Ezekiel 3:1-15--Ezekiel's Call (Cont.)

Ezekiel 3:1-15
English Standard Version

3 And he said to me, “Son of man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” 2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey.

4 And he said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with my words to them. 5 For you are not sent to a people of foreign speech and a hard language, but to the house of Israel— 6 not to many peoples of foreign speech and a hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, if I sent you to such, they would listen to you. 7 But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me: because all the house of Israel have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart. 8 Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. 9 Like emery harder than flint have I made your forehead. Fear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.” 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. 11 And go to the exiles, to your people, and speak to them and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOG,’ whether they hear or refuse to hear.”

12 Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great earthquake: “Blessed be the glory of the LORD from its place!” 13 It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures as they touched one another, and the sound of the wheels beside them, and the sound of a great earthquake. 14 The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, the hand of the LORD being strong upon me. 15 And I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who were dwelling by the Chebar canal, and I sat where they were dwelling. And I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days.

---

The LORD's call to Ezekiel continues in the beginning of chapter 3.  Eating a scroll is something that happens several times in prophetic books.  I doubt it is literal as usually people are seeing a vision when they are talking about this but it gives them the opportunity to say whether the words of the prophecy are sweet, bitter, or a mixture of both.  Here, Ezekiel says that the words tasted as sweet as honey.

Then the mission is repeated--to take this message to all the people of the house of Israel (all the Twelve Tribes).  Ezekiel is being sent first to his own people that speak the same language as him.  Though the words will be difficult, they will be able to understand exactly what he is saying, because there will be no language barrier.  However, though they will hear and the words, they will not listen to them.  They are both hard-headed and hard-hearted.  Ezekiel will have to be just as stubborn as them to stay on mission even though the mission is challenging.  Ezekiel is to speak all the words he is given, and, he is go with them into exile.  He is to let them know the message the LORD has given to him will not change because of being in a new place or because the people refuse to listen.  They will not receive a different message because the LORD will not change His mind.

Now that he has been given what seems like an impossible task, he is once again given a glimpse of the throne room of the LORD.  The living creatures are there beating their wings and there is the sound and feeling of a great earthquake as the whole earth shakes in response to the LORD's presence.  Ezekiel wished he could stay there, but the Spirit took him away so that he could perform the task he had been given.  He came to the people of Israel that were going into Exile and he sat there overwhelmed with the vision he had received for seven days, unable to speak the words that he had been given, but after a week, the LORD will come to him again and remind him that it is the job of the watchman on the wall to proclaim when danger is on the horizon, and that the watchman that keeps silent in the face of impending peril has the bloodguilt of all the people that were depending on him for protection.