CONSUMING THE WORD

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Then I looked, and I saw a hand stretched out to me. In it was a scroll, which He unrolled before me. On both sides of it were written words of lament and mourning and woe.

And He said to me, “Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the people of Israel.” So I opened my mouth, and He gave me the scroll to eat.

Then He said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.” So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.

Ezekiel 2:9-10, 3:1-3

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In yesterday’s devotion, we read about how God called Ezekiel the priest to serve as His prophet.

The task seemed simple enough.

All Ezekiel had to do was receive the message God wanted to pass to His people and then share that message with that audience. Yes, God told Ezekiel to expect resistance as the Israelites were a stubborn, disobedient lot. That’s what got them in trouble in the first place. But no matter whether they chose to listen or not, Ezekiel’s assignment was to act as God’s megaphone, pronouncing whatever He was told to pronounce.

Saying the words of God didn’t sound too bad, even if the people rebutted them. But as we see in today’s devotion, God had a little more in mind for His prophet than just merely saying His words. Look again at the closing verses of Ezekiel, Chapter 2, and the opening verses of Chapter 3:

Then I looked, and I saw a hand stretched out to me. In it was a scroll, which He unrolled before me. On both sides of it were written words of lament and mourning and woe.

And He said to me, “Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the people of Israel.” So I opened my mouth, and He gave me the scroll to eat.

Then He said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.” So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.  Ezekiel 2:9-10, 3:1-3

It didn’t take God long to put His prophet to work after commissioning him. For the scriptures tell us that God stretched out His hand to Ezekiel and unrolled a scroll before him in such a way that allowed the prophet to read it.

What message did the scroll contain?

It wasn’t good news, that’s for sure. For we read that the scroll had words written on both sides and those words had a common theme: despair. Indeed, as we look at our passage we’re told the words were associated with lament, mourning, and woe.

At this point, you would think, “Ok, that makes perfect sense. The Israelites had sinned against God and violated His commands, worshiping false gods and inciting His anger and judgment. Of course, His words to them would be words of sadness, grief, and misery.”

But God wanted His newly appointed messenger to do much more than just read and/or speak the words. He wanted Ezekiel to eat them. He said so Himself:

“Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the people of Israel. Eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.”  

Imagine if you were Ezekiel. How would you feel at this point? Wouldn’t this all seem a little strange to you? Don’t you think that you might even question God and ask if He really said to EAT the scroll?

We all probably would. After all, we’re all human.

But note what Ezekiel did. He didn’t debate God. He didn’t hesitate doing what God told him to do. Rather, the prophet’s own words tell us how he responded:

“So I opened my mouth, and He gave me the scroll to eat. I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.”

Now, go back and recall the message on the scroll. There were no joyful words written on it, nothing one would celebrate anyways. No, the words skewed toward melancholy and were harsh so you would expect the scroll to taste bitter according to its verbal content.

But that’s wasn’t the case, was it?

Ezekiel testified as much when he said the scroll “tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth”.

Huh? Did Ezekiel have some messed up taste buds or something? How in the world could a scroll with such negative content taste so good?

The answer comes by thinking about the word of God itself.

For if God’s words are words of judgment and correction, then they are as sweet as when His words praise and commend us. In both cases, He is trying to shape us into the people He wants us to be, people who turn from sin and embrace His righteousness, people who live in accordance with His will, way, and sweet tasting word.

Ezekiel would not just get to consume the words of God but share that sweetness with the Israelites. As we journey through the book that bears his name, we’ll see him do just that.

Amen

In Christ,

Mark
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