ezekiel sat with the sorrowing people for seven days, the usual period for showing deep grief. He identified with them in their suffering, trying to win their trust when he spoke God’s Word. His role was likened to a watchman on a city wall, who could spot the approach of an enemy and warn the residents to muster a defense. Here, the prophet gave timely warnings of approaching judgment. Even in the Pentateuch, God had commanded death for many violations of His Law and warned that it could be a consequence of any consistent sin. The people of Israel had long abandoned that severe standard of purification, so God took execution back into His own hands, as in the destruction of Israel, Judah, and Jerusalem. On the other hand, God had also promised special protection and life to the obedient.
On the very day the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar began, Ezekiel had full knowledge of it from God, even though he was about three hundred miles away from the scene. The terrifying judgment was presented by means of parables and then by a sign. As a sign, Ezekiel was not to mourn the sudden death of his wife, though he was grief-stricken. Likewise, when the people hear of the center of their delight (the Temple) destroyed, and their sons and daughters slain, the people are not to go through the routine of loud lamentations and comforting one another, though their grief is intense. We recall that the Temple and its ministry was the center of Jewish life; it was the place of strength because of the presence of the Lord. Since the people continued repeatedly to “profane” this holy place by their idolatry, the Lord was removing His presence and strength. It would now be profaned by destruction, as well as the dead bodies of their sons and daughters. Ezekiel would be a “sign unto them; and they shall know that I am the Lord” v 27. AMEN!
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