Ezekiel 2
OUTLINE:
I. \\#Eze 1:1-23:49\\ Before the Siege (c.593-587)
A. \\#1:1-3:15\\ The First Message
1. \\#Eze 1:1-28\\ God
a. \\#1-3\\ The Setting
b. \\#4-28\\ The Glory of the Lord
c. \\#4\\ The Cloud
d. \\#5-14\\ The Four Living Creatures
e. \\#15-21\\ The Four Wheels
f. \\#22-25\\ The Firmament
g. \\#26-28\\ The One Above
h. \\#28\\ Ezekiel’s Reaction
2. \\#2:1-3:15\\ The Commission of Ezekiel
a. \\#2:1-2\\ God’s Strengthening
b. \\#2:3-3:15\\ God’s Calling
(1) \\#2:3-5\\ Go to God’s People
(2) \\#2:6-3:3\\ Go with God’s Words
(3) \\#3:4-11\\ Go with God’s Equipping
(4) \\#3:12-15\\ Go with God’s Spirit
B. \\#Eze 3:16-7:27\\ The Second Message
\\#Eze 2:1-3:15\\ The First Message, The Commission of Ezekiel - The
began with the vision of God that Ezekiel saw.
I. \\#2:1-2\\ God’s Strengthening
A. \\#1\\ "and he said unto me"
1. He who?
2. The context says it was the Person who sat upon the
firmament, the God whose glory Ezekiel had seen.
3. \\#Eze 1:3\\ told us specifically that "the word of the
Lord came expressly unto Ezekiel…."
B. "stand"
1. The effect of seeing the glory of the Lord had caused
Ezekiel to fall upon his face \\#Eze 1:28\\.
2. It is now God’s command that Ezekiel stand on his feet.
C. \\#2\\ "the spirit entered into me"
1. Whose "spirit"?
2. Again, the context would say it is the same "spirit" that
controlled the living creatures and the wheels
\\#Eze 1:20\\.
3. It seems obvious that this the Holy Ghost of God.
D. "and set me upon my feet"
1. The text does not tell us that Ezekiel was weakened by his
vision, but that is often the case.
Da 8:27 And I Daniel fainted, and was sick
certain days; afterward I rose up, and did the
king’s business; and I was astonished at the
vision, but none understood it.
Da 10:8 Therefore I was left alone, and saw this
great vision, and there remained no strength in
me: for my comeliness was turned in me into
corruption, and I retained no strength.
Rev 1:17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet
as dead….
2. So the Holy Spirit of God entered into Ezekiel to literally
strengthen him so that he could hear and concentrate on
what God told him.
II. \\#2:3-3:15\\ God’s Calling
A. \\#2:3-5\\ Go to God’s People - God used a variety of words and
phrases to describe Israel. All of them described a hard-
hearted people
1. \\#3\\ "a rebellious nation that hath rebelled"
2. "have transgressed against me"
3. \\#4\\ impudent children and stiff hearted"
4. \\#5\\ "whether they will hear or… forbear"
5. "they are a rebellious house"
6. All of these make it clear that Ezekiel was going to a
people that were not likely to obey God.
B. \\#2:6-3:3\\ Go with God’s Words
1. \\#2:6-8\\ The Commands to Ezekiel
a. \\#6\\ God commanded Ezekiel not to be afraid.
(1) "be not afraid of them"
(2) "neither be afraid of their words" - Sometimes
words can hurt as much as actions as God
illustrated by comparing rebellious Israel’s
sharp words to "briers and thorns."
(3) "nor be dismayed at their looks" - Even a look can
produce fear and unsettle a person.
b. \\#7\\ "speak my words unto them"
(1) God made it clear that telling the people what God
had said was Ezekiel’s only duty.
(2) "whether they will hear or… forbear" was not his
concern.
c. \\#8\\ "Be not thou rebellious"
(1) God did caution and command Ezekiel not to follow
the path of Israel in being rebellious to Him.
(2) With the commands given to Ezekiel, rebellion on
his part would have been as simple as to show
fear or to compromise the message God had given.
(a) That demonstrates that the more righteous a
person is, the higher the standard for his
righteousness becomes.
(b) We mostly read in the Bible of those who were
faithful to God in their calling. How many
rebelled, failed in their calling, and so
were never mentioned?
2. \\#2:9-3:3\\ The Consumption of the Word
a. \\#9\\ "an hand… and… a roll" - God sent Ezekiel
a scroll.
b. \\#10\\ "written within and without… lamentations,
and mourning’s, and woe." - The scroll contained the
judgments that God had determined to send upon Israel.
c. \\#3:1\\ "eat this roll, and go speak"
(1) Ezekiel was given two commands:
(a) Eat the roll. Ezekiel was having a vision
but the picture is clear. He was to take
the words of God and feast upon them.
(b) Speak the word to the house of Israel. After
digesting the words of God, Ezekiel was to
tell Israel of the judgments.
(2) The picture of digesting the things of God is a
common illustration.
(a) John was given a similar command.
Re 10:10 And I took the little book out of the
angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my
mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten
it, my belly was bitter.
(b) The Psalmist spoke of his delight in
feasting upon God’s Word.
Ps 119:103 How sweet are thy words unto my
taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
(c) Jesus told His followers to "eat" Him.
Joh 6:53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh
of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have
no life in you.
(3) The meaning of the picture is that we are to take
the spiritual and consume it, making it part of
us. This does two things for us.
(a) It gives us spiritual power as earthly food
gives us earthly energy.
(b) It creates a oneness between the spiritual
and us.
i. If we are consuming Christ, we are one
with Him.
ii. If we are consuming the Word, we are
one with the Word.
(4) \\#3\\ The effect of the picture
Eze 3:3 …in my mouth as honey for sweetness"
(a) John, David, and Ezekiel all speak of the
sweetness of eating God’s Word—even though
Ezekiel plainly tells us that he was eating
the woes that God would pour out on Israel
and John indicates his is judgment to be
poured out on the whole earth.
(b) Why then is the Word sweet?
i. Sweet is the taste to the believer not
to the sinner upon whom the judgment
is to come.
ii. To the sinner, the taste is "bitter"
\\#Rev 10:10\\.
iii. While the believer does not delight in
the sufferings that judgment brings,
he does rejoice that God is a just
God who is bringing glory to Himself
and accomplishing His will.
The remainder of chapter Ezekiel three will be discussed in chapter
Three’s notes.
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