The No Longer Silent Prophet
Ezekiel 36:22-28
May 29, 2021
That was fifteen seconds of silence. Imagine if the angels had said nothing at the open tomb of Jesus when the women came. What if Peter had not spoken a word on Pentecost day after the loud rushing wind and the flames of fire appeared and everyone came together. What if your new pastor showed up from seminary and his first sermon was 25 minutes of silence?
The Lord called Ezekiel to be a prophet in the year 593 B.C., but from all appearances Ezekiel did not speak a Word of prophecy until 586 B.C. after the temple was destroyed. He was called and ordained by the Lord in chapter 2, but he does not prophesy verbally until chapter 11. Seven years of preparation for his first sermon and it wasn’t what his congregation wanted to hear.
A prophet who does not speak. A pastor who does not preach. What do you think God’s people assumed when Ezekiel gave them the silent treatment? The same thing you assume when you get the silent treatment. God is angry.
God had every reason to be angry with Israel. He had every reason not to send another prophet, not to speak a Word. God sent Moses to deliver Israel from slavery and Israel complained about the food God provided and the freedom He gave, and she wanted to go back to slavery. God brought Israel to the promised land, and she was afraid to cross the threshold. God sent good men, the judges like Gideon and Samson to defeat His enemies but Israel wanted a different man. They wanted a king. To put it mildly Israel was a flirt. To put it bluntly she fooled around with every god she laid her eyes on.
What would you expect if you were caught having an affair? two affairs? five affairs? affair after affair? The Lord God of Israel, Yahweh by name, let His people go. He let Israel go. Assyria took Israel captive in 722 B.C. Then He let Judah go. Beginning around 605 B.C. Babylon overtook Judah and by 586 Babylon destroyed Jerusalem and the temple. The prophet Ezekiel was among the captives taken to Babylon. He may have been a friend of Daniel and the three guys who got thrown into the fiery furnace.
So, what does all this ancient adulterous history have to do with us? Well, it begs the question. What gods are you fooling around with? What gods have you laid down with and rose up to play with? Israel and Judah fooled with the gods of Canaan. You fool around with the gods of America. It isn’t hard to name our gods. We like the new god or the different god. The moment we acquire something we want something else, something new, something different – it might be a car, a hobby, or it might be a spouse or a career. America is unique in its stand for individual rights and freedoms, but sadly, because of sin our greatest false god is one individual. I worship me. You worship you. A review of your internet searches or visits, would reveal that you worship you. We fit right in with Israel grumbling about the food, growing bored with God’s gifts, desiring the slavery of sin over the freedom of forgiveness, afraid to live fully in the promised land of God’s grace.
By rights God could have walked away from Israel and from you. He let His let His people into exile, but He did not let them go. Ezekiel prophesied. Ezekiel spoke.
(Read vs. 22) God does not act because Israel was such a prize. He acted for the sake of His name. God has a reputation to uphold. Back in the days of Abraham He claimed this particular people – the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to be His own. He chose them, saved them, brought them home to the promised land. He swore on an oath. He made a vow that through them that the world would be blessed and saved. He didn’t make the promise based on how beautiful a bride Israel would be. He made an oath by Himself, on His own. His name is at stake and if He does not act, He is a liar.
Israel had profaned the Lord’s good name. She dirtied and sullied His reputation. She did not act like one who had been chosen, forgiven, loved, saved, and blessed with a home she didn’t build and vineyards she didn’t plant. She acted like life was all about her when really her life was all about Him – the Lord God.
The Lord did not let her go for His name’s sake. He always keeps His Word. The Lord brought Israel back from Babylon. The Lord rebuilt Jerusalem and the Temple under Ezra and Nehemiah. Everything was for her, but it was because of Him, His name, His being God, His Word, His love, His choosing of life for her and for you.
This is what the Lord promises to His bride. (Read vs. 25-27) If you heard those words and thought of your baptism good. If you heard “new heart” and “new spirit” and started singing the offertory to yourself good. If you heard of the Spirit and thought of Pentecost day, if you thought about your sanctification, of keeping God’s statutes and obeying His rules – good.
For you, the Holy Christian Church, Christians are the end of Ezekiel’s prophecy. God brought Israel back to the land of Judah so that a little guy named Jesus might be born of Mary. Jesus was the means to fulfill Ezekiel’s prophesy. He was God keeping His Word, God keeping His promise, to forgive the sins of His people, to cover every blemish and spot of His beloved. Jesus was the heavenly bridegroom who would lay down His life for His bride. God has a reputation to uphold, so He sent His Son, gave Him the name Jesus, and then through Jesus alone loved His beloved making her lovely again. God saved the world through Israel, in this way, Jesus was born to a woman descended from David, of the tribe of Judah, a son of Israel.
God did not choose you or save you because of you. He saved you because of Himself. He not only promised to save you, but He desired to save you. He not only keeps His Word, He loves you. One of the sad realities of human love is that it often grows tired and bored and then goes looking for love somewhere else. God’s love never grows weary or faint. He stuck by His bride for 1500 years in the Old Testament and for over 2000 years in the New Testament and has promised an eternity of His love and life for her, for you. That love and faithfulness is seen in Jesus – the fulfillment of the Old Testament and the foundation and finale of the New Testament.
You have been sprinkled clean of your impurities in your baptism. The love of God has changed your flesh from dead to living, your future from hell to heaven. His Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus, changes you. We Christians have a heart of flesh. A heart that beats as one with God’s Word. A heart that is soft in mercy. A heart that is malleable to God’s Will. Christians have a new spirit. We were not just walked down the aisle to be wed to Christ in baptism, but we walk every day in love toward God. We walk gladly under His rules, because He is our Head, and we are His body. He is our God, and we are His people.
Thanks be to God we don’t have a silent God. Ezekiel prophesied to His Israel. The Angels proclaimed “Christ is risen” to the woman at the tomb. Peter preached and the Spirit saved 3000 people by baptism into Christ on Pentecost. God is not silent. He spoke His Son into the world for the sake of His name, to keep His Word, to demonstrate His love for His Israel, His Bride, His Church, you. In the name of Jesus. Amen.