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Ezekiel 3

God makes Ezekiel responsible for receiving and speaking his word, even when Israel refuses to hear it.

God tells Ezekiel to eat a scroll and speak his words to the house of Israel, warning that his own people will refuse to listen. The Spirit carries Ezekiel to the exiles at Tel Aviv by the river Chebar, where he spends seven days overwhelmed. God then appoints him as Israel’s watchman, responsible for delivering warnings about sin and death. The chapter ends with Ezekiel confined and his speech restricted: God will open his mouth when he has a message to deliver.

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1He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.”
3He said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll that I give you and fill your belly and your bowels with it.” Then I ate it. It was as sweet as honey in my mouth.
4He said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel, and speak my words to them.
5For you are not sent to a people of a strange speech and of a hard language, but to the house of Israel—
6not to many peoples of a strange speech and of a hard language, whose words you can’t understand. Surely, if I sent you to them, they would listen to you.
7But the house of Israel will not listen to you, for they will not listen to me; for all the house of Israel are obstinate and hard-hearted.
8Behold, I have made your face hard against their faces, and your forehead hard against their foreheads.
9I have made your forehead as a diamond, harder than flint. Don’t be afraid of them, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house.”
10Moreover he said to me, “Son of man, receive in your heart and hear with your ears all my words that I speak to you.
11Go to them of the captivity, to the children of your people, and speak to them, and tell them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says,’ whether they will hear, or whether they will refuse.”
12Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great rushing, saying, “Blessed be the LORD’s glory from his place.”
13I heard the noise of the wings of the living creatures as they touched one another, and the noise of the wheels beside them, even the noise of a great rushing.
14So the Spirit lifted me up, and took me away; and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; and the LORD’s hand was strong on me.
15Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel Aviv who lived by the river Chebar, and to where they lived; and I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days.
17“Son of man, I have made you a watchman to the house of Israel. Therefore hear the word from my mouth, and warn them from me.
18When I tell the wicked, ‘You will surely die;’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that wicked man will die in his iniquity; but I will require his blood at your hand.
19Yet if you warn the wicked, and he doesn’t turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he will die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.”
20“Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he will die. Because you have not given him warning, he will die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered; but I will require his blood at your hand.
21Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man, that the righteous not sin, and he does not sin, he will surely live, because he took warning; and you have delivered your soul.”
22The LORD’s hand was there on me; and he said to me, “Arise, go out into the plain, and I will talk with you there.”
23Then I arose, and went out into the plain, and behold, the LORD’s glory stood there, like the glory which I saw by the river Chebar. Then I fell on my face.
24Then the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet. He spoke with me, and said to me, “Go, shut yourself inside your house.
25But you, son of man, behold, they will put ropes on you, and will bind you with them, and you will not go out among them.
26I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be mute and will not be able to correct them, for they are a rebellious house.
27But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall tell them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says.’ He who hears, let him hear; and he who refuses, let him refuse; for they are a rebellious house.”
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Ezekiel 3:1Eating the scroll comes before speaking to Israel, placing Ezekiel under the word he must deliver.
Ezekiel 3:17The watchman commission makes Ezekiel accountable to God for warning Israel with the words God supplies.
Ezekiel 3:14Ezekiel goes in bitterness under God’s strong hand; the text leaves the precise cause of his distress unstated.
Where this chapter reaches

Jeremiah shares the image of eating God’s words, while Revelation shares Ezekiel’s act of eating a scroll that tastes sweet in the mouth. Acts shares the language of responsibility for others’ blood in connection with the duty to declare God’s message.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What do you notice about the sweet scroll alongside Ezekiel’s bitterness and seven days of being overwhelmed?

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How does the watchman passage distinguish Ezekiel’s responsibility from the responsibility of those who hear him?

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Questions people ask about Ezekiel 3

Why does Ezekiel eat a scroll in Ezekiel 3?

God commands Ezekiel to eat the scroll before sending him to speak to Israel. The action portrays his reception of the message he must deliver. Verse 10 reinforces this by commanding him to receive God’s words in his heart and hear them with his ears. The scroll tastes like honey.

What does it mean that Ezekiel is a watchman?

A watchman warns people of danger. God assigns Ezekiel this role toward Israel: he must hear God’s word and warn the people. If he withholds the warning, God holds him accountable for their blood. If he warns and they refuse to turn, they bear responsibility for their sin.

Why does God make Ezekiel mute?

God links Ezekiel’s muteness to Israel’s rebellion and says he will be unable to correct them. Yet God also promises to open his mouth when giving him a message. The restriction places Ezekiel’s speech under God’s control. This chapter does not explain how long the muteness lasts or who binds him.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).