Ezekiel 2 commentary

EZEKIEL 2 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Ezekiel’s Call to Be a Prophet
1 He said to me, “Son of man,[a] stand up on your
feet and I will speak to you.”
BARNES, "Son of man - This phrase (which occurs elsewhere in Scripture) is
applied especially to Ezekiel and Daniel, the prophets of the captivity. Ezekiel is thus
reminded of his humanity, at the time when he is especially permitted to have contact
with God.
CLARKE, "And he said unto me - In the last verse of the preceding chapter we
find that the prophet was so penetrated with awe at the sight of the glory of God in the
mystical chariot, that “he fell upon his face;” and, while he was in this posture of
adoration, he heard the voice mentioned here. It is evident, therefore, that the present
division of these chapters is wrong. Either the first should end with the words, “This was
the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord,” Eze_1:28; or the first verse of
this chapter should be added to the preceding, and this begin with the second verse.
GILL, "And he said unto me,.... The glorious Person who sat upon the throne, whose
appearance is described in the latter part of the preceding chapter:
son of man; as he was to be that spake unto him; and so it may denote relation,
affection, and familiarity; or otherwise it is expressive of humiliation; of the frail, mean,
and low estate of man, through the fall, Psa_8:4; wherefore some think Ezekiel is thus
addressed, lest he should be lifted up, and think himself as one of the angels, because he
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had seen so great a vision; just as the Apostle Paul was humbled, lest he should be
exalted above measure, through the visions and revelations he had, 2Co_12:7. Kimchi
mentions this, but assigns another reason; that because he saw the face of a man in the
above vision, he let him know that he was right and good in the eye of God; and was the
son of man, and not the son of a lion, &c. which is exceeding weak and trifling.
Abendana, besides these, mentions some other reasons given; as that because he saw the
"mercavah" or chariot, and ascended to the dignity of the angels on high, it is as if it was
said, there is none born of a woman, as this; or because he was carried out of the holy
land, as Adam was drove out of Eden; and therefore called the son of the first Adam,
being drove out of Jerusalem, and out of the temple, where he was a priest. It may be
observed, that this is a name which our Lord frequently took to himself in his state of
humiliation; and that none but Ezekiel, excepting once the Prophet Daniel, is called by
this name; and no doubt the reason of it is, because he was an eminent type of Christ;
and particularly in his mission and commission, as a prophet, to the rebellious house of
Israel:
stand upon thy feet; for he was fallen upon his face, at the sight of the vision, Eze_
1:28; when a divine Person speaks, men ought to stand and hear, and be in a readiness to
do his pleasure:
and I will speak unto thee; which is said for his encouragement, being spoken by
him who has the words of truth and grace, and of eternal life.
HENRY, "The title here given to Ezekiel, as often afterwards, is very observable. God,
when he speaks to him, calls him, Son of man (Eze_2:1, Eze_2:3), Son of Adam, Son of
the earth. Daniel is once called so (Dan_8:17) and but once; the compellation is used to
no other of the prophets but to Ezekiel all along. We may take it, 1. As a humble
diminishing title. Lest Ezekiel should be lifted up with the abundance of the revelations,
he is put in mind of this, that sill he is a son of man, a mean, weak, mortal creature.
Among other things made known to him, it was necessary he should be made to know
this, that he was a son of man, and therefore that it was wonderful condescension in God
that he was pleased thus to manifest himself to him. Now he is among the living
creatures, the angels; yet he must remember that he is himself a man, a dying creature.
What is man, or the son of man, that he should be thus visited, thus dignified? Though
God had here a splendid retinue of holy angles about his throne, who were ready to go
on his errands, yet he passes them all by, and pitches on Ezekiel, a son of man, to be his
messenger to the house of Israel; for we have this treasure in earthen vessels, and God's
messages sent us by men like ourselves, whose terror shall not make us afraid nor their
hand be heavy upon us. Ezekiel was a priest, but the priesthood was brought low and the
honour of it laid in the dust. It therefore became him, and all of his order, to humble
themselves, and to lie low, as sons of men, common men. he was now to be employed as
a prophet, God's ambassador, and a ruler over the kingdoms (Jer_1:10), a post of great
honour, but he must remember that he is a son of man, and, whatever good he did, it
was not by any might of his own, for he was a son of man, but in the strength of divine
grace, which must therefore have all the glory. Or, 2. We may take it as an honourable
dignifying title; for it is one of the titles of the Messiah in the Old Testament (Dan_7:13,
I saw one like the Son of man come with the clouds of heaven), whence Christ borrows
the title he often calls himself by, The Son of man. The prophets were types of him, as
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they had near access to God and great authority among men; and therefore as David the
king is called the Lord's anointed, or Christ, so Ezekiel the prophet is called son of man.
I. Ezekiel is here set up, and made to stand, that he might receive his commission,
Eze_2:1, Eze_2:2. He is set up,
1. By a divine command: Son of man, stand upon thy feet. His lying prostrate was a
posture of greater reverence, but his standing up would be a posture of greater readiness
and fitness for business. Our adorings of God must not hinder, but rather quicken and
excite, our actings for God. He fell on his face in a holy fear and awe of God, but he was
quickly raised up again; for those that humble themselves shall be exalted. God delights
no in the dejections of his servants, but the same that brings them low will raise them
up; the same that is a Spirit of bondage will be a Spirit of adoption. Stand, and I will
speak to thee. Note, We may expect that God will speak to us when we stand ready to do
what he commands us.
JAMISON, “Eze_2:1-10. Ezekiel’s commission.
Son of man — often applied to Ezekiel; once only to Daniel (Dan_8:17), and not to
any other prophet. The phrase was no doubt taken from Chaldean usage during the
sojourn of Daniel and Ezekiel in Chaldea. But the spirit who sanctioned the words of the
prophet implied by it the lowliness and frailty of the prophet as man “lower than the
angels,” though now admitted to the vision of angels and of God Himself, “lest he should
be exalted through the abundance of the revelations” (2Co_12:7). He is appropriately so
called as being type of the divine “Son of man” here revealed as “man” (see on Eze_1:26).
That title, as applied to Messiah, implies at once His lowliness and His exaltation, in His
manifestations as the Representative man, at His first and second comings respectively
(Psa_8:4-8; Mat_16:13; Mat_20:18; and on the other hand, Dan_7:13, Dan_7:14; Mat_
26:64; Joh_5:27).
K&D, "Call of Ezekiel to the Prophetic Office - Eze_2:1 and Eze_2:2. Upon the
manifestation of the Lord follows the word of vocation. Having, in the feeling of his
weakness and sinfulness, fallen to the ground before the terrible revelation of Jehovah's
glory, Ezekiel is first of all raised up again by the voice of God, to hear the word which
calls him to the prophetic function. - Eze_2:1. And He said to me, Son of man, stand
upon thy feet, I will speak with thee. Eze_2:2. Then came spirit unto me as He spake
unto me, and it placed me on my feet, and I heard Him speaking unto me. - The address
‫ם‬ ָ‫ד‬ ָ‫ן־א‬ ֶ‫בּ‬ occurs so frequently in Ezekiel, that it must be regarded as one of the
peculiarities of his prophecies. Elsewhere it occurs only once, Dan_8:17. That it is
significant, is generally recognised, although its meaning is variously given. Most
expositors take it as a reminder of the weakness and frailness of human nature;
Coccejus and Kliefoth, on the contrary, connect it with the circumstance that God
appears to Ezekiel in human form, and find in it a τεκμήριον amicitiae, that God speaks
in him as man to man, converses with him as a man with his friend. This last
interpretation, however, has against it the usus loquendi. As ‫ם‬ ָ‫ד‬ ָ‫ן־א‬ ֶ‫בּ‬ denotes man
according to his natural condition, it is used throughout as a synonym with ‫שׁ‬ ‫ֱנ‬‫א‬,
denoting the weakness and fragility of man in opposition to God; cf. Psa_8:5; Job_25:6;
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Isa_51:12; Isa_56:2; and Num_23:19. This is the meaning also of ‫ם‬ ָ‫ד‬ ָ‫ן־א‬ ֶ‫בּ‬ in the address,
as may be distinctly seen from the various addresses in Daniel. Daniel is addressed,
where comfort is to be imparted to him, as ׁ◌‫ישׁ‬ ִ‫א‬ ‫ת‬ ‫ד‬ ֻ‫מ‬ֲ‫,ח‬ “man greatly beloved,” Dan_
10:11, Dan_10:19, cf. Dan_9:23; but, on the contrary, in Eze_8:17, where he has fallen
on his face in terror before the appearance of Gabriel, with the words, “Understand, O
son of man,” in order to remind him of his human weakness. This is also the case in our
verse, where Ezekiel, too, had fallen upon his face, and by God's word spoken to him, is
again raised to his feet. It is only in Ezekiel that this address is constantly employed to
mark the distance between the human weakness of his nature and the divine power
which gives him the capacity and the impulse to speak. Not, however, with the design,
mentioned by Jerome on Dan_8:17, “that he may not be elated on account of his high
calling,” because, as Hävernick subjoins, Ezekiel's extremely powerful and forcible
nature may have needed to be perpetually reminded of what it is in reality before God. If
this were the meaning and object of this address, it would also probably occur in the
writings of several of the other prophets, as the supposition that the nature of Ezekiel
was more powerful and forcible than that of the other prophets is altogether without
foundation. The constant use of this form of address in Ezekiel is connected rather with
the manner and fashion in which most of the revelations were imparted to him, that is,
with the prevalence of “vision,” in which the distinction between God and man comes
out more prominently than in ordinary inspiration or revelation, effected by means of an
impression upon the inner faculties of man. The bringing prominently forward,
however, of the distance between God and men is to remind the prophet, as well as the
people to whom he communicated his revelations, not merely of the weakness of
humanity, but to show them, at the same time, how powerfully the word of God operates
in feeble man, and also that God, who has selected the prophet as the organ of His will,
possesses also the power to redeem the people, that were lying powerless under the
oppression of the heathen, from their misery, and to raise them up again. - At the word
of the Lord, “Stand upon thy feet,” came ַ‫רוּח‬ into the prophet, which raised him to his
feet. ַ‫רוּח‬ here is not “life consciousness” (Hitzig), but the spirit-power which proceeds
from God, and which is conveyed through the word which imparted to him the strength
to stand before the face of God, and to undertake His command. ‫ר‬ ֵ‫בּ‬ ַ‫דּ‬ ִ‫,מ‬ partic. Hithpa.,
properly “collocutor,” occurs here and in Eze_43:6, and in Num_7:89; elsewhere, only
in 2Sa_14:13.
CALVIN, "Here the Prophet narrates that he was chosen by the command of God.
For God never prostrates his people so as to leave them lying upon the earth, but
continually raises them afterwards. As to the reprobate, they are so frightened at the
sight of God, that they utterly fall and never rise again. But it is different with the
faithful, because the pride of the flesh is corrected in them; then God stretches forth
his hand to them, and restores them, as it were, from death to life. And this
difference we must mark diligently, because we see the impious often dread the
voice of God. But if they disdainfully despise him when speaking, they are
frightened by his hand when some signs of his wrath and vengeance appear: but yet
they remain lifeless. In like manner the faithful dread the voice of God, but the
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result is altogether different, as we see here: because after God has humbled them,
he commands them to be of good courage, and shows that he intended nothing else
but to establish them by his power. At the same time the Prophet teaches that
nothing was accomplished by this voice till the Spirit was added. God indeed works
efficiently by his own words, but we must hold that this efficacy is not contained in
the words themselves, but proceeds from the secret instinct of the Spirit. The
Prophet therefore shows us both truths. On one side he says, I heard the voice of
God, so that I stood on my feet: God thus wished to animate his confidence: but he
adds that he was not raised up by the voice, until the Spirit placed him on his feet
This work of the Spirit, then, is joined with the word of God. But a distinction is
made, that we may know that the external word is of no avail by itself, unless
animated by the power of the Spirit. If any one should object, that the word was
useless, because not efficacious by itself, the solution is at hand, that if God takes
this method of acting there is no reason why we should object to it. But we have a
still clearer reply: since God always works in the hearts of men by the Spirit, yet his
word is not. without fruit; because, as God enlightens us by the sun, and yet he
alone is the Father of Lights, and the splendor of the sun is profitless except as God
uses it as an instrument, so we must conclude concerning his word, because the Holy
Spirit penetrates our hearts, and thus enlightens our minds. All power of action,
then, resides in the Spirit himself, and thus all praise ought to be entirely referred to
God alone. Meanwhile, what. objection is there to the Spirit of God using
instruments? We hold, therefore, that when God speaks, he adds the efficacy of his
Spirit, since his word without it would be fruitless; and yet the word is effectual,
because the instrument ought to be united with the author of the action. This
doctrine, thus briefly expounded, may suffice to refute foolish objections, which are
always in the mouths of many who fret about man’s free-will: they say, that we can
either attend to the word which is offered to us or re jeer it: but we see what the
Prophet says. If any of us is fit for rendering obedience to God, the Prophet
certainly excelled in this disposition, and yet the word of God had no efficacy in his
case, until the Spirit gave him strength to rise upon his feet Hence we collect, that it
is not in our power to obey what God commands us, except this power proceeds
from him. Now it follows —
COFFMAN, “Verse 1
EZEKIEL'S COMMISSION FROM GOD TO ISRAEL
The thought here and into chapter three is continuous with that of the preceding
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chapter, all of these things being directly connected with God's call of this great
prophet as a witness to Israel.
In this short chapter, God gave to Ezekiel the description of his mission. It would be
to a stiff-necked, hard-hearted, rebellious people. Following the captivity of the
northern kingdom, the southern remnant in Judea, including a few defections from
the northern group, had become in fact "the united Israel." At this point in time,
Israel was no longer a mighty nation but a discouraged remnant of captives in
Babylon.
Despite this, the whole "house of Israel" is in this chapter (Ezekiel 2:3) called a
rebellious nation, "the last term, here, being the very word used in the Old
Testament for the Gentiles."[1] This shows the total alienation of the nation from
God. We may therefore take the word "rebellious" as the key to Israel's attitude
throughout the prophecy of Ezekiel.
It was the fulfillment of the prophecy of Hosea (Hosea 1:9) in which the third child
of Gomer was named "Loammi," the same being a prophetic declaration concerning
Israel that, "They are not God's people, and that he, Jehovah, will no longer be their
God."
Dummelow gives the following summary of God's commission to Ezekiel.
"It came in three stages and upon three different occasions. The principal one of
these is the 1st, which came immediately after the amazing vision of Ezekiel 1 and
which occupies all of Ezekiel 2 and Ezekiel 3:1-13. The second came seven days
later, among the exiles at Tel-abib (Ezekiel 3:14-21); and the third was connected
with a repetition of this vision, apparently in the neighborhood of Tel-abib (Ezekiel
3:22-27)."[2]
Ezekiel 2:1
"And he said unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak with thee."
Matthew Henry commented upon the need for God to send just such a messenger as
Ezekiel to Israel. "Although they still retained the name of their pious ancestors,
they had wretchedly degenerated. This passage declares that they had become
Goim, nations, the word commonly used in that era for Gentiles."[3] The other
sacred writers agree with what is written here. "The children of Israel had become
as the children of the Ethiopians" (Amos 9:7). "They had become traffickers, the
ancient word for Canaanites" (Hosea 12:7). This last word shows that Israel had
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degenerated to a condition in which they were no better than the ancient pagan
Canaanites whom God had removed from Palestine in order to repeople the land
with Israelites!
The warning for Christians in all of this is, that if the moral and righteous integrity
of Christians deteriorates to a condition in which they are no longer truly
distinguished from the unregenerated masses around them, they are doubtless
doomed, no less than was ancient Israel, to lose their status and to incur the wrath
of God. "Without holiness, no man shall see God" (Hebrews 12:14).
"Son of man ..." (Ezekiel 2:1). Amazingly, this designation of Ezekiel occurs no less
than ninety-three times in this prophecy.[4] From the term's usage in Daniel 7:13
and Daniel 8:14, it came to be recognized as a Messianic title, the very one, in fact,
that was especially preferred by Jesus Christ, "because it was intended as both a
concealment and a revelation of the Saviour's true deity."[5]
COKE, “Ezekiel 2:1. He said unto me— That is, the Divine Person or Son of God,
whom the prophet had seen in glory in the preceding vision. Son of man is here
understood to signify the same with a common and ordinary man. See Psalms 8:4.
And accordingly most commentators understand it as applied to the prophet, to
remind him of his frailty and mortality, and of the infinite distance between God
and man. See Calmet.
ELLICOTT, “Introduction
Ezekiel 2, 3 record the call of the prophet to his office and the instructions given him
for his work. As far as Ezekiel 3:13, this seems to have been still in the presence of
the vision of Ezekiel 1; then he was directed to go to another place, where he
remains silent among the captives for seven days (Ezekiel 3:14-15). At the end of
that time he receives fresh instructions (Ezekiel 3:16-21), and then he is told to go
forth into the plain (Ezekiel 3:22), where the same vision reappears to him (Ezekiel
3:23), producing upon him again the same overpowering effect; he is again made to
stand up, and further instructed.
The full time occupied by these things is not expressly mentioned, but it was
apparently just eight days from the first to the second appearance of the vision—
from the beginning to the completion of his prophetic consecration. This period,
corresponding to the period of the consecration of Aaron and his sons (Leviticus
8:33 to Leviticus 9:4), must have been peculiarly impressive to the priestly Ezekiel,
and have added its own power of association to the other solemnities of his call.
Since the time of Moses there had been no other prophet whose call had been
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accompanied by such manifestations of the Divine glory, and perhaps no time in
which the condition of the Church had made them so important.
Verse 1
(1) Son of man.—The voice that now came to Ezekiel was articulate, and spoke to
him in words which he could understand. It is not said who it was that spoke, but
the “He” in connection with the vision before him could be none other than the Most
High, whose glory that vision was given to reveal. The phrase “son of man” is
common enough throughout the Scriptures, as meaning simply man, but is never
used in an address to a prophet, except to Ezekiel and Daniel. To Daniel it is used
only once (Daniel 8:17), while to Ezekiel it is used above ninety times. The reason is,
doubtless, that since he was the prophet of the captivity he was addressed in the
common terms of the language where he lived. “Son of man” for “man” is so
common in the Aramaic languages that it is even used of Adam himself in the Syriac
version of 1 Corinthians 15:45-47. The address to Ezekiel here as “man,” just as
under similar circumstances to Daniel when he had fallen upon his face through awe
of the supernatural presence (Daniel 8:17), is doubtless in compassion to his
weakness. And then comes the strengthening command, “Stand upon thy feet,” that
he may be able to receive the communication God is about to make to him.
TRAPP, “Ezekiel 2:1 And he said unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I
will speak unto thee.
Ver. 1. And he said unto me.] Christus solio sic insit ab alto. Christ from his lofty
throne thus bespake me, who had now my mouth in the dust, and had no more to
say but this, "Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth."
Son of man.] So this prophet is called almost a hundred times in this book; four
times in this short chapter. The reason hereof I take to be this, saith a judicious
divine, (a) he had visions both more in number and more rare in kind revealed unto
him than any other prophet had. Now lest he should be exalted out of measure,
through the abundance of revelations, the Lord often putteth him in mind of his
estate by nature, that he was but a "son of man," a mortal man, even a worm.
Stand upon thy feet.] God, for good ends, casteth down sometimes those that are
dearest to himself; but then he comforteth the abject. [2 Corinthians 7:6]
“ Deiecit ut relevet, premit ut solaria praestet. ”
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And I will speak unto thee.] So Daniel 10:11. Oracles are for standers, not prostrate
ones. They require utmost attention of body, intention of mind, and retention of
memory. See Numbers 23:18, 3:20. {See Trapp on "Numbers 23:18"} {See Trapp on
" 3:20"}
PARKER, “ Ezekiel"s Commission
Ezekiel 2 , Ezekiel 3
From beginning to end the Book of Ezekiel may be regarded as a series of divine
visions, or one vision presented in many varying aspects. The second and third
chapters, which give an account of Ezekiel"s call to his office, ought to be read
through as one chapter. We are to understand that although Ezekiel changed from
place to place, yet the vision was substantially the same. The prophet is constantly
receiving fresh instructions, but the variety of the instruction does not interfere with
the continuity and integrity of the divine vision. We must not seek for literal
interpretations of many of the mysterious words in this prophecy; our business must
rather be to discover the line of spirituality as between God and Prayer of
Manasseh , the line along which God comes into the human soul with new
instructions, new inspirations, that he may impart new confidence and succour to
the hearts of his children. Each man will have his own vision. God is continually
speaking to the hearing ear, and continually showing himself to the discerning eye.
Inspiration is as distinct and vital in the case of the poorest living prophet of the
Lord as in the case of the glowing Ezekiel. Each of us should seek for his own vision,
for his own part and lot in the divine inheritance, for his own particular truth; but
no one man should imagine that he has been entrusted with the whole vision of God.
Men see nature differently, and men interpret the events of the day differently, and
each man has an interpretation of his own consciousness, with which no other man
can wisely interfere: there should be direct personal communication between the
soul and its eternal Lord, and every man should expect to receive his own message
or charge from heaven, and should hold himself accountable for the right use of
what he has seen and heard, rather than for the right use of what other people have
supposed themselves to have received from heaven. The prophets are not to judge
one another simply because of contrasts in the visions which they have beheld. To
his own master each prophet stands or falls. Visions upon which Ezekiel looked with
comparative composure would dazzle the eyes of other men and utterly overflow the
capacities of minor souls. Yet how small soever may be the capacity of any prophet,
he is responsible alone for the use he makes of it, and according to his degree his
enjoyment will be equal to the rapture of the most fervid and glowing souls that ever
have been called to receive the baptism of the divine glory.
9

In the second chapter Ezekiel is in vision recovered from his prostration and made
to stand upon his feet. He is addressed by the peculiar title of "Son of man"
( Ezekiel 2:1). Who is the wondrous "he" who spoke unto Ezekiel? We are not told
as a substantive who is referred to, yet we feel that the reading of the vision permits
no other supposition than that it was the most high God whose glories had filled the
firmament, and whose majesty had thrown down the prophet upon his face in
lowliest humility and adoration. The title "Son of man" we often meet with in the
Scriptures, and generally it means nothing more than "Man." The title is never
applied in an address to a prophet except in the instances of Ezekiel and Daniel ,
each of whom was addressed as "Son of man." In the case of Daniel , however, the
title was assigned only once ( Daniel 8:17), but in the case of Ezekiel careful
enumerators have counted its use in ninety instances. "Son of man" has been used
of Adam himself in one version of the Scriptures. A singular dignity would be given
to the title if it were abbreviated to the one word "Man"; we should then read: "
Prayer of Manasseh , stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee." The tone of
such a command is at once compassionate and inspiring: it is compassionate in that
it recognises the frailty of the instrument. He is but a Prayer of Manasseh , a
creature of the dust, a child of a day whose breath is in his nostrils; he is not
mistaken for an angel, or a cherub, or some mighty being unnamed in human
speech; but he is recognised as a Prayer of Manasseh , a creature, a brother of the
human race, one of a great multitude whose origin is in the dust. On the other hand,
it is inspiring in that it recognises the capacity of the prophet to receive a divine
communication, to be filled with it, and to accept it as an inspiration that was to end
in practical service on behalf of humanity. The prophet does not speak of himself as
recovering his own energy, or overcoming his own fear, or as in any sense the
originator of new strength and capability; on the contrary, he distinctly recognises
the work of God within his soul, and attributes to divine energy his own returning
strength. Thus we read in the second verse: "And the spirit entered into me when he
spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard him that spake unto me." By
"the spirit" we are to understand the spirit of God. This was not a man reviving
himself, it was a man invigorated and encouraged by divine energy.
The Lord first overthrows a Prayer of Manasseh , and then recalls him to renewed
dignity and hope. The two instances which are given even in this early portion of the
prophecy are strikingly confirmatory of this view. When Ezekiel first saw the vision
he fell upon his face, he was overwhelmed, he could not bear the dazzling glory, the
mighty sound of the oncoming hosts thrilled him and paralysed him, and he was for
the moment overthrown and undone. But having passed through this experience of
humiliation, he was recovered by the very spirit that had for the moment destroyed
10

him. So truly are we in the hands of God! Sometimes we feel that exaltation in very
deed comes from on high, and is a divine blessing, a very seal and double assurance
of adoption. But it is not so easy to realise that prostration is also an aspect of the
divine ministry, and is absolutely essential as the forerunner of the highest
excitement and rapture of soul. Whom God throws down into great humiliation he
intends to revive and clothe with supreme power. By poverty we may be prepared
for wealth; by solitude we may be qualified for the excitement of society; by great
pain we may be quickened into great sympathy with all who suffer. Let us not
repiningly say that God has overwhelmed us, and laid his hand heavily upon us, and
filled us with excessive contempt; even if this were true, it can, by the very necessity
of the case, only be true temporarily: we should rather look upon it as intermediate,
or as initial, or as in some way preparatory to broader Revelation , to higher light,
to promotion to larger office and function in the ministry of the universe. No man
should rise from his humiliations except by the spirit of God. It is possible for us to
do much under the impulse of merely animal spirits; we may be so physically
vigorous as to trace our animation to physical causes: he is not truly brought out of
prison who is not delivered by the angel of the Lord; he may be released in a dream,
he may enjoy freedom in some shadowy state of mind, but real and permanent
liberty is the exclusive gift of God. We may pray God to keep us in the house of
affliction, which is the house of bondage, until he has wrought in us all his purpose
of wisdom and love; this being accomplished he will lead us forth into the garden of
delight, or send us in his own name and strength to work out some purpose worthy
of our spiritual origin and our immortality.
POOLE, "Ezekiel’s commission, Ezekiel 2:1-5; his instructions, Ezekiel 2:6-8. The
roll of heavy judgments spread before him, Ezekiel 2:9,10.
And he that sat upon the throne, Jesus Christ, whose messenger Ezekiel must be to
the Jewish captives, now gone into captivity to Babylon.
Son of man; a phrase very familiar with Ezekiel in this prophecy, and he useth it for
distinction, being now among angels, perhaps to keep him humble, who had such
great revelations, which might occasion him to think of himself above what was
meet, as prophecy. 2 Corinthians 12:7.
Stand upon thy feet; arise, resume thy wonted strength of soul and body, which
seem lost by thy fall to the ground. Fear not my coming to punish thee, I come to
send thee forth a prophet; arise, therefore, and be as other prophets, ready to
receive the Divine oracles, which usually came to prophets standing: and with this
command God sent forth a power enabling him to arise and stand.
11

And I will speak unto thee; get thyself into a fit posture and readiness, and I will
speak: what that was appears in what followeth, Ezekiel 2:3.
2 As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised
me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.
CLARKE, "And the spirit entered into me - This spirit was different to that
mentioned above, by which the wheels, etc., were moved. The spirit of prophecy is here
intended; whose office was not merely to enable him to foresee and foretell future
events, but to purify and refine his heart, and qualify him to be a successful preacher of
the word of life.
He who is sent by the God of all grace to convert sinners must be influenced by the
Holy Ghost; otherwise he can neither be saved himself, nor become the instrument of
salvation to others.
And set me upon my feet - That he might stand as a servant before his master, to
receive his orders.
GILL, "And the spirit entered into me,.... Not his own spirit or soul; for it does not
appear that that went out of him upon the sight of the vision; nor any of the ministering
spirits, the angels, who are never said to enter into the prophets or people of God; but
the Holy Spirit of God; the same Spirit that was in the living creatures, and in the
wheels; in the ministers, and in the churches; who entered with his gifts to qualify him
for his office as a prophet; and who enters with his graces into the hearts of all the saints,
to quicken, renew, comfort, and sanctify them:
when he spake unto me; at the same time the Spirit went along with the word; and
when the word of Christ is attended with the demonstration of the Spirit and of power, it
is effectual:
and he set me upon my feet; not he that spake with him, and bid him stand on his
feet; but the Spirit; for the word, though it is the word of God, and of Christ, yet is
ineffectual without the Spirit; when he enters, he gives the word a place, and it works
effectually; when he enters, as the Spirit of life from Christ, the soul is quickened and
strengthened; and such that are fallen down stand up; yea, such as are dead arise and
stand upon their feet:
12

that I heard him that spake unto me; so as to understand; for the Spirit, who
searches the deep things of God, reveals them to his ministers, and causes them to
understand the word of Christ, that they may be able to instruct others in it.
HENRY, "By a divine power going along with that command, Eze_2:2. God bade him
stand up; but, because he had not strength of his own to recover his feet nor courage to
face the vision, the Spirit entered into him and set him upon his feet. Note, God is
graciously pleased to work that in us which he requires of us and raises those whom he
bids rise. We must stir up ourselves, and then God will put strength into us; we must
work out our salvation, and then God will work in us. He observed that the Spirit
entered into him when Christ spoke to him; for Christ conveys his Spirit by his word as
the ordinary means and makes the word effectual by the Spirit. The Spirit set the
prophet upon his feet, to raise him up from his dejections, for he is the Comforter. Thus,
in a similar case, Daniel was strengthened by a divine touch (Dan_10:18) and John was
raised by the right hand of Christ laid upon him, Rev_1:17. The Spirit set him upon his
feet, made him willing and forward to do as he was bidden, and then he heard him that
spoke to him. He heard the voice before (Eze_1:28), but now he heard it more distinctly
and clearly, heard it and submitted to it. The Spirit sets us upon our feet by inclining our
will to our duty, and thereby disposes the understanding to receive the knowledge of it.
JAMISON, "spirit entered ... when he spake — The divine word is ever
accompanied by the Spirit (Gen_1:2, Gen_1:3).
set ... upon ... feet — He had been “upon his face” (Eze_1:28). Humiliation on our
part is followed by exaltation on God’s part (Eze_3:23, Eze_3:24; Job_22:29; Jam_4:6;
1Pe_5:5). “On the feet” was the fitting attitude when he was called on to walk and work
for God (Eph_5:8; Eph_6:15).
that I heard — rather, “then I heard.”
COFFMAN, “Verse 2
"And the spirit entered into me when he spake unto me, and set me upon my feet;
and I heard him that spake unto me. And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee
to the children of Israel, to nations that are rebellious, which have rebelled against
me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me even unto this very day."
"To nations that are rebellious ..." (Ezekiel 2:3). These were the two nations of
northern Israel and southern Israel, here referred to collectively as "the children of
Israel."
"And the spirit entered into me ..." (Ezekiel 2:2). We agree with Pearson that the
spirit mentioned here can be none other than the blessed Holy Spirit himself.[6]
13

COKE, “Ezekiel 2:2. And the Spirit entered into me, &c.— That is, say some, the
same Spirit which influenced and animated the living creatures. Calmet interprets
it, the prophetic spirit; which, from ch. Ezekiel 3:24 seems the most probable.
ELLICOTT, “Verse 2
(2) And the spirit entered into me.—Always Divine strength is vouchsafed to the
prophets when thus overcome by the glory of their visions. (Comp. Isaiah 6:5-7;
Daniel 8:18; Daniel 10:15-19; Revelation 1:17.) There can be no doubt, therefore,
that the spirit is here the Spirit of God, and not merely the prophet’s own human
vigour and courage; and this is made still more plain in Ezekiel 3:24. It was this
which “set him upon his feet,” and enabled him amid such surroundings of awe to
receive the word spoken to him; for while the revelation by vision still remained
before him (see Ezekiel 3:12-13), he was now to be instructed also by the clearer
revelation of the direct voice from heaven. We are not to think of any physical force
exerted upon the prophet, but of all these things as still taking place in vision.
TRAPP, “Ezekiel 2:2 And the spirit entered into me when he spake unto me, and set
me upon my feet, that I heard him that spake unto me.
Ver. 2. And the Spirit entered into me.] This was right, when word and Spirit went
together. See Isaiah 59:21. {See Trapp on "Isaiah 59:21"}
And set me upon my feet.] Called me off from earthly cares, and made me hear
savingly. In the Scriptures the Holy Ghost speaketh ρητως, [1 Timothy 4:1] "Let
him that hath ears to hear, hear," &c. Let him draw up the ears of his mind to those
of his body, that one and the same sound may pierce both.
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, “The Biblical Illustrator
Ezekiel 2:2
14

And the Spirit entered into me.
God helping His ministers
Mark the course of a river like the Thames; how it winds and twists according to its
own sweet will. Yet there is a reason for every bend and curve; the geologist,
studying the soil and marking the conformation of the rock, sees a reason why the
river’s bed diverges to the right or to the left; and so, though the Spirit of God
blesses one preacher more than another, and the reason cannot be such that any
man could congratulate himself upon his own goodness, yet there are certain things
about Christian ministers which God blesses, and certain other things which hinder
success. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The power behind the preacher
The Rev. F.B. Meyer has a firewood factory in connection with his church, where
employment is provided for men and boys. A circular saw is used for cutting
through beams of solid timber. Until recently, this saw was worked by a crank,
turned by twelve or fifteen men. But it was slow, hard, and expensive work. At last,
says Mr. Meyer, we were driven to something more expeditious, and bought a gas
engine. And now, the saw, driven by this engine, does in two or three hours as much
work as it did formerly in a day, and at less than a tenth of the cost. It is the same
saw; but the difference lies in the power that drives it. It used to be driven by hand
power, now it is driven by an equivalent for steam, and the only thing we need to do
is to keep the connecting band tight. “It is not a question,” continues Mr. Meyer, “as
to our abilities or qualifications, but of the power behind us. If that is nothing more
than human, it is not surprising that the results are miserably poor. But if we link
ourselves to the eternal power of God, nothing will be impossible to us. ‘All things
are possible to him that believeth.’”
WHEDON, “ 2. And the spirit — Literally, a spirit. This was probably the spirit
that controlled the living creatures (Ezekiel 1:20), though Ezekiel does not yet seem
to recognize this.
15

Set me upon my feet — God’s majesty may smite the beholder with weakness, but
when one is weakest he finds working within him a “spirit” making him strongest.
This spirit only comes to the humble soul. It is only after one has fallen upon his face
before God that he becomes able to stand before him and hear him speak. The inner
strength comes to the man who does not dare even to lift up his face to heaven.
BI, "And the Spirit entered into me.
God helping His ministers
Mark the course of a river like the Thames; how it winds and twists according to its own
sweet will. Yet there is a reason for every bend and curve; the geologist, studying the soil
and marking the conformation of the rock, sees a reason why the river’s bed diverges to
the right or to the left; and so, though the Spirit of God blesses one preacher more than
another, and the reason cannot be such that any man could congratulate himself upon
his own goodness, yet there are certain things about Christian ministers which God
blesses, and certain other things which hinder success. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The power behind the preacher
The Rev. F.B. Meyer has a firewood factory in connection with his church, where
employment is provided for men and boys. A circular saw is used for cutting through
beams of solid timber. Until recently, this saw was worked by a crank, turned by twelve
or fifteen men. But it was slow, hard, and expensive work. At last, says Mr. Meyer, we
were driven to something more expeditious, and bought a gas engine. And now, the saw,
driven by this engine, does in two or three hours as much work as it did formerly in a
day, and at less than a tenth of the cost. It is the same saw; but the difference lies in the
power that drives it. It used to be driven by hand power, now it is driven by an
equivalent for steam, and the only thing we need to do is to keep the connecting band
tight. “It is not a question,” continues Mr. Meyer, “as to our abilities or qualifications,
but of the power behind us. If that is nothing more than human, it is not surprising that
the results are miserably poor. But if we link ourselves to the eternal power of God,
nothing will be impossible to us. ‘All things are possible to him that believeth.’”
POOLE, " And; so soon as the encouraging command went forth, immediately.
The spirit; the vital spirit or soul of the prophet, say some; but these suppose the vision
had struck Ezekiel dead, which neither can be supposed, other prophetic visions did not
prove deadly, nor did this; others will have it the spirit of courage, some an angel; but it
is indeed the Spirit of God, the Holy Ghost, Ezekiel 3:24. The same Spirit which actuated
the living creatures and wheels enters the heart of the prophet.
16

Entered into me; gave the prophet special and suitable qualifications for his office. The
Spirit entered that he might abide with the prophet as a constant assister and guide to
him.
When he spake unto me; while the words were speaking, or so soon as they were spoken.
The efficacy of the Spirit, and his accompanying the word of Christ, here appears.
He; either Christ, who from the throne spake to the prophet, or the Holy Spirit, newly
entered into the prophet.
And set me upon my feet, that I heard him; opened his ear, that he heard what was
spoken. It is the Spirit which is the fountain of all our abilities, and which also actuates
them; without it there is neither life, strength, or motion.
3 He said: “Son of man, I am sending you to the
Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled
against me; they and their ancestors have been in
revolt against me to this very day.
BARNES 3-4, "Nation - literally, as in the margin - the word which usually
distinguishes the pagan from God’s people. Here it expresses that Israel is cast off by
God; and the plural is used to denote that the children of Israel are not even “one
nation,” but scattered and disunited.
Translate: “I send thee to the children of Israel, the rebellious nation that have
rebelled against Me (they and their fathers have transgressed against Me, even to this
very day), and the children impudent and stiff-hearted: I do send thee unto them.”
CLARKE, "Son of man - This appellative, so often mentioned in this book, seems
to have been given first to this prophet; afterwards to Daniel; and after that to the Man
Christ Jesus. Perhaps it was given to the two former to remind them of their frailty, and
that they should not be exalted in their own minds by the extraordinary revelations
granted to them; and that they should feel themselves of the same nature with those to
whom they were sent; and, from the common principle of humanity, deeply interest
17

themselves in the welfare of their unhappy countrymen. To the latter it might have been
appropriated merely to show that though all his actions demonstrated him to be God, yet
that he was also really Man; and that in the man Christ Jesus dwelt all the fullness of the
Godhead bodily. When the acts of Christ are considered, it is more easy to believe his
eternal Godhead, than to be convinced that the person we hear speaking, and see
working, is also a man like unto ourselves.
I send thee to the children of Israel - To those who were now in captivity, in
Chaldea particularly; and to the Jews in general, both far and near.
GILL, "And he said unto me, son of man,.... Now follow his mission and
commission, and an account of the persons to whom he was sent:
I send thee to the children of Israel; that were captives in Babylon, in Jehoiakim's
captivity; so Christ was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, Mat_15:24;
to a rebellious nation, that hath rebelled against me; or, "rebellious Gentiles",
(u); not the nations of the earth, though Ezekiel did prophesy many things concerning
them; but the Jews, the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin; or the twelve tribes of Israel,
called Gentiles, because they joined with them in their idolatries; and, as Kimchi says,
were divided in their evil works; some worshipping the gods of the Ammonites; and
some the gods of the Moabites; and all guilty of rebellion and treason in so doing against
the God of heaven:
they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very
day; which is an aggravation of their rebellion; their fathers had sinned, and they had
followed their ill examples, and had continued therein to that day; and as they, did to the
times of Christ, when they were about to till up the measure of their iniquity, Mat_23:31.
HENRY, ". Ezekiel is here sent, and made to go, with a message to the children of
Israel (Eze_2:3): I send thee to the children of Israel. God had for many ages been
sending to them his servants the prophets, rising up betimes and sending them, but to
little purpose; they were now sent into captivity for abusing God's messengers, and yet
even there God sends this prophet among them, to try if their ears were open to
discipline, now that they were holden in the cords of affliction. As the supports of life, so
the means of grace, are continued to us after they have been a thousand times forfeited.
Now observe,
1. The rebellion of the people to whom this ambassador is sent; he is sent to reduce
them to their allegiance, to bring back the children of Israel to the Lord their God. let the
prophet know that there is occasion for his going on this errand, for they are a rebellious
nation (Eze_2:3), a rebellious house, Eze_2:5. They are called children of Israel; they
retain the name of their pious ancestors, but they have wretchedly degenerated, they
have become Goim - nations, the word commonly used for the Gentiles. The children of
Israel have become as the children of the Ethiopian (Amo_9:7), for they are rebellious;
and rebels at home are much more provoking to a prince than enemies abroad. Their
idolatries and false worships were the sins which, more than any thing, denominated
them a rebellious nation; for thereby they set up another prince in opposition to their
18

rightful Sovereign, and did homage and paid tribute to the usurper, which is the highest
degree of rebellion that can be. (1.) They had been all along a rebellious generation and
had persisted in their rebellion: They and their fathers have transgressed against me.
Note, Those are not always in the right that have antiquity and the fathers on their side;
for there are errors and corruptions of long standing: and it is so far from being an
excuse for walking in a bad way that our fathers walked in it that it is really an
aggravation, for it is justifying the sin of those that have gone before us. They have
continued in their rebellion even unto this very day; notwithstanding the various means
and methods that have been made use of to reclaim them, to this day, when they are
under divine rebukes for their rebellion, they continue rebellious; many among them,
like Ahaz, even in their distress, trespass yet more; they are not the better for all the
changes that have befallen them, but still remain unchanged. (2.) They were now
hardened in their rebellion. They are impudent children, brazen-faced, and cannot
blush; they are still-hearted, self-willed, and cannot bend, cannot stoop, neither
ashamed nor afraid to sin; they will not be wrought upon by the sense either of honour
or duty. We are willing to hope this was not the character of all, but of many, and those
perhaps the leading men. Observe, [1.] God knew this concerning them, how inflexible,
how incorrigible, they were. Note, God is perfectly acquainted with every man's true
character, whatever his pretensions and professions may be. [2.] He told the prophet
this, that he might know the better how to deal with them and what handle to take them
by. He must rebuke such men as those sharply, cuttingly, must deal plainly with them,
though they call it dealing roughly. God tells him this, that it might be no surprise or
stumbling-block to him if he found that his preaching should not make that impression
upon them, which he had reason to think it would.
JAMISON, "nation — rather, “nations”; the word usually applied to the heathen or
Gentiles; here to the Jews, as being altogether heathenized with idolatries. So in Isa_
1:10, they are named “Sodom” and “Gomorrah.” They were now become “Lo-ammi,” not
the people of God (Hos_1:9).
K&D 3-7, "The calling of the prophet begins with the Lord describing to Ezekiel the
people to whom He is sending him, in order to make him acquainted with the difficulties
of his vocation, and to encourage him for the discharge of the same. Eze_2:3. And He
said to me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to the rebels who have
rebelled against me: they and their fathers have fallen away from me, even until this
very day. Eze_2:4. And the children are of hard face, and hardened heart. To them I
send thee; and to them shalt thou speak: Thus says the Lord Jehovah. Eze_2:5. And
they - they may hear thee or fail (to do so); for they are a stiff-necked race - they shall
experience that a prophet has been in their midst. Eze_2:6. But thou, son of man, fear
not before them, and be not afraid of their words, if thistles and thorns are found about
thee, and thou sittest upon scorpions; fear not before their words, and tremble not
before their face; for they are a stiff-necked race. Eze_2:7. And speak my words to
them, whether they may hear or fail (to do so); for they are stiff-necked.
The children of Israel have become heathen, no longer a people of God, not even a
heathen nation (‫י‬ ‫,גּ‬ Isa_1:4), but ‫ם‬ִ‫י‬ ‫,גּ‬ “heathens,” that is, as being rebels against God.
19

‫ים‬ ִ‫ד‬ ְ‫ר‬ ‫מּ‬ ַ‫ה‬ (with the article) is not to be joined as an adjective to ‫ם‬ִ‫י‬ ‫,גּ‬ which is without the
article, but is employed substantively in the form of an apposition. They have rebelled
against God in this, that they, like their fathers, have separated themselves from Jehovah
down to this day (as regards ‫ע‬ַ‫שׁ‬ָ‫פּ‬ ְ‫,בּ‬ see on Isa_1:2; and ‫ם‬ ֶ‫צ‬ֶ‫ע‬ ‫ם‬ ‫יּ‬ ַ‫ה‬ ‫ֶה‬‫זּ‬ ַ‫,ה‬ as in the
Pentateuch; cf. Lev_23:14; Gen_7:13; Gen_17:23, etc.). Like their fathers, the sons are
rebellious, and, in addition, they are ‫י‬ֵ‫שׁ‬ ְ‫ק‬ ‫ים‬ִ‫נ‬ָ‫,פ‬ of hard countenance” = ‫י‬ ֵ‫ק‬ְ‫ז‬ ִ‫,ח‬ “of hard
brow” (Eze_3:7), i.e., impudent, without hiding the face, or lowering the look for shame.
This shamelessness springs from hardness of heart. To these hardened sinners Ezekiel is
to announce the word of the Lord. Whether they hear it or not (‫ם‬ ִ‫א‬ ְ‫ם־ו‬ ִ‫,א‬ sive-sive, as in
Jos_24:15; Ecc_11:3; Ecc_12:14), they shall in any case experience that a prophet has
been amongst them. That they will neglect to hear is very probable, because they are a
stiff-necked race (‫ת‬ִ‫י‬ ַ‫,בּ‬ “house” = family). The Vau before ‫עוּ‬ ְ‫ָד‬‫י‬ (Eze_2:5) introduces the
apodosis. ‫ָה‬‫י‬ ָ‫ה‬ is perfect, not present. This is demanded by the usus loquendi and the
connection of the thought. The meaning is not: they shall now from his testimony that a
prophet is there; but they shall experience from the result, viz., when the word
announced by him will have been fulfilled, that a prophet has been amongst them.
Ezekiel, therefore, is not to be prevented by fear of them and their words from delivering
a testimony against their sins. The ἁπάξ λεγόμενα, ‫ים‬ ִ‫ב‬ ָ‫ר‬ ָ‫ס‬ and ‫ים‬ִ‫נ‬ ‫לּ‬ ַ‫,ס‬ are not, with the
older expositors, to be explained adjectively: “rebelles et renuentes,” but are
substantives. As regards ‫ן‬ ‫לּ‬ ַ‫,ס‬ the signification “thorn” is placed beyond doubt by ‫ן‬ ‫לּ‬ ִ‫ס‬ in
Eze_28:24, and ‫ב‬ ָ‫ר‬ ָ‫ס‬ in Aramaic does indeed denote “refractarius;” but this
signification is a derived one, and inappropriate here. ‫ב‬ ָ‫ר‬ ָ‫ס‬ is related to ‫ב‬ ַ‫ר‬ָ‫,צ‬ “to burn, to
singe,” and means “urtica,” “stinging-nettle, thistle,” as Donasch in Raschi has already
explained it. ָ‫ת‬ ‫א‬ is, according to the later usage, for ָ‫תּ‬ ִ‫,א‬ expressing the “by and with
of association,” and occurs frequently in Ezekiel. Thistles and thorns are emblems of
dangerous, hostile men. The thought is strengthened by the words “to sit on (‫ל‬ ֶ‫א‬ for ‫ל‬ַ‫)ע‬
scorpions,” as these animals inflict a painful and dangerous wound. For the similitude of
dangerous men to scorpions, cf. Sir. 26:10, and other proof passages in Bochart,
Hierozoic. III. p. 551f., ed. Rosenmüll.
CALVIN, “The Prophet now more clearly explains the object of the vision which he
has formerly mentioned, namely, that being armed with authority he might more
freely discharge the office of Prophet among the Israelites. For we know that God
claims this honor to himself alone, that he should be head in his Church, and
deservedly so, for he is not called our Lawgiver in vain, (Isaiah 33:22; James 4:12,)
and our wisdom consists in nothing else but in attending to his instructions. Since,
therefore, God alone is to be heard, every mortal, whatever he professes himself,
must be rejected, unless he comes in the name of God, and can prove his calling, and
really convince men that he does not speak except by God’s command. Therefore,
that Ezekiel may not labor in vain, he ought to prove himself divinely inspired, and
this was done by the vision. Now he more clearly explains that object of the vision.
20

Here it may be remarked, that figures are illusory without an explanation. If the
vision only had been offered to the eye of the Prophet, and no voice of God had
followed, what would have been the advantage? But when God confirmed the vision
by his word, the Prophet was enabled to say with advantage, I have seen the glory of
God. And this can also be transferred to sacraments, because if signs only are
presented to our eyes they will be, as it were, dead images. The word of God, then,
throws life into the sacraments, as it has been said concerning visions.
Since Ezekiel so often uses this form of speech, saying, that he was called Son of
man, I do not doubt that God wished to prevent the people from despising him as
one of the common herd. For he had been dragged into exile not without ignominy:
since then he differed from the generality in no outward appearance, his doctrine
might be despised and rejected. God, therefore, takes him up, and, by way of
concession, calls him Son of man. So, on the other hand, he signifies that the
teaching ought not to be estimated by outward appearance, but rather by his
calling. It is quite true, that his language was then more prolix, and we see how our
Prophet differs from the rest. For his language has evidently a foreign tinge, since
those who are in exile naturally contract many faults of language, and the Prophet
was never anxious about elegance and polish, but, as he had been accustomed to
homely language, so he spoke himself. But I have no doubt that God wished
purposely to select a man from the multitude contemptible in outward appearance,
and then to raise him above all mortals by dignifying him with the gift of prophecy.
We must now see how God prepares him for the discharge of his duties. I send thee,
he says, to the children of Israel, a rebellious race, that is, disobedient and revolting.
In this manner the Prophet was able to escape as soon as he saw the odious duty’
assigned to him, for its difficulty alone would frighten him. But a double trial is
added when he saw himself engaged in a contest with numberless enemies. He
challenged, as it were, to conflict all the Israelites of his day, and this was a most
grievous trial. But another trial was, not only that he perceived himself beating the
air, — to use a common proverb, rebut he must have felt it a profanation of
heavenly doctrine to address it to impious men, and that too only for the purpose of
exasperating them still further. We see, then, that the Prophet had no inducement of
earthly gratification to urge him to undertake his duty. If God wished to use his
agency, he ought to afford him some hope of success, or, at least, he ought to leave it
sufficiently uncertain to urge him to make every effort. But when in the first
instance this difficulty occurs, that he has to deal with a perverse and stubborn
21

generation — next, that he is drawn into a hateful contest — thirdly, that he is
advised to cast what is holy before dogs, and pearls before swine, and thus, as it
were, to prostitute the word of God, surely his mind must despair a hundred times
when he pondered these things within himself. Hence it was God’s plan to arm him
with unconquerable constancy, so that he might go forward in the course of his
calling.
We must bear in mind, then, this principle: when God wishes to stir us up to
obedience, he does not always promise a happy result of our labor: but sometimes
he so puts our obedience to the test, that he wishes us to be content with his
command, even if our labor should be deemed ridiculous before men. Sometimes,
indeed, he indulges our infirmity, and when he orders us to undertake any duty, he
at the same time bears witness that our labor shall not be in vain, and our industry
without its recompense: then indeed God spares us. But he sometimes proves his
people as I have said, providing that whatever be the result of their labors, it is
sufficient for them to obey his command. And from
passage we readily collect that our Prophet was thus dispirited. And we read the
same of Isaiah; for when he is sent by God, he is not only told that he must speak to
the deaf, but what God proposes to him is still harder. Go, says he, render the eyes
of this people blind, and their ears dull, and their heart obstinate. (Isaiah 6:9.) Not
only therefore does Isaiah see that he would be exposed to ridicule, and so lose the
fruit of his labor, but he sees that his address has but one tendency, and that the
blinding of the Jews: nay, even their threefold destruction — though even one
destruction is enough: but, as I have already said, God sometimes so wishes his
servants to acquiesce in his government, that they should labor even without any
hope of fruit: and this must be diligently marked. For as often as we are called upon
by God before we apply ourselves to our work, these thoughts come into the mind:
“What will be the result of this?” and “What shall I obtain by my labor?” And,
then, when the event does not turn out according to our wish, we despond in our
minds: but this is wresting from God a part of his government. For although our
labor should be in vain, yet it is sufficiently pleasing to God himself; therefore let us
learn to leave the event in the hand of God when he enjoins anything upon us; and
although the whole world should deride us, and despair itself should render us
inactive, yet let us be of good cheer and strive to the utmost, because it ought to
suffice us that our obedience is pleasing to God.
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For this reason Paul says, (2 Corinthians 2:15,) that the gospel, although it is a savor
of death unto death, is yet a sweet savor unto God. When it is said that the gospel
brings death, our judgment might immediately suggest to us, that nothing is better
than to leave it. Therefore Paul meets us, and says, we ought not to judge the gospel
by its success. Although, therefore, men not only remain deaf, but even become
worse, and rush headlong in fury against God, yet the gospel always retains its sweet
savor before God. The doctrine of the Prophet is the same. Now, if any one objects
that God acts cruelly while he so purposely blinds men, that those who are already
sufficiently lost perish twice or thrice over, the answer is at hand — God offers his
word indiscriminately to the good and bad, but it works by his Spirit in the elect, as
I have already said; and as to the reprobate, the doctrine is useful, as it renders
them without excuse. Next, that their obstinacy may be broken down — for since
they refuse to yield willingly to God, it is necessary that they should yield when
conquered — when, therefore, God sees the reprobate thus broken down, he strikes
them with the hammer of his word. At length he takes away all excuse of ignorance,
because being convicted of their own conscience, whether they will or not, they
become their own judges, and their mouth is stopped. Although they do not cease
their rebellion against God, yet they are subject to his judgment. Although,
therefore, this may seem absurd, that God should send his Prophets to render the
people blind, yet we must reverently submit to his counsel, even if the cause is
unknown to us for a time. But, as I have said, we do understand, to a certain extent,
why God thus strives with rebellious and obstinate men.
Now, therefore, since at the very beginning Ezekiel is informed of the result, it is
scarcely doubtful that God wished to prepare him to descend to the discharge of his
duty without yielding to any obstacles. For some who seem to be sufficiently ready
to obey, yet when difficulties and obstacles occur, desist in the middle of their
course, and many recede altogether; and some we see who have renounced their
vocation, because they had conceived great and excessive hopes of success, but when
the event does not answer their expectations, they think themselves discharged from
duty, and even murmur against God, and reject the burden, or rather shake off
what had been imposed upon them. Because, then, many retreat from the course
they had undertaken, because they do not experience the success they had imagined,
or had presumed upon in their minds, therefore before Ezekiel begins to speak, God
sets before him trials of this kind, and informs him that he would have to deal with a
rebellious people.
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He says the children of Israel are a revolting nation; for ‫מרד‬ , mered, signifies to
rebel or resist, and the noun “rebellious” is suitable enough. ThereforeI send thee to
the rebellions nations, because directly after follows the word ‫,מרדו‬ merdo, which
means who have rebelled against me. We know that among the Jews this is a word
of reproach; for they often call us ‫גוימ‬ , goim “Gentiles,” as if they called us
“profane,” “rejected,” and altogether alienated from God. Lastly, this word goim
means with them “pollution” and “abomination;” we are to the Jews like dung, and
the off-scouring of the world, because we aregoim. And there is no doubt that this
pride filled the minds of the people in the days of the Prophet; God therefore calls
them unbelieving nations. I confess, indeed, that this is sometimes used in a good
sense; but because the Scriptures more usually call foreigners goim who are not
partakers of God’s covenant, hence it became a mark of disgrace and reproach
among the Jews. It is scarcely doubtful, then, but that God wished to abolish the
honorable title which he had assigned to them; for it was a holy nation and a
priestly kingdom. When, therefore, God calls them goim, it is just as if he should
say, that they were cut off from all that dignity in which they formerly excelled, and
differed in nothing from the profane and re-jeered nations, as we have a similar
description in Hosea. There the Prophet is ordered to take a harlot to wife. (Hosea
1:0.) He says that he begat a son and a daughter, and that, he called the son ‫,לאעמי‬
lo-ammi that is, “not God people.” Then he called his daughter “not beloved.” By
this vision the Prophet shows that the Jews were rejected, so that God no longer
thinks of them as sons, but repels them as foreigners. So also in this place rejection
is denoted, when the Prophet, as the mouth of God, calls them Gentiles. The plural
number is used, that he may the better express the defection which oppressed the
whole people. If a few only were such as this, the Prophet might still feel
encouraged. But God here pronounced the severest sentence, because the whole
people, taken both at large and separately, was rebellious; and this is the reason
why the plural number is used.
Is ‘it then asked whether a single individual remained who would embrace the
Prophet’s doctrine? The answer is easy. The discourse does not relate to individuals,
but to the whole people; for the Prophets often use similar language, as when they
call the Israelites degenerate and spurious, then sons of Sodom and Gomorrah, and
the offspring of Canaan: they inveigh against the multitude promiscuously; for they
had in fact a few disciples who could not be classed in that order. (Isaiah 1:10;
Isaiah 8:16; Isaiah 57:3; Ezekiel 16:3.) But we must hold what is said by Isaiah
8:0. — “Bind my testimony upon my disciples.” There the Prophet is ordered from
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above to address the faithful, of whom a small number remained, and so to address
them as if the letter were folded and sealed. But he spreads abroad this discourse
among the whole people. So also when God pronounces the sons of Israel to be
rebellious nations, he looks to the body of the people; at the same time there is no
doubt that God always preserved a seed to serve him, although hidden from man.
Daniel was then in exile with his colleagues, and he surely was not a rebel against
God; but as I have already said, enough has been brought forward to show that the
whole people were impious. God says that he had previously tried what the people
was — They have rebelled, he says, against me; by which words he signifies that he
was not making an experiment as if they were previously unknown. He says that he
had already found out their perverseness by many trials; and yet he says that he
sends to them, because he wished, as I have already said, to render their ignorance
perfectly excuseless, and then he wished to break down their contumacy, which was
otherwise untameable.
He says, they and their fathers have behaved themselves treacherously against me
even to this very day He does not extenuate their crime when he says, that they
imitated the example of their fathers, but he rather increases their own impiety
when he says they were not the beginners of it, but were born of impious parents, as
if he should say, according to the vulgar proverb, “a chip of the old block.” (59)
Hence it appears that there is no pretext for the error when we use the fathers as the
Papists do, who oppose them as a shield to God; for whilst they have the fathers on
their tongue, they esteem this a sufficient defense for every impiety. But we see that
God not only reckons this as nothing, but that the crime of the children is
exaggerated when they plead the evil example of their fathers as the cause of their
own obstinacy. Now, not only does the Prophet desire to show this to be a frivolous
excuse, if the Jews should object that they framed their life in imitation of their
fathers, but as we see, it shows them doubly condemned, because they did not desist
from provoking God at the beginning, and so by a continual succession, impiety and
contempt of heavenly teaching prevailed through all ages, even to their own.
Besides, this passage warns us against abusing the long-suffering of God; for when
he sent his Prophet we see the purport of his doing so — the people was now on the
brink of utter destruction, but God wished to plunge them deeper into the lowest
abyss. Let us take care lest a similar punishment should be our lot if we remain
obstinate. When, therefore, God sends some Prophets to one people, and some to
another:, it ought to recall us to penitence, and to caution us, lest the word which is
peculiarly destined to the salvation of men, should be to us a savor of death unto
death, as it was to the ancient people. It follows —
25

ELLICOTT, “Verse 3
(3) I send thee to the children of Israel.—Here properly begins the distinct
commission of the prophet. After the captivity of the ten tribes, the two forming the
kingdom of Judah, with such remnants of the others as had been induced by
Hezekiah and others to cast in their lot with them, are constantly spoken of as
“Israel.” (See Ezra 2:2.) The continuity of the whole nation was considered as
preserved in the remnant, and hence this same mode of expression passed into the
New Testament. (See Acts 26:7.) It is only when there is especial occasion to
distinguish between the two parts of the nation, as in Ezekiel 4:5-6, that the name of
Israel is used in contrast with that of Judah.
A rebellious nation.—Literally, as in the margin, rebellious nations, the word being
the same as that commonly used distinctively for the heathen, so that the children of
Israel are here spoken of as “rebellious heathen.” There could be no epithet which
would carry home more forcibly to the mind of an Israelite the state of antagonism
in which he had placed himself against his God. (Comp. the “Lo-ammi” of Hosea
1:9, and also the discourse of our Lord in John 8:39.) Yet still, the God from whom
they had turned aside was even now sending to them His prophet, and seeking to
win them back to His love and obedience, in true correspondence to the vision of the
bow in the cloud about the majesty on high.
The following verses enlarge, with a variety of epithets and repetitions, upon the
hard-heartedness and perverseness of the people. This had always been the
character of the Israelites from the time of Moses (see Exodus 32:9; Exodus 33:3;
Exodus 33:5, &c), and continued to be to the end (see Acts 7:51); so entirely without
ground is the allegation that they were chosen as a people peculiarly inclined to the
right. It is to such a people that Ezekiel is to be sent, and he needed to be prepared
and encouraged for his work.
TRAPP, “Ezekiel 2:3 And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children
of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me: they and their fathers
have transgressed against me, [even] unto this very day.
Ver. 3. I send thee to the children of Israel.] So they will needs call themselves. But
what saith God in Micah 2:7? "O thou that art named the house of Jacob, is the
Spirit of the Lord straitened? are these his doings?" {See Trapp on "Micah 2:7"}
26

To a rebellious nation.] Heb., Gentiles. So the Jews call us Christians in scorn. So
God calleth them here in great contempt "a rebellious nation." See Amos 9:7 Genres
apostatrices, as the Vulgate here hath it. The Jews call the Turks Ishmaelites, the
Ethiopians Cushites; but Christians they call Gojim, an abominable nation, and
Mamzer-goll, a bastard people.
They and their fathers have transgressed against me.] A serpentine seed they are, a
race of rebels; neither good egg nor bird, but mali corvi mala ova.
Even unto this very day.] Being nothing bettered by all that they have suffered. See
Jeremiah 16:13, Isaiah 1:5.
PARKER, “Now the prophet is given to understand what his exact vocation is to
be:—
"And he said unto me, Son of Prayer of Manasseh , I send thee to the children of
Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me: they and their fathers
have transgressed against me, even unto this very day. For they are impudent
children and stiff-hearted. I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them,
Thus saith the Lord God" ( Ezekiel 2:3-4).
This is the beginning of the distinct commission of the prophet. When does the Lord
grant vision only? Is not every vision a preparation for a duty? Is not every period
of rapture to be considered as. introductory to a period of service or suffering? We
are not called to mere contemplation or rhapsody, or selfish spiritual delight; when
we walk by that way of pleasure, or live in that dream of glory, it is that we may at
the end be strengthened for ministry, more highly and completely qualified for the
rough and arduous work of endeavouring to bring other men to see their sinfulness,
and to cry out in the language of penitence.
The two tribes which formed the kingdom of Judah, together with such remnants of
the others as had been induced by Hezekiah to cast in their lot with them, are
constantly spoken of as "Israel." Ten tribes had been lost, but the continuity of the
whole nation was looked upon as sustained in that small remnant. It may be that
one man shall be looked upon as constituting the whole household of his father, so
that he should not be a mere individual, but a family, a clan, a tribe, and whilst he
lives all the members of the household to which he belonged may be considered to be
living too. Far, indeed, they may have gone astray, yea, they may have utterly cut
themselves off from the literal covenant of mercy, but the survivor in whose heart
there is one spark of divine love is to consider himself as in a federal capacity, and is
to go out after that which is lost until he find it.
A very significant expression is "a rebellious nation." Literally, that phrase might
be read "rebellious nations," because the word so translated is only applied to the
heathen, and therefore the children of Israel, God"s chosen ones, the very anointed
sons of Heaven, are now regarded as belonging to the rebellious heathen: every
27

spiritual association has been cut, every filament uniting Israel with God has been
sundered, and they who were once unique in their relation to Heaven have become,
as it were, commingled with the pagans and heathen of other nations. The epithet
means less to us than it would mean to an Israelite. Yet, though this alienation had
been completed by Israel, God could not surrender his shepherdly relation to the
wandering people; in his heart there was a yearning love towards them. God could
not forget the past. When God forgets a soul, and turns away from it in disdain, who
can imagine what has transpired on the part of that soul to create and justify the
divine contempt? The children of Israel are called "impudent children"; in the
margin the phrase is "hard of face." They could hear reproof, and reject it; they
could stand up in the presence of accusation without feeling one pang of shame or
remorse; they had become habituated to evil, and the practice thereof had become
easy to them; all spiritual sensitiveness was lost, all holy feeling had been destroyed;
to such condition may men bring themselves by oft-repeated wickedness. Little by
little moral sensitiveness is blunted; little by little the nature that was meant to live
in God averts itself from the light of heaven; little by little we go down into decay,
and noisomeness, and death. Surely men are not hard of face against God all at
once? There are times when they have felt keenly that they have done the things that
they ought not to have done, and have left undone the things they ought to have
done; but custom destroys sensitiveness, familiarity with wickedness hardens the
soul and the face against God.
The prophet is given to understand that his message may not at first be received by
the people to whom it is delivered; the Lord says, "And they, whether they will hear,
or whether they will forbear" ( Ezekiel 2:5). This expression is used in subsequent
verses, so that the prophet was duly prepared for the possible rejection of his word.
Ezekiel might have supposed that he had but to deliver the message, and the house
of Israel would directly and joyfully respond to his appeal. On the contrary, he is
here assured that rejection may be as confidently looked for as acceptance, but
whether acceptance or rejection should follow the exercise of his ministry, he was
not to be deterred from the discharge of his duty. It is hard indeed to throw away
compassion and solicitude upon the wind, or upon the sea, or upon the wilderness. A
prophet, how highly qualified soever for his work, might soon become weary of thus
abortively endeavouring to do good where the doing of good was an impossibility.
Men who are called to the prophetic office are not called to reap their reward from
the field in which they exercised their function: they are called upon to sustain
themselves by the inspiration of Heaven. If they are delivering a mere speculation of
their own, they will soon become weary of repeating the pointless words; if
preachers have to live upon their own inventiveness, they will soon fall into self-
neglect or into official carelessness; but when they have simply to repeat their
message, to translate into the words of time the truths of eternity, where they may at
all moments turn aside to refresh themselves at the very fountains of heaven, they
will grow stronger and stronger, and in proportion to the stubbornness and
ingratitude of the age to which they minister they will strengthen themselves in the
living God. Only the Word of God can live through the thick and tremendous
dangers which beset a public career. Men who are charged with divine messages,
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and who look rather at themselves than at the Author of their gospels, will soon
succumb to the lures and blandishments of society, for the flesh is weak and the
temptation is strong, and men are naturally lovers of ease rather than devotees of
labour.
Not only is the prophet warned that the people may not hear him, but he is also
warned that they may actually put him in danger and make his life a burden to him.
In the vision therefore the prophet hears a voice which says, "Son of Prayer of
Manasseh , be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words": they will be
angry, petulant, vindictive; they will resent the supposed interference of a holy
prophet; they will dislike to be disturbed at their feasts of iniquity and their revels
in the house of darkness; but let divine hope exceed human fear, and live thou, O
son of Prayer of Manasseh , in the sanctuary of divine truth, and arm thyself with
all the panoply of divine grace. If the people be as briers and thorns, and if thou
hast to dwell amongst scorpions, still make thine heart strong in the Lord: "Be not
afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious
house"—that Isaiah , a house of rebellion, an expression which is used in the
prophecies of Ezekiel eleven times. The people were originally the house of Israel,
but now they have become the house of rebellion; they have gone from extremity to
extremity; lifted up to heaven at one period of their history, they have been plunged
down into the pit of death at another. We are not to suppose that a faithful ministry
is an easy task. No man can continually rebuke his age, and yet be living a luxurious
life, unless indeed he be the victim of hypocrisy, or the tool of some vicious
hallucination. The prophets of the Lord have always been opposed to the age in
which they lived. Whenever the ministry has fallen into accord with the age, it is not
the age that has gone up, it is the ministry that has gone down. A reproachful,
corrective, stimulating voice should always be characteristic of a spiritual ministry.
No evil shall be able to live in its presence, and no custom, how fashionable or
popular soever, should be able to lift up its head without condemnation in the
presence of a man who is filled with the burden or doctrine of the Lord. We should
have persecution revived were we to revive the highest type of godliness. Sin has not
altered, but righteousness may have modified its terms; the earth remains as it was
from the beginning, but they who represent the kingdom of heaven may have
committed themselves to an unworthy and degrading compromise. Evermore shall
the wicked hate the godly, unless the godly take down their banners and are
contented to live in dumbness and in traitorous suppression of the truth. Again and
again is the prophet encouraged in his work. God would seem to be almost afraid
that the prophet would be swallowed up of fear. "The fear of man bringeth a
snare." It is hard to be always on the reproving side; and the hardness is increased
by the fact that oftentimes the prophet can only refer to a vision as the ground and
authority on which he stands and by which he works. It was a spiritual vision, a
spiritual impression, a spiritual assurance; and to oppose spirit to matter has always
been a task of the greatest severity.
The prophet is not to go at his own charges, or to deliver messages of his own
invention—"But thou, son of Prayer of Manasseh , hear what I say unto thee." Even
29

the prophet must be doubly qualified. It is not enough to be a prophet as if by birth;
men must be made prophets by divine communion, by enlarged experience, by
spiritual education. The most high God in this vision actually addresses the prophet
as if he himself might fall into the rebellion of the people whose heathenism he was
to reprove. "Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house." Even prophets may
be dragged down to the level of their age. What is one amongst many? What is a
single persecuted life against the uncounted millions whose eyes stand out with
fatness and who have all that heart can wish? A curious process now takes place in
this course of divine preparation. Not only has the prophet seen something, heard
something; now he has to perform another function—"Open thy mouth, and eat
that I give thee." All this Isaiah , of course, figurative. "And when I looked, behold,
an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein; and he spread it
before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein
Lamentations , and mourning, and woe." In the third chapter the prophet is still
represented as eating the roll, that he might be prepared to go forth and speak unto
the house of Israel. The prophet was to fill himself with a book. His experience of it
is thus stated: "Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness."
Who has not felt in his first call to high office and dignity a sense of pleasure, a sense
of having partaken of that most exquisite luxury? The message is known to be so
true, so wise, so good, that we feel we have only to deliver it in order to be
acknowledged as the heralds and ambassadors of Heaven. This was the experience
of John the Divine on the occasion of his eating the little book referred to in
Revelation ( Revelation 10:10). Inward experience is not often confirmed by
outward fact and reality in the case of a maledictory ministry. The prophet is
assured that he is not being sent to a people of a strange speech and of a hard
language, but to the house of Israel: he is not going to speak to a people of a strange
speech and of a hard language, whose words he could not understand. This was at
once an encouragement and a discouragement: it was an encouragement in that he
had the support of relationship, association, and a common history; and it was a
discouragement in that the Most High assured him, "Surely, had I sent thee to
them,"—that Isaiah , to people of a strange speech and of a hard language,—"they
would have hearkened unto thee."
The prophet is assured that he would have received better treatment from the actual
heathen than from the perverted Israelites. Jesus Christ said the same thing in
relation to the miracles and the teaching of his own ministry: "Woe unto thee,
Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in
you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in
sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and
Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art
exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which
have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this
day." We are not to suppose that any unusual experience has befallen us because the
divine word which we declare is thrown back upon us, and is branded with
contempt.
30

POOLE, "Verse 3
And he: see Ezekiel 2:2.
Said unto me; either vocally, or by impression upon his mind.
Son of man: the prophet had seen, Ezekiel 1:26 of the former chapter, a very
glorious person on a throne above the firmament, and now the prophet is called son
of man, perhaps, as the Jews conjecture, to encourage the prophet in his prophetic
work, and to assure him he should be owned by that glorious One, who appeared as
a man, and calls Ezekiel son of man: it is certain he would never forget what he had
seen, and it is likely this Mda Ng as oft as it was spoken, would mind the prophet
what relation it might have to the vision.
I send thee; I am sending, or he that sendeth thee is whom thou sawest on the throne
advanced above angels, who directs them in their course of ministry subserving the
will of God, and who will give them charge of thee in thy way.
Children, Heb. sons; God gives them still the name of sons and children, he is not
hasty to abdicate, to disinherit, and cast off.
To the children of Israel, now in the low estate of captives: the lessening name of
Jacob had been too great, one might think; but God tells the prophet they were the
children of Israel, that prince who wrestled with God, and prevailed, Hosea 12:3-5.
It is very likely they had some that feared and sought the God of Jacob, and did
wrestle as he had done before them: it insinuateth some hope, however, that God
would redeem them, Psalms 25:22, would be good unto them, Psalms 73:1; his
dominion was over them, Psalms 114:2, and they were a peculiar people, Psalms
135:4,12.
To a rebellious nation, Heb. nations that are rebellious, very disobedient: as
rebellion is the highest crime against the supreme magistrate, so were Israel’s sins
against God. Hence some will have Ezekiel to be commissioned a prophet to
denounce God’s judgments against the heathen, who are in Scripture called by the
word here used. But though Ezekiel did prophesy against the nations, as against
Egypt. Babylon, Gog, and Magog, yet here these nations in this third verse are the
Jews, who were like the nations in their idolatry and manners; they had
degenerated from their father Israel, and rebelled against Israel’s God. If the title
Israel be comfort to the best, the appellation given to the rest, they were a
rebellious nation, is terror and menace as well as rebuke to the worst, and God
intimates they were what they accounted the Gentiles to be, polluted, profane, and
hated of God.
That hath rebelled against me: this was implied in the former word, but thus
31

expressly added to ascertain the charge, and to aggravate the crime of this people,
who were from their fathers’ days to this very day rebelling against God. It was the
glory of St. Paul, he served God with pure conscience; it is the shame of this nation,
they have rebelled from their fathers.
They and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very day; their
fathers before them, and they with their fathers, and all successively; God was
provoked at once with two generations of rebels, fathers who gave example, and
children which took it.
BI 3-5, "I send thee to the children of Israel.
The commission of Ezekiel
I. The commission. Is it not an act of infinite condescension, that God should take any
notice of us? For what are we? Poor finite creatures; of limited capacities, with
tendencies to evil, tendencies to the very thing that God Almighty hates, detests, and
abhors. Not only with tendencies to these things; but in the actual perpetration of sin;
committing crime upon crime. And yet God sends His message to us. Why? Because He
knows the original dignity of the soul of man; He knows what it was before he fell; He
knows what it was capable of then; and He knows what the soul of man can yet be made
through the blood of the Cross and through the power of the Holy Ghost: and, therefore,
God sends messages to man. “I do send”; “thou shalt say.” We have no business to go
and preach unless God send the outward call of the Church and the inward call of the
Spirit. And hence our own Church asks all its candidates for holy orders—the bishop
puts the question—“Dost thou believe that thou art inwardly moved by the Holy Ghost to
take upon thee this office?” Oh, solemn question! But what shall they speak? They shall
speak, “Thus saith the Lord.” The authority for the message is “I do send”; the nature of
the message is what the Lord hath said.
II. The way in which this message, which the prophet had been commissioned to
deliver, is treated. A twofold way: some receive it; others reject it. Concerning the
apostolical ministry, concerning the word preached by the apostles, some believed the
thing spoken, and some believed not.
III. They who receive this message, and they who reject it, shall both know at last that it
came from the Lord. They who receive it, knew it long before. The indwelling Spirit of
the living God testifies with your spirits that these things are true. But take the case of
those who reject the Gospel. Oh, they find out also that it was all true. I appeal from the
present to the future. You know there is a story in history of a poor woman who
considered herself aggrieved, and applied to Philip, King of Macedon. She found him in
a state of intoxication: I appeal, said she, “from Philip, under the influence of wine, to
Philip, sober and able to judge.” And so I say, if the world, with its allurements, enchant
and ensnare you now, and intoxicate your spirit. I appeal from that state to the hour
when you shall turn your pale face to the waft, when friends and kindred and medical
men shall whisper, “It will soon be all over”: then you shall find, as true as that there is a
God, that the Bible is a Divine revelation, that the things which we said to you,
concerning which you thought us too much in earnest, are all perfectly true. (T.
Mortimer, B. D.)
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Proximity not identification.
He was a prophet though the house was rebellious. Can the Lord find no better place for
His prophets? Can He not make them a second garden? He made one: can He not make
two? Can He not cause His prophet to stand in some high tower where he will be
untainted by the pollution of place and time, and whence he can thunder out the Divine
word? Has the prophet to mingle with the people, to live with them, to touch their
corruptness, to feel the contagion of their evil manners? Might he not have a pedestal to
himself? No. The Son of Man when He comes will go on eating and drinking, a social
reformer, a brother, a fellow guest at tables; He will take the cup after we have partaken
of it, and we may cut Him what morsel of bread He may eat, or He will hand them to us;
He will be one of His fellowcreatures. And yet Ezekiel was a prophet. So is the Son of
Man. Nothing could mingle Ezekiel with the rebellious house, so as to be unable to
distinguish between the one and the other. Proximity is not identification. We may sit
close to a murderer, and be quite distinct from him as to all our proclivities, and desires,
and aspirations. We need not be corrupt because we live in a corrupt age; we need not go
down because the neighbourhood is bad. It is poor pleading, it is irreligious and
inexcusable defence, which says it could not resist atmospheric pressure, the subtle
influence of social custom and habitude. It is the business of a prophet to stand right up
from them, apart from them, and yet to be so near as to be able to teach them, exhort
them, rebuke them, and comfort them, when they turn their face but a point towards the
throne, the Cross, and the promised heaven. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Commission given to ministers
1. To declare God’s will;
2. To assert His authority;
3. To seek, notwithstanding all our discouragements, the salvation of their souls.
Learn hence—
1. The importance of the ministry;
2. The duty of those who are ministered unto. (G. Simeon, M. A.)
Sin a treason
How does any man know but the very oath he is swearing, the lewdness he is
committing, may be scored up by God as one item for a new rebellion? We may be
rebels, and yet neither vote in Parliament, sit in committees, or fight in armies. Every sin
is virtually a treason, and we may be guilty of murder by breaking other commandments
besides the sixth. (R South.)
Rebellion against God
“There is as much felony in coming pence as shillings and pounds” (Manton). The
33

principle is the same, whatever the value of the coin may be: the prerogative of the
Crown is trenched upon by the counterfeiter, even if he only imitates and utters the
smallest coin of the realm. He has set the royal sign to his base metal, and the small
money value of his coinage is no excuse for his offence. Anyone sin wilfully indulged and
persevered in is quite sufficient to prove a man to be a traitor to his God. The spirit of
rebellion is the same whatever be the manner of displaying it. A giant may look out
through a very small window, and so may great obstinacy of rebellion manifest itself in a
little act of wilfulness. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The preacher’s duty
Like as the fountain, though no man draw of it, doth still send forth his springs; or as a
river, though no man drink of it, yet doth it keep his course, and flow nevertheless; even
so it behoveth him that preacheth the word of God, to do what lieth in his power, though
no man give any attentiveness, or have any care to follow the same. (J. Spencer.)
Impudent children and stiff-hearted.
Impudence and stiff-heartedness
1. Progress in sin makes impudent. It is an exceeding evil to be past shame, to be
impudent in sinning. If ever God show mercy to such sinners, they must be ashamed.
2. Where there is an impudent face there is a hard, stiff heart. And this is one of the
greatest evils.
3. God sends His prophets and ministers about hard services, such as are full of
discouragements when looked upon with a carnal eye.
4. Ministers should not so much look at the persons they are sent to, or the event of
their ministry, as at their call. God’s will and command must content us, support us.
What if we be scoffed at, reviled, made the offscouring and filth of the world; yet here
is the comfort of a true prophet, of a true minister, Christ sent him; and He that set
him to work will pay him his wages, whether they hear or hear not to whom he is
sent.
5. Those who are sent of God must deliver, not their own, but God’s message. (W.
Greenhill, M. A.)
A ministry to the unresponsive
“We may preach and preach,” said a great bishop once to his ordinands, “and our words
will seem to fall upon a stone, and not upon a man’s heart.” Under any such trials of
patience and hopefulness, Ezekiel’s experience will prove helpful. How awful is the
reason assigned! They “will not hearken unto thee, for they will not hearken unto Me.”
As our Lord said long afterwards (Joh_15:18), the servant could not expect to be
welcomed when the Lord had been in effect rejected, The exiles’ hearts were not right
with God; therefore, of course, they could not appreciate God’s envoy. What they said, as
he reports it, exhibits human perversity in some very advanced forms, which are by no
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Ezekiel 2 commentary

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Ezekiel 2 commentary