PHIL HARRIS | Seeker of Truth |
Introduction
In the previous chapters of Ezekiel the Lord was speaking to Ezekiel and told him he was being sent to a rebellious people. In Ezekiel 2:9-10, the priest and prophet Ezekiel has been handed a literal scroll which has writing on both sides—and now, in chapter three, he is given a startling command.
Ezekiel Eats the Scroll
Then He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.”So I opened my mouth, and He fed me this scroll.And He said to me, “Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your body with this scroll which I am giving you.” Then I ate it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth.—Ezekiel 3:1-3
Ezekiel is commanded to eat the scroll that he has been handed and then is to speak to the “house of Israel”. Notice that the message is for all Israel, not just Judah the Southern Kingdom. They all are in rebellion against their God.
Since the Spirit of God (Ezekiel 2:2) had entered into Ezekiel, he would have a clear understanding of the words he was literally to eat. He, just as it should be with all who love God, must have more than just an intellectual knowledge of God’s word. He was living out the reality of taking in God’s word for the good of the people he was called to serve.
In our own time all those who love God find that a deep study of the Bible is as “sweet as honey” while most of the world rejects it.
How sweet is Your word to my taste! Sweeter than honey to my mouth!—Psalm 119:103
Go To the House of Israel
Then He said to me, “Son of man, go now, come to the house of Israel, and you shall speak with My words to them.For you are not being sent to a people of unintelligible lips or a difficult tongue, but to the house of Israel,nor to many peoples of unintelligible lips or a difficult tongue, whose words you cannot understand. But I have sent you to them who should listen to you;—Ezekiel 3:4-6
Here there is a contrast. Ezekiel is to speak to his people with a language that is easy for them to understand, yet in their rebellion they will not repent. On the other hand, if he were to go to a heathen people with a difficult form of speech they would understand, just as when Jonah preached to the people in the city of Nineveh.
Strong Forehead and Stiff Heart
…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 with a strong forehead and stiff heart.Behold, I have made your face as strong as their faces and your forehead as strong as their foreheads.Like diamond stronger than flint I have made your forehead. Do not be afraid of them or be dismayed before them, though they are a rebellious house.”—Ezekiel 3:7-9
Since the people have the same language as Ezekiel, obviously they will understand his words, yet they will not repent. Since they must know that Ezekiel is God’s ordained Levitical priest, it really is God whom they are rejecting.
The picture here is of a people who are unflinching and stubborn with hard hearts. God is telling Ezekiel that He is giving Ezekiel the strength to face these hard, rebellious people. His own forehead will be “strong” so their mockery, taunts, and accusations will bounce off of him without embedding in his heart and making him afraid. Ezekiel has been prepared with God’s own strength that far exceeds the people’s blindness.
Moreover, He said to me, “Son of man, take into your heart all My words which I will speak to you and listen with your ears.And go now, come to the exiles, to the sons of your people, and you shall speak to them and say to them, whether they listen or whether they refuse, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh.’”—Ezekiel 3:10-11
The word “moreover” indicates that Ezekiel is being given additional instructions in addition to not being afraid of these exiles. When Ezekiel says to them, “Thus says the Lord Yahweh.”, it comes with the power of God as he speaks. He is commissioned to remind this rebellious people that God sees them and is still speaking to them. God is still making promises to them. Whether or not they listen, Yahweh is keeping His covenant promises to the patriarchs and is still providing for His people—even as they go into exile for their unbelief.
As for Ezekiel himself, he is to hear God’s words with both his own heart and ears. God’s words are his nourishment and strength.
Ezekiel Is Ordained By God
Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me, “Blessed be the glory of Yahweh in His place.”And I heard the sound of the wings of the living creatures touching one another and the sound of the wheels beside them, even a great rumbling sound.—Ezekiel. 3:12-13
This is much more than the vision back in chapter one where Ezekiel first saw the four living creatures. He now has an experience that few prophets of God have ever been given. He is taken up by the Holy Spirit and sees into the heaven of God. He hears what sounds like a great earthquake and hears the four living creatures say: “Blessed be the glory of Yahweh in His place”.
Ezekiel has just been ordained in heaven to be God’s watchman over Israel.
Ezekiel Becomes a Watchman
So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away; and I went embittered in the wrath of my spirit, and the hand of Yahweh was strong on me.Then I came to the exiles who lived beside the river Chebar at Tel-abib, and I sat there seven days where they were living, causing consternation among them.—Ezekiel 3:14-15
The Spirit of God now takes Ezekiel, who had just been immersed in the glories of heaven, back with the rebellious exiles that dwell by the Chebar at Tel-abib. Little wonder Ezekiel is in bitterness of his own spirit. He knows that God’s anger against Israel is righteous; He has ingested God’s words and God’s message and God’s assignment to be His witness to Israel. He identifies with God’s anger and grief, and he is overwhelmed for seven days. Filled with God’s Spirit and with God’s divine emotions against the people, Ezekiel’s presence among them causes great consternation.
Now it happened at the end of seven days, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,“Son of man, I have given you as a watchman to the house of Israel; so you will hear a word from My mouth, and you shall warn them from Me.—Ezekiel 3:16-17
Ezekiel sitting there with bitterness in his spirit appears to be God’s way of preparing him for heavenly-ordained combat. He was being spiritually strengthened to confront the satanic army that holds these rebels in bondage.
Ezekiel is to be a watchman. Another word for that role is “sentry” such as a guard on a city wall. As a watchman he is to convey to these rebels that there is an enemy who will destroy their lives if they don’t wake up.
When I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.Yet if you have warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered yourself.—Ezekiel 3:18-19
In his role as a watchman, if Ezekiel fails to warn the wicked that they will die in their sin, then God will require their blood from from him. However, if Ezekiel does warn them, then he will have delivered himself.
Again, when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before him, he will die; since you have not warned him, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. However, if you have warned the righteous man that the righteous should not sin and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; and you have delivered yourself.”—Ezekiel 3:20-21
Here God warns Ezekiel what will happen if he does not warn the righteous as well as the wicked.
Ezekiel learns that if a righteous man falls into sin and Ezekiel has not warned him not to sin, the Lord will lay a stumbling block before that sinner, and he will die for his sin. His previous righteous deeds will not be remembered—but the sinners blood will be required at the hand of Ezekiel.
However, if Ezekiel does warn the righteous person not to sin and he avoids falling into sin, that person shall live. Ezekiel has delivered himself.
And the hand of Yahweh was on me there, and He said to me, “Get up, go out to the plain, and there I will speak to you.” So I got up and went out to the plain; and behold, the glory of Yahweh was standing there, like the glory which I saw by the river Chebar, and I fell on my face.”—Ezekiel 3:22-23
Now the Lord (Yahweh) tells him to arise and go out into the plain where He would give him further instructions. Once again the glory of Yahweh appeared to him, and once again he fell on his face before the power and weight of God’s glory.
The Spirit then entered me and caused me to stand on my feet, and He spoke with me and said to me, “Go, shut yourself up in your house.Now as for you, son of man, they will put ropes on you and bind you with them so that you cannot go out among them.—Ezekiel 3:24-25
The Spirit of God now sets Ezekiel back on his feet and instructs him to shut himself back within his home. However, he learns that the rebellious people will bind him with ropes to prevent him from coming back out among them. The Israelites will mistreat him and refuse to listen to him although they know he is God’s appointed prophet to them.
Moreover, I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth so that you will be mute and cannot be a man who reproves them, for they are a rebellious house.But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth, and you will say to them, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh.’ He who hears, let him hear; and he who refuses, let him refuse; for they are a rebellious house.—Ezekiel 3:26-27
In response to this Ezekiel learns that he will be unable to speak to this rebellious house on his own. Only when the Lord would give him direct instructions to speak would Ezekiel be able to address these stubborn Israelites. His enforced silence emphasizes the hardness of heart of these apostate people over whom he is appointed watchman.
This mute condition would last until the fall of Jerusalem, as we see in the following texts:
“‘On that day your mouth will be opened to him who escaped, and you will speak and be mute no longer. Thus you will be a wondrous sign to them, and they will know that I am Yahweh.’”—Ezekiel 24:27
Now it happened in the twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth of the tenth month, [that] those who escaped from Jerusalem came to me, saying, “The city has been struck down.” Now the hand of Yahweh had been upon me in the evening, before those who escaped came. And He opened my mouth at the time [they] came to me in the morning; so my mouth was opened, and I was no longer mute.—Ezekiel 33:21, 22
Ezekiel receives his ordination from God to be Israel’s watchman—a difficult and resented job. The people are thoroughly apostate and will not listen to him even when he speak God’s words. God strikes Ezekiel mute; he may not speak to these people unless He has a direct message for Ezekiel to deliver. When the Spirit of God does speak to Ezekiel he will open his mouth and he is to say; “Thus says Lord Yahweh’’. Israel will know that Ezekiel is not personally communicating with them. He is delivering only God’s specific instructions to them. He will warn them against sin, and whoever hears, he is to let that person hear. Whoever refuse to repent, he is to let them be, for they are all of a rebellious house’.
Summary
- Ezekiel eats the scroll which to him is sweet as honey. Then he is instructed by God that his ministry is to speak to the “house of Israel”. However, God warns him that these rebellious people will not listen or respond to him even though he speaks their language and begins with, “Thus says Lord Yahweh.” This is because they have a “strong forehead and stiff heart”.
- The Holy Spirit then takes Ezekiel up to the realm of heaven where the “living creatures” are singing; “Blessed be the glory of Yahweh in His place.” Then Ezekiel is taken back to the Chebar at Tel-abib and arrived there embittered in the wrath of his spirit, causing consternation among the exiles. At the end of seven days the word of Yahweh came to Ezekiel saying that he is to be a watchman to the house of Israel.
- Ezekiel is given a series of instructions on how he is to speak in his role of Watchman. Then the “hand of Yahweh” instructs him get up and go out on the plain where he would speak to him. When he arrived there, he sees the glory of Yahweh standing there and falls on his face.
- The Holy Spirit caused Ezekiel to stand back upon this feet and told him to shut himself inside his house, informing him that the rebellious people would bind him with ropes so that he couldn’t come out to them. The Spirit says that he would make him mute so he couldn’t reprove them.
- The Spirit concludes by saying that when God speaks to Ezekiel again, he is to say to the rebellious people “‘Thus says Lord Yahweh.’ He who hears, let him hear and he who refuses, let him refuse.”
—All references unless otherwise stated are taken from the LSB.
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