Jump Start # 992

Ezekiel 24:15-17 “And the word of the Lord came to me saying, ‘Son of man, behold, I am about to take from you the desire of your eyes with a blow; but you shall not mourn and you shall not weep, and your tears shall not come. Groan silently; make no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban and put your shoes on your feet, and do not cover your mustache and d not eat the bread of men.”

Our verse today is one of the many tough things that God required of Ezekiel. The Lord was using the prophet as an illustration of what He felt that the nation was doing to Him. Judah was going away into captivity. Their lack of faith and commitment to God had taken them over the edge. Their heart was cold and closed. So in a series of graphic illustrations, Ezekiel lived out what God was experiencing. In the fourth chapter, God had Ezekiel cook his food over animal dung. Disgusting! That was the point.

Our verse today is one of the hardest ones for me to grasp. God was going to take the life of Ezekiel’s wife. She was going to die. God was going to strike her suddenly “with a blow.” The desire of his eyes was being removed. As if that is hard enough, especially knowing this in advance, God then told Ezekiel that he was not to mourn publically for her. No tears. No mourning garments. No mourning diet. Act as if everything is normal. Judah was going away, the desire of God’s eyes, and it was because God was going to strike her. God was not going to mourn. Ezekiel was experiencing what God did.

There are two simple lessons I want to share with you.

First, we too easily and quickly dismiss things by saying, “I couldn’t do that.” Yes, you could. If God said to do so, you could. Hard? Yes. Requiring all that you have? Yes. Impossible? No. God doesn’t tell us not to mourn. This is all theory for us. But there are some hard things He requires. It is those things that we easily ignore with the excuse, “I can’t do that.” For instance, forgiveness. The hurts that some have received are deep and grave. Some do not even try to work through them as God wants and more, some do not even consider forgiving the wrongful person. I could never do that? Yes, you could. You just don’t want to. If God told Ezekiel that his wife was to die and he would not mourn publically, not even shed a tear, you don’t think you could forgive? For others, it’s remaining faithful to God and continuing to worship during trying times. Someone in the family dies, and the entire family uses that as a reason not to go to worship, for weeks. For weeks they say, “we just couldn’t go to worship.” Ezekiel could not shed a tear for his departed wife and you can’t go to worship?

We sell ourselves short much too quickly. I couldn’t do that. Maybe you ought to try. Maybe you would be amazed what you could do. Maybe your continuation with God would help others and be an example for others. Maybe your faith is there and you just don’t want to try something that is hard. The easy way isn’t always the best way. For instance, it’s easy to get fired from a job. Just don’t show up to work, ever. Eventually, you will be released. It’s hard to stay with it and get a promotion. It’s easy to flunk out of college. Simply don’t go to classes or take any tests. You’ll fail. It’s hard to make the dean’s list. It’s easy to get cut from the team. It’s easy to fail in marriage. It’s easy to be a lousy parent. Those things are easy. It’s hard to excel. It’s hard to walk in righteousness and stay with it, even when the days are dark and the journey seems so long. It’s hard, but you can do it, because God said so. God never told Ezekiel to fly to the moon. That is impossible. What He says may be hard, yes, impossible, never.

Can you be obedient to God? Yes. Is it hard? Yes. You can be pure to God. You can be faithful to God. Don’t give up or throw in the towel because something is hard. Saying, “I can’t do that,” doesn’t fly when we have an Ezekiel who was told not to mourn when his wife died.

Secondly, we often fail to grasp how God feels about things. God is hurt by our sin. God loves us. He wants the best for us. Ezekiel was a living illustration of what God was experiencing. Our attention can be upon us and how we feel and what we need and what it does to us that we eliminate God from the situation. This comes to play in many settings. God has holy requirements about marriage. Those who remove God from the picture, will marry anyone they want, even of the same sex. Not what God says. Worship is another setting that we see this. When God is removed, then worship becomes what do we like and what do we want. Years ago, a guy came to the door stating that he was going to start a new church in the neighborhood. He was asking neighbors what they would like in a church. I wasn’t home, but my wonderful wife told him, ‘How about one that follows the Bible and does what God says.” That answer threw him. He hadn’t considered that. How sad! How mistaken! Worship isn’t about us. It’s about honoring God.

How does God feel about things? That would be a great question to ask. How does God feel about you getting a divorce? How does God feel about you sleeping in on Sunday? How does God feel about you trying to grab all the attention? How does God feel? Ezekiel knew. He was allowed to experience what God felt. That changed him and opened his eyes.

These powerful verses in Ezekiel remind us and teach us lessons that will help us.

We are one day closer to Heaven.

Roger