And when I looked, behold, an hand was put forth unto me; and, lo, a
roll of a book was therein; And he spread it before me; and it was
written within and without: and there was written therein
lamentations, and mourning, and woe.
And he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this
roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth,
and he caused me to eat that roll. And he said unto me, Son of man,
cause thy belly to eat, and fill they bowels with this roll that I
give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for
sweetness.
And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of
Israel, and speak with my words unto them. For thou art not sent to
a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the
house of Israel; Not to any people of a strange speech and of an
hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, had I
sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee. But the
house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not
hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and
hardhearted. Behold, I have made thy face strong against their
faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads. As an
adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not,
neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious
house. Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I
shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart, and hear with thine
ears. And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children
of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the
Lord God; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear. Then
the spirit took me up and I heard behind me a voice of a great
rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the Lord from his place. I
heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that
touched one another, and the noise of the wheels over against them,
and a noise of a great rushing. So the spirit lifted me up, and took
me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the
hand of the Lord was strong upon me (chapter ii:9; iii:14).
He is commanded to open his mouth and to eat, after the warning not to
be rebellious. He then received a scroll from a hand, no doubt, the hand
he had seen in the vision. It was written within and without with
lamentations, mourning and awe. He was commanded to eat and it was like
honey in his mouth. We are reminded at once of Zechariah's flying scroll
(Zech. v:1-4); of the scroll written within and on the backside, sealed
with seven seals, which in John's vision the Lamb of God received to
open the seals (Rev. v and vi); and of the little book (or scroll) which
John received and ate, which was sweet in his mouth but bitter in his
belly (Rev. x:9-10). These scrolls have all one meaning. They are
symbolical of the Word itself, the message of judgment and tribulation
which are written therein. All is symbolical and contains many
spiritual and helpful lessons. The Word must be received; it must be
eaten. The prophet obeyed and ate. It was self-surrender and therefore,
though the message he was to bear was a hard message, it was sweet to
him. Jeremiah too speaks of a similar experience. "When Thy words were
found, I did eat them; and Thy Word was to me the joy and rejoicing of
mine heart" (Jer. xv:16). No servant of God can speak thus unless he
receives the Word, feeds on it himself, eats what the Lord has given and
finds out the sweetness of obedience and self-surrender. The Word to be
spoken, the message to be given, must come from Jehovah. "I have put my
words in thy mouth" was spoken to Jeremiah (chapter i:9); and Ezekiel
makes the same experience. And our Lord, the true Son of Man, said that
His meat and drink was to do the will of His Father. He too fed on His
Word and was obedient to it.
In Ezekiel's experience there is a definition of divine inspiration. The
prophet received, accepted, took it in and then gave it out. "Son of
Man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, _and speak with my words
unto them_." This is inspiration. The Messages of God were given to the
prophets in the words of God. Such is the definition of inspiration in
the New Testament. "Which things also we speak," saith the Apostle, "not
in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Spirit
teacheth" (1 Cor. ii:13). May all the Lord's people receive His Word,
eat His Word, speak forth His Word and find that it is indeed sweeter
than honey and the honeycomb.
Jehovah predicts failure for the message and the messenger. The house of
Israel will not hearken unto _thee_; for they will not hearken unto
_Me_. It was to make no difference with the prophet. His commission was
to speak Jehovah's words, whether they heard or not. All this would be
branded by our own generation as extremely "pessimistic." That the
message and the messenger should not be successful is an unpalatable
statement to well-meaning and enthusiastic Christians. Yet this very
fact is predicted for the last days. "The time will come when they shall
not endure sound doctrine." Then the prophet was taken up by the Spirit.
Behind him a voice was heard, "Blessed be the Glory of Jehovah from this
place."
Cherubim and wheels are in motion. He is lifted up and Jehovah's hand
was strong upon him.