Ezekiel 3

1-11 The Vision of the Scroll (cont’d from Chapter 2)

• The voice tells Ezekiel, “Mortal,” to eat the scroll – fill his stomach with it – and go speak to the house of Israel. Other translations render “Mortal,” as “Son of man.” The voice addresses Ezekiel as such over and over, as if to remind him of who he is and who’s speaking to him.
• So Ezekiel eats the scroll, which tastes as sweet as honey. This reminds me of another scroll given to a human to eat: John, in Revelation 10:8-10, but with a slight twist:

So I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it; it was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter.

• The voice tells him to go to Israel and speak to them, which shouldn’t be difficult, because he speaks their language.
• You would think that since I am sending you, they would listen to you, but they won’t, because they don’t listen to me, either; they are stubborn.*
• But I am giving you a hard head. so don’t be afraid of them.
• Take my words into your heart and hear with your ears.
• Speak “thus says the LORD” to the exiles, whether they listen or not.*

12-21 Ezekiel at the River Chebar

• The spirit lifts up Ezekiel, and “as the glory of the LORD” rises, Ezekiel hears the sound of the creatures’ wings and wheels, and he is carried away. Aha! So they were there, but apparently quiet and out of his sight. He doesn’t see them this time, only hears them.
• In bitterness “in the heat of my spirit, the hand of the LORD being strong upon me,” Ezekiel goes to the exiles at Tel-abib, by the Chebar river. He’s received a special commission directly from God, but he doesn’t feel good about it.
• He sits there, stunned, for seven days. Who wouldn’t? What a way to get someone’s attention!
• At the end of seven days, the word of the LORD comes to Ezekiel with a warning. Could this be The Word? The Logos? Was it the Logos who appeared to him above the dome? Gill calls him a “glorious Person”; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown “the Godhead…in the likeness of enthroned humanity,” Matthew Henry, “the glory of Christ.”
• If Ezekiel does not warn the wicked, and they die in their iniquity, God will hold Ezekiel responsible.
• But if he does warn them, and they refuse to obey, Ezekiel will have at least saved his own life.
• Likewise, if Ezekiel doesn’t tell the righteous who commit a sin that they should repent, they will die in their sin, and God will hold Ezekiel responsible: “their blood I will require at your hand.”
• But if he warns them, and they repent, they will live, and Ezekiel will save his own life.

Note: This is scary stuff. How many of us who have “eaten” the word of life keep it to ourselves? We know people will die spiritually because of what they are doing, yet we keep silent. Will God require their blood at our hands?

22-27 Ezekiel Isolated and Silenced

• God tells Ezekiel to go to the valley where He will speak to him, which Ezekiel does. Can you imagine? It’s like being told to go to your room; I have something to say to you.
• When Ezekiel gets to the valley, the glory of the LORD is already there – like the glory he had seen before, and once again he falls on his face.
• The spirit once again sets him on his feet and tells him to shut himself inside his house, where he will be bound in cords, his tongue will cling to the roof of his mouth; he will be immobile and speechless. First he tells him to go and speak, then he makes it impossible.
• But when God speaks to him, he is to go speak to the people, to those who will listen, and to those who will not.*

*Note: Over and over, God tells Ezekiel to speak to the rebellious, whether or not they will listen. But isn’t that how we decide whether or not to speak with people? We pre-judge them, determining that right now they won’t listen – but maybe later they will, so for now we’ll just keep silent and wait for a better time.