Called to Israel Ezekiel 2:1-3:15

-God empowers the people He calls to service

How do you answer when Dad calls? I’m always amazed at how my kids answer the phone when I call. Sometimes, they don’t answer at all, which drives me up the wall. Sometimes, I get a simple “hello” or sometimes an unexcited “yes…” My favorite is when they return my call, because there’s one kid who always says “You called?” I wonder how we respond when our heavenly Father calls? Are we excited? Are we ready? Or are we anxious and uncertain? I want you to know today that when God speaks, it’s reason to be excited!

I. God Sends Us as Watchmen v. 1

As we continue our look at Ezekiel, we see God speak to Ezekiel

God commands Ezekiel to stand and to listen to what He has to say

God is going to send Ezekiel out as a watchman over the house of Israel, speaking primarily to his fellow exiles in Babylon

We need to be prepared to speak truth like this:

To the world around us

To the people of God

How do we do this?

A quiet confidence in God

A firm stand in the truth

A bold witness to others!

The stakes are high for both Ezekiel and his audience!

Ezekiel 3:16–19

[16] And at the end of seven days, the word of the LORD came to me: [17] “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. [18] If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. [19] But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. (ESV)

II. God Saturates Us with His Spirit vv. 2-7

This is a tall order, when Ezekiel cannot even stand on his own; God has the solution!

God’s Spirit enters Ezekiel

the same spirit that directed the Cherubim and the wheels is now working in Ezekiel and causes him to stand

Why is this so important?

The Spirit is going to be sending him to a hard people, a rebellious generation vv. 3-4

The Spirit is going to mark him out as a prophet among God’s people v. 5

The Spirit is going to make him bold and keep him faithful vv. 6-7

We must understand, apart from the presence of the Holy Spirit, our work is going to be unfruitful

We must expect God to work in us by His Spirit and remember that we are not left do this in our own capability

We must seek the presence and power of the Spirit for the work

We must submit to the Spirit and follow His leadership in our lives!

III. God Sustains with His Word vv. 8-3

God then gives a warning to Ezekiel:

He must not follow the ways of the people

He cannot become rebellious like the ones he is called to; a very real danger for all of us!

God’s answer to this is to give him strange food: a scroll!

God wants Ezekiel to consume His Word; this is critical for faithfulness

It is as important to us as food and is able to sustain us on God’s mission for our lives

Ezekiel has an interesting experience consuming God’s Word:

It looks bitter but it tastes sweet!

It offers lamentation and warning and woe

However, when we obey it and return to the Lord, we find sweet union to Him

What we find in God’s Word is life!

It instructs us for righteousness

It warns us regarding unrighteousness

It points us to our Savior

Luke 24:25–27

[25] And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! [26] Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” [27] And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. (ESV)

IV. God Strengthens for Battle vv. 4-11

God further clarifies Ezekiel’s calling and insures him that it will be difficult:

He is going to a stubborn people who refuse to listen

These people are not a foreign people (they would probably obey), but Ezekiel’s people who ought to understand obedience to God

Why won’t they listen to Ezekiel?

They want God to punish Babylon; meanwhile, God is interested in discipline for Israel

God will punish Babylon and bring it to an end in His own time, but He will not abide His people’s disobedience and He is committed to deal with it first!

We need to be ready to speak with a prophetic voice to the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment

Yet, we must be prepared to share and receive the same words of warning ourselves

The hardest people to reach are the ones who are seemingly closest to God

We are excellent at stiff-arming God’s servants when they approach us to truth

We deflect from ourselves to focus on the evil in the world, the nation, and even our families or communities; meanwhile, God has only given us real authority over ourselves

How does God prepare Ezekiel for a hard ministry?

He does not make the situation soft; He makes His servants strong

We can be sure of this; God’s supply will be completely proportional to the need!

“God's plan is to make much of the man, far more of him than of anything else. Men are God's method. The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men. ” ― E.M. Bounds, Power Through Prayer

V. God Stuns with His Glory vv. 12-15

Finally, we see that Ezekiel has one more moment to experience God’s glory and it is transformative

He will return to His people in “the bitterness of the heat of his spirit”, burning with a passion to live out God’s calling on his life

He will sit, overwhelmed by what he has seen

Ezekiel will never be the same again

This is what you can expect if you are willing to give your life over in obedience to God:

You will face harder things than you could imagine

You will see more of His glory than you could imagine

Philippians 3:8–11

[8] Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ [9] and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—[10] that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, [11] that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (ESV)

Are you ready to take the next step and pursue God’s calling, because it is ultimately a calling to Christ?

-A Calling to Salvation

-A Calling to Renewed Obedience

-A Calling to Committed Service