FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10
Scripture: Ezekiel 24:15-24

The prophets are held up to us as an example of men who walked in faith and in this study we are looking at the prophets and how they released that faith. Ezekiel was a tremendous prophet and in Ezekiel 24:15-24 he got an assignment that nobody wanted. He had to live out in front of the Israelites exactly what they were going to experience as a judgment for their rebellion. He went home in the evening and found his wife had died. He had been commanded what to do and the next morning, he could not even mourn. How much criticism can we imagine Ezekiel had to take from the religious crowd? But he was commanded to live a picture, in the hope that people would see and turn. There is something to be said for learning to judge not by the seeing of the eye and the hearing of the ear, but to rely on the Holy Spirit to interpret things for us. When people suffer painful circumstances, it does not always mean God is releasing affliction as a layer of His love. Ezekiel was obedient to God and as a result of his obedience to the Word, God showed up in his behalf more than once. He undoubtedly was maligned but to his great credit he was obedient to God! Israel went into captivity just exactly as Ezekiel prophesied. The Word of the Lord in his mouth was truth.