II. Ezekiel 2:3 record the call of the prophet to his office and the instructions given him for his work. As far as Ezekiel 3:13, this seems to have been still in the presence of the vision of Ezekiel 1; then he was directed to go to another place, where he remains silent among the captives for seve... [ Continue Reading ]
SON OF MAN. — The voice that now came to Ezekiel was articulate, and spoke to him in words which he could understand. It is not said who it was that spoke, but the “He” in connection with the vision before him could be none other than the Most High, whose glory that vision was given to reveal. The p... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE SPIRIT ENTERED INTO ME. — Always Divine strength is vouchsafed to the prophets when thus overcome by the glory of their visions. (Comp. Isaiah 6:5; Daniel 8:18; Daniel 10:15; Revelation 1:17.) There can be no doubt, therefore, that _the spirit_ is here the Spirit of God, and not merely the p... [ Continue Reading ]
I SEND THEE TO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. — Here properly begins the distinct commission of the prophet. After the captivity of the ten tribes, the two forming the kingdom of Judah, with such remnants of the others as had been induced by Hezekiah and others to cast in their lot with them, are constantl... [ Continue Reading ]
IMPUDENT CHILDREN. — Literally, as in margin, _hard of face._ The epithet is repeated in Ezekiel 3:7, and it is with reference to this that in Ezekiel 3:7 the prophet’s face is to be made strong, and his forehead “harder than flint.” “The Lord God” is in the original “the Lord Jehovah,” the second n... [ Continue Reading ]
WHETHER THEY WILL HEAR, OR WHETHER THEY WILL FORBEAR. — Comp. Ezekiel 3:11. God’s word remains the same whatever reception man may accord to it; it cannot return unto Him void, but must accomplish that which He pleases (Isaiah 55:11); just as the Apostles remained “unto God a sweet savour of Christ”... [ Continue Reading ]
BRIERS AND THORNS. — These words occur only here, but their meaning is sufficiently plain. _Briers,_ indeed, might admit of the marginal translation, _rebels,_ but both words should be taken together, either as adjectives or nouns, and the latter is more in accordance with the following “scorpions,”... [ Continue Reading ]
EAT THAT I GIVE THEE. — This is to be understood, like all that has gone before, as done in vision, as in the case of the book eaten by St. John in Revelation 10:9. The figure of eating for receiving into the heart, so as to be thoroughly possessed by what is communicated, is not an uncommon one. (C... [ Continue Reading ]
WAS SENT UNTO ME. — Better, _was put forth,_ as the same word is translated in Genesis 3:22; Genesis 19:10; Ezekiel 8:3. In Ezekiel 10:7 it is rendered _stretched forth,_ with the marginal _sent forth,_ and the corresponding Chaldee word in Daniel 5:24 is translated “sent.” It is not that a hand by... [ Continue Reading ]
HE SPREAD IT BEFORE ME. — The roll was given to the prophet open, as the book in Revelation 10:8, that he might first see it all as a whole, before becoming thoroughly possessed with it in detail. What he saw was “lamentations, and mourning, and woe;” in other words, this was the whole character of... [ Continue Reading ]