Ezekiel will be a sign to you; you will do just as he has done. When this happens, you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord. –Ezekiel 24:24
In Ezekiel 2:1-3:15, we find details of Ezekiel’s call. In a nutshell, the Spirit of the Lord descended upon him, and he heard the Lord speak, giving him a commission to go out and be His voice to a rebellious nation, Israel. The Lord explained to Ezekiel that the Israelites were stubborn and rebellious, but He still wanted him to speak to them. The Lord then gave his a scroll to eat; symbolizing that Ezekiel must ingest the Lord’s words so that it becomes a very part of his being. Then the Lord blessed him with strength and courage to be able to carry out his calling.
For quite sometime, Ezekiel heard from the Lord and delivered His messages to the Israelites, but they were unyielding. He brought message after message, warning after warning, rebuke after rebuke, but they would not yield. Eventually, the Lord said to them through Ezekiel in Ezekiel 24:13, “Now your impurity is lewdness. Because I tried to cleanse you but you would not be cleansed from your impurity, you will not be clean again until my wrath against you has subsided.”
To really convey the Lord’s message to the children of Israel, the Lord decided to use Ezekiel as an example for them to emulate. Ezekiel’s wife was his delight and he was very proud of her, but the Lord said to him in verse 16, “Son of man, with one blow, I am about to take away the delight of your eyes. Yet do not lament or weep or shed any tears…” Then we read in verse 18, So I (Ezekiel) spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. The next morning, I did as I had been commanded. Here comes the part that I want us to pay careful attention to. In verse 19, Then the people asked me, “Won’t you tell us what these things have to do with us?”
From the Israelite’s response in verse 19, we see that they responded to Ezekiel’s behaviour. So Ezekiel told them that Lord was going to destroy the temple along with their families that were still in Jerusalem. You see, although the Israelites were not loyal to the Lord, they were still very proud of the temple of God in Jerusalem. It was the most likely the most beautiful building in all of Jerusalem, and everyone who saw it marveled at its splendour. When it was destroyed, the Israelites were to act as Ezekiel did when his wife died.
As I read this chapter, my first thought was, ‘can it be that God would actually arrange the death of someone like Ezekiel's wife just to make a point?’ And as I pondered on this, the Lord said “Yes it can,” and He brought to my recollection the other people throughout the Bible that were called to be suffering servants. Abraham was called to sacrifice his son, Jeremiah was beaten and almost killed on different occasions, other prophets were called to risk their lives for the sake of the message of the Lord, most of the disciples were killed for the sake of the gospel, but ultimately, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, epitomized the meaning of being a true suffering servant.
So what does this all mean to us? As children of the Most High, the Lord can certainly use anyone of us to be examples to the world, and this might involve losing loved ones, being called to sacrifice something important, having to deal with an ailment, having to risk our lives, our reputations, our desires, etc. Will you be as willing as those we read about in the Bible? Would you be able to say as Ezekiel said when his wife died, “And I did as I had been commanded?” Would you be able to say as Christ said in John 4:34, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work?”
Dear friends, what has the Lord called you to share with the world today? What gifts, talents, ailments, circumstances, etc, has the Lord given to you through which you are to set an example for others to emulate? What are you doing with them? I challenge you to learn from people like Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Paul, and Jesus and when faced with a particular blessing or disheartening situation, say to God, ‘Lord, how can I use this to glorify you?’ ‘I am the clay and You are the Potter, mold me and use me as you see fit.’ This my friends, is the heart of a true servant.
Grace and peace be with you.
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HEART OF A TRUE SERVANT