Facing the Fear of Man

This morning, we continue in our annual theme, Growing in Gospel Gratitude..

Our current study has us looking at biblical ways of Handling Criticism

Many of our passages have dealt with how to handle criticism in our own hearts—criticism towards leaders, critical disagreements, the hypocrisy of criticism, etc.

The passage we are going to be looking at still assesses our own hearts, but in the context of possible criticism from others

This morning, we’re going to be continuing our series by studying Ezekiel chapters 2 & 3, looking specifically at what that passage has to say about Facing the Fear of Man—please turn there with me (pg. 589)

Before we get into the topic, I think a bit of clarification is necessary—by “fear of man,” I don’t necessarily mean a terrified cowering at the thought or presence of a person.

The fear of man can take many forms—assessing all of our words and actions based on what others may think, living for the approval of another, obeying the so-called wisdom of man rather than word of God, etc.

While I can try to list off all the permutations of what the fear of man could look like, it may be easier to give you the right answer rather than all the wrong answers…

Deuteronomy 6:13-15a – You shall fear only the Lord your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name. You shall not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who surround you, for the Lord your God in the midst of you is a jealous God…

Instead of concerning ourselves with the account we may give before others, we are to fixate on the single account we must give before God—our passage provides beautiful insight on how this is done

And before we read our passage, it’s worth providing a bit of context into that as well

After the fall of Assyria, the past-its-prime kingdom of Egypt sought to seize control of the ancient near east in the face of a blossoming Babylonian empire under Nebuchadnezzar. His forces were far too great for Pharaoh Neco, who was eventually defeated. This shifted the servitude of God’s people—the Israelites—from Egypt to Babylon.

One Judean king after another sought to commit treason against Nebuchadnezzar, hoping against the word of the prophets that they could use their own power (or perhaps that of the Egyptians) to break free from this captivity. In one of those usurping acts, the Babylonian king himself visited Judah in his wrath, deposed king Jehoiachin, and bringing several inhabitants to Babylon—one of those individuals was our own Ezekiel.

Being a prophet of the Lord, he didn’t share his fellow Judahite optimism that one of their kings would be able to overthrow Nebuchadnezzar’s reign. In fact, The Lord had him prophesying the same message as Jeremiah (the weeping prophet)—God’s people would remain in captivity 70 years and Jerusalem would be laid waste—including the temple. That message didn’t win Jeremiah any senior superlatives—surely Ezekiel wouldn’t see any better treatment from the people.

While in exile, after exposing Ezekiel to some intense heavenly visions of majestic glory, the Lord commissions him to speak a message to His people. That’s where we pick up in our passage…

*read Ezekiel 2:1-3:11, 3:16-21

2 Then He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet that I may speak with you!” 2 As He spoke to me the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet; and I heard Him speaking to me. 3 Then He said to me, “Son of man, I am sending you to the sons of Israel, to a rebellious people who have rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day. 4 I am sending you to them who are stubborn and obstinate children, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ 5 As for them, whether they listen or not—for they are a rebellious house—they will know that a prophet has been among them. 6 And you, son of man, neither fear them nor fear their words, though thistles and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions; neither fear their words nor be dismayed at their presence, for they are a rebellious house. 7 But you shall speak My words to them whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious. 8 “Now you, son of man, listen to what I am speaking to you; do not be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you.” 9 Then I looked, and behold, a hand was extended to me; and lo, a scroll was in it. 10 When He spread it out before me, it was written on the front and back, and written on it were lamentations, mourning and woe.

3 Then He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” 2 So I opened my mouth, and He fed me this scroll. 3 He said to me, “Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your body with this scroll which I am giving you.” Then I ate it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth. 4 Then He said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them. 5 For you are not being sent to a people of unintelligible speech or difficult language, but to the house of Israel, 6 nor to many peoples of unintelligible speech or difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. But I have sent you to them who should listen to you; 7 yet the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, since they are not willing to listen to Me. Surely the whole house of Israel is stubborn and obstinate. 8 Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. 9 Like emery harder than flint I have made your forehead. Do not be afraid of them or be dismayed before them, though they are a rebellious house.” 10 Moreover, He said to me, “Son of man, take into your heart all My words which I will speak to you and listen closely. 11 Go to the exiles, to the sons of your people, and speak to them and tell them, whether they listen or not, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’” …..

16 At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 17 “Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me. 18 When I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 19 Yet if you have warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered yourself. 20 Again, when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I place an obstacle before him, he will die; since you have not warned him, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. 21 However, if you have warned the righteous man that the righteous should not sin and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; and you have delivered yourself.”

This is the Word of the Lord.

For the time we have remaining, I’d like to study our passage and provide 4 encouragements to combat the fear of man

I. Do Not Fear: We Have Been Sent (2:1-6)

Not surprisingly, the ministry of Ezekiel was empowered by the Holy Spirit—His presence in the work of this prophet is continually repeated throughout the book that bears his name

Similarly, this same Spirit was the vital component for the early church—so much so that Jesus told His disciples not to go out and spread the gospel just yet, because they had to first wait in Jerusalem for… Pentecost—the coming of the Holy Spirit into His people

Unsurprisingly, Ezekiel himself prophesies about this in regeneration and commissioning in his own ministry:

Ezekiel 36:26-27 – Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.

As such, we see that…

A. Those who have the Spirit are sent as messengers (v 2)

Ezekiel didn’t need to function in his own power. In fact, that’s what everyone around him was trying to do, leading to further enslavement and deeper hardship

He, like Christians today, was fully reliant upon the Spirit of God to enable him to accomplish all that God had commissioned him to do

And this is where it gets very relevant for us…

If you’re saved, you have His Spirit—Romans 8:9 makes that very clear…

Romans 8:9 – However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.

The question then becomes—why did God save you?? Why would He go to the trouble of sending His Son to die for you? Why would He choose to perpetually dwell IN those who are His through His Spirit?

Paul gives us one of the implications in Colossians 3…

Colossians 3:16 – Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

In other words, at a bare minimum, those who are His must have God’s Word dwelling in their hearts that they may: 1) teach and 2) admonish one another—utilizing song as well (*explain?)

Did you know that God made you a teacher of His Word? Did you know He calls you to admonish fellow Christians (which, by the way, means “to warn or reprimand someone firmly”)

Suddenly, the fear of man is not some distant implausibility but a very real battle for those who want to obey Christ! Avoiding conflict and confrontation is not an option given to those who have God’s Spirit

But we’re given further encouragement in this endeavor:

B. Those sent by God should not be afraid (v 6)

Verse 6 provides a great deal of encouragement in the face of hard news…

Ezekiel 2:6 – And you, son of man, neither fear them nor fear their words, though thistles and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions; neither fear their words nor be dismayed at their presence, for they are a rebellious house.

Commentators point out something curious about this bit of encouragement: usually, when God says, “do not be afraid,” it is followed or preceded by a reminder of His presence, typically something like, “for I am with you…”

But what does God tell Ezekiel he will be among in this passage? Thistles. Thorns. Scorpions. Rebellious people.

///application?///

Even in the midst of this—what’s the encouragement he’s given? Do not be afraid… Why? Well, not only is the Spirit IN Him, but He’s about to give Ezekiel what to say

And to us…

II. Do Not Fear: We Have His Word (2:7-3:4)

God proceeds to tell Ezekiel that he’s to speak the Words that He will give him

In other words…

A. He gives the words, we give the message

Does anyone here like to debate? (be honest…)

Truthfully, I hate debating, and for one simple reason: I have a bad tendency of losing…

Alexandra and I have an illustration that we use to describe how each of us thinks: she’s a microwave and I’m a croc pot… in other words, I’m awful at snap decisions or thinking on-my-toes. Alexandra, on the other hand, is really quick and sharp

Like a croc pot, if you give me two minutes to cook up a thought and present something to you, you’re gonna get some food-born illness… Like a microwave, if you ask my wife to give you her quick take on something, it’ll certainly be more edible than what I presented…

In debate, you need a microwave mind—able to whip something up fast and in-the-moment.

As a croc pot, if I have any hope of winning a debate, it’s because my mind was simply a warming vessel for a meal that’s already been prepared, and the pressure to cook something up fast has been removed

Fortunately, God’s message is tailor-made for microwaves and croc pots alike!

In our passage, we see Ezekiel…

i. “eating” His Word

The imagery painted here should already be somewhat familiar to us:

Ezekiel 2:8-9, 3:3b – Now you, son of man, listen to what I am speaking to you… Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you.” Then I looked, and behold, a hand was extended to me; and lo, a scroll was in it… Then I ate it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth.

In this short passage, God calls Ezekiel 6 TIMES to eat His Word

Similarly, a scroll is given to the apostle John in Revelation 10:8-11 where he too was called to eat the scroll. He, like Ezekiel, describes it as being sweet to the taste

What does this scroll represent? In both cases—here in Ezekiel and there in Revelation—it is the Word of God to His people

But curiously enough, in both cases, the message, the content, is very bitter

According to 2:10, the message Ezekiel was commissioned to give his people was one of lamentation, mourning, and woe—that last description possibly being the most significant

The word used for woe is referred to as a Hapax Legomenon, meaning the only occurrence of the word in Scripture. In the Hebrew, this word for woe is pronounced “hee” (הִי). Lectionaries renders it as "lamentation, wailing".

The brief nature of the word, set within the trademark three-fold Hebrew emphatic statement, lends itself towards onomatopoeia--all one could manage to mutter in the midst of gripping sorrow—as though through gritted teeth (hee)

The message Ezekiel was commissioned to give was not a pleasant one, yet remember, what was the taste of this Word to the one who has an appetite for it? SWEET

Brothers and sister, what are you feasting on? What do you have an appetite for? Do you find God’s Word to be sweet to the taste—all of it?

If there are portions of Scripture that are distasteful to you…

ii. speaking His Word

…will become near impossible

Yet that’s what The Lord calls Ezekiel to do—five times in this passage. That’s what the Lord calls us to do—countless times in His word

While we haven’t gotten to the “fear of man” portion of the text just yet, I hope you see how this portion of Scripture leading up to it is carefully pieced together and relevant for us today

1) Those who are called are also commissioned (in other words, if you are a Christian, you’re on a mission)

2) We are to be fed by God’s word—a symptom of being a Christian is our renewed palate: this Word (no matter the content) will be sweet to us

3) We are to speak this Word to other—even if it promises to be met with thorns, thistles, scorpions, and rebellion

But there’s more encouragement the Lord provides in this passage:

B. Success is measured by faithfulness, not results

God makes it plainly clear—especially in 3:5-7—that this message will not be well-received. Even though they speak the same language, bear the same culture, and have the same ancestors, it will be as though God’s Word is unintelligible to them

Commentator Eugene Cooper provides further insight:

The focus is on the difficulty of the assigned task and the specific qualities with which God had endowed the prophet to enable him to face opposition. The irony in this passage is its observation that foreigners would have been more receptive to a message from God than were the Israelites. The difficulties of cross-cultural communication are nothing compared to the obstacle of spiritual blindness - Cooper, Lamar Eugene. Ezekiel (NAC), 80.

Is Ezekiel responsible for the obedience of the people? NO

What then is his responsibility? Faithfulness to the message

How about with you and I—when we carry out our God-given commission to speak the Word, are we called into account regarding how other’s respond to that Word?

**Kuruvilla’s Israeli example

Is it the soldiers’ fault the man didn’t heed the warning?

All this brings us to our third encouragement:

III. Do Not Fear: We Are Equipped (3:5-11)

This is the passage that most people are aware of if they have any familiarity with Ezekiel 2-3

Ezekiel 3:8-9 – Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. Like emery harder than flint I have made your forehead. Do not be afraid of them or be dismayed before them…

The question is: what in the world does this mean?

In short…

A. He gives us what we need

The one whom the Lord commissions, He also equips—that’s what He is doing here with Ezekiel, and that’s what he does with us as well…

Yahweh assures Ezekiel that he will equip him fully with the emotional resources needed for the challenge—I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their forehead. Instead of being hardened against God, he will become “Ezekiel” (yĕḥezqēʾl, “God hardens”) in the fullest sense of the name. To emphasize the superlative degree of hardening, Yahweh compares the mettle of his forehead with emery (šāmîr), a form of corundum, the hardest substance known at the time, and here described as harder than flint. This divine hardening rendered realistic Yahweh’s challenge to Ezekiel not to fear or be terrified (tēḥat), emotionally shattered, by the rebellious reaction of his audience. – Block, Daniel. The Book of Ezekiel (NICOT), 130.

Admittedly, some messages are harder to give than others. Let me give two examples of this:

I had the honor of conducting the funeral service for Paula Yuill—a sweet friend and sister in Christ who valiantly fought against cancer and remained faithful to Him until the end. Delivering the Good News of Jesus and the hope of Paula’s subsequent resurrection was a joyful message to give: “because she’s in Christ, we know she’s now with Christ.”

Contrast that with a message Aaron had to give during a funeral for someone unaffiliated with our church. By all available data, this person did not have a saving relationship with Jesus and his family didn’t have much to do with Jesus either. Did that stop Aaron from boldly preaching the same gospel—yet as a warning and not a comfort? Absolutely not. And what was the result? Backlash from the family—thorns, thistles, scorpions, rebellion.

The Spirit equipped both Aaron and I to preach the gospel and give us what we needed: for me, composure in the midst of loss; for Aaron: boldness in the midst of opposition

Do you trust that He’ll give you what you need in your hour of speaking His word? It doesn’t need to be something complex like conducting a funeral—it can be something simple like 1) sharing the gospel with a coworker, 2) teaching a lesson in children’s ministry, 3) admonishing a wayward friend—so forth

If our focus is fixated on how the person or people will respond, we’ll be given to the fear of man and our focus in on the wrong place…

B. Everyone’s account is to God, not man (v 7)

Verse 7 makes that point clear:

Ezekiel 3:7 – yet the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, since they are not willing to listen to Me.

It’s not the people of Israel that commissioned Ezekiel to bring the message of lamentation, mourning, and woe—it was God Himself

Therefor, it’s not the people of Israel that Ezekiel needed to work to please

Brothers and sisters, there’s great…

i. freedom in focusing on Him

If I’m given over to the fear of man, who am I looking to please? OTHERS. Sometimes one person, sometimes many

What’s the standard I have to work from if I’m fearing man? In other words, how do I know what’s going to please that person (or people) and what’s going to displease them?

The truth is, I don’t know… The word or deed that won their approval one day may fall out of favor the next (*ex: flattery)

What about God? What’s the nature of His standard? Unchanging. Perfectly righteous. True. Always loving.

Isn’t there freedom in that? I don’t need to figure out what pleases you or y’all in this moment of time—all I need to do is please 1 person who makes it perfectly obvious how to accomplish this

As such, there’s great…

ii. freedom in pointing others to Him

Ezekiel didn’t have to cook up the perfect debate argument in order to win over the Israelites—The Lord readily gave Him what to say.

He didn’t need to win them over to his cause—he simply needed to appeal to the One who sent Him. There’s incredible freedom to that

Similarly, the task of a Christian is to simply point other’s to Him (*gospel plug—NC: look to Christ; C: focus on Him)

This brings us to our final bit of encouragement from Ezekiel 2-3…

IV. Do Not Fear: We Are Called to Love (3:16-21)

I had a coworker when I was working at a place (not Faith Church) before seminary began—he’d been married for a number of years and they had a young child at the time

He was an atheist—very far from God—but he knew that I was engaged to be married. He proceeded to tell me that in all the years that he and his wife had been dating and married, they had never once had an argument or confrontation (he attributed that to having a good marriage)

I was shocked! I knew Christian couples who had gotten into their fair share of heated arguments—in fact, I wasn’t a total novice to the concept, myself!

A little while later, he asked if I’d help them move. While we were carrying stuff around, he opened up to me a bit about personal struggles in the past. A good summary of what he said can be captured in this statement: “honestly Stefan, I knew then why people have affairs.” WOAH!

That was pretty far from the picture he’d painted of a flawless marriage. I thought in that moment, “maybe a good confrontation would have done y’all some good…”

Because love doesn’t always look like the absence of confrontation—love often looks like carrying out…

A. The task of a Watchman (v 17)

By way of reminder, this is what 3:17 says –

Ezekiel 3:17 – Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me.

Once again, Cooper provides a helpful look into the mission of a watchman

A watchman was a city employee appointed to be a lookout from some high vantage point such as a tower or the city wall. Such an office was extremely important because the safety of the entire population rested with the watchman. If a watchman failed in his duty to warn inhabitants of the town of impending attack, he was held personally responsible for any loss… Indifference that fails to save a life is comparable to negligent homicide. The prophet would be guilty of murder by his failure to fulfill his calling. According to the law of retribution, he was liable for the loss of life payable by the forfeit of his own (Gen 9:5–7). The responsibility of a believer in Christ today to share the word of life, salvation, and forgiveness is no less awesome. Once the message of salvation is entrusted to us, we are responsible and accountable to share with those who are lost. – Cooper, Lamar Eugene. Ezekiel (NAC), 85-86.

WOAH

If you recall from our passage, Ezekiel is commissioned to call out the sin of two groups: those characterized as wicked, and those characterized as righteous. First, what does it mean to…

B. Love the wicked (vv 18-19)

In today’s context, this would be the person far from God. Let’s be honest, what’s a common Christian tendency when considering the “hopelessly lost” person? Sadly, it can look like anything from scorn to indifference—or worse yet: affirmation

Jesus calls us to love our enemies—far from the tendency towards scorn

Jesus calls us to pray for our enemies—far from exhibiting indifference

Jesus tells the woman he saves from being stoned to death to “go and sin no more” in John 8—far from an affirmation of her sin

So what does God call us to do? What does loving the wicked look like?

Carrying out the task of a watchman. As wisdom dictates, sharing God’s Word with those who are far from Him—specifically the good news of Jesus, as Eugene points out

This is not too dissimilar to…

C. Love the righteous (vv 20-21)

In today’s context, this would be the wayward Christian. There are several passages in the New Testament that reaffirm our calling to lovingly reprove the Christian caught up in sin. When wisdom dictates, lovingly share God’s Word with them and point them back to Christ

Let me be clear: if you or I are driven by the fear of man, we will never function as a watchman. It’s far too difficult to call a sinner to repentance and reprove a Christian for his sin than it is to avoid confrontation. But that’s not what love is, and that’s not why God gave you His Spirit

So brothers and sisters:

I. Do Not Fear: We Have Been Sent (*recap)

II. Do Not Fear: We Have His Word (*don’t need to cook something up)

III. Do Not Fear: We Are Equipped (*focus on Him)

IV. Do Not Fear: We Are Called to Love (*watchman)