Deeper Commentary
Ezekiel 3:1 He said to me, Son of man, eat that which you find. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel- Eating the scroll spoke of the need at the beginning of his ministry to absorb the message personally into himself. Our preaching is not to be a mere forwarding of information to others, a sharing of fact in a mechanical way, a passive invitation to attend church social events. Rather is the reality of judgment to come and the real possibility of participating in the coming restored Kingdom of God to be part of our very core being. Only when we personally identify with it will our personal witness become compelling.
Ezekiel 3:2 So I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat the scroll-
Ezekiel was told to eat the scroll (:1), and when he expressed willingness
to do so, he was made to eat the scroll- which otherwise, in a literal
sense, would have been impossible. We recall how on Ez. 2:1 we noted that
he was told to stand on his feet, and when willing to do so, the Spirit
made him stand on his feet (Ez. 2:2). And this is how God works with us
today. See on :11.
Ezekiel 3:3 He said to me, Son of man, cause your belly to eat, and fill
your stomach with this scroll that I give you. Then I ate it; and it was
as sweet as honey in my mouth- As explained on :1, Ezekiel like all
preachers had to internalize God's word before preaching it. To eat a
literal scroll would have seemed impossible; but he was willing, and so
the Spirit - Angel empowered him to do so (:2). What he instinctively
imagined to be bitter and impossible to digest- turned out as sweet as
honey. But note: "In my mouth". The hope of the message was sweet
to him, and to all who would accept it. But the content was "woe" to
Jerusalem (Ez. 2:10). That bitter judgment could be turned to sweet honey-
for those who chose true spirituality. The same figure is used in Rev.
10:9. There is indeed a silver lining to all suffering caused as a result
of Divine judgment. But it's not immediate; it is the hope of the Kingdom
and personal salvation for God's true people. But the reality was that the
word would not be sweet for those judged by it; hence in Rev. 10:9 the
scroll was sweet as honey in the mouth, but then bitter in his stomach.
This may be reflected here by Ezekiel subsequently feeling "bitterness"
(:14). Bitterness is the experience of the condemned, and the prophets so
identified with their message and audience that like the Lord Jesus, they
felt the bitterness of condemnation within themselves, whilst personally
being innocent and experiencing the word and purpose of God as sweet as
honey.
Ezekiel 3:4 He said to me, Son of man, go to the house of Israel, and
speak My words to them- "Son of man" is of course the common title
for the Lord Jesus, who Ezekiel pointed forward to. But the phrase can
simply mean 'a human one'. It was Ezekiel's humanity which was to be the
basis of appeal to the audience, as ours should be likewise.
Ezekiel 3:5 For you are not sent to a people of a foreign speech and of a
hard language, but to the house of Israel- see on Jer. 23:18,22. The
foreign, hard language is surely that of Assyria and Babylon (Is. 28:11;
33:19).
Ezekiel 3:6 Not to many peoples of a foreign speech and of a hard
language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, if I sent you to
them, they would listen to you- The fact Gentiles would have
responded in a given situation is often held up as an extra reason for
Israel's condemnation. The God who knows all possible futures sees this
more clearly then we do; if he or she or they had been given what we
have been, they would have responded far better. See on Mt. 11:21.
We may well wonder why Ezekiel was sent to the first deportees in Babylon, to announce to them the sins of the Jews still in Judah and the impending destruction of the temple because of their idolatries. Why wasn't he sent to tell this to the Jews in Judah, so that they might repent? Perhaps the implication was that if the Jews in exile, that first group taken captive, had repented, then their repentance would have been enough to forestall the planned judgment upon those back in Judah. But it didn't work out like that. The tragedy was, according to Ez. 3:6, that had Ezekiel preached his message in the Babylonian language to the Babylonians, they would've repented. In this we have an insight into the pain of God, knowing as He does all possible futures, all potential outcomes. Truly the hardness of heart of the exiles was something amazing. And God likewise looks down upon our lives today, seeing all possibilities, and how unbelievers would respond so much more to Him than His own dear people. It's the pain of the parent, knowing that other children would respond so much more to their love than their own beloved offspring. The Lord Jesus had something of this when He commented that Tyre and Sidon would've repented had they had His message preached to them; but Israel would not (Mt. 11:21). See on Ez. 10:2,7.
Ezekiel 3:7 But the house of Israel will not listen to you; for they will
not listen to Me; for all the house of Israel are obstinate and
hard-hearted-
God
told Ezekiel that Israel would not hear his preaching; and yet
Ezekiel repeatedly prefaced his preaching addresses with an appeal to
please hear God’s word (Ez. 6:3;
13:2; 18:25; 20:47; 34:7; 36:1,4). He was hoping against hope; his
preaching work was asking him to attempt the impossible. To make a nation
hear who would not hear. Jeremiah likewise was told that Israel wouldn’t
hear him (Jer. 7:27), but still he pleaded with them to hear (Jer. 9:20;
10:1; 11:6; 16:12; 17:24; 38:15).
Ezekiel 3:8 Behold, I have made your face hard against their faces, and
your forehead hard against their foreheads- The idea is that he was
face to face up against the Jews. The hardness of their foreheads was a
reflection of how stiff hearted they were, as earlier lamented (:7). The
heart effectively means the mind. Ezekiel was to have the Spirit work upon
his heart, confirming him in the path and mental positions he had chosen;
just as God had apparently confirmed Judah in their hard mindedness. There
is an "evil spirit from the Lord" such as plagued Saul, and also the holy
Spirit from Him. He confirms men in the mental path they choose. "Hard" is
the word translated "obstinate" in :7. They both were confirmed or
hardened in the mental attitudes they adopted.
Ezekiel 3:9 As an adamant harder than flint have I made your forehead.
Don’t be afraid of them, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they
are a rebellious house- The hearts of the captives were to be
described with the same word, "adamant" (Zech. 7:12). God can harden us in
the way of either spirituality or hardness of heart. This psychological
strengthening was necessary for Ezekiel as he engaged with Jews hardened
by the experience of captivity. The command not to be dismayed is exactly
that spoken to Israel as they first entered the promised land (Dt. 1:21;
31:8; Josh. 1:9; 8:1; 10:25). Ezekiel and the repentant remnant could
likewise leave Babylon (cp. Egypt) and enter and possess the land, against
all apparent obstacles. The same word is used in Is. 51:7, where the
faithful at the time of the captivity are urged not to be dismayed because
of opposition from apostate Jews. Jeremiah had been given the same
encouragement (Jer. 1:17). Circumstances repeat between the lives of God's
children. We are not alone. No situation is totally unprecedented. This is
the value of empathetic Bible reading, as well as of fellowship with
others within God's people; for through them we also realize that we are
not alone.
Ezekiel 3:10 Moreover He said to me, Son of man, all My words that I shall
speak to you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears- This
appeal had been materially symbolized by the eating of the scroll with
those words upon it. Ezekiel is several times encouraged not to be a mere
purveyor or forwarder of information, but to internalize the message. This
is even now what makes for credible, compelling witness.
Ezekiel 3:11 Go to them of the captivity, to the children of your people,
and speak to them, and tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh;’ whether
they will hear, or whether they will forbear- Ezekiel was told to "go
to them", he was willing, and was confirmed by the Spirit lifting him up
and transporting him there in a moment. We have earlier seen this
confirmation by the Spirit of his willingness; see on Ez. 2:2; 3:1,2.
Ezekiel 3:12 Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice
of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of Yahweh from His place-
As noted on :11, this was the Spirit's confirmation of Ezekiel himself
being willing to make the journey and "go". The Angels are involved with the Cherubim. Yet in Ezekiel's context, the
language of chariots inevitably suggests the approach of enemy armies (Ez.
26:10). Thus the cherubim chariots represented not only the Angels, but
also the chariots of God's enemies; for the Lord of the Angelic hosts was
manifested on earth in the Babylonian hosts. The word for the "rushing"
noise of the cherubim wheels is used elsewhere about the noise of the
chariots of Israel's enemies and the Babylonian invasion (Jer. 10:22;
47:3; Nah. 3:2). The Angelic armies of Heaven were therefore revealed on
earth in the chariots of Babylon; it was both Babylon and the Angelic
cherubim behind them who took Judah captive, and who could also return
them to their land. Hence the stress in Ezekiel's vision that the wheels
of the cherubim were on the earth / land. Clearly enough, the things that
go on in our lives, even those things which appear as brutal and tragic as
the Babylonian chariots were to Judah, are not random machinations of men;
they are, in some unfathomable way, under the direct control of a God of
love, who only means to do us good at our latter end.
Ezekiel 3:13 I heard the noise of the wings of the living creatures as
they touched one another, and the noise of the wheels beside them, even
the noise of a great rushing- The four Angels or groups of Angels
that comprised them had wings which "kissed one another" (A.V. mg. ) and
moved with a soft, smooth sound, despite all four being distinct in some
ways. Thus the loving co-operation of the Angels in their work is
emphasized. See on Gen. 1:26. The wings made a noise, but apparently
didn't turn or move as they "went" (Ez. 1:9). This again is the paradox of
God's working- motion without movement, winged beings moving without
moving their wings. And so it seemed to the exiles; the apparent lack of
Divine movement was in fact movement. And this likewise explains the
apparent silence of God in our human lives.
Ezekiel 3:14 So the Spirit lifted me up, and took me away- This
was in confirmation of his own desire to "go" there in obedience (:11).
And I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; and the hand of Yahweh was strong on me- The bitterness is explained on :3. The word of judgment was sweet as honey in Ezekiel's mouth, but when John ate a similar scroll, it was sweet as honey in his mouth but then bitter in his stomach (Rev. 10:9). This is the bitterness spoken of here. Ezekiel had absorbed the word into himself, so that he felt the bitterness for those who would be judged by it. See on :15.
Ezekiel 3:15 Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel Abib, by the
river Chebar, and to where they lived; and I sat there overwhelmed among
them seven days- He sat astonished and silent among the captives for
seven days when he arrived to them with his message of judgment. The
connection with Job’s friends is obvious and intended. Ezekiel, the one
whom Israel hated and rejected as they did all the prophets, beating some
and killing some, felt their grief and sat with them, deeply sympathizing,
just as Job’s friends initially did. The Hebrew translated “astonished” is
usually translated “destroyed”, “desolate” or “wasted”. All that had
happened to Israel for their sins, Ezekiel felt had happened to him, such
was his identification with sinners. Two closely related words occur in
Ez. 3:14,26 [marah cp. maree]: “I went in bitterness…
they are a rebellious house”. Why was Ezekiel bitter / rebellious
of spirit when he went to preach to his people; even though he personally
was willing to preach to them? Surely it was because he shared
their spirit with them; he so entered into their spirit that he reflected
their feelings within himself, even though he was not ultimately
rebellious personally as they were. Because Israel’s heart would melt and
be feeble “Because of the tidings” which Ezekiel taught, therefore his
heart sighed and broke because he identified with how they would
later feel when his words came true (Ez. 21:6,7).
Ezekiel 3:16 It happened at the end of seven days, that the word of Yahweh
came to me, saying- The seven days of Ezekiel's silence could be
interpreted as disobedience to the command to speak. Hence he needed
encouragement. He perhaps feared their looks, perceiving they were men
hardened by the traumas of captivity and exile. He was therefore
temporarily disobedient, or hesitant to obey, the commands not to fear
their looks.
Ezekiel 3:17 Son of man, I have made you a watchman to the house of
Israel: therefore hear the word from My mouth, and give them warning from
Me- As suggested on :16, this can be read as a rebuke of Ezekiel's
seven days silence. If Ezekiel personally was Israel's watchman, then he
is the watchman in view in Ez. 33:2,6,7.
Ezekiel was prepared for his ministry by being told to eat and absorb
the roll containing the words he was to preach. He was then picked up the
spirit-wind, and transported to his audience (Ez. 3:12,13). The noise of
the wind in the wings of the cherubim is elsewhere interpreted as the
sound of God's word (Ez. 10:5). Yet Ezekiel 3 goes on to warn Ezekiel that
if he doesn't preach the word to his audience, their blood will be upon
his head (Ez. 3:17-21). This warning was given after Ezekiel had been
transported to the people but sat silent with them for 7 days (Ez. 3:16).
I understand from all this was that God's intention was that His message
was not to be merely parroted out by Ezekiel, but that it was to be
fundamentally part of him; and the message of God's word, symbolized by
the awesome wind-spirit generated by the movement of the cherubim's wings,
was to propel him forward to make his witness to hard faced men and women.
This is the ideal. And yet Ezekiel even when he failed to live to up it,
was still propelled forward in the mission. And many a missionary knows
the truth of this. I take the way that Ezekiel was told to go preach to
the captives, and yet was then taken up and transported there, to suggest
a reluctance on his part. Perhaps being struck dumb until the fulfilment
of the prophecies (Ez. 3:26; 24:27) suggests this was a punishment of
Ezekiel for a lack of faith- for this is exactly the judgment upon
Zacharias for faithlessness (Lk. 1:20).
Many times we read of how those who hold God's word are to shine it out to
others. The Old Testament tends to use a Hebrew word translated "warn" in
speaking of how prophets like Ezekiel were to warn-out, or shine out,
God's word to others (Ez. 3:17,18 etc.). Yet the same word occurs in Dan.
12:3 about how the preachers of God's word will "shine" eternally in His
Kingdom. The connection is clear- how we shine forth God's word now, is
how we will eternally shine it forth. Thus in the practice of preaching
today, we are working out who and how we shall eternally be. The very
concept of preaching is therefore partly designed by God for our benefit,
to develop us into the persons we shall eternally be, by His grace. When
we read that God will 'require the blood' of those to whom we fail to
preach His word (Ez. 3:18), we may here have another reference to a 'going
through' of our deeds at the day of judgment. There, perhaps, we will have
to give an account, an explanation, of why our neighbours and workfellows
lie eternally dead- because we were too shy, too weakly convinced of the
eternal realities we knew, to tell them. For the Hebrew word translated
"require" implies some kind of inquisition / explanation. Here we see the
vital importance of witness.
Ezekiel 3:18 When I tell the wicked, You shall surely die- The
same phrase used in Genesis for the condemnation of Adam. Adam is
everyman.
And you give
him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save
his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood
will I require at your hand- We may reason that if we fail to upbuild
a brother, or preach, then God will somehow do it anyway. But this doesn’t
seem to be the spirit of Ez. 3:18.
Ezekiel 3:19 Yet if you warn the wicked, and he doesn’t turn from his
wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you
have saved your own life- The "you" in view is primarily Ezekiel, the
watchman. By sitting there with the captives, scared of their hard,
sceptical looks and saying nothing... Ezekiel was risking his eternal
salvation. By warning them, he was saving his life. We note that the
captives were in a "wicked way"; and yet in Ez. 18 they apparently
reasoned that they were innocent and unfairly suffering because of their
fathers' sins. "Turn" is the word commonly used for repentance and also
for the 'return' from Babylon to the land. If the captives repented, then
the return and restoration would have happened. This was the significance
and deep weight of Ezekiel's ministry.
Ezekiel 3:20 Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and
commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die.
Because you have not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his
righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood
will I require at your hand- If a person turns to sin, God confirms
them in that way by laying a stumbling block before them. We are not to do
this; but God can. He confirms us in the way we choose to go. The idea of
righteous deeds being remembered struck a chord with Nehemiah, who would
have been aware of this prophecy; he asks for his good deeds to be
"remembered" (Neh. 13:14,31). This was not, therefore, a works reliant
attitude. Nehemiah was citing Ezekiel's words. We are saved by grace, the
penny a day of the parable which all receive (Mt. 20:2); and yet the
nature of our eternity will be a reflection of the works we do in this
life. All we do for God will have its eternal moment and significance. Our
lives therefore should be devoted to such good works. For we are thereby
shaping our eternal experience.
Ezekiel 3:21 Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man, that the
righteous not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because
he took warning; and you have saved your own life- The allusion is to
Elisha warning (s.w.) the king of Israel, and the king thereby saving his
life from the Syrians (2 Kings 6:10). And the leadership of God's people
were again being warned by a prophet, and could save their lives from the
potential invasion by Babylon. The sword was coming upon Judah, and
Ezekiel as the watchman was warning them, so that they could save their
lives and avert the invasion planned by God (Ez. 33:3-9 s.w.). This was
the tragedy of the final Babylonian invasion which destroyed the temple
and sacked Jerusalem. It was avoidable, if Ezekiel's message had been
heeded.
Ezekiel 3:22 The hand of Yahweh was there on me; and He said to me, Arise,
go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with you- Just as the
Lord Jesus heard God's word in private and then revealed it to Israel, so
with Ezekiel. "Plain" here could as well be translated "valley" as it is
in Ez. 37:1,2. "The valley of dry bones" may have been the same valley in
view as here.
Ezekiel 3:23 Then I arose, and went forth into the plain: and behold, the
glory of Yahweh stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river Chebar;
and I fell on my face- The point to note is that God's glory was as
much in that plain / valley, perhaps in the Jerusalem area, as it was by
the Chebar in Babylonia. Stephen was to later point out that "the God of
glory" likewise appeared to Abraham when he was outside of the promised
land. He was not limited by geography nor nationality. The cherubim of glory are described as the
Lord being “there”, and yet they move away to Babylon. Israel were being
asked to follow their Angel, as they had followed the Angel in the pillar
of cloud and fire in the wilderness. But they refused, generally, and
therefore the great things the Angels had potentially made possible were
not realized. Our following of the Angel is just as real, and just as much
a matter of daily freewill choice, as it was for the exiles. See on Ez.
35:10.
Ezekiel 3:24 Then the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet-
As noted on :22, the "plain" is the same Hebrew word translated "valley"
in the valley of dry bones prophecy (Ez. 37:1,2). And the connection
continues, and that the Spirit enters Ezekiel and he stands on his feet-
the very same words used of the dry bones in Ez. 37:10. Ezekiel was
representative of what could have happened to all the dry bones of Israel
in captivity.
And He spoke with me, and said to me, Go, shut yourself inside your house- The wonderful vision given was to strengthen him for the pain of the abuse he was about to suffer. They Jews bound him and placed him under house arrest; but before that happened, he himself was to shut himself inside his house, representing how God had for the time being closed His house to the Jews. Psychologically this was also powerful, in that what they wanted to do to Ezekiel he had effectively already done to himself. They bond him with shackles (:25) but then God does this to Ezekiel in Ez. 4::8. God was in control even of their own apparently freely chosen hatred of Ezekiel, and worked through it to further His appeal for repentance.
Ezekiel 3:25 But you, son of man, behold, they shall lay shackles on you
and shall bind you with them- This suggests Ezekiel was actually tied up by the Jewish captives he
prophesied to by the river Chebar; they set their foreheads hard against
hearing the prophecies of hope (Ez. 3:9). See on Ez. 2:6.
Ezekiel 3:26 I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth, that
you shall be mute, and unable to reprove them; for they are a rebellious
house- This may not have been permanent, because we twice read of
Ezekiel's mouth being opened to prophecy (Ez. 24:27, four years later; and
Ez. 29:21). The idea may be that their rejection of him and his message
meant that there was no more word from Yahweh to the people. But it could
be that he was dumb literally. This would have been a powerful acted
parable. They likely would have liked to imagine that being struck dumb
was judgment from God as in Lk. 1:22. But the more perceptive would have
realized it was in fact God's silence toward them, and Ezekiel was a
living embodiment of the word he preached. For he had internalized the
word preached, represented by eating the scroll of the words, and
therefore he was the word made flesh to his audience, as we should be.
Ezekiel 3:27 But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you
shall tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: He who hears, let him hear;
and he who forbears, let him forbear;’ for they are a rebellious house-
These words are quoted by the Lord Jesus when He invites those who have
ears to hear, to hear (Mt. 11:15; 13:9). He was the One whose mouth Yahweh
had opened supremely. The LXX "He who is disobedient, let him
disobedient" is quoted in Rev. 22:11. Clearly Ezekiel's preaching to the
captives is no mere historical record, but is set up by way of NT allusion
as representative of all who hear the Gospel of the restored Kingdom and
the call to repent in view of that.
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