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Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 2:2-5

An arduous embassage. Every prophet is a missionary; every true missionary is a prophet. In an inferior sense of the word, he is a mediator—a mediator between God and man. I. THE MISSIONARY CHARACTER OF THE PROPHET . He is one "sent." He goes not to this difficult and responsible work by the impulse of his own reason or will. He is in the employ and under the direction of another—of One whom he cannot disregard. He cannot go or stay, as he pleases, he is a servant. The Son... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 2:3

To a rebellious nation ; literally, with Revised Version, nations that are rebellious. The Hebrew word ( goim ) is that used elsewhere for "heathen" and that may be its sense here. As in Ezekiel 28:22 . Judah and Israel may be thought of as having fallen to the level of the heathen. Part of Ezekiel's work was actually addressed to the heathen as such (ch. 25-32.). The word may, however, be used in the plural to include both Judah and the remnant of the northern kingdom. They and their... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 2:3

Rebellious nations. This must have been a bard message for Ezekiel to deliver to his fellow countrymen. It was the heathen, the Gentiles, who were usually designated "nations;" and in applying this designation to Israel, he seemed to degrade the chosen people from their peculiar position of honour, and to rank them with the idolatrous nations whom they were accustomed to despise. And it has been surmised that, in employing the plural, the prophet intended to intimate that the Hebrews no... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 2:3-4

An embassy to rebels. The people of Israel are regarded as a vassal nation that has added rebellion to disloyalty, and has gone so far as to throw off its allegiance to its suzerain lord, and now the Supreme Sovereign sends his prophet as an ambassador to declare his will at this terrible crisis. I. TRANSGRESSORS RIPEN INTO REBELS . They and their fathers had transgressed in the past. But the children have exceeded the wickedness of their parents by breaking out into open... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 2:3-8

The commission to prophetic service. "And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel," etc. We have here— I. A DISCOURAGING SPHERE OF PROPHETIC SERVICE . ( Ezekiel 2:3 , Ezekiel 2:4 .) Ezekiel was sent to: 1 . A people who had mournfully fallen. "I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me." By descent they were sons of Israel, who had engaged in mighty wrestling with God, and by faith had... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 2:4

Impudent children and stiff-hearted; literally, hard of face ( i.e. callous to their shame) and stiff of heart. The LXX . gives aptly, σκληροπρόσωποι και σκληροκάρδιοι (compare the "past feeling" of Ephesians 4:19 ). Thus saith the Lord God. In the Hebrew, Adonai Jehovah; which the LXX . represents by κύριος κύριος , and Luther by "der Herr Herr." The two highest names of the God of Israel were 'used to denote the fulness of the prophet's inspiration. The same... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 2:4-5

The prophet's commission. Nothing is clearer than that the prophets did not believe themselves to be acting and speaking simply upon the promptings of their own inclinations or their own convictions of what was right and expedient. Whether they were self-deluded or not, certain it is that they deemed themselves ministers and messengers of the Eternal. It was this which gave them both courage and authority. In the most explicit manner, Ezekiel in this passage records his commission to go... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 2:5

Whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, etc. The latter word is used in the sense of "cease" or "desist," as in 1 Corinthians 9:6 and Ephesians 6:9 . The same formula meets us in Ephesians 6:7 ; Ezekiel 3:11 , Ezekiel 3:27 . The prophet is warned beforehand of the (at least) probable failure of his mission, wholly or in part. We note the parallelism of thought, though not language, in 2 Corinthians 2:15 , 2 Corinthians 2:16 . Such, at all times, has been the... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Ezekiel 2:3-4

Nation - literally, as in the margin - the word which usually distinguishes the pagan from God’s people. Here it expresses that Israel is cast off by God; and the plural is used to denote that the children of Israel are not even “one nation,” but scattered and disunited.Translate: “I send thee to the children of Israel, the rebellious nation that have rebelled against Me (they and their fathers have transgressed against Me, even to this very day), and the children impudent and stiff-hearted: I... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Ezekiel 2:5

A rebellious house - A phrase employed continually by Ezekiel in bitter irony, in the place of house of Israel, as much as to say, “House no longer of Israel, but of rebellion.” Compare Isaiah 30:9. read more

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