Reflections on Ezekiel 3

Ezekiel 03 (Contemporary English Version)
1. The LORD said, "Ezekiel, son of man, after you eat this scroll, go speak to the people of Israel."
   
2. He handed me the scroll and said, "Eat this and fill up on it." So I ate the scroll, and it tasted sweet as honey.
   
3. (SEE 3:2)
   
4. The LORD said: Ezekiel, I am sending you to your own people.
   
5. They are Israelites, not some strangers who speak a foreign language you can't understand. If I were to send you to foreign nations, they would listen to you.
   
6. (SEE 3:5)
   
7. But the people of Israel will refuse to listen, because they have refused to listen to me. All of them are stubborn and hardheaded,
   
8. so I will make you as stubborn as they are.
   
9. You will be so determined to speak my message that nothing will stop you. I will make you hard like a diamond, and you'll have no reason to be afraid of those arrogant rebels.
   
10. Listen carefully to everything I say and then think about it.
    
11. Then go to the people who were brought here to Babylonia with you and tell them you have a message from me, the LORD God. Do this, whether they listen to you or not.
    
12. The Spirit lifted me up, and as the glory of the LORD started to leave, I heard a loud, thundering noise behind me.
    
13. It was the sound made by the creatures' wings as they brushed against each other, and by the rumble of the wheels beside them.
    
14. Then the Spirit carried me away. The LORD's power had taken complete control of me, and I was both annoyed and angry.
    
15. When I was back with the others living at Abib Hill near the Chebar River, I sat among them for seven days, shocked at what had happened to me.
    
16. Seven days after I had seen the brightness of the LORD's glory, the LORD said:
    
17. Ezekiel, son of man, I have appointed you to stand watch for the people of Israel. So listen to what I say, then warn them for me.
    
18. When I tell wicked people they will die because of their sins, you must warn them to turn from their sinful ways so they won't be punished. If you refuse, you are responsible for their death.
    
19. However, if you do warn them, and they keep on sinning, they will die because of their sins, and you will be innocent.
    
20. Now suppose faithful people start sinning, and I decide to put stumbling blocks in their paths to make them fall. They deserve to die because of their sins. So if you refuse to warn them, I will forget about the times they were faithful, and I will hold you responsible for their death.
    
21. But if you do warn them, and they listen to you and stop sinning, I will let them live. And you will be innocent.
    
22. The LORD took control of me and said, "Stand up! Go into the valley, and I will talk with you there."
    
23. I immediately went to the valley, where I saw the brightness of the LORD's glory, just as I had seen near the Chebar River, and I bowed with my face to the ground.
    
24. His Spirit took control of me and lifted me to my feet. Then the LORD said: Go back and lock yourself in your house!
    
25. You will be tied up to keep you inside,
    
26. and I will make you unable to talk or to warn those who have rebelled against me.
    
27. But the time will come, when I will tell you what to say, and you will again be able to speak my message. Some of them will listen; others will be stubborn and refuse to listen.
    
    

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    In chapter 2, Ezekiel was given his assignment which was to go "to the Israelites and to the rebellious nations who have rebelled against Me." (2:3) Chapter 3 prepares him for this task. The first step in his preparation was to eat the scroll with God's words written on it. God's word was "as sweet as honey in my mouth." (3:3) This is a necessary step for any of us to fulfill God's assignment for us. We are prepared for service to God by His word, and we are continually enabled throughout the task as we continually spend time in His word.
    
    Ezekiel had already been told that the Israelites were a rebellious people and would not likely listen to God's message that he was to deliver to them. This was reinforced in chapter 3. The greatest barrier to delivering God's word is not a language barrier, but is a heart barrier. If Ezekiel were to take God's message to a people of a "difficult language," they would no doubt listen to him, but this was not the case with the Israelites whose language Ezekiel spoke. It was important, however, for Ezekiel to be aware that the rejection by his people was not a rejection of him but of God. Though the Israelites were hardheaded and unwilling to listen to God's message, God was giving Ezekiel an even harder head to be even more persistent to deliver the message than the Israelites were to reject it.
    
    Next Ezekiel was told of the expectation God had for him to deliver His message. It was the expectation of a "watchman over the house of Israel." A typical watchman would be positioned on the city wall as a lookout for danger. If he should see danger and fail to report it, he was held accountable for the loss of life caused by his failure. So it was with Ezekiel. If he failed to deliver the message God gave him, he would be held accountable for the deaths of those he failed to warn away from their sin. But Ezekiel was held accountable only for delivery of the message. Acceptance or rejection of that message by those to whom he delivered it was not his responsibility. That responsibility lay with those to whom he delivered it.
    
    With this preparation for his task, Ezekiel was told to "shut yourself inside your house." (3:24) He was to wait there until God gave him a message to deliver. Unless he was confined to his house, he would be restrained from going out among the people to deliver God's message. Not only was Ezekiel to confine himself to his house, he was not to speak until God gave him His message to speak. Once commissioned by God for his assigned task, Ezekiel's life had only this one purpose. He was not to engage in life outside this purpose, for it would deter him from his purpose.