The Eating of the Scroll

 

Ezekiel 3:1-15

 

October 14, 2023

 

And he said to me, “Son of man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.”  So, I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat.  And he said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey.

 And he said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with my words to them.  For you are not sent to a people of foreign speech and a hard language, but to the house of Israel— not to many peoples of foreign speech and a hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, if I sent you to such, they would listen to you.  But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me: because all the house of Israel have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart.  Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads.  Like emery harder than flint have I made your forehead. Fear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.”  Moreover, he said to me, “Son of man, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears.  And go to the exiles, to your people, and speak to them and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ whether they hear or refuse to hear.”

Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great earthquake: “Blessed be the glory of the Lord from its place!”  It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures as they touched one another, and the sound of the wheels beside them, and the sound of a great earthquake.  The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, the hand of the Lord being strong upon me.  And I came to the exiles at Tel-Abib, who were dwelling by the Chebar canal, and I sat where they were dwelling.  And I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days.

We the Church have been given much, but are we willing to eat what God has given and allow His spirit to be our guide?  I fear we are more enlightened by man than by God.  We are instructed to go and tell, it is the Holy Spirit's job, not yours or mine to bring convictions.  But often I want to wait till I earned their friendship before going and telling, but that is not what the command was, “Go into all the world and tell what God has done, that salvation is found in none other than Jesus Christ,  As my friend Greg Hood often says, as you go tell, about what Jesus has done for you.

 

But go in the Spirit for in Him you will have success.

 

From the Back Porch,