Ezekiel — Chapter 2
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1And he said unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee.
2And the spirit entered into me when he spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard him that spake unto me.
3And 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, even unto this very day.
4For they are impudent children and stiffhearted. I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD.
5And 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.
6And 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.
7And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious.
8But 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.
9And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein;
10And he spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.
1And he said unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak with thee.
2And the Spirit entered into me when he spake unto me, and set me upon my feet; and I heard him that spake unto me.
3And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to nations that are rebellious, which have rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me even unto this very day.
4And the children are impudent and stiffhearted: I do sent thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah.
5And 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.
6And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house.
7And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear; for they are most rebellious.
8But 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.
9And when I looked, behold, a hand was put forth unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein;
10And he spread it before me: and it was written within and without; and there were written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.
1He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet and I will speak with you.”
2As he spoke to me, a wind came into me and stood me on my feet, and I heard the one speaking to me.
3He said to me, “Son of man, I am sending you to the house of Israel, to rebellious nations who have rebelled against me; both they and their fathers have revolted against me to this very day.
4The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and hard-hearted, and you must say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’
5And as for them, whether they listen or not—for they are a rebellious house—they will know that a prophet has been among them.
6But you, son of man, do not fear them, and do not fear their words. Even though briers and thorns surround you and you live among scorpions—do not fear their words and do not be terrified of the looks they give you, for they are a rebellious house!
7You must speak my words to them whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious.
8As for you, son of man, listen to what I am saying to you: Do not rebel like that rebellious house! Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you.”
9Then I looked and realized a hand was stretched out to me, and in it was a written scroll.
10He unrolled it before me, and it had writing on the front and back; written on it were laments, mourning, and woe.
1He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.”
2The Spirit entered into me when he spoke to me, and set me on my feet; and I heard him who spoke to me.
3He said to me, “Son of man, I send you to the children of Israel, to a nation of rebels who have rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me even to this very day.
4The children are impudent and stiff-hearted. I am sending you to them, and you shall tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh.’
5They, whether they will hear, or whether they will refuse, for they are a rebellious house, yet they will know that there has been a prophet among them.
6You, son of man, don’t be afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you, and you do dwell among scorpions. Don’t be afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house.
7You shall speak my words to them, whether they will hear, or whether they will refuse; for they are most rebellious.
8But 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.”
9When I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me; and, behold, a scroll of a book was in it.
10He spread it before me. It was written within and without; and lamentations, mourning, and woe were written in it.
Summary
God commissions Ezekiel: "Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation." They may or may not listen — but they'll KNOW a prophet has been among them. Don't be afraid of them or their words (though they're "briers and thorns"). God gives Ezekiel a scroll written on both sides with "lamentations, and mourning, and woe" — and tells him to eat it.
Authorship & Background
- "Stand Up: I Will Speak to You" (vv.1-2)
- The Commission: Sent to a Rebellious Nation (vv.3-5)
- Don't Be Afraid: Briers and Thorns (vv.6-7)
- The Scroll: Eat What I Give You (vv.8-10)
Map & Geography
- No specific geographic locations are referenced in this chapter.
Commentary
- Enduring Word (David Guzik): enduringword.com
- Charles Spurgeon: "'Whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.' Your job is to PREACH, not to PRODUCE results. The outcome is God's; the faithfulness is yours. Success in ministry is showing up and speaking truth — not counting converts."
Reflection
- 1. "Stand upon thy feet" (v.1). God raises you from prostration to commission. Worship precedes service. You can't serve effectively until you've been on your face — but you can't serve at all if you STAY there. Get up.
- 2. "Whether they hear or forbear" (v.5). Stop measuring your faithfulness by others' responses. Your job: deliver truth. Their response: their responsibility. Detach your obedience from their reception.
- 3. "Briers, thorns, and scorpions" (v.6). The environment will be hostile. God doesn't promise comfortable surroundings — He promises His PRESENCE in hostile ones. Don't expect ministry to feel safe.
- 4. The scroll must be EATEN (vv.8-10). Before you preach God's word, you must INTERNALIZE it. Don't deliver messages you haven't digested. God's word must be in your gut before it's in your mouth.
- 5. Lamentations, mourning, and woe (v.10). Sometimes God's message is ENTIRELY heavy. No silver lining, no feel-good ending (yet). Can you deliver a hard word faithfully without sugar-coating it?