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Ezekiel 2 (ESV)

1 And he said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.” ² And as he spoke to me, the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. ³ And he said to me, “Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to nations of rebels, who have rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day. ⁴ The descendants also are impudent and stubborn: I send you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ ⁵ And whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house) they will know that a prophet has been among them. ⁶ And you, son of man, be not afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions. Be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. ⁷ And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house.

⁸ “But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Be not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.” ⁹ And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. ¹⁰ And he spread it before me. And it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe.

REFLECTION:

When the eternal God spoke to Ezekiel, he called him the “son of man” (in the Book of Ezekiel, God called Ezekiel the “son of man” a total of ninety-three times), which emphasizes the distance between man and God. Ezekiel certainly did not understand what he saw, but he knew that these were from God, so it was very important. God saw Ezekiel’s frank and obedient attitude, so He filled him with His spirit and gave him the ability to complete His work. God does not want us to understand everything about Him, but we are required to be obedient servants and be faithful to the true and correct principles that God has revealed to us. God gave Ezekiel a difficult task: God wanted him to preach the message of God to those who are ungrateful and stubborn. God said that the people were rebellious because they refused to confess their sins. Rebellion was the greatest feature of the nation of Israel at that time. Even after God pointed out their wrong behaviour, they still turned a deaf ear to the truth. God told Ezekiel not to be afraid or resist. Whether people listen or not, just tell them what God said. Today, when God calls us to preach the gospel, we may also face rejection, opposition, and even persecution. God wants us to preach the gospel no matter be in season or out of season (see 2 Timothy 4:2). More importantly, does God also use people around us to point out certain sins in us? Let us not be stubborn and rebellious, but confess our sins to God and learn the lesson of obedience every day.

PRAYER:

Pray for God to give you the courage to preach the gospel no matter the time is right; pray for a friend or relative who consistently rejected the gospel, and ask God to remove his/her hardiness so that he/she may be enlightened, and accept the gift of eternal life; ask God to make you more meek and humble, more obedient, and to please God in everything you do.

HYMN:

O Church Arise – youtu.be/A98YQHG8tLY