Ezekiel 3:4

Ezekiel 3:4 says, And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them.  God then commissioned Ezekiel to go to the people of Israel and to speak His word to them.  We as followers of Christ have been commissioned to go to the whole world and speak God’s word to them.  We are to start where we are and then to reach out to all the world, and if we cannot go, then we should help support those who can.   

Verse five adds, For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel;  In Ezekiel's case, God said He wasn’t sending Ezekiel to other nations, but to the people of Israel, who spoke the same language that Ezekiel did.  I believe we are first called on to share the gospel with our neighbors, but some people are called to go to other countries where they don’t speak the same language and to share the gospel with them.   

Verse six continues, Not to many people of a strange speech and of an hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee.  God adds that even though He wasn’t sending Ezekiel to a strange land whose people spoke a hard language that Ezekiel didn’t understand, that had He done so, the people would have listened to him.  If God does call you to go to another country where they don’t speak the same language as you, I believe He will equip you to do so effectively.   

Verse seven concludes. But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted.  God said that even though strangers would have listened to and obeyed Ezekiel’s words that the people of Isreal would not.  When we witness to those closest to us, they may not accept the gospel, even if those from other countries might.  God said that the people of Israel, those who were His chosen people, were an impudent and hard-hearted people.  As followers of Christ, we need to never become an impudent and hard-hearted people who won’t obey God’s word, but if we do, I believe that God will send someone to call us to repent and return to obeying Him.   

Veres eight states. Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads.  God said that He was making Ezekial more powerful that those who wouldn’t listen to him.  God will give us the spiritual strength to do whatever He calls us to do, and we should never be afraid to obey His word and do what He has called us to do.  The people that we witness to may be physically stronger or more powerful than us in the world’s view, but if God is with us, they will never defeat us.   

Verse nine adds, As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.  God once more told Ezekiel that He has made him stronger than anyone who stood against him.  God basically told Ezekiel he was being sent to a group of people who would not listen to Him, but He also told Ezekiel to not be afraid of those he was to witness to, because God had made him stronger than them.  Wherever God sends us to witness to people, we should never be afraid to do so because God will always be with us, and He is more powerful than any opposition that we may encounter, and we already know that we have everlasting life with Him, no matter what happens in this world.   

Verse ten continues, Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears.  Ezekiel said God told him to receive His word and heed it completely.  Before we are witness to people today, we need to have God’s word implanted in our heart.   

Verse eleven concludes, And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord God; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.  God told Ezekiel to go and proclaim His word to the people of Israel who were in captivity at this time whether they listened to him or not.  We are called on to witness to the world wherever God sends us whether they listen to us or not. 

Ezekiel 3:1

Ezekiel 3:1 says, Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel.  Some people see this as a continuation of the vision that Ezekiel had in the last chapter, but we need to remember that chapters and verses were added later, so it would have been one book without divisions at one time, so though this was evidently written over a long period of time,  we may have it divided where it wasn't divided originally.  Ezekiel said that he was then instructed to eat the scroll and then to go and speak to the people of Israel.  I believe that eating the scroll may have referred to digesting the word of God spiritually instead of actually eating the scroll physically.  We may physically carry around a Bible and even read one daily, but if we don’t digest its meaning to us today, it is of little benefit.   

Verse two adds, So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll.  Ezekiel said he opened his mouth and God caused him to eat the scroll.  Again, though this may have been literally eating the scroll, I believe it means God placed His word in Ezekiel’s mouth or mind so he could speak God’s word faithfully.  We must do the same as Christians today, and this is especially true of preachers.  When we as Christians witness, it must be God’s word that we share, and we must know it to share it correctly.  In order for a preacher to proclaim God’s word accurately, he must know God’s word and then allow God to speak through him.   

Verse three continues. And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.  Even though this says the Ezekiel physically ate the scroll, I still believe that the greater implication was that he digested the word of God spiritually.  Ezekiel was told to eat and digest the words of the scroll that God gave him, and he did.  He then said that was as sweet as honey in his mouth. God’s word, when we digest it, should leave a sweet taste in our mouth.   

Ezekiel 2:6

Ezekiel 2:6 says, And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.  Ezekiel was told by God to not be afraid of the people of Israel, who were called a rebellious house.  He was not promised that everything would always be easy for him.  As a matter of fact, it seems that the opposite was true. Living among thorns, briers and scorpions does not seem to promise an easy life for being obedient to God.  Of course, these were not literal thorns and scorpions but referred to the character of those who Ezekiel was to prophesy to.  We may meet a lot of opposition to presenting the gospel today by those who would harm us if not destroy us, but we must not be afraid of them.   

Verse seven adds, And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious.  Ezekiel was then told that he must speak God’s word to these rebellious people, whether they listened or not.  We as followers of Christ must speak God’s word, starting with proclaiming Jesus Christ as the only way to salvation, whether they hear us or not.  We can be certain that we will meet opposition from the world, but hopefully not from those who profess to be a part of the church. 

Verse eight continues, But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee.  Ezekiel was called on to not be like the rebellious people of Israel but to hear and proclaim what God gave him to say.  We must hear God and believe His word if we are going to share the gospel with the world today.  It is not our responsibility to make them believe it, but it is God Who will either convict them of their sin and they will choose to come to Him, or they will choose to reject Him.   

Verse nine says, And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein;  Now, instead of a vision of living creatures, Ezekiel sees a vision of a hand holding a scroll with a book written in it.  This would be God’s a written account of what God had to say to Ezekiel, which we today have in the Holy Bible.   

Verse ten adds, And he spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.  When the hand, which Ezekiel now refers to as He, spread the book before him, it was filled with lamentations and woes.  This is because God’s chosen people, the people of Israel, had rebelled against Him.  We cannot rebel against God as Christians without expecting to suffer woe spiritually if not physically.  The scroll was written on both sides of the paper, so it was a large list of woes and lamentations and was likely not something that Ezekiel would want to tell the people nor anything that they would want to hear, but it was God’s word to His chosen people.  Preachers may be led to tell the people of the church he pastors some things that they don’t want to hear and that he doesn’t want to proclaim, but if it is God’s message that He is preaching, he has no choice to preach it and the people should listen to what he has to say.