What Do You Mean

9/2/2016

Ezekiel 18.1-2 1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel: “‘The parents eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’?”

You know there’s a problem when God asks you: What do you people mean by quoting this proverb…? When God asks you, ‘What do you mean?’ There’s some serious ‘splainin’ to do.

God, of course, is omniscient – there is nothing He doesn’t know, and nothing surprises Him. But He does ask some strange questions once in a while; this is one of them: What do you people mean when you say…? It’s almost like when He asked Adam and Eve: Where are you? (Genesis 3)

I love the line from the Princess Bride, when Inigo says to Vizzini: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means...” I can almost hear God saying the same thing to Ezekiel.

Several things cross my mind:

One: it is the duty of a prophet to know and to ask and to question the ones to whom he is prophesying. A prophet is a leader and he is to know what people mean, or he is to correct them.

Two: God listens to us when we pray for things we already have; when we ask Him for things He’s already given to us.
Three: God knows what we mean – He’s asking us if we know what we mean.
Four: Honesty is a good policy with God – just say what you mean, and mean what you say, and you’ll find God to be very helpful in the process. He knows everything – He really wants to know what we know…
Five: Speak the truth. Know the truth. Know the difference. Their proverb was a false statement based on a false understanding of how things work. We’re good at making false things true: I’m just a sinner, saved by grace. God helps those who help themselves. If you have enough faith, God will heal you… (to name a few).

God called Ezekiel to teach and shepherd His people exiled in a pagan land – it was a serious business because they were really good at screwing things up, and now they were in a pagan place where their screwed-uppedness would be sorely tested by others who were more screwed up than they were. It is amazing the power of what is said, thought, and just accepted as true, when we don’t even know where such stuff comes from.

What does God want you and me to know and live by? What is He asking us about? Do we accept that God listens to us and perhaps wants to ask us: What do you mean by that? It’s worth thinking about.

Father, You know and hear my heart. There is nothing You don’t know. I pray to be a better student of the truth, and to be faithful and courageous enough to question my thoughts, isms, and worldview if they come into conflict with Your truth. You word is Truth. Thank You for leading me into Truth. Amen