Feeding the Word
Ezekiel 2:1-3:4
“But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Be not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.” And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. And he spread it before me. And it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe.
And he said to me, “Son of man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat. And he said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey.
None of the prophets of God had an easy life. They were called to speak God’s message to His people typically when Israel was not attentive to the Lᴏʀᴅ. God would give them the message and their duty was to speak what God had told them to speak. Imagine this experience:
And as He spoke to me the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet and I heard Him speaking to me… I am sending you to them who are stubborn and obstinate children; and you shall say to them, “Thus says the Lord God.’ … “As for them, whether they listen or not… they will know that a prophet has been among them… “But you shall speak My words to them whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious.” 1
So you have received God’s message, you know it is His, you are certain of what the Lᴏʀᴅ is telling you to do, you even recognize the character of those you are going to be speaking to, you know they are rebellious. Then God gives you just a little more from His heart:
How vital it is to keep our focus upon God no matter what may surround us. ‘I will call this to mind’ and ‘therefore I have hope’ are a progression and not two disconnected thoughts. What is it that is ‘called’ to mind?
[Cowsbell’s paraphrase] “Listen to what I am saying to you and don’t be rebellious like those to whom you will speak. Take this message and make it yours, eat it, be filled with My words. Then go and speak what you have tasted, what is now part of you. Give what fills you.” 2
Eat, Go, Speak. Straightforward, unequivocal, honest and participatory all the way with God. His message, taken into our being, made part of us, taken to those who have not or may not listen, spoken openly to all who can hear.
It is clear in the text that Ezekiel is not responsible for the listening of the audience or the response—He is to do what God gives him and leave the result to the Lᴏʀᴅ. Faithfulness is like that, doing what God enables us to do and letting Him do what is not in our ability to fulfill.
In the verses following this charge, God prepares Ezekiel His messenger with how the hearers will perceive what has been placed within Ezekiel. Have you ever had the experience of being prompted by God to speak truth into someone’s life, maybe someone trying to ignore the Lᴏʀᴅ? Can His Word be ‘sweet as honey’ 3 and you keep your nature in line with God’s heart? While a prophet may have a powerful message from God, and it may be directed to ‘rebels’, they could well be people just like us. Ezekiel appears to have been personally impacted by the force of the message for in Chapter 3, verse 14 & 15,
The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, the hand of the LORD being strong upon me. And I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who were dwelling by the Chebar canal, and I sat where they were dwelling. And I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days. 4
No matter that the message wasn’t against himself, he was touched by the depth and urgency of God’s care for the rebels, his own people.
FOOTNOTES & LINKS:
1 Ezekiel 2:2-7 ESV – Blue Letter Bible link
2 Ezekiel 2:8-3:4 ESV – Blue Letter Bible link
3 Ezekiel 3:3 ESV – Blue Letter Bible link
4 Ezekiel 3:14-15 ESV – Blue Letter Bible link
All Scripture references from the Blue Letter Bible, ESV
at https://www.blueletterbible.org
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version
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