Ezekiel 2 explained: A Prophet Sent to Hard Listeners

Raised to his feet (vv. 1-2)

Ezekiel had fallen face down after his vision of God's glory, and God's Spirit lifts him up so he can stand and listen. "Son of man" is a Hebrew way of saying "human being," a reminder that he is a mortal before God; Christians note that Jesus later took up this title for himself.

Sent to a stubborn people (vv. 3-5)

God sends him to his fellow Israelites, calling them rebels who have turned from God just as their ancestors did, and the word used for "nation" is the one normally used for foreign peoples. His success is not measured by their response: whether they listen or not, they will know a prophet was among them and cannot say they were never told.

Do not be afraid (vv. 6-7)

Briers, thorns and scorpions picture the sharp, stinging hostility he will meet from his own people. God tells him again and again not to fear them, because his only job is to pass on God's words.

Eat what I give you (v. 8)

Ezekiel himself must not resist God the way the people do. Eating stands for taking the message fully into himself so it becomes part of him before he speaks it, and the eating itself happens in the next chapter.

A scroll full of grief (vv. 9-10)

A hand holds out a scroll, the usual form of a book then, and it is written on both sides, which was unusual and suggests it was crammed full. Its contents are mourning and woe, pointing ahead to the disaster coming on Jerusalem that much of Ezekiel's early message announces.

Key verse: Ezekiel 2:5

Something to think about

Is it worth saying something true when you expect almost no one to listen, and what would make it worth it?