Some translators have appropriately added these verses to the previous chapter as a continuation of the same vision and as being in harmony with it. The prophets were given the message from God so they could convey it to the people of God. They also prepared themselves so they could inform the people of God’s mind and will. Here, the prophet is instructed:
➔ How he must personally receive divine revelation. Jesus (Ezekiel 1:26) commanded him, “Son of man, eat this roll, admit this revelation into thy understanding, take it, take the meaning of it, understand it aright, admit it into thy heart, apply it, and be affected with it; imprint it in thy mind, ruminate, and chew the cud upon it; take it as it is entirely, and make no difficulty of it, nay, take a pleasure in it as thou dost in thy meat, and let thy soul be nourished and strengthened by it; let it be meat and drink to thee, and as thy necessary food; be full of it, as thou art of the meat thou hast eaten.”
Therefore, preachers ought to study and reflect on the Scriptures they preach to others. Jeremiah 15:16 tackles how one discovers God’s words, and how one should consume them. For people to speak about God’s things clearly, passionately, and with a lot of divine understanding, they must be both well-versed in and deeply impacted by them.
◆ We can see how the prophet instilled this command.
● Eat what I offer you, as it says in the previous chapter, and here (v. 1), “Eat that thou findest, that which is presented to thee by the hand of Christ.”
Whatever we discover to be the word of God, whatever is handed to us by him who is the word of God, we must embrace it without question. We are required to eat what the scripture places before us.
● As it says in verse 3, “Cause thy belly to eat, ad fill thy bowels with this roll; do not eat and bring it up again, as that which is nauseous, but eat it and retain, as that which is nourishing and grateful to the stomach. Feast upon this vision until thou art full of matter, as Elihu was, Job 32:18. Let the word have a place in thee, thy innermost place.”
For the word of God to be properly digested and transformed into succumb et sanguinem—blood and spirits—we must first take care of our hearts so that we may be deserving and ready to receive and entertain the word of God. Every faculty must be allowed to perform its function. To be able to fill our bellies with this roll, we first empty ourselves of material possessions.
◆ We can see how the command is explained to the prophet.
● “All my words that I shall speak unto thee, to be said unto the people, thou mustest receive in thy heart, as well as hear with thy ears, receive them in the love of them.” Verse 10. Let these words sink into your ears, Lucas 9:44. Christ commands the prophet to pay close attention to everything he says, not just what he says right now but also everything he says in the future: “Receive it everything in thine heart; reflect on these things and commit thyself entirely to them,” 1 Timothy. 4:15.
◆ We can see how the prophet obeyed this command.
● Christ made him consume the roll after he opened his mouth, v. 2. If we sincerely desire to welcome the word into our hearts, Christ will do it via the power of his Spirit and cause it to richly live within us. If the one who opens the scroll and spreads it before us by the power of the Spirit of revelation did not also open our understanding and, by the power of the Spirit of wisdom, inform us of it and enable us to consume it, we would remain strangers to it forever.
● The prophet had good reason to worry that the roll would be a disgusting snack and a poor choice for a supper, but it turned out to be as sweet as honey in his mouth.
If we willingly carry out even the most challenging instructions, we will find solace in reflection that will more than makeup for all the challenges we face in performing our duty. Even though the roll was replete with lamentations, grief, and suffering, it served as honey for sweetness to the prophet. Note that the realities of God that most frighten people with weaker faith can be received with great satisfaction by kind souls.
● According to such a sign, St. John was given access to a portion of the revelation in Rev. 10:9–10. It was as delicious as honey in his lips when he took the book out of the angel’s hands, but it was bitter in his stomach, as we will discover because the prophet left in bitterness in verse 14.
➔ Eat this roll, and then go speak to the house of Israel, says the divine revelation that he had received (v. 1). He must fully comprehend the things of God before he begins to preach about them to others. He must not neglect his task or do it half-heartedly. But
once he completely comprehends them, he must be active and aggressive in his preaching of them for the benefit of others. Because doing so would be burying a talent that was given to us to trade with, we must not hide the words of the Holy One (Job 6:10). He must go and address the people of Israel because it is their right to know God’s laws and decrees; just as the imparting of the law (the living oracles) applies to them, so does prophecy (the living oracles).
Since the father corrects his child when he does wrong, not the child of a stranger, he is not sent to the Chaldeans to rebuke them for their crimes, but to the house of Israel to rebuke them for theirs. He must go and address the people of Israel because it is their right to know God’s laws and decrees; just as the imparting of the law (the living oracles) applies to them, so does prophecy (the living oracles). Since the father corrects his own child when he does wrong, not the child of a stranger, he is not sent to the Chaldeans to rebuke them for their crimes, but to the house of Israel to rebuke them for theirs.
Ezekiel 3:16-21
These additional instructions from God were given to the prophet at the end of seven days, or on the seventh day following the vision he had. Both of those events likely occurred on the sabbath day, which the house of Israel observed as best they could under the circumstances, even in captivity. While they did not have the convenience of a temple or synagogue for the sabbath-work, it should seem that they did have a place by the riverside where prayer was wont to be made (as in Acts 16:13); there they met on the sabbath day; and there their enslavers were not tied to any constant service, as had previously been the case with their Egyptian task-masters.
On the Sabbath day, the person who had been thinking and praying about God’s things all week was prepared to address the people in God’s name and open to hearing from God.
Ezekiel was not given visions of God’s glory on this Sabbath as he had been the Sabbath before, but he was given a clear explanation of his responsibility and a very common analogy instead. Notably, while they may occasionally be shared a meal with God’s children on special occasions, raptures and joy transports are not the usual fares of God’s children.
Here, God reveals to the prophet his position and his responsibilities. We can assume that the prophet was to inform the populace of these matters so that they would pay attention to what he said and adjust it properly. It is wise for people to be aware of the expectations their ministers have of them as well as the account they will soon be required to render regarding those expectations.
➔ The prophet is called a watchman to the house of Israel and is appointed to guard against fire, robbers, and disturbers of the peace. He is also to be a watchman in the camp, in an invaded country or a besieged town, and to sound an alarm upon the first appearance of danger. Watchmen must keep awake, be they sleepy, and keep abroad, be it ever so cold, and must stand all weathers upon the watchtower. It is a dangerous office, and sometimes they cannot keep their post but are in peril of death from the enemy. However, it is a needful office, and unless the Lord keeps it, the watchman waketh but in vain.
➔ The duty of his office.
◆ The prophet must take notice of God’s prophecies concerning the people, not only the body of the people, but also their character, and look up to God for guidance.
◆ The prophet must give notice of what he hears and sound an alarm in the holy mountain, not in his own name, but in God’s name, and from him, to warn the children of men. He must distinguish between the wicked and the righteous, the precious and the vile, and tailor his applications to each, giving everyone his portion. He must also be accountable for his actions.
Ezekiel 3:22-27
We would have anticipated that the prophet would soon be preaching the word of God to a sizable congregation of Israelites after all this significant and magnificent revelation of God to him and the thorough instructions he had given him regarding how to deal with those to whom he had sent him with an ample commission; however, we find it to be quite the opposite. At first glance, his labor in this place does not appear to match the pomp of his appointment.
➔ He is retired and here for more education. To encourage him against the challenges he anticipated, God will give him another vision of his glory, which (if anything) would give him life and animate him for his work. However, by refusing to go, it should seem as though he was not as thoroughly convinced as he might have been of the ability of him who sent him to bear him out. To accomplish this, God summons him to the plain (v. 22), where he will speak with him.
View the advantage of the solitude and how much it encourages reflection here. A good man will declare that he is never less alone than when he is thus alone. It is quite comfortable to be alone with God, removed from the word for conversation with him, to hear from him, and to speak to him. Ezekiel ventured out into the open area with greater enthusiasm than he did among the captives (v. 15); after all, individuals who have experienced communion with God cannot help but prefer that to any conversation with the world, especially the kind that is frequently encountered.
In the plain, where God is not bound by geography, he encountered the identical vision he had witnessed beside the river Chebar. Keep in mind that wherever they go, God’s blessings will be there for those who follow him. In addition to calling him out to speak with him, God also revealed his splendor to him (v. 23). We are not to anticipate such sights at this time, but we must acknowledge that if we see the Lord’s glory through faith and are transformed into his likeness by the Lord’s Spirit, then all of his saints have received a favor that is in no way inferior to our own. Praise you, Lord, 2 Corinthians 3:18.
➔ He is currently being held here with no more instruction permitted. He collapsed to the ground when he first beheld the Lord’s splendor, overcome by awe at his grandeur and fear of his wrath. However, the Spirit moved within him to lift him, and once he was up, he was able to hear what the Spirit had been whispering to him. One might have anticipated that, at this point, God would send him directly to the main concourse, favor him in their eyes, and make him and his message acceptable to them, that a wider door of opportunity would open to him, and that God would grant him a door of utterance to speak out boldly, but what is said to him here is the exact opposite of all of this.
◆ He directs him to stay inside his own home rather than summoning him to a public gathering: Go, hide thyself within thine house, v. 24. God prevents him from appearing in public as a rightful rebuke to both him and them—to him for his shyness toward them and to them for their coldness toward him. He was unwilling to appear in public, and when he did, the people did not regard him or treat him with the respect he deserved. Our actions often determine our punishment, and God is righteous in removing teachers from their positions when either their students or themselves become disinterested in solemn gatherings.
Some believe that Ezekiel must remain alone as a sign of Jerusalem’s impending siege, during which the populace must be as tightly confined as he was in his home and about which he speaks in the following chapter. He must isolate himself in his home so that he can learn more about God’s mind and can fully equip himself with things to speak to the populace when he travels. To be witnesses to his ecstasies, the elders of Judah visited him occasionally and sat in front of him in his home (Ch. 8:1); but, it wasn’t until ch. 11:25 that he explained what the Lord had revealed him to the captives.
Those who are called to preach must make time for study, and often a lot of time. They frequently isolate themselves to devote time to reading and meditation, which makes their success appear to others.
◆ He warns him that they will bind him with bands in verse 25 rather than giving him a stake in the respect and affection of those he sent him.
● As a criminal. Even though they were sent into slavery in Babylon for persecuting the prophets, there they continue to persecute them, therefore they shall bind him to punish him more for disturbing the peace.
● A distracted man. They planned to bind him like a person beside himself since they believed it was what his erratic movements during his raptures were due to. The captains questioned Jehu, “Why did this crazy man come to you?” Paul was told by Festus that he was over himself, just as the Jews had claimed of our Lord Jesus in Mark 3:21. Perhaps this was the reason he had to stay inside because if he left, they would bind him and claim he was insane, forcing him to stay away from them. Prophets are rightfully barred from visiting those who will mistreat them.
➔ God silenced him by making his tongue cleave to the roof of his mouth rather than opening his lips so that they might express their thanks to God (v. 26), rendering him speechless for a long period. To prevent their tongues from sticking to the roof of their mouths should they forget Jerusalem, the religious slaves in Babylon used this imprecation against themselves, Ps. 137:6. The explanation provided is that the house to which he is assigned is a rebellious one, and they are not worthy to have him as a reprover. Although Ezekiel remembers Jerusalem more than any of them, his tongue still clings to the roof of his mouth. He also isn’t allowed to speak at all.
He must refrain from giving them advice and instructions because they would only be wasted on them. He was previously told to talk to them openly because they were so rebellious (ch. 2:7), but because it didn’t work, he is now told to keep quiet and not speak to them at all. Be aware that those whose hearts have become resistant to conviction are rightfully denied the fruits of conviction. If the reproved ultimately decide to be deaf after lengthy trials, why shouldn’t the reprovers be judged to be dumb? Leave Ephraim alone if he is worshiping idols. You must be deaf and not a reprover, which implies that if he could talk at all, he would bear witness to the wickedness of the wicked; otherwise, he would be reproving.
But he will open his mouth when God speaks with him and intends to speak through him (v. 27). Note that even though God’s prophets could be quiet for a while, He will eventually allow them to speak once more. And when God communicates to his ministers, he not only opens their mouths to respond in kind but also their ears to hear what he has to say. When Moses returned to God after speaking to the people, he removed the veil that had been covering his face (Exodus 34:34)
➔ He here leaves the subject highly dubious, rather than ensuring success when he should at any moment speak to the people, and Ezekiel should not perplex and concern himself about it but rather let it be as it will. He who listens is welcome to the consolation of it; let him listen, and his soul shall live; but he who forbears should do so at his own risk and accept what is given. If you disbelieve, you will be the only one to endure the consequences; neither God nor his prophet will suffer as a result. Instead, the prophet will be rewarded for his consistency in reproving the sinner, and God will be given the honor of his justice in punishing him for disbelieving the reproof.