Ep. 189. Ezekiel 4-5,7 | Use it as a Barber's Razor

EPISODE 189

USE IT AS A BARBER'S RAZOR: EZEKIEL 4-5, 7

Prophets had to do some weird things, to be sure. Isaiah walked around naked for three years so that when people would ask him about it, he could say to them, "Similarly, you will go away in shame." I feel I could have made a point about shame by walking around naked for a week. A month tops. But three years!? That's excessive.

Jeremiah wore a wooden yoke on his neck for an unknown period of time. Was he the first prophet of God to engage in functional strength training?

Ezekiel lay on his side for 430 days, bound and cooking his meals over cow dung he had stored up. He did this all while lying next to a model of Jerusalem. Let's not even ask what he did for bathroom breaks. Most prophets seemed to have a servant, so maybe emptying the bucket was that guy's job? Or did Ezekiel's wife help out?

Speaking of Ezekiel's wife, God kills her in chapter 24 to show the exiles in Babylon that, in the same way, the pride of their eyes, Jerusalem, would fall and be taken from them suddenly. Now, keep in mind that God told Ezekiel the people would NEVER listen to him. They would NEVER hear what he had to say.

But the prophets always did what God asked of them. They had a more profound love for God than they did for their own self-preservation, honor, comfort, or family. They, like Jesus, obeyed God to the point of death. What a fantastic thing it would be if we had followers of God who lived that boldly today. I love my wife and my kids. I like my life. Would I be willing to lose everything for the sake of obedience to God? Would I be willing to look foolish for the sake of the glory of God? I need to ask myself those questions more sincerely.

ADDITIONAL READING: Isaiah 20:3; Jeremiah 27:1-3; Ezekiel 24:15-18; Deuteronomy 14:34; Philippians 2:5-9