
Ezekiel preached on the destruction of Judah, giving sin as the reason for its destruction, and everyone loved it and said “amen” to it. And then they continued to live in sin. James warned Christians of this same kind of listening without learning in his New Testament letter: “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it — he will be blessed in what he does” (James 1:22-25).
Ezekiel was a great preacher. Everyone said so. They just didn't apply his messages from God to their lives.