Scripture Daily

Context No. 2191 of 4322 · Ezekiel

Context · Reflection

Ezekiel 12:7-11: in context

7I did so as I was commanded. I brought out my baggage by day, as baggage for moving, and in the evening I dug through the wall with my hand. I brought it out in the dark, and bore it on my shoulder in their sight. 8In the morning, the LORD’s word came to me, saying, 9“Son of man, hasn’t the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you, ‘What are you doing?’ 10“Say to them, ‘The Lord GOD says: “This burden concerns the prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel among whom they are.”’ 11“Say, ‘I am your sign. As I have done, so will it be done to them. They will go into exile, into captivity.

God commands Ezekiel to act out the coming exile as a living sign. He is to pack his belongings like a refugee, dig through the wall of his house, and carry his baggage out in the dark, on his shoulder, in the sight of the people. When they ask, what are you doing, he is to explain that this is a sign of what will befall them: they will go into exile. God tells him plainly, I am your sign; as I have done, so will it be done to them. Ezekiel's own actions, his whole enacted behavior, became a message to the people.

There is something striking in God's words: I am your sign. Ezekiel did not merely speak a message; he became one. His actions, his enacted behavior, were themselves the sermon, a visible sign that the watching people could read. What he did preached; his life, in that moment, was the message. God used not only Ezekiel's words but his actions, his very life lived out before the people, to communicate his truth. This points to a truth about all our lives: our actions speak, and our lives become signs to those who watch us. We may think that only our words communicate, but in fact our lives, our actions, our conduct, constantly speak to those around us, becoming signs that others read. People watch how we live, and our lives preach a message, whether we intend it or not, whether true or false, godly or ungodly. In a real sense, we are all signs to those who watch us, our conduct a visible sermon. And this calls us to consider what message our lives are preaching. Let your light shine before others, Jesus says, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Our good conduct, Peter says, seen by others, may lead them to glorify God. Our lives are signs; the question is what they sign, what message our actions and conduct convey to those who watch us. This searches whether our lives bear a true and godly message. Ezekiel was made a sign, his actions preaching God's truth to the people. And our lives, too, are signs to those around us, our conduct constantly communicating something. Do our lives preach a message that points to God, that commends the faith we profess, that others can read and be drawn by? Or do our actions convey something contrary to what we profess? We are, whether we intend it or not, signs to those who watch us; and we are called to let our lives bear a true and godly message, our conduct a visible sign that points others toward God. Ezekiel's enacted behavior was a sign to Israel; and our lives, likewise, are signs to those around us, so that we are called to live in such a way that our actions preach a true message, letting our light shine before others that they may glorify God.

As I recognize that my life and actions are constantly signs to those who watch me, preaching a message whether I intend it or not, can Ezekiel, whom God made a living sign to Israel through his enacted behavior, move me to consider what message my conduct conveys to those around me, and to live in such a way that my actions bear a true and godly message, letting my light shine before others that they may see my good works and glorify God?

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