Ezekiel Chapter 3
Wednesday, 12/17/25 at 08:30
Solitary Man
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Eze 3:1 Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest (attain, acquire, get a hold of); eat this roll (meg-il-law), and go speak unto the house of Israel.
Chapter 3 picks up where chapter 2 left off. That is, the commissioning of Ezekiel as a true prophet of the Lord. It’s funny, whenever I’ve seen a verse such as this, where either Ezekiel or John (in the book of Revelation) were told to eat a scroll, I always imagined that they literally ate a scroll! Apparently I seem to be alone in that opinion, as every old time scholar treats these scenes as solely symbolic. They see it as a way for God to command his servant to receive his word in all its fulness, and let it become part of his nature.
The word for findest does also mean to attain, or get a hold of. And for sure, the symbology does strongly suggest that Ezekiel was to get a hold of the revelation and the truth of the message that Yehovah was giving him in all its fulness. But if Ezekiel is in the spirit, or having a vision, who is to say that scrolls cannot be literally eaten? It would be hard to draw a more meaningful image in order to convey the fact the Ezekiel is not to shy away from consuming God’s message in it’s entirety. He is to take that message into his innermost being, until it becomes a part of his spirit, even as food is taken into the midst of our physical body and is digested until it becomes a part of us.
Once that occurs, then he was going to be asked to speak to his people. This is an important concept, that will be developed more clearly later on in the chapter.
Eze 3:2 So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll (meg-il-law).
Firstly, God is the one who causes us to eat his word, and to perceive its true meaning. You cannot comprehend the bible with your intellect. True understanding only comes by the spirit via heavenly revelation.
The symbolism represents the fact that the true man of God will consume the crucial doctrine of judgment at judgment time as his main spiritual food. It is not merely a snack, but his main food that will sustain him during that time in God’s calendar. And can anyone argue that we’re not at the same time in God’s calendar as Ezekiel found himself in? I think not.
Because God is the one who causes us to eat this word of judgment, that means it is God who is the one who puts this burden in our hearts. There it will remain until God himself removes it.
Eze 3:3 And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll (meg-il-law) that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.
The word is to become a part of us. Notice that even prophecies of evil are still depicted as something sweet. This represents the fact of that initial wonder when we receive revelation and understanding of the scripture directly from the Spirit of God. After a while, when we have fully digested it, it becomes bitter as we begin to fully grasp what real judgment truly means.
This is why I shake my head at those shallow hearted believers who boldly claim that they want the tribulation to commence, thinking that their particular theology is a guarantee of divine rescue before things get too out of control. They have no idea what they are saying. They have not spent nearly enough time in books such as Ezekiel. By the time we have completed this study, I can guarantee that none of you will be so nonchalant about the end time judgment that is almost upon us.
Revelation is sweet, but the harsh reality of God’s just recompense for our sins is not. While you think you have what it takes to endure unto the end, even if this is so, stop for a moment and mediate on the billions of souls that are about to be thrown into a boiling cauldron of torment, deception, and despair. Spare a moment for the multitudes that will be suddenly cut off from life, with absolutely no idea that this is about to take place.
God wanted Ezekiel to be completely filled with what he was feeding him. He was not to take a bite or two of the scroll. Most of us nibble at the promises of redemption and restoration. Take a bite or two here and there. But the severe judgments that compose the bulk of the scroll we would most likely throw under the table, and hope no one noticed that we didn’t finish all that was on our plate!
Remember, we have already received a hint of what is about to come. Mourning, lamentation, and woe.
Any of you out there still entertain fantasies of wanting to become a prophet? Well, buckle up. Let’s first find out what sort of responsibilities will be laid upon your shoulders before you go clamouring for such as assignment. It is not a road that any sane man would willingly choose.
Eze 3:4 And he said unto me, Son of man, go (haw-lak – walk, march, travel), get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them.
So far, so good. First and foremost, a prophet is a mouthpiece for God. Especially in the OT, he was the voice of the mind and will of God in their generation.
Ezekiel is in exile in Babylon. Is he supposed to rent a mule and start the several hundred mile trip to Jerusalem? No, he is wise enough to not run off at the first word he hears, but waits until the entire instruction is delivered.
I wonder how many of us thought we heard something from the Lord, and in our zeal (or immaturity) we ran off and tried to do something that turned out not to be God’s will at all. Kind of reminds me of a story that is told about St. Francis of Assisi. As he was praying, he heard the Lord say: ‘Francis, my church has fallen down, I want you to rebuild it’. Or something to that effect. Without waiting for further instruction, because the church he was praying in was in bad physical shape, he immediately began to try to physically repair the structure! This was not what God had in mind. Eventually, he figured out that he was to begin a new movement within the church to renew it.
Some commentator has stated that Ezekiel was addressed by God as ‘son of man’ at least 95 times. God did not address all his servants using that moniker, but for Ezekiel, that is what he chose. He may choose to address each and every one of us with a different title, as he pleases. There is no formula as to how God speaks. That is, he doesn’t always begin with a ‘thus saith the Lord’! He will communicate with us in a manner that not only pleases him, but also in a way that I am sure is meaningful to us in some way. Maybe he calls you his daughter, or his son. Perhaps that is what your heart needs to hear.
Eze 3:5 For thou art not sent to a people of a strange (aw-make – deep) speech and of an hard (kaw-bade – heavy, difficult, thick, stupid) language, but to the house of Israel;
In this second verse of instruction, Ezekiel, once more, seems to be getting an assignment that he should be able to handle. Yahweh is not asking him to pull a Jonah. That is, he will not be asked to go to Israel’s current enemy, the Babylonians, and pronounce some word of doom over them. There was no need to go to night class to learn another language. This should be a relatively straightforward assignment. He is called to go and speak to his own people, his own tribe. People just like him. He should have no trouble speaking to them, and they should have no trouble understanding him. Surely they would be eager to hear what their God has to say, wouldn’t they?
Eze 3:6 Not to many people (am – tribe, nation) of a strange (aw-make) speech and of an hard (kaw-bade) language, whose words thou canst not understand (shama). Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened (shama) unto thee.
God reiterates that Ezekiel is not to go to some strange tribe or clan of Gentiles where he would have a very difficult time of making himself understood. Yet we glimpse the first hint that all will not be as easy as Ezekiel may have first surmised.
God drops the clue that if he had sent Ezekiel to some alien race, one where the word of the Lord was never heard before, they would have not only listened, but also they would have shama’d him. That is, they would have heard intelligently, with the intent to obey everything that was spoken. Because God is making this unusual claim about some unknown band of goyim, or Gentiles, Ezekiel must be beginning to sense that he is going to be contrasting these ignorant pagans with his own tribe. And because God has just spoken positively about these people, in all likelihood he is about to speak negatively about Ezekiel’s own nation.
Eze 3:7 But the house of Israel will not hearken (shama) unto thee; for they will not hearken (shama) unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent (khaw-zawk may-tsakh – hard headed) and hardhearted (kaw-sheh labe – stiff or obstinate in the heart).
Even though the name of Israel was usually reserved for the now extinct northern kingdom, God reserves the right to call the remaining kingdom of Judah by the generic appellation of Israel, which usually encompasses the entire nation of the Hebrew people. It’s all a matter of context.
Before the prophet gets to speak a single word, God is telling him exactly how it will go. Your people will not shama. They will not hear with the intent of obeying, because they already have proven that they are not willing to shama me. They will not obey my word that they know, and thus they will not obey the word that I put into your mouth.
And why is that? Because their head (mind) and heart (spirit) have become hard. It is as if their hearts and minds have become rocky places where nothing can take root and grow. And how did they get this way? Through continual disobedience to God’s known commandments. Disobey once, and your conscience pricks you. Disobey twice, and it pricks you a little less. Disobey often enough, and your conscience disappears altogether.
A good example of this is some of the stories that I’ve heard during the covid plandemic. At first, the nurses who decided to stay were distraught, as they saw case after case where their treatment was harming their patients, even unto death. But once they had done it often enough, some of the nurses became so hard hearted, that they actually laughed at the non-vaxxed who were under their ‘care’, and actually revelled in the fact that they were sick, telling them that they deserved everything that they got, because they refused to take the jab. Not only had their consciences disappeared, but in time they learned to enjoy the pain and suffering that they were causing others. Such is the wages of sin. You will be paid with hardness of heart, a deranged mind, and a psychopathic nature to boot.
I find it interesting that God knows that people who haven’t heard the word of God are usually much more open to it than those who have been around it all their lives, and have grown callous and lukewarm towards it.
Regardless of your audience’s receptivity, if God has commanded you to speak, then speak you must, as we will encounter a grave warning given to the hesitant saint who may be tempted to refrain from delivering God’s message to its intended audience.
Eze 3:8 Behold, I have made thy face (paw-neem) strong (khaw-zawk – hard, bold, mighty) against their faces (paw-neem), and thy forehead (may-tsakh) strong (khaw-zawk) against their foreheads (may-ysakh).
Eze 3:9 As an adamant (diamond) harder (khaw-zawk) than flint (knife, sharp stone) have I made thy forehead (may-tsakh): fear (yaw-ray) them not, neither be dismayed (khaw-thath – broken down, confused, terrified) at their looks (paw-neem), though they be a rebellious (mer-ee) house.
God now spends 2 verses in reassuring the prophet that he has been supernaturally equipped to withstand all opposition to his ministry, no matter what form it takes. They may ‘show you their face’, and it may seem as a hard, scary countenance, one that is meant to intimidate. It doesn’t matter, because God has given Ezekiel a harder face, one that is able to look his hostile audience in the eye and not flinch. In fact, Ezekiel’s ‘face’ (which really represents the courage and boldness given to him), is going to be as hard as a diamond. It will be able to withstand any knife or sharp stone that is symbolically wielded against it.
God tells him to not fear, nor be confused or terrified when you see their face, which represents whatever they decide to directly do to him, even though they are a fully rebellious house which, in the natural, seemingly makes them a scary bunch to preach to.
This reminds me of the story of Derek, a Calgary street preacher who has faced unbelievable lawfare, just because he politely confronted a freak in a dress at a drag queen story hour in the local public library. Not only was he unjustly charged and convicted and given a terribly disproportionate sentence, but he was then kicked out of his own church, because they didn’t want the government or anyone else to think that they actually had anything to do with this man, as they might have lost their charitable tax status. He tried to attend another church, and they kicked him out also. As far as I know, only one church in that city has actually has come out and publicly supported his stance against the grooming of children.
This is the state of the church in Canada today. Not so different from the state of God’s people in Ezekiel’s day. This is why the book of Ezekiel needs to be studied in our generation as never before. What God planned to do to Judah, he surely is planning to do to us.
As Derek related to this one other pastor, he has come to realize something that I believe that I have been speaking about since the beginning of this ministry. And that is that, at least in Canada, there is absolutely no evidence of any spirit of repentance whatsoever. Never mind the secular political world, but also in the church! No one is speaking of the critical need for repentance anywhere (save one church that I know of). Derek has had to come to the realization that all this continual talk about some end time revival is utter nonsense. The remnant church in Canada is tiny – very tiny. And that is most likely how it is going to stay, until we are consumed by the anger of Yehovah. We lead the world in medically assisted suicide, abortion, unchecked immigration, wokeness, the promotion and celebration of every sort of sexual depravity, and are rife with serious compromise in virtually every pulpit in the land. In other words, as God speaks through Ezekiel and begins to describe the various abominations occurring in Judah and Jerusalem, we don’t need any imagination or exaggeration to see that the same sorts of sins are being fully embraced and practiced in the once great Christian nation of Canada.
To the church of America, take heed. You are well on your way to the same path that we are walking in Canada. While there seems to be more hope for you, a little more slumber and a little more rest and you too shall find yourself in a place of no return.
God repeatedly calls Israel a rebellious house. And what is a rebel? One who refuses to obey the commands of their lord. And what is the church in the west? Are we not rebels too? What percentage of churches are obeying all, or even most, that the Lord has commanded us?
Eze 3:10 Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, all (the whole of) my words that I shall speak unto thee receive (law-kakh – accept, seize) in thine heart, and hear (shama) with thine ears.
The key word in this verse is the word ‘all’. Not some. All. When God has given you a revelation, do not be tempted to leave some things out, thinking that more people will be receptive to what you say if you leave the hard parts out. Our land is full of churches who do exactly that. They receive only some of God’s word into their heart. They shama a relatively small portion of the bible. They really shama John 3:16, but Ezekiel chapters 1 through 36, not so much.
Every word of God is pure. There is no such thing as any part of the bible that is now irrelevant. Every word that Yahweh would speak to Ezekiel was to be seized upon and placed in his heart, and to be instantly obeyed once understood. Another kernel to be gleaned in this verse is that the message that the prophet hears needs to be internalized and fully embraced before he can share it with conviction.
Eze 3:11 And go, get thee to them of the captivity (go-law – exiles), unto the children (bane – sons) of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; whether they will hear (shama), or whether they will forbear (khaw-dal).
We will see in verse 15 that Ezekiel is sent somewhere else along this same river Chebar that he is currently at. So now he knows that he isn’t being asked to go back to Judah. No, his ministry will be to the exiles already in Babylon. Wherever he was sent, it must have been one of the main places where the exiled Jews resided.
God also tells him, go and speak. Take no heed whether or not they hear, or if they don’t. The word khaw-dal is an interesting one. The main meaning is to be flabby. It also has the sense of being idle. So you see, these people most likely are not going to start throwing rocks at the prophet in direct opposition. Rather, they will appear to be indifferent, like your lazy cousin who spends all day sitting on the couch playing video games. Their attitude will most likely be ‘yeah, whatever, good word, yawn’.
How many times have we caught ourselves treating the word of the Lord with that sort of lazy, flabby attitude?
Eze 3:12 Then the spirit (ruach) took me up (naw-saw – to lift, literally and figuratively, absolutely and relatively), and I heard (shama) behind me a voice of a great rushing (rah-ash – commotion, uproar, vibration), saying, Blessed (baw-rak – kneel, to praise) be the glory of the LORD from his place.
Commentators would treat this lifting up as part of the vision. The word naw-saw allows for multiple interpretations. Perhaps Ezekiel was literally translated from one physical place to another. Or perhaps it all occurred within a vision. But verse 15 clearly states that he ended up where his initial audience was to be, so I have no problem believing that this was a literal translation, even as Philip the evangelist was translated in the book of Acts (Ac 8:26-40).
This ends the first act of Ezekiel’s ministry. This first act was his heavenly commissioning into the office of prophet. Fittingly, he hears voices behind him praising God, as he is translated to the place where his ministry is to begin.
While Ezekiel’s prophetic commissioning is very unique, it does serve to remind us that only God can set anyone in the prophetic office. Man cannot do this. You cannot do this for yourself. There are far too many self appointed prophets, who find other false prophets, and they each praise and affirm one another, in order to deceive the masses for their mutual financial profit. One thing is for certain, no one can doubt that Ezekiel has been ordained by heaven!
Eze 3:13 I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great rushing (rah-ash).
As the praises of the heavenly beings recedes, all that is left is the sound of the cherubim and the device that was a part of them, that seemed to serve as some means of transport, like a chariot.
Eze 3:14 So the spirit (ruach) lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness (mar – anger), in the heat (khay-maw – anger, hot displeasure, poisonous rage) of my spirit (ruach); but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me.
Because Ezekiel was shown the scroll that contained all the words that he was to speak, after the initial sweetness of the revelation from heaven, the content of the message itself has settled deep down into his soul. As a result, he is now angry and even brought to the point of a poisonous rage, as he begins to fully grasp just how far his people have fallen away from the living God. Yet God’s hand was upon him, sustaining him, and enabling him to stay focused on what he had to do.
As we delve into the actual pronouncements, we will see that God will take Ezekiel to places where the leaders of Judah were practising the most abominable of sins in secret. But God knew where they were, and what they were doing. I am sure the prophet must have been dumbfounded at first. But his shock would have turned into anger and rage at what was really going on behind closed doors.
In our nations, we see enough grievous abominations right out in the open to cause us endless grief. Can you imagine what we don’t see? We hear tales of the drinking of adrenochrome, and the torturing of little children in order to produce it. Some of us may have stumbled onto videos that describe in the most extreme graphic detail what certain pedophiles do to little babies. Then there are the satanists, and their modes of worship. And I am sure that none of us have even heard or can imagine the very worst of what is truly going on. If we are not at times totally enraged by what is going on, then what sort of hardened heart have we allowed ourselves to acquire?
A genuine encounter with the living God will have a profound effect on the soul. At first, you may be laid prostrate and weak. Initially, the fact that your creator is speaking to you may taste sweet to the palate. But then, if you are in the time of final judgment, your emotions cannot fail to be stirred as Ezekiel’s was. How can you escape the bitterness of the reality of an apostate land, if you find yourself in the midst of one? You hear the heart of God. You know what has to come. How you grieve for what is about to be lost. How you sigh and cry for what never had to be, if only people would stop stumbling around in darkness, thinking only of themselves.
Eze 3:15 Then I came to them of the captivity (go-law) at Telabib (mound of green growth, only place in OT), that dwelt by the river of Chebar, and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished (shaw-mane – stunned, stupefied, devastated, destitute) among them seven days.
Ezekiel now is transported to the place where he will begin his ministry. It is by the same river where he has just had his vision and commissioning, but at a different place. The place name meant a mound of green growth, indicating a place of especial fruitfulness, a good place for exiles to settle, it seems.
Now we see the depth of feeling that this prophet possesses for his nation, but also his self control. The fact that he was filled with a poisonous rage did not make him get up and start screaming at everyone around him to repent. He had enough self discipline to wait upon God’s timing. God had appointed him, and had given him a mandate. But now he waited for that release in his spirit, where he knew that God was now ready to begin speaking through him.
Ezekiel was not a man who would go off half cocked. Just because God has shown you something, are you sure he wants you to immediately start blabbing it to anyone and everyone? The wrong timing can render the word of the Lord as null and ineffective. We all have experienced the truth that God could not share certain things with us until there came a day when we were ready to hear it. If we would have heard it too soon, we may have permanently rejected it.
Another aspect was that the message Ezekiel was about to share had so much weight and depth that he needed a time to fully digest it. He had incorporated the scroll. But now, he needed the Spirit to tell him that now was the time to begin.
Seven days is said to be the set time of mourning in Judaism. Maybe the tradition derived from this verse. I am sure one could venture several various conjectures as to the symbolic appropriateness of waiting this number of days.
Eze 3:16 And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Job also had waited seven days before speaking. He finally gave vent of his own will, not due to the prompting of the Spirit. He vented in the bitterness of his soul. While Ezekiel’s soul was also full of bitterness, it was over the sinfulness of his nation, and not due to some personal affliction. He was able to endure this most unpleasant feeling, until God decided it was time for him to act.
Eze 3:17 Son of man, I have made thee a watchman (tsaw-faw – observer, to peer into the distance, espy, await) unto the house of Israel: therefore hear (shama) the word at my mouth, and give them warning (zaw-har – enlighten, admonish, teach) from me.
I find it a bit odd, and certainly somewhat amusing, as to how many bloggers out there have self appointed themselves as watchmen. Knowing that they can’t get away with calling themselves pastors, prophets or teachers, as they could never sell that, they think that just because they have nothing else to do but read news headlines and comment upon them from their limited biblical knowledge, that somehow that confirms that they are watchmen, along the lines of what is described here.
How we love to take on titles and labels, in order to appear special and important in the eyes of men! If these same people would just keep reading the entirety of this passage, I am sure that all of them would quickly back away from claiming this title, as there are grave responsibilities and burdens that are placed on the real watchmen of the Lord.
A watchman at the guard tower would continually scan the horizon for any and every possible enemy that would threaten his town. By the nature of the job they had to exhibit extraordinary patience, and be willing and able to engage in tedious, repetitious, and boring duties. They had to remain vigilant, and were always looking into the distance. Not so much concerned with what was right in front of them, but in what was coming.
Ever since Hal Lindsay and his Late Great Planet Earth book, it seems that there have been countless ministries that have sprung up as self labelled watchmen on the wall. Taking the latest headlines, and making each story somehow seem that it fulfilled one bible prophecy or another. Selling books, tapes, newsletters, and anything else that generated an income. Then, when those interpretations fell flat on their face, simply pretending that they never said any such false teaching, and going about the same nonsensical predictions over and over. Selling more books. Creating more TV shows.
The future specific predictions found in the bible are written in such a way that no man can truly predict what is coming next. Only after the fact are certain passages revealed to have now been fulfilled.
Being a watchman is not being an interpreter of current events. It is being a spokesman for Yehovah. He knows what evil thing is coming, either to an individual or to a nation, as a consequence of their sin. In his mercy, he often (but not always), will give warning through his chosen vessel. The watchman’s job is simply to relay the warning. He has no responsibility to make the person heed the warning. That is the job of the Holy Spirit.
Notice that Ezekiel is to be the watchman over the house of Israel. And yet we will encounter several chapters where prophecies are given to the surrounding nations as well. But that was not his primary task. God may give you occasional additional duties, but always be cognizant of what you are primarily called to do. Do not allow yourself to be sidetracked into other things.
First, Ezekiel had to shama the word of God. Hearing with the intent of obeying. There is no point in hearing the word if you are not going to obey it. Notice the word has to come from God’s mouth. Not from your own mouth, not from your spouse’s, or your pastor’s. Be sure that what you are hearing is coming from the right source.
The word for warning is zaw-har – enlighten, admonish, teach. Sometimes it’s simply a straightforward repeating of the message God has given you. But a watchman may not only give a word of prophecy, but a teaching as well, if the situation demands it. Perhaps you sense that the body needs some doctrine explained in more detail. Maybe a simple prophecy is not clear enough. We must always strive to become better communicators. After all, the goal is to impart truth. What form that takes, is up to the Holy Spirit.
Eze 3:18 When I say unto the wicked (raw-shaw – ungodly, the morally wrong), Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning (zaw-har), nor speakest to warn the wicked (raw-shaw) from his wicked (raw-shaw) way, to save his life; the same wicked (raw-shaw) man shall die in his iniquity (aw-vone – perversity, moral evil); but his blood will I require (baw-kash – strive after, search out, make inquisition over) at thine hand.
Now we come to the detailed explanation of what a watchman’s duties and responsibilities are. Even as I made fun of all those self appointed ‘watchmen’ found on the internet today, there is a sense in the scripture that we all are called from time to time to perform the duty of a true watchman for the Lord. And that duty is to warn the sinner.
God uses the term wicked, rather than sinner, or the stumbler. Too often we soften the language, in order to make it palatable to the hearer. Now there is a class of sinner that the bible seems to single out and calls them the wicked. Those are the truly reprobate, who have made an eternal choice to oppose God forever. I believe that we can justifiably separate the wicked from the lost. The former cannot be reached, but the latter most certainly can.
But the word wicked can also mean one who is walking in habitual sin, or the lost man in general. This most certainly could include the believer, who is backslid, or doing something in ignorance. All sin is wickedness, at one level or another. It is moral wrongness.
But if we look at the next 4 verses together, we see that God here is speaking about 2 classes of people only – the wicked and the righteous. In other words, for the purposes of this instruction, God is speaking of those who are living a wicked lifestyle, and those who are living a righteous one.
The focus is not so much on the person being warned, but on the watchman himself. In the first case, God gives 2 examples, where the wicked dies in his sin, but the outcome is different for the watchman, depending on what he does. In the second case, the righteous man either gets a warning from the watchman or he does not. For this man, God chooses to use the example of the backslider taking heed and repenting, due to the warning, versus not hearing any warning, and dying in his sin. The watchman faces the same consequence, that is, being held accountable for not obeying the command of the Lord to warn.
Now I don’t know how much we are to read into the particular examples God has chosen. In the wicked man’s case, whether he was warned or not, he chose not to repent, and went to hell. In the righteous man’s case who was backslid, his repentance seems to hinge on whether or not the watchman warned him.
I don’t believe that this means that every wicked, or lost man that we warn has no chance or repenting, unless God is specifically referring to that special class of sinner that he has turned over to their sin, such as those who are described in Romans chapter 1. The emphasis is not so much about whether the wicked repented, but whether or not the watchman obeys.
When it comes to the righteous one who has gone astray, God chooses to give equal emphasis to 2 facts. One, the watchman has delivered his own soul by obeying God, but also, that the righteous heeded the warning and repents.
Now this passage is not saying that all wicked will not repent, and all backsliders will, if we give them a God inspired warning. God is choosing a partial list of outcomes, to teach a different truth, that of the consequence to the watchman if he chooses not to obey.
The point here is that if God has told you to warn some person to stop doing what they are doing, and you chicken out, most likely due to the fear of man, that person still will go to hell (that’s what it means to die in one’s iniquity), but you will be held accountable in some form or fashion.
Exactly what does this mean? Scanning the commentaries, no one seems to be willing to touch this terrifying subject! Does it simply mean that Jesus will give you a tongue lashing at the judgment seat of Christ? That you have lost some heavenly reward because of your cowardice? Or something far more serious? How can God require this person’s blood from you? How could you ever pay for that?
Is it not exceedingly alarming to at least suggest the possibility that you might share their eternal torment, should you knowingly reject the command of the Lord to go and preach to the lost?
Look at Jonah. Was he not cast 3 days and 3 nights into the belly of the beast? Did not the language, at least metaphorically, suggest that he was in hell itself?
Jon 2:1 Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish’s belly,
Jon 2:2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.
Jon 2:3 For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.
Jon 2:4 Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.
Jon 2:5 The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.
Jon 2:6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God.
Jon 2:7 When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.
Jon 2:8 They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.
Jon 2:9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.
Jon 2:10 And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.
Verse 6 speaks of bars. Some see a reference to hell in this passage.
I speak of this not to terrify you. I don’t want someone to think that I am suddenly preaching some sort of works based salvation. This passage is not speaking about how to be saved, so don’t read that into it. All I am suggesting is that no one really knows what will be required of us, if we refuse to warn the sinner when God specifically tells us to do so.
Eze 3:19 Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn (shoob – to turn back or away, to return to the starting point) not from his wickedness (reh-shaw – iniquity), nor from his wicked (raw-shaw) way (deh-rek – a road, a path of life), he shall die in his iniquity (aw-vone); but thou hast delivered (naw-tsal – snatched away, escaped, preserved) thy soul (nephesh).
But on the other hand, if you do obey me and warn the wicked man, and he refuses to repent, he dies in his sin. But you, you have preserved your soul. Since this speaks of saving your soul, a case can be made of far more dire consequences than we ever like to teach!
I leave it up to the reader to seek the Lord as to what this particular consequence entails.
Whatever it is, the true child of God would seek to avoid it, would they not?
Eze 3:20 Again, When a righteous (tsad-deek – just, lawful) man doth turn (shoob) from his righteousness (tseh-dek – just, moral rightness), and commit iniquity (eh-vel – moral evil, perverseness, wickedness), and I lay (naw-than – give, put, appoint, recompense with) a stumblingblock (mik-shole – obstacle, enticement, cause them to fall) before (paw-neem) him, he shall die: because (kee) thou hast not given him warning (zaw-har), he shall die in his sin (khat-taw-aw – the purification for sin, sin offering, also an offence), and his righteousness (tsed-aw-kaw – rightness, moral virtue) which he hath done shall not be remembered (zaw-kar – marked, mentioned, brought to mind); but his blood will I require at thine hand.
Verses such as this should forever put to bed the unbiblical notion of ‘once saved, always saved’. When you are saved, you retain your free will. Just as you chose Christ, why could you not then choose to reject Christ at a later date? Somehow some feel that God would stop you, overriding your free will in the process. I don’t think so.
God clearly says that the righteous man’s righteous deeds will be forgotten, if he dies in unrepentant sin. This is a biblical principle that did not change at the cross. The cross provided the ultimate, perfect, eternal sacrifice for sin. It did not change the requirements of truly choosing to eternally live for God. It just provided a permanent solution for the handling of the sin problem.
Did you catch the truly terrifying part in this verse? It says that when God observes a righteous man who decides to turn away from God and commit habitual wickedness, there comes a time when God himself will place a stumbling block (obstacle, an enticement that causes him to fall) before him that will lead to his death. Not the devil. Not other wicked men. Sure, God may use some created being to make the backslider fall, but it is God who does it.
I’m not sure why God specifically says that he will place a stumblingblock in front of the backslider, to hasten his death, and not in front of the wicked man. Perhaps it’s because the righteous is God’s child, and his responsibility. Perhaps the backslider is defiling the name and reputation of God. Perhaps it is because the backslider is more accountable than the one who never knew God in the first place. This is not the only place where the backslider seems to be in a more dangerous place than the heathen. We all remember Peter’s famous verses:
2Pe 2:20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
2Pe 2:21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
2Pe 2:22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.
He says it would have been better for them never to have been saved, as the eternal punishment will be all the greater for such as these.
It is a very dangerous thing to come to Christ with something less than wholeheartedness. And don’t you think those with less than a complete commitment escape the notice of the devil. He can probably sense your lack of complete commitment better than you can, as we tend to lie to ourselves about our true spiritual state.
Let verses such as these found in Ezekiel be a sober reminder that walking with Jesus is the most serious undertaking that a man (or woman) can ever undertake. It can never be treated with anything but the utmost seriousness.
The word ‘because’ is the Hebrew word kee. It can mean because, forasmuch, inasmuch, an indication of a causal relation. God says that the backslider dies in his sin, because you refused to warn him.
Note how God does not give this sinner a break, simply because you refused to warn him. God still will go and deal with this sinner by causing him to die, so that he ends up in hell. Sin has an eternal price. You cannot escape it, except by the way of the cross. Because this person refuses to stop sinning, somehow God seems to consider it a worse thing when a formerly righteous man decides to turn their back on God and return to their old lifestyle.
But once again, whether you are told to warn the wicked or the backslider, if you refuse, you will be held to account, and perhaps your very own soul may not be delivered, if we consider verse 19.
This sort of talk kinds of reminds me of Jesus discussing the unpardonable sin:
Mat 12:31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.
Mat 12:32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.
Have you ever stopped and seriously considered the implications of this verse? Jesus is saying that one choice, one specific action by a man will guarantee him a place in hell. No second chances. No opportunity to make things right.
Is that not what happened to Esau?
Heb 12:16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
Heb 12:17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.
He could not repent. God had taken that ability away from him. He could intellectually grasp what he had done – throw away the eternal inheritance from God, but he couldn’t do anything about it.
This verse teaches us that repentance has nothing to do with crying a lot. A lot of people are manipulated during a carefully orchestrated crusade. The music tugs on the heartstrings. The anecdotes stir up compassion and sorrow. The charisma of the preacher, combining words cleverly, appeal to the soulish part of man. Just as a good Hallmark movie may move the hardest heart to shed a tear, so can a carefully orchestrated sermon manipulate the emotions, in order to get a good response.
But is it real repentance?
Repentance is shoobing. A turning away from sin, and a turning toward God. Choosing to walk the correct deh-rek, or course of life. Pursing a life of a tsad-deek, a righteous one. It’s all here, in this chapter in Ezekiel.
So, if one choice in life can seemingly send one to hell for good, can these verses in Ezekiel possibly be indicating that when Yahweh requires the blood of someone at our hand, that we now have to pay an eternal price?
I do not know. All I know is that after reading this chapter, I sure hope that God doesn’t saddle me with near as much responsibility that he has saddled Ezekiel with!
Eze 3:21 Nevertheless if thou warn (zaw-har) the righteous man, that the righteous sin (khaw-taw – miss the mark, led astray, trespasses) not, and he doth not sin (kihaw-taw), he shall surely live, because he is warned (zaw-har); also thou hast delivered (naw-tsal – snatched away, escaped, preserved, rescued) thy soul.
As we have already covered, the emphasis is not on the person being warned, but on the obedience (or lack thereof) of the watchman. Obviously, the sinner might repent, and the backslidden one might not. God did not cover all the possible outcomes. And that is on purpose. Because the outcome of our obedience is up to the Lord. Our part is to obey. Speak, and do not be afraid. Whether they respond or not, should not influence our decision to obey.
Maybe God did choose these 4 specific outcomes to show us that someone who has once walked in the way of the Lord should have a more sensitive conscience as to the wrongness of his backsliding. In other words, they should know better, and thus have a greater chance of responding correctly when confronted. On the other hand, we must keep in mind the warnings of passages such as Heb 6:4-8, and 2 Pet 2:20-22. Go too far, too long, in your backsliding and apostasy, and you may find yourself with no deh-rek, or road that leads back home.
Eze 3:22 And the hand of the LORD was there upon me; and he said unto me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with thee.
God has just completed setting some ground rules that Ezekiel needed to be made aware of. There would be grave consequences should he decide at any one time not to obey speaking, due to the fear of man. Now God is prompting him to withdraw himself from the place of other people, and go forth to some lonely place.
Ezekiel describes the unction of the Holy Ghost as the hand of the Lord. Different cultures at different times will use varying terminology to attempt to describe what it really means when God is prompting you to say or do something. Some call it an unction, or a voice, or an anointing, or a nudge. Ezekiel calls it the hand of God.
Eze 3:23 Then I arose, and went forth into the plain: and, behold, the glory of the LORD stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river of Chebar: and I fell (naphal) on my face.
Away from the unbelievers and the disobedient, God once again manifests himself in that unique way that only Ezekiel has seemed to experience, with the cherubim and their ‘wheels within wheels’. And just like last time, when confronted with the glory and pure holiness of Yehovah, Ezekiel could not stand in his own strength.
It is interesting as to how God is jealous of his holy presence. Some may reason that he does not manifest himself like this in front of anyone, as his holiness may destroy most men. That may be true, but I think that these sort of experiences are reserved for God’s chosen few. Jesus had the 70, but within them the 12, and within them the 4, and then the 3, and even then the one (John). Circles within circles or ever increasing fellowship and intimacy. Perhaps that is what the wheels within wheels is to represent – an ever increasing closeness to the living God. While we may attempt to pursue a place into a more inner circle, ultimately it is up to God to decide who may enter into such close proximity.
Eze 3:24 Then the spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet, and spake with me, and said unto me, Go, shut thyself within thine house.
And also as before, it took the Holy Spirit to strengthen the prophet, in order that he was able to stand in this close proximity to the Creator of the universe.
And what did God ask him to do first? Something dramatic? Something spectacular? Something attention grabbing? No, go home and lock yourself in. Don’t answer the phone. Don’t check your text messages. Turn off the internet. Don’t take a quick peek at facebook. Just shut yourself off from the world and all its noise.
Eze 3:25 But thou, O son of man, behold, they shall put (naw-than – apply, appoint, assign) bands (ab-oth – something entwined, cord, rope, chain) upon thee, and shall bind (aw-sar – yoke, hitch, fasten, gird, harness) thee with them, and thou shalt not go out among them:
There are a lot of words in the King James that are implied. A literal translation may read: ‘You, son of adam, look, a binding upon you has been assigned, a harness to keep you my prisoner, for now you shall not go into the midst of them.
In other words, I think it makes more sense to say the God has bound Ezekiel for a season, especially when we look in the next verse as to what God is said to have additionally done to him. Since the Hebrew does not say who would put bands on him (as the word ‘they’ is a translation choice), I think it makes the most sense if one puts God as the binder. If we look at the next verse, we will see that it is God who will shut his mouth for a season, so it is not unreasonable to think that God is the one to put a band, or a rope, or an entwining upon him. Since there is no record of Ezekiel ever being arrested or bound by his audience (unlike Jeremiah), the binding most likely came from God, in first of all, keeping him from speaking. The next verse will completely develop that vital truth that every true servant of God must learn to grasp, if they are to be effective in the ministry that the Lord has for them.
Eze 3:26 And I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb (tongue tied), and shalt not be to them a reprover (a judge of men): for they are a rebellious (mer-ee) house.
There are several examples where God demands a season of preparation before he will entrust you with your ministry. Look at Moses, Ezekiel, John the Baptist, the apostle Paul, even Jesus himself. They all had times and seasons of lonely preparation. Too many new believers love to go off half cocked and like a child, think they are mature enough to know what they are doing. While we can all applaud their sincerity and their zeal, sooner or later they will fall flat on their face, and we need to be there for them when their emotions swing from the mountaintop to the deep valley.
God himself will keep Ezekiel’s mouth shut, until the perfect time. And that is according to God’s timetable, not ours. A very hard lesson to learn. What this verse is saying is that it is just as important to obey God if he has told you to keep your mouth shut, as it is when he commands you to speak.
There are seasons when man’s rebellion is of such a quality, that God chooses to remain silent until a more opportune time. I think we can all relate to this. All of us have encountered some very hot tempered people in our day. Sometimes when they get really worked up, we need to step back and stay silent until their out of control emotions have ran their course, then approach them after they have calmed down. It is the same with certain kinds of sin. A person, or a people, can be in such a rebellious state, that speaking to them right at that moment would be like casting pearls before swine. God knows the perfect time to hit them with his judgments.
Eze 3:27 But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; He that heareth (shama), let him hear (shama); and he that forbeareth (khaw-dale – ceases, rejects), let him forbear (khaw-dal – flabby, idle, rest, leave off): for they are a rebellious (mer-ee) house.
In God’s perfect time, the Holy Spirit will move upon your heart, and then it up to us to obey. Some will hear, some will not. That is not the criteria as to whether or not to speak. When God speaks to you, then you may speak. Speaking before God has given you a word for that situation will create a scenario with a poor chance of success. Sure you can speak out of your own wisdom and understanding, and you may be able to impart some good bible knowledge, but nothing compares in effectiveness as when you speak the exact words at the exact time that God chooses.
God is warning Ezekiel that as he goes forward with the word of the Lord, to not be surprised at the response, and to not concern himself with it. Some will obey, some won’t. In fact, most won’t, because they are rebellious. One may accuse God of generalizing, but God calls them as he sees them. The Judean exiles in Babylon are still in rebellion in their hearts. You would have thought losing their home, and being deported to the land of their enemies would have humbled them. But just as in the book of Jeremiah, even after judgment fell, the prophets are dealing with people whose hearts are characterized by rebellion, more than anything else.
So far, we’ve gone three chapters and still have not heard a specific word of prophecy. Ezekiel seems to be a meticulous man, and wants us to know exactly how his ministry began. We shall see in the next two chapters that Ezekiel will be called upon to act first, before his actual speaking ministry begins.
Solitary Man
solitaryman.substack.com
