Sermon Outline

Dr. Joseph P. Metoyer, Jr., Pastor/Teacher

March 25, 2001

Text:  Ezekiel 2:6-10

Subject:  “You Are What You Eat”

Introduction: 

I.                   God Calls The Man

The name Ezekiel means “God shall strengthen”.  (The implication is that, in and of himself, he was too weak to perform the task at hand.) God calls Ezekiel, “Son of man, stand on your feet and I will speak to you”(v1).

A.     Ezekiel’s help was immediately at hand.  (V2) “The Spirit entered me when He spoke to me, and set me on my feet; and I heard Him who spoke to me.”

II.                God Prepares The Man

A.      (V8b) “Open your mouth and eat what I give you”.  (2:9-3:1) “Eat this scroll, and go and speak”.  The word “eat” is in the Hebrew imperative; it is a command!  When God commands you to eat and He tells you to open your mouth and He reaches His hands out to you and “causes [you] to eat” the results will be sweet.  (3:3b) “It was like honey in sweetness”. 

B.     Now if there is any doubt what the scroll was that God fed Ezekiel in (3:4) God says it was His Words!   

We have a man called by God the Father, filled by God the Holy Spirit and fortified by God the Son, or by the Word of God.  He is ready for his assignment.

III.             God Gives The man An Assignment

A.  In (2:3-4) we find Ezekiel’s assignment.  The congregation to which he is sent is described by two verbs:(v3) 1.  “Rebelled”, means to refuse allegiance to, rise up against, a sovereign.

2.  The second verb is a political term and means something like to violate covenant duties, to breach covenant relations.

The congregation is further described with two adjectives: (v4) 

1.  “Impudent” or obstinate meaning (lit. “Hard faced”).

2.  “Stubborn”

The first describes the people on the outside as passive with emotionless faces and the second describes the people on the inside – hardhearted.  

2. God never says anything about the response of the people to Ezekiel but He says in (v5) it may go either way.  Don’t forget because of what God feed Ezekiel, or the preparation (v6) God says:
1. “Do not be afraid them” (because My Spirit has stood you up)
2. “Do not be afraid of their words” (because My Words are more powerful).

Ezekiel’s experience was going to be tough and painful and even potentially deadly (v6b).  Briers and thorns were used together as a fence to protect the grain.  God is saying that He is providing a protection for Ezekiel and no one was going to easily get to him. “The Scorpions” on the other hand are figurers of speech meaning wicked, malicious, and crafty men would try to poison him. 

God is not concerned about the congregation’s attitude, but the prophet’s attitude.  Ezekiel is not to evaluate his ministry on the reaction of the people.  He is not to be result oriented.  Rather, he is to be obedience oriented.  He is to speak God’s Word to them.        

God is not going to evaluate you by the response of the people you witnessed to but He will evaluate you by your obedience to witness.

There are going to be some people that don’t respond but you have to remember that, “You are what you eat”.  (V8) One thing Ezekiel must not do (as well as we must not) lower ourselves to the spiritual level of the people.   Our obedience must become a model and a stimulus to them. “You are what you eat!”  Can’t you see the Lord’s outstretched hands He has the Word for your diet.  There’s nothing like the Word:

Jeremiah 15:16 says, “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; For I am called by Your name, O Lord God of host.”

(Rev. 10:9-11) The Angel told John to “eat the little book”; John did so and proclaimed, “it was as sweet as honey in my mouth”.

Joshua (1:8) says “The Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it.  For then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have good success.”

David wrote in (Psalm 1:1-2) “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly.  Nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.”

To “Meditate” means to devour like a cow chewing his cud.

Application:  When God calls a man and the man obeys God, God will cause the man to celebrate!  Let me tell you why in the end of Ezekiel’s prophecy he gets excited.  For Ezekiel the most spectacular thing and the most precious thing is not the rebuilt city, the rebuilt temple, or even the reassembled people of God.  These are good, but not the best.  What makes it all so perfect is the presence of God in the midst of all this renovation:  “Yahweh shammah,” the Lord is here.  That is the cause for Ezekiel’s ecstasy.[1]

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