Title: People with Diamond Foreheads
One day, about five years after he had lived as a captive by the river Gebar, Ezekiel saw a north wind and a great cloud coming from the north. I see God who is present in the form of a strange creature whose speed is like lightning, and it is terrifying.
God chose Ezekiel as a messenger to deliver the word of God and put the word he would preach into his belly. Those words were the words of life, but they were very unpleasant to hear. At Kadesh-Barnea, Joshua and Caleb spoke to the people (Numbers 14:6-10), Jonathan spoke to his father King Saul (1 Samuel 20:30-34), and Stephen the deacon in front of the council (Acts) 7:1-60), like Jesus' words, they were words of lamentation and calamity that could kill those who preached them (Ezekiel 2:10).
How afraid must the person who received this mission be? In a nutshell, if Jeremiah said, "Why did I come out of the womb and spend my days in humiliation, seeing pain and sorrow, Jeremiah 20:18", then why did I have to lament that I had received this difficult mission? Therefore, God did not just send the missionary without any measures. Here is the suffering of the person who received the mission, and there is an indescribable great glory of heaven.
We are all people who have been commissioned to preach the gospel. However, it is not difficult to spread the Gospel in this age. Today, by meditating on how God prepared and trained Ezekiel to carry out his mission in this tough age, we all want to receive the grace of being able to carry out the mission of evangelism well.
2. First, the Holy Spirit of God is poured out (Ezekiel 2:1-2)
He said that the question kills, but the spirit gives life. We all already know what is right and what is wrong, what not to do and what to do. Nevertheless, we live incapable of doing anything and living incapacitated and helpless. I know what I know, but I can't put that knowledge into action. Why? This is because the Spirit of God, the ruah, the wind of God, the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, did not come upon us. God first filled Ezekiel with the Spirit of God, the Spirit of God. Let's firmly believe in the promise of giving the Holy Spirit as a gift to those who ask and seek the presence of the Holy Spirit first (Luke 11:13).
3. He reminds us that they are hardened and rebellious (Ezekiel 2:3-7).
It is not easy to spread the word of God. Preaching the gospel is difficult and difficult. They mock the gospel. The heart is like the bottom of the road, shameless and slender. Like thorns and briers, they break the hearts of those who preach the gospel, and even spread poison like scorpions. Even if I pretend to be serious, I turn around. I'm begging you to trust me. Therefore, God called them “very rebellious people”.
God clearly told Ezekiel to know in advance that those who should receive the word are not good, understanding, pure, and kind people. What did Jesus say when sending out the disciples? Behold, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and innocent as doves (Matthew 10:16). You said you would come.
4. He feeds the scroll on which the word of God is written (Ezekiel 2:8-3:3)
Take the scroll and eat it! Put it in your boat! Fill your intestines! You did. What does it mean? In order to cope with these brazen, rebellious, deceitful, wolves, it is not enough to read the Word of God several times, understand it with one's head, and memorize several verses of the Bible for evangelism. What happens when a person eats food, puts it in the stomach, and fills the intestines? That food becomes his bones, his flesh, and his blood. Eat, put, and fill the scroll with the Word of God written on it! That is, to make the Word flesh.
People are moved by the Word and life. The incarnation is neither a life without words nor a life without words. It is the unity of the Word and life. Ah! It is difficult and difficult. But we all know that there is real joy and real power in it. That is what the prophet Ezekiel said when I ate it and it was sweet as honey.
5. He makes his face into diamonds (Ezekiel 3:9)
Incarnation of the Word! It is impossible for humans. But to God. God poured out the Spirit of God, the Spirit of God, the ruah, and the Holy Spirit, so that the incarnation of the Word was accomplished through Ezekiel. Even though their faces are shameless and rebellious like the hardest fossil among stones, he made Ezekiel's face into a diamond stronger than a fossil so that they could handle it like a clay vessel.
6. Closing story / The people of Judah whom Ezekiel had to meet and the people we have to meet today are no different. Whether they hear it or not, we have a mission to preach the word of God. We are weak. Just looking at their fossil-like faces makes my mouth stick. It's scary and it's scary. Oh my father! Turn our faces into diamonds. I beg you earnestly. Amen Amen.