Ezekiel 3:24 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.

Then the spirit entered into me,.... Again; the Spirit of God, that was in the wheels and living creatures: see Eze 2:2; and set me upon my feet; as he had done before, when in the same prostrate condition, Eze 2:2; and spake with me; either the Spirit that entered into him, and set him upright; or rather the Lord Christ, the glory of the Lord that stood where he was, and appeared to him: and said unto me, go, shut thyself within thine house: this was not said ironically, but in earnest; and the reason either was, because the people were not fit for reproof and correction, as Jarchi thinks, being a rebellious people; or that the prophet might receive further instructions, and have all the words of his prophecy delivered to him, before he began to prophesy. Some think this shutting up was an emblem of the siege of Jerusalem. It may seem strange that the prophet should be bid to go into the plain, where the Lord promised to talk with him; and this is all that is said to him, to go home, and shut himself up in his house: but it should be observed, that this was not the only thing for which he went into the plain: he was to have, and had, a fresh view of the glory of the Lord, and of the vision he had before, for the further confirmation of him; besides, this moving him from place to place, before he prophesied, might be partly to try his faith, and partly to preserve him from the violence of the people; who, had he delivered his message at once, might have been so provoked, as to have fallen upon him, and destroyed him; as well as to prepare them to receive his prophecies with more respect and reverence, when they saw he did not rashly, and at once, deliver them out to them.

(Verse 24.) And I fell upon my face, and the spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet: and he spoke to me, and said to me: Go in, and shut thyself up in the midst of thy house. Unable to bear the weight of the glory of the Lord standing, he fell on his face, so that he could be lifted up by the entering spirit. The spirit stood him upon his feet, and spoke to him, saying: Enter and shut thyself up in the midst of thy house. And this is the meaning: Because you have been strengthened by the vision of the Lord's majesty, you should not fear anyone or be afraid of anything; but rather return to your home or tend to the needs of the body, as some think, or as a sign of the future siege. And just as Isaiah, barefoot and naked (Isaiah 20), proclaimed the captivity of three years and the nakedness of the people, so you, confined to your home, by the action itself, foretell the imminent siege of the city of Jerusalem.

"And the spirit entered into me and set me upon my feet." When we humble ourselves before God, when we recognize that we are dust and ashes, when, weighing the weakness of our own condition, we do not maintain a state of rigidity and pride, almighty God lifts us up through His Spirit and sets us upon our feet, so that we who have lain and lie humbly within ourselves from the thought of our weakness may stand upright, as it were upon our feet, in good works afterward. Why is this done to the prophet in a plain, unless to specially designate that the Holy Spirit was also to be given to the elect of the Gentiles, who would first cast down from their state of pride those whom He would take up, and afterward establish them upon their feet, that is, upon good works? As it is said through Paul: "Lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet." "And He spoke to me and said to me: Enter and shut yourself in the midst of your house." What does it mean that the prophet is led out from the midst of the Israelite people to the plain, and afterward called back from the plain to the house, except that the grace of preaching was taken away from the Jewish people and spread abroad in the breadth of the Gentiles? Yet at the end of the world, when the Jews return to faith, the prophet is, as it were, led back to the house, so that preaching may again dwell among his people—preaching which now shines forth among diverse nations as if in a plain. For it is written: "Until the fullness of the Gentiles should enter in, and so all Israel should be saved." And through another prophet it is said: "If the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved." Therefore let the prophet go out from the midst of the people to the plain, and let him return from the plain to the house, so that the preaching which was done in Judea may go forth to the Gentiles, and when the Gentiles have been filled with faith, let Judea receive back the gifts of spiritual teaching which she lost. Moreover, the prophet is commanded to be shut in the midst of his house, because in the time of Antichrist the converted people of the Jews will be constrained by harsh persecutions from those Gentiles who remain in unbelief. Hence it is written: "But the court which is outside the temple, cast out and do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles, and they shall trample the holy city for forty-two months." But because a preacher must always return to his mind, guarding humility and purity within, after the plain it is necessary that he return to his house, so that in those things which he says he may also recognize what kind of person he himself is within his conscience. For if he either fails to keep what he says, or seeks temporal glory from those things which he speaks, he indeed goes out to the plain by speaking, but by not thinking he scorns to return to his house. For having received the Spirit, we are enclosed in the midst of the house, when through his grace we are called back to examine the secrets of our mind, so that the soul may rest in God within itself, and may no longer run about through exterior desires in pursuit of praise and glory through the restlessness of thought. Concerning this house of the heart, Truth Himself says to a certain man who was healed: "Take up your bed and go to your house." For by the bed in which the flesh finds rest, the flesh itself is signified; by the house, however, the conscience is represented. And because when we are dead in mind we lie in vices, we rest in the delight of the flesh, and when sick we are carried on a bed; but when we have been healed in mind, so that we may now resist the vices of the flesh that assail us, it is necessary that we also endure the insults of temptations from our flesh. Therefore it is commanded to the sick man restored to health: "Take up your bed," that is, carry the bed in which you were carried, because it is necessary that everyone who has been healed carry the insult of the flesh in which he previously lay sick. What then does it mean to say: "Take up your bed and go to your house," except: carry the temptations of the flesh in which you have lain until now, and return to your conscience, so that you may see what you have done? Therefore the prophet, after the plain, is commanded to be enclosed in a house, so that the preacher may always, after the grace of teaching which he ministers to his neighbors, return to his conscience and examine himself with careful scrutiny, lest concerning those things which he preaches outwardly he himself inwardly seek any passing praise. Hence it is also said through Solomon: "Drink water from your own cistern, and the streams of your own well. Let your fountains be dispersed abroad, and divide your waters in the streets; have them for yourself alone, and let not strangers be partakers with you." But what he says seems very contradictory: "Let your fountains be dispersed abroad, and divide your waters in the streets," when he immediately adds: "Have them for yourself alone, and let not strangers be partakers with you." For how will he be able to have the water of knowledge alone, if he divides it in the streets? How are strangers not partakers of his water, if his fountains are dispersed abroad? But when we preach to the people, we certainly divide the waters in the streets, because we spread the words of knowledge to the multitude of hearers. But when, with divine grace assisting, we guard ourselves inwardly, and with watchful care look around lest the evil spirits—who are rightly strangers to us because they have lost the lot of blessedness—steal upon us through pride, we alone have the waters that we divide in the streets, so that strangers may not be partakers with us in them. These indeed are they of whom it is written: "Strangers have risen up against me, and the mighty have sought my soul." Therefore he both divides the waters in the streets and has them alone, who through the fact that he preaches to many does not exalt himself in the thought of temporal glory. For then a man possesses what he teaches, when he rejoices not in being known, but in being of benefit. Therefore the prophet is led back from the field to the house, so that he who speaks from God, after he has gone forth by speaking for the benefit of his neighbors, may always be called back through humility to examine the secrets of his own heart.

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.

The spirit - said unto me, Go, shut thyself within thine house - Hide thyself for the present. The reason is immediately subjoined.

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.

set me upon my feet--having been previously prostrate and unable to rise until raised by the divine power. shut thyself within . . . house--implying that in the work he had to do, he must look for no sympathy from man but must be often alone with God and draw his strength from Him [FAIRBAIRN]. "Do not go out of thy house till I reveal the future to thee by signs and words," which God does in the following chapters, down to the eleventh. Thus a representation was given of the city shut up by siege [GROTIUS]. Thereby God proved the obedience of His servant, and Ezekiel showed the reality of His call by proceeding, not through rash impulse, but by the directions of God [CALVIN].