SCRIPTURE: Ezekiel 12
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
In the morning the word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, did not the Israelites, that rebellious people, ask you, ‘What are you doing?’ “Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: This prophecy concerns the prince in Jerusalem and all the Israelites who are there.’ Say to them, ‘I am a sign to you.’ [Ezekiel 12:8-11]
Ezekiel’s words and actions are as signs to the people, but they do not understand; they have eyes but do not see, ears but do not hear [Ezekiel 12:1]
It’s interesting to note that when my messages are accompanied by a drama, the message seems to get through so much better.
But here they are so far gone, so closed to God, that they refuse to see or hear.

Jesus was also a sign, like Ezekiel – He did many things to illustrate God’s message.
One example is when He cleaned out the temple of the money makers.
The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken. [John 2:18-22]
Cleansing the temple was not enough – the crooks were no doubt back in the temple the very next day – Jesus needed to address the core problem, namely the curse of sin and death.
Using symbolic language, He describes His own death and resurrection.
But many of the people didn’t get it, they were to far gone, too closed to God.
It took the disciples a while too; they didn’t figure out the sign until after it happened.
After He was raised, they recalled His words and they believed…
No doubt the same thing happened to the people of Jerusalem, after Jerusalem was destroyed and the prince taken into exile, they recalled Ezekiel’s words and believed.

In order to read the signs, we need to be open to God.
We need to have eyes that want to see and ears that want to hear.
So many people today ignore His message, not because it is not compelling or true, but because they do not want to hear or see it.
As I said before, sometimes it takes a dramatic presentation (a movie, a story, a drama) to reach past the defenses of the heart and mind and penetrate.
The most important sign that ought to impact us is the death of Jesus on the cross.
That ought to convince us of the seriousness of sin and the depth of God’s love.
Will we see it, will we hear it, will we believe it?
One day we will, when all the signs are finally fulfilled.

PRAYER:
Lord, help me not to wait until after the fact to take Your signs, warnings and appeals seriously. Grant me an open heart, eyes to see and ears to hear!