Ezekiel 2:4

"And the children are impudent and stiffhearted: I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah. And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear (for they are a rebellious house), yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them. And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with thee, and thou must dwell among scorpions: nor be not dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house. And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear; for they are most rebellious."

"Thus saith the Lord Jehovah ..." (Ezekiel 2:4). Throughout Ezekiel this double name of God appears no less than 200 times.[7] This Biblical usage of two different names for God, namely, [~Adonay], and [~Yahweh] is a dramatic contradiction of the radical critics' notion that the several names of God indicate various "sources," a foolish allegation upon which is built by critical Biblical enemies their entire theory of such things as "The Documentary Thesis of the Pentateuch."

Ezekiel is not the only inspired writer who denies that whole evil hypothesis by his using a double name for God throughout his prophecy; for the patriarch Jacob himself used four different names for God in the blessing of his sons (Genesis 49:24-25).

We shall repeat briefly here a challenge which we have frequently made publicly and in our commentaries.

"If there had really ever been in existence a single one of all those `documents' such as the Elohist, the Jehovist, the Priestly, etc, which occupy such a prominent place in the imagination of Biblical enemies, and if the great Lawgiver Moses had access to any of them in his production of the Pentateuch, then whatever happened to them? Why have all the excavations of fragments of writings from all the nations of antiquity, and the discovery of monuments of many kinds from all the cities of the past - WHY has there never been found even a single reference to any of them, either in the writings or the monuments of all past history? If Bible enemies would be believed, let them prove that such documents existed. Until that is done, we believe that only a fool could believe in those evil theories. They say that Moses used them. If so, they existed; but if they did, what went with them? Why is there no record of them anywhere on earth except in the fertile imaginations of men seeking to discredit the word of God?"

"They shall know that there hath been a prophet among them ..." (Ezekiel 2:5) Eichrodt described what God was doing here.

"The true Lord of this people is causing his royal fight to rule to be proclaimed aloud in the very place where everyone thought it had died out and had been abolished. However, whatever resistance would flare up, nothing would be able to silence God's Word. It would prove itself stronger than all who might resist it."[8]

"Briers ... thorns ... scorpions ..." (Ezekiel 2:6). "These expressions are metaphorical descriptions of Ezekiel's uncomfortable position as he prophesied to a people who would have preferred not to hear him."[9]

"For they are most rebellious ..." (Ezekiel 2:7). Clearly, Ezekiel's mission was destined to be a very unpopular and difficult one; but expressions such as this were designed to discipline the prophet to expect evil and unappreciative responses from the people. It would be easier for him to bear all this if he would realize that such evil reactions by the Israelites were to be expected. Anything else would have been out of character for them. Such was the shameful status of God's Chosen People at that point in their history.