1 He said to me, “Son of man, eat what is given to you. Eat this scroll and then go; speak to the people of Israel.”
2 I opened my mouth and he made me eat the scroll and then
3 he said to me, “Eat and fill yourself with this scroll that I’m giving you.” I ate it and it tasted as sweet as honey.
4 He said, “Son of man, go to the Is raelites; speak to them with my words.
5 Indeed it is not a people with a difficult foreign language to whom you are sent; it is to the peo ple of Israel.
6 It’s not to the many na tions with difficult and obscure languages which you cannot understand. If I sent you to them they would listen to you.
7 But the Israelites will not listen to you because they are not willing to listen to me; all of them are defiant and stubborn of heart.
8 See I am making your face as unyielding as theirs and your forehead as hard as theirs.
9 I am making your forehead as hard as a diamond, harder than flint; so you shall not fear or trem ble because of this set of re bels.”
10 He said to me, “Son of man, listen and take to heart all I say to you,
11 and then go to the exiles, your fellow coun try men, speak to them and tell them: ‘This is what Yahweh says,’ whether they listen or not.”
12 Then the spirit lifted me up; be hind me I heard a great
acclamation, “Blessed be the Glory of Yahweh in his dwelling place”
13 and I heard the noise of the animals’ wings brushing against each other, and the noise of the wheels; it was a great uproar.
14 The spirit had lifted me up, and carried me off but I went in a bitter and feverish spirit because the hand of Yah weh was heavy upon me.
15 I came to Tel Abib to the exiles living by the river Chebar and I stayed there seven days with them, overwhelmed.
“I have made you a watchman”
16 After seven days the word of Yahweh came to me,
17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the House of Israel. With the word you hear from my mouth you will warn them in my name.
18 When I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ if you do not speak to warn the wicked man to give up his evil ways and so live, he shall die for his sin, and I will hold you responsible for his death.
19 But if you have warned the wicked man and he has not given up his wickedness and evil ways, he shall die for his sin but you will save yourself.
20 When the righ t eous man turns from what is good to do evil I shall put an ob stacle in his path: he shall die. Since you did not warn him, he will die for his sin. His good deeds will not be remembered and I shall hold you responsible for his death.
21 But when you have warned the righteous man to keep him from sinning and he has not sinned, he will live for sure for he was warned and you will save your life.”
Ezekiel becomes mute
22 The hand of Yahweh was upon me and he said to me,“Get up! Go to the valley and there I shall speak to you.”
23 I got up and went towards the valley and there was the Glory of Yahweh that I had seen by the Chebar river. I fell on my face.
24 Then the spirit came to me and kept me stand ing; He spoke to me and said; “Go! Shut yourself in your house.
25 You, son of man, will be bound with cords and prevented from going among the people.
26 Your tongue shall stick to your palate and you will remain dumb and not be able to rebuke them for they are a rebellious people.
27 But when I speak to you I shall open your lips and you shall say to them: This is the word of Yahweh! He who listens, let him listen and he who refuses to listen, let him refuse for they are a rebellious people.
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Comments Ezekiel, Chapter 3
• 3.1 Eat this scroll. The vision of the scroll symbolically describes the call from Yahweh, giving Ezekiel his mission.
I am sending you to the Israelites, to a people who have rebelled against me (2:3). This is similar to what has been expressed by earlier prophets. When the Lord sent Isaiah, he told him only about the counter-productive effect of his mission: the people will become hardened. In Ezekiel’s case, there is more optimism: sent to rebels, he must be firmer and more persistent than they are to break through the shell of their hardened hearts. In fact, Ezekiel will be constantly arguing and fighting. Paul will say later that those who evangelize must teach whether the time is right or not (2 Tim 4:2) without ever losing heart.
Fill yourself with this scroll that I’m giving you (v. 3). The prophet is not a parrot that repeats words dropped from heaven: he has been given a global view of events, an understanding of the meaning of history. He is possessed with fury, which is the fury of God against sin. All this is signified by the scroll (such were the ancient books) which he had to eat.
For several years Ezekiel gives only predictions of death. This explains why the book centers on woes and lamentations.
It tasted as sweet as honey (v. 3). Ezekiel eats these predictions of misfortune which seem sweet to him: the prophet has taken Yahweh’s side and he totally accepts his plans however terrible they may seem to the people. In sharing Yahweh’s anger, Jeremiah kept his human heart and he suffered because of the suffering of his people.
Ezekiel, on the contrary, does not feel torn.
Thus, with the examples of several pro phets, the Bible shows us how God’s Word separates believers from their own people (Mt 10:34). All who are called to speak to others or lead them, begin to experience this conflict. They do not say what people want to hear, nor are they disturbed by the complaints of cowards and of the comfortable who ask to be left alone to live the way they want. It will always be hard to lose the security we have from agreeing with everyone else. True believers willingly take God’s side, which means, at times, going against the stream.
• 16. The story of Ezekiel’s vocation which we read in 3:1-15 will follow in 3:22-27. Here, it is interrupted by a paragraph (3:16-21) expressing one of the great themes of Ezekiel’s preaching: God does not wish the sinner to die, but to be converted and live (see chap. 18).
It is true that the catastrophe resulting from their mistakes is coming upon all Ezekiel’s hearers. Yet this is no cause for despair; if even only one person becomes aware of his wickedness, it would not be in vain, for it will give life, to at least this one person.
I have made you a watchman (v. 17). The prophet has been given an insight into the sin of individuals and of society which the rest do not have. He alone can see the dangers which are approaching, as God, who judges sin, has planned. The prophet struggles, not only against those who do not be lieve, but also against God the Judge, calling upon his mercy (Ex 32:11; Jer 14:11) as Moses and Jeremiah had done.
He will die, and I shall hold you responsible for his death (v. 18). The responsibility of one who has received insight from God: he receives it to save others and must not keep quiet.
When the righteous man turns from what is good. Everybody suffered equally in the crisis which ruined Judah. Ezekiel states that these common sufferings will bring life or death to everyone as they deserve. This is because to be alive or to be dead does not have the same meaning for God as it does for us (Rev 3:1).
The same parable of the sentinel will be used again and developed in 33:1. Let us remember the comparison of Ezekiel which characterizes the prophets (and the believer):
– be vigilant, keep in mind what God says in order to understand what he thinks of our way of acting;
– to be attuned, to feel responsible concerning the problems of our milieu instead of ignoring them in order not to be disturbed.
• 22. Following, are Ezekiel’s prophecies in Chaldea during the six years prior to the siege and fall of Jerusalem.
For a while Ezekiel is dumb, then paralyzed. This strange illness serves as a lesson. By every possible means, Ezekiel insists that Yah weh has decided on the ruin of Jerusalem because the Isra elites have not repented nor become more faithful.
Ezekiel is in Chaldea but is concerned about Jerusalem. In these chapters his teaching is close to Jeremiah’s during the same time. The form, however, is very different. Jeremiah spoke first, and later his statements were written down; whereas Ezekiel writes in a more formal and ordered way. Unfortunately, his style is sometimes very elaborate and complicated, but we must reflect on these long parables full of marvelous images.
In 3:25, Ezekiel seems to be affected by a strange paralysis whose duration will be symbolic: 190 days plus 40 days. We do not know the meaning of these figures.
In 6:8-10, as many other prophets did, he announces that Yahweh will save a remnant. “They will loathe themselves for the evil they committed.” This statement is typical of Ezekiel and it shows that the wicked will arrive at a sincere conversion; to be disgusted with oneself because of one’s sins is what brings God’s grace.