Ezekiel 3:4

4–9. The prophet shall be strengthened to perform his hard task

Having taken in the “words” of the Lord (Eze_3:4) there opens up before the prophet a general view of the mission he is sent upon. It is an arduous one. The difficulties are not of a superficial kind. He is not sent to foreign nations, who would not understand his words, but to Israel. They can well understand, but they will not listen. Their refusal to listen unto him is but an example of their life-long refusal to listen unto God. They are resolute and obstinate in their disobedience, but the prophet shall be made more resolute than they.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Eze 3:4 And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them.

Ver. 4. Go, get thee unto the house of Israel.] This was a hard task, all things considered; but hard or not hard, there was a necessity of going on God’s errand. Ubi mel ibi fel. Necesse est ut eat, non ut vivat, Where there is honey, there is bitterness. It is necessary to go but not to live, as he once said.

And speak with my words unto them.] But see they be mine, and then I will bear thee out; then also they will the sooner take impression. Speak as the oracles of God. {1Pe 4:11}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(3.) RATIFICATIONS OF THE COMMISSION (Chap. Eze_3:4-15)

EXEGETICAL NOTES.—Eze_3:5-6. “Of a strange speech and of an hard language.” The marginal reading, deep of lip and heavy of tongue, indicates that nothing is referred to here about the characteristics of national languages. It is the obscurity and embarrassment of a foreign speech, to a man who cannot employ them, which are brought to view. Ezekiel is to speak no tongue but that of Israel. His sphere is definite and contracted. He will be able to give his whole attention to the meaning rather than to the vocal sounds of the words in which he declares the messages of the Lord, and must aim that his people thoroughly understand the words he uses. “They would have hearkened to thee.” The obstacle meeting the prophet, if he spoke in the words of the Lord to the heathen, would be their language. When he speaks to the Israelites, it is their hardness of heart. Familiarity with religious words often counteracts their power.

Eze_3:9. “As an adamant.” A very hard stone of some kind. We may doubt if it be a diamond, as in Jer_17:1; but it signified to Ezekiel that he would be made more than a match for the contumacy of Israel. He would be neither shamed, nor terrified, nor put down before his rebellious people.

Eze_3:12. “The Spirit,” the same which moved in the living creatures, “took me up,” or, as in Eze_3:14, “lifted me up.” He had been standing on his feet, but now there came a feeling as if he were raised from the ground and about to be removed from the spot at which he had seen “visions of God.” Just as he was turned, “I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing”—a sound of loud and commingled noises, but not that, as in our Bible, they only conveyed the cry, “Blessed be the glory of the Lord from his place.” The appearance of the glory of the Lord was to be withdrawn for a season from the sight of Ezekiel, but wherever it might be, resting or moving, he was to know that matter for praise and honour must belong to it. It is not said who gave forth this doxology; but as the only articulate voice mentioned is (chap. Eze_1:28) that of Him who is on the sapphire throne, the voice would appear to have proceeded from thence, and so clearly that it could be distinguished from the other accompanying sounds, which Ezekiel goes on to specify. Eze_3:13. The sound of great rushing was caused also by “the noise of the wings of the living creatures”—when flying, the wings touched one the other, as was intimated chap. Eze_1:24—“and the noise of the wheels.”

Eze_3:14. “I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit.” He was depressed and also excited. He felt his own insufficiency, and in a glow of indignation regarding the work he had to do. He went straight to it, for he was mastered by the mighty hand. His state was akin to that of Paul (1Co_2:3-4), “I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling; and my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” Under the hand of the Lord Ezekiel went into society.

Eze_3:15. Tel-abib, the place near which, probably, Ezekiel’s home was; but instead of living in comparative seclusion, he was required to lay himself open to his fellow-exiles. “And I sat where they sat.” There is a difficulty in the Hebrew of this clause. The way of solving it which is taken by the English Bible is that suggested by ancient Jewish critics. The Septuagint has an other way, by leaving out “and,” and rendering the other words, “those who were there.” Some later commentators prefer a slightly different Hebrew punctuation, and translate, “and I saw them dwelling there;” while others give this version, “and where they were dwelling there”—a version perhaps the least open to objections—“I remained astonished”—stunned. Ezr_9:3-4, indicates that Ezekiel’s posture was that of a man who does not move by reason of his emotion and infirmity. There follows continuous silence for “seven days,” not as a fixed time for mourning, but as a period of purification and probation for appointed services (Lev_8:33).

This paragraph conveys to Ezekiel the purport of the order he had carried out in eating the roll. There are repetitions of matters which had already been communicated to him, but they are applied to a somewhat altered condition. The sight of the glory of the Lord, the summons to serve this God of Glory, the consent to do as he was instructed, are followed up by the command to go and do the service in the allotted sphere. Thus in later days Andrew, Peter, Philip followed Jesus of Nazareth before they were called by Him to become fishers of men. And in our days it is not enough to look to Christ and feel inclination to take up a portion of work for Him; men and women need to get the opportunity which is furnished by the Lord opening a door. By this He ratifies His own call.

HOMILETICS

I. The adaptedness of God’s messages (Eze_3:4-6).

1. They are transmissible by means of words. Man’s language and thought are bound to each other by coherent links. Given words will suggest ideas correspondent to them, and so men can understand what the purport of a message is. The fact that God is on another plane than His creatures is not an obstacle to His communicating with them, if He choose to do so. But it is impossible for them to perceive His method of doing so. Yet it carries a self-evidencing power, and true men can unhesitatingly say, “Thus saith the Lord.” Mysteriousness does not invalidate consciousness. We may eat the fruit though we cannot tell how the tree produced it from soil and atmosphere.

2. They are translatable into every tongue of men. It may be rude or cultivated, that of Israel or of a heathen nation, no matter which, all men are His offspring and capable of receiving what God wishes to let them know. His children, scattered abroad over the earth—Cretans and Arabs, Indians and Negroes—hear in their own tongues wherein they were born the wonderful works of God. “He will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

3. They suppose competent messengers. A fit messenger will speak in the language of the people to whom he conveys the words of God. To repeat them in a dead language, or in a foreign language, or in the hard, unusual terms of a vernacular, is to go against the desire of God that all people should understand His will. Preachers and teachers should aim to employ language which will produce the clearest and most widespread impression of what God has given for their hearers. It was a characteristic of our perfect Exampler that “the common people heard Him gladly.” He should be copied in this, if possible, by all who would speak for the Father.

4. They do not compel acceptance. It may be no discredit to one who is endeavouring to do spiritual good to men that he is not attended to. He may speak precious truths in vain, and that not because of the unsuitableness of his message, but because of the state of those who hear. Like his Lord, he may feel grieved because of the hardness of their hearts. He makes his appeal to those whose eyes the god of this world has blinded—“who love the darkness rather than the light”—who are as free to reject as to accept the words of the Lord. But while believing this, let all who speak His words be sure that they state them as they ought, and then, if they are not hearkened to, they will be free from blame for their unsuccess—they will sorrow over the sad fact that it is God who is not hearkened to.

5. They are partial in their diffusion. There are tribes and nations which have not received any special messages regarding the glory and grace of the God and Father of their spirits. “His ways are past finding out.” It is sometimes said that if the servants of God had been more devout and enterprising, such a condition of ignorance as to the true God would not have remained. There is a certain amount of truth in this representation; but it would be an error if we let that aspect alone be regarded. We have this also to notice, that behind it there is the mightier and more mysterious fact that God has not commissioned messengers to go to certain peoples, who yet, if He had done so, would have embraced His messages! “Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight.” We are dumb with silence. We can only wait, believing that “He doeth all things well.”

II. Sufficient grace proffered (Eze_3:7-11).

1. To meet foreshadowed difficulties. The Lord is wishful that His servants should not be surprised at hindrances. Their first impression generally is, that, having become obedient to the Almighty One, He will make a clear way for them to walk in. That impression is not caused by anything He has said or omitted to say. He knows how the consciences of men will deal with His righteous claims and turn themselves away from hearing the law; so He urges His people to count the cost of serving Him, to expect rebuffs and disappointments. Then, if they fail to win men, God will have prepared them for just such an event. They need not be cast down, however painful their trials; they must act on His authority, though they have to make a hard, determined advance.

2. To enable to stand firm. For all such failures God will bestow surpassing strength. If the rejecters are obstinate, He will make His servants more tenacious than they. He will “give a mouth and wisdom, that all their adversaries will not be able to gainsay or resist.” They go forth with precious promises from “a faithful Creator.” He does not pledge Himself to give them comforts or converts—He does pledge Himself to give “mercy to the faithful.” Jeremiah heard Him say, “They shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee, for I am with thee to deliver thee.” Suspicious and angry looks may confront us, but they will not dismay us, for the Lord is at our right hand. “God so wishes sometimes His servants to acquiesce in His government that they should labour even without any hope of fruit. Therefore let us learn to leave the event in the hand of God when He enjoins anything upon us. It ought to suffice us that our obedience is pleasing to Him.”—Calvin.

3. To maintain unbroken communion. His words remain with His people. His Spirit is ever bringing to their remembrance the things He hath spoken. Ready to receive Him, they find a spring opened on every parched pathway—something fitted to sustain them in all duties and discouragements. It will be from their own negligence, or fear, or unbelief, that they will lose the light of His countenance. “The same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth and is no lie; and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him.”

4. To promote conduct correspondent to His assurances. “He giveth grace upon grace.” “To him that hath shall be given;” and intimation is made to Ezekiel that He expects:

(1.) Acknowledgment of His authority. From Him alone is it derived. No man, no ordinance, no institution can convey the power to receive God’s words to any person. Every claim to possessing such power is baseless, since He claims that it belongs to His own in working, and is communicated to whomsoever He chooses. Men can truly speak with a “Thus saith the Lord,” but it is because they have been “called” of God, and have bowed to that call. Such men may preach boldly, for they will be warranted to believe that they do so through the power of Christ speaking in them.

(2.) Unwavering adherence to His word of truth. There must be no compromises with selfish and worldly thoughts. Whether the truth is listened to approvingly or carelessly, whether it is acquiesced in or utterly rejected, no part of it is to be concealed—“all my words”—no part is to be mutilated, for He who speaks is “the Lord God.” The rain cometh down from heaven and falls on soil which absorbs it, or on flinty rocks which throw it off, so is the word which proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord. “We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord.”

III. Appointment to labour for God (Eze_3:12-15).

1. By the energy of the Spirit. He knoweth the deep things of God, and is able to show where, when, and how His servants must go to speak from His mouth. It cannot be an impossible duty to be “filled with the Spirit:” it cannot be a special duty for a few amongst those who obey the Lord: one in the lowliest sphere may receive this “unspeakable gift” as assuredly as one in the most conspicuous sphere; and, supplied with the Spirit, all believers in Jesus will hear His voice calling them into His footprints, and act for His glory in all ways. They will learn to prosecute His interests, and not their own, wherever He leads them. Not by desire for a position amongst men, not for “filthy lucre,” not for success will they be led amongst acquaintances or strangers. They will go to be “a sweet savour of Christ in them that are saved and in them that perish.” Sanctified by the Holy Spirit, they will speak in His mighty power.

2. In the face of soul-reluctances. The circumstances into which the Spirit lifts the children of God are not always agreeable to them. Nothing promising may appear, their opportunities may be few and contracted, or the people may be apathetic and scornful. Not despondency only, but chagrin may infest the hearts of those whom He has “chosen for Himself, that they might show forth His praise.” They are disposed to murmur that they are not kindly treated by being appointed to such a work, or are not qualified to face the difficulties, and, with more pity for themselves than trust in the Lord, to exclaim, “Who is sufficient for these things?” Alas! in such “bitterness of spirit” there may be the result of misapprehension of the ways of God and irritation against them. Our only security against mistakes and disobedience is in obtaining the gift of power—in the hand of the Lord being strong upon us. Under it we may have a masterful experience like that of Paul, “I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ, for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.” We shall bear the strain, however we may feel as if we could cry, “Send by whom Thou wilt send, but not by me.”

3. With sufficient upholding. “All the need” of those who have given themselves up to the rule of God has a guaranteed supply. Their weakness, fear, and much trembling do not exhaust it. They will not long falter, and will not retreat, because they “go in the strength of the Lord God.” They will bear the heat and burden of their day of labour, because “greater is He that is for them than all that can be against them.”

4. Affected by strange hindrances. A wide door and effectual was opened before Ezekiel, but disablement and silence formed his first experiences upon entrance thereunto. Peter is to be converted before he can strengthen his brethren. Paul has to go into Arabia before he is fit to be a chosen vessel unto the Lord. Many a later Christian has found unexpected obstacles interfering with the service to which he believed himself called by his Master. Weak health, uncertainty what first to do, severe temptations and doubts have appeared obstructing his devotedness. Sometimes he is inclined to give up or let despondency unman him. But no: he has to hope in God, for he will yet praise Him for the help of His countenance. He must sow the good seed of the kingdom, if he can; if he cannot, he must wait till God tells him to go and work in the field. All delay, all pain, all inability to do what we hoped to do have purposes which will not really hinder “the end of the Lord.” “All things work together for good to them that love God” and to the interests of His righteousness and salvation amongst men.

ILLUSTRATIONS

Communication from God.—He can have His infinite and, at the same time, His finite side of being. He has His own eternal thought, and can also think, and does constantly think, the thoughts of time. He is all-knowing, and, therefore, more intimately present in our souls, yea, spiritually nearer to us, we may say, than we are to ourselves. He knows us not by media, by signals outward or interior, not by induction from effects or by foreknowledge from causes, but by direct and immediate presence, even by spirit-pervading, interpenetrating spirit. He can think our thoughts as we think them, feel our feelings as we feel them, know our knowledge as we know it; if He cannot do this, then are there deep places in His universe of soul unknown to Him as they truly are. If He can do this, then he can make a revelation in language, in any language, in any actions, signals, symbols, in any outward representations, in any inward affections of the soul, in any finite way. If God thus comes down to us, we see reason why He should adopt that style of speech which is the most outward, the most phenomenal, and, therefore, the most universal. It is the language of the Infinite speaking through media to the human mind, even as one unseen human soul speaks to another human soul through the outward undulations of the air. The words and images are specially selected and specially arranged with reference to the wants of our human race in their peculiar moral history. The words are not outwardly spoken to the prophet’s ears or telegraphically signalled to his imagining sensorium. They are, psychologically, the prophet’s words, the prophet’s images, yet still none the less specially designed through the linked media of revelation, as the very best possible words, the best possible imagery through which such an approximate communication of the ineffable could be made to human minds. Let us be thankful for every type, for every metaphor, for every impassioned appeal, for every instance of the divine condescension in coming down to us, taking the scale of our thoughts, and speaking to us in our own human emotions, our own human conceptions, as well as in our own human words.—Lewis. No man by searching could ever comprehend the glories of a sunrise. Only as the sun, coming up from behind the hills of the morning, reveals himself, could we know what morning is. And so only as God, moving up by a law of motion inherent and undiscoverable, lifts Himself into the horizon of man’s observation, can man know what God is. All we know of God, therefore, we know because of revelation made of Himself by Himself.—Murray. Nearer than “the next street,” even nigh to our spirits within, and yet above us high as heaven is above the earth, is God felt to be when the words of [prophets and] apostles address themselves “to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” While not rejecting the thought of exceptional dealings amounting to the miraculous, my faith acknowledges as normal, and underlying all hope in preaching as all responsibility in hearing, a true inward divine teaching in the Spirit, enabling him who is yielded to is, and in the measure in which he is yielded to it, to understand and welcome revelation.—Macleod Campbell.

The evil religious condition.—In the national spirit and character prevalent in any age, every member of the nation without exception has a share. Every one contributes to this spirit, not only when as a child of the age he is infected, if not by all, yet by one or other of the sins universally diffused; but also when, through neglect of energetic protest, admonition, correction, and punishment, he does not meet it with opposition sufficiently decided. But sinful acts, manifold and widely ramified, point back to sinful tendencies, of which they are manifestations. There is nothing external without an internal counterpart. At the root of illegal acts lies the illegal condition.… God’s eye pierces to the heart, and His lips of truth describe the sinful tendency as already a sinful act, a transgression of that law of His which requires obedience of heart and inclination.—Philippi.

Submission.—What we can help and what we cannot help are on two sides of a line which separates the sphere of human responsibility from that of the Being who has arranged and controlled the order of things. The divine foreknowledge is no more in the way of delegated choice than the divine omnipotence is in the way of delegated power. The Infinite can surely slip the cable of the finite if it choose to do so.—Holmes. It is absolutely necessary that, in activity as in rest, you should not only support the idea of God, but that it should be welcome to you; that you should feel the need to blend it with everything; that it should not disturb but complete your life. If it were not so, God would not be to you what He ought to be, nor would you be to Him what you ought; in both cases your life would be mutilated, false, absurd.—Vinet. Every time Jesus had to act or speak He first effaced Himself, then left it to the Father to will, to think, to act, to be everything in Him. Similarly, when we act or speak, we must first efface ourselves in presence of Jesus; and after having suppressed in ourselves, by an act of will, every wish, every thought, every act of our own self, we are to leave it to Jesus to manifest in us His will, His wisdom, His power. With Jesus the believer holds direct communication, and through Him alone we find and can possess the living Father.—Godet.

Receptiveness to truth.—I must have my spirit brought into contact with the quality and character and reality of truth, so as to be affected by it in accordance with its proper nature. All spiritual truth is addressed to the conscience in man, and is understood only by the conscience; and if the conscience is not in action, the truth is to him like light grasped by the hand instead of received by the eye. A grammarian or logician is apt to forget that there may be meaning in the words or reasonings which require the co-operation of another faculty. All spiritual truth is of inspiration, and speaks to what is of the nature of inspiration within man. All that God speaks to us through others, or from without, is intended to make us better apprehend what He is speaking to each in the secret of His being.—Erskine.

Prescience of God.—It cannot but seem to us a higher perfection to know all things at once than gradually to arrive to the knowledge of one thing after another, and so proceed from the ignorance of some things to the knowledge of them; and that nothing is more certain than that all possible perfection must agree to God: so we find His own word asserting to Him that most perfect knowledge which seems to exclude the possibility of increase. It is not impossible to assign particular instances of some or other most confessedly wicked actions, against which God had directed those ordinary means of counselling and dehorting men, and which yet it is most certain He did foreknow they would do; as Ezekiel was directed to speak to the revolted Israelites with God’s own words to warn and dehort them from their wicked ways.—Howe.

Differing results from truth.—It is from no fault inherent in the earth that it enables the upas-tree poison to be eliminated from the same soil that gives us the bread of life. The tree elaborates deadly essences through an organism and chemistry of its own—a devil in the tree—so the heart of man misuses the good things of God.—W. M. W.

Independence.—Warm your body by healthful exercise, not by cowering over a stove. Warm your spirit by performing independently noble deeds, not by ignobly seeking the sympathy of your fellows.—Thoreau.

To feel, to think, to do only the holy right,

To yield no step in the awful race, no blow in the fearful fight.—Anon.

There is tonic in the things that men do not love to hear, and there is damnation in the things that wicked men love to hear. Free speech is to a great people what winds are to oceans and malarial regions, which waft away the elements of disease and bring new elements of health; and where free speech is stopped, miasma is bred and death comes fast.—Beecher. Find, in every stress of spiritual fortune, in every hour of supreme exposure to evil, in every time of assault from wickedness, find your resources within yourselves; not of yourselves, but within yourselves. Too many people have an outside God. What they need, what the world needs, is, as Paul said, “Christ in you the hope of glory.”—Murray.

Inspiration.—As the water with which we water the seed sown in the ground does not create the plant which grows out of it, but stimulates the development of the organs which had previously been formed in the germ and sets their power in action, so the Holy Spirit does not substitute Himself for the individuality of the sacred author. He awakens his faculties, He groups his experiences, He places him in immediate contact with salvation, and by that means confers upon him a special gift—the distinct intuition of that aspect of gospel truth which answers most specially to his own character and needs. The pole which attracted the sentiment or intelligence of each writer was not situated for all at the same point on the sphere of revelation.—Godet.

Moral government.—Who shall not aim at the same end at which God aims in revealing the gospel—that end to which creation, providence, laws, precepts, ordinances, grace, reason, conscience, revelation, everything else is subservient—right moral action in principle and practice? Who shall not use the same means for this end which God uses—that truth or system of truth which is imbedded in His perfect moral government—which ever places man in the attitude of an agent, teaching his dependence on God only as a reason for acting and doing? Who shall not aim to make the same impression on the human mind which God aims to make by His commands to act, His exhortations to act, His invitations, His entreaties to act, thus throwing every iota of responsibility for the issues of eternity on man as an agent—for what he does, for the deeds done in the body? God’s revealed moral government, the glorious gospel of the blessed God, is by Him designed and fitted, not to hold a world of moral beings like this in the slumbers of spiritual death, but to rouse and move and stir them to the instant, the ceaseless, the joyous activities of that spiritual life which is the only and absolute perfection of a spiritual being.—Taylor.

Spirit and matter.—All life, individual as well as universal, has, as its ground of origination and subsistence, as its root and its link, God’s λογος and God’s πνευμα. Everything lives and moves and subsists, closely united and reciprocally attracted in one element—in Him. “As an army is organised by its general, and is arranged according to his plan of battle, even so are banded together the starry hosts and the groups of atoms according to the will of one Eternal Spirit. This creating and ordaining Spirit pervades every cell, generates and regulates the flight of every working bee, according to the eternal purpose of the whole.… That which generates the galvanic current in the most opposed elements of the voltaic pile; that which gives the living weapon of defence to the electric eel, by the contact of moist heterogeneous parts; that which inclines the magnetic needle to the north—precisely the same creative principle orders and controls the whole fabric of the world, creates and vitalises the organic cell, arranges the intercourse between spirit and matter.” Above the material stands the power as the material of materials; above the power stands life as the power of powers; above life stands the spirit as the life of life; above all spirits stands God as the Spirit of spirits, and there is no solution for the enigma of the reciprocal action of all things but this all-effecting and pervading chief monad, which unites all contraries in itself and through itself.—Delitzsch.

Self-sacrifice.—The completest self-sacrifice gives the completes self-possession; only the captive soul which has flung her rights away has all her powers free; simply to serve, under instant orders of the living God, is the highest qualification for command. This is the meaning of that great saying of Cromwell’s, “One never mounts so high as when one knows not whither one is going”—a saying which the wise and prudent scorned as a confession of blindness, but which reveals to simpler minds the deepest truth.—Martineau.

Waiting.—God has so arranged the chronometry of our spirits that there shall be thousands of silent moments between the striking hours.—Martineau. She accepted it all absolutely, unconditionally. The past never confused the present: her life went on from moment to moment, from step to step, as naturally as plants grow and flower. She said, “I think there are lighthouses all along our lives, and God knows when it is time to light the lamps.”—Anon.

Let tongue rest and quiet thy quill be!

Earth is earth and not heaven, and never will be.

Man’s work is to labour and leaven—

As best he may—earth here with heaven.

’Tis work for work’s sake that he is needing;

Let him work on and on as if speeding

Work’s end, but not dream of succeeding;

Because if success were intended,

Why, heaven would begin ere earth ended.—Browning.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

3:4-7 Ezekiel was sent to God’s people, the people of Israel, whom one would expect to be eager to listen to the Lord. However, it would have been easier for the prophet if he had been sent to people with strange and difficult speech who could not understand him. This hard-hearted community refused to obey the Lord.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Now at greater length God explains why he wished his servant to eat the volume which he held forth in his hand, namely, that when instructed by it he might approach the children of Israel; for he ought not to come empty, and we know that man of himself can bring forward nothing solid: hence Ezekiel must receive from God’s hand what he delivers to the Israelites. Let us then preserve this order, as the volume is first given to the Prophet, and then transferred to the people. God orders him, to offer or speak his own words, which is worthy of remark, as having the same meaning. But if Ezekiel ought to bring forward nothing but what he had received from God, this rule ought to prevail among all God’s servants, that they should not heap up their own comments, but pronounce what God teaches them as if from his mouth: lastly, that passage of Peter (1 Peter 4:11) ought to guide us, he who speaks in the Church ought to speak the words of God. Now he adds, I do not send thee to a people strange in speech and hard in language, but to the house of Israel Stone think that the prophet is here animated to his duty, because God demanded nothing from him which was too difficult. For if he had been sent to remote nations with whom there was no interchange of speech, he might object that a greater burden than he could bear was imposed upon him. The difficulty would then have been a complete obstacle. They think that remote and foreign nations are here compared with the people of Israel, that he may discharge his duty with alacrity, as if it had been said, “I do not send thee to strangers. For neither could they understand thee, and they also would be barbarians to thee, but because thou art familiarly acquainted with thine own people, thou canst not turn thy back when I send thee unto them.” But this opinion does not approve itself to me, because I read these three verses in the same context, as they are united. It is by no means doubtful, that, by this comparison, God aggravates the impiety of the people. For this sentence is first in order, that the Israelites would be deaf, although the Prophet should use among them the common and vernacular language: this is the first point: now he shows the reason, because they were a bitter people Here God signifies, that nothing prevented the Israelites from obeying the doctrine of the Prophet but their malice and impiety. For this reason he says, I do not send thee to a people profound in speech I know not how some have conjectured that this epithet means learned or clever; for it is the same thing for a people to be of a strange speech and of a hard language. For what is a “hard” but a barbarous language? Now we perceive the genuine sense, that the Prophet is not sent to men of an unknown language because he would have been a barbarian to them and they to him. I do not send thee to them, therefore, but to the house of Israel.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

And he said unto me, son of man, go,.... After he had eaten the roll; for then was he qualified to prophesy:

get thee unto the house of Israel; to whom he was to prophesy:

and speak with my words unto them: not with his own words; nor with the words of men, the enticing words of man's wisdom; but with the words of Christ; with the taught words of the Holy Ghost; with what is written in the roll; the words of this prophecy are meant. So the Targum,

"and thou shalt prophesy the words of my prophecy unto them;''

in like manner John after he had eaten the little book, is told that he must prophesy before many people, nations, tongues, and kings, Rev 10:9; though Ezekiel was only sent to one nation, as follows:

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Son of man: see Eze 3:1, and Eze 2:1. Go; either the first word, go, intimates the awakening and rousing him, and the latter,

get thee, directs him whither to go when on his legs, or else it is an idiom of the Hebrew language, or a hendyadis, an ingemination of the same command.

The house of Israel: see Eze 2:3.

Speak with my words; see Eze 3:1; in my name and authority, so some, but then it would have been in the singular number, not plural. Better and fuller it is by others thus, What things I shall show thee, and in what words I shall declare them to thee, these declare to the captives in Babylon. They perhaps do expect to hear somewhat else, and their flattering false prophets suggest other matters; but look to it, thou goest on my errand, speak therefore in my words, as the Hebrew.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

4-7. The prophet having learned the character of the message he is expected to deliver, Jehovah urges him to immediate action. Although no word is recorded one can be sure that there has come into the prophet’s mind, and perhaps been uttered by his lips, the self-depreciative argument against his acceptance of the commission which Moses had uttered many centuries before: “O my Lord, I am not eloquent,… but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue” (Exo_4:10). Jehovah replies: Thou art not sent, as Moses was, to a foreign people, “of dark speech and heavy tongue,” but to your own countrymen. Thou art not sent to the Babylonian capital, amidst the strange multitude of many peoples “whose words thou canst not understand,” but to those who speak your own language. There is no need of any gift of tongues. But do not be deceived, it is not eloquence that you need any more than Moses did. Even the Assyrians would listen to your broken and stammering message with more respect than will these men, so “stiff of forehead and hard-hearted,” even though your words be like music (Eze_33:32). It is not the manner, but the message to which they object. “They will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me.”

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

HOMILIES BY J.R. THOMSON

Vers. 4-7. The privileged and the unprivileged.

It is impossible to read this language without being reminded of the parallel language recorded to have been uttered by our Lord Jesus Christ. The Prophet Ezekiel was assured that, whilst his message would be rejected by his fellow countrymen, it would have been received with gratitude and faith had it been addressed to a Gentile nation. And our Lord, in upbraiding the unbelief of Capernaum, declared that the tidings he proclaimed would have been received with joy and would have induced repentance had they been addressed to Tyre and Sidon nay, to Sodom and Gomorrah! It must indeed have rendered the mission of Ezekiel doubly difficult to be assured beforehand of the hardness of heart and the incredulity of the house of Israel. Yet it was a divinely appointed discipline to which he was subjected; and it was a wholesome, albeit a painful, preparation for the discharge of a distressing service, to be told that his words should be rejected, and yet to be bidden to utter them in the name and by the authority of his God.

I THE LESS FAVOURED WOULD WELCOME THE DIVINE MESSENGER AND THE DIVINE MESSAGE. People of a strange speech, the prophet was assured, would, had he been sent to them, certainly have hearkened unto him. How is this to be accounted for? Such people would have been favourably inclined to the herald of God"s justice and mercy:

1. By their surprise at an unwonted instance of God"s condescension and gracious interest.

2. By their gratitude for words of warning and of promise.

3. By their responsiveness to the interposition on their behalf of a new power brought to bear upon their moral nature.

4. By the hope of Divine acceptance and of a new and better life awakenedby the summons in their nature.

II THE HIGHLY FAVOURED WILL MEET THE DIVINE MESSENGER AND THE DIVINE MESSAGE WITH INDIFFERENCE, UNBELIEF, AND IRRESPONSIVENESS.

1. Privilege is often associated with moral obduracy. The expression usedis very severe: "Of a hard forehead, and of a stiff heart." It is observable, and very significant, that the historians and prophets of the Hebrews, so far from flattering their countrymen, used with regard to them language of stern upbraiding and denunciation, reproached them with their unbelief, rebelliousness, hardness of heart, and stiff-necked attitude towards Divine authority. And such reproach was abundantly justified by the facts of their history. They were chosen to privilege, not in virtue of any excellence of their own, but in the sovereign wisdom and mercy of the Lord. The more God did for them, the less they heeded his commandments. Not that this condemnation applied to all; there were those "faithful among the faithless;" but generally speaking, the Jews were a disobedient and rebellious race.

2. This moral obduracy leads to the rejection of God"s messengers. "Thehouse of Israel" so the Lord forewarned Ezekiel will not hearken unto thee." The same truth was expressed by our Lord himself centuries afterwards, when he reproachfully reminded his kindred according to the flesh that through long centuries messengers from God had been sent to their forefathers, only to be ill treated, wounded, and slain. Ezekiel was only to be treated as similarly authorized messengers of God both before and afterwards.

3. God"s messengers are rejected by those who have rejected God himself.Most terrible are the words of the Lord to Ezekiel: "They will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto ME." God had spoken unto Israel in the events of past history, and in the directions and reproaches of conscience. Ezekiel might well believe that there was no special reason why they should listen to him; but he was well aware that there is no sin more awful than the refusal to listen to the Eternal himself, all whose words are true and just, wise and good. It was not a case for personal feeling, a case of offence given and taken. Such feeling would have been out of place. The serious aspect of Israel"s unbelief was just this it was unbelief of God; they turned away from the voice that spake from heaven.

APPLICATION. The privileges of those who, in this Christian dispensation, hear the gospel of salvation preached to them, far exceed the privileges of the ancient Hebrews. To reject the testimony of Christ"s ministers is to reject Christ himself, as our Lord has explicitly declared. The condemnation and guilt are tenfold when men harden their hearts, not only against the authority of the Divine Law, but against the pleadings of Divine love. T.

HOMILIES BY J.D. DAVIES Vers. 4-14. Ambassadorship.

God makes unusual manifestations of his glory to men, to qualify them for extraordinary service. The opened heavens and the voice of Divine approbation, on the occasion of Jesus" baptism, were a preparation for the desert conflict. The transfiguration of our Lord on the mount was designed to qualify the disciples for arduous spiritual toil. Ezekiel found it right pleasant to receive higher revelations of God"s Person and God"s will, but irksome to the flesh to convey that will to his brethren.

I THE SOURCE OF AUTHORITY. The splendid manifestation of God, recorded in the first chapter, was intended to prepare and loftily Ezekiel for this difficult undertaking. The God of heaven, who dwelt amid such splendours, and who had such a magnificent retinue, condescended to employ this timid "son of man" as his ambassador. Whenever an envoy has been sent by his monarch to a foreign court, on a momentous errand, he has been sustained by the consciousness that he represented, in his weak person, the honour of the monarch and the strength of the whole empire.

So Ezekiel had been admitted to the court of the celestial King, and was honoured to bear the commands of the eternal God. No other authority could be compared with this. Having revealed to his ecstatic vision the glories of the heavenly King, the Sovereign"s voice broke graciously on the servant"s ear, "Go, get thee unto the house of Israel.

II THE SUBSTANCE OF THE MESSAGE. "Speak with my words." The first task the prophet had to perform was with himself. It was a necessity that he should repress and subject self. He must overbear his timidity. He must mortify his pride. He must forego personal tastes and predilections. This done, his task was simple. He was to be spokesman for God. He was released from the perplexity of inventing suasive arguments or selecting fitting words. All the material for reproof, expostulation, counsel, appeal, was furnished by God himself. On every occasion the prophet was required to speak in the name of the Sovereign, and to use this formula, "Thus saith Jehovah.

III THE RESISTANCE ANTICIPATED. At first sight, it would seem as if the prophet"s mission were an easy one. To convey a further disclosure of God"s will to his own people would surely be a most welcome thing. If they had accorded to Moses almost reverential honor, will they not display a similar disposition to another prophet? Moreover, the people were now in the extremity of trouble in the depths of affliction: would they not the more readily hear a message from their God? A singular doom was awaiting such bright hopes. Surface prospects were indeed favourable, but the most formidable opposition was thinly veiled. No foe on earth is so terrible to face as a depraved human will. As metals, that have been repeatedly heated and cooled, cannot easily be made ductile; so, under much gracious treatment, the heart of Israel had become hopelessly hardened. It is an unalterable law of Heaven, that kindness abused becomes the heaviest curse. Yet no measure of opposition was to deter the prophet in fulfilling his duty, or he, too, would experience the curse of disobedience. Though he was forewarned how resistant would be his auditors, his commission was unmodified, his task unchanged. If no advantage should accrue to the house of Israel, large advantage would accrue to the prophet, as the result of his fidelity large advantage would result to later generations. Difficulty is not the measure of duty. Service for God bears fruit in unexpected directions.

IV SPECIAL EQUIPMENT IS PROVIDED BY GOD. In our warfare for God we may find encouragement in the superior resources of our Master against all assailants. Truth is mightier than error all the world over. Righteousness is mightier than wickedness. We have an ally in the conscience of our foe, if all his passions be against us. Best encouragement of all, God"s strength is mightier, more durable, than the might of allied humanity. The conflict may be long, but final conquest is sure. Special equipment, too, is provided for special difficulties. "To the froward God will shrew himself froward." If his enemies show a brazen face, God will give his servants a forehead of steel. If they mail themselves with flints, God will provide his defenders with breastplates of adamant. "My grace is sufficient for thee;" "As thy day thy strength.

V THE TRUE PROPHET IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF GOD"S UNIVERSAL ARMY. He does not labour alone, nor contend alone. The Spirit of God is upon him fortifies him on every side. Angels rejoice in the appointment of human ambassadors. The great forces of the universe work along with the servant of God. The living creatures cooperate with God"s soldiery. As we go forth to the battle with sin, we may hear behind us the rustling of the heavenly wings, and the music of the heavenly wheals, and the chorus of sympathizing saints, "Be ye faithful unto death." The battle is not ours, but Gods. The cause with which we are identified is most honorable. Our Master is the King of heaven. We act in alliance with the noblest spirits in the universe. Complete triumph is predestined. D.

HOMILIES BY W. JONES Vers. 4-7. The awful consequences of neglecting the Word of the Lord.

he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel," etc. Here is a comparison between two possible spheres of prophetic service between the Israelites and the heathen (ver. 5); between the one house of Israel and many heathen peoples (ver. 6).

1. Both these spheres of service would have presented difficulties in the way of the fulfilment of the prophets mission. In the case of the heathen nation or nations there would have been the linguistical difficulty. Ezekiel would not have understood their speech; they would not have understood his. European missionaries find this, and have to spend no inconsiderable time in acquiring the language of those to whom they are sent. before they can begin their great work. In the case of the house of Israel the difficulty was in their moral condition. It was not that the prophet"s speech was unintelligible unto them, but that their hearts were hardened against the Word of the Lord.

2. The liaguistical hindrance to the success of the prophets mission was far less serious than the moral. Time and patient application would enable him to surmount the former; but what human skill or assiduity can overcome the strong prejudice or moral obstinacy of the heart?

3. The mortal hindrance to the success of the prophets mission is sometimes humanly insuperable. (Ver. 7.) What is the reason of this, that the untaught heathen would have attended unto the prophet, while the privileged Israelites would not hearken unto him?

I THE FAMILIARITY OF THE ISRAELITES WITH THE TRUTHS PUBLISHED BY THE PROPHET HAD DEPRIVED THOSE TRUTHS OF THE INTEREST WHICH ARISES FROM NOVELTY. The unfamiliar and the new have great attractions for many minds. (cf. Act_17:19-21) Ezekiel had no new fundamental truths to make known unto the house of Israel. What Moses and other prophets had taught he had to enforce and apply to their present circumstances. With the general principles of his teaching they were well acquainted. His message had no interest to them. But to the heathen his message would have been fresh and charged with interest. It would have awakened inquiry, etc. And alas! how many in Christian congregations today are so familiar with the gospel of Jesus Christ that they heed it not! Things which, compared with it, are the trifles of an hour, secure their eager attention, while it is treated as an unimportant and unprofitable thing.

II THE LONG INDIFFERENCE OF THE ISRAELITES TO THE TRUTHS PUBLISHED BY THE PROPHET HAD RENDERED THEM INSENSIBLE TO THE POWER OF THOSE TRUTHS. They had heard them without heeding them, until heedlessness had become habitual in relation to them. They had refused to recognize their importance so long that now they seemed to them to have no importance. But the heathen would not have been thus indifferent to these truths. For them they would have had, not only the interest of novelty, but the influence arising from their practical relation to their hearts and lives. Is it not to be feared that in Christian countries at present there are many who, like the house of Israel, how so long been indifferent to "the glorious gospel of the blessed God" that now it is natural to them not to feel any personal concern in it? The offer which is repeatedly disregarded is ere long unnoticed. Warnings which are frequently unheeded at length cease to be heard.

III THE PRACTICAL OPPOSITION OF THE ISRAELITES TO THE TRUTHS PUBLISHED BY THE PROPHET HAD HARDENED THEIR HEARTS AGAINST THOSE TRUTHS. They had so long refused to do the will of God that they had become insensible to the lower of his Word. They were "impudent and hard-hearted stiff of forehead and hard of heart." They would not hear the Word of the Lord. But the heathen would have beard it if that Word had been sent unto them; for they had not hardened themselves against it. They were accessible to its influence, etc. This solemn truth receives confirmation from other portions of Scripture. While the house of Israel rejected their prophets, the heathen of Nineveh retorted at the preaching of Jonah. Our Lord also confirms this truth in solemn words. (Mat_8:10-12 Mat_11:20-24 Mat_12:38-42) The history of modern missions supplies illustrations of the power of the gospel of Christ to interest and astonish, to attract and fascinate, to convince and convert, heathen peoples. Yet in this highly favoured land there are millions who are unmoved by that gospel. And of these many, many, we fear, have hardened themselves against the will and Word of God. They who persist in so doing become "past feeling." Moral power fails to impress them. They are "hardened through the deceitfulness of sin." When holy authority has no force for men, and Divine threatenings no awakening power, and truth and righteousness no sacred majesty, and death "rod eternity no solemnity, and the deepest, tenderest love no spell upon the heart, when men are indifferent to these, harden themselves against these, what moral influences of a saving character can be brought to bear upon them?

CONCLUSION.

1. If the heathen would have heard the Word of the Lord, how is it that the prophet was not sent unto them? Our answer mast be that of our Lord when considering a similar question: "l thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth," etc.. (Mat_11:25, Mat_11:26) And it is important to remember that the heathen will be judged, not according to the light which they bad not, but according to that which they had.

2. If the heathen are thus disposed to hear the Word of the Lord, the gospel will most surely be published unto them. (Mar_16:15; Rev_14:6, Rev_14:7)

3. But the chief voice of our subject is that of solemn admonition to all unto whom the gospel is preached. "Take heed how ye hear." "Despise not prophesyings." Beware of hearing the Word of the Lord with indifference; for indifference may grow into obduracy of heart such as no moral force can penetrate. W.J.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Speak - What things I shall shew thee, and in what words I shall declare them to thee.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

General Information:

Ezekiel continues to tell about the vision that he saw.

he said to me

If your language has to identify the one speaking, it would be best to identify the speaker as the "one who looked like a man" (Ezekiel 1:26). It was not "the Spirit."

the house of Israel

The word "house" is a metonym for the family that lives in the house, in this case the Israelites, the descendants of Jacob over many years. See how you translated this in Ezekiel 3:1. AT: "the Israelites" or "the Israelite people group" (See: Metonymy)

of strange speech or a difficult language

"who speak a strange or difficult language"

not to many peoples of strange speech

"I am not sending you to a mighty nation whose people speak a strange language"

if I sent you to them, they would have listened to you

This is a hypothetical situation that could have happened but did not. Yahweh did not send Ezekiel to people who did not understand his language. (See: Hypothetical Situations)

if I sent you to them

The word "them" refers to a mighty nation other than Israel.

strong browed and hard hearted

These mean basically the same thing. AT: "very rebellious" or "very stubborn" (See: Doublet)

strong browed

This is an idiom. AT: "unwilling to change" (See: Idiom)

hard hearted

This phrase suggests that the people resist God and are unwilling to obey him. The heart is used to describe the place in the body where a person decides what they want to do. See how you translated this in Ezekiel 2:4. (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

word

send

people group

might

nation

hard

heart

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.