31 Then He said to me, "Son of man , eat what you find ; eat this scroll , and go , speak to the house of Israel ." 2 So I opened my mouth , and He fed me this scroll . 3 He said to me, "Son of man , feed your stomach and fill your body with this scroll which I am giving you." Then I ate it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth . 4 Then He said to me, "Son of man , go e to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them. 5 "For you are not being sent to a people of unintelligible speech or difficult language , but to the house of Israel , 6 nor to many peoples of unintelligible speech or difficult language , whose words you cannot understand . But I have sent you to them who should listen to you; 7 yet the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, since they are not willing to listen to Me. Surely the whole house of Israel is stubborn e and obstinate e . 8 "Behold , I have made your face as hard as their faces and your forehead as hard as their foreheads . 9 "Like emery harder than flint I have made your forehead . Do not be afraid of them or be dismayed before e them, though they are a rebellious house ." 10 Moreover, He said to me, "Son of man , take into your heart all My words which I will speak to you and listen closely . 11 "Go to the exiles , to the sons of your people , and speak to them and tell them, whether they listen or not, 'Thus says the Lord GOD .' " 12 Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me, "Blessed be the glory of the Lord in His place ." 13 And I heard the sound of the wings of the living beings touching one another and the sound of the wheels beside them, even a great rumbling sound . 14 So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away; and I went embittered in the rage of my spirit , and the hand of the Lord was strong on me. 15 Then I came to the exiles who lived beside the river Chebar at Tel-abib , and I sat there seven days where they were living , causing consternation among them.
16 At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me, saying , 17 "Son of man , I have appointed you a watchman to the house of Israel ; whenever you hear a word from My mouth , warn them from Me. 18 "When I say to the wicked , 'You will surely die ,' and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live , that wicked man shall die in his iniquity , but his blood I will require at your hand . 19 "Yet if you have warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way , he shall die in his iniquity ; but you have delivered yourself . 20 "Again, when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity , and I place an obstacle before him, he will die ; since you have not warned him, he shall die in his sin , and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered ; but his blood I will require at your hand . 21 "However, if you have warned the righteous man that the righteous should not sin and he does not sin , he shall surely live because he took warning ; and you have delivered yourself ."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ezekiel 3:1-21
Commentary on Ezekiel 3:1-11
(Read Ezekiel 3:1-11)
Ezekiel was to receive the truths of God as the food for his soul, and to feed upon them by faith, and he would be strengthened. Gracious souls can receive those truths of God with delight, which speak terror to the wicked. He must speak all that, and that only, which God spake to him. How can we better speak God's mind than with his words? If disappointed as to his people, he must not be offended. The Ninevites were wrought upon by Jonah's preaching, when Israel was unhumbled and unreformed. We must leave this unto the Divine sovereignty, and say, Lord, thy judgments are a great deep. They will not regard the word of the prophet, for they will not regard the rod of God. Christ promises to strengthen him. He must continue earnest in preaching, whatever the success might be.
Commentary on Ezekiel 3:12-21
(Read Ezekiel 3:12-21)
This mission made the holy angels rejoice. All this was to convince Ezekiel, that the God who sent him had power to bear him out in his work. He was overwhelmed with grief for the sins and miseries of his people, and overpowered by the glory of the vision he had seen. And however retirement, meditation, and communion with God may be sweet, the servant of the Lord must prepare to serve his generation. The Lord told the prophet he had appointed him a watchman to the house of Israel. If we warn the wicked, we are not chargeable with their ruin. Though such passages refer to the national covenant made with Israel, they are equally to be applied to the final state of all men under every dispensation. We are not only to encourage and comfort those who appear to be righteous, but they are to be warned, for many have grown high-minded and secure, have fallen, and even died in their sins. Surely then the hearers of the gospel should desire warnings, and even reproofs.