Bible Commentaries
Ezekiel 2

Verses 1-3

Call from God (2:1-3:3)

Ezekiel falls prostrate before the glory of the Lord (Ezekiel 1:28), only to hear a stem divine command to stand up. The term "son of man," as employed here (Ezekiel 2:1) and throughout the book, does not have the same meaning as it does in the Book of Daniel or in the apocryphal Book of Enoch. It is certainly not the origin of the term as Jesus used it. "Son of man" as employed in this prophetic work means "man" or "human being," in contrast to God. Ezekiel is given a commission to "the people of Israel," who are variously described as stubborn and rebellious (vs. 4). No successful mission is promised to the prophet. Nevertheless, he is not to be discouraged by the people’s words or their looks, although they will be like briers, thorns, and scorpions.

Verse 7 is difficult to understand. The mission of the prophet was not to make his audience hear or believe; his mission was to be the medium of God’s word. Success or failure was left entirely to God. This fact puts in bold relief the firm faith of an ancient prophet who considered God, not man, history’s chief actor. The prophet’s primary task was to proclaim the message, not to get results. It is always so with God’s spokesmen. They must realize that the ultimate outcome of a prophetic mission depends not on prophetic skill but upon God’s Spirit and will.

Verses 2:8-3:3 depict in a dramatic act the substance of what has previously been given verbally. The prophet is given a scroll on which the content of God’s message has been inscribed, and he is told to eat it On it were written "words of lamentation and mourning and woe." Ezekiel obediently consumed the message of God so that it became part of him. Upon completing the strange meal the prophet comments, "It was in my mouth as sweet as honey" (vs. 3), By word and symbol Ezekiel was commissioned to be God’s spokesman to a rebellious house, which included both those people of Judah living in Palestine and those already in exile at Tel-abib.