Eze. 3:1-15, Eat, go and speak my words

Eze. 3:1-15, Eat, go and speak my words

1-15, 1.And he said to me, "Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the house of Israel."2.  So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat.3.  Then he said to me, "Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it." So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.4.He then said to me: "Son of man, go now to the house of Israel and speak my words to them.5.  You are not being sent to a people of obscure speech and difficult language, but to the house of Israel --6.  not to many peoples of obscure speech and difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you.7.  But the house of Israel is not willing to listen to you because they are not willing to listen to me, for the whole house of Israel is hardened and obstinate.8.  But I will make you as unyielding and hardened as they are.9.  I will make your forehead like the hardest stone, harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious house."10.And he said to me, "Son of man, listen carefully and take to heart all the words I speak to you.11.  Go now to your countrymen in exile and speak to them. Say to them, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says,' whether they listen or fail to listen.“12.  Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me a loud rumbling sound -- May the glory of the LORD be praised in his dwelling place! --13.  the sound of the wings of the living creatures brushing against each other and the sound of the wheels beside them, a loud rumbling sound.14.  The Spirit then lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the LORD upon me.15.  I came to the exiles who lived at Tel Abib near the Kebar River. And there, where they were living, I sat among them for seven days -- overwhelmed.
<Sermon>
 When we do God’s work, there are times when it is really hard and difficult. There are times when we confess that we do not have the strength or ability to handle it and become frustrated. That is how Ezekiel feels right now. He was called as God’s prophet, but the people he had to deliver to, the Israelite captives by Babylon, were a rebellious people who would not accept the word. The message he was to deliver was a lament, a lament, and a disaster that told them that they were rebellious and would inevitably receive God’s judgment. Nevertheless, God told him to go and proclaim the word whether they would listen or not. How frustrating it must have been! Today’s text connects to Ch. 2 and tells us what we must do to handle God’s work and how God helps us.

1. Eat the scroll and fill your stomach and intestines (1-3)
 “1.And he said to me, "Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the house of Israel." 2.So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat. 3.Then he said to me, "Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it." So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.”
 When Ezekiel reads the words written on the scroll and is in great shock, God tells Ezekiel to take the scroll in His hand and eat it. In fact, eating a scroll is awkward. We listen to the words of the Bible with our ears, not with our mouths. Isn’t a scroll something you don’t eat? But God opens His mouth and feeds him. And He says, “Put it in your belly and fill your intestines.” Ezekiel chewed the Bible and it tasted like honey to his mouth. God’s words are sweeter than honey, sweeter than the honeycomb (Ps.19 :10). Just because the scroll is sweet like honey does not mean that the words we usually say are “gracious” or “moving.” This is because the words written on the scroll are lamentations, mourning, and disasters. They are truly words of judgment that are difficult and hard for the people to bear.
 God tells him not to stop at eating with his mouth, but to fill his stomach and intestines with it. It does not mean that we should only taste the sweetness of the Word with our mouths. It means, “Eat the Word completely, digest it, and make it our own.” No matter how delicious and good the Word of life is, we should not just look at it. It is nothing more than a picture of bread. We must eat, meditate on it, apply it, and live by it. It is a bitter word, a message of judgment filled with words of lament, mourning, and disaster on both sides of the scroll. However, we must eat and digest even these bitter words well so that we can absorb all the nutrients. It is not enough to taste it just in our mouths. We must fill our stomachs and intestines with it and digest it completely. We must chew the Word, continue to meditate on it, and apply it so that it becomes abundant nutrients in our lives. Look at a goat. In a pasture, a goat diligently grazes on grass and swallows it right away. Then, while resting in the shade of a tree, it brings it back to its mouth and chews it diligently for a long time. As a result, this food becomes completely like porridge and provides nutrition to its entire body. We too must read, listen to, and meditate on the Word of Life. Ps.1:1-2, “Blessed is the man ... But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.” The word “meditate” means to ruminate. In fact, these words were bitter. However, when he ate them, they were sweeter than honey in his mouth. Do not be picky about the sweet words, but meditate on the bitter words as well, and you will have an amazing experience when the words come true. Jer.15:16, ”When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart's delight, for I bear your name, O LORD God Almighty.”
 Question) Living according to the Bible is truly difficult, and it seems like a series of endless trials and troubles, but you cannot know the comfort and blessings you receive after obeying it unless you experience it. So today, do I truly recognize the words of the Bible as the words of life that are sweeter than honey, and rejoice with the words? (3, Job 23:12, Heb 13:7)
 I pray that you, my fellow saints, live and change with the Word in yourselves, your families, your workplaces, and your society, and become the joy of God.

2. Go and Preach - Is it Better to Be a Gentile? (4-11)
 God commands Ezekiel to go and preach to his fellow Israelites (4:10-11). While doing so, He tells him in detail what kind of people they are. God repeatedly tells him that He is sending him to his fellow Israelites, not to another people (3:4-10). The Israelites, who have become spiritually blind, will intentionally reject Ezekiel's message of God's judgment and the prophet who delivers it (3:5-6). He laments that if He had sent Ezekiel to another nation to preach the word, they would have listened to the word (3:6). Therefore, God says that it would be much easier to preach the word to a foreign nation. This reminds us of the Ninevites who heard the prophet Jonah's message of repentance and repented, and 120,000 people were saved. It makes us realize that if we believe in God incorrectly, it is as much a rebellion against God as not believing. If we all do not always be alert and reflect on our attitude toward faith and life, we too will be treated as spiritual strangers to God.

 Ezekiel must be loyal to God and His Word even if the people strongly oppose him. The people will be shameless and hardened (2:4), and will refuse to listen. They are a stiff-necked people who have no heart to obey God. They do not acknowledge God’s sovereignty. However, the prophet must endure the suffering and fully acknowledge God’s sovereignty and be loyal to the Lord. God makes His servant stronger and firmer. Verses 8-9, “But I will make you as unyielding and hardened as they are. I will make your forehead like the hardest stone, harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious house."
 God will make Ezekiel’s face strong and his forehead harder. He will make his forehead like a diamond, harder than stone. Therefore, he urges us not to fear our rebellious compatriots, nor to be afraid of their faces. He has already said three times in 2:6, “Do not be afraid,” and once, “Do not be terrified.”
 As his name Ezekiel says, “God strengthens,” God will be with Ezekiel and make him strong and firm. Like those who have hardened hearts and faces, Ezekiel is a firm man who does not yield an inch when it comes to delivering the Lord’s message. We see the true image of a minister in Ezekiel. We too must deliver God’s word with the boldness of Nathan in the days of King David, Elijah in the days of the wicked King Ahab, and Amos and Jeremiah before the false prophets. Didn’t Jesus give up even His life, even the last drop of His blood, to save us? Last Sunday afternoon, I went to the parking lot of Walmart with my wife and evangelized the gospel. Even though they look fierce and scary, we must boldly preach as warriors of the gospel.
 Ezekiel must receive all these words, the words of God, the word of lamentation, mourning, and disaster in his heart and listen with her ears and go to our fellow countrymen in exile and tell them the word of God whether they listen or not. We must evangelize only with the single-minded determination to convey the word of God, to convey and deliver the word of God. Verses 10-11, “And he said to me, "Son of man, listen carefully and take to heart all the words I speak to you. Go now to your countrymen in exile and speak to them. Say to them, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says,' whether they listen or fail to listen.“ When Jesus came to the world and delivered God’s heart, weren’t the religious leaders who most rejected and resisted him the ones who loved God the most and were proud of knowing the word the best? Those who used God’s language rejected Jesus’ words. Therefore, we must all strive to do God’s work, acknowledging only God and His sovereignty, and obeying His word.

3. Isn’t it really frustrating when you preach? (12-15)
 Ezekiel has an amazing experience. The Spirit of God lifts him up (12, 14). Although the Spirit of God raised him up on his feet (2:2), this is the first time that Ezekiel has been lifted up. Then Ezekiel hears a sound. He hears a loud noise, a sound of praise. Verse 12, “Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me a loud rumbling sound -- May the glory of the LORD be praised in his dwelling place!” He also hears the sound of the wings of the living creatures striking each other and the sound of wheels beside the living creatures. Verse 13, “the sound of the wings of the living creatures brushing against each other and the sound of the wheels beside them, a loud rumbling sound.”
He feels anxious and resentful as he is carried by the hand of the Lord. Verse 14, “The Spirit then lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the LORD upon me.” He says that he spent seven days in Tel Aviv with the people, trembling with fear and anxiety.

 Why on earth did he do that? Why did he feel anxious and angry? When God called Ezekiel to deliver God’s word to the people of Israel, he told him how rebellious and stubborn the people were and that no matter how much he delivered the word, they would not listen at all. How distressing and frustrating must he have been? He must have had no idea what to do. The message he had to deliver was about the coming judgment. Thinking about the people who would receive that judgment must have been very painful. Although he was grateful that he had become a prophet of God and a servant of the word, he must have felt distressed and pained when he imagined the people’s opposition and resistance to that message. Ezekiel’s agony is in contrast to the sweetness he experienced when he ate the word. The Word is sweet as honey, but delivering it is a very painful task. The Word of God’s life is sweeter than honey and is like spring rain that gives life and comfort, but proclaiming and spreading it is often a very painful task. This is especially true when Ezekiel delivers the Word to his fellow countrymen, the audience he was supposed to deliver it to.
 
 He was angry. In other words, he was filled with rage. He had endured his 22-year ministry of the Word with such a resentful heart. No matter how much he called, shouted, and appealed, the people did not feel the need to repent. It was a very frustrating and infuriating pain toward the people who did not listen or respond well. Our Lord Jesus also became angry when he saw the temple being misused (Mt.21: 11-12).
 In the temple, the house of prayer for all people, people were doing business and exchanging money. In His rage and frustration, Jesus drove out those who were buying and selling in the temple and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. We who believe in Jesus should also feel anger at the injustice and the indifference and coldness of the Lord’s people.

 Ezekiel, who received God’s calling, was greatly shocked. After seeing the vision, he returned to the Chebar River where the captives were living and spent seven days like a crazy, absent-minded person. Verse 15, “I came to the exiles who lived at Tel Abib near the Kebar River. And there, where they were living, I sat among them for seven days — overwhelmed.”  “Overwhelmed,” that is, as if he had lost his mind, he spent seven days in a state of extreme sorrow and inability to do anything(mental-breakdown). God’s servants sometimes have this kind of experience. Ezra was distressed until he offered the evening burnt offering after hearing about the sins of the people (Ezra9:4). Job’s friends, seeing his miserable appearance, were unable to say anything for seven days (Job 2:13). Nehemiah, who was in the palace of the king of Persia, heard the sad news that his homeland, Jerusalem, was in ruins and that the temple was burning down, and he sat there and wept, mourned, fasted, and prayed for several days. Ezekiel had a truly difficult and challenging prophetic office. God’s power powerfully moved Ezekiel, who had been sitting still for seven days like a fool. In the latter half of verse 14, “… with the strong hand of the LORD upon me.” In the end, Ezekiel would have sung Hymn 280 today and gone into the Lord’s ministry. “Father, I stretch my hands to You, No other help I know; If You withdraw Yourself from me, Ah! whither shall I go? I do believe, I now believe, That Jesus died for me, And that He shed His precious blood From sin to set me free.” Amen. Before starting his ministry, Ezekiel fully experienced God’s earnest heart toward His people. Based on this, he proclaimed the word to His people. With the sorrow and anger he had experienced, he became one of the people and carried out his ministry while embracing God’s sorrowful heart.

Dear saints, The life we ​​live by believing in Jesus is denying ourselves, taking up our cross, and following the Lord (Mt.16:24). It is not always a good result or a good response. There may be constant opposition and resistance. However, the God who called us is with us. He makes us stronger and more firm. When Ezekiel obeyed, he was persecuted and faced opposition. He had to eat bread baked with cow dung or couldn’t lament or weep over the death of his wife. However, he carried out his ministry with the sole purpose of delivering God’s word. God strengthened him, accompanied him, gave him power, and helped him overcome hardships. Only he obeyed, had the heart of the Lord, delivered the word, and was faithful until he was martyred.
Dear saints,  the comfort, guidance, help, and encouragement of the Holy Spirit are always with us. Therefore, I pray that all of us, like Ezekiel, silently deliver God’s word so that our lives can live, and so that our families and neighbors can live well, and so that we can be used as blessed workers of the Lord. Amen.