Ezekiel 03: The Most Stubborn of Them All
In Ezekiel chapter 3, we encounter one of the most fascinating episodes in prophetic literature—a divine commissioning that reveals a unique quality God instills in His messenger. The passage begins with God commanding Ezekiel to eat a scroll containing His message. This peculiar act symbolizes the prophet's internalization of God's word, making it part of his very being before he delivers it to others. Remarkably, though the scroll contained messages of judgment, it tastes "as sweet as honey" to Ezekiel, suggesting that even divine truth about difficult subjects carries a certain sweetness when received with an obedient heart.
What follows is perhaps the most striking feature of this commissioning: God's candid assessment of both the audience and His prophet. God tells Ezekiel that the people of Israel are "hard-headed and stubborn," resistant to divine instruction and unwilling to listen. But then comes the divine solution—rather than attempting to soften this opposition, God says, "I have made you as obstinate and hard-headed as they are." This divine compliment about Ezekiel's stubbornness reveals a profound spiritual principle: sometimes faithful witness requires a holy resilience that matches or exceeds the resistance it encounters. God is essentially equipping His messenger with the precise character trait needed to persevere in a hostile environment.
This passage has fascinating connections to the book of Revelation, where John is similarly instructed to eat a scroll that tastes sweet but turns bitter in his stomach. Both prophetic books employ this powerful metaphor of consuming divine truth before proclaiming it, highlighting the intensely personal nature of prophetic ministry. The vivid imagery of Ezekiel's forehead being made "as hard as the hardest rock" further emphasizes the spiritual fortitude required when facing opposition to God's message—a theme that continues throughout apocalyptic literature where God's messengers must stand firm against tremendous resistance.
God's instructions to Ezekiel redefine what constitutes success in spiritual witness. The Lord explicitly tells him that his responsibility is not to secure a positive response but to deliver the message faithfully whether people listen or not. This liberating truth shifts the burden of results away from the messenger and places it where it belongs—on the hearers themselves. For modern believers, this offers profound relief from the pressure to produce visible outcomes in spiritual conversations. Our responsibility is faithful witness; the response belongs to others and ultimately to God's work in their hearts.
The chapter concludes with God temporarily restricting Ezekiel's speech, allowing him to speak only when God gives him a specific message. This divine control over the prophet's communication emphasizes that authentic spiritual witness flows from divine initiative rather than human cleverness or persuasiveness. The application for believers today is clear and challenging: we need to be "the most stubborn people in the room when it comes to our trust in God." In a culture where people either know nothing about God or just enough to be dangerous, Christian witness requires a stubborn faithfulness that refuses to be outlasted by resistance. As Pastor Brandon memorably puts it, "They are not going to out-sin my trust in God."
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