Ezekiel 3:26

26. Thou shalt be dumb He who had previously refused to speak now finds himself unable to speak (compare Luke 1:20), and this dumbness is also to teach both himself and the people the lesson that his tongue is now fully controlled by Jehovah. God can speak through obedient silence as truly as through the most eloquent tongue. It is only disobedient silence which is condemned (Ezekiel 3:15). When the preacher is so moved by “the spirit” that he cannot speak, the sermon becomes impressive. This verse explains why, unlike other prophets, almost all Ezekiel’s sermons are preached in sign language. Not until after the capture of Jerusalem did Ezekiel fully recover the use of the tongue which he had so despised (Ezekiel 24:27; Ezekiel 33:22). Was this dumbness produced by physical disease (Klostermann, Orelli), or was it merely the sealing of the prophet’s lips by the divine commandment? Probably the latter; as in that case the lesson to the people would have been more certainly recognized.