Ezekiel Chapter 3
Ezekiel 3
The Messenger and the Watchman
Ezekiel 3:1-3, Eating the Scroll
Ezekiel 3:1-3, “Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll. And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.”
Ezekiel 3 continues the call that began in chapter 2. God had shown Ezekiel a roll written within and without, filled with “lamentations, and mourning, and woe.” Now Ezekiel is commanded to eat the roll. The prophet must not merely carry God’s message externally. He must receive it inwardly.
The command is personal: “Son of man, eat that thou findest.” Ezekiel is still being addressed as a man, a servant, and a representative among men. He is not the source of the message. He is the recipient and messenger of it.
He must eat before he speaks. “Eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel.” That order matters. The messenger who has not first received the word into his own soul is not ready to speak it to others. God’s word must be internalized, digested, absorbed, and believed before it is proclaimed.
Ezekiel opens his mouth, and God causes him to eat the roll. Even in receiving the word, Ezekiel is dependent on God’s enabling. The LORD gives the word, commands the prophet to receive it, and enables the prophet to take it in.
God tells him to fill his belly and bowels with the roll. Ezekiel is not to sample the message. He is not to taste part of it and reject the hard parts. He must be filled with the whole word God gives him. That is especially important because the message contains judgment, lamentation, mourning, and woe. Ezekiel cannot soften it before he receives it. He must take it all in.
Then Ezekiel says, “it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.” Though the message was heavy, the word of God itself was sweet. The sweetness was not because the content was easy. It was sweet because it was God’s word, God’s truth, and God’s will.
Psalm 119:103, “How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”
The servant of God may be called to preach hard truth, but if he is truly submitted to God, he can still find sweetness in the word itself. The sweetness is not in human approval. It is in being in agreement with the LORD.
Ezekiel 3:4-9, Strength for a Difficult Calling
Ezekiel 3:4-9, “And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them. For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel; Not to many people of a strange speech and of an hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee. But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted. Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads. As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.”
God again sends Ezekiel to the house of Israel. His audience is his own covenant people. He is not sent primarily to foreign nations with strange speech and hard language. The difficulty of Ezekiel’s ministry will not be linguistic. It will be spiritual.
God says that if Ezekiel had been sent to people of strange speech, they would have listened. This is a severe rebuke against Israel. Gentiles who did not have Israel’s privileges would have been more receptive than the covenant people who had the law, temple, priesthood, covenants, and prophets.
The problem is not lack of understanding. Israel will understand Ezekiel’s language. The problem is unwillingness. “The house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me.” Their rejection of Ezekiel is really rejection of the LORD.
This gives the prophet both warning and comfort. He should not be surprised when they reject him. But he must also know that faithful proclamation of God’s word may be rejected because the heart is rejecting God.
The house of Israel is described as “impudent and hardhearted.” They are shameless in face and stubborn in heart. Therefore God strengthens Ezekiel for the calling: “I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads.”
God does not make Ezekiel cruel, arrogant, or fleshly. He makes him firm. If Israel is hard in rebellion, Ezekiel must be harder in obedience. If they are stubborn against God, Ezekiel must be steadfast for God. God makes his forehead as adamant, harder than flint.
This is not natural temperament. This is prophetic enabling. Ezekiel will need courage to stand before hostile looks, hard faces, and rebellious hearts.
God repeats the command: “fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks.” Sometimes resistance does not come in arguments. It comes in facial expression, contempt, silence, mockery, and hardness. Ezekiel must not be shattered by their looks. He must stand under the strength God gives.
Ezekiel 3:10-11, Receiving the Message and Going to the Captives
Ezekiel 3:10-11, “Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears. And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.”
God again emphasizes receiving before speaking. Ezekiel must receive all God’s words into his heart and hear with his ears. The prophet’s ears must be open, and his heart must be receptive.
It is possible to handle God’s word externally while resisting it internally. Ezekiel must not do that. He must receive “all” the words God speaks. He is not allowed to select the pleasant parts and avoid the severe parts. The whole message belongs to God.
Then he must go to the captives, to the children of his people. Ezekiel is not called to speak from a distance only. He must go among them. He must sit where they sit, understand their condition, and speak God’s word in the middle of their exile.
The message remains authoritative: “Thus saith the Lord GOD.” Ezekiel’s authority is not personal charisma, education, priestly background, or emotional intensity. His authority is that he speaks what the Lord GOD says.
Again, the response is not Ezekiel’s responsibility to control: “whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.” The prophet’s duty is faithfulness. The hearers’ response belongs before God.
Ezekiel 3:12-15, The Conclusion of the Vision and Ezekiel among the Captives
Ezekiel 3:12-15, “Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the LORD from his place. I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great rushing. So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me. Then I came to them of the captivity at Telabib, that dwelt by the river of Chebar, and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days.”
The Spirit takes Ezekiel up, and he hears behind him a voice of a great rushing: “Blessed be the glory of the LORD from his place.” The glory of the LORD remains central. Ezekiel has received a difficult commission, but he must carry it under the overwhelming reality of God’s glory.
He again hears the wings of the living creatures and the noise of the wheels. The throne vision from chapter 1 has not disappeared from the foundation of his ministry. Ezekiel’s preaching will be shaped by the glory of God, the movement of God’s throne, and the certainty that the LORD rules even in exile.
The Spirit lifts Ezekiel and takes him away. The exact physical and visionary nature of this experience is not fully explained, but the reality is clear. Ezekiel is being moved by the Spirit of God into his assigned ministry.
He goes “in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit.” The word of God had been sweet in his mouth, but the calling itself is bitter. There is sweetness in receiving the word and bitterness in carrying it to a rebellious people. Ezekiel may be angry over the people’s sin, grieved over the judgment, overwhelmed by the call, or troubled by the hardness of his mission.
Yet “the hand of the LORD was strong upon me.” Ezekiel’s emotion is real, but God’s hand is stronger. The prophet is not carried forward by enthusiasm only. He is carried by divine compulsion and strength.
Then he comes to the captives at Telabib by the river Chebar. He does what God commanded. He goes to the people. He does not immediately begin speaking. He sits where they sit and remains astonished among them seven days.
This is profound. Before Ezekiel speaks to the exiles, he sits among them. He feels the weight of their condition. He observes, mourns, and absorbs the reality of their suffering and rebellion. The messenger of God must know both the word of God and the condition of the people.
The seven days may also suggest a period of consecration and preparation, especially fitting for a priest called into prophetic ministry. Ezekiel is stunned into silence before the watchman responsibility is laid upon him.
Ezekiel 3:16-19, The Responsibility to Warn the Wicked
Ezekiel 3:16-19, “And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest 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 thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.”
After seven days, the word of the LORD comes to Ezekiel again. God makes him a watchman unto the house of Israel. A watchman stood on the wall to see danger and give warning. His task was not to invent the danger, ignore the danger, or entertain the city. His task was to see, hear, and warn.
Ezekiel’s watchman role is defined by God’s word: “therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.” The warning must come from God, not from Ezekiel’s imagination. The watchman must first hear, then warn.
If God says to the wicked, “Thou shalt surely die,” and Ezekiel does not warn him, the wicked man will still die in his iniquity. His guilt remains his own. But Ezekiel will also be held accountable for failing to warn him. “His blood will I require at thine hand.”
This is one of the strongest passages in Scripture about the responsibility of God’s messenger. The watchman does not save by his own power, but he must warn faithfully. Silence can become guilt when God has commanded warning.
If Ezekiel warns the wicked and the wicked refuses to turn, then the wicked dies in his iniquity, but Ezekiel has delivered his soul. Faithful warning does not guarantee repentance, but it does clear the messenger of blood-guiltiness.
The focus is not on Ezekiel harshly condemning people from pride. The focus is on obedient warning from God. The goal is “to save his life.” The warning is severe because the danger is severe.
This has direct relevance to preaching and pastoral ministry. A preacher who never warns sinners is not being loving. He is being negligent. Gospel ministry must include the warning of sin, judgment, repentance, and salvation.
Acts 20:26-27, “Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.”
Ezekiel 3:20-21, The Responsibility to Warn the Righteous
Ezekiel 3:20-21, “Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.”
Ezekiel must warn not only the wicked but also the righteous. A righteous man, in this covenant context, is one who is living in faithfulness to the LORD and His covenant. But if he turns from righteousness and commits iniquity, he must be warned.
This does not teach salvation by works. In Ezekiel’s covenant setting, life and death often refer to physical life under the Mosaic covenant and the temporal judgments of God. The issue is covenant faithfulness and the danger of apostasy, rebellion, and judgment.
God says He lays a stumblingblock before him. This does not mean God tempts men to evil in a sinful way. Scripture is clear that God does not tempt with evil.
James 1:13, “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:”
The meaning is that God may allow tests or occasions that reveal the true direction of a man’s heart. If a man is bent toward sin, the stumblingblock exposes him.
If Ezekiel fails to warn the righteous man, and that man dies in his sin, Ezekiel is accountable. “His blood will I require at thine hand.” The watchman must warn those who seem outwardly righteous as well as those openly wicked.
If Ezekiel warns him and he does not sin, then the righteous man lives because he took warning, and Ezekiel delivers his soul. This shows the positive purpose of warning. Warning is not only to condemn. It is to preserve, rescue, and keep people from destruction.
A faithful ministry warns believers not to drift, harden, compromise, or turn aside. Warnings are one of God’s means of preserving His people.
Hebrews 3:12-13, “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily... lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”
Ezekiel 3:22-23, Another Vision of the Glory of the LORD
Ezekiel 3:22-23, “And the hand of the LORD was there upon me; and he said unto me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with thee. Then I arose, and went forth into the plain: and, behold, the glory of the LORD stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river of Chebar: and I fell on my face.”
The hand of the LORD is again upon Ezekiel. God tells him to arise and go into the plain, where He will talk with him. Ezekiel obeys.
There he again sees the glory of the LORD, like the glory he saw by the river Chebar. The vision of divine glory is repeated because Ezekiel’s ministry must remain anchored in the majesty of God. He cannot survive the call by focusing mainly on himself, his feelings, or the people’s hardness. He must keep seeing the glory of the LORD.
Even though Ezekiel has already seen the glory before, he falls on his face again. Familiarity with God’s work must never become casualness before God’s glory. Ezekiel is commissioned, but he is still a servant. He is strengthened, but he is still a man.
The repeated falling on his face shows that true prophetic authority is born out of reverence, not ego.
Ezekiel 3:24-27, The Difficulty of the Call Restated
Ezekiel 3:24-27, “Then the spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet, and spake with me, and said unto me, Go, shut thyself within thine house. But thou, O son of man, behold, they shall put bands upon thee, and shall bind thee with them, and thou shalt not go out among them: And I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover: for they are a rebellious house. But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; He that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house.”
Again the Spirit enters Ezekiel and sets him on his feet. The pattern repeats: Ezekiel falls before glory, God speaks, the Spirit strengthens him, and the prophet is enabled to stand.
God tells him to shut himself within his house. Ezekiel’s ministry will involve symbolic restraint, isolation, and silence. The people will bind him with bands so that he cannot go out among them, and God will make his tongue cleave to the roof of his mouth so that he is dumb and cannot be a reprover.
This is another sign of judgment. The rebellious house has refused God’s word, so God restricts the prophet’s speech. There is judgment not only when God speaks and men refuse, but also when God withholds the word they despised.
Yet the silence is not permanent. “But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth.” Ezekiel’s speech will be entirely dependent on God’s command. He will not speak whenever he wishes. He will speak when God opens his mouth.
When God opens his mouth, Ezekiel will say, “Thus saith the Lord GOD.” The authority remains God’s word, not Ezekiel’s personality.
The final sentence repeats the central responsibility: “He that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear.” Once Ezekiel faithfully speaks what God gives, the responsibility rests on the hearers. Some will hear. Some will refuse. The reason is again stated: “for they are a rebellious house.”
This phrase also anticipates the words of Christ.
Matthew 11:15, “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”
Ezekiel’s call is hard, holy, and controlled by God. He must eat the word, speak the word, warn the wicked, warn the righteous, endure rejection, sit among the captives, and speak only when God opens his mouth.
Doctrinal and Practical Notes
Ezekiel 3 teaches that God’s messenger must first receive God’s word inwardly before speaking it outwardly.
Ezekiel 3 teaches that even hard words from God are sweet because they are true and from Him.
Ezekiel 3 teaches that ministry to one’s own people can be harder than ministry to strangers.
Ezekiel 3 teaches that rejection of God’s messenger is often rejection of God Himself.
Ezekiel 3 teaches that God strengthens His servants for hard audiences.
Ezekiel 3 teaches that the preacher must receive all God’s words, not only the parts that are easy to speak.
Ezekiel 3 teaches that a faithful messenger must sit among the people and understand their condition.
Ezekiel 3 teaches that the watchman’s duty is to hear from God and give warning from God.
Ezekiel 3 teaches that failure to warn creates blood-guiltiness.
Ezekiel 3 teaches that warning the wicked is meant to turn him from his wicked way and save his life.
Ezekiel 3 teaches that the righteous also need warning against turning aside into sin.
Ezekiel 3 teaches that the glory of the LORD must remain central to the servant’s ministry.
Ezekiel 3 teaches that God may silence His messenger as judgment on those who refuse His word.
Ezekiel 3 teaches that faithful proclamation leaves the hearer responsible before God.
Summary
Ezekiel 3 continues Ezekiel’s call as God’s messenger. The LORD commands him to eat the roll and go speak to the house of Israel. Ezekiel opens his mouth, and God causes him to eat it. He is told to fill his belly and bowels with the scroll God gives him. Though the scroll contains lamentations, mourning, and woe, it is in Ezekiel’s mouth as honey for sweetness.
God sends Ezekiel to the house of Israel with His words. Ezekiel is not sent to a people of strange speech or hard language, but to his own people. If he had been sent to foreign peoples, they would have listened, but Israel will not listen because they will not listen to the LORD. They are impudent and hardhearted. Therefore God makes Ezekiel’s face strong against their faces and his forehead strong against their foreheads, like adamant harder than flint. He must not fear them or be dismayed by their looks.
Ezekiel must receive all God’s words into his heart and hear them with his ears. Then he must go to the captives, the children of his people, and speak, “Thus saith the Lord GOD,” whether they hear or refuse.
The Spirit lifts Ezekiel up, and he hears the great rushing voice saying, “Blessed be the glory of the LORD from his place.” He hears again the wings of the living creatures, the wheels beside them, and the great rushing noise. The Spirit takes him away, and he goes in bitterness and heat of spirit, but the hand of the LORD is strong upon him. He comes to the captives at Telabib by the river Chebar, sits where they sit, and remains astonished among them seven days.
At the end of seven days, the word of the LORD comes to him. God makes him a watchman to the house of Israel. He must hear the word from God’s mouth and give warning from Him. If God warns the wicked that he shall surely die and Ezekiel does not warn him, the wicked dies in his iniquity, but his blood is required at Ezekiel’s hand. If Ezekiel warns the wicked and he refuses to turn, the wicked dies in his iniquity, but Ezekiel delivers his soul.
Ezekiel must also warn the righteous man who turns from righteousness and commits iniquity. If Ezekiel fails to warn him, his blood is required at Ezekiel’s hand. But if Ezekiel warns him and he takes warning, the righteous man lives, and Ezekiel delivers his soul.
The hand of the LORD comes upon Ezekiel again, and God tells him to go into the plain. There Ezekiel sees the glory of the LORD as he had seen by the river Chebar, and he falls on his face. The Spirit enters him and sets him on his feet. God commands him to shut himself in his house. The people will bind him, and God will make his tongue cleave to the roof of his mouth so that he is dumb and not a reprover to them, because they are a rebellious house. But when God speaks with him, He will open Ezekiel’s mouth, and Ezekiel will say, “Thus saith the Lord GOD.” He that hears may hear, and he that refuses may refuse, for they are a rebellious house.
