Ezekiel 3:16-29 (conclusion of the call narrative of Ezekiel)

Exegesis:

·       The stern tone of this speech and its brutally direct warning not to shirk professional duties confirm the reality of vv. 14-15. Ezekiel is a stubborn man, who sits there or seven days, until Yahweh’s patience has run out.[1]

·       This is a quasi-legal pronouncement, with four hypothetical cases, each spelling out different human responses and their consequences.[2] The heavy linguistic borrowing from the Mosaic Torah is not surprising given Ezekiel’s priestly heritage.[3]

·       Watchman: root sopheh, “to look out, to spy, to keep watch.” In the face of an imminent attack, he would blow his horn (shofar). Ezekiel’s ministry prior to 586BC consists largely in sounding alarm for his own people, under attack by Babylonians.[4]

·       V18: case 1 involves a situation in which Yahweh charges the prophet to deliver to the wicked person the legal death sentence: “You shall surely die!”

·       V19: case 2 is identical to case 1, except that the prophet has dutifully delivered the death sentence, and his warning has been rejected. Whereas the wicked person dies for his wickedness, the sentry has absolved himself of responsibility for his death. He may therefore keep his life.

·       V20: case 3 involves a formerly righteous person (saddiq) who has turned to practice evil. Yahweh brings about his death by placing an obstacle, a stumbling block, in his path.[5]

·       V21: case 4 describes the fate of a repentant backslidden person. The salvation of his own life for having been faithful is sufficient reward.[6]

·       There is obvious links with Jeremiah 6:16-21. Jeremiah commenced his ministry at approximately the time of Ezekiel’s birth. They may even have known each other.[7]

·       V22-27 is the most complex all narrative in all of Scripture concludes. Ezekiel’s speechless state lasted more than seven years.[8] This is where the depth of the prophet’s self-emptying becomes apparent. There is again an infusion of the divine Spirit.

·       Ezekiel is confined to his house and he will lose his power of free speech.

·       He is God’s prisoner: vividly depicted by the ropes that bind him and his tongue being bound to the roof of his mouth. His speech is totally restricted to the reproduction of Gods words of judgment.

·       The restriction on the prophet’s speech will make him unable to function as a mediator for the house of Israel. He may not intercede for the people. The time for appeals for mercy is past. The prophet’s role, at least up until the fall of Jerusalem, is restricted to the delivery of the divine sentence of judgment.[9]

Theological implications:

·       Those who reupdate the covenant stand under the judgment of God. “The wicked person” is singular: the accountability of the individual sinner is emphasised.

·       The wages of sin is death. Ezekiel’s task is to deliver to the accused the legal decision that Yahweh has determined: the death sentence.

·       The expression saddiq concerns members of the authentic covenant community, those who have in the past trusted Yahweh and submitted to his lordship. They can turn from their righteousness, practice evil, run into the stumbling block that God places in their paths, and be sentenced to death. This establishes the seriousness of perseverance in faith.[10]

·       The voice of a sentry symbolises the grace of God reaching out to those under the sentence of death. The previous evil of the sinner will not be held against him if he repents of the error of his way. After all, God is on the side of life.

·       The privilege of wearing the prophet’s mantle comes an awesome responsibility for the life and death of the people in one’s charge. To be negligent in the fulfillment of one’s prophetic duty is a capital crime.

·       The messenger of God is called not to success but to faithfulness. The prophet’s call is not “to save souls” (which is God’s affair), but to proclaim the message he receives from the divine Commissioner. Faithfulness in service is measured not by effectiveness but by fidelity to the divine charge.[11]

·       We see from the account of Ezekiel’s initiation into the prophetic office that:

1.     The Lord is present with his messenger.

2.     The ways of the Lord are often strange and inscrutable. First he calls the prophet to preach, then he closets him away in his own house and ties his tongue. The messenger’s role is like that of a puppet on a string. He dare not challenge the ways of God, or eve call for any explanation, any more than the clay may question the work of the potter.[12]

3.     At times the heart of the messenger may not interfere with his mouth. His resolve must match the determination of the one whose message he is to announce.

4.     The prophet bears in his own body the signs of his calling.[13]

Bridging:

·       Just as not everyone is called to be a prophet, so not every prophet is called to exercise his ministry in the way Ezekiel did. That means we will have to be careful in universalising the principles of Ezekiel’s calling.

·       The very strangeness of Ezekiel’s behaviour tends to make it difficult for us to bridge the gap.

·       To those without a relationship with the living God, the idea of someone giving oneself completely over to become God’s slave will inevitably seem nonsensical or abhorrent, a sign of certain mental disorder.[14]

Modern day:

·       Nowadays, we like to focus on the ”good news” aspect of the gospel. Yet, Ezekiel’s calling, at least during the first part of his ministry, is to be the bringer of bad news.[15]

·       Not all are called to fulfil the distinctive kind of prophetic ministry to which Ezekiel was called; yet as Christians, we too have a calling from God.

·       God’s message to the world contains both good news and bad news.

·       The first challenge for us is to present a balanced picture of who God is and who we are in relation to God.[16]

·       We are also called to bring the news to everyone, without distinction. We tend to sort our friends and family into “likely prospects” and “hard cases,” focusing our efforts on those who we think are most likely to listen. But who are you to say that one person is more likely to listen than another? The Bible is full of “hard cases”, eg. Paul.[17]

·       But to be such a channel of God’s good and bad news is often a costly, self-denying business. If you say to God, “Here am I, send me,” frequently he will. Sometimes, God sends his children to be his witnesses in uncomfortable situations, be it halfway around the world from where you are right now or around the corner in the jungles of the corporate world.

·       The self-sacrifice of Christ: While Ezekiel was confined to his house, Jesus was “despised and rejected by men” (Isaiah 53:3). While Ezekiel was made dumb, Jesus was “led like a lamb to the slaughter” (Isaiah 53:7). While Ezekiel was bound with ropes, Jesus was nailed to the cross and suffered there not for any transgressions of his own but for ours.

·       Thus, the greater “Son of Man” fulfilled the ministry of the earlier “son of man,” giving us the good news of the gospel, which is the antidote to the bad news of our natural state.[18]

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[1] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 141.

[2] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 142.

[3] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 143.

[4] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 144.

[5] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 146.

[6] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 147.

[7] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 148.

[8] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 151.

[9] Duguid, Ezekiel, 80.

[10] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 149.

[11] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 150.

[12] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 161.

[13] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 162.

[14] Duguid, Ezekiel, 81.

[15] Duguid, Ezekiel, 82.

[16] Duguid, Ezekiel, 83.

[17] Duguid, Ezekiel, 84.

[18] Duguid, Ezekiel, 86.

Ezekiel 2:1-3:15 (The commissioning of Ezekiel)

·       2:1-15 is another suitable passage for the series because this is where we learn about the commissioning of Ezekiel and the characteristics of his audience.

·       We see Ezekiel addressing the rebellious Israelites, the purpose of Ezekiel’s message being to transform his audience’s perception of their relationship with Yahweh, exposing delusions of innocence and offering a divine understanding of reality.^[1]

·       The crises to which Ezekiel responded were not social or economic, but theological. The theological system consists of these four pillars: land, covenant, Zion, David, on which the Israelites’ security rested. Most of the pronouncements address one or more of the four pillars.^[2] We see that chapters 4-24 systemically attack the pillars on which official orthodoxy constructed its notions of eternal security.^[3] With these elements of identity removed, profound theological questions were raised: Had Yahweh been defeated by the Babylonian gods?^[4] Some drew the conclusion that their god was less powerful than the foreign gods, others decided that he was unjust.^[5]

·       This takes us to the theme of sin and judgment, evident in chapters 8, 11, 16, and 18, which explains how the punishment fits the crime and Yahweh’s judgment is an entirely appropriate response to the heinous sins of Israel.

Translation Ezekiel 3:1-15

1: Then he said to me, “Mortal^[6], whatever you find here, eat^[7]. Eat this^[8] scroll. Then go, speak to the house of Israel.”

2: So I opened my mouth, and he fed me this scroll to eat.

3: Then he said to me, “Mortal, feed your stomach^[9] and fill your belly^[10] with this scroll that I give to you.” So I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey^[11].

4: Then he said to me, “Mortal, go to the house of Israel and speak my words to them.

5: For (you are) not sent to a people of unintelligible speech and a hard language, (but) to the house of Israel;

6: not to many peoples of unintelligible speech and a hard language^[12], whose words you cannot understand. Surely^[13], if I sent you to them, they would listen to you.

7: But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you^[14], for they are not willing to listen to me. For the whole house of Israel have a hard forehead^[15] and a stubborn heart^[16].

8: Hereby, I give you hard face just like their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads.

9: Like emery, harder than flint, have I made^[17] your forehead. Do not fear them, nor be dismayed at their looks^[18], for they are a rebellious house.”

10: And he said to me, “Mortal, all my words that I shall speak to you, receive in your heart, and hear with your ears.

11: Now go^[19] to the exiles, to your people, and speak to them. Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh,’ whether they listen or not^[20].”

12: Then the wind^[21] lifted me up, and I heard behind me the sound of a great earthquake: “Blessed be the glory^[22] of the Yahweh from its place!”

13: 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^[23].

14: The wind lifted me up and took me away, and I follow in bitterness^[24] in the anger of my spirit^[25], and the hand of the Yahweh was strong on me.

15: And I came to the exiles at Tel-abib^[26], who were dwelling by the Chebar canal, and where they were sitting, there I sat for seven days, devastated^[27],[28] in their midst.^[29]

Exegesis

·       This is a continuation of the opening vision from Ezekiel 1, where we have already been orientated to the prophet’s time and space as well as who the prophet is. Ezekiel is identified as a “mortal”.^[30] Unlike his rebellious audience, Ezekiel compliantly ingests the scroll Yahweh wanted him to ingest. Ingestion signifies that he embodies the divine word.^[31] So he is a human representative, distinct from God, and the first of many who are to follow his receptiveness of the word.^[32] This also reassures his audience that Ezekiel’s words are God’s own.^[33] Did Ezekiel actually eat a papyrus scroll? Or was this simply a visionary experience? The reader will observe a blurring of boundaries between visions and reality in Ezekiel’s visions.^[34] This scroll is described as sweet. Sweet sensation arises from the personal encounter with the divine word. This could be a divine means of softening Ezekiel’s resistance to his calling.^[35]

·       The Israelites’ unresponsiveness is highlighted when they are compared with people outside of the household of Israel: the foreigners with unintelligible speech and difficult language.^[36] Ezekiel’s calling is not to a foreign mission field or to a cross-cultural ministry. Had he been, there would have been a great harvest for his work.^[37] The Israelites are a hardened people, with a hard forehead and an obstinate heart.^[38] There is a bold, shameless quality to their refusal to listen. Bowen thinks the resistance is not to the future possibility of God’s judgment against them, but to the explanation for why God has judged them.^[39] They will not understand that they have been unfaithful to Yahweh and will refuse to accept that the present disaster is Yahweh’s powerful and just act, punishing his own people for their sins.^[40]

·       Yahweh will give Ezekiel a hard face and hard forehead: It is like bulls butting heads, the one with the harder horn wins.^[41] Ezekiel will live up to his name, “God hardens/strengthens”.^[42]  Ezekiel is not to be dismayed because of the way his audience’s faces look; another words, their facial expressions. Yahweh assures Ezekiel that he will equip him fully with the emotional resources needed for the challenge: “I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their forehead.” Emery was the hardest substance known at that time. Ezekiel was not to fear or be terrified, emotionally shattered, by the rebellious reaction of his audience.^[43] Ezekiel must demonstrate that he is not like the rebellious people, yet he must identify with them by consuming the scroll and sharing in their suffering. He must be prepared to endure the rejection Yahweh has endured, yet he must remain in solidarity with the people.^[44]

·       Then we see that the ruah רוּחַ lifted Ezekiel up. Since there is no definite article used with the word רוּחַ, the wind of the storm theophany may be what is referred to here. Elsewhere, when Ezekiel is carried by the spirit, a change in location is explicitly described (8:3, 11:1).^[45] In contrast to the internal energizing activity of רוּחַ in 2:2, here the prophet is acted upon from the outside, apparently like a scrap of paper picked up by a gust of wind.^[46] Again we see the glory of Yahweh and theophany of the earthquake. We are then shown a glimpse of Ezekiel’s mind and heart when he described himself as being bitter. This is significant for a prophet who seldom lets his feeling show.^[47] “Bitterness” is an antonym to the sweetness of the scroll. It is used to describe human emotions in situations of extreme stress, usually associated with dramatic losses, eg. Naomi’s bitterness (Ruth 1:13, 20). The “heat,” which describes Ezekiel’s spirit, everywhere else in the book describes God’s “fury”. Bitterness and anger are common emotions following trauma.

·       “The hand of Yahweh” indicates this is a supernatural involvement.^[48] The unit concludes with a change of scene whereby Ezekiel is shifted from the site of vision to the exilic settlement.^[49] Ezekiel sat devastated in the midst of the exiles for seven days. The exact trauma that leaves Ezekiel emotionally wrecked is ambiguous. It could be his experiences of war and exile, his encounter with the divine, or the commissioning itself.^[50] There is a complete chiasm covering 1:1-3:15. We see a winding down of this chiasm from v12-15, where 3:12 corresponds to 2:1-2, 3:13 to 1:4-28, and 3:14-15 to 1:1-3.^[51]

Preaching theme

·       This passage contributes to the series because it describes the characteristics of both the prophet and the audience. It introduces us the purpose of Ezekiel’s message, which is to transform his audience’s perception of their relationship with Yahweh.^[52]

·       The commission narrative offers vital information on the relationship between God and those whom he calls into his service.^[53] It is important that we identify two audiences, his real audience, who are his fellow exiles, and the readers of this book. The reaction of the audience in the book is “insignificant” with regards to the intended reaction of the readers.^[54] So these themes have a strong contemporary significance and we must look at how this message applies to us today.

·       Those called by God: 1) Must have a clear vision of the one who sends him or her, with a firm conviction. 2) Must be empowered and energised by the infusion of God’s Holy Spirit. 3) Must be inspired by the message of God. Not just hearing, but digesting, internalising, incorporating, embodying and living the message. 4) Must recognise that the calling is not to success but to faithfulness. Every aspect of the call remains under the sovereign control of God, especially the results, and apparent effectiveness is no proof of calling.^[55]

·       Hence this challenges the notion that “bigger is better.” The primary goal of one’s ministry to bring glory to God by preaching and modelling the message he has been given^[56], no matter the consequences.^[57] “God’s people have ingested the Word of God in its written form, and are witnesses to the truth about God, revealed in his Word and declared in the power of the Spirit.”^[58]

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[1] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 14.

[2] Block, By the River Chebar, 11.

[3] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 14.

[4] Paul M. Joyce, Ezekiel: A Commentary (New York: T&T Clark, 2009), 17.

[5] John A. Baker, The Foolishness of God (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1970), 30.

[6] Nancy R. Bowen, Abingdon Old Testament Commentaries: Ezekiel (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2010), 8. Son of man/human-one/mortal: noun ms construct (בֵּןson, descendant), noun ms absolute (אָדָםman, people). אָדָם is more used to speak of human in general. “Characterised by” sense, meaning he’s an Adam-like person. This occurs 93 times throughout the book.

[7] Some manuscripts don’t have the אֵ֥ת אֲשֶׁר

[8] “This” is omitted in LXX.

[9] noun fs ( בֶּטֶן belly, womb, inner self), suffix 2ms, verb hiphil imperfect 2ms jussive meaning apocopated (אכלfeed) shortened jussive form, because when the third person imperfect verb is first in its clause, it is Jussive. Which makes it a command/“let”. Can pick stomach first or belly first, either fine.

[10] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 125. noun mp construct (מֵעֶהbelly, inner parts, bowels, internal organs), suffix 2ms, verb piel imperfect 2ms (מלאto fill, complete, finish, fulfill, perform, carry out). The redundancy here is obvious. Twice Yahweh commands the prophet to ingest the scroll, and twice the prophet obeys. This repetition is an Ezekielian pattern. To avoid repetition of the same word, if we pick stomach as first word then pick belly as second word, vice versa. Intestines not as good in this case because you can’t really feel it.

[11] particle preposition, noun ms (דְּבַשׁhoney), particle preposition (לְon לְמָתֽוֹק could be treated as a לְof reference), adjective ms (מָתוֹקsweet). “It was like honey, in respect to sweetness”, construing מָתוֹקas a noun.

[12] adjective mp (‎עָמֵק unfathomable, unintelligible, deep), noun fs (‎שָׂפָה lip, speech, edge), particle conjunction, adjective mp construct (כָּבֵדheavy, liver, hard), noun (לָשׁוֹןtongue, language).

[13] כִּ֡י לֹא usually expresses an antithesis, “but”. But this is unlikely here on contextual and grammatical grounds, since the antithetical comments begin in v7. It can function as an expletive, introducing a conditional clause.

[14]  שְׁמֹ֣עַ אֵלֶ֔ =listen to, not just hear, so don’t translate as hear.

[15] Moshe Greenberg, Ezekiel, 1-20 (Garden City: Doubleday & Company Inc, 1983), 69. adjective mp construct (חָזָקstrong, stout, mighty, hard), noun ms absolute (מֵצַחbrow, forehead). Greenberg relates the “hard forehead” to the English word effrontery, which comes from the Latin “out+forehead”.

[16] adjective mp construct (קָשֶׁהhard, difficult, heavy, difficult, shameless), noun ms absolute (לֵבheart).

[17] נתן has a wide range of meanings, can use “make” instead of “give”.

[18] Leslie C. Allen, Word Biblical Commentary Ezekiel 1-19 (Dallas: Word Books Publisher, 1994), 4. verb niphal imperfect 2ms (חתתto be dashed to pieces, be struck down, be terrified), because of their face: the way the people’s face look, another words, “do not be intimidated by their facial their expression.”

[19] juxtaposition of two imperatives is sometimes a tone of urgency, eg. now go.

[20] particle conjunction, particle conjunction (if), verb qal imperfect 3mp (חדלend, stop, discontinue, give up). “or if they cease” better translated as “not”.

[21] Nancy R. Bowen, Abingdon Old Testament Commentaries: Ezekiel (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2010), 9. רוּחַ breath, wind, spirit. What type? A sudden gust of wind? Or the Spirit of Yahweh, the Holy Spirit?^[21] A human energy? The word is capable of bearing more than one nuance.

[22] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 134-135. “Blessed be the glory of the Yahweh” vs “as the glory of Yahwah rose”: verb qal passive participle ms (ברךblessed, to kneel). A century and a half ago Hitzig proposed that MT ברך represented a scribal corruption of berum “as [it] rose”. However since the versions all agree with MT, the error must have occurred prior to 2^nd century BC. 

[23] Noun ms absolute (רַעַשׁquaking, roar).

[24] Adjective ms absolute (מַרbitter, bitterly). Not in the LXX.

[25] Different רוּחַ: רוּחַ lifting Ezekiel up vs Ezekiel’s רוּחַ being angry. Here it is רוּחַ of motivation/mind.

[26] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 135-136. While תֵּל אָבִיב translates literally “mound of spring produce,” as a Mesopotamian toponym it is derived from til abubi, “mound of the flood [debris]. This name may have been applied to the present site in the aftermath of the Chaldean destruction.

[27] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 137. Verb hiphil participle ms absolute (שׁמםmake deserted, desolate, make disconcerted, awestruck). Ezekiel was stunned: sitting for seven days in the midst of the exiles.

[28] Bowen, Ezekiel, 12. Bowen thinks “stunned” is an understatement. Elsewhere NRSV translates the same verb as “horrify” (20:26), “desolation” (30:12, 14), and “appalled” (32:10). In the noun form it is used throughout Ezekiel to describe “desolated” land. I think devastated seem to be a better term.

[29] And where they were sitting, there I sat for seven days, devastated in their midst (kethib translation) vs and I sat where they were sitting. And there I sat devastated among them seven days [qere translation]: I think kethib sounds smoother.

[30] Bowen, Ezekiel, 8.

[31] Bowen, Ezekiel, 11.

[32] Thomas Renz, The Rhetorical Function of the Book of Ezekiel (Boston: Brill Academic Publishers, 1999), 140.

[33] Bowen, Ezekiel, 11.

[34] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 125. 

[35] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 126. 

[36] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 128. 

[37] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 129. 

[38] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 129. 

[39] Bowen, Ezekiel, 11.

[40] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 14.

[41] Andrew Sloane, OT633 Lecture, Morling College, March 8 2017.

[42] Bowen, Ezekiel, 11.

[43] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 129. 

[44] Margaret S. Odell, Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary: Ezekiel (Macon: Smyth & Helwys, 2005), 46.

[45] Odell, Ezekiel, 47.

[46] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 133. 

[47] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 136. 

[48] Allen, Word Biblical Commentary Ezekiel 1-19, 43.

[49] Allen, Word Biblical Commentary Ezekiel 1-19, 17.

[50] Bowen, Ezekiel, 12.

[51] Allen, Word Biblical Commentary Ezekiel 1-19, 17.

[52] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 14.

[53] Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 130.

[54] Renz, The Rhetorical Function, 138.

[55]Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, 131. It is for this reason that the reaction of the prophet’s audience is hardly ever related and their words are only once directly quoted (24:19).

[56] Duguid, Ezekiel, 74.

[57] Duguid, Ezekiel, 75.

[58] Duguid, Ezekiel, 76.