6 And 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.
The best of them is as a brier; the most upright is `worse' than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen, even thy visitation, is come; now shall be their perplexity.
Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at them, lest I dismay thee before them.
Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall in any wise hurt you.
I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou art afraid of man that shall die, and of the son of man that shall be made as grass;
But the ungodly shall be all of them as thorns to be thrust away, Because they cannot be taken with the hand; But the man that toucheth them Must be armed with iron and the staff of a spear: And they shall be utterly burned with fire in `their' place.
And now, Lord, look upon their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants to speak thy word with all boldness,
And out of the smoke came forth locusts upon the earth; and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was said unto them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only such men as have not the seal of God on their foreheads. And it was given them that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when it striketh a man. And in those days men shall seek death, and shall in no wise find it; and they shall desire to die, and death fleeth from them.
But even if ye should suffer for righteousness' sake, blessed `are ye:' and fear not their fear, neither be troubled;
By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.
and in nothing affrighted by the adversaries: which is for them an evident token of perdition, but of your salvation, and that from God;
And on my behalf, that utterance may be given unto me in opening my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel,
But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it is right in the sight of God to hearken unto you rather than unto God, judge ye:
Now when they beheld the boldness of Peter and John, and had perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.
And be not afraid of them that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
But as for me, I am full of power by the Spirit of Jehovah, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.
Then Amaziah the priest of Beth-el sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words. For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of his land. Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thou away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there: but prophesy not again any more at Beth-el; for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is a royal house. Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was a herdsman, and a dresser of sycomore-trees: and Jehovah took me from following the flock, and Jehovah said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel. Now therefore hear thou the word of Jehovah: Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not `thy word' against the house of Isaac; therefore thus saith Jehovah: Thy wife shall be a harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou thyself shalt die in a land that is unclean, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of his land.
And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor a hurting thorn of any that are round about them, that did despite unto them; and they shall know that I am the Lord Jehovah.
and I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover; for they are a rebellious house. But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: He that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house.
Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.
They are all grievous revolters, going about with slanders; they are brass and iron: they all of them deal corruptly.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Ezekiel 2
Commentary on Ezekiel 2 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 2
Eze 2:1-10. Ezekiel's Commission.
1. Son of man—often applied to Ezekiel; once only to Daniel (Da 8:17), and not to any other prophet. The phrase was no doubt taken from Chaldean usage during the sojourn of Daniel and Ezekiel in Chaldea. But the spirit who sanctioned the words of the prophet implied by it the lowliness and frailty of the prophet as man "lower than the angels," though now admitted to the vision of angels and of God Himself, "lest he should be exalted through the abundance of the revelations" (2Co 12:7). He is appropriately so called as being type of the divine "Son of man" here revealed as "man" (see on Eze 1:26). That title, as applied to Messiah, implies at once His lowliness and His exaltation, in His manifestations as the Representative man, at His first and second comings respectively (Ps 8:4-8; Mt 16:13; 20:18; and on the other hand, Da 7:13, 14; Mt 26:64; Joh 5:27).
2. spirit entered … when he spake—The divine word is ever accompanied by the Spirit (Ge 1:2, 3).
set … upon … feet—He had been "upon his face" (Eze 1:28). Humiliation on our part is followed by exaltation on God's part (Eze 3:23, 24; Job 22:29; Jas 4:6; 1Pe 5:5). "On the feet" was the fitting attitude when he was called on to walk and work for God (Eph 5:8; 6:15).
that I heard—rather, "then I heard."
3. nation—rather, "nations"; the word usually applied to the heathen or Gentiles; here to the Jews, as being altogether heathenized with idolatries. So in Isa 1:10, they are named "Sodom" and "Gomorrah." They were now become "Lo-ammi," not the people of God (Ho 1:9).
4. impudent—literally, "hard-faced" (Eze 3:7, 9).
children—resumptive of "they" (Eze 2:3); the "children" walk in their "fathers'" steps.
I … send thee—God opposes His command to all obstacles. Duties are ours; events are God's.
Thus saith the Lord God—God opposes His name to the obstinacy of the people.
5. forbear—namely, to hear.
yet shall know—Even if they will not hear, at least they will not have ignorance to plead as the cause of their perversity (Eze 33:33).
6. briers—not as the Margin and Gesenius, "rebels," which would not correspond so well to "thorns." The Hebrew is from a root meaning "to sting" as nettles do. The wicked are often so called (2Sa 23:6; So 2:2; Isa 9:18).
scorpions—a reptile about six inches long with a deadly sting at the end of the tail.
be not afraid—(Lu 12:4; 1Pe 3:14).
7. most rebellious—literally, "rebellion" itself: its very essence.
8. eat—(See on Jer 15:16; Re 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.
9. roll—the form in which ancient books were made.
10. within and without—on the face and the back. Usually the parchment was written only on its inside when rolled up; but so full was God's message of impending woes that it was written also on the back.