EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries
Ezekiel 3:1-27
Ezekiel: ‘They shall know that I am God’
The *Sin of Judah and the Judgement of God
Ezekiel Chapter s 1 to 24
Ian Mackervoy
Chapter 3
Ezekiel eats the *scroll – Ezekiel 3:1-3
v1 Then the *Lord said to me, ‘*Son of man. Eat what is in front of you. Eat this *scroll. Then go and speak to the *Israelites.’ v2 So, I opened my mouth, and he gave the *scroll to me to eat.
v3 He said to me, ‘*Son of man. Eat the *scroll that I give to you. Fill your stomach with it.’ Then I ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.
Verses 1-3 The *Lord gave the *scroll to Ezekiel for him to eat it. This action had a special meaning. Ezekiel had to know the message before he could speak it. So, he had to eat the *scroll (accept the message) in preparation for his work. The message in the *scroll was a difficult one. But his task was to speak that message to the *Israelites.
Ezekiel obeyed God and he opened his mouth. He ate the *scroll. He swallowed it and he took it into his stomach. It became part of him. The message in the *scroll was bad. But as he ate it, it had a sweet taste. It was like the taste of honey.
Ezekiel would have many enemies. And people would refuse what he said. But it is a pleasure to serve God. And that pleasure would be greater then those problems. A task may be hard or painful. But it is a joy to do what God wants.
Instructions to Ezekiel – Ezekiel 3:4-11
v4 Then he said to me, ‘*Son of man. Now go to the *Israelites and speak my words to them. v5 I do not send you to a nation with strange words and a difficult language. I send you to the *Israelites. v6 I do not send you to many nations with their strange words and difficult languages. You would not understand what they say. But, if I sent you to them, they would listen to you. v7 But the *Israelites will not listen to you. They will not even listen to me. All the *Israelites are *stubborn and they will not obey. v8 But I will make you as strong in mind and as hard as they are. v9 I have made your mind as hard as the hardest stone. Do not be afraid of them. And do not let their faces frighten you. This people oppose me and they refuse to obey me.’
v10 He also said to me, ‘*Son of man. Believe all the words that I will speak to you. Listen to them and keep them in your heart. v11 Then go to your own people who are in *exile. Say to them, “The *LORD your King says this.” Tell them this whether they listen or not.’
Verses 4-7 The *Lord now sends Ezekiel to speak to the *Israelites. If the *Lord had sent Ezekiel to foreigners, they would have listened to him. Ezekiel would not understand them but they would still accept (believe) God’s message. But God’s own people would not listen to Ezekiel. They were too *stubborn. They would not listen to God because they had *turned away from him. This situation was awful. God’s people were even worse than the nations round them.
It would seem that Ezekiel had failed in his task. But this is not true. His task was to speak the words of God. He was not responsible for the results of it.
Verses 8-9 The people were strong in mind. They were *stubborn. They had closed their minds; in other words, they would not even listen. And they would oppose Ezekiel and refuse his message. So, God promised to make Ezekiel stronger in mind. Ezekiel would be strong and he would not fail. Ezekiel would declare God’s message by the strength of the *Lord. The people would not be able to stop Ezekiel.
Verses 10-11 The word of the *Lord had to become part of Ezekiel. Then he could go and speak it. He had to think about the message of the *Lord. He had to believe it to be true. If he were not sure of the message, he could not speak it with confidence. But when he was sure of the message then he could speak with the authority of God.
The *vision moves away – Ezekiel 3:12-15
v12 Then the Spirit lifted me up. I heard behind me a great and loud noise. I heard these words: ‘Praise the *glory of the *LORD in his holy place.’ v13 I heard the sound of the wings of the *creatures as they touched each other. And I also heard the sound of the wheels. It was really a great and loud noise. v14 So, the Spirit lifted me up and took me away. I was unhappy and angry. But I felt that the *LORD’s power was on me. v15 Then I came to the *exiles that lived in Tel-Abib town near the river Chebar. I sat there 7 days where these people lived. I sat as one who became dumb.
Verse 12 This first *vision now ends. The Spirit lifted Ezekiel up. All that he had seen began to move. He heard the loud sounds as of a voice behind him. It said, ‘Praise the *glory of God’. The *cherubim were praising God, who was on his *throne. Praise God because the *glory belongs to him alone!
Verse 13 As the *vision moved, Ezekiel heard the sounds of the wings of the *cherubim. The wheels also made a loud noise as they moved.
Verse 14 Ezekiel must tell the people the message that God had given to him. The message was about God’s judgement against the *Israelites. They would suffer a terrible punishment because of their evil deeds. Ezekiel did not want to do what God had told him. But he knew that he must do it. This upset him and he was angry. He was unhappy with what he had heard. He knew that the people would not listen to him. They would not accept what he had to say.
God was with Ezekiel. He felt that the power of God was holding him. He knew that he must go to the people. Now he could not avoid the task.
Verse 15 Ezekiel had come back to Tel-Abib town where he lived with the *exiles. There it took him a whole week to think about the *vision. It took all that time for him to recover after that experience. The *vision that he had seen worried him. The terror of the message was almost too much for him. He sat there unable to say anything.
Ezekiel is to be a *look-out for the people – Ezekiel 3:16-21
v16 After 7 days the *LORD spoke to me again. v17 ‘*Son of man, I have appointed you to be a *look-out for the *Israelites. You must listen to what I say to you. And you must warn them from me. v18 I may say to the wicked man, “You will certainly die.” Then you must warn him. You must advise him to change from his evil behaviour. He then has the chance to save his life. If you do not warn him, he will die because of his *sin. But you will be responsible to me for his death. v19 Suppose you have warned the wicked man. But he does not *turn from his *sin. He does not change the evil way that he lives. He will die because of his *sin. But you will have saved your own life.
v20 Also, good people may *turn away from their good deeds. Instead, they may do evil deeds. I may put their lives in danger, so that they will die. Because you have not warned them, they will die because of their *sin. I will not remember the good deeds that they have done. But I will consider you responsible for their deaths. v21 But suppose you have warned those good people not to *sin. If they *turn from their *sin, they will live. They believed you when you warned them. And you will have saved your own life.’
Verses 16-17 At the end of the week, the *Lord spoke to Ezekiel. The *Lord made Ezekiel a *look-out for the *Israelites. In those days, a *look-out was a special type of guard. The *look-out would stand on the wall of a city. His job was to watch for enemies and other dangers. If he saw any danger to the city, he had to warn the people. Such danger could be from an army that was approaching. Or it could be a problem inside the city such as a fire.
The *Lord would tell Ezekiel about the dangers that would happen. As the *look-out for the people, he had to sound the alarm. That is, he had to make people aware of the danger. He had to tell the people what God had said.
Verses 18-19 Ezekiel must listen to the *Lord and then warn the people. He was responsible for the task that God gave to him. If he did not warn the people then God would blame him for the results. If he did warn the people then he was without blame.
He had to tell the wicked man to change how he lived. The wicked man would die if he did not change. The death of the wicked man would be the result of that man’s own *sin. But if that man did change then he would live. However, if Ezekiel did not warn him, that man would die. But God would blame Ezekiel for that death.
All people are responsible for what they do. They are responsible for their own deeds, whether those deeds are good or bad. But Ezekiel’s responsibility was to declare God’s message. When God sent him, Ezekiel had to warn the people. If Ezekiel did not do so, God would blame him also.
Verses 20-21 A good person may change and do evil deeds. That person will die because of those evil deeds. The good deeds of the past will not save that person. That person will die. If Ezekiel had not warned that person then he (Ezekiel) is to blame for that death.
Perhaps the person would not act when Ezekiel warned him. Then Ezekiel was not to blame. But God did not want that person to suffer. So, God was sending Ezekiel in order to give that person another opportunity. If that person *turned from *sin, then that person would live.
God speaks to Ezekiel – Ezekiel 3:22-27
v22 Then I felt the power of the *LORD there. He said to me, ‘Get up. Go to the plain and there I will speak to you.’ v23 So, I got up and I went to the plain. I saw the *glory of the *LORD, which was standing there. It was like the *glory that I had seen by the river Chebar. I fell down with my face to the ground.
v24 Then the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet. He spoke to me. He said, ‘Go. Shut yourself inside your house. v25 *Son of man, the people will bind you. So, you will be unable to go out among the people. v26 I will make your tongue stick in your mouth. You will be silent as a dumb person. You will not be able to argue with the people, although they have *turned against me. v27 But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth. That is, I will make you able to speak again. And you will say to them, “The *LORD your King says this.” If people want to listen, they will be able to listen. If people refuse to listen, they will be able to refuse. They are doing this because they have *turned against me.’
Verse 22-23 Ezekiel knew that God was there because he felt God’s power. He heard God speak. So, Ezekiel went out to the plain. There the *glory of God appeared to him as it had done before at the river Chebar. This time he did not see the *vision come toward him. But, as before, he fell down with his face to the ground. Although he had seen it before, the effect was as great. He fell down in fear at the sight of the *glory of God.
Verse 24 The Spirit of God came to Ezekiel. The Spirit lifted Ezekiel to his feet and then the Spirit spoke to him. He told Ezekiel what to do and what would happen. He told Ezekiel to shut himself in his own house. He must not go out. He could not continue with his daily duties.
Verse 25 The Spirit told him that the *exiles would bind him. He would not be able to move about. He would not be able to leave his house. His house would be like a prison for him.
Verses 26-27 God would only allow Ezekiel to speak what God told him. He could say nothing else since God would make him dumb. He would not be able to have a conversation with people. He would not be able to discuss or to argue.
When Ezekiel did speak, the results were not his problem. He was just the agent of the *Lord. All that he said was the messages of the *Lord. The people were responsible for their own actions. They could choose to listen or they could refuse to listen.
God made Ezekiel dumb for 7 years. That period continued until the *Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem. But during that period, Ezekiel had to speak many messages from God. He would remain in his home except as God led him.
The *Lord will destroy Jerusalem – Ezekiel 4:1-5
God gave this *prophecy to Ezekiel. It was an unusual kind of *prophecy. God told Ezekiel to make a model and to carry out certain actions. The purpose of those actions was to show what would happen to Jerusalem and its inhabitants.
sin ~ Sin means the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. People are called sinners because of their sins.
scroll ~ a book in the form of a long piece of material which one rolls up.
Lord ~ a title for God, to show that he is over all people and things.
LORD ~ ‘LORD’ is the special name that God gave to himself. It probably means ‘always God’. This name has a relationship with the special promises that God gave to his people.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
stubborn ~ to have an attitude that will not change.
exile ~ When people have to live in a foreign country they are in exile. Such a person is called an exile.
Lord ~ a title for God, to show that he is over all people and things.
LORD ~ ‘LORD’ is the special name that God gave to himself. It probably means ‘always God’. This name has a relationship with the special promises that God gave to his people.
turn ~ to change your behaviour, your friends, or your God; or, to carry out actions in order to oppose someone.
vision ~ something that God shows to a person but not with the physical sight. Visions are often in the form of dreams.
glory ~ great honour and beauty.
creatures ~ Things that are alive. In this Book of Ezekiel, Ezekiel saw 4 special creatures. Those 4 creatures are called the cherubim.
cherubim ~ the group of cherubs.
cherub ~ a special angel who was in the most holy place in the temple.
angel ~ God’s special servants in heaven. God made angels to serve him and to take his messages.
temple ~ a special building for the worship of God or other gods. The Jews had one in Jerusalem for the worship of the real God.
worship ~ an act to give honour to God (or to a false god). When people praise and thank God.
Jews ~ another name for the Israelites.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
cherubim ~ the group of cherubs.
cherub ~ a special angel who was in the most holy place in the temple.
angel ~ God’s special servants in heaven. God made angels to serve him and to take his messages.
temple ~ a special building for the worship of God or other gods. The Jews had one in Jerusalem for the worship of the real God.
worship ~ an act to give honour to God (or to a false god). When people praise and thank God.
Jews ~ another name for the Israelites.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
throne ~ the special chair for the king.'look-out ~ a person whose duty is to warn of danger.
sin ~ Sin means the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. People are called sinners because of their sins.
Babylonian ~ a person from the nation called Babylon or anything that has a relationship with Babylon.
prophecy ~ a message from God; a gift of the Holy Spirit.