5 and they -- whether they hear, or whether they forbear, for a rebellious house they `are' -- have known that a prophet hath been in their midst.
And coming to the house salute it, and if indeed the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it; and if it be not worthy, let your peace turn back to you. `And whoever may not receive you nor hear your words, coming forth from that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet, verily I say to you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.
And He saith unto me, `Son of man, all My words, that I speak unto thee, receive with thy heart, and with thine ears hear; and go, enter in unto the Removed, unto the sons of thy people, and thou hast spoken unto them, and hast said unto them: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: whether they hear, or whether they forbear.'
`And into whatever city ye do enter, and they may not receive you, having gone forth to its broad places, say, And the dust that hath cleaved to us, from your city, we do wipe off against you, but this know ye, that the reign of God hath come nigh to you; and I say to you, that for Sodom in that day it shall be more tolerable than for that city.
because of Christ a sweet fragrance we are to God, in those being saved, and in those being lost; to the one, indeed, a fragrance of death to death, and to the other, a fragrance of life to life; and for these things who is sufficient? for we are not as the many, adulterating the word of God, but as of sincerity -- but as of God; in the presence of God, in Christ we do speak.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Ezekiel 2
Commentary on Ezekiel 2 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 2
Eze 2:1-10. Ezekiel's Commission.
1. Son of man—often applied to Ezekiel; once only to Daniel (Da 8:17), and not to any other prophet. The phrase was no doubt taken from Chaldean usage during the sojourn of Daniel and Ezekiel in Chaldea. But the spirit who sanctioned the words of the prophet implied by it the lowliness and frailty of the prophet as man "lower than the angels," though now admitted to the vision of angels and of God Himself, "lest he should be exalted through the abundance of the revelations" (2Co 12:7). He is appropriately so called as being type of the divine "Son of man" here revealed as "man" (see on Eze 1:26). That title, as applied to Messiah, implies at once His lowliness and His exaltation, in His manifestations as the Representative man, at His first and second comings respectively (Ps 8:4-8; Mt 16:13; 20:18; and on the other hand, Da 7:13, 14; Mt 26:64; Joh 5:27).
2. spirit entered … when he spake—The divine word is ever accompanied by the Spirit (Ge 1:2, 3).
set … upon … feet—He had been "upon his face" (Eze 1:28). Humiliation on our part is followed by exaltation on God's part (Eze 3:23, 24; Job 22:29; Jas 4:6; 1Pe 5:5). "On the feet" was the fitting attitude when he was called on to walk and work for God (Eph 5:8; 6:15).
that I heard—rather, "then I heard."
3. nation—rather, "nations"; the word usually applied to the heathen or Gentiles; here to the Jews, as being altogether heathenized with idolatries. So in Isa 1:10, they are named "Sodom" and "Gomorrah." They were now become "Lo-ammi," not the people of God (Ho 1:9).
4. impudent—literally, "hard-faced" (Eze 3:7, 9).
children—resumptive of "they" (Eze 2:3); the "children" walk in their "fathers'" steps.
I … send thee—God opposes His command to all obstacles. Duties are ours; events are God's.
Thus saith the Lord God—God opposes His name to the obstinacy of the people.
5. forbear—namely, to hear.
yet shall know—Even if they will not hear, at least they will not have ignorance to plead as the cause of their perversity (Eze 33:33).
6. briers—not as the Margin and Gesenius, "rebels," which would not correspond so well to "thorns." The Hebrew is from a root meaning "to sting" as nettles do. The wicked are often so called (2Sa 23:6; So 2:2; Isa 9:18).
scorpions—a reptile about six inches long with a deadly sting at the end of the tail.
be not afraid—(Lu 12:4; 1Pe 3:14).
7. most rebellious—literally, "rebellion" itself: its very essence.
8. eat—(See on Jer 15:16; Re 10:9, 10). The idea is to possess himself fully of the message and digest it in the mind; not literal eating, but such an appropriation of its unsavory contents that they should become, as it were, part of himself, so as to impart them the more vividly to his hearers.
9. roll—the form in which ancient books were made.
10. within and without—on the face and the back. Usually the parchment was written only on its inside when rolled up; but so full was God's message of impending woes that it was written also on the back.