Ezekiel 2&3 Ezekiel’s Calling

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Outfitting the Body to Reach the Searching

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Fellowship - Building a supportive community where believers can grow together in faith. Discipleship - Guiding individuals in spiritual growth and maturity, helping them understand their faith deeply. Worship - Connecting people with God’s presence through a lifestyle of devotion to Him. Ministry - Reflecting Christ’s love through action by serving others both inside and outside the church. Evangelism - Intentionally sharing with others the message of the hope we have in Jesus through genuine relationships.

Recap

Last week we started our journey in the prophetic book of Ezekiel with chapter 1 as God revealed Himself in all his splendor, majesty, mystery, power and grandeur. We were maybe a little distracted and taken up with trying to figure out all the details of these 4 living creatures and their wheels within wheels, but as Ezekiel figured out, they were simply the delivery service for Jehovah Elohim! The Lord God!

We left off in our study as we reflected on Ezekiel’s response to coming face to face with the glory of God!

Ezekiel 1:28 ESV

28 Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord! God had given Ezekiel a glimpse, or a shielded view of Himself and what was Ezekiel’s response? He fell on his face.

Falling on one’s face is the response of someone who is so overwhelmed by what they see and the realization of who they are standing in front of and in turn they can not remain upright. They must humble themselves in the presence of the Almighty! We left off with a bit of a cliff hanger in the words, “and I heard the voice of one speaking.” What was The Almighty saying? Lets find out!

God’s Call

Ezekiel 2:1–4 ESV

1 And he said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.” 2 And as he spoke to me, the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to nations of rebels, who have rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day. 4 The descendants also are impudent and stubborn: I send you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’

God is sending Ezekiel to the people of Israel and how does God describe Israel? “A nation of rebels, who have rebelled against me. They have transgressed against me. They are impudent”, that is to say, they are stiff hearted and obstinate. “They are stubborn”, which is the Hebrew word Kawsheh, meaning severe, cruel, and grievous.

How many of you would be excited to go on this assignment Ezekiel has been given? Probably none of us, but remember the ONE who just revealed Himself to Ezekiel has His prophet’s full attention and the prophet is well aware of the condition of the hearts of his kinsmen.

What is Ezekiel suppose to tell them? “Thus Says the Lord God!” that is to say, “Here speaks Jehovah Adoni!”

I want to pause here for a second and point something out for us a modern day Christians, who often times like to or even prefer to focus on reading the New Testament. The word used in the New Testament for God is Theos, meaning a diety of supreme divinity, God. The word for Lord kyrios, meaning supreme in authority, master, Lord. These words allow us to understand, if you dig into them, the position but not so much the person. Knowing the Hebrew names for God is so important.

Adonoy - אֲדֹנָי ʼĂdônây, ad-o-noy'; an emphatic form of H113; the Lord (used as a proper name of God only):—(my) Lord.

This is the name given for a personal God. My Lord, which speaks to relationship, not just divinity or deity. Both are important, but Adonoy tells us He is my Lord and I am His child.

Jehovah - ה Yᵉhôvâh, yeh-ho-vaw'; from H1961; (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jeho-vah, Jewish national name of God:—Jehovah, the Lord.

Jehovah is the self-existent one and eternal. Self existent means no one is sustaining Him. He’s dependent on no one. He is also described as eternal meaning He always has been and always will be.

Look at how the author of Hebrews describes Jesus, who was in the beginning, was with God and is God.

Hebrews 1:2–3 ESV

2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Jesus, God the Son, 2nd person of the godhead, which is the Hebrew word Elohim upholds the entire universe and everything in it, how? By the word of His power. Contrast that to Jehovah Adoni, who needs nothing and no one to sustain Him for all eternity past present and future.

I want to encourage you as you study through the book of Ezekiel in your study journal, take a pen or even colored pin and draw a crown around each reference to God. Even the pronouns. It will allow you to see His presence even in His word even more vividly.

Lets get back to our text.

Ezekiel 2:5–7 ESV

5 And whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house) they will know that a prophet has been among them. 6 And you, son of man, be not afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions. Be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. 7 And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house.

Here’s the burden and the beauty of the job responsibilities of a prophet. It doesn’t matter whether they listen or refuse to listen. It’s not Ezekiel’s job to make anyone listen. It’s his job to be obedient to deliver the message that God has given him to deliver. The Lord reminds Ezekiel repeatedly who Israel is, a rebellious house. The important thing is that the people will know that a prophet has been among them.

Symbolism vs. Allegory

A symbol is a distinct item, animal, substance, or action that stands for a divine concept or spiritual reality beyond its literal form. as in the briars, thorns, and scorpions.

An allegory is a complete narrative framework—like a story, poem, or detailed comparison—that operates on both a literal surface level and a deeper figurative level. This would be more of a parallel made up story with a deeper hidden meaning. This is not what Ezekiel is. It’s not how God is communicating with him.

There will be lots of symbols used in this book, and in many others, but there is no book in the bible that is an allegory. The closest thing we have to an allegory in scripture are Jesus’ parables.

The Lord tells Ezekiel to not be afraid of their words or their looks and then uses the symbolism of comparing their words to briers and thorns and even sitting on scorpions. Israel’s response to Ezekiel’s message is going to be hard to hear and hard to deal with the rejection. Trust me, dealing with people rejecting what you say isn’t fun. I know as a pastor i’ve experienced it many times. But it’s not my job to make everyone happy with me. It’s my job to teach you the word of God and walk with you as you seek to follow the Lord, encouraging and correcting you along the way. I find the Lord’s words to Ezekiel very comforting.

“Be not afraid of their words or looks” why? They are a rebellious house! It’s who they are! It’s how they ended up in captivity, because they’ve been rebelling against me from the very beginning! Here is the key for the prophet in verse 7. Speak the words I give you to the nation of Israel no matter what! Whether they hear or refuse to hear.

At some measure that is my job too. It is my job and Ken’s job when we preach to speak the words of the Lord to you. To read it, study it, understand it the way the original author intended it and then communicate that to you. Whether you listen and apply it to your life or not is not on us. It’s on you.

Do we want you to understand it and apply it? Yes! Can we make you, no. Do we want to make you? No! We want you to desire to understand God’s word! We want you to hunger for it, study it, dig into it and choose to live by it!

We, like them, are rebellious as well.

Eating the Scroll

Ezekiel 2:8–10 ESV

8 “But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Be not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.” 9 And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. 10 And he spread it before me. And it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe.

The last part of God’s initial call on Ezekiel’s life is to hear and obey. Do not become like the people of Israel and rebel against the Lord.

God then tells Ezekiel to do something that may sound weird but also quite familiar, if you’ve read scripture. He tells him to eat a scroll. What is this scroll? It’s the words of the Lord that Ezekiel is suppose to deliver to Israel. The scroll has writing on it on the front and the back. In other words, the message was an extensive one. God has a lot to say to Israel. Why was Ezekiel suppose to eat it? Ezekiel had to accept it completely, taking it into the innermost core of his being.

David Guzik’s commentary:

God’s servants should receive God’s word as if they actually eat it.Here’s what receiving God’s word looks like in our lives. Eating God’s word starts as a:

Deliberate action.

Readiness to receive.

Internal reception.

Repetitious chewing.

Complete reception.

The process of digestion.

Necessity.

Sweetness.

Strength, nourishment.

The Lord called Ezekiel to completely take in and digest the full prophecy that he was to deliver.

Words of lamentation, mourning and woe.

Lamentation - קִינָה qîynâh, kee-naw'; from H6969; a dirge (as accompanied by beating the breasts or on instruments):—lamentation.

Mourning - הֶגֶה hegeh, heh'-geh; from H1897; a muttering (in sighing, thought, or as thunder):—mourning, sound, tale.

Woe - Websters definition: Grief; sorrow; misery; a heavy calamity.

Ezekiel 3:1–11 ESV

1 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 God,’ whether they hear or refuse to hear.”

What Ezekiel chewed on, tasted as he ate was sweet as honey! How could a message of judgement be sweet?

 “If the word of God be not very sweet to me, have I an appetite? Solomon says, ‘The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.’ Ah, when a soul is full of itself, and of the world, and of the pleasures of sin, I do not wonder that it sees no sweetness in Christ, for it has no appetite!” (Spurgeon on Psalm 119:103)

When we know the ONE, Jehovah Adoni, My Lord the self existing eternal One, whatever His will is be it judgement or redemption will be sweet to us.

Isaiah 55:8–9 ESV

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Here Ezekiel, according to the word of the Lord, is going to his own people who speak his own language. He’s not going to a foreign people with foreign speech and hard language. The Lord actually says that those foreign people would actually listen to His prophet unlike the house of Israel. The Lord literally tells Ezekiel “the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you” why? “For they were not willing to listen to me”. Why wasn’t the house of Israel willing to listen to the Lord? Because they have a “hard forehead and a stubborn heart.” Hard headed and hard hearted is a really bad combination!

Here comes the fulfillment of one of God’s promises to Ezekiel as I stated last week. God promises to strengthen Ezekiel.

Ezekiel 3:8–9 ESV

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.”

“Make your face like adamant if their hearts are like adamant; if they are not ashamed to sin do not you be ashamed to warn them; if they are not ashamed of their unbelief, be not you ashamed of your faith in the divine testimony.” (Spurgeon)

Ezekiel is to listen to the words of the Lord, receive it in his heart and go and tell the people of Israel, “Thus says the Lord God” whether they listen or not.

Ezekiel 3:12–13 ESV

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.

Take a moment and lets listen to that again.

What was the message that Ezekiel heard? “Blessed be the glory of the Lord from its place!” Jehovah Adoni in all of His magnificent creativity, made creatures who’s wings, when they touched one another, and their wheels turn, echoing the sound of the great earthquake, proclaim a message of praise and blessing to glorify the Lord Jehovah in His place!

Ezekiel 3:14–15 ESV

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.

Bitterness in the heat of my spirit? Ezekiel was bitter, angry, and stunned. Its not super clear what the reason of his bitterness was. Never the less, he found himself back with the exiles at Tel-abib dwelling by the Chebar canal. He’s overwhelmed and he sat there in that state for 7 days. Once among them, he spent seven days stunned by the amazing vision and call of God upon his life.

Ezekiel the Watchman

Ezekiel 3:16–21 ESV

16 And at the end of seven days, the word of the Lord came to me: 17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. 18 If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 19 But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. 20 Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, but his blood I will require at your hand. 21 But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and you will have delivered your soul.”

Now after 7 days of processing, God comes to Ezekiel again. This time he has a new name or position. He makes Ezekiel a watchman.

God used the figure of the watchman to describe Ezekiel’s responsibility, here and in Ezekiel 33. He fulfilled his role as a watchman not primarily by observing others, but by faithfully proclaiming God’s word and bringing God’s warning to the people. God was gracious to provide a watchman at all.

Similarly, proclaiming God’s truth and words of warning to you as your pastor shepherd is a way of keeping watch over you. If all I do it tell you of God’s love for you and His forgiveness of you, and His grace towards you, we can tend to get really comfortable in our current state. Its when we step back and realize how God showed His love toward us by sending His son who had to die for us and in our place do we start to feel the weight and importance God places on us being forgiven for and separating us from our sin. It’s by God’s grace that we have the opportunity to be His in the first place. He is a patient God but why do we drag our feet in our love for Him. Why do we drag out the process of our obedience? Why do we get upset with Him when it seems like He isn’t responding to our prayers fast enough and yet we are still willfully wallowing in our own sin and defiance of Him and His will?

God gives us His word and His Spirit to guide us, yes, but He also sends His spokespersons to proclaim His truth. He called Ezekiel to literally, as the word implies, to lean forward, to peer into the distance and keep watch over the house of Israel as he delivers God’s message to them.

God emphasizes the weight of this job that God’s called him to. Bottom line, if Ezekiel does his job, whether the people listen and obey or not, Ezekiel will “deliver his soul.” If he hears from the Lord and doesn’t deliver the message to the house of Israel, their blood will be required at Ezekiel’s hand.

On this stumbling block God lays before the righteous man: “It does not here indicate that God deliberately sets out to trip up the righteous and bring him crashing to the ground, but that he leaves opportunities for sin in the paths of men, so that if their heart is bent on sin they may do so and thus earn their condemnation.” (Taylor)

If Ezekiel was faithful to bring the message and the righteous were appropriately warned and kept from their sin, it would be good for the one who kept the warning (he shall surely live because he took warning), and good for the prophet (you will have delivered your soul).

Ezekiel 3:22–27 ESV

22 And the hand of the Lord was upon me there. And he said to me, “Arise, go out into the valley, and there I will speak with you.” 23 So I arose and went out into the valley, and behold, the glory of the Lord stood there, like the glory that I had seen by the Chebar canal, and I fell on my face. 24 But the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and he spoke with me and said to me, “Go, shut yourself within your house. 25 And you, O son of man, behold, cords will be placed upon you, and you shall be bound with them, so that you cannot go out among the people. 26 And I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth, so that you shall be mute and unable to reprove them, for they are a rebellious house. 27 But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ He who will hear, let him hear; and he who will refuse to hear, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house.

Once again, The Lord God reveals Himself to Ezekiel and he responds the same way. He falls on his face. Once again the Spirit entered him and set him on his feet and spoke to him. What was His message?

God told Ezekiel to symbolically act out a message through isolation, inactivity, and silence. There are several different ways this action has been interpreted.

An acted-out prophecy of what would happen to Ezekiel from the people of Israel as they rejected his message and punished him (Trapp).

An acted-out prophecy of the doom and helplessness to come upon Israel (Vawter and Hoppe).

God’s restriction upon Ezekiel, keeping him inactive and silent until the appointed time (Wright, Taylor).

An illustration of God’s silence toward Israel (Clarke).

To illustrate that Israel had no regard for the word of God, the LORD told Ezekiel not to speak. God afflicted Ezekiel with a temporary muteness to illustrate God’s silence to those who will not listen. But God would not stay silent forever, and neither would Ezekiel. God would restore his ability to speak and he would fulfill his role as God’s messenger.

He who hears, let him hear; and he who refuses, let him refuse: With Ezekiel speaking as he should, delivering God’s message, the responsibility would be on those he spoke to and not upon himself. Israel as a rebellious house would have to answer for their own sin and could not claim they never heard.

This is the pattern of the Lord from the very beginning and will last into the last days. God gave Adam and Eve clear instructions and even warned them of what would happen if they disobeyed. Did they hear and obey or refuse to hear and choose to obey? Jesus met his listeners with the same words. Those who have ears to hear let them here, meaning if you hear then you really desired to hear. I’m not hiding anything from you!

The last time we hear these words is in the book of Revelation chapters 2&3 in the letters that the Apostle John writes to the 7 churches. After the rapture of the church and before Jesus’ second coming an angel delivers this message.

Revelation 14:6–7 ESV

6 Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. 7 And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

The Lord God will continue to offer a message of hope to all those who desire to hear it, that is, until the end. Then it will be too late. What a gracious, patient, loving God we serve!

Ezekiel accepts his call to be a watchman, to deliver the word of the Lord to the rebelious people of Israel. To continue to declare, “Thus says the Lord God” whether they listen and obey or whether they decide to continue to refuse to listen the word of the Lord, His word still stands. What He says will happen is going to happen, whether we want to cooperate or not. Whether we agree with His word or not, His word stands! What we do with the word of the Lord is up to us, and we will either reap the rewards of walking in God’s truth or we will suffer the consequences of going against the will and word of the Almighty!

What will be your next move?

Communion

Matthew 26:26–29 ESV

26 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” 27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

Let’s Pray!

God You are_____________________.

God I need You because____________________.

God I thank You for______________________.

God I need to see you move in______________________.