But you, son of man, hear what I tell you. Don’t be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth, and eat that which I give you.”
Parallel Translations
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But you, son of man, hear what I tell you. Don’t be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth, and eat that which I give you.”
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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.
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And thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee: be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house; open thy mouth, and eat that which I give thee.'
Cross-references (11)
Passages linked to Ezekiel 2:8 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Revelation 10:9 I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little book. He said to me, “Take it, and eat it. It will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.”
- Jeremiah 15:16 Your words were found, and I ate them. Your words were to me a joy and the rejoicing of my heart, for I am called by your name, Yahweh, God of Armies.
- Isaiah 50:5 The Lord Yahweh has opened my ear. I was not rebellious. I have not turned back.
- Ezekiel 3:1-3 He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat the scroll. He said to me, “Son of man, cause your belly to eat, and fill your bowels with this scroll that I give you.” Then I ate it; and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.
- Ezekiel 3:10 Moreover he said to me, “Son of man, receive in your heart and hear with your ears all my words that I speak to you.
- 1 Timothy 4:14-16 Don’t neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the elders. Be diligent in these things. Give yourself wholly to them, that your progress may be revealed to all. Pay attention to yourself and to your teaching. Continue in these things, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.
- 1 Peter 5:3 not as lording it over those entrusted to you, but making yourselves examples to the flock.
- Leviticus 10:3 Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what Yahweh spoke of, saying, ‘I will show myself holy to those who come near me, and before all the people I will be glorified.’ ” Aaron held his peace.
- Numbers 20:10-13 Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Shall we bring water out of this rock for you?” Moses lifted up his hand, and struck the rock with his rod twice, and water came out abundantly. The congregation and their livestock drank. Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you didn’t believe in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” These are the waters of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with Yahweh, and he was sanctified in them.
- Numbers 20:24 “Aaron shall be gathered to his people; for he shall not enter into the land which I have given to the children of Israel, because you rebelled against my word at the waters of Meribah.
- 1 Kings 13:21-22 and he cried out to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, “Yahweh says, ‘Because you have been disobedient to Yahweh’s mouth, and have not kept the commandment which Yahweh your God commanded you, but came back, and have eaten bread and drank water in the place of which he said to you, “Eat no bread, and drink no water;” your body will not come to the tomb of your fathers.’ ”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain God continues to confirm his servant, but he advises…
God continues to confirm his servant, but he advises him of a cause of stumbling which might break his spirit; for when he perceived the great obstinacy of the house of Israel, he might refuse the office of their teacher a hundred times over. God, however, adds incentives and exhortations to perseverance, although he experiences the abandoned obstinacy of the house of Israel: do thou hear, says he, what I shall say to thee Here we see that no one can discharge the teacher’s office, unless he be a proficient in God’s school. It behoves, therefore, those who wish to be thought disciples of God to be teachers of truth, and for this purpose first to listen to God’s instructions. Then he takes away a stumblingblock, as we have said, be not thou, rebellious like the house of Israel For we know that a multitude has much influence over us to disturb us: for the consent of a whole people is like a violent tempest, where all conspire together, and even those who are not wicked yet are carried forward with the crowd. Since, therefore, the, multitude sometimes carries away even the servants of God, here God meets his Prophet and puts a bridle upon him, that thou be not rebellious, says he, like the house of Israel He does not here speak indefinitely concerning any people, but concerning ‘that nation which boasted itself to be divinely elected, and bore in the flesh the symbol of its adoption. Yet God wishes the consent of his people to be neglected by his Prophet, because we know how insolently the Israelites boasted themselves to be the sacred and peculiar people of God; in the same way indeed as the Papists now exult, Israel then vaunted against all the Prophets. And therefore this passage must be diligently observed, because at this day many of these magnificent titles vanish away when they are brought to reason: for we know that they are mere smoke by which Satan endeavors to blind our eyes, while he falsely brings forward the name of God and the Church.
We ought, indeed, to receive whatever is uttered by God with such modesty and veneration that we may be completely affected as soon as his name is mentioned, but meanwhile we must. use prudence and discretion, lest we should be struck with awe when Satan uses God’s name to deceive us. And as we must use discernment, God here shows us the rule of doing so. For if we are thoroughly persuaded that, the doctrine which we follow and profess is from God, we can safely look down from on high not only upon all mortals but upon angels themselves: for there is no excellence so great but that God’s truth outshines it. Therefore when formerly the Israelites pretended that they were God’s people, and were adorned by the marks of a true Church, we must hold that the honor of the Church is frivolous when hypocrites reign in it, or rather exercise impious tyranny, and oppose themselves to God and his doctrine. And at this very day we may turn this passage against the Papists — nay, even point it at them directly as often as they bring up those pompous titles of “the Catholic Church,” and “the Spouse of Christ,” for God has said once for all, that we ought not to be rebellious, although the whole house of Israel should become so; that is, although those who bring forward the name of God should mutually enter into a diabolic conspiracy, yet we must not regard their conduct so as to subscribe to their impious conspiracy. We read the same in Isaiah, (Isaiah 8:12, 13,) Thou shalt not say a conspiracy whenever this people says conspiracy: thou shalt not feel their fear nor their dread, but sanctify the Lord of hosts. Which passage Peter also cites, (1 Peter 3:14, 15;) because the Jews, who then pertinaciously opposed the gospel, weakened the feeble by their boasting, by saying that they were the Church, and yet rejected and abominated the new teaching which was then spread abroad: Peter cites that place of the Prophet, namely, although the house of Israel impiously conspired against God, yet such contumacy must be despised. Afterwards the Prophet adds, (Isaiah 8:18,) Behold! I and the children whom God hath given me for a sign and a wonder. He says, therefore, that those little ones who worship God purely, and withdraw themselves from the common impiety, were like monsters, and were esteemed as complete wonders. But the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews accommodates this place to the reign of Christ, (Hebrews 2:13,) and not without reason. For to this day we are a wonder to God’s enemies, who carry themselves not only with boldness but with abandoned impudence against the pure doctrine of the gospel. To them we are heretics, schismatics, dogs — nay, the offscouring of the world. But although we are to them for signs and wonders, it is sufficient for us to be acknowledged by God: because it is needful for us to be separated from that impious conspiracy unless we wish to be separated from God himself. For what agreement is there with Papists, or what union with those dregs, unless by separation from God himself? Therefore, because we cannot extend the hand to Papists on any other condition, and cultivate a brotherly intercourse with them except by denying God, let all that injurious union with them cease, and let us learn to separate from them with boldness, since we clearly see that we are all commanded to act thus in the person of the Prophet: for he had said a little before, a prophet dwells in the midst of them — and this was clearly expressed, that he might manifest more anxious care for himself. For it is difficult to walk amidst thorns and scorpions, lest we should be pricked, and lest we should be struck by their virulent tail. God, then, commands us to be so attentive, that although we walk amid thorns we should not be pricked by them, and also that we should not be injured by the poison of scorpions; and if we seek from heaven that prudence which does not naturally belong to us, this will happen, for if the Spirit of God govern us, he will preserve us harmless from every bite of the serpent, and from all injury and mischief.
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It follows: open thy mouth, and eat whatever I shall put before thee By this practical symbol God confirms Ezekiel in his vocation: for he orders him to eat a book, which was fulfilled in vision. Jeremiah uses the same metaphor, (Jeremiah 15:16,) but with some slight difference, because our Prophet seemed to himself to eat a volume: but Jeremiah only signifies that he had digested the words of God like food, not that he only tasted them with his tongue, and that they were so thoroughly fixed in his mind as if he had really dressed and digested them. But God wished to confirm our Prophet in another way, namely, by offering him a volume, and commanding him to eat it. There is no doubt that this volume comprehended whatever the Spirit of God afterwards dictated to the Prophet; and yet the effect was just as if God had made a mortal the channel of his Spirit: as if he had said, “Now you shall utter nothing human nor terrestrial; because you shall utter what my Spirit has already written in this book.” But here we see a difference between the true servants of God, who discharge their duty in earnest, and talkative men, who are satisfied with their own powers of eloquence, or rather garrulity: for there are many ready speakers who utter what they have never digested, and thus their teaching is but vapid. And this is the meaning of what Paul says: the kingdom of God is not in word but in power. (1 Corinthians 4:20.) But those who truly consecrate themselves to God, not only learn what they speak of, but as food is eaten, so also they receive within them the word of God, and hide it in the inmost recesses of their heart, so that they may bring it forth from thence as food properly dressed. Now, therefore, we understand why God wished the Prophet to eat the book, concerning which also it follows afterwards —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain He doth not only exhort him to his duty,…
He doth not only exhort him to his duty, but also giveth him the means wherewith he may be able to execute it.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Eze 2:8 But thou, son of man, hear what…
Eze 2:8 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.
Ver. 8. Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house.] It is no hard matter to symbolise with sinners. See Isa 6:5, with the note. To dwell among them is dangerous, for sin is catching, and often in epidemic proportions. Precious therefore, and worthy of all acceptation, is the apostle’s counsel. {Rom 12:2} Lawyers tell us that we must not look so much what men do at Rome, as what they ought to do.
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Eat that I give thee,] i.e., The roll, {Eze 2:9} that is, whatsoever I shall henceforth dictate unto thee, do thou get it by heart, digest it, propound it to the people, work it first upon thine own, and then upon the affections of thine hearers. See Rev. iv., and observe how alike the Lord dealt with Ezekiel and John the Divine.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Hear what I say unto thee; obey when thou…
Hear what I say unto thee; obey when thou hearest. Harden not thyself in a seeming modest declining the office of a prophet, wed not thine own resolution herein.
Rebellious house; house of rebellion, as Eze 2:7.
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Open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee: some take this figuratively, as if here the prophet had been called to open the powers of his soul and mind, to receive, retain all that God speaks; but I rather think that the prophet is required to open his mouth to eat what was put into his hand, i.e. the book, insinuating his Divine call and inspiration, and the bitterness of the Jews’ calamity. A visionary book and a visionary eating is here spoken of.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain But thou, son of man, hear what I say…
But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee,.... Which was necessary because he was to speak not his own words, but the Lord's, and therefore ought to hear before he spoke; and indeed those that speak in a public way, for the instruction of others, ought to hear and learn of Christ first:
be not thou rebellious, like that rebellious house; who would not hear what was said unto them; but they were not to be imitated no, not in a lesser degree: the prophet was to avoid everything that looked like rebellion; as in, attention to what was said to him hesitation about it, or backwardness to publish it;
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open thy mouth; be ready to receive what should be given, as a symbol of the prophecy he was to deliver. The Targum is,
"incline thy soul, and receive what I give thee.''
Jarchi's note is incline thine ear and hear and let it be sweet to thee, as if thou didst eat food for hunger; and Kimchi observes, the intention of the figurative expression is to learn the words of the prophecy, and to remember them:
and eat that I give thee; which may be safely done; for Christ gives his ministers and people nothing but what is wholesome; his doctrines are wholesome words and may be eaten without fear, Ti1 6:3.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Hear - Obey. Open - This was done only…
Hear - Obey. Open - This was done only in a vision.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 8. Open thy mouth and eat that I…
Verse 8. Open thy mouth and eat that I give thee.] Take my word as thou wouldst take thy proper food; receive it into thy heart; ponder it there, that it may be the means of strengthening and preserving thy soul, as proper nourishment will strengthen the body, and preserve from death. And the people to whom such messages of God may come should so hear it read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest it, that it may become efficient nourishment to their souls.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Eat. "If we do not eat the open book,…
Eat. "If we do not eat the open book, we cannot teach." (St. Jerome)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain eat--(See on Jer 15:16; Rev 10:9-10). The idea is…
eat--(See on Jer 15:16; Rev 10:9-10). The idea is to possess himself fully of the message and digest it in the mind; not literal eating, but such an appropriation of its unsavory contents that they should become, as it were, part of himself, so as to impart them the more vividly to his hearers.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 8. Be not thou rebellious — God sees the…
8. Be not thou rebellious — God sees the inward hesitation of the prophet to accept this hard and thankless task to which he was called. From what we know of the prophet (see Introduction, IV) it is plain that his whole nature revolted against it. His extreme sensitiveness, so easily lacerated by a pricking word; his meditative and lonely life as a priest, his peculiar and tender love for his home (Eze_24:15-21), his patriotism and special regard for his suffering comrades in exile — all seemed to unfit him for the stern and thorny work of a reformer. It almost seems as if he put his fingers in his ears, protesting against even listening to these stern criticisms and rebukes of those whom even in their sins he loved so well. But Jehovah cries, Thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee, and reaches him through his conscience. To disobey will be to become like those whose flagrant disobedience he recognizes and laments. Israel is in captivity, and the temple falling into ruins, because it refused its commission and fled from duty. “Be not rebellious like that rebellious house.” (See note Eze_3:14.)
Eat that I give thee — This is a symbolism most common in the Orient and well understood everywhere. Orientals still speak of “eating” blows, grief, wounds, etc. (Compare Jer_1:7-9; Rev_10:9.) The prophet must receive the truth and feel it; it must become a part of his very life before he can speak it. No one can give until he has received. But what a message!
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 8. be not rebellious] In addition to the positive…
8. be not rebellious] In addition to the positive command, “hear what I say unto thee,” the prophet is warned not to refuse and be rebellious like the house of Israel. There was need for this double peremptoriness of the command. The instinctive act of men before any great undertaking of the kind set before the prophet is to shrink from it. Jonah fled that he might escape from the task laid on him; Moses and Jeremiah both entreated that they might be relieved of it. The work was both arduous and painful: painful because it was against his own people that the prophet had to speak; and arduous because leading to opposition and persecution. There is no easy situation in God’s service. Had the prophet refused the great commission he would have rebelled like Israel. And no doubt Israel’s rebellion was also from an arduous and painful commission, whether we regard its task to have been to walk before God as his people, or to be the prophet of Jehovah to the nations, being entrusted as Ezekiel was with his word. In both Israel may be said to all appearance to have failed. Yet not wholly: the Servant of the Lord, the true Israel of God, existing all throughout the history of the outward Israel, could say, “the Lord opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, nor turned away back” (Isa_50:5).
The command to hear and not be rebellious is hardly to be confined to the act of eating the Book, but refers rather to the whole ministry of the prophet, although, considering that the Book was a symbol of all God’s words to him, and his eating it a symbol of his receiving them, the sense in either case is the same (cf. Eze_2:10).
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The passage suggests: (1) the divine source of that which the prophet was to say and has said—“eat that I give thee” (Eze_2:8), “a hand stretched out and in it a book” (Eze_2:9), “he made me eat that roll of a book” (Eze_3:2). (2) The definiteness of it: it was a roll of a book (Eze_2:9), although its contents were large, the roll being written both in front of the page and on the back. This was unusual, rolls being generally written only on one side. The idea is reproduced, Rev_5:1. (3) The nature of the contents—“lamentation and mourning and woe” (Eze_2:10). The prophet was made well aware of the nature of the contents as well as of their extent, “he spread the roll before me” (Eze_2:10). (4) The prophet made the Book his own, he “did eat it,” and it “filled” him (Eze_3:3). And having eaten it it was in his mouth as honey for sweetness. The sweetness was not due to this, that, though the Book contained bitter things at the first, at the end it was filled with promises which were sweet, for there was written thereon lamentation and woe; it was due rather to this that the things written were from God, whose bitter word is sweet. “Thy words were found and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart, for I am called by thy name (am thine and thy servant) Jehovah, God of hosts,” Jer_15:16. Cf. Psa_19:10; Rev_10:8-11.
The prophet’s idea of what we call his inspiration is perhaps more precise and stringent than that of Isaiah. In the inaugural vision of the latter prophet (ch. 6), “there flew one of the seraphim having a live coal in his hand, … and he laid it on my mouth and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips and thine iniquity is taken away.” Immediately on this an impulse seized the prophet to enter upon the service of God: I said, Here am I, send me. The forgiveness of sin and moral purity, carrying with it sympathy with the great King and the ministering spirits around him, and elevating the man into that exalted sphere of life, seemed enough to Isaiah to constitute him a prophet. There was in him a strength and power of character which needed only the removal of the moral hindrance to set them free. But both Jeremiah and Ezekiel were weaker men. Ezekiel as is usual with him makes Jeremiah his model, and he can hardly be said to go beyond that prophet: “The Lord said unto me, whatsoever I command thee that shalt thou speak. Then the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold I have put my words in thy mouth,” Jer_1:7-9. Both the later prophets represent themselves as receiving not merely the “word” but the “words” of Jehovah.
8–3:3. The prophet’s inspiration
Being commanded to speak God’s words to the people, the prophet is next assured by a symbol, a book given him to eat, that God’s words shall be given him.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (8) Eat that I give thee.—This is to be…
(8) Eat that I give thee.—This is to be understood, like all that has gone before, as done in vision, as in the case of the book eaten by St. John in Rev_10:9-10. The figure of eating for receiving into the heart, so as to be thoroughly possessed by what is communicated, is not an uncommon one. (Comp. Jer_15:16; Joh_6:53-58.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Be not thou rebellious, etc. The words convey a…
Be not thou rebellious, etc. The words convey a warning against the prophet"s natural weakness. Instinctively he shrank, as Moses had done (Exo_3:11 Exo_4:10-13) and Isaiah (Isa_6:5) and Jeremiah, (Jer_1:6) from his dread vocation of being a "mortal vessel of the Divine Word." In so shrinking he would identify himself with the very "rebellion" which he was sent to reprove, and would incur its punishment. Eat that I give thee. As in the parallel of Rev_10:9, the words imply that what was to be given him was no message resting, as it were, on the surface of the soul. It was to enter into the prophet"s innermost life, to be the food and nourishment of his soul; to be, in our familiar phrase, "inwardly digested" and incorporated with his very flesh and blood. He was to live "not by bread only", (Deu_6:3) but by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of Jehovah.
Faithful among the faithless.
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Ezekiel is to go among the rebellious people; but he is to be most careful not to rebel himself against the will of God. Though he stand alone, yet he must be true.
I A SEVERE TRIAL. It is difficult to be faithful among the faithless. There is a subtle poison in the atmosphere of evil society. No doubt Christ instituted his Church in part that his followers might be lifted out of the malarious regions of sinful associations, and drawn into a more wholesome climate of saintly companionship. Ezekiel was scarcely allowed any such help from Church fellowship. Like Nehemiah, he had to stand alone and face the current of rebellion. Then, beyond the unconscious temptation to go with the multitude to do evil, there was a very visible danger in the case of Ezekiel. He was called to testily against his brethren with such a message that they would turn against him like so many scorpions. He was to find himself in a border of thorns as the penalty of his fidelity (see ver. 6). Although this visible persecution is now rare, the spirit of it is not dead, and there are places still where the faithful must stand alone and be made to smart severely for their integrity. How often this is the case with one high-principled Christian young man in a house of business where the methods of conducting trade and amusement both assail his fidelity! It is hard to be faithful under such circumstances. Yet the duty does not cease. The rebellion of others is no excuse for us also to rebel.
II A LOFTY DUTY.
1. Extraordinary fidelity. Ezekiel was not only warned not to rebel in the exact manner of his fellow countrymen. He had a higher command laid upon him than any that was imposed upon them. They were only required to keep the general Law of God; he was commissioned to a special task of difficulty and danger in a prophet"s career, and his faithfulness was to consist in his not rebelling against this great task. The most honoured servants of God are those who are set in the posts of greatest danger and required to discharge the most arduous service. Brave men leap to such service and danger in human pursuits, eagerly volunteering to join expeditions into the heart of Africa or in search for the north pole. Some, too, are as eager in God"s service. These are God"s heroes.
2. Superhuman aid. Ezekiel was a man of God, a man of faith and prayer. Hence his power to be faithful. To stand faithful we must feel the influence of God"s grace. It is possible to be
True as the needle to the pole, Or as the dial to the sun,
because needle and dial shadow follow great commanding influences.
III A SPLENDID EXAMPLE. One faithful man among a host of traitors is a mighty encouragement to the weak. He can be a nucleus about which they can cluster, although they would never have had strength to stand without his great personality. Like a lighthouse in a wild and wintry night, the solitary example of fidelity sheds its encouraging rays far out to the darkness round about. Joseph in immoral Egypt, Daniel in unprincipled Babylon, Paul at wicked Rome, Luther at Worms, Latimer at Oxford, these men are beacon lights shining down the ages. It is worth the cost of all the hardship of exceptional trials of fidelity to become such magnificent inspiring influences for all time.
Prophetic receptiveness.
This Book of Ezekiel is one abounding in figure and symbol; it would be a mistake to take all its contents literally. When we read that the prophet was required by God to eat that which was given him, and are then informed that a written scroll was that which was to be eaten, we are at first surprised. But then we recollect that eating has been in many religions regarded as a sacred and symbolical act. The Mosaic dispensation had its Paschal meal, and the Christian religion has its sacrament of the Lord"s Supper. So that the symbol of the text is quite in accordance with the practices which, upon Divine authority, have prevailed in the Church throughout the ages.
I IN ORDER THAT THE TEACHER MAY IMPART TO HIS FELLOW MEN, HE MUST FIRST RECEIVE FROM GOD. That this is the meaning of the symbol of this passage is evident from the context. It was in connection with the prophet"s commission that he was bidden to eat the scroll. It was thus that he was to fit and qualify himself for his special ministry; he was to take from God, that he might have wherewith to supply the needs of the people.
II THE REVELATION OF GOD MUST BE GRADUALLY AND COMPLETELY APPROPRIATED AND ASSIMILATED BY THE MINISTER OF DIVINE TRUTH, Eating is a process by which suitable nutriment is introduced into the bodily system, and assimilated by the organs of digestion, so that it both builds up the bodily structure and supplies the organism with renewed power for life work. Such is the function fulfilled by God"s truth in connection with the spiritual being and life. The teacher of the revealed mind and will of the Supreme cannot be fitted for his service by a superficial and slight acquaintance with his message. That message must sink into the depths of his nature, must penetrate his being, must enter into all the functions of the spiritual life.
III THE RELIGIOUS TEACHER MAY HAVE TO CONTEND WITH AND OVERCOME NATURAL DISINCLINATIONS TOWARDS SOME PARTS OF THE MINISTRY ENTRUSTED TO HIM. The requirement of God could not but awaken in the prophet"s mind something of repugnance, The scroll he was bidden to eat was filled with lamentations, mourning, and woe; the message he was commissioned to deliver was a message of reproach, of expostulation, of warning, of threatening. Such a ministry could not be agreeable to his natural inclinations; he must have shrunk from it as uncongenial and distasteful. It must often happen that the fulfilment of duty is distressing to the faithful and yet sensitive preacher of righteousness; it is a bitter thing to deliver a message of condemnation to one"s fellow men.
IV YET IT IS SWEET TO OBEY AND TO FULFIL THE COMMANDS OF THE LORD. When the disinclination to undertake the painful commission had been overcome, a profound satisfaction followed. The prophet found that in keeping God"s commandments there is great reward. The distress is temporary and brief the satisfaction is lasting. The surgeon may often inflict pain upon his patient; the physician may see it right to order a course of treatment which is repulsive. To act wisely and conscientiously may, in such cases, be painful. But let the duty be discharged, and there follows a true satisfaction. It was so with Ezekiel; it is so with every true and faithful servant of God. The office may he one arduous and difficult, painful and repugnant; yet, if it is the office to which God calls a man, obedience and fidelity, the unshrinking fulfilment of the service, will bring a rich reward. Sweet are the delights of those who conquer self, who yield themselves up to the service of that Saviour who himself carried the cross. They shall enter into the joy of the Lord. T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Be not thou rebellious.
Eze_2:8-10
Be not thou rebellious.
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Ministers exposed to corruption by their people
This was the same as to say, I know the degeneracy of the times. I know the corruption and obstinacy of the people. I know they will stop their ears and harden their hearts against Divine truth. And I know that for this purpose they will use every method, by words and looks, to corrupt your heart, poison your sentiments, and destroy your influence. But I warn you to beware of men; and never suffer yourself to be corrupted by those whom you are sent to reprove and reform.
I. Ministers are exposed to be corrupted by the people.
1. Ministers have been corrupted by the people. This was the unhappy case of Aaron. The same thing happened to the sons and successors of Aaron; for we find that they were always corrupt, when the people were corrupt. God Himself complains of the people for being always disposed to corrupt their teachers (Amo_2:10-12). They meant to corrupt the friends of virtue, and the ministers of religion, on purpose to destroy the influence of their example, and the force of their instructions and admonitions; and they very rarely failed of accomplishing their malignant purpose.
2. The bare example of the people, in a day of declension, has a natural tendency to corrupt ministers. The prevailing spirit and practice of the times naturally tend to cool their zeal, weaken their virtue, and injure both the matter and manner of their preaching.
3. They are in much greater danger of being corrupted, by the positive endeavours and exertions of the people to draw them into sin. A corrupt people feel themselves obliged to take this course, in order to resist the energy of plain and faithful preaching.
II. It is their indispensable duty to guard against it.
1. God has expressly commanded ministers to guard against the attempts of those who would corrupt their hearts, and draw them aside from the path of duty.
2. They will forfeit the Divine presence and protection, if they suffer themselves to be corrupted.
3. If ministers suffer themselves to be corrupted by the people, it destroys their usefulness. Time-serving ministers generally have but few hearers. All men, whether good or bad, inwardly despise loose and unprincipled ministers, let their talents be what they may. And the same degree of criminality, which would be scarcely observable in other men, is sufficient to destroy the character and usefulness of those who sustain the sacred office of the ministry.
4. If ministers suffer themselves to be carried down the stream of corruption, they become destructive to the people. Corrupt ministers are always corrupters. Though they have lost the power of doing good, yet they retain the power of doing evil. They can do more than other men, to pull down the kingdom of Christ, and build up the kingdom of Satan. And as they are more capable, so they are more disposed, than other men, to stifle the spirit of religion, oppose the doctrines of the Gospel, and strengthen the hearts and hands of the wicked.
Reflections--
1. It is now a very dangerous day to ministers. The people have fallen into a great and general declension, As they have increased, so they have sinned. How many ministers neither preach nor practise according to their own sentiments, through fear of offending, and through desire of pleasing, the people! This conduct weakens the hands of faithful ministers, and strengthens the hands of those who wish to corrupt them.
2. Ministers need, at this day, to be well qualified for their office. Though religion has decayed, yet knowledge has increased. The people in general are much more capable now, than they were formerly, of judging of the talents and qualifications of ministers. And as they are more critical in discerning, so they are more severe in censuring, every ministerial defect or imperfection. But prudence, as well as knowledge, is a necessary qualification for a minister. He needs this to enable him to exhibit Divine truth in the most profitable manner, and to escape those snares which the enemies of truth will always endeavour to lay for him. But ministers of the Gospel, at this day of declension, need large measures of grace, as well as of knowledge and prudence. They need to be crucified to the world, and the world to them, by the Cross of Christ.
3. It is the duty of all good men, at this day especially, to aid and assist the ministers of the Gospel in the discharge of their office. If Christian professors would unite with Christian ministers, in the common cause of Christianity, we might reasonably hope that religion would gain ground, and vice and infidelity would everywhere fall before it. (N. Emmons, D. D.)
The God-made minister
(with Rev_10:8):--In the case of Ezekiel we for the first time see in a most impressive and instructive symbol that Divine way of choosing, and calling, and inwardly and increasingly preparing and maturing a prophet, that same way which is repeated in the case of the Apostle John; that same way, moreover, which is still taken with every true New Testament preacher. Now, first, we see in that fine symbolical scene Gods own immediate way of making a minister. A book plays a great part in the salvation of man; a book is brought down from heaven to earth. A book written in heaven lies open in the hand of a heavenly minister. And the salvation of many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings lies wrapped up in that heavenly book. Take the Book and eat it, said the angel of the Lord. You will observe that the angel did not say, Take the Book and read it. Clearly, then, this is not an ordinary Book. Clearly this Book is like no other book. Our ordinary language about books all falls short and breaks down before this Book. Eat it, said the angel, holding the Book up to the exhausted mouth--eat it till it is both sweet in thy mouth and bitter in thy belly. A most extraordinary thing to say to any man about any book! Yes, about any book but this Book; but this is the usual, nay, the universal, and, indeed, the necessary, thing to say always about Gods Book. Show me the minister to whom, pulpit preparation apart, Gods Word is his first thought every new morning, and he shall be all but Gods absolute prophet to me. He shall always pray for me when Gods wrath is kindled against me; for him, God has said, He will accept, as he will always be accepted, both for himself and for other men, who can, like Job, before God, say: Neither have I gone back from the commandment of His lips; I have esteemed the word of His mouth more than my necessary food. Eat, then, the same heavenly meat; and eat it for your first food every morning. It will do for you what no earthly food, the best and most necessary, can do. See that all its strength and all its sweetness fill your heart before you eat any other meat, and before you read any other writing. Read Gods Book, and keep it next your heart to defend you against the evil one. Enough of that; bring me my Bible! one of my old elders used to say, as they read to him all morning and down into the forenoon the newspapers. The Word of God was more to that saint of God than his necessary food. But what does this mean? It was in my mouth sweet as honey; but as soon as I had eaten it my belly was bitter. The best way, the only way, to find out what all that means is to eat the same roll ourselves, and then to observe what comes to pass within ourselves. Religion is an experimental science. Just you eat the Book now before you as Ezekiel and John ate it, and then tell me what takes place within you. I will tell you what will take place. The Word of God will in your mouth also be sweet as honey. The grace and the mercy of God that are in His blessed Word are always passing sweet to a genuine sinner, as is the truth, and the power, and the holiness, and the heavenly beauty of Gods Word to all His saints. All that is the daily and sweet experience of all those who make the Word of God their earliest and most necessary food. But afterwards, when this sweet Book descends into their inward parts, when the holy and the just and the good Word of God enters their guilty consciences and their corrupt hearts--ah, then, what bitterness is that! For a sense of sin, as we so lightly speak, is then awakened in the soul, and with that new sense comes a new bitterness, compared with which the waters of Marah are milk and honey, and aloes are a childs sweetmeat. Yes, angel, clothed with a cloud, you may well say that it will make our bellies bitter; for our belly will be bitter, first with our own sin, and then with the sin of all other men. Gods Word taken long enough and deep enough every day, as his necessary food, at last made Job from a sheep farmer into a sacrificing priest. Now, you all know what a priest is, a priest is a sinner who has not only all his own sin on his hands and on his heart, but the sins of all other men in addition. A priest sees sin in everything and everybody. His belly is always bitter with a bitterness such that all the honey and all the spices of Lebanon will not sweeten it. There was written thereon lamentations and mourning and woe. At the same time, the true priest has a secret and compensating sweetness in his office all his own; and every true minister has it deep down within him. Every true minister of Gods Word has a sensibility to sin and to grace; a palate and a heart both for the sweetness of Gods Word, and for its bitterness; a sensibility that makes him who has it the true successor of prophets and psalmists and apostles, like Ezekiel, David, Job, and John. Son of man, eat that thou findest, said Jehovah in a vision to Ezekiel. Take it, and eat it up, said the angel, in like manner, to John. Observe, that neither the prophet nor the apostle was asked nor allowed to pick and choose, as we say. They were not to be let eat the sweet and spit out the bitter. They were not to keep rolling the sweet morsels under their tongue, and to keep their inward parts a stranger to this bitter share in the Divine Book. Now this Scripture will not be sweet to all that hear it. But, even if it is at first bitter, it must not on that account be spat out. We must submit ourselves to read and to preach and to hear the whole Word of God. The book of the Bible, the preacher, the circle of doctrines that we like best may not be best for us. It is a fine study to take up the Old Testament and to trace all through it how prophet follows prophet, and psalmist psalmist; each several prophet and psalmist taking home to himself all that the prophets and psalmists have said and sung before him. And then, having made the book their own by reading it and praying over it and singing it in their own souls, then when the call came they stood up and prophesied prophecies and sang psalms new and present, as the peoples need was new and present; never contenting themselves with just repeating what any former psalmist had sung, however great and however good that former prophet and psalmist might have been. And then, as providence after providence arises in the history of Israel, inspiration and experience keep pace with providence, the exodus, the wilderness, the conquest, the captivity, the restoration, and so on, so prophet after prophet and psalmist after psalmist--Moses, and Gad, and David, and Solomon, and Isaiah, and Daniel, and Zechariah--arise, till we have in our Old Testament the accumulated faith and repentance, attainment and experience of that whole Church of God. And this same docile reception, personal appropriation and personal possession of Gods Word has always given an unshaking assurance, a masterful authority to all true prophets and preachers--Moses before Pharaoh, Nathan before David, Elijah before Ahab and Jezebel, Daniel before Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar, Peter and John before the rulers of Israel, Luther before the Legate, and Knox before Mary. And then with what passion that prophet will preach, and with what pathos that psalmist will sing, who has taken home to his own mind and to his own heart, to his own conscience and to his own imagination, the whole word of Almighty God, both in its awful terrors and in its surpassing mercies! (A. Whyte, D. D.)
There was written therein lamentations.
The Bible: a record of human sorrows
I. Sorrow is mightily present in our world. Here is a book--
1. The product of many lands and ages, expressing in manifold forms the sorrows of those lands and ages.
2. Intended for all lands and times, speaking in the tones of sorrow constantly, and yet expecting to be understood, anticipating that to none will sorrow be a foreign language.
This reflection should--
1. Stir our thought. Sorrow is meant to startle, to arouse, to prompt the questions, How? Why? What?
2. Cultivate our soberness, Rejoice with trembling.
3. Quicken our sympathies. We cannot, if we rightly know this book, be self-contained.
II. Sorrow is present in the world because of size.
1. Sorrow is here as the result of sin.
2. Sorrow is the penalty for sin. This rises in individual cases, to the clearness of a demonstration.
3. Sorrow is one means of purification from sin. (U. R. Thomas.)
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The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain (2.) CONSCIOUS ACCEPTANCE OF THE COMMISSION (Chaps. Eze_2:8 to…
(2.) CONSCIOUS ACCEPTANCE OF THE COMMISSION (Chaps. Eze_2:8 to Eze_3:3)
EXEGETICAL NOTES.—Eze_2:9. “Sent unto me;” rather, put forth unto me (as in chap. Eze_8:3). Eze_2:10. “Written within and without,” as indicating the number of overwhelming afflictions which were to fall upon the rebellious.
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Chap. 3 Eze_2:3. “Cause thy belly to eat and fill thy bowels with this roll.” So the eating could not be corporeal; it, too, was happening in the visions, and enjoined Ezekiel to take whatever would be spoken to him into his inner man, there to be assimilated with his own feelings, thoughts, will, and then to be declared to the people.
HOMILETICS
DUTY ACCEPTED FOR REASONS
I. As the commission issues from a divine source. This is signified—
1. By its direction. A hand carried the symbolic medium of the commission, and Ezekiel recognised that hand to be His whose mighty voice he heard. God often appoints to duties by figures which are not unfamiliar to men. Moses saw a bush burning, Isaiah had a live coal laid upon his lips, Jeremiah’s mouth was touched by a hand, and Ezekiel is shown a book. And now, when men hear of the cross, the tomb, the throne, they are told of that which is not revealed by flesh and blood, but by our Father in heaven. Thus the Christ, who is always with us, directs to hearts the truth He would have them believe and obey, and what we ought to desire is not vision but faith. “We walk by faith, not by sight.”
2. By its plainness to the understanding. Ezekiel could not have made anything out of the book unless its Holder had unrolled it and showed its contents. Then he gets a glimpse of the persons to whom he has to go, and of the prominence he is to give to threats of coming woes. The Lord would let His servant clearly see what he has to do. He wishes no vagueness or obscurity to be in any mind as to the certain retribution for sin. He wants to convince our intelligence. Mysteries there cannot but be in His procedure, but He sanctions no blind faith. He gives us as much light as we can bear for the time, and more will be added. “He opens the understanding to understand the Scriptures.” “He gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater.” The boldest of all followers of Christ the Way will be those who most clearly see that He is the Light, and that “whoso believes in Him shall not abide in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” They have the witness in themselves. Lighten our darkness, O Lord!
3. By its announcing tribulations to come. God only can tell the sorrows, pains, and harassment which will be imposed on any sinners; and Ezekiel may see written on the roll those future sufferings which men could not foresee. The Israelites did suffer in their native land, and if sin had been its own punishment, the punishment would assuredly have ended there. But it did not, and they were deported into foreign countries in order to be visited there also for their rebelliousness. Sin is not its own avenger. The evils which follow it are signs of God’s rule. He manifests His righteous character, and His determination to govern the world in righteousness. In due places and at fit times He will make His utter abhorrence of wrong to appear. He is never at a loss where to strike, or whom. “We are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth,” and that all suffering among the peoples of the world to-day are in accordance with His purposes of old. He is fulfilling them before our eyes, though we cannot compare them with predictions of them, as Ezekiel and Israel could. “The Lord reigneth, let the people tremble.”
II. As the commission is accompanied with power to fulfil it. The book-roll was not handed to Ezekiel with the guarantee of priests or church, nor from the archives of the Temple. It was from the Lord Himself. Ezekiel may gather from this fact—
1. That there would be new revealings of the rule of the Lord. He had not exhausted all methods for characterising the proceedings and the destinies of men. Fresh conditions, such as those in which His chosen people were found, opened up the occasion by which He could unfold distincter views of His just and good will. It might be said that all He can show must be already indicated; but Israel would not, or could not, read the logical conclusions implied in the law and the prophets. They needed further teaching, and God is no miser with His knowledge and wisdom. He freely would impart to all; He never binds Himself to use only established institutions, and thus does He the more thoroughly bring His word to the platform from which all classes hear. We expect more light, even with a knowledge of His will far beyond that which Ezekiel could receive; and in presence of novel conditions of science, politics, ecclesiastical developments, we should be on the outlook for further manifestations of Christ, “who is the power of God and the wisdom of God.” If it be said that the Book of Revelation is closed now, it should not be said that wider and distincter views of Revelation are also shut out. We must welcome the better things which the Lord will spread before us.
2. That there would be sensitiveness to receive fuller knowledge. Nature had presented to Ezekiel its storms and lights and animal forms actuated by one controlling force, and he had been deeply moved; but no special message was there of which he could say, “This is for me alone.” Now there is, not Ezekiel’s case only, but myriads of other cases attest that the Spirit of the living God does speak to human consciences with the old appeal, “Thou art the man!” He will not let His Word miss its opportunities. He singles out one and another on the ground of their competence to obey Him; and if there be a single person who has no sense of God being near and bringing something to him personally, it is because he or she is shutting the ear “lest they should hear with their ears and understand with their hearts.” For “the word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart.” God opens the door of faith, and men may enter in and receive that which flesh and blood could not give, but which He can.
3. That this knowledge would be assimilated to his thoughts and ways. Ezekiel has to eat the book. It is not that he is merely to learn its meaning, but it is that he is to make all its words his own. He is to “inwardly digest” them, that they may obtain a form suitable to his character and environment. The Lord imparts them so that they shall be turned into bone and muscle for prophetic tasks. Thus they will be psychologically the prophet’s own representation, and yet prepared by divine energy to convey an adequate idea of what the people must hear from the mouth of the Lord. This power to take and eat the book symbolises the truth that, without having thus assimilated the words of God, no one ought to teach and preach. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” Certainly no one will live for ever who does not eat of the bread of life which Christ gives. The word of hearing does not profit if not mixed with faith, but when with the heart man believeth, then will fruit be borne. God knows our need; He gives power to the faint, and “in Christ strengthening we can do all things.” This is “true inspiration. The divine does not remain as a strange element in the man; it becomes his own feeling thoroughly, penetrates him entirely, just as food becomes a part of his bodily frame” (Umbreit).
III. As the commission produces satisfaction with itself. Ezekiel had the sweet experience that he was called by God to serve Him, and found it eminently pleasant to “know no will but His.” This experience follows on complete submission to all that He gives us to know of Himself. Once taught of God, we should have no doubts and no reserves. Men’s commissions often disappoint, because power to carry them out is not welded into them. God never lets His workers go on their own charges; He is prepared to supply all their need. Let them but be consecrated to Him, present their bodies as a living sacrifice, take all the strength and love which Jesus has for them, and they will be enabled to exclaim, “I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, for Christ’s sake.” To be used for the Lord will be a sweeter experience than we shall find elsewhere. Even if we have to tell of painful and woful things, we shall do so, knowing that we are not acting on the promptings of our own temper, not serving our own desires, but obeying “the Lord, the Lord God merciful and gracious, who will by no means clear the guilty.” Come what may in our life-service, a little or a great duty, one to which we run or one from which we shrink, we shall surely be able to say, as Jeremiah did, “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart; for I am called by Thy name, O Lord God of hosts.”
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 2:8 Ezekiel must not resemble the disobedient and rebellious…
2:8 Ezekiel must not resemble the disobedient and rebellious people around him. The first Adam disobeyed God’s command not to eat the apparently desirable fruit of knowledge (Gen 2:17); Ezekiel was to obey by eating the apparently undesirable words of God.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.