Ezekiel 2:6-7 Cast Away Fear, and Go

Ezekiel 2:6-7 “And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.
7 And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious.”

Today we look at the prophet Ezekiel, as our Lord God told him what He would have him do. Ezekiel was also sent to prophesy and speak against the wicked things the people of God were doing. However, as we still should speak such truths and warn the children of God, we must also speak to the Lost in this world. In fact, have you noticed that it is easier to witness to a lost soul, than to rebuke or show a backslidden Christian, their wrong? This is similar to what the Lord says in Chapter three (Ezekiel 3:5-7), “For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel; Not to many people of a strange speech and of an hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee. But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted.” Those who claim Christianity are most often harder to witness to, than those in pagan cults! This is because those who claim Christianity, have chosen already to disobey God, and therefore God’s Words spoken through you, will be received in the same manner—for the most part. So, if Ezekiel therefore was sent to those who are harder to speak to, we should much more gladly and willingly speak to those who are easier!

Yesterday it was mentioned how some use the excuse “They’ve heard it before,” to keep from witnessing. Well, here we go, this is the same as Ezekiel. The House of Israel had heard this message before, and yet the Lord still sent him to them! The Lord even sent him to them, saying that they will not listen! But, did the Lord say to Ezekiel, Don’t worry about going to them? No, He told Ezekiel to do what He told him to do, despite all that! This, much of the time, is simply to be sure that we cannot have it said of us, we never tried our hardest, or the Lord never warned them: Verse 5: “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.” Let’s do the same, the Lord has not changed since then, He still calls us to do those things.

Let’s take note of the verse after today’s, also: Verse 8, “But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee.” It is very true, that if we refuse to say what God has told us to say, when He wants us to say it, and to whom He would have us say it, we become just like those rebellious lost souls, or backslidden Christians. There is no getting around it, the Truth is Truth. Unless we want to be rebellious to the Lord, we’d better actually do what He has said. Some might argue though, that these days I’ve been using the prophets as examples, don’t apply to us because we are not all prophets. I used to consider myself a prophet, and explain to myself in these words: “Who is a prophet, but someone who simply speaks for God.” There is truth to that, though the actual title “Prophet” is not given to all; only to those who are set in that position by God. But, we are like prophets, in that we speak for God, and that is what Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel all did: speak for God, when God told them to Speak! Therefore, this DOES apply to us, and we should do what God has told us to do when He called us Lights in the world, the Salt of the Earth, and Ambassadors for Christ, who SPEAK on His Behalf! Let us preach the gospel to all the world, as He told us to do, unless we want to be rebellious. And rebellion is not a small thing, as the world likes to make it sound close to innocent! In the eyes of God, the One whose standards will Judge everyone, as we are told in 1 Samuel 15:23, “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.

It can be scary to witness to the Lost, but remember that we haven’t been given the spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of a sound mind! Ezekiel was set to do a very scary thing, because those he would speak to would seek to do him harm, just as we saw was the case with Jeremiah yesterday!

In my own area, in my own life, I have been attacked by others with guns, knives, and even a car. Also, hardly ever was it just one person, but most of the time it was groups of people. I used to not like going outside the house. Also, I have pretty good hearing, so I can hear if someone is coming up to me . . . except when it is windy outside. The trees, leaves, grass, and even just the wind blowing against my ears, make it all hard for me to hear if someone is coming up to me or is around me. I used to NEVER go outside when it was windy, because of that. Though as the Lord helped me to realize His Being with me, now I’ll go outside in the wind, but I’m very cautious and try to look around me all the time—wisdom (and “a sound mind”) requires that. It may sound ridiculous to some, but it’s true, and it’s because of the fact that I live in an area where I have been attacked, simply because of my faith.

It would be easy, and nice, to move from this area. It would be safer, I would have Christian fellowship, and it would just plain be wonderful. I’ve had plenty of opportunities to go to colleges free of charge, and even wonderful brothers and sisters who have offered to help me move close to where they live. However, as much as I would enjoy it (as I’ve greatly enjoyed visits to other states where I could have great fellowship with other brothers and sisters in Him), God wants me to stay here. He’s protected me—miraculously at times—in the past, and He will continue to protect me. To move, though it would be nice, would be to rebel against our Lord, and I would be as Jonah who went to another place God did not call him to witness to.

It isn’t always easy, in fact, living for God alone is not easy . . . But God doesn’t tell us to do easy things. Instead, He makes hard things, turn out to be easy when we simply walk in obedience to Him. On the other hand, when we walk in rebellion to Him, easy things very quickly can become hard things.

Therefore, don’t let Satan scare you away from witnessing to the Lost. If you do witness to the Lost, you will find it much easier than Satan would have you think. All you’re doing, is showing others something wonderful that You have Found! It’s easy, if you trust in God, and do what He would have you do! Don’t be afraid, or discouraged, though they are rebellious, hardhearted, or as cruel as the devil himself. If we walk in Him, the devils flee when they see Christ IN us, and the Lord has angels follow us around, and He speaks to the person’s heart, while we speak His Words to them. Praise God, He IS with us always!

I love you so much, and always, daily, pray for you. May our Lord guide us always, and give us all we need, to do what it is He has told us to do. May He give us boldness in Him, and increase our faith. You have a wonderful day today in the Lord, and I pray that God continues to bless you abundantly in Him!

Love in Christ, Always,
Your friend forever,
And brother,
Chris/Michael

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Psalm 60:11 “Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.”

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