A Forehead of Stone

My parents had always told me that I was somewhat hardheaded, and it wasn’t generally a compliment. Imagine my surprise when my wife told me that she was praying that God would give me a forehead of stone! Many years ago my wife came to me excited to share what she had been reading in Scripture and what she had been praying for me. I remember my wife reading to me from Ezekiel chapter 3 as God encouraged the prophet for his work. In both chapter 2 and chapter 3 Ezekiel is instructed not be afraid although the path ahead of him is hard and the people to whom he will minister are rebellious. It is in this context that God encourages him with the promise that he will make him hard enough to stand up against those who are hardened against him; he will give him a forehead of the hardest stone.

It is interesting to me that Ezekiel was specifically called to be a prophet to the people of God. He was not called to a foreign people who would listen but to God’s own people who would not listen. (Ez. 3:4-7) At that time in my life, when my wife began praying this for me, I was undergoing trials and attacks from within the Body of Christ. I was being assailed and labeled and generally maligned. By God’s grace I came through that period of ministry and then spent several years ministering to people of obscure language and generally did find them more open to listen to the Words of God. It is ironic that those with most access to the Word of God are often least hungry for it, and those with least access are sometimes the most open to receive it.

A friend of mine recently joked that I have the spiritual gift of blowing people off. I had to laugh, but I wonder if that is not part of the answer to my wife’s prayer for me. I see in Moses, Joshua, and Ezekiel men who were not strong and courageous naturally, but whom the Lord instructed and encouraged to be strong and courageous and to walk the path that He laid before them. He gave them the toughness that they needed to do the work to which He called them. Each of them were called to lead and serve God’s people. Each of them experienced great opposition. He promised to be with them and to guide them as they ministered. He promised never to forsake them. Jesus promises us the same thing. He promises us that He will be with us always and He has sent His spirit to dwell in us, comfort and guide us. Jesus also modeled for us the art of “blowing people off”.

In Mark 1 Jesus is engaged in powerful and fruitful ministry. One morning He went out early to find some solitude and silence to pray. His disciples are somewhat anxious as the crowds begin to gather and they sent out a search party to literally “hunt down” Jesus. They knew that they couldn’t do the things that Jesus could do and the people had expectations. When they finally found Jesus and told Him that He needed to return to the people, Jesus responded by telling them that they were not going back to the village, but rather were going to skip town and go somewhere else. Imagine the disciples surprise! Jesus did exactly and only what the Father had for Him to do. He did not allow the expectations of man to dictate His response, nor did He allow the needs around Him to set His agenda. He sought His Father and did His Father’s will not His own. He also fearlessly confronted those that the Lord directed Him to confront and in the case of cleansing temple even used physical violence to do so. He was so committed to doing His Father’s will that He submitted even to the humiliation and ignominy of the crucifixion.

Jesus had a forehead of stone. He sought His Father’s direction and was obedient to God’s will even at great pain to Himself. I have often heard it taught that Jesus loved people and sacrificially served people. I know that Jesus loved people, but He sacrificially served God. He served because His life was not His own. He did so, not for the sake of the people, but in humble service to God. His ministry was God-centric, not man-centric. Sometimes in serving God we have to have a forehead of stone like Jesus.