Latest / Dwelling Place: The Bible for Moms / #170. When Your Child Is Strong-Willed: What Ezekiel Teaches Moms About Faithfulness | Ezekiel 1-5

Transcript

#170. When Your Child Is Strong-Willed: What Ezekiel Teaches Moms About Faithfulness | Ezekiel 1-5 · Dwelling Place: The Bible for Moms

• 0:00
  This is The Dwelling Place from Entrusted Ministries.
• 0:03
  I'm Stephanie Hickox.
• 0:04
  Today, we're kicking off the Book of Ezekiel and studying chapters one through five.
• 0:08
  As we follow the signs and messages that Ezekiel delivered to God's people that were exiled in Babylon, we'll ask, is Ezekiel really weird, or is he just obedient to the Lord?
• 0:17
  And if he's just obedient, why is God asking him to do such weird things?
• 0:22
  Like a mom that feels like standing on her head to get her kids' attention so they'll listen to her, God goes to great lengths to get His people's attention.
• 0:29
  He is relentless and persistent And we'll get to decide, will we live lives of faithfulness and obedience like Ezekiel?
• 0:36
  And will we also call our children to live counter-cultural lives for the glory of God?
• 0:40
  Or will we acquiesce to the patterns and compromises of culture?
• 0:44
  This book of scripture is clearly written by Ezekiel.
• 0:47
  His name means strengthened by God, And God directly tells him that he will strengthen him for the difficult prophetic ministry and message he gives him to deliver.
• 0:56
  Ezekiel isn't mentioned anywhere else in scripture, but he was a contemporary of Jeremiah and Zechariah and Daniel.
• 1:03
  Think about a movie in which they introduce different main characters and give you the history and the backstory of them.
• 1:08
  That's somewhat what's happening with Ezekiel, because even though our Bible plan is a chronological one, we're mostly keeping Ezekiel's story together as we study him.
• 1:17
  So what we'll encounter today happens before the fall of Jerusalem.
• 1:21
  Ezekiel and his wife were taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians in the first wave, which occurred in five ninety-seven BC, and it was in five ninety-three that God gave him his prophetic call.
• 1:34
  This is noteworthy because it's Ezekiel's thirtieth birthday ezekiel is part of the priestly line, and if he were still in Jerusalem, this is precisely the day that he would have been ordained to become a priest serving in the
• 1:46
  temple.
• 1:47
  Instead, he's sitting by the river, surely pondering and grieving the fact that his life looks radically different than he had imagined.
• 1:54
  And it will be evident throughout the book that he's part of the priestly line because there's a large emphasis on the importance of the temple.
• 2:01
  But the way that God and the Spirit relates to Ezekiel is radically different.
• 2:06
  And he'll use this prophet to begin to reveal how the new covenant will not be tied to a temple or a building Thankfully, at this point, the exiles lived in Babylon more so as colonists.
• 2:18
  Do you recall how Jeremiah kept saying, "Surrender to the Chaldeans.
• 2:22
  It'll go so much better for you.
• 2:24
  Don't oppose them."
• 2:25
  Ezekiel and his wife and ten thousand other captives were living in Babylon, not like prisoners or slaves.
• 2:31
  But often what the Babylonians did was to take people out of their homeland and scatter them with other people groups so that they lost their loyalty to their culture.
• 2:40
  It really was a melting pot mentality, and it was effective As I mentioned, God asks Ezekiel to do some pretty radical unorthodox acts.
• 2:49
  He's kind of like a street preacher getting attention, but why would God ask him to do these things?
• 2:54
  it's so that the Israelites would have every opportunity to hear God's message, Over 50 times in the Book of Ezekiel, we read the phrase, "Know that I am the Lord," and much of these messages and foretellings have that
• 3:07
  exact purpose.
• 3:09
  God says, "When all of this happens, you will know that I am the Lord, and all the people will know that I am the Lord."
• 3:16
  The main theme of Ezekiel is the glory of the Lord.
• 3:19
  But instead of it being tied to Mount Sinai or above the Ark of the Covenant, it's now appearing in Babylon, and this is radical Another theme we'll encounter throughout are the sinful patterns of the Israelites, and in contrast,
• 3:32
  God's holiness and sovereignty, which of course is a dramatic problem.
• 3:36
  How does a holy God dwell with this wicked, rebellious people?
• 3:40
  Something must change, and thankfully, God has a plan, and He begins revealing it to Ezekiel by giving him an astounding vision of angels surrounding God's presence Fascinatingly, these creatures have some qualities of a human and some of animals.
• 3:55
  The MacArthur commentary that the reason there are four is that it implies that God's angels execute His commands to all four corners of the earth, And the fact that they have four wings instead of two gives an emphasis
• 4:06
  on speed and their ability to swiftly do God's will.
• 4:09
  These beings are able to move in any direction at a moment's notice.
• 4:13
  He also notes that the image of the man within the vision shows intelligence, the lion power, the ox servitude, and the eagle swiftness.
• 4:22
  These wheels being covered with eyes most likely points to God's omniscience.
• 4:26
  He knows and sees all.
• 4:28
  And in this dramatic appearance of the Lord's glory that Ezekiel received on his thirtieth birthday, and above the expanse over their heads there was a likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire, and seated above the likeness of
• 4:42
  the throne was a likeness with a human appearance.
• 4:45
  And upward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around.
• 4:53
  And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw it as it were the appearance of fire, and there was a brightness around him.
• 5:01
  Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around.
• 5:08
  Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.
• 5:11
  And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.
• 5:17
  This is the natural response to the glory of the Lord, falling on one's face, and that's why I'm truly intrigued by the way that God responds to him in chapter two, And he said to me, Son of man,
• 5:29
  stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.
• 5:31
  And as he spoke to me, the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet.
• 5:36
  And I heard him speaking to me, and he said to me, Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to nations of rebels who have rebelled against me.
• 5:44
  They and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day.
• 5:49
  The descendants also are impudent and stubborn.
• 5:52
  I send you to them, and you shall say to them, Thus says the Lord God.
• 5:57
  And whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house, they will know that a prophet has been among them.
• 6:04
  And you, son of man, be not afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words.
• 6:09
  Though briers and thorns are with you, and you sit on scorpions, be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks.
• 6:16
  For they are a rebellious house.
• 6:18
  And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house.
• 6:25
  But you, son of man, hear what I say to you.
• 6:28
  Be not rebellious, like that rebellious house.
• 6:31
  Open your mouth and eat what I give to you.
• 6:33
  And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in it.
• 6:39
  And he spread it before me, and it had writing on the front and on the back.
• 6:43
  And there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe.
• 6:47
  God addresses Ezekiel with the title Son of Man.
• 6:50
  This is used over ninety times in the book and emphasizes his humanity You probably noted another phrase that was repeated over and over, that Israel is a rebellious house, and God repeats it multiple times so that we don't
• 7:05
  miss the condition of their hearts.
• 7:07
  Yet God continues to send prophets to them And God's prophetic call upon Ezekiel's life continues in chapter three.
• 7:13
  And he said to me, Son of man, eat whatever you find here.
• 7:17
  Eat the scroll, and go speak to the house of Israel.'
• 7:20
  So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat.
• 7:23
  And he said to me, Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you, and fill your stomach with it.'
• 7:29
  Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey.
• 7:32
  And he said to me, Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with my words to them.
• 7:38
  For you are not sent to a people of foreign speech and a hard language, but to the house of Israel, not to many peoples of foreign speech and a hard language whose words you cannot understand.
• 7:49
  Surely, if I sent you to such, they would listen to you, but the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me, because all the house of Israel
• 7:59
  have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart.
• 8:02
  Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads.
• 8:08
  Like emery harder than flint I have made your forehead.
• 8:12
  Fear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.'
• 8:17
  Moreover he said to me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak to you, receive in your heart and hear with your ears.
• 8:25
  And go to the exiles, to your people, and speak to them and say to them, Thus says the Lord God," whether they hear or refuse to hear.'"
• 8:33
  Isn't it incredible yet heartbreaking that God says, If I sent you to a foreign people, they would honor you, but my people will not"?
• 8:42
  Next, God gives Ezekiel the Holy Spirit to equip him for just what he needs And all that the prophet has seen overwhelms him.
• 8:49
  He sits by the river seven days grieving.
• 8:51
  And when Ezekiel sees the glory of the Lord again, his response is to fall on his face.
• 8:56
  But in three twenty-four, Once more, the Spirit enters into him and sets him on his feet, and he tells Ezekiel to shut himself within his house so that he cannot go out among the people.
• 9:06
  God says he will make his tongue mute, and he'll only be allowed to speak the words the Lord gives him.
• 9:12
  It's rare that the Holy Spirit consistently indwells someone in the Old Testament, and even though God calls Ezekiel to a very difficult life of ministry, this is one of the beautiful gifts God gives him, His nearness and His
• 9:24
  Spirit to fill him God also tells Ezekiel that he will be held accountable for being faithful to deliver his message.
• 9:31
  However, he is not held accountable for the effectiveness of his message, as God has already laid out that most of the people won't listen.
• 9:38
  In chapter four, Ezekiel gets assigned a fun art project.
• 9:42
  God calls him to create a model of the city of Jerusalem being attacked.
• 9:46
  God even says to include the battering rams.
• 9:48
  I don't know how long it took him, but I think it's an interesting project.
• 9:52
  The part that's not so fun about this is that Ezekiel has to lie on his side three hundred and ninety days, which represent the years of punishment upon Jerusalem.
• 10:00
  Thankfully, it sounds like Ezekiel is allowed to get up and make his food because in four nine, God gives the directions for him to make Ezekiel bread.
• 10:07
  Perhaps you've eaten it or seen it yourself in the grocery store.
• 10:10
  And you take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and emmer, and put them into a single vessel and make your bread from them.
• 10:18
  During the number of days that you lie on your side, three hundred and ninety days you shall eat it."
• 10:23
  Incredibly, when these six grains and legumes are sprouted, a complete protein is created, which contains all nine essential amino acids.
• 10:32
  It's high in protein, high in fiber, and easy to digest.
• 10:35
  And let's be real, if the guy was going to lie on his side for three hundred and ninety days, he probably needs something that's easy to digest.
• 10:42
  Maybe this inspires you to go enjoy or make a loaf of Ezekiel bread yourself and see if you also notice the nutritional benefits.
• 10:49
  I'm thankful God allowed Ezekiel to get up and make his bread, but unfortunately God mandates that he's supposed to cook it over human waste.
• 10:57
  When Ezekiel interjects saying, "Lord, I've never eaten anything unclean," thankfully, God relents and allows him to eat it over dried cow dung chips to fuel the fire.
• 11:06
  Now let me be clear, this isn't actually touching the bread, but the reason he needs to obey is because it's to communicate to the people that when Jerusalem is overtaken and the people are in exile as captives, their
• 11:18
  food will be awful, and their water will be lacking, and it's to serve as a warning to them.
• 11:23
  Chapter Five continues to describe that Jerusalem will be destroyed, and God directs Ezekiel to shave his head in a certain way and to scatter the hair to portray how God's people will be scattered.
• 11:33
  He tells Israel that instead of being a blessing to the nations around them, as was his intention with the Abrahamic covenant, they have been worse than the nations around them.
• 11:42
  Because of their abominations, he will do things with them that he's never had to do to another generation and will never do again.
• 11:49
  Clearly, the correct interpretation is to understand Ezekiel's message for a certain time at a certain point in history.
• 11:56
  But I can't help but also apply his call to faithfulness over effectiveness to motherhood as well.
• 12:02
  I know many moms, and I've certainly felt this way myself, that we feel we've been given a child that has such a strong will that requires consistency and diligence that we just don't have in us.
• 12:13
  And I want to encourage the moms out there and all my sisters that brace themselves every time they pick up their child from school or from children's ministry, or every time they receive texts from neighbors or friends.
• 12:25
  Those of you that are parenting strong-willed, difficult children, and you're watching other moms, and it seems that God has blessed them with obedient children with gentle spirits.
• 12:34
  The mom says, "Listen and obey," and the kids do.
• 12:37
  But for you, it's been so much harder.
• 12:39
  Can I just encourage you with this message from Ezekiel, that perhaps the strong will of your children is not a punishment from the Lord or an indication that you are an ineffective mother.
• 12:50
  But maybe the Lord deeply trusts your faith and has given you an assignment to sanctify you and to cause you to become reliant on Him in a way that you wouldn't be if you had children with more compliant
• 13:04
  spirits and dispositions I've often felt that one or more of my kiddos has a stronger will or disposition than I have, and I can tell you, it's forced me to press into the Holy Spirit.
• 13:14
  Just as the Spirit equipped Ezekiel with the strength to be who he needed to be the Lord wants to come alongside you and equip you to be the mother that you need to be to parent your children.
• 13:25
  He doesn't call you to do this on your own.
• 13:28
  He calls you to do it with Him.
• 13:30
  And thankfully, you and I have not been told that our children are rebellious and won't listen to the message that we give them.
• 13:36
  Instead, much of God's Word affirms that you and I have an opportunity for influence as mothers, not control, but influence in the lives of our kids.
• 13:46
  So just one more time, if you are walking with a strong-willed or disobedient child, and you're feeling condemned or shamed that this is your fault, I want to encourage you, it may actually be an opportunity that the Lord
• 13:59
  knew you were the mom that He would equip to be faithful to have an eternal impact on that child's soul.
• 14:06
  Instead of being discouraged, you can get on your knees today and say, Jesus, thank you that I need you so deeply.
• 14:12
  Thank you that you've given me a mission that I cannot complete without you.
• 14:16
  And thank you that through it, you're making me more like yourself."
• 14:19
  So let's pray to that end.
• 14:21
  Heavenly Father, we praise You for the beauty of Your glory We thank you that Ezekiel couldn't even describe in human terms what he saw, and we long for the day where we will also see you face to face
• 14:33
  and be in awe of your splendor and glory.
• 14:35
  But until that day, we often find ourselves weary with what you've called us to, and the faithfulness and diligence that's required to train and discipline our kids.
• 14:44
  We need your help, and I pray for each one of us that we would quickly come into your presence asking for help That we would not be moms that try to rely on our own strength, but that we'd
• 14:55
  be thankful and rejoice that you long to walk with us and to partner with us to point our kids to you.
• 15:01
  We pray particularly for those kids that seem so stiff-necked, and we ask in the mighty and powerful name of Jesus that you would use all of their strength and conviction and turn it for your glory.
• 15:13
  That they would bend their knee to you, Jesus, and devote their strength to advancing your kingdom As your word was sweet like honey to Ezekiel we want that for ourselves and for our families, that we would clearly understand
• 15:25
  that nothing satisfies like your word, God.
• 15:27
  And in all of this, Jesus, may you be lifted high in our lives.
• 15:31
  It's in your name we pray.
• 15:33
  Amen.