Ezekiel Called to Be a Prophet
Chapter 2
“He said to me, ‘Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you.’ As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me” (Ezekiel 2:1-2).
Israel had already been exiled during the time of Ezekiel’s vision. According to biblical scholars, Israel had been taken into captivity by the Assyrians 120 years before Judah.[1] The northern kingdom (Israel) had experienced division, rebellion, unrest, and complete debauchery following the 175-year split from Judah, for their kings followed the evil ways of Jeroboam. Now, let’s give a little history and briefly recap why this division occurred, laying a foundation for this chapter.
King David had been a man after God’s own heart. While he had been far from perfect, he longed to please the Lord and did so with all sincerity. Unfortunately, his son and successor, Solomon, did not continue on the straight and narrow. He allowed his lust for foreign women to turn his heart from the Lord. Solomon, his wives, and concubines worshiped the gods and goddesses of the Zidonians, Ashtoreth, Chemosh, and Milcom.[2] This angered the Lord, so He promised to rip ten tribes from Solomon’s successor, his son Rehoboam, and give them to someone else, Jeroboam. Thus was the cause and beginning of the northern and southern kingdoms, Israel and Judah. As for Jeroboam’s sins, the Bible says: “You have done more evil than all who lived before you. You have made for yourself other gods, idols made of metal; you have aroused my anger and turned your back on me” (1 Kings 14:9). Although Jeroboam knew that the Lord was the only One to be worshiped and all offerings and sacrifices were to be done at the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem, he thought more of his kingdom’s security than obedience to God. In other words, he thought providing religious shrines in Bethel and Dan was better than having the people travel to Jerusalem, which was outside his kingdom’s parameters.
Jeroboam feared that the people would join forces with Rehoboam if they were to continue traveling to Jerusalem. Not only did he build substitutes for the house of God, he had two golden bulls placed inside them to represent a divine presence, which was not of God. These images became the subject of idolatry, and the people soon forgot their Creator.[3] He and his descendants would have been blessed if he had remained faithful to the Lord. Unfortunately, Jeroboam got caught up in himself and forgot that the Lord was the One who had given him the kingdom, to begin with, and would have continuously blessed him if he had been faithful. Instead, pride, arrogance, and selfishness took root in his heart, causing him and the people to do despicable things to displease the Lord, thus bringing a curse on the entire nation.
The Lord's revelation to Ezekiel explained why Israel and Judah were experiencing His judgment. It detailed their past, present, and future, as all of Judah had not been taken captive at the time of Ezekiel’s vision. Yet, there was still time for the rest of Judah to change. Sadly, they didn’t. Nevertheless, let’s not make the mistake of thinking that the Word given to Ezekiel was only for Israel and Judah. The Lord also issued warnings to other nations through Ezekiel, which are still relevant today, and America and other nations would be wise to heed.
Ezekiel was told to stand on his feet to receive a Word from the Lord. This may seem like a minor command, but the Lord expects total obedience from His servants, which is done through the leading of the Holy Spirit. When the Lord appeared to Moses from the burning bush, He said: “ ’Do not come any closer,’ God said. ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground’ ” (Exodus 3:5). We are always to reverence the Lord and do whatever He commands. In Ezekiel’s vision, the Holy Spirit helped him obey the directive by empowering him to stand on his feet, after which, He received the Word from the Lord.
The Lord loves to bestow blessings on His people. Even so, we can sometimes self-destruct and prevent them from manifesting when found out of alignment with the Lord, thus operating from a spirit of disobedience. Therefore, it was important for Ezekiel to be subservient to the Lord, even with the tiniest detail, so he could move as the Spirit would have him and fulfill the God-given mandate on his life. Through the Spirit, the Lord provides the ability for obedience to be at work in a person’s life to receive and understand His truth.[4] Subsequently, Ezekiel was then able to receive the Word from the Lord.
“ He said: ‘Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have been in revolt against me to this very day. The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says’ ” (Ezekiel 2:3-4).
Since the time of Moses, Israel had defied the Lord with their idolatrous ways. The Lord had chosen them to be His people, but they did not remain loyal to Him and took His blessings for granted. The Lord made a covenant with their forefather, Abraham, to bless him and his descendants. Included in that covenant was the promise of land, fertility, and redemption. The Bible says: “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:2-3). The Lord did not have to choose Abraham or his descendants as His chosen people, but He did. Therefore, all the Lord wanted in return was their love and faithfulness. Yet, they failed miserably in giving this to Him and chose to be rebellious to the Lord.
The Lord was not soft in His speech regarding His thoughts of Israel. He was displeased with them and how they had little regard for their relationship with Him. The kings, priests, false prophets, and people had failed the Lord by living unholy, ungodly, and debaucherous lives, seemingly daring Him to judge them accordingly. They rejected any rebuke and correction from the true prophets concerning their sinful condition and disregarded the warnings of coming judgments. Isaiah was such a prophet who repeatedly warned the nation about their defiance against the Lord and urged them to repent and return to the God of their ancestors. The Bible says: “Come, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord! For the Lord has rejected his people, the descendants of Jacob, because they have filled their land with practices from the East and with sorcerers, as the Philistines do. They have made alliances with pagans” (Isaiah 2:5-6). Yet, instead of repenting and turning from their wickedness, they killed the prophets by stoning, sawing them in half, and killing them with the sword (Hebrews 11:37). According to some biblical sources such as the Martyrdom of Isaiah and Lives of the Prophets, both written around 100 A.D., and Babylonian Talmud and the Jerusalem Talmud, which were written around 200 A.D., the writer(s) contend that Isaiah was ordered to be put to death by King Manasseh. Isaiah is recorded as having hidden in a cedar tree but was discovered and sawed in half while inside the tree.[5] Such was the spiritual condition of Israel that they would rather continue in spiritual decay than be renewed in the Lord.
The same spiritual condition exists today worldwide and is sadly home to America. The United States has been blessed beyond measure, where people from around the world have migrated to its shores in hopes of living the “American dream.” Its citizens have been blessed with the ability to achieve wealth, health, peace, and prosperity. This nation has had unlimited freedom and the fulfillment of dreams that so many countries have yet to achieve. There are churches on nearly every corner, and the access to Bibles has been and still is the prayer of many less fortunate believers around the world. Yet, Christians in America have been blessed with an abundance of them, as many have dust clinging to them on open bookcases within many Christian homes, literally and figuratively. Still, the ability to worship freely and read the Word of God has not kept this nation from modeling after the rebellious Israel of old. However, as evangelists, preachers, teachers, and others within the fivefold ministry, we must know and understand, just as Ezekiel, we cannot cower in fear from our God-given mandated task to warn or become complicit in this nation’s many sins.
Ezekiel had been commanded to be God’s mouthpiece, not to strangers but to people he was quite familiar with. Ezekiel did not have to learn a new language, culture, or etiquette to communicate with them, but he was already connected to them from birth. Ezekiel was from a line of priests, the son of the Priest Buzi, and was taken captive to Babylon in 597 B.C. along with King Jehoicahin and several thousand other Judean exiles in Nebuchadnezzar’s first siege of Jerusalem.[6] Ezekiel would have continued in his family’s line of being in the priesthood in Jerusalem if it had not been for his captivity. Even so, the Lord still had a work for Ezekiel to do while in exile that coincided with his understanding and sensitivities of the priesthood, while serving as a prophet.[7]
“And whether they listen or fail to listen—for they are a rebellious people—they will know that a prophet has been among them. And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or be terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people” (Ezekiel 2:5-6).
Israel did not have a history of listening or openly welcoming God’s messengers. The Lord had sent numerous prophets to preach of repentance and forewarn them of the destruction that would occur if they failed to change. Nevertheless, instead of humbly submitting to the Lord, they advanced their idolatrous agenda further down a destructive path, so God allowed them to be overpowered by their enemies. Despite having gone into captivity, the exiles had yet to acknowledge that their sins were the cause of their nation’s demise. Their perception of God’s covenant between them and their ancestors was distorted due to their belief that they could live atrociously and still receive His blessings. But they found out otherwise, and those still living in Jerusalem, at the time, would have a similar fate.[8]
God was once again about to give a warning to His people through the Prophet Ezekiel, but he would have to have some thick skin. His fellow exiles were bitter because they were the first group of Judeans to go into captivity after listening to the Prophet Jeremiah’s counsel to submit to the king of Babylon so they would live. They saw that some of their other Judeans had not been taken with them, and seemingly were living life as normal back in Judea, so both God and Jeremiah became their scapegoat.[9] Unfortunately, they failed to see that they were spiritually lost, and despite their geographical location, their fragile spiritual state was more important than their physical one.
The Lord did not sugarcoat His thoughts regarding Israel, as He detailed the characteristics of their sins that were utterly disgusting to Him. They were stubborn, headstrong, defiant, and had spiritually clogged ears with hearts of stone. They had made the art of ignoring God their masterpiece and betrayal their canvas. Nevertheless, the Lord was sending the Prophet Ezekiel as His orator to comfort the captives, provide correction, rebuke the defiant leaders and false prophets remaining in Jerusalem, confirm Jeremiah’s warning of Judah’s impending destruction, and offer hope for their future return home. Ezekiel was commanded to be fearless, for Israel would be given words of warning regardless of whether they accepted or rejected them. Even so, they would know that a true prophet had been in their midst.
America has had many similar warnings, as did Israel, to turn away from sin and submit to God. Yet, this is a defiant nation enmeshed in arrogance, greed, pride, and selfishness. We celebrate the murder of babies as personal healthcare, teach children they can change their God-given identities, call same-sex relationships marriage, gender dysphoria the new normal, pornography is encouraged over marriage, and much more.
“You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious. But you, son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not rebel like that rebellious people; open your mouth and eat what I give you” (Ezekiel 2:7-8).
Ezekiel had to speak the Lord’s words and not his own. He had to give the message just as the Lord instructed. Being a prophet was not an easy task, and unlike many self-professed prophets of today’s time, it was not a role that offered money, fame, or popularity. The true prophets were often despised, rejected, hated, mistreated, and even killed. Their words were not readily accepted, and delivering an unfavorable message from the Lord could and often meant one’s death. Repentance was a word that most did not want to hear, and their highlighted rebellion was not an acknowledgment the people warmly embraced. Calling out the nation’s sins did not get one readily invited to the king’s mansion or a friend’s home for dinner. Yet, the Lord expected total obedience from His chosen servants. Therefore, Ezekiel had to humbly do, speak, and deliver all messages from the Lord as He intended.
Many leaders today are too afraid to speak what thus saith the Lord. They have failed to sound the alarm to alert the people that God’s judgment is near. They have been caught up in the things of the world and do not find it necessary to lead the people to repentance or speak against sin. Many teach about God’s love without including His command to live holy and righteously. These leaders are the gatekeepers of seeker-friendly churches where sin abounds, and God’s grace has been taken advantage of. One can easily find a church where their particular sin is spiritually ignored and physically embraced, for, after all, Jesus is only about love, and thou shall not judge. Right? No, wrong! Jesus came to fulfill the will of the Father and not give a license to abuse His grace. Yet, many in today’s pulpits cannot handle the truth themselves; therefore, they fail to teach it.
“Then I looked, and I saw a hand stretched out to me. In it was a scroll, which he unrolled before me. On both sides of it were written words of lament and mourning and woe” (Ezekiel 2:9-10).
Ezekiel was shown a scroll that was unrolled before him with words filled with grief. This was not a scroll filled with happy name-it, claim-it words. This scroll was nothing to smile or laugh about. One can only imagine the Father’s heartbreak as He unrolled the scroll before Ezekiel filled with sorry where not even one side of the scroll was able to complete the anguish for which it was written.
[1] Bible Tools Editorial Staff, "What the Bible Says About Ezekiel," Bible Tools, accessed November 13, 2023, https://www.bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Topical.show/RTD/cgg/ID/4553/Ezekiel.htm.
[2] George Rawlinson, The Kings of Israel and Judah (Woodbridge: Anson D. F. Randolph & Company, 2017), xx.
[3] Rawlinson, The Kings, 22-23.
[4] Klein, Blomberg, and Robert L. Hubbard, Biblical Interpretation, 210-211.
[5] Editorial Support of Jewish Encyclopedia, "ISAIAH," JewishEncyclopedia.com, last modified 2021, https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/8235-isaiah.
[6] Brand, Mitchell, and Holman Reference Editorial Staff, Holman Illustrated, 535-536.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Brand, Mitchell, and Holman Reference Editorial Staff, Holman Illustrated, 536-537.
[9] Luther, Luther Works, 282-290.
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