Ezekiel was receiving widespread acceptance
because the prophecy of what would happen to Jerusalem had come to pass. So,
throughout the community, he became popular. And the people even goaded each
other to come and hear what further truth Ezekiel had for them from the Lord.
Unfortunately, their coming was
not with the desire to hear, to know, and then to practice the truth. They came
to Ezekiel only to be entertained by him. There was no sign of any desire to
obey the moral demands and be transformed by the message. They would
superficially hear the message but had no intention to put them into
practice.
Being incongruent, they would
not obey and act congruously with what they had heard. Their hearts were bent
on covetous gain. Hence, God warned Ezekiel not to be hoodwinked by their
appearance of interest but devoid of a real desire to act right.
Ezekiel, however, was to remain faithful and persist
in declaring the word, whether the people would respond rightly or not. By his
faithfulness, and when his message comes to pass, and it surely will, their
attitude would change. Then they would recognize that he, a true prophet had
been among them.
It is not difficult to see that
in the Kingdom of God as well as the world, there are still casual listeners to
the truth. People who will go for what’s appealing, and what will tickle their
itching ears but not hard and uncomfortable truths. Like the different types of
soil in Jesus’ Parable of the Sower, there are still seventy-five percent of
those whom the truth could not take effect.
What are we to do then? The
crux of this passage is: like Ezekiel, we must persist to sow the truth
regardless. We must not forget that there are still twenty-five percent of potential
positive responders. Whatever it is, remember that like the dripping of water,
our continual sowing of the truth will eventually make a dent in any hard
ground. We must not be weary of sowing the truth, the incorruptible seed of the
Gospel.
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