Ezekiel 3:1

EZEKIEL'S COMMISSION CONCLUDED

In this chapter we have: (1) Ezekiel commanded to eat the roll of the book (Ezekiel 3:1-3); (2) God promises Ezekiel power to overcome the difficulties of his mission (Ezekiel 3:4-9); (3) Ezekiel is brought to the place where he is to labor (Ezekiel 3:10-15); (4) Ezekiel is warned of his responsibility for the souls entrusted to his watchfulness (Ezekiel 3:16-21); and (5) we have the conclusion (the third phase) of Ezekiel's divine commission to Israel (Ezekiel 3:22-27).

Ezekiel 3:1-3

"And he said unto me, Son of man, eat that which thou findest; eat this roll, and go, speak unto the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat the roll. And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness."

EATING THE ROLL OF THE BOOK (Ezekiel 3:1-3)

Some have supposed that there was some hesitation or reluctance on the part of Ezekiel to eat this roll, basing such a view upon the repetition of the commandment and the statement at the end of Ezekiel 3:3, "Then did I eat it"; but we do not believe that such a notion is fully supported by the text.

The significance of eating the roll and of its sweetness in the mouth shows that, "It is sweet to do the will of God and to be entrusted with tasks for him."[1] It does not mean that the sad news God's message contained for the fallen people of Israel was the source of any "sweetness" for the prophet.

This symbolical action of eating the roll teaches that, (1) the words of Ezekiel would not be his words but the Word of God; (2) the written word of God would become the very life of the prophet; (3) the eating of the roll by Ezekiel indicated his acceptance of the commission God was here giving him; and (4) that he would need to digest it, assimilate it into his very being, and speak nothing else, absolutely, to the people except as God would direct him. As Feinberg stated it, "He who gives forth the Word of the Lord must feed on it himself."[2]

The similar symbolical action of the apostle John (Revelation 10) comes to mind instantly as this passage is read; and the remembrance that in the New Testament incident the taste of the roll changed into bitterness "in his belly," and one wonders why a similar thing was not mentioned here. We believe with Plumptre that, "Perhaps verse 14 implies the very same bitterness that John experienced when the first ecstatic joy passed away and the sense of the awfulness of the task came upon the prophet."[3]