Ezekiel and Preaching Truth

by Terry Wane Benton

Ezekiel had a most challenging job, preaching the truth to people who were not ready to appreciate it. God gave Ezekiel the vision of God’s awesome greatness, and when a preacher preaches because he has a great concept of God, he can preach the hard truths that the people need to hear. He was God’s man, not because all the people loved him and appreciated him, but because he would preach the truth regardless of the responses he received, of the criticism, and of the visible results. There are four things God wants in the preachers of today:

1. There must be a greater vision and fear of God than the fear of man. Ezekiel had this. Jesus told His disciples that the fear of God would have to be greater than the fear of men (Matthew 10:28). Those who avoid teaching parts of God’s word, because those parts may not be popular, have a greater fear of man than a fear of God.
2. The preacher must be ready to be rejected by people. Jesus was a perfect preacher but was rejected because of what He preached. We cannot do a better job of preaching the word than Jesus. We cannot be more loving or gentle so that no one is offended. No! If you preach the truth, though lovingly and gently, you will still be rejected by some.
3. The preacher must love God enough to preach the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27). Ezekiel used all kinds of illustrations, and his style was very unusual, but he loved God enough to speak the things he would prefer not to say. Love for God and the people demanded the rebukes. The people would not turn unless they were confronted with their sins. Ezekiel had a mission from God to tell the truth, and he loved God enough to speak it.
4. The preacher must fear God enough to stay within the bounds of the authority of His word. He cannot say less or more than God’s word. For Ezekiel, it was not a mission to coddle and appease the people's desires or to adjust the message to be all positive.

Sin is a disease of the heart and soul that must be addressed precisely. The preacher must give the people what God wants them to know, learn, and practice, as well as what God does not want them to practice.

Ezekiel had the fear of God and a great respect for the authority and majesty of God. We today must learn from such men as Ezekiel that preaching the truth of God requires a heart prepared to seek to please God and address the issues of sin because we love God and mankind, and we are afraid not to preach the whole counsel of God. It is up to the hearer to examine the truth of what is said with reverence and bear the consequences in judgment If they don’t.