“The word of the LORD came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the LORD was there upon him” (Ezek. 1:3). Ezekiel was a priest who also functioned as a prophet, a spokesman to deliver God’s message. The book of Ezekiel opens in the “thirtieth year” (Ezek. 1:1) presumably of Ezekiel’s life. Those who served at the tabernacle as priests began their term at the age of thirty (Num. 4). Ezekiel was now old enough to serve but there was a big difficulty: he was among the captives in Babylonian exile. Ezekiel was far away from Jerusalem. Perhaps his heart was heavy because he was not in Jerusalem and he would not have the privilege of offering service to God at the temple, but instead he was commissioned to speak to those of Judah who had been taken in the first wave of captives with Jehoiachin (Ezek. 1:2; 2 Kings 24:10-16). Our lives of service to God may be in places we never anticipated.
Furthermore, Ezekiel was told by God that the people to whom he was to speak would not listen: “But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted” (Ezek. 3:7). Some seemed entertained by his messages, but they did not take him seriously:
And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness. And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not. And when this cometh to pass, (lo, it will come,) then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them. (Ezek. 33:31-33).
Ezekiel was not respected by his audience. Faithful prophets were often persecuted (Matt. 5:12). They stood to proclaim the true message of the Lord even if they stood alone.
Contrast Ezekiel with Jeremiah who spoke to the nation of Judah in its final years leading up to captivity. Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet. In Jeremiah 9:1, he mourned over Jersualem, saying, “Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!” Jeremiah had his share of persecutions, but even he had a few friends. When Jeremiah was thrown into the dungeon and sunk down in the mire, Ebedmelech the Ethiopian spoke to the king and arranged for Jeremiah to be lifted up from the dungeon by thirty men before he died (Jer. 38:6-13). Ahikam also protected Jeremiah from death (Jer. 26:24). The scribe Baruch stood with Jeremiah (Jer. 32:12-16; 36:4-32). But we can hardly name any person that stood with Ezekiel. Ezekiel’s wife is mentioned, but the Lord said she would die (Ezek. 24:15-17). When she did pass away, Ezekiel was commanded not to grieve her death. He was not to weep. He did as he was commanded. He spoke God’s message to the people in the morning and showed no outward signs of mourning (Ezek. 24:18).
When the news came that Jerusalem had fallen (Ezek. 33:21), Ezekiel was vindicated as a true prophet since the messages of doom for Jerusalem he delivered were realized (Ezek. 4-5; 9; 21; et cetera). He then delivered messages of hope including a return to the land and a restoration of Israel (Ezek. 34-48). While many misunderstood the nature of the Messianic kingdom, the church, to which some of these prophecies seem to point, nevertheless hope remained alive for the exiles until Cyrus permitted them to return in 539 BC (Ezra 1:1-3). The first wave of captives taken with Ezekiel in 598/597 BC numbered 10,000 (2 Kings 24:14). The considerable number of 42,360 returnees (Ezra 2:64; Neh. 7:66) stands as evidence that Ezekiel had an influence for good among God’s people in captivity. I do not know if Ezekiel ever saw appreciation for his service to the Lord in his life on earth. Yet, he faithfully served the Lord so that the people knew that a prophet had been among them (Ezek. 2:5).
You may grow discouraged that people do not want to listen to the faithful proclamation of the gospel. Your service to the Lord may not be how you envisioned it going. You may never see the good that comes from some of your sacrifices for the Lord in your earthly life. Continue to faithfully work for the Lord until you hear the words, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord” (Matt. 25:21, 23).
–Mark Day