But you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns surround you, and you dwell among scorpions. Do not be afraid of their words or dismayed by their presence, though they are a rebellious house.You, son of man, don’t be afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you, and you dwell among scorpions. Don’t be afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house.And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house.
3 sermons cite this verse
Ezekiel's ministry is not about sparking revival. He's going to pronounce judgment to go toe to toe, forehead to forehead with God's rebellious people to tell them, time's up, it's too late, you missed your chance. They will refuse to repent, which is in the Old Testament, a refusal to repent. He's the precursor to idolatry. such a dark outlook is not like the preacher's commission today. Thankfully, maybe some of you would say in a culture, so hostile to the gospel, maybe it's similar. It's not too far off from this. Nevertheless, the equipping for ministry retains similarities. And to see some similarities now, Ezekiel two, eight, but you son of man, hear what I say to you. Be not rebellious like that rebellious house. open your mouth and eat what I give you and when I looked behold a hand was stretched out to me and behold a scroll of a book was in it and he spread it before me and it had writing on the front and on the back and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe and he said to me son of man eat whatever you find here eat this scroll and go speak to the house of Israel so I opened my mouth and he gave me the scroll to eat and he said to me son of man feed your belly with the scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it then I ate it and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey. …
… Man. Ezekiel 2.6, "'And you, Son of Man," God is speaking, obviously, "'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. Speaking of Israel. But you shall speak my words to them, whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious. 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. Oh, open your mouth. Yes. Eat the words that I am giving you. Then I looked, and this is again a vision, and behold, a hand was extended to me, and lo, a scroll, a book was in it. When He spread it out before me, it was written on the front and back, and written on it were lamentations and mourning and woe. Chapter 3, And He said to me, Son of man, eat what you find, eat the scroll, and go speak to the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and He fed me this scroll. 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. And he said to me, Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak my words to them. The Word of God in the mouth …
"And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them; neither be afraid of their words, though briars and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions; be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house."--Ezekiel ii. 6. What is here implied, as the trial of the Prophet Ezekiel, was fulfilled more or less in the case of all the Prophets. They were not Teachers merely, but Confessors. They came not merely to unfold the Law, or to foretell the Gospel, but to warn and rebuke; not to rebuke only, but to suffer. This world is a scene of conflict between good and evil. The evil not only avoids, but persecutes the good; the good cannot conquer, except by suffering. Good men seem to fail; their cause triumphs, but their own overthrow is the price paid for the success of their cause. When was it that this conflict, and this character and issue of it, have not been fulfilled? So it was in the beginning. Cain, for instance, was envious of his brother Abel, and slew him. Enoch walked with God, and was a preacher of righteousness, and God took him. Ishmael mocked at Isaac; Esau was full of wrath with Jacob, and resolved to kill him. Joseph's brethren were filled with bitter hatred of him, debated about killing him, cast him into a pit, and at last sold him into Egypt. Afterwards, in like manner, Korah, Dathan, and Abiram rose up against Moses. And, later still, Saul persecuted David; and Ahab and Jezebel, Elijah; and the priests and the prophets the Prophet Jeremiah. Lastly, not to dwell on other instances, the chief priests and Pharisees, full of envy, rose up against our Lord Jesus Christ, and delivered Him to the heathen governor, Pontius Pilate, to be crucified. So the Apostles, after Him, and especially St. Paul, were persecuted by their fierce and revengeful countrymen; and from the way in which St. Paul speaks on the subject we may infer that it is ever so to be: "All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution:" or, as he says, after referring to the history of Isaac and Ishmael, "As then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now:" and indeed we see this fulfilled in its measure before our eyes even at this day. Hence our Saviour, to console all who suffer for His sake, graciously says, "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." …