The Nature of Modern-Day Prophecy

I’ve decided to skip ahead to chapter 2 in Ezekiel since I was getting bogged down in the vision of chapter 1. I hope it is better to skip ahead than to get frustrated with translating material that was not meant to frustrate us.

When I read this passage, I find it hard not to focus on verse 5, where God gives Ezekiel his “mission statement.” Isn’t it helpful to know that God’s pleasure in his messenger is not dependent on the recipients’ response to the message? Rather, it is the faithfulness of the messenger that pleases God. I find this moderately encouraging with respect to witnessing—perhaps I should find it extremely encouraging.

If this were not enough, God had given us a clue in verses 1 and 2 that he is the contributor to our strength in witness. God commands Ezekiel in verse 1 to stand on his feet, but God promptly stands Ezekiel on his feel through the Spirit. We need to exert effort in witnessing (and even in preparing ourselves to witness), but God ultimately gives us the strength to do so.

[2:1] And he said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet and I will speak with you. [2] And a wind[1] came into me when he spoke to me, and he set me on my feet. And I heard what he said to me. [3] And he said to me, Son of man, I am sending you to the sons of Israel, peoples who are rebelling, which have rebelled against me. They and their fathers have rebelled against me until this very day. [4] And the sons are hard of face and strong of heart. I am sending you to them. And you will say to them, “Thus has the Lord YHWH said.” [5] And as for them, if they will listen or if they will cease, though they are a house of rebellion, they will know that a prophet has been among them.
[1] Or “the Spirit.”