2 Then He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet that I may speak with you!” 2 As He spoke to me the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet; and I heard Him speaking to me. 3 Then He said to me, “Son of man, I am sending you to the sons of Israel, to a rebellious people who have rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day. 4 I am sending you to them who are [a]stubborn and obstinate children, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord [b]God.’ 5 As for them, whether they listen or [c]not—for they are a rebellious house—they will know that a prophet has been among them. 6 And you, son of man, neither fear them nor fear their words, though thistles and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions; neither fear their words nor be dismayed at their presence, for they are a rebellious house. 7 But you shall speak My words to them whether they listen or [d]not, for they are rebellious.
8 “Now you, son of man, listen to what I am speaking to you; do not be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you.” 9 Then I looked, and behold, a hand was extended to me; and lo, a [e]scroll was in it. 10 When He spread it out before me, it was written on the front and back, and written on it were lamentations, mourning and woe.
In case you missed it, God was sending Ezekiel to a bunch of rebellious people. He could have said sinful, but sometimes we miss the point of that word, and so God gets right to the point and calls them what they are, rebellious. Sin is exactly that, rebelling. Often, we have a different picture of rebels in our mind, some might pictures piercings all over and tattoos, spiked hair, and probably riding a motorcycle.
But that person could be a child of the King, while the straight-laced, well-dressed individual escapes our notice. If they aren’t obeying God, then that’s the real rebel, despite appearances–which God made pretty plain to Samuel. He doesn’t look at appearance and sees right through to the heart, and these people, their hearts were turned against God Almighty. These were rebels alright…
In v. 8 God warns Ezekiel and says, “Don’t be a rebel, do what I ask of you!” The immediate ask was to eat a scroll with lamentations, mourning and woe written all over it. Oh joy! And gross… Yet Ezekiel wasn’t on his own, for he couldn’t even stand in the presence of God. God knew he would need help, and so He filled Ezekiel with His Spirit (v. 2).
The same is true for us, we often find God’s ask a bit difficult, or sometimes it seems downright impossible. Yet we don’t, and we mustn’t, attempt to do them by ourselves. The results could be disastrous, like the “Do not try this at home!” videos. Or in this case, it’s more like “Do not try this without God!” We need to stop trying to do everything ourselves, and depend on His strength, His wisdom, and let His peace reign in our lives.
No amount of stress, worry, and effort on our part is going to accomplish God’s will. But with His Spirit inside us, “we can do all things through Him who strengthens us.” (Phil. 4:13) We can even, you know, endure thorns and thistles, sit on scorpions, and be friends with people who ride motorcycles 😉