· 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]
[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.
[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.
[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).
[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 2nd
century BC.
[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.
[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.
[44]
Margaret S. Odell, Smyth & Helwys
Bible Commentary: Ezekiel (Macon: Smyth & Helwys, 2005), 46.
[45]
Odell, Ezekiel, 47.
[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).
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