How I read Ezekiel – Chapter 2

In my last post, I set forth the principles that guide my reading of the book of Ezekiel. I concluded with, “I’m considering making two more posts on Ezekiel, using two separate chapters to demonstrate how I read them. Then you can see how this works for me and decide whether I’m on a good road or completely derailed!”

The two chapters I will use are chapters 2 and 19. How did I arrive at these two chapters? Trust me, it was a totally biblical manner – I cast lots for them!

And now a disclaimer, I’m not attempting to provide a commentary on the chapters. No, just a brief overview demonstrating how I read / understand them, applying the principles set forth in that original post

Ezekiel 2
It is just as hard to read chapter 2 without reading chapter 1 as it is to read chapter 1 without going on to chapter 2. The first chapter ends:

This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.

Well, what did He say? THAT’s chapter 2!

Ezekiel himself describes what happened to him as, I saw visions of God. So I suppose it is safe to say he saw all this in a vision. But what he saw, what he heard, his commission, and the crowd he would minister to – this is all literal. God literally spoke to him, literally told him to go and prophesy to the children of Israel, who were literally a rebellious nation. In fact, everything seems quite literal, with a couple of exceptions, which I note in the chapter.

1  And he said unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee.
2  And the spirit entered into me when he spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard him that spake unto me.
3  And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me, unto this very day.
4  For they are impudent children and stiffhearted. I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD.
5  And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them.
6  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.
It is possible that the briers, thorns, and scorpions are literally things he might encounter. But it seems more likely, since it is sandwiched between be not afraid, that this refers to the reaction of the people he is prophesying to. Uh, not nice!

7  And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious.
8  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.
9  And when I looked, behold, an hand [was] sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book [was] therein;
10  And he spread it before me; and it [was] written within and without: and [there was] written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.

open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee. He is to eat a scroll containing the words he will speak to Israel. And in chapter 3 we read, So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll. 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; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness. I believe he saw and ate a scroll in his vision, and that the Word of God is sweet. But clearly this is symbolic and the meaning is also given in chapter 3, 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. And go, get thee to them of the captivity… and tell them, Thus saith the Lord GOD.  And notice, after it was sweet to the taste, he went away in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit because of the message he had to bring.

Is there any way this can be applied to me? Yes.

- Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house – even though I might be surrounded by rebellious and disobedient people, that is no excuse for me.

- If I receive a ministry from the Lord, my message needs to be, Thus saith the Lord; my prayer needs to be that God will confirm it (they shall know that there hath been a prophet among them); and I should not be afraid of them or their words.

- Success is measured differently with God. Success with God is being faithful to do what He tells me to do. And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them. This does not sound like Ezekiel gained a following, but he did what God told him to do and that is a successful ministry.

- I need to feed on the Word of God: all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears.

Anyway, that’s how I read chapter 2, I pretty much take it literally. Next chapter is 19. What a different story!