When God called Ezekiel to prophesy, He sent him “to the house of Israel” in order to “speak…My words to them” (Ezekiel 3:4). God told the prophet that they were not “of unintelligible speech or difficult language, whose words you cannot understand” (Ezekiel 3:6).
Ezekiel and the people he spoke to shared a common background and language. There would not be a cultural or communication barrier. God said, “I have sent you to them who should listen to you” (Ezekiel 3:6).
However, there was another challenge Ezekiel would face in carrying out his commission: “Yet the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, since they are not willing to listen to Me. Surely the whole house of Israel is stubborn and obstinate” (Ezekiel 3:7).
We share a common background and language with most of the people we interact with on a daily basis. Because of this, we might expect that they would be interested when we talk to them about the Bible and try to help lead them to the truth. Yet most are not interested for the same reason that Ezekiel’s audience was not interested. They stubbornly refuse to listen to God.
So remember that not everyone who should listen will listen. This can be discouraging, yet understanding this reality can help keep us from getting completely disheartened when our efforts seem to be in vain. When we realize that someone is not interested, we can move on and look for someone else who will be.