Ezekiel 3:22-27

Ezekiel 3:22-27. The prophet abandons public exercise of his ministry

The verses form the preface to ch. 4 24, all the prophecies that bear upon the fate of Jerusalem and its inhabitants, up to its fall. The prophet under the "hand" of God goes out into the "valley," and the same Theophany appears to him as at the first by the river Chebar. He is in communication with the same great God, and all his actions are determined by his commands. According to the interpretation put upon ch. Ezekiel 1:1 to Ezekiel 3:21 above, he had exercised his office of watchman among the people, speaking to them publicly in the name of the Lord, for some time. Possibly the time was not very long, for this passage comes in under the same general date as all that preceded it. His ministry had met with resistance, the people would not hear, as he had anticipated. A public ministry among them was fruitless; the burden of his preaching to them was distasteful. He warned them against their idolatries, from which they would not turn; and foretold the downfall of their city and country, a thing which they heard with an incredulous ear and would have none of. Therefore the prophet feels instructed of God to cease to be a public "reprover" (Ezekiel 3:26) for a time. The people refuse to believe his words when he speaks of the downfall of their beloved city, they will be constrained to believe events when they happen; and then the prophet, his word being confirmed, will speak with boldness, his mouth will be opened, and he will be able to impress upon more ready listeners the lessons of God's righteous providence. His silence meantime is not an absolute one, it is only a change of method; but this so-called silence continues till the actual destruction of the city. In ch. Ezekiel 24:27, it is said, "in that day (when tidings come of the city's fall) shall thy mouth be opened and thou shalt speak and be no more dumb, and they shall know that I am the Lord;" and in ch. Ezekiel 33:21 seq., when those that escaped came bringing tidings, saying, the city is fallen, it is said: "then my mouth was opened, and I was no more dumb." No motive is assigned for the change in his prophetic method, beyond the unwillingness of the people to listen, "for they are a rebellious house" (Ezekiel 3:26). At the same time as a prophet of the restoration with its new principles (ch. 18, 33), a watchman appointed to speak no more to the state but to individual men, his ministry proper could not commence till the state had fallen. See note on ch. Ezekiel 3:17.