#DailyDevotion You Will Know A Prophet Has Been Among You
Ezekiel 2:1–5 1“Son of man,” He told me, “stand on your feet, and I will talk to you.” 2When He talked to me, the Spirit came into me and put me on my feet, and I listened as He talked to me. 3“Son of man,” He told me, “I’m sending you to Israel, to a rebellious nation who has rebelled against Me. 4They and their ancestors have sinned against Me to this day. They are defiant and stubborn children. I’m sending you to them. Tell them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says.’ 5Whether they will listen or refuse to listen (they are a rebellious people) they will find out a prophet has been among them.”
So what we have here is the calling of Ezekiel to be a prophet of the LORD. Ezekiel was already a priest of God. He was among the first of the exiles to Babylon after the king of Babylon attacked Jerusalem, took the king of Jerusalem to Babylon and set his uncle as king. Now the LORD had exile Israel, the northern ten tribes during the time when the LORD lifted up the Assyrians to punish them for all their wickedness and unfaithfulness to him. Now the LORD has lifted up the Babylonians to punish Judah for following in Israel’s way and even being worse that her. Judah also would go into exile. As I said, Ezekiel was part of the first exile. Even after Jeremiah and other prophets proclaimed judgment again Judah and Jerusalem and brought it down upon them, they still did not repent. Hence the 1st exile because there would be another one coming.
Ezekiel was being called to be a witness against Judah, Jerusalem and the Temple. The LORD would had Ezekiel perform prophetic actions to demonstrate to the people what was to come. These would includes such as: Making a brick and staring at it. Lying one side for a number of day and then on the other side for the number of years of punishment. Eating food cooked with dung. Cutting hair with a razor then scattering some, chasing some with the sword, binding some in his cloak, and taking some of and burning them with fire. He takes baggage under his arm, digs through a way and carries the baggage around. He makes a good stew and burns it, then burns the pot again to clean it.
Israel and Judah had been rebellious against the LORD since he took them out of Egypt. It was why they had to wander the wilderness for forty years. It was why they needed one judge after another to deliver them, because they would fall away from the LORD and he would use their enemies against them. He would send prophets to proclaim judgment against their sins and unfaithfulness and bring disaster against them and still they would not repent. Finally, they would reject the Messiah, who is the LORD himself to them and have the Romans some four hundred plus years later to destroy Jerusalem and the Temple again. Mind you, there was always a remnant who the LORD reserves for himself who would remain faithful and repent for their sins and the sins of the people.
What about you? Have you heard the LORD calling your to repent from the mouths of pastors and evangelists? Have you heard them call for you to trust in the LORD Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of those sins? Are you going to turn from those sins and begin living a holy life? Or are you going to continue in sin and end up in disaster as the LORD’s unfaithful people?
Heavenly Father, give us ears that hear and believe and hearts that turn from our sins and live in faith and holiness. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.