592BC-570BC – The Scroll – one of Ezekiel’s messages

Ezekiel 2:1-10 and 3:1-21. Ezekiel had to eat a Scroll and then tell his people what was on it. This vision is very much like the one John had in the book of Revelation.

Ezekiel in Hebrew means: My strengthener is God.

He prophesied from the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin, king of Judah about 593BC.

The early biblical scriptures were written on a scrolls and only transposed into books about AD1000 e.g. {Luke 4:17}.

Ezekiel was from the tribe of Levi, born about 623BC into a priestly family who lived around Jerusalem and the Temple.

Ezekiel’s messages were given between 593BC-571BC. The Temple was destroyed in 586BC.

Background Reading:

Ezekiel’s Commission to Prophesy

2:1 “Son of Man,” the LORD said, “get up on your feet. I want to talk to you.” 2Even while he was speaking to me, the Spirit entered me, set me on my feet, and I listened to the voice that had been speaking to me.

3“Son of Man, I’m sending you to that rebellious people, the Israelis, who have rebelled against me the same way their ancestors did. And they’re still rebels to this very day! 4They’re stubborn and strong willed. I’m sending you to them to tell them what the LORD says. 5Whether this rebellious group listens to you or not, at least they’ll realize that a prophet had appeared in their midst!

6“Now as for you, Son of Man, never be afraid of them or of anything they have to say, because being with them will be like settling down to live among briers, thorn bushes, and scorpions! Don’t be afraid of anything they have to say, and don’t be awed by their appearance, since they are a rebellious group. 7You are to tell them whatever I have to say to them, whether they listen or not, since they are rebellious.”

The Vision of the Edible Scroll

8“Son of Man, you are to listen to what I tell you. You are never to be rebellious like they are: a rebellious group. Now, open your mouth and eat what I’m giving you…”1

9 As I watched, all of a sudden there was a hand being stretched out in my direction! And there was a scroll 110 being unrolled right in front of me! Written on both sides were lamentations, mourning, and cries of grief.
Ezekiel 2:1-10

and

Ezekiel’s Commission to Prophesy

3:1 Then he told me, “Son of Man, eat! Eat what you see —this scroll—and then go talk to the house of Israel.” 2So I opened my mouth and he fed me the scroll.

3Then he told me, “Son of Man, fill your stomach and digest this scroll that I’m giving you.” So I ate it, and it was like sweet honey in my mouth.

4Then he told me, “Son of Man, go to the house of Israel and tell them what I have to say to them, 5because you’re not going to a people whose speech you cannot understand or whose language is difficult to speak. Instead, you’re going to the house of Israel. 6This isn’t a large group of people whose speech is unintelligible to you or whose language is difficult for you to comprehend. Frankly, if I had sent you to that kind of people, they would certainly have listened to you! 7But the house of Israel won’t listen to you, since they weren’t willing to listen to me. That’s because the entire house of Israel is hard-headed and hard-hearted. 8So pay attention! I’m going to make you just as obstinate and unyielding as they are. 9I’m making you harder than flint—like diamond! So you are not to fear them or be intimidated by how they look at you, since they’re a rebellious group.”

Ezekiel is Commissioned to Speak

10Next, he told me, “Son of Man, take to heart every word that I’m telling you. Listen carefully, 11then go immediately to the exiles; that is, to your people’s descendants, and tell them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says…’ whether they listen or not.”

12Then the Spirit lifted me up and I heard a great earthquake behind me and the glory of the LORD arose from his place, 13accompanied by the sound of the wings of the living creatures gently touching each other and with the sound of the wheels emanating from the front, accompanied by a great earthquake.

Ezekiel Addresses the Israelis

14Then the Spirit lifted me up and carried me away. I went bitterly with an angry attitude as the hand of the LORD rested on me. 15I came to the exiles at Tel-abib by the Chebar River and sat down among them for seven days, appalled. 16At the end of the seven days, this message from the LORD came to me: 17“Son of Man,” he said, “I’ve appointed you to be a watchman over the house of Israel. Therefore when you hear a message that comes from me, you are to warn them for me.

18“So when I say to a wicked person, ‘You’re about to die,’ if you don’t warn or instruct that wicked person that his behavior is wicked so he can live, that wicked person will die in his sin, but I’ll hold you responsible for his death. 19If you warn the wicked person, and he doesn’t repent of his wickedness or of his wicked behavior, he’ll die in his sin, but you will have saved your own life.

20“When a righteous man abandons his righteousness to practice unrighteousness, I’ll set a stumbling block before him. He’ll die. If you don’t warn him, he’ll die in his sin and the righteous deeds that he had practiced won’t be remembered, but you’ll be held responsible for his death. 21 If you warn the righteous person, so that he doesn’t commit sin, then he’ll live, since he had been warned. And you will have saved your life.”
Ezekiel 2:1—3:21


Other slides in this module: