Five: The Territorial Influence of the Rebellious
Sometimes one lives so long with filth that the stench does not seem so repulsive anymore. Sometimes one sees so much of an error that it gradually loses its shock appeal and does not seem so vile anymore. It is what, in another context, I have described as the domestication of sin.
When confronted with the x-raying glory of God, Prophet Isaiah lamented that his crisis of unclean lips had derived from the people of unclean lips among whom he dwelt. In other words, he was a victim of the territorial influence of that particular sin. He cried, “I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips” (Isaiah 6:5).
Sometimes even prophets may become victims of the ungodly environments in which they live, and not realize what has gone wrong with their lives, until confronted by the brightness of God's merciful glory. In our passage, God says to the prophet Ezekiel,
6 And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them,… though they be a rebellious house.
7 And thou shalt speak my words unto them… for they are most rebellious.
8 But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee.
If the possibility does not exist for the messenger to be influenced by those to whom he has been sent, either through fear or flattery; if it was unlikely for Prophet Ezekiel to contract the disease of rebellion that pervaded the land to which God was sending him, why was it necessary for him to be told, and that by God Himself, “Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house”?
Ungodliness sometimes becomes acceptable 'tradition' because it is the way of life of those among whom we dwell. Once blasphemous tunes, heard so often, become acceptable ‘contemporary’ music; nudity, being so prevalent in the rebellious culture, becomes current ‘style’; and curses sneak into greetings. Sometimes it is because we seek the praise of those that hate us.
Sometimes it is because we fear them. Sometimes it is the slow death from the poison of sins long domesticated by the culture in which we live, where the viper has learnt to sting and soothe until we are drugged to death, unless confronted, like Isaiah, by the merciful and restoring glory of God.
Dear prophet of God, while no one may challenge your divine commission to the land of your labours, may we ask, Have you caught some of the dirt and disease of that place, and do not realize that you have?
