Dr. Lawrence Butler, The Bridge Church, Pembroke
Ezekiel is the name of one of the major prophets in the Old Testament portion of the Bible.
You may ask, “Why should I care about some prophet that lived hundreds of years ago?” You should care because what he had to say came from God Almighty and reflects how He views our sins and the judgment that will come as a result.
Ezekiel was not a prophet only but was also a priest (Eze. 1:3).
If chapter 1:1 refers to Ezekiel’s age (thirtieth year), then he was around 25 when he was carried away into captivity as Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians. Other notable captives were Daniel and Jeremiah, whose stories are also part of the Old Testament. They were contemporaries of Ezekiel and are mentioned in chapters 14 and 28. Together they formed a powerful coalition of prophets to warn Judah of its coming punishment as a result of their idolatry.
Ezekiel was warned by the Lord that his ministry would not be accepted, but that he should warn the people anyway. Listen to the words of this anointed man of God. “And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very day. For they are impudent children and stiffhearted. I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD. And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them” (Eze.2-4).
What a terrible spiritual condition in which we find the people of God! He calls them rebellious, impudent (disrespectful – even toward their creator), and stiff hearted (meaning hard, not tender). Yet we find the Lord still loves them and even in Ezekiel’s warnings there is also a reminder that repentance always works.
The man Ezekiel is not just a priest, but the people would learn “…that there hath been a prophet among them” (Eze. 2:5). A real, anointed man of God who was given understanding of coming judgment and sent to warn Judah to repent.
God will never overlook sin. It must be punished. It is so with nations as well as with individuals. I will close with this quote. “If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die” (Eze. 33:15).
