DAILY TEXT, Today Saturday August 24, 2024, The house of Israel will refuse to listen to you because they do not want to listen to me (Ezek. 3:7).

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Saturday August 24, 2024

The house of Israel will refuse to listen to you because they do not want to listen to me (Ezek. 3:7).

By rejecting Ezekiel, the people were rejecting Jehovah. The words of today's text must have reassured Ezekiel because the people's rejection did not mean that he was a bad prophet. Furthermore, Jehovah confirmed to him that, when his messages of condemnation were fulfilled, those Jews would know “that there was a prophet among them” (Ezek. 2:5; 33:33). Surely these comforting words gave Ezekiel the encouragement he needed to fulfill his ministry. We are also encouraged to know that it is Jehovah who sends us. He gives us the immense honor of being his witnesses (Is. 43:10). Just as Jehovah told Ezekiel: “Do not be afraid,” he says to us: “Do not be afraid” (Ezek. 2:6). Why should we not fear our opponents? Because, just as in the case of Ezekiel, it is Jehovah who sends us and gives us all his support (Is. 44: 8). w22.11 3, 4 paras. 4, 5.

How does Jehovah confirm his support for us? And what comforts and encourages us?

Jehovah confirms his support for us. For example, just before saying, “You are my witnesses,” he declared, “When you cross the waters, I will be with you, and when you cross the rivers, they will not cover you. When you pass through the fire, you will not be burned and the flames will not singe you” (Isa. 43:2). Sometimes when we preach, we encounter obstacles that are like rivers and face trials that are like fire. But, with Jehovah's help, we continue to preach (Isa. 41:13). The same thing happens to us as it did to Ezekiel: most people reject the message. We keep in mind that this rejection does not mean that we are bad witnesses of God. We are comforted and encouraged to know that Jehovah is pleased if we continue to declare the message faithfully. The apostle Paul said, “Each person will receive his reward according to his work” (1 Cor. 3:8; 4:1, 2). A sister who has been a pioneer for many years says: “I am glad to know that Jehovah rewards our efforts.”

How must Ezekiel feel every time he thought about the vision he received? (See cover drawing).

Ezekiel saw how much power God's holy spirit has. In a vision he saw how that spirit acted in powerful spiritual beings and in the enormous wheels of a heavenly chariot (Ezek. 1:20, 21). He himself tells us his reaction: “When I saw him, I fell face down to the ground.” He was so shocked that he fell to the ground (Ezek. 1:28). Probably, every time he thought about that shocking vision, he became more convinced that he could fulfill his ministry with the help of God's spirit.

What order did Jehovah give to Ezekiel? and What else did Jehovah do to strengthen Ezekiel?

Jehovah commanded Ezekiel: “Son of man, stand up so that I may speak with you.” That order and the spirit of God gave him the strength he needed to get up. He wrote, “The spirit came into me and made me stand up” (Ezek. 2:1, 2). Later and throughout his ministry, “the hand of the Lord”—that is, his holy spirit—guided him (Ezek. 3:22; 8:1; 33:22; 37:1; 40:1 ). That spirit gave Ezekiel the strength he needed to fulfill his mission of preaching to the “hard-headed and stubborn-hearted” Jews of his territory (Ezek. 3:7). Jehovah said to him: “I have made your face as hard as their faces and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. I have made your forehead like a diamond, harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them, and do not let their faces terrify you” (Ezek. 3:8, 9). It is as if Jehovah had told him: “Do not let his stubbornness discourage you. I will make you strong.”

From then on, the spirit of God led Ezekiel through the territory where he had to preach. He wrote: “The hand of the Lord was strong on me.” It took the prophet a week to assimilate and internalize the message he had to announce (Ezek. 3:14, 15). Then Jehovah told him to go to a plain, where the spirit entered him (Ezek. 3:23, 24). Ezekiel was ready to start preaching.

What help do we need to fulfill our ministry, and why?

What help do we need to fulfill our ministry? To answer this question, let's think about Ezekiel. Before he began to preach, the holy spirit gave him the strength he needed. Like Ezekiel, we could not preach if it were not for the help of the holy spirit. Why do we say this? Because Satan fights against us to stop the preaching (Rev. 12:17). From a human point of view, it might seem that Satan is too powerful a rival for us. But with our preaching we are overcoming it (Rev. 12:9-11). When we participate in the ministry, we demonstrate that his threats do not scare us. Every time we preach it is a defeat for Satan. So the fact that we can preach despite opposition shows that the holy spirit is giving us strength and that we have Jehovah’s approval. (Matt. 5:10-12; 1 Pet. 4:14)

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