You’ve seen the guy painted silver who pretends to be a statue. And the juggler with bowling pins, the guy who “swallows” flaming swords, the magicians, drummers, and tap dancers in the French Quarter. Street theater is nothing like THEATER-theater. It’s not a play—there’s no script, and usually a cast of only one. Often there’s a hat or a violin case in which to drop a few dollars. Other times it’s not about money but sharing a message.
The Bible employs street theater. God enlists prophets to LIVE OUT His messages.
And no one is called to more outrageous street theater than Ezekiel.
It begins when God gives him a scroll covered in words of judgment. God tells him to eat it. “So I ate it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth.” Ezekiel 3:3.
Next God tells him to build a model of Jerusalem. “Then lay siege: construct a siege wall, build a ramp, pitch military camps, and place battering rams against it on all sides…. Then lie down on your left side…” and God tells Ezekiel to lie on his left side one day for each year of Israel’s sin. That’s 390 DAYS! Then he will lie on his right side one day for each year of Judah’s sin. Another 40 days! And during those 430 days Ezekiel will eat a tiny amount of bread cooked over cow dung. The message? Because of their sin, God’s people are heading into a long siege, they will starve, and what little food they do eat will be unclean, Ezekiel 4.
But why the theater? Why not just preach a sermon? Because Israel WILL NOT listen. So God creates an illustration, a bit of theater that will last over 14 months! Maybe they will repent of their sins before God has to send an enemy nation to actually lay siege against them.
Does your life look like street theater? Could God be trying to tell you something? If nothing else, 2020 and the years that have followed seem to cry out for sorrow over sin and a return to holy living. Are you doing your part?
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Household Words: 