To them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice (Ezekiel 33:32).
Ezekiel was a rock star. The prophet was enjoying a season
of popularity. He was benefiting from positive word of mouth advertizing, and
well on his way to going viral. His audience was telling others about him: Come
and hear the message that has come from the Lord (v. 30).
In spite of his growing celebrity and the exuberance with which he was received, there was no evidence of changed lives among his listeners: [They] sit before you to hear you words, but they do not put them into practice (v. 31). The people received him with surface enthusiasm, but his message never made the journey from their heads to their hearts.
But God had a somber assignment for the prophet. He told Ezekiel to give the people the bad news about Jerusalem’s defeat, and to let them know that Judah would become a wasteland and, furthermore, to make sure they know this is all the consequences of their own behavior.
God didn’t call Ezekiel to be popular. He called him to prophesy. When all this comes true – and it surely will – then they will know that a prophet [and not a rock star] has been among them (v. 33).
Speaking the truth can be difficult. Have you ever pulled a punch to preserve your own popularity? How’d that work out for you? What are you going to do next time?
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