7 And thou hast spoken My words unto them, whether they hear or whether they forbear, for they `are' rebellious.
And He saith unto me, `Son of man, all My words, that I speak unto thee, receive with thy heart, and with thine ears hear;
And Jehovah saith unto me, `Do not say, I `am' a youth, for to all to whom I send thee thou goest, and all that I command thee thou speakest.
The prophet with whom `is' a dream, Let him recount the dream, And he with whom `is' My word, Let him truly speak My word. What -- to the straw with the corn? An affirmation of Jehovah.
that there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying, `Son of man, a watchman I have given thee to the house of Israel, and thou hast heard from My mouth a word, and hast warned them from Me.
`Thus said Jehovah, Stand thou in the court of the house of Jehovah, and thou hast spoken unto all `those of' the cities of Judah who are coming in to bow themselves in the house of Jehovah, all the words that I have commanded thee to speak unto them, thou dost not diminish a word.
and they -- whether they hear, or whether they forbear, for a rebellious house they `are' -- have known that a prophet hath been in their midst.
`Rise, go unto Nineveh, the great city, and proclaim unto it the proclamation that I am speaking unto thee;'
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.