God's Tough Love

Ezekiel 3:1-15

And He said to me, "Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the people of Israel." So I opened my mouth, and He gave me the scroll to eat.
Then He said to me, "Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it." So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.

God's Word is always a delight to me when I approach it with anticipation, as my Father's "love letter" to me; it tasted as sweet as honey to his taste. Even when God is revealing how His heart is breaking, with lament and mourning and woe, it is still sweet to consume and digest.

Then He said to me: "Son of man, go now to the people of Israel and speak My words to them."

Now that Ezekiel has consumed all the sorrow and heartbreak God has for His people, now he is ready to go speak to them. Not in anger or harshness, but in a spirit of compassion, inviting them into the right paths of thinking and acting, to turn around from the ways that have already resulted in capture, deportation and bondage.

"You are not being sent to a people of obscure speech and strange language, but to the people of Israel--not to many peoples of obscure speech and strange language, whose words you cannot understand."

God is not sending Ezekiel to the other national people in Babylon where he is, but only to his own Hebrew people, the family God chose to be His own.

"Surely if I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you."

These other nations did not have the advantages God gave to Israel, but even so, if Ezekiel had been sent to them, they would have been more open to listening to him and believing what he said.

"But the people of Israel are not willing to listen to you because they are not willing to listen to Me, for all the Israelites are hardened and obstinate."

God is saying that His people Israel have been jaded, having had God's word given to them so freely for so long, that they have become blind and deaf, unwilling to obey. They just figure that they've "been there, done that" already.

"But I will make you as unyielding and hardened as they are. I will make your forehead like the hardest stone, harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people."

He will strengthen Ezekiel to be able to withstand all the attacks and mistreatment he will be facing, without giving in or giving up. (We need to also remember that "He Who is in us is greater than he that is in the world.")

And He said to me, "Son of man, listen carefully and take to heart all the words I speak to you. Go now to your people in exile and speak to them. Say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says,' whether they listen or fail to listen."

God wants Ezekiel to be sure to get His message right, in both the words themselves, and the spirit in which they are given. All these people of God who have been carried off into exile in Babylon need this encouragement, even though they are still rebelling against what they consider God's unfairness to them. Apparently there were some who would listen, but they would be outnumbered by those who refuse to listen.

Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me a loud rumbling sound as the glory of the Lord rose from the place where it was standing. It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures brushing against each other and the sound of the wheels beside them, a loud rumbling sound.

As God and His retinue begin to depart, Ezekiel hears the noise of all the moving parts, and again it sounds like a troupe of motorcycles roaring down the street. (see my blog of 8/12/16) 

The Spirit then lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the Lord on me.

Ezekiel now must go and carry out what he has been commissioned to do, knowing that it will be a "hard row to hoe." He is willing to do this, and must trust that God would do what He said He would do for him in withstanding the pressure he will face.

I came to the exiles who lived at Tel Aviv near the Kebar River. And there, where they were living, I sat among them for seven days--deeply distressed.

Ezekiel went to where the people were living and inserted himself among them, so they would see him and be aware of his presence. And he prepared himself to preach, knowing how negatively it will go.

This is a hard, difficult task that God gave Ezekiel to do. God's "tough love" for His people is shown in this message He will give His prophet to deliver.

I think about when my children were small, and I found it necessary to threaten capital punishment for their dangerous disobedience. I loved them too much to let them go their own foolish ways, and I wanted to direct them into better, more advantageous ways of reasoning, thinking and acting. I knew that if they didn't learn these better ways, then their adult lives would be hard, poor and unhealthy.

How much more does God love us, His own creation, and wants us to learn to do right, to do good to one another, and trust Him to direct us into the ways to cooperate with how He designed this World to work. Then He will be able to bless us with the results of our actions, in prosperity, good health and long life, with the ability to enjoy each day. And then to be given the authority to enjoy His own Presence for all eternity!

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!