1 And he said to me, Son of man, get up on your feet, so that I may say words to you.
And he said to me, O Daniel, you man dearly loved, take in the sense of the words I say to you and get up on to your feet: for to you I am now sent; and when he had said this to me I got on to my feet, shaking with fear.
But get up, and go into the town, and it will be made clear to you what you have to do.
And you, son of man, take a back and put it before you and on it make a picture of a town, even Jerusalem.
Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the children of Israel: so give ear to the word of my mouth, and give them word from me of their danger.
And he said to me, Son of man, take this roll for your food, and go and say my words to the children of Israel.
And he said to me, Son of man, is it possible for these bones to come to life? And I made answer, and said, It is for you to say, O Lord.
For God had such love for the world that he gave his only Son, so that whoever has faith in him may not come to destruction but have eternal life.
And no one has ever gone up to heaven but he who came down from heaven, the Son of man.
Now when Jesus had come into the parts of Caesarea Philippi, he said, questioning his disciples, Who do men say that the Son of man is? And they said, Some say, John the Baptist; some, Elijah; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. He says to them, But who do you say that I am? And Simon Peter made answer and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Then he said, It is clear to you why I have come to you. And now I will give you an account of what is recorded in the true writings:
What is man, that you keep him in mind? the son of man, that you take him into account?
Son of man, say to the responsible men of Israel, This is what the Lord has said: Have you come to get directions from me? By my life, says the Lord, you will get no directions from me.
Son of man, make clear to Jerusalem her disgusting ways,
Son of man, what is the vine-tree more than any branching tree which is among the trees of the woods?
Son of man, these men have taken their false gods into their hearts and put before their faces the sin which is the cause of their fall: am I to give ear when they come to me for directions?
Son of man, be a prophet against the prophets of Israel, and say to those prophets whose words are the invention of their hearts, Give ear to the word of the Lord;
And you, son of man, say, This is what the Lord has said to the land of Israel: An end has come, the end has come on the four quarters of the land.
Then he said to me, Son of man, take into your heart all my words which I am about to say to you, and let your ears be open to them.
And you, son of man, have no fear of them or of their words, even if sharp thorns are round you and you are living among scorpions: have no fear of their words and do not be overcome by their looks, for they are an uncontrolled people.
And he said to me, Son of man, I am sending you to the children of Israel, to an uncontrolled nation which has gone against me: they and their fathers have been sinners against me even to this very day.
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.