Ezekiel 3:17 Komentář

In this chapter we have the further preparation of the prophet for the work to which God called him. I. His eating the roll that was presented to him in the close of the foregoing chapter (Eze 3:1-3). II. Further instructions and encouragements given him to the same purport with those in the foregoing chapter (Eze 3:4-11). III. The mighty impulse he was under, with which he was carried to those that were to be his hearers (Eze 3:12-15). IV. A further explication of his office and business as a prophet, under the similitude of a watchman (Eze 3:16-21). V. The restraining and restoring of the prophet's liberty of speech, as God pleased (Eze 3:22-27).

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 3 This chapter contains a further account of the prophet's call and mission; of his preparation of him for is work; of, the persons to whom he was sent; of what happened to him upon this; of the nature of his office, and the work of it; and of what followed upon the renewal of his call. His further preparation for prophesying is in Eze 3:1; where he is bid to eat the roll showed him, which he did, and found it in his mouth as honey for sweetness; and then he receives fresh orders to go to the people of Israel, and prophesy to them, Eze 3:4; and, that he might not be discouraged, an account is given beforehand of the people to whom he was sent; of their language, behaviour, and disposition; by which he could not expect success, Eze 3:5; and, for his further encouragement, strength, boldness, resolution, firmness, and presence of mind, are promised him, Eze 3:8; also a revelation of mere things to him; all which he should hear, receive, and speak, whether the people would attend to them or not; which ought to be no discouragement to him, since it was not regarded by the Lord, Eze 3:10; then follows an account of his being lifted up by the Spirit from the earth, when he heard a voice, which is described by the manner and matter of it; and a noise, both of the living creature's wings, and of the wheels he had seen in a former vision, Eze 3:12; and next of his being carried away by the same Spirit; and of the condition he was in, in his own spirit, as he went; and of the strength he received from the Lord; and of the place to which he, was carried; and his state and circumstances, and time of continuance there, Eze 3:14; where, after a time mentioned, he has a fresh call to his office, under the character of a watchman, whose business was to hear Christ's words, and warn the house of Israel from him; and who are distinguished into wicked and righteous; and whom the prophet was to warn at his own peril, Eze 3:16; and the chapter is concluded with a narration of various events which befell the prophet; he is bid by the Lord to go into the plain, which he did, and there saw the glory of the Lord, as he had before seen it at the river Chebar; which so affected him, that he fell upon his face, Eze 3:22; the spirit entered into him, let him on his feet, and spake with him; ordered him what he should do himself, that he should shut himself up in his house, Eze 3:24; informed him what the people would do to him; bind him with bands, that he should not come forth, Eze 3:25; and what Christ would do to him; strike him dumb in judgment to the people, that he might not be a reprover of them, Eze 3:26; but he is told that, when the Lord spoke to him; his mouth should be opened, and he should declare what was said to him, Eze 3:27.

Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel,.... Not in a civil sense, a watchman of a town or city, or of the whole country, but in an ecclesiastical sense. So the Targum renders it by "a teacher"; whose business it was to instruct the people in divine things, to warn them of their evil ways, and of the danger they exposed them to; such were the prophets of old, and such are the ministers of the New Testament: the office is the same with that of bishops or overseers; and lies in watching over the souls of men, as shepherds over their flocks, that they go into right pastures, and not astray, and so preserves them from beasts of prey; and as watchmen of cities, to give the time of night, and, notice of approaching danger; to the discharge of which office are necessary quick sight, diligence in looking out, sobriety and vigilance, courage, constancy, and faithfulness: and they are "sons of men" that are put into this office, and not angels; sons of fallen Adam, sinful men; men subject to infirmity, weak, frail, mortal men, and oftentimes of a mean and low extraction, and greatly unworthy of so high an honour; but Christ counts them faithful, and puts them into this office; they are not made and constituted watchmen or ministers by themselves or by others, but by him; and they are given by him as such to the church of God: "son of man, I have given thee a watchman" (t), &c. they become watchmen through gifts bestowed upon them, qualifying them for this office; and they themselves are gifts to the churches over whom they are placed, signified by "the house of Israel"; for a church is a house of Christ's building, and where he dwells, and a family named of him, which he takes care of, and consists of Israelites indeed; therefore hear the word at my mouth; for, as the prophets of old, so the ministers of the Gospel are first to hear what Christ says; and then deliver out his doctrine, called the doctrine of Christ, and the wholesome words of our Lord Jesus. So the Targum, "and thou shalt receive the word from my Word;'' the word of prophecy, or the word of the Gospel, from Christ the essential Word; and give them warning from me; in his name and stead, and as from his mouth, to take care of sinning against him, dishonouring his name, and wounding their own souls; that they live soberly, righteously, and godly, and adorn the doctrine of God their Saviour; that they avoid all appearances of evil, and shun the company of wicked men; the house of Israel, or church of God, are to be warned to be careful who they take into their communion, and to exclude such that are bad in principle and practice; to beware of innovations in worship, and of false teachers and false doctrines; and that they do not forsake the word, worship, and ordinances of God's house, but fill up their places, and perform all duties incumbent on them. The Targum is, "and thou shalt warn them from sinning before me.'' (t) "speculatorem dedi", V. L. Polanus, Cocceius, Starckius. So Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Therefore we are most anxious that you be persuaded not to be misled by such persons, since we know that every one who can speak the truth, and yet speaks it not, shall be judged by God, as God testified by Ezekiel, when He said, "I have made thee a watchman to the house of Judah. If the sinner sin, and thou warn him not, he himself shall die in his sin; but his blood will I require at thine hand. But if thou warn him, thou shalt be innocent." And on this account we are, through fear, very earnest in desiring to converse [with men] according to the Scriptures, but not from love of money, or of glory, or of pleasure.

“Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for the members of the house of Israel, so that you may hear from my mouth and warn them.” That means, “Look, I have made you a warning and a caution, so that you may say what I command to the just and to sinners, that the just may grow in discretion and the sinners in penitence.”

An emperor ought not to deny freedom of speech, and a bishop ought not to conceal his opinions. Nothing so much commends an emperor to the love of his people as the encouragement of liberty in those who are subject to him by the obligation of public service. Indeed, the love of liberty or of slavery is what distinguishes good emperors from bad, while in a bishop there is nothing so perilous before God or so disgraceful before people as not to speak his thoughts freely. For it is written, “I spoke of your testimonies before kings and was not ashamed,” and in another place, “Son of man, if I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel, to the intent (it says) that if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity because you have not given him warning (that is, not told him what to guard against), his righteousness shall not be remembered, and I will require his blood at your hand. Nevertheless, if you warn the righteous person not to sin and he does not, then the righteous shall surely live because you have warned him, and you shall deliver your soul.”

(Verse 16, 17.) But after seven days, the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel, and you will hear a word from my mouth and will declare it to them from me. The watchman, who is to be the messenger of God's words to the people, must rest for a long time and be sorrowful for the things he sees. And he must have no personal guilt for the sins he will rebuke in others.

“You must be,” he says, “like a watchman, who is placed on top of some hill, with orders to announce for himself beforehand any invasions by barbarians. And you must be set up as if on a watchtower, on the highest point of prophecy, and what you foresee, you must tell out to the people.”

Just as the well-being of the churches causes us gratification, so we are deeply saddened whenever we learn of any liberties taken with, or acts committed against, canon law and ecclesiastical discipline. We cannot excuse ourselves to him who wished us to be on the watch if we do not repress such practices with the vigilance we should. We cannot excuse ourselves if we permit the unsullied body of the church (which we are bound to keep clean from all dirt) to be defiled by contact with those who pursue evil ends. For the very union of the members gets inharmonious elements in it through carelessness.

Sometimes when we preach, our sermons seem rather harsh to many, and what we speak about as a rule is taken by some as if it were produced from a hard attitude. For they say, “how severely and bitterly the bishop has preached!” not knowing that for bishops speaking is more a matter of obligation than of desire. Speaking, I say, is more a matter of obligation—not because the desire to preach the truth is lacking but because the silence that comes from not speaking is driven away by the punishment of the law.… This, then, is the preacher’s situation—that he should not be silent with respect to the sins of another if he wishes to avoid sinning himself, and that he should correct his brother by reproving him so that he may not destroy what is priestly in himself.… Consequently it is better to correct the sinner by rebuking him than to accept the sinner’s misdeed by keeping quiet. This is the position in which we have been placed: if we told sinners that their crimes were not their own, the guilt of their crimes would also implicate us. For this is in fact what the Lord says through the prophet: “And you, son of man, I have given you as a watchman to the house of Israel, and you shall hear the word from my mouth. When I say to the sinner, ‘You shall die the death, and you do not speak so that the impious may beware of his way, the wicked himself shall die in his own wickedness, but I will require his blood from your hand,’ ” and so forth. Clearly these words are plain and obvious. They soil the watchmen with criminal blood when he keeps silence, and they are not satisfied that the evildoers’ own evil doing condemns him unless they also incriminate the one who was unwilling to rebuke the evil in question. So, then, how great the iniquity of the sinner is! The sinner sins, and the bishop is convicted; he kills himself by his own sins, and his blood is required from the hand of the bishop.… What is a watchman? A watchman is one who, while standing (as it were) on a lofty pinnacle, looks out on the people around him so that no enemy falls unexpectedly on them but so that, as he keeps careful watch, the populace live in harmony and peace.

The office of bishop is the highest order in the church. Episcopos means overseer, because with the help of divine grace he guards the Lord’s flock from his high seat like a most careful shepherd. As the prophet Ezekiel says, “I have made you a watchman over the house of Israel.”

The words are addressed to the Jews, since it was to them that the prophet Ezekiel had been sent at that time; and today, too, after the coming of our Savior, the words apply to pagans and to Jews and to those who once believed but then denied their faith. The prophet’s words are applicable to those who sin without perceiving their sin, since a sinner who has received baptism, even though he may be dead toward his soul, because he does not perceive his sin, yet he is alive to God because of the grace of baptism that he possesses.

It should be noted that He whom the Lord sends to preach, He declares to be a watchman. For he to whom the care of others is committed is called a watchman, so that he may sit in the height of the mind and draw the meaning of his name from the power of his action. For he is not a watchman who is in the lowest place. Indeed, a watchman always stands in a high place, so that he may see from afar whatever is to come. And whoever is appointed as a watchman of the people ought to stand on high through his life, so that he may be able to benefit them through his foresight. Hence another prophet admonishes the watchman, saying: "Get up onto a high mountain, you who bring good tidings to Zion." So that evidently he who has undertaken the office of preaching may ascend to the height of good action; may pass over to lofty things and transcend the works of those who have been committed to him; so that he may see the life of his subjects all the more keenly, inasmuch as he does not subject his mind to the earthly things which he looks down upon. Oh how harsh to me are these words that I speak, because in speaking I strike myself, whose tongue neither maintains preaching as is worthy, nor does my life follow my tongue to the extent that it is able to maintain it. I am often entangled in idle words, and I cease from exhortation and the edification of my neighbors, being sluggish and negligent. I have become mute and verbose in the sight of God—mute in necessary things, verbose in idle ones. But behold, the word of God concerning the life of a watchman compels me to speak. I cannot be silent, and yet I fear to strike myself by speaking. I will speak, I will speak, so that the sword of God's word may pass even through me to pierce the heart of my neighbor. I will speak, I will speak, so that the word of God may sound against me even through me. I do not deny that I am guilty; I see my sluggishness and negligence. Perhaps before the merciful Judge the very recognition of fault will be an obtaining of pardon. And indeed while I was stationed in a monastery, I was able both to restrain my tongue from idle words and to keep my mind almost continuously fixed on the intention of prayer. But after I placed the shoulder of my heart beneath the pastoral burden, my mind cannot collect itself upon itself regularly, because it is divided among many things. For I am compelled now to examine the affairs of churches, now of monasteries, often to weigh the lives and deeds of individuals; now to bear certain business matters of citizens, now to groan over the attacking swords of barbarians, and to fear wolves lying in wait for the flock entrusted to me; now to take care of material concerns, lest resources fail those very ones who are held by the rule of discipline, now to endure certain plunderers with equanimity, now to oppose them while striving to preserve charity. Therefore, when my mind is led torn and mangled to think upon so many and such great matters, when does it return to itself, so that it might gather itself wholly for preaching and not withdraw from the ministry of speaking the word? Moreover, because by the necessity of my position I am often joined with secular men, sometimes I relax the discipline of my tongue. For if I keep myself in the constant rigor of my strictness, I know that I am avoided by the weaker ones, and I never draw them to what I desire. Hence it happens that often I patiently hear even their idle talk. But because I myself am also weak, being drawn along a little in idle conversations, I now begin to speak willingly those things which I had begun to hear unwillingly; and where it was wearisome to fall, it becomes pleasant to lie there. Who then or what manner of watchman am I, who do not stand on the mountain of action, but still lie in the valley of weakness? Yet the creator and redeemer of the human race is powerful to grant to unworthy me both the height of life and the efficacy of speech, for whose love I do not spare even myself in speaking his word. The life of a watchman, therefore, must always be both lofty and circumspect. Lest he succumb to the love of earthly things, let it be lofty; lest he be struck by the darts of the hidden enemy, let it be circumspect on every side. Nor is it sufficient for a watchman to live loftily, unless he also continually draws his hearers to lofty things by speaking, and kindles their minds by speaking to the love of the heavenly homeland. But he does these things rightly when his tongue blazes forth from his life. For a lamp that does not burn in itself does not ignite the thing beneath which it is placed. Hence Truth says of John: He was a burning and shining lamp. Burning, that is, through heavenly desire, shining through the word. Therefore, that the truth of preaching may be preserved, the loftiness of living must necessarily be maintained. Hence it is also rightly said in the voice of the Bridegroom of holy Church in the Song of Songs: Your nose is like a tower of Lebanon. What kind of praise is it, my brothers, that the bride's nose should be compared to a tower? But since we always distinguish pleasant and foul odors through the nose, what is designated by the nose except the discernment of watchmen? This nose is said to be both like a tower and of Lebanon, because indeed the discernment of overseers must always be fortified with circumspection and established in loftiness of life—that is, not lie prostrate in the valley of feeble work. For just as a tower is placed on a mountain for watching so that enemies who approach may be seen from afar, so the life of a preacher must always remain fixed on high, so that in the manner of nostrils he may distinguish the stench of vices and the fragrance of virtues. Let him look far ahead at the assaults of malignant spirits, and render the souls committed to him cautious through his foresight. Behold, again the prophet is warned not to presume to speak what he has not heard, but first to open the ear of his heart to the voice of the Creator, and afterward to open the mouth of his body to the ears of the people. Hence another prophet says: I will incline my ear to a parable, I will open my proposition on the psaltery. For he who preaches rightly first, as has been said, inclines the ear of his heart to the inward speaking, so that afterward he may open the mouth of his body in the proposition of admonition.

If we carefully heed the lessons that are read at the consecration of bishops, we have a means of rousing ourselves to the greatest compunction. What Gospel text is it, except the one I mentioned a little while ago? “Peter, Peter, tend my sheep,” and again, “feed my sheep.” Did Christ say, cultivate the vineyards by your presence, arrange the country estates yourself, exercise the cultivation of land? He did not say this, but “feed my sheep.” Now what kind of a prophetic text is read at the consecration of a bishop? It is this: “I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel.” It did not say a steward of vineyards or country estates or the manager of fields; doubtless it is a watchman of souls.

This chapter contains more particular instructions to the prophet. It begins with repeating his appointment to his office, Eze 3:1-3. Ezekiel is then informed that his commission is, at this time, to the house of Israel exclusively, Eze 3:4-6; that his countrymen would pay little regard to him, Eze 3:7; that he must persevere in his duty notwithstanding such great discouragement; and he is endued with extraordinary courage and intrepidity to enable him fearlessly to declare to a disobedient and gainsaying people the whole counsel of God, Eze 3:8-11. The prophet is afterwards carried by the spirit that animated the cherubim and wheels, and by which he received the gift of prophecy, to a colony of his brethren in the neighborhood, where he remained seven days overwhelmed with astonishment, Eze 3:12-15. He is then warned of the awful importance of being faithful in his office, Eze 3:16-21; commanded to go forth into the plain that he may have a visible manifestation of the Divine Presence, Eze 3:22; and is again favored with a vision of that most magnificent set of symbols described in the first chapter, by which the glorious majesty of the God of Israel was in some measure represented, Eze 3:23. See also Isa 6:1-13; Dan 10:5-19; and Rev 1:10-16; Rev 4:1-11, for other manifestations of the Divine glory, in all of which some of the imagery is very similar. The prophet receives directions relative to his future conduct, Eze 3:24-27.

I have made thee a watchman - The care and welfare of all this people I have laid on thee. Thou must watch for their safety, preach for their edification, and pray for their eternal welfare. And that thou mayest be successful, receive the word at my mouth, and warn them from me. God is particularly jealous lest any words but his own be taught for Divine doctrines. He will not have human creeds, no more than Traditions, taught instead of his own word. No word can be successful in the salvation of sinners but that which comes from God. Every minister of the Gospel should be familiar with his Maker by faith and prayer; God will then hold communion with his spirit; otherwise, what he preaches will be destitute of spirit and life, and his hackneyed texts and sermons, instead of being the bread from heaven, will be like the dry mouldy Gibeonitish crusts.

EZEKIEL EATS THE ROLL. IS COMMISSIONED TO GO TO THEM OF THE CAPTIVITY AND GOES TO TEL-ABIB BY THE CHEBAR: AGAIN BEHOLDS THE SHEKINAH GLORY: IS TOLD TO RETIRE TO HIS HOUSE, AND ONLY SPEAK WHEN GOD OPENS HIS MOUTH. (Eze. 3:1-27) eat . . . and . . . speak--God's messenger must first inwardly appropriate God's truth himself, before he "speaks" it to others (see on Eze 2:8). Symbolic actions were, when possible and proper, performed outwardly; otherwise, internally and in spiritual vision, the action so narrated making the naked statement more intuitive and impressive by presenting the subject in a concentrated, embodied form.

watchman--Ezekiel alone, among the prophets, is called a "watchman," not merely to sympathize, but to give timely warning of danger to his people where none was suspected. Habakkuk (Hab 2:1) speaks of standing upon his "watch," but it was only in order to be on the lookout for the manifestation of God's power (so Isa 52:8; Isa 62:6); not as Ezekiel, to act as a watchman to others.