Ezekiel 20:49 (ESV Strong's)
Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! They are saying of me, Is he not a maker of parables?’”
Subject: Preaching/Serving/Ministry
Ezekiel has a tough job. He is called to give a message of doom and destruction and disciple (especially in these chapters). Israel (to the north) and Judah (to the south) had played the harlot, spiritually. they had forsaken the Lord their God that had given them everything and gone about worshiping idols - the gods of the surrounding nations. Now God was going to discipline by those same nations and it was Ezekiel who was called to deliver the message to them. In the midst of one of these prophetic events, the above words are composed and recorded by Ezekiel. It gives us some insight into what he might have been feeling. Later, in chapter 24, Ezekiel's wife is going to die and God is going to command Ezekiel to not mourn for her. God is going to use that as an illustration. So, Ezekiel is a fully vested prophet (a mouth-piece for God). Here, in the above verse, we see his concern about how the people around him view him. Like most of us, the Prophet is concerned about what man thinks. This is typical of ministers of God. Yet, God does not seem to respond to Ezekiel's informing God about what people are saying. God is above their ridicule. The Prophet is not. Note the following proverb:
Proverbs 29:25 (ESV Strong's)
The fear of man lays a snare,
but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.
Ezekiel is learning the lesson of this proverb. Fearing man is not profitable. Fearing God is. God ignores his fear of man because God has bigger things in store for Ezekiel. God does not want us fearing man. When called upon God to deliver a message it matters not if others dislike the style, delivery, or even the message we bring. Our job is to be obedient to the God we serve and deliver the message we are given to deliver.
No comments:
Post a Comment