Cursed if you Do and Cursed if you Don’t
1 Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. 2 So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll. 3 And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.
In the previous chapter he read the scroll, this ‘roll’ that God was causing him to eat. Like Revelation 10:9-10 it was sweet as honey. The prophet loves the taste of the Word of the Lord. He has a strong desire for that taste. The Word of the Lord is sweet and it is powerful as any drug or earthly need. It causes your heart to beat faster when God opens up his will and pours it into your spirit. There is a thrill to hearing the voice of God and that thrill does cause the word given to be pleasant or positive in a general sense. I’m sure many would argue that all God’s words are positive but I do not think the condemned would agree with you.
Let me rephrase that. The condemned, the unsaved and ignorant who are currently rushing to destruction will not agree with you. They press toward the mark of the low calling…the call of sin.
The thrill received by the prophet is one of hearing and understanding God’s voice and knowing it is not your imagination; it is the voice of Almighty God. His requirement for you might make your belly bitter inside; but the knowledge of having an ear to hear is a wondrous thing.
4 And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them. 5 For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel; 6 Not to many people of a strange speech and of an hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee. 7 But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted.
God will not always send you to a far country or to a confusing people. He may not send you to a different culture. He doesn’t want your message to get lost in translation. He doesn’t want your words to be misunderstood in any manner. God want’s your words to be clear, concise and unambiguous. There can be no doubt of what you are saying to your audience. There can be no wiggle room for the attorneys of Satan to make your message anything but what it is. This message is not for America. It is not for Africa, Asia, South America or Europe. This message is for THE WORLD. The Word is for your neighbor, the man or woman who lives next door to you.
Perhaps you wonder if this message is for someone else. If so ask yourself a question. Is your country that holy? Israel is a stiff necked and difficult people. Even the Jews agree that there is more than a little disagreement in most things they do. They’re kind of like the United States or Russia or Afghanistan or France or any other nation you might choose to put in here. In the United States we like to say, “One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” God’s answer might be, “Your lips profess to serve me but your heart is far from me.”
8 Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads. 9 As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.
Are you a prophet? Have you heard this message? Have you forborne speaking because you fear the response or because you don’t think it’s politically correct. Of course it’s not politically correct. California has just made homosexuality an act of God by political statement. They heaped together teachers (psychologists) who speak what they want to hear and have just ruled by an act of the governor that no child who is grieved by their homosexual desires and either through the will of their parents or their own will can get help to quell those desires.
California has chosen to be the first State to legislate Sodomites. God says that homosexuality is directly caused by placing your own desires first and His Word last. Because of this new law, you are not only refused the opportunity to get help but since the psychological majority rules and decides what gets placed in the various psychology and psychiatry handbooks, you can’t get help as an adult either because they have chosen to consider homosexuality a normal human desire. In their opinion and in the opinion of the insurance companies who would have to pay for treatment…there’s nothing wrong with you. Don’t worry, be happy.
10 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. 11 And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord God; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.
Who is the captivity? Anyone who has been dragged to a place they didn’t want to be or finds themselves separated to Satan and ruled by anyone other than God. Are you in prison for drugs, theft or violence? Unless you have a mental defect which forces you to do these things, you are held captive by Satan. You need someone to make you free from your addiction, your lust, your anger and rage. You need Christ within to make you free.
12 Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the Lord from his place. 13 I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great rushing. 14 So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the Lord was strong upon me.
Many of you will be where Ezekiel is in this passage. God will drive you to preach in the face of great opposition and like Jeremiah (Jeremiah 20) you will want to be silent but God will not allow it. My only advice in such circumstances is to make sure you have learned to hear God’s voice. Don’t preach out of anger or indignation. You don’t have the right. The pastor who deliberately alienates Muslims and others does not appear to be doing it out of love but out of anger and rage. We are in a dispensation of grace. I believe it will end before too long but right now we warn, we love, we try to make them see the error of their ways. It might be painful but God will keep your heart secure and your mind focused.
15 Then I came to them of the captivity at Telabib (Mound), that dwelt by the river of Chebar (Far Off), and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days. 16 And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
Like David after Ziklag was destroyed by fire, Ezekiel sat on a hill in a far off land and for seven days could not even think. I can just imagine him trying several times to explain what was going on without getting a release from God. He was filled with dread over what God was about to do to Israel but on the other hand God kept speaking to him and giving him instructions. As we will see below God makes Ezekiel, the priest, the good kid, the obedient kid, responsible for warning the people who haven’t heard a word he has spoken for decades.
17 Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. 18 When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 19 Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.
If Ezekiel (or you) warns the wicked and they refuse to change then they will die in their sin but you will not be guilty of their blood. If you choose not to speak and say, “I don’t like to hurt people’s feelings;” then their blood will be on your head. God is expecting more from you, His people.
20 Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 21 Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.
If you do not warn a good man that he is turning down a dangerous road and he falls then God will not remember any of his good works. He will die in his sin. If you warn him of his sin and he repents you have delivered his soul. I believe what God is saying here is that you really don’t know which ones will curse you and which ones will listen but you are required to give guidance to both.
22 And the hand of the Lord was there upon me; and he said unto me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with thee.23 Then I arose, and went forth into the plain: and, behold, the glory of the Lord stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river of Chebar: and I fell on my face. 24 Then the spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet, and spake with me, and said unto me, Go, shut thyself within thine house. 25 But thou, O son of man, behold, they shall put bands upon thee, and shall bind thee with them, and thou shalt not go out among them: 26 And I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover: for they are a rebellious house. 27 But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; He that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house.
Beloved, learn to hear the voice of God. Some of you will be sent to speak to the rebellious of the earth and some will be sent to other places. If you do not know the voice of God how will you know His will for YOUR life? I can’t seem to get out of Ezekiel right now though Jeremiah is coming up a close second. God is moving in His people and He isn’t really concerned about your comfort zone. If you are fearful or timid that does not mean to react in anger or fear. It means to drown yourself in the living Word of God and allow it to completely change your thought life and free you from fear.
I understand fear. I understand doubt. I often know what I should say but I might lack confidence in God to say it. That is MY flaw. I need to bury myself in His Word until His truth sets me free.
Lord, make me an instrument of your mercy to warn those in danger of judgment. Protect me but most of all empower me. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Bishop J
