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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Eat that thou findest, etc. The iteration of the command of Eze_2:8 seems to imply, like the words, "be not thou rebellious," in that verse, some reluctance on the prophet's part. In substance the command was equivalent to that of Rev_22:18, Rev_22:19. The true prophet does not choose his message (Act_4:20); his "meat" is to do his Lord's will (Joh_4:34), and he takes what he "finds" as given to him by that will.
Eze_3:3
It was in my mouth as honey, etc. The words remind us of Psa_19:10; Pro_24:13; and again of those of Jeremiah in the darkest hour of his ministry (Jer_15:16). They are reproduced yet more closely by St. John (Rev_10:9). There is, after the first terror is over, an infinite sweetness in the thought of being a fellow worker with God, of speaking his words and not our own. In the case of St. John, the first sweetness was changed to bitterness as soon as he had eaten it; and this is, perhaps, implied here also in verse 14. The first ecstatic joy passed away, and the former sense of the awfulness of the work returned.
Eze_3:5
Of a strange speech and of a hard language, etc.; literally, as in margin, both of Authorized Version and Revised Version, to a people deep of lip and heavy of tongue; i.e. to a barbarous people outside the covenant, Chaldeans, Assyrians, Scythians: not speaking the familiar sacred speech of Israel (compare the "stammering lips and another tongue" of Isa_28:11; Isa_33:19). The thought implied is that Ezekiel's mission, as to "the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Mat_15:24), was outwardly easier than if he had been sent to the heathen. With Israel there was at least the medium of a speech common both to the prophet and his hearers. In verse 6 the thought is enlarged by the use of "many peoples."
Eze_3:6
Surely, if I sent thee to them, etc. The "surely" represents the Hebrew "if not" taken as a strong affirmation, just as "if" in Psa_95:11 represents a strong negation; compare the use of the fuller formula jurandi in 1Sa_3:17; 2Sa_3:35; 2Sa_19:13; and of the same in Deu_1:35; Isa_62:8; and in Ezekiel himself (Eze_17:19). The margin of the Authorized Version, If I had sent thee to them, would they not have hearkened, etc.? expresses the same meaning, but is less tenable as a translation. The thought in either case finds its analogue in our Lord's reference to Sodom and Gomorrah, to Tyre and Sidon (Mat_11:21-24; Luk_10:12-14). Israel was more hardened than the worst of the nations round her.
Eze_3:7
For they will not hearken unto me, etc. The words are, as it were, an a fortiori argument. Those who had despised the voice of Jehovah, speaking in his Law, or directly to the hearts of his people, were not likely to listen with a willing ear to his messenger. We are reminded of our Lord's words to his disciples in Mat_10:24, Mat_10:25. Impudent and hard-hearted; literally (the word is not the same as in Eze_2:4), in Revised Version, of an hard forehead and of a stiff heart. The word "hard" is the same word as the first half of Ezekiel's name, and is probably used with reference to it as in the next verse.
Eze_3:8
I have made thy face strong; literally, as in the Revised Version, hard. Ezekiel's name was at once nomen et omen. Hard as Israel might be, he could be made harder, i.e. stronger, than they, end should prevail against them (compare the parallels of Isa_1:7; Jer_1:18; Jer_15:20). The boldness of God's prophets is a strictly supernatural gift. Whatever persistency there may be in evil, they will be able to meet it, perhaps to overcome it, by a greater persistency in good.
Eze_3:9
Adamant. The Hebrew word shemir is used in Jer_17:1 (where the Authorized Version gives "diamond" for a stone used in engraving on gems. In Zec_7:12 it appears, as it does here, as a type of exceeding hardness. It is not found elsewhere in the Old Testament. It is commonly identified with the stone known as corundum, which appears in some of its forms as the sapphire and the Oriental ruby, and also as the stone the powder of which is used as emery. The special point of the comparison is, of course, that the adamant was actually used to cut either flint itself or stones as hard as flint. Neither be dismayed at their looks. The words indicate the extreme sensitiveness of the prophet's natural temperament. He had shrunk not only from the threats and revilings of the rebellious house, but even from their scowls of hatred.
Eze_3:10
All my words, etc. The stress lies on the first word. The prophet was not to pick and choose out of the message, but was to deliver "all the counsel of God" (Act_20:27). Take into thine heart, etc. An inverted order of the two commands would, perhaps, have seemed more natural. What we actually find, however, is sufficiently suggestive. The message of Jehovah is first received into the inner depths of the soul, but in that stage it is vague, undefined, incommunicable. It needs to be clothed in articulate speech before it can be heard with the mental ear and passed on to others. The mouth speaks out of the fulness of the heart.
Eze_3:11
Get thee to them of the Captivity, etc. In Eze_2:3 and Eze_3:1, Eze_3:4 the mission had been to "the house of Israel" generally; now it is specialized. He is sent "to them of the Captivity." They are the rebellious house. There is an obvious significance in the phrase, "thy people." Jehovah can no longer recognize them as his. The words of Eze_2:7 are repeated. Here also, even among the exiles, who were better than those that remained in Judah, he was to expect partial failure, but he was not, on that account, to shirk the completion of his task. Thus saith the Lord God; Adonai Jehovah, as in Eze_2:4.
Eze_3:12
Then the Spirit took me up, etc. The words are to be interpreted as in Eze_2:2. Luther, however, gives "a wind lifted me up." The parallels of Eze_8:3 (where, however, we have the addition, "in the visions of God") and Eze_11:1 suggest the conclusion that this was a purely subjective sensation, that it was one of the phenomena of the ecstatic state, and that there was no actual change of place. On the other hand, the use of like language in the cases of Elijah (1Ki_18:12; 2Ki_2:16), of our Lord (Mar_1:12), of Philip (Act_8:39), would justify the inference that the prophet actually passed from one locality to the other. The language of 1Ki_18:46 probably points to the true solution of the problem. The ecstatic state continued, and in it Ezekiel went from the banks of Chebar to the dwellings of the exiles at Tel-Abib (see note on Eze_1:1-28.), at some distance from it. I heard behind me, etc. The words imply that the prophet, either in his vision or in very deed. had turned from the glory of the living creatures and of the wheels, and set his face in the direction in which he was told to go. As he does so, he hears the sounds of a great rushing (LXX; σείσμος ; Luther, "earthquake"), followed by words which, though in the form of a doxology, uttered, it may be presumed, by the living creatures, were also a message of encouragement. His readiness to do his work as a preacher of repentance calls forth the praise of God from those in whose presence there is "joy over one sinner that repenteth." We are reminded of the earthquake in the Mount of Purification and the Gloria, in excelsis of Dante ('Purg.,' 20.127-141; 21.53-60). The words, from his place (belonging, probably, to the narrative rather than the doxology), point, not to the sanctuary at Jerusalem, which Jehovah had forsaken, but to the region thought of as in the north (see note on Eze_1:4), to which he had withdrawn himself.
Eze_3:13
And I heard, etc. There is no verb in the Hebrew, but it may be supplied from Eze_3:12. We lose in the English the kissing, or touching, poetry of the original, "each its sister." The attitude as of wings raised for flight, and the sound of both the wings and wheels, implied the departure of the glorious vision, presumably to the region from which it came.
Eze_3:14
The Spirit lifted me up (see note on Eze_3:12). Here the LXX. has the more definite phrase, "the Spirit of the Lord. For bitterness (see note on Eze_2:3). The heat of my spirit. The first noun is here translated literally. Elsewhere it is rendered as "wrath" (Deu_29:23; Job_21:20; Pro_15:11, et al.), "fury" (Jer_4:4). Here probably it points to the conflict of emotions—indignation against the sins of his people, the dread of failure, the consciousness of unfitness. The hand of the Lord, etc. The word for "strong" is the same as that which enters into Ezekiel's name. Taking this and verse 9 into account, there seems sufficient reason for translating as the Vulgate does, confortans (so Luther, "held me firm"), at least for thinking of that meaning as implied (comp. Ezr_7:9; Ezr_8:18; Neh_2:8; Dan_10:18). There was a sustaining power in spite of the "bitterness" and the "heat." In a more general sense, as in Eze_1:3, it is used as implying a special intensity of prophetic inspiration, as in the case of Elisha (2Ki_3:15); but this is the only case in which it occurs with the adjective "strong."
Eze_3:15
At Tel-Abib, etc; We now enter on the first scene of the prophet's ministry. The LXX. leaves the proper name. The Vulgate rightly translates it as acervus novarum frugum, the "mound of ears of corn" (the meaning appears in the name of the Passover month, Abib). Luther gives, strangely enough, "where the almond trees stood, in the mouth Abib"). Jerome's suggestion, that here also there was a nomen et omen. and that those who shared Ezekiel's exile were regarded as the "firstfruits" of the future, is at least ingenious, and finds some support in Psa_126:5, Psa_126:6. The place has not been identified, and its position depends on that of the river with which it is connected (see note on Eze_1:1). The word "Tel" is commonly applied to the mounds formed out of masses of ruins, which are common all over the plains of Mesopotamia. The name in this case may suggest that the earth had gathered over it, and that it was cultivated. I sat where they sat, etc. The ministry begins not with speech, but silence. Our Western habits hardly enable us to enter into the impressiveness of such a procedure. The conduct of Job's friends (Job_2:13) presents a parallel, and as Ezekiel seems to have known that book (Eze_14:14, Eze_14:20), he may have been influenced by it. Like actions meet us in Ezr_9:3-5; Dan_4:19.
Eze_3:17
A watchman unto the house of Israel. The seven days' session of amazement came to an end, but even then there was at first no utterance of a message. The word of the Lord came to his own soul, and told him what his special vocation as a prophet was to be. He was to be a "watchman unto the house of Israel." He was, like the watchman of a city on his tower, to be on the look out to warn men against coming dangers, not to slumber on his post. In 2Sa_18:24-27 and 2Ki_9:17-20 we have vivid pictures of such a work. It had already been used figuratively of the prophet's work by Jeremiah (Jer_6:17). The cognate verb, with the image fully developed, meets us in Hab_2:1. Its use in Hos_9:8 is doubtful as to meaning, and in Isa_52:8 and Isa_56:10 it may be, if we accept the theory of a Deutero-Isaiah, an echo from Ezekiel. It is reproduced with special emphasis in Eze_33:2-7. More than any word it describes the special characteristic of Ezekiel's work. He is to watch personally over individual souls. So in a like sense, a corresponding word is used of the Christian ministry in Heb_13:17 (compare also for the thought, though the word is not the same, Isa_21:11, Isa_21:12; Isa_62:6; Psa_127:1). A vivid picture of the work of such a watchman is found, it may be noted, in the opening speech of the 'Agamemnon' of AEschylus. Give them warning, etc. It is, I think, a legitimate inference that the prophet acted on the command while he was with the exiles and before the departure of Heb_13:22, not by harangues or sermons addressed to the whole body of the exiles, but by direct warning to individuals.
Eze_3:18
Thou givest him not warning, etc. The word, as in the parallels already referral to, is characteristic of Ezekiel, almost indeed, peculiar to him. Psa_19:11 may be noted as another instance of its use. When the watchman saw danger coming, he was to blow the trumpet (Eze_33:3-6). The prophet was to speak his warnings. Thou shalt surely die; literally, dying thou shalt die. Were the words of Gen_2:17 in the prophet's mind? To save his life; literally, for his life, or that he may live. Shall die in his iniquity. Do the words refer only to physical death coming as the punishment of iniquity? or do they point onward further to the judgment that follows death, the loss of the inheritance of eternal life which belongs to those whose names are written in the book of life? Looking to the tremendous responsibility implied in the words, we can hardly, I think, in spite of the questions which have been raised as to the belief of the Hebrews in the immortality of the soul, hesitate to accept the latter meaning. Ezekiel anticipates the teaching of Php_4:3; Rev_3:5; Rev_13:8, if, indeed, that meaning was not already familiar to him in Exo_32:32, Exo_32:33. For "in" his iniquity we may, perhaps, read "because of." The negligence of the watchman does not avail to procure a full pardon for the evil doer. The degree in which it may extenuate his guilt depends on conditions known to God, but not to us. In any case, as in our Lord's words (Luk_12:47, Luk_12:48), a man's knowledge and opportunities are the measure of his responsibility. But the unfaithful watchman has his responsibility. It is as though the blood of the sinner had been shed. His guilt may be described in the same words as that of Cain (Gen_9:5). Compare St. Paul's words in Act_18:6 and Act_20:26 as echoes of Ezekiel's thought.
Eze_3:19
Thou hast delivered thy soul, etc. This phrase is again an eminently characteristic one (comp. Eze_33:9). Here also, though the words do not necessarily imply more than deliverance from bodily death, thought of as a judgment for negligence, it is, I think, scarcely possible to avoid finding in them a "springing and germinant" sense, analogous to that which we have found in the preceding verse. The dread warning has for its complement a message of comfort. The judgment passed on the prophet does not depend on the results of his ministry. "Whether men will bear, or whether they will forbear," he has "delivered his soul," i.e. saved his life, when he has done his duty as a watchman. The phrase is noticeable as having passed out of the language of Scripture into familiar use. A man can say, "Liberavi animam meam," when he has uttered his conviction on any question of importance affecting the well being of others.
Eze_3:20
From his righteousness. The Hebrew gives the plural, "his righteousnesses"—all his single righteous acts that lie behind. I lay a stumbling block, etc. The word is again characteristic (Eze_7:19; Eze_14:3, Eze_14:4). It occurs in Jer_6:21, and Ezekiel may have learnt the use of the word from him. It is found also in Le Eze_19:14 and Isa_57:14; but the date of these, according to the so called higher criticism, may be later than Ezekiel. In Isa_8:14 : the word is different. The English word sufficiently expresses the sense. One of the acts of Eastern malignity was to put a stone in a man's way, that he might fall and hurt himself Here the putting the stone is described as the act of Jehovah, and is applied to anything that tempts a man to evil, and so to his own destruction (Jer_6:21). The thought is startling to us, and seems at variance with true conceptions of the Divine will (Jas_1:13). The explanation is to be found in the fact that the prophet's mind did not draw the distinction which we draw between evil permitted and the same evil decreed. All, from this point of view, is as God wills, and even those who thwart that will are indeed fulfilling it. Glimpses are given of the purpose which leads to the permission or decree. In the case now before us the man has turned from his righteousness before the stumbling block is laid in his way. The temptation is permitted that the man may become conscious of his evil (so Rom_7:13). If the prophet preacher does his duty, the man may conquer the temptation, and the stumbling block may become a "stepping stone to higher things." If, through the prophet's negligence, he comes unwarned, and stumbles and falls, he, as in the case of the wicked, bears the penalty of his guilt, but the prophet has here also the guilt of blood upon his soul. The "righteousnesses" of the man (here, as before, we have the plural), his individual acts of righteousness, shall not be remembered, because he was tried, and found wanting in the essential element of all righteousness. The highest development of the thought is found in the fact that Christ himself is represented as a "stumbling stone" (Isa_8:14; Rom_9:32, Rom_9:33; 1Co_1:23). St. Paul's solution of the problem is found in the question, "Have they stumbled that they should fall?" (Rom_11:11). Was that the end contemplated in the Divine purpose Will it really be the end?
Eze_3:22
And the hand of the Lord was there upon me, etc. There is obviously an interval between the fact thus stated and the close of the message borne in on the prophet's soul. Psychologically, it seems probable that the effect of the message was to fill him with an overwhelming, crushing sense of the burden of his responsibility. How was he to begin so terrible a work? What were to be the nearer, and the remoter, issues of such a work? Apparently, at least, he does not then begin it by a spoken warning. He passes, at the Divine command borne in on his soul, from the crowd that had watched him during the seven days' silence, and betakes himself to the solitude of the "plain," as distinct from the "mound" where the exiles dwelt, and there the vision appears again in all points as he had seen it when he stood on the river's bank.
Eze_3:24
Go, shut thyself within thy heroin, etc. The command implied that he was to cease for a time from all public ministrations. There was a time to keep silence, as well as a time to speak (Ecc_3:7), and for the immediate future silence was the more effective of the two. It would, at least, make them eager to hear what the silence meant.
Eze_3:25
They shall put bands upon thee, etc. Did the warning mean that the prophet's hearers would treat him as the men of Jerusalem treated Jeremiah (Jer_32:3; Jer_33:1; Jer_38:6)? Of this, at all events, we have no record, and so far we are led to the other alternative of taking the words (as in Eze_4:8) in a figurative sense. The prophet would feel, as he stood in the presence of the rebellious house, as tongue tied, bound hand and foot by their hardness of heart, teaching by strange and startling signs only, and, it may be, writing his prophecies. In Eze_24:27, four years later, and again in Eze_29:21, we have a distinct reference to a long period of such protracted silence. We may compare, as in some sense parallel, the silence of Zacharias (Luk_1:22). That silence unbroken for nine months was a sign to those who "were looking for redemption in Jerusalem," more eloquent than speech.
Eze_3:27
When I speak with thee, etc. This then, as ever, was the condition of the prophet's work. He was to speak out of his own heart. When the "time to speak" came words would be given him (Mat_10:19). And those he would then speak would be as the echo of those in Eze_3:11. In our Lord's words (Mat_11:15; Mat_13:9) we have, it may be, a deliberate reproduction of Ezekiel's formula. The LXX; in this instance, it may be noted, translates the second clause by " He who is disobedient ( ἀπειθῶν ), let him disobedient," which in its turn finds an echo in Rev_22:11.
1. This is in the form of literature. Ezekiel receives a written roll. All good literature is mental food—not merely a plaything or a sweetmeat, but soul stuff for sustaining intellectual life and promoting mental growth. God feeds our highest nature through literature. His Spirit comes through his Truth, his Truth is revealed in his Word, and his Word is contained in a book—the Bible.
2. This must be taken as it is provided. Ezekiel did not write the roll. He found it. The word of God was sent to him. He did not invent or imagine it. We do not create Divine truth. We find it in the Bible. if we would be honest we must take what we discover there, and not feed on our own notions to the neglect of the Divine revelation.
3. The Divine provision is full and ample. The roll was inscribed on both sides—"written within and without" (Eze_2:10). The Bible has far more in it than Ezekiel's roll. It is a library in itself, both extensive and closely filled. There is no verbosity in it. Its many words are rich and deep. No age will ever consume the whole of its vast and varied teachings.
II. THE MEAL CONSUMED. Ezekiel must not only read the roll; he must eat it. All Divine truth needs to be treated thus. We must feed on the Bible to profit by it.
1. There must be personal appropriation. We take a thing to ourselves in the most absolute kind of possession when we eat it. No book will profit much until it is thus appropriated. The bibliomaniac is not always a student of literature. The possession or a large library is no guarantee of great learning. The mind is fed by the books which are studied, not by those that only collect dust as they stand on the shelves. The Bible profits only as it is used. The clasps of some Bibles are suspiciously stiff. They suggest that the books are more prized than searched.
2. There must be internal consumption. There is no good in running over the words of a book with the eye, if the thoughts of it are not absorbed into the mind. Good books cannot be profitably skimmed. We may have much verbal knowledge of the Bible without ever making it our food. The meaning of texts, historical and geographical allusions, side lights of manners and customs, may all be studied, and yet the Bible may lie outside us, and our souls starve for want of spiritual food, because we do not take its essential truths down into our inner being in comprehension, meditation, and application.
3. There must be assimilation. The food, when digested, is converted into a part of the bodily fabric—blood, bones, nerves, and flesh. A good book well digested becomes a part of a man's life. It colours his thought and gives tone and character to his mind—its own breadth and elevation enlarging and exalting the reader. This is the highest use of literature. In assimilating Plato or Milton the great souls of the philosopher and the poet take possession of our souls, and lift them into a higher atmosphere.
III. THE EFFECTS FOLLOWING.
1. There is a pleasant taste. Ezekiel found the roll as honey for sweetness. The mentally inert have no idea of what rare delights they miss by not preparing themselves to enjoy the pleasures of literature. The writer of Psa_119:1-176 found the highest of these delights in the Law of God. To the loving student of the Bible that grand ancient literature of man and God is a source of most profound delight. He who truly sympathizes with the spirit in which the Bible was written will never need to read it as a task. He will delight in it as in a savoury meal.
2. Pain ensues. This was the case in the parallel vision of St. John (Rev_10:10). Ezekiel also found bitterness later (verse 14). The reason is that "lamentations, and mourning, and woe" were written on the roll (Eze_2:10). There are bitter truths to be considered in God's Word. Conscience makes the pleasant reading of the Bible to be followed by painful reflections. Yet this bitterness is a wholesome tonic.
3. The final result is an increase of strength. Ezekiel is able to set his face like an adamant (verse 9), and prophesy to the rebellious people. Feeding on God's Word tits us to teach that Word and to exemplify it by our conduct.
Eze_3:5
I. THE CLAIMS OF COLONIAL MISSIONS. Broadly stated, there are two great claims in colonial missions.
1. Close kinship. The colonists are our brethren. Charity begins at home, and the English home now stretches to Canada and to Australia. It is stated by those who know our colonies that the affection tot the old country is warm among them. To treat them with coldness is a cruel neglect of family ties.
2. Pressing need. It has been said that the colonies should provide for their own religious requirements. Such a sweeping statement betrays ignorance of the condition of our colonies. They cannot be lumped together in a mass when we discuss them; for there are enormous differences between the several colonies in regard to resources and capacity for religious activity. An old colony, such as we find in parts of Australia, can well provide for itself. But we have to consider new colonies, cities springing up like mushrooms, with the most raw civilization. Here the fight for life is fierce. Here young men, leaving behind all home influences, find themselves in close companionship with the roughest characters. Little or no provision can be made on the spot for the spiritual assistance of these people. We must follow them into the bush, or leave them to sink to mere animalism.
II. THE DIFFICULTIES OF COLONIAL MISSIONS.
1. Lack of novelty. We cannot draw romantic pictures of these missions like those pictures of New Guinea or Central Africa, which thrill the spectator with emotion. The work is English, commonplace, without much adventure. But it is only the superficial mind that should be discouraged by so childish an objection when real need presses.
2. Roughness of character. The backwoodsmen may not speak a rough dialect, but the freedom of their life tempts into their neighbourhood some of the wildest characters. Two classes emigrate—the most energetic and best workmen, who go of their own accord; and the most worthless persons, who are sent by their friends. We ship our "ne'er-do-weels" off to the colonies. But change of scene does not bring change of character. Those who were scoundrels in the streets of London do not become all of a sudden respectable citizens in Melbourne. While we continue to pour into our colonies the scum and refuse of the old world, a great burden is being laid upon these young communities to protect themselves from dangerous influences.
3. Width of area. The colonies are vast in extent, yet they are but thinly peopled. The colonial missionary must travel far. His parish may be as large as a county. Men of great energy and devotion are required for such work.
III. THE ENCOURAGEMENTS OF COLONIAL MISSIONS.
1. Readiness of access. Travelling is safe. There are no native chiefs to conciliate. The interference of a foreign government has not to be considered. The colonists speak our own language, and thus no time is spent in learning a foreign tongue before the real work begins. The missionary has the claims of kinship to help him.
2. A great future. No missions have been more successful than those to the South Sea Islands, yet the population of those islands is rapidly dwindling away, and in course of time all effects of the missions will have vanished, simply because the people will have died out. It is just the opposite in the case of our colonies. There population advances by leaps and bounds. Greater Britain is already one of the wonders of the world. If Christianity loses hold of this young giant, the ultimate result will be disastrous to mankind; but if the colonies are won for Christ, the freshest, strongest, most promising life of the world is secured for the cause of truth and righteousness. Moreover, no work is so remunerative in result as successful colonial missions. The new Churches have only to be planted and fostered for a time. Before long they will stand alone and become centres of usefulness. While foreign mission Churches are too much like the ivy, that must always cling to an external support, colonial Churches are like the saplings, needing a stake for a time to keep them straight and to help them to stand against the gale, but which can soon dispense with that aid. Lastly, where colonies are planted among native races, colonial missions may save these poor creatures from the ruin which bad white men always bring, and thus the colonies may become centres of Christianizing influence for the heathen.
Eze_3:9
1. It is external hardness. Zechariah writes of those who "made their hearts as an adamant stone" (Zec_7:12). Ezekiel is not to do this; he only has his forehead made as adamant. The adamantine heart is a sign of sin. It is sure to fail in all attempts at spiritual work. We must feel sympathy with those whom we would help. But it is possible to have a "tough skin with a tender heart." Unfortunately, those people who are pachydermatous are also too often tough hearted. Yet the forehead of adamant does not imply want of sensitiveness to the finer feelings. It only means a certain callousness in regard to external criticism.
2. It is hardness against hindrances to progress. The adamant is to be in the forehead, in the front. It is like Christian's armour, with a good breastplate, but no protection for his back. We want most strength and security in advancing.
3. It is hardiness before the seat of thought. The forehead guards the brain. Much may move our hearts, but no human considerations should shake our convictions.
4. It is hardness before a vital organ. The brain must be sheltered, or the life will be forfeited. We may bear attacks on the outworks of our religious life. The crowning citadel of faith must not be touched.
II. WHY THE FOREHEAD SHOULD BE OF ADAMANT.
1. It is required by the opposition of men. Ezekiel had to face fierce opponents. The servant of truth must often encounter unpopularity. If men always speak well of a Divine messenger, there is a suspicion of weakness in following the popular whims. There must be unpleasant truths for the faithful preacher to declare.
2. It is necessary for success. The prophet must guide, mould, influence men. If he is but a weather cock, his mission has failed. Often he must set himself like a rock in the middle of a raging torrent. Decision and firmness are essential in the work of a leader of men. The Christian minister who is afraid of his congregation has forfeited all right to be their teacher.
3. It is demanded by loyalty to God. The prophet is God's messenger. The Christian minister is Christ's servant. To his own Master he stands or falls. Obsequiousness before men means a betrayal of the duty owed to God.
III. HOW THE FOREHEAD MAY BECOME OF ADAMANT. Many of the truest servants of God are naturally so sensitive and timorous that they well need some such assurance as that given to Ezekiel. Now, God had made his prophet's forehead as adamant. It is a Divine work. But there are human ideas through which he works.
1. God is to be feared more than man. We must remember that "the fear of man … bringeth a snare." While shrinking from man's petty anger we risk the awful thunders of the wrath of God.
2. Trust is to be put in the protection of God. He wilt not desert his own agents at the post of peril. When men do their worst, Almighty aid is at hand. If death is to be encountered, there is the martyr's crown beyond.
3. There must be a deep conviction of the truth of our message. A wavering mind will not support a countenance of adamant. We must first be sure ourselves. Then we can dare to face the world. Truth is the adamant that hardens the forehead against unbelief, misrepresentation, opposition. It has been well said, "Those men are strongest who stake most on a deep and worthy conviction."
4. An honest kindness of intention will create the firmness of adamant. Selfishness wavers; sympathy is strong. The murderer's hand trembles; the surgeon's hand is steady, though his patient shrieks under the knife. When we earnestly desire to benefit people, we can afford to have them misunderstand us, and perhaps even smile when they cry out against our unkindness. Mixed motives weaken the front we present to the world. A pure, unselfish devotion will be brave, strong, firm as adamant.
Eze_3:14
I. THE PROPHET IS CARRIED AWAY BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD. Although we need not suppose that Ezekiel was carried up bodily into the clouds, blown over the fields, and dropped down in the midst of a crowd of his countrymen, we are not to suppose that his visit to them was any the less one of Divine impulses. Like Philip the evangelist, when he was taken from the Ethiopian convert and sent to Azotus (Act_8:39, Act_8:40), Ezekiel felt a mighty power of God driving him to his work. Inspiration does not only illumine; it impels. The Spirit of God drove Christ into the wilderness (Mar_1:12). Such an action does not involve forcible constraint against the will. God only works on men in this way through their wills. The will of the man is so completely subservient to the will of God that it no longer acts separately; it voluntarily obeys as though it were but a Divine instrument. The highest work for God is always done in this way. Without the mighty spiritual impulse such tasks as God sets his servants could never be accomplished; but with it the hardest service ends in success.
II. THE PROPHET GOES IN GRIEF AND ANGER.
1. In grief. The prophet is in bitterness. The cause of his sorrow is that he is to speak of bad subjects, and to face unwilling hearers. Nothing can be more painful to a sympathetic soul. If a preacher could delight in denunciation and take a pleasure in describing the horrors of future punishment, he would be little better than a demon at heart. A true preacher of repentance must be a voice of sorrow. Moreover, it must be painful to a sensitive man to find himself compelled to create unpopularity for himself by fidelity to his message. His face may be as adamant; but his heart will bleed.
2. In anger. Ezekiel went "in heat." There is a righteous wrath. Christ could be "moved with indignation" against cruelty and hypocrisy. The man who is incapable of this anger lacks power of conscience. Love must lie at the heart of the servant of God, but anger at sin and at the wrong of it to God and man may show itself in his voice and manner.
III. THE PROPHET FEELS THE MIGHTY HAND OF GOD UPON HIM. God does not only send his servant; he accompanies him. The Spirit carried Ezekiel forth; the hand of God was strong upon him all the way. This hand of God is felt in various ways.
1. In pushing forward. God thus keeps his servants to the front. While he is with them he will allow of no cowardice or indolence.
2. In support. This hand of God is a helping hand, a holding hand, a supporting hand. God sustains those whom he sends.
3. In restraint. While pushing his servants on in the right way, God is ready to hold them back from peril, error, and ruin.
4. In uplifting. The servants of God may slip and even fall. Then they are not deserted. The same strong hand which sent them forth lifts them up and sets them on their Jest again. Thus the mighty ever-present God stands by to help his feeblest servants and lead them on to victory.
Eze_3:15
Silence. When Ezekiel came upon a settlement of captives he sat down with them in silent amazement for seven days. At the end of that time a Divine message roused him, and sent him forth on his mission. We have now to consider the lessons of the week of silence. They may be the more valuable for us because we seem to have lost the faculty of keeping quiet. The rush and roar of modern life have killed that ancient power, and its depth and spiritual range are lost to us. No doubt much of the superficiality and unreality of modern life may be traced to the habit of ceaseless chatter: It would be well if we could rediscover silence. Silence has many shades according to the varying circumstances in which it arises and the diverse moods in which it is cherished. Some of the characteristics of silence are illustrated in the case of Ezekiel.
I. THE SILENCE OF GRIEF. Ezekiel grieved to see the sorrowful state of his fellow captives, and to think that it was his mission at first even to add to their distress by words of rebuke and warning. Like a true patriot, he found the troubles of his countrymen occasions of personal mourning. As a tender-hearted man, he could not fail to be pained at their moral shame and peril. Their grief silenced his voice. The greatest sorrow lies too deep for words. The widow of Tennyson's "warrior" was stricken into a fearful silence. Referring to a season of extreme trouble, David said, "I was dumb with silence, I held my peace" (Psa_39:2). Thus terrible blows stun the sufferer.
II. THE SILENCE OF WONDER. The prophet was astonished, The fearful spectacle of his kindred in distress overwhelmed him with amazement. A great surprise produces a shock of silence, by throwing us off the familiar lines of thought, so that we know not what to think or say. It is fortunate for us that this is the case, or we might blunder into some very rash expressions. We may well be silent before "the burden and the mystery of all this unintelligible world."
III. THE SILENCE OF SYMPATHY. Job's three friends "sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great" (Job_2:13). In the deepest trouble the kindest words sound harsh. You cannot handle an open wound in the most tender manner without giving pain. A look of sympathy is more helpful than a speech of most choice phrases. To weep with those who weep is better than to preach to them.
IV. THE SILENCE OF ANTICIPATION. Ezekiel has not received the message which he is to give to the captives. So he waits for it in silence. Having as yet no utterance to give, he is wise in keeping his lips closed. It has been truly remarked that we should not attempt to speak because we have to say something, but only because we have something to say. Macaulay delighted his companions by "flashes of silence" in the torrent of his conversation. It would be well if some of us kept longer silence, that when we did open our mouths some words of weight might come forth. It is good to understand the libeling of 'II Penseroso,' and to be able to welcome the "spirit of contemplation"—
"Come, pensive nun, devout and pure,
Sober, steadfast, and demure."
Eze_3:17
Eze_3:17-21
I. JUDGMENT IS DETERMINED BY PERSONAL GUILT. God is discriminating and fair. He does not deal out judgment in the gross; each case is token in detail. There is to be no wholesale deluge of future retribution; every man will bear his own share of guilt. There will be differences between the treatment of one sinner and that of another. Differences in conduct and circumstances are noted. Temptation is weighed on the one side; light and opportunity on the other. The child of the thieves' den cannot be judged as the son of a Christian home. The ignorance of the heathen puts them in quite another category in the day of judgment from that in which the favoured inhabitants of Christendom will stand. There is thus not only a difference between the guilt of different deeds—as of minor morals or great crimes; there is also a difference in the guilt of similar deeds committed by people differently situated.
II. JUDGMENT IS AFFECTED BY AFTER CONDUCT. The whole passage treats of this after conduct. It presupposes that sin has been committed. Yet it shows a variety of possibilities according to subsequent behaviour. We cannot return on the past. History is not to be wiped out. What is done remains as a fact accomplished. Yet its evil fruit may be crushed, or it may be eaten to the last bitter morsel. Later conduct may aggravate the guilt, deepen the black dye, and add to the weight of the impending conduct. Or it may be such as to lift the load of doom and open a door of escape. We have to do with a personal God, not with a blind Nemesis. God rules by law, but this law is not a mechanical system. Therefore:
1. There is hope for the worst of men. None need despair.
2. It is wrong and foolish for the sinner to be reckless. Nobody's fate is so bad that it cannot be made worse. Even the vilest sinner may be warned of the danger of intensifying his already heinous guilt and multiplying the many stripes which he has already earned. The possibilities of evil are infinite; so also are the possibilities of heightened penalties. As there are third heavens and seventh heavens, so are there deeper and darker and yet more horrible inner circles of future punishment.
III. GUILT VARIES ACCORDING TO THE SINNER'S WARNING AND HIS TREATMENT OF IT. Here are four possible cases.
1. The unwarned sinner suffers. He cannot be excused because no prophet was sent him. On the face of it this looks unjust; but it is not so, since no man could have been a sinner at all unless he had known he was doing wrong. Therefore by the light of his own conscience he must be judged and condemned. Moreover, the moral degradation of sin in the heathen and in ignorant people nearer home is a fact that must bring its natural consequences. If only the pure in heart can see God, the impure must miss the beatific vision by lack of faculty to receive it. Sin kills the soul by natural necessity.
2. The warned sinner who persists suffers a worse penalty. He not only dies. His blood is on his own head. This must imply an aggravation of guilt and a consequent increase of punishment.
3. The fallen righteous man is punished, though he is not warned. His previous goodness gives him no immunity in present sin. He of all men can plead no excuse in the lack of warning, for certainly he should have known his danger. His eyes were once open. He may have been careless and surprised into sin. But this would not destroy guilt, for should he not have watched and prayed against entering into temptation?
4. The fallen righteous man who repents on receiving warning is forgiven. He is judged by his returning course of conduct. Too often despair follows the fall of good men, or reckless indifference. But the grace of Christ is for his own repentant people, as well as for those who had never known him. He who bade his disciples forgive seventy times seven offences is as long suffering and patient in his own treatment of genuine penitents among his brethren.
Eze_3:22-24
I. ON THE PLAIN.
1. The scene. If Ezekiel was sent into the plain, this must have been because it was a place adapted to what was to happen there. Its characteristic features must eater into the significance of the prophet's errand. Note some of these.
(1) Retirement from society. The mournful crowd of Jews was by the riverbank, and Ezekiel was to detach himself from them and retreat to the solitude of the plain. It is not good for man to live in a crowd. Depth of soul is to be cultivated in retirement. God does not often reveal himself in the din of the world. A too public life is both shallow and callous.
(2) Breadth of view. The plain is broad and spacious. There is ample range for the eye to rove over its vast expanse. The soul may here lose its cramped feelings. The suffocation of the crowd is escaped. When God's glory appears it has room for a large display. Heavenly painting requires a broad canvas.
(3) Openness to heaven. There is no roof over the plain. You can look thence right up to the sky. The lark can rise from his nest on the plain and soar as high as his unwearied wings will bear him. We want freedom from earthly limitations. The smoke of the city hangs over the haunts of men. We must go forth from all human entanglements to seek free intercourse with God.
2. The events. Once on the plain this man of visions, the Prophet Ezekiel, saw new wonders, and there the glory of God appeared to him. Other men had been on the plain before; wild tribes of the desert have ranged over it since, and perhaps herded their cattle or pitched their tents on the very site of the great revelation. Yet to them the heavens have been as brass. Fitting scenes may prepare us for heavenly visions, but they cannot create them. When the glory is revealed no higher privilege could be vouchsafed. It is worth any journey—if need be, across Siberian plains—to have such a privilege. No longer do we look for this in outward show. But there may be a Divine glory upon the plain to the naturalist who examines the meanest weed that grows there, as an angel of Divine revelation, an embodiment of heavenly wisdom and beauty.
II. IN THE HOUSE. The sight of the glory on the plain smites the prophet to the ground with awe and reverence. But he is not to lie there dismayed. Heavenly words follow the heavenly vision, and these words have a practical import. God does not reveal himself only to dazzle beholders with a splendid pageant. A vision of glory is not enough without a message of truth. Revelation makes known the mind of God. So the voice speaks, and speaks with a practical aim, bidding the amazed prophet arise and go to his house.
1. The scene.
(1) The greatest privacy. On the plain Ezekiel was in retirement. In the house he is in seclusion. Christ bade his disciples go into their closet, and shut the door, to pray to their Father in secret (Mat_6:6).
(2) Separation from the external world. On the plain a man has space; at home he is shut in by four walls. On the plain he is open to the voices of nature; alone in the house he is left to subjective experiences.
(3) Cessation of work. The prophet must leave his ministry for a season, and wait in patience.
2. The use of this scene. Retirement and seclusion give a time of rest, which all busy workers need. They afford opportunities for meditation and prayer. Here the soul can take stock, can review its forces, can seek fresh supplies. Note: Ezekiel sees the vision on the plain before he goes to retire to the solitude of his house. To be profitable, meditation must be based on revelation.
Eze_3:25
I. THE FACT. The prophet's tongue is to cleave to the roof of his mouth. If he would speak, he shall not be able to do so. Then, as before the time of Samuel, the word of the Lord must be "rare" (1Sa_3:1). Divine messages cease.
1. No light. The sun is eclipsed. At noon it is night. Truth sinks into obscurity. Heaven ceases to have a meaning. Man is left to earth alone.
2. No guiding hand. Left in the dark, people may plunge into quagmires of error or fall into pits of destruction; there is no warning to keep them safe.
3. No commanding voice. Now the people feel free to choose their own course.
4. No consolation nor message of grace. The prophets were not all Cassandra,, nor was every message a prediction of judgment. These men were the consolers of the sorrowful. They bore Messianic messages of hope. Now their words are hushed. If the black thundercloud is dispelled, so also is the rainbow that spanned it.
II. THE CAUSE.
1. By the power of God. It is God who paralyzes the tongue of his servant. This is no matter of wilful reticence or sullen silence on the part of the prophet. If God sends a message, he can also withhold one. Revelation is not extorted from heaven by cunning sorcery. It is freely vouchsafed by the will of God, and if he chooses to hide it, no skill or might of man can extract it. The lips of the prophet from whom God has withheld a message are as surely sealed to all new Divine revelation as the lips of a corpse. The dead can tell no secrets, the uninspired prophet can make no revelation.
2. On account of man's sin. This is a judicial act. God does not work in caprice. But neither does he act with mechanical uniformity. He will not waste his gracious words forever. Christ warned his disciples not to cast their pearls before swine. How many have heard the gospel so often and heeded it not, that they may well feel they deserve to be shut out from hearing it any more! Why should the sower cast his seed by the wayside again, only to be trodden underfoot or stolen by the wild birds?
III. THE PURPOSE. There must be an object in this cessation of prophecy, and that object must be more than the mere economy of effort. God has positive ends in view in all that he does, for he is ever advancing to larger good, and never simply withdrawing from fruitless fields as though frustrated and confined to a smaller area. At first the cessstion of prophecy may be accepted as a relief from inconvenient admonition. It used to remind men of ugly facts—of sins committed and duties neglected. Now they are free from its annoying insistence. But presently other effects may be seen.
1. To show the value of what was neglected. Though we may not recognize the fact, the presence of a Divine voice is a great boon—it is light and counsel and help. Men may learn to value it when they have lost it. We do not know how precious our friends were till they are taken from us. Perhaps we were sometimes irritated by what they said. Oh that we could have them back now that we have learnt their value! But it is too late.
2. To speak by silence. Many words have tailed. Silence itself may be eloquent. The very cessation of prophecy may provoke reflection on the old messages.
3. To spare the aggravation of guilt. The more words of warning are unheeded, the worse is the guilt of the rejection.
Eze_3:27
I. THE USE OF THE LIBERTY OF HEARING.
1. All men are free to hear God's Word. This is not a message for the priests; it is given to the people. It is not sent to the few elite; it belongs to the multitude. There is no esoteric doctrine in the Christian revelation.
2. All men can understand the Divine Word. Little children can grasp its most precious truths. Simple folk can receive what is vital and most valuable. The path is such that a wayfaring man, though a fool, may not err therein if he follows it with a true heart.
3. All men have a right to receive God's Word. It is our duty to circulate the Bible throughout the world. If God has given utterances that are intended for all peoples and nations and languages and tongues, it is the duty of those to whom these oracles of God have been committed to see that everything is done to put them within the reach of those who have not yet received them.
4. All men to whom the Word of God has come are under a solemn obligation to give heed to it. Liberty does not exonerate from duty; on the contrary, it is the essential condition of the performance of any duty as such. If God speaks, we can refuse to hearken, but we ought to listen; and only by thus listening can the Word of God be of any profit to us.
II. THE ABUSE OF THE LIBERTY OF HEARING. It is possible to forbear, if the hearing is within our own power. God forces no one to hear his Word. nor does he force any one to enter his kingdom. The good Shepherd seeks the wandering sheep, but when he finds it he does not drive it before him; he calls it to him, and even then, if the foolish creature is so madly inclined, it can turn a deaf ear to his merciful voice.
1. It would be useless to compel a hearing. God does not desire unwilling service. The revelation that is not welcome can bring little good. God blesses us through our own acquiescence; in the rebelious heart the blessing would be soured into a curse.
2. To be understood, the Word of God must be received sympathetically. This is not a statement of external facts so much as a light to shine into the heart. If, therefore, the language of it were dinned into our ears, syllable by syllable, the spirit, the truth itself, would still remain outside. We should hear the sounds, not the message they contained.
3. To refuse to hear the Word of God is to incur a grave responsibility. As a word of command it requires obedience. To decline to receive the message is to rebel and disobey. As a word of grace this Divine utterance offers a boon. To refuse it is to insult the gracious Speaker. It is also to run the risk of severe judgment when we fail for lack of that which would have saved us if we had given attention to it. They who act thus are without excuse. It will be "more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon" in the day of judgment than for such.
I. THE LESS FAVOURED WOULD WELCOME THE DIVINE MESSENGER AND THE DIVINE MESSAGE. People of a strange speech, the prophet was assured, would, had he been sent to them, certainly have hearkened unto him. How is this to be accounted for? Such people would have been favourably inclined to the herald of God's justice and mercy:
1. By their surprise at an unwonted instance of God's condescension and gracious interest.
2. By their gratitude for words of warning and of promise.
3. By their responsiveness to the interposition on their behalf of a new power brought to bear upon their moral nature.
4. By the hope of Divine acceptance and of a new and better life awakened by the summons in their nature.
II. THE HIGHLY FAVOURED WILL MEET THE DIVINE MESSENGER AND THE DIVINE MESSAGE WITH INDIFFERENCE, UNBELIEF, AND IRRESPONSIVENESS.
1. Privilege is often associated with moral obduracy. The expression used is very severe: "Of a hard forehead, and of a stiff heart." It is observable, and very significant, that the historians and prophets of the Hebrews, so far from flattering their countrymen, used with regard to them language of stern upbraiding and denunciation, reproached them with their unbelief, rebelliousness, hardness of heart, and stiff-necked attitude towards Divine authority. And such reproach was abundantly justified by the facts of their history. They were chosen to privilege, not in virtue of any excellence of their own, but in the sovereign wisdom and mercy of the Lord. The more God did for them, the less they heeded his commandments. Not that this condemnation applied to all; there were those "faithful among the faithless;" but generally speaking, the Jews were a disobedient and rebellious race.
2. This moral obduracy leads to the rejection of God's messengers. "The house of Israel" so the Lord forewarned Ezekiel—" will not hearken unto thee." The same truth was expressed by our Lord himself centuries afterwards, when he reproachfully reminded his kindred according to the flesh that through long centuries messengers from God had been sent to their forefathers, only to be ill treated, wounded, and slain. Ezekiel was only to be treated as similarly authorized messengers of God both before and afterwards.
3. God's messengers are rejected by those who have rejected God himself. Most terrible are the words of the Lord to Ezekiel: "They will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto ME." God had spoken unto Israel in the events of past history, and in the directions and reproaches of conscience. Ezekiel might well believe that there was no special reason why they should listen to him; but he was well aware that there is no sin more awful than the refusal to listen to the Eternal himself, all whose words are true and just, wise and good. It was not a case for personal feeling, a case of offence given and taken. Such feeling would have been out of place. The serious aspect of Israel's unbelief was just this—it was unbelief of God; they turned away from the voice that spake from heaven.
APPLICATION. The privileges of those who, in this Christian dispensation, hear the gospel of salvation preached to them, far exceed the privileges of the ancient Hebrews. To reject the testimony of Christ's ministers is to reject Christ himself, as our Lord has explicitly declared. The condemnation and gu