The last six verses of Ezekiel 3 describe the experience Ezekiel
had before he launched into his ministry. Apparently, the Lord laid hold of him and
commanded him saying, “Arise, go out into the valley, and there I
will speak with you.” He obediently followed the instruction and went out into the
plain. There, he again saw the vision of the glory of the Lord, which he saw earlier at
Chebar River in chapter 1. Like how he responded then, he fell facedown again.
The response of Ezekiel when he saw the vision reminds us never to take
the glory of God for granted. There must not come a time when we treat the
presence of God casually or nonchalantly. We must always give God the due
reverence He deserves.
Then
the Spirit had a hold of him and set him on his feet and first told him
to shut himself within his house. The prophet was to
imprison himself in his house. A period of solitude and quietly
waiting before the Lord is
so needful to know more clearly what God wants to be said. Any person who
desires to be used effectively must take time away from the hustle and bustle
of life to make preparations.
Ezekiel was further told what would happen to him. He would be
restrained and bound by cord and immobilized and not allowed to go among the
people. This could be seen as a symbol of God imposing on him a
period of waiting and silence. What he had experienced was to demonstrate that
he was to be bound to the Word of God rather than be imprisoned by the desires
of his hostile hearers.
In verse 26 God told Ezekiel, “And I will make your tongue cling
to the roof of your mouth, so that you shall be mute and unable to reprove
them, for they are a rebellious house.” Literally, this would mean that
God would render his speech apparatus incapable of function and unable to
rebuke the rebellious people. And what God wanted the rebellious people to
hear, He would speak to Ezekiel to enable him to speak so that the prophet
could speak to them. However, it would be up to the rebellious people to make
up their own minds to respond rightly to God or not.
In Ezekiel 3, we can trace four clear things Ezekiel was called to
do. Firstly, he was told to go and speak. Secondly, he was asked to go sit and
be attentive to listen to God. Thirdly he was asked to watch then lastly he was
told to wait. The experiences Ezekiel had were the preparation he needed before
he launched into the ministry. Moses had his period of preparation.
Jesus also had his time of 40 days of preparation in the wilderness.
We need to know the importance of exercising the spiritual
disciplines of solitude and silence to hear from God to know Him. If we are to
speak for God, we need to know exactly what He wants us to say. We are not free
to speak our own whims and fancy. There must be a time of waiting for us to
know what and how to say what God wants said. We need to wait on God no matter
how busy life may be.
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