Summary of Ezekiel 2:3-10
God sends Ezekiel to the Israelites to deliver His messages. He tells Ezekiel to not be afraid of the people and to speak His words. Ezekiel then sees a scroll in God’s hands. Words of lament, mourning, and woe are written on it.
BSF Study Questions Exile & Return: A Time to Build Lesson 1, Day 5: Ezekiel 2:3-10
12) To the Israelites
13a) He tells Ezekiel that many will not listen. They may say terrible things. They are rebellious.
b) God tells Ezekiel not to be afraid of their reactions and to eat what he gives him (aka words to say). By telling Ezekiel that they may not listen, this helps Ezekiel not worry about how the message is received, but instead to just deliver the message. Also, by God appearing to Ezekiel personally, this strengthens Ezekiel’s faith by knowing that it is God calling him.
14) We all should remember that we are not responsible for whether people receive the word of God and turn to Him. God is the one who will turn their hearts. All we have to do is deliver the Good News. We are guided by the Holy Spirit and will know what to say. I am encouraged to pray to the Lord to put people in my life whom I am supposed to share Him with. And, I know God will give me the strength to do so.
Conclusions BSF Study Questions Exile & Return: A Time to Build Lesson 1, Day 5: Ezekiel 2:3-10
Great lesson on the real challenges believers face in bringing the Good News to the world.
End Notes BSF Study Questions Exile & Return: A Time to Build Lesson 1, Day 5: Ezekiel 2:3-10
Note: Ezekiel is speaking to both the nations of Judah and Israel here. Apart from God, the Israelites are just another heathen nation.
The people are repeatedly called “rebellious.” Not exactly good in God’s eyes.
“This is what the Sovereign Lord says,” is repeated in the book of Ezekiel. This is to say that Ezekiel is bringing God’s message, not his own, to the people.
Rejection can hurt, but God tells Ezekiel to ignore it.
We are to receive God’s word as if we are eating it: take it completely in.
Note: this may or may not be God’s hands. It could be the cherubims’. The text just says “a hand.”
The message was complete since both sides of the scroll were written on (traditionally, at this time, only one side would be written on).
Note that we have a much more cheerful message to bring to people (the news of Jesus Christ). Ezekiel just had to tell the people to turn to God or face His wrath.
END NOTES SUMMARIZED
Ezekiel 2:3-10 details the core of the prophet’s difficult commission, defining his audience, his required attitude, and the content of his message.
The interpretation of its key elements is as follows:
- The Rebellious Audience: God explicitly warns Ezekiel that he is being sent to the people of Israel, who are described as an obstinate, stubborn, and rebellious nation. This sets the expectation that his mission will be met with resistance. The goal is not necessarily to achieve success, but to ensure that a prophet of the LORD has spoken, leaving the people without excuse.
- The Call to Fearlessness: God commands Ezekiel not to be afraid of the people or their hostile words, comparing them to thorns, briers, and scorpions. This highlights the dangerous and painful nature of the prophetic task and emphasizes that the prophet’s courage must come from his divine mandate, not the promise of a positive reception.
- The Eaten Scroll: Ezekiel is given a scroll to eat, which is covered on both sides with “words of lament and mourning and woe.” This powerful symbolic act reveals two key truths:
- Internalization: The prophet must completely absorb and digest God’s message, making it a part of his very being before he can proclaim it to others.
- Content: The initial message is not one of comfort, but of unavoidable and severe judgment due to the people’s rebellion.
In essence, this passage establishes Ezekiel’s ministry as one of courageous faithfulness. He is called to internalize and deliver a painful message of judgment to a hard-hearted people, regardless of their response.
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