A Spectacle—Authenticating His Messenger
For context, Ezekiel was a prophet during the Babylonian exile of the Israelites to warn them of the times to come. The Lord had Ezekiel go through a series of actions to use imagery to show the Israelites what they would go through.
In Ezekiel 4, The Lord had Ezekiel lie on his left side for 390 days to represent 390 years of disobedience from the house of Israel and 40 days on his right side to represent 40 years of Judah’s disobedience to Him. The Lord also instructed him to make his bread that he was to eat on his side, in front of everyone, over human dung; but The Lord was gracious to Ezekiel to not have him defile himself, so he used cow dung. In Ezekiel 24, Ezekiel’s wife died and in front of everyone, he was not to mourn to symbolize to the children of Israel that when their daughters and sons die by the sword, they will not mourn because their disobedience caused this.
Now these are just two examples of the things Ezekiel had to do in order to prophesy to the Israelites their judgment but upon reading what Ezekiel endured, I was reminded of the words of the Apostle Paul:
I Corinthians 4:9-13 (NKJV) “For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored! To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless. And we labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; being defamed, we entreat. We have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now.”
Let’s pay attention to verse 9, “spectacle to the world”. Google says a spectacle refers to a visual striking or noteworthy event or object, often an unusual or impressive display.
The Lord required that Ezekiel go through these acts to show him how The Lord feels and so that He could minister to His people from experience. He truly became a spectacle to the world because every act he did, he did it IN FRONT OF EVERYONE. We all are spectacles to the world in a sense. Everyone is not meant to be a prophet or an apostle but we all are required to bear the cross of Jesus and which He too, on the cross became a spectacle. Are you ready to be a spectacle to the world? Truly set apart.
You might ask why are we spectacles, why does it require all that. Let’s look to Ezekiel as our example:
Ezekiel 24:24 (NJKV) “Thus Ezekiel is a sign to you; according to all that he has done you shall do; and when this comes, you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.’”
The Hebrew word for sign is mopheth: Sign, wonder, miracle. The Strong’s concordance says: “It often appears in contexts where God is affirming His covenant, delivering His people, or authenticating His messengers.”
That last part should’ve got you: authenticating His Messengers. Ezekiel went through basically public humiliation or looked unusual to the world to prove as a sign to The Lord’s people, authenticating, proving Ezekiel to be true, valid, acceptable of The Lord to even bring His message. See we all have a responsibility to bring souls to Christ and you too will look weird, unusual to the world for The Lord's sake. Remember, we are called to be in this world but not of it and the natural man cannot possibly understand spiritual things (John 17:14-16, 1 Corinthians 2:14). Once you become a spectacle, you are in the process to be worthy of The Lord’s call to share His Good News with the world, solely by your actions.