“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. Then I came to them of the captivity at Telabib, that dwelt by the river of Chebar, and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days.” (Eze 3:14-15 AV)
Ezekiel was given an impossible task. The LORD sent him to a nation that had no desire to listen. They were impudent and hard-hearted. Knowing why Ezekiel was in a bitter and heated spirit, and God’s answer for it, is enlightening. Prior to his demeanor, the LORD instructed Ezekiel to eat a roll upon which the scriptures, or parts of it, were written. The Bible tells us it was sweet to the taste but bitter when ingested. The illustration was not lost on our prophet. He understood the lesson here. The truth of the word of God may be palatable and pleasurable to listen to, but once applied, it can be a bit difficult to live with. Ezekiel needed to know this truth before God sent him to his own people. To the core, they were rebels. They would listen to the preaching, but would not change. What was God’s answer to Ezekiel? He was to live among them for seven days without saying a word. He needed to see the truly miserable condition in which they were so that when he preached, he did not take their rejection too personal.
Holy indignation must be tempered by compassion and empathy. Ezekiel was stirred in his spirit and angry of heart when he compared his nation against the holiness of God’s word. There are a few observations here. First, Ezekiel is not perfect. He has to remember this. David shares the same circumstances in Psalm 39. But secondly, even if he was head and shoulders above his congregation in his walk with God, the people are still in need of someone who can empathize with their situation. It may sound odd to say this, but I have personal experience. Many years ago, I served in a church where a majority of the leadership would not follow the LORD. The constitution of the church lent no relief. All the people could do was to leave. The whole church was held hostage by three men. One of them was particularly obstinate. I remember how I felt when he sat down with his briefcase and calculator, his date book, and his ledgers. It was on a Sunday morning. He sat there making business plans for the week. He sat there in the middle of a worship service and worked a secular job. I remember feeling sick to my stomach. I wasn’t angry. I wasn’t upset. I watched him as I was preaching, realizing how rebellious and wicked he was.
This is what Ezekiel needed to see. He needed to see the alarming condition of the people to whom he was sent. It is said of Jesus that when He looked upon Jerusalem, knowing what they would shortly do, he wept over the city. Ezekiel was angry and bitter. He was angry and bitter at the condition of his nation. It moved him to rage. It was his response to internalizing the word of God and comparing it to the condition of the people to whom he was sent. But he couldn’t preach that way. It would have been of no effect. What he needed to do was to spend a week in total silence. He needed to observe. He needed his emotional response to the condition of the people to change from anger and bitterness to confident compassion. He needed to learn how to plead. He needed to learn how to make his case without his emotions doing most of the work. Only sitting and observing can accomplish this.
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