“They are a Stubborn and Hard-hearted People”

By Lou K. Coleman

He said to me, “Daughter of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you.” As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. He said: “Daughter of man, I am sending you to rebellious people that has rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have been in revolt against me to this very day. The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’ And whether they listen or fail to listen—for they are a rebellious people—they will know that a prophet has been among them.  And you, daughter of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or be terrified by them, though they are rebellious people. You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious. But you, daughter of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not rebel like that rebellious people; open your mouth and eat what I give you.”

Then I looked, and I saw a hand stretched out to me. In it was a scroll, which he unrolled before me. On both sides of it were written words of lament and mourning and woe. And he said to me, “Daughter of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the people.” So, I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat. So, I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth. He then said to me: “Daughter of man, go now to the people of and speak my words to them.  [Ezekiel chapter 2]

This is what the Sovereign Lord says. The night is nearly over, and the day is almost here. [Psalms 90: 11-12]. What day? The day of trouble described in [Matthew 24:21; Mark 13 and Luke 21]. The day of trouble, described back in [Ezekiel 36, Daniel 12] and elsewhere as the “Great Tribulation.” Listen to the sound of the trumpet.

But they said, “We will not listen.” [Jeremiah 6:17] The word of the Lord has become a reproach to them. They have no delight in it. [Jeremiah 6:10]. For they have done worse than their fathers; walking everyone after the imagination of his evil heart, stiffened their neck, turned to Me their back and not their face. And though I have taught them persistently, they have not listened to receive My instruction [Jeremiah 16:12; Jeremiah 17:23; Jeremiah 32:33]. God grieves. This has been their way from their youth, that they have not obeyed My voice although I persistently sent them all My servants the prophets. They are stubborn and hard-hearted people!

Jeremiah impugns God’s people for failing to listen, then records God’s message to them: “Therefore, thus says the Lord; Behold, I am bringing disaster upon you that you cannot escape. You have provoked Me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm because you have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear. [Jeremiah 11:11; Jeremiah 25:3-4].

God’s judgment came after twenty-three years of persistently speaking to stubborn and hard-hearted children who refused to listen. What a tragedy!

Author: Lou Coleman