Commentary - Ezekiel 2:1-7

Bird's-eye view

Following the staggering vision of God's glory in the first chapter, a vision that left the prophet prostrate on his face, chapter two details the formal commissioning of Ezekiel. This is not a job interview; it is a divine conscription. God raises the fallen man to his feet, fills him with the Spirit, and gives him his marching orders. The mission is straightforward but brutal: go to the people of Israel, who are described in no uncertain terms as a rebellious, stiff-faced, and strong-hearted nation. The central theme here is the absolute sovereignty of God in proclamation. Ezekiel's success is not to be measured by conversions or applause, but by his simple faithfulness to the message given him. Whether the people listen or refuse to listen, and God makes it clear that refusal is the likely outcome, they will know that a prophet of the living God has been in their midst. The commission is therefore undergirded by a repeated command not to fear his hostile audience, because the authority rests not with the messenger, but with the One who sends him.

This passage establishes the fundamental nature of prophetic ministry. It is God-initiated, Spirit-empowered, and Word-centered. The prophet is not a religious entrepreneur developing a platform; he is a herald under authority, tasked with delivering a message that is not his own. The effectiveness of the message is God's business. The faithfulness of the messenger is the prophet's business. This is a foundational text for understanding not just Ezekiel's ministry in exile, but the task of the Church in every generation as it is sent out into a rebellious world.

Outline

Context In Ezekiel

Ezekiel 2 cannot be understood apart from the overwhelming theophany of Ezekiel 1. The prophet has just seen the heavens opened and witnessed the indescribable glory of the living God on His throne, a whirlwind of fire, lightning, and the living creatures. The experience was so overpowering that it drove him to the ground, flat on his face (Ezek 1:28). The commission in chapter 2 is God's response to this posture of utter humility and awe. The God of infinite glory is the one who speaks and sends. The one who has seen this glory is the one who is qualified to go. This chapter, therefore, marks the transition from vision to vocation. God does not reveal His glory as a spiritual tourist attraction; He reveals it in order to send. This commission sets the tone for the entire first half of the book (chapters 2-24), which consists largely of Ezekiel's pronouncements of judgment against this rebellious house of Israel before the final fall of Jerusalem.

Key Issues

The Herald's Marching Orders

When God calls a man to ministry, particularly a difficult ministry, He does not begin with a pep talk about the man's potential. He begins with a revelation of His own glory and authority. Ezekiel is on his face for a reason. He has seen the God who is. And from that position, God does not ask for volunteers. He issues a command. The entire interaction is shot through with divine initiative. God speaks, God raises, God fills with the Spirit, God sends. Ezekiel is the passive recipient of this commissioning grace. His only action is to hear and, subsequently, to obey.

This is crucial for us to grasp. Ministry is not about what we can do for God, but about what God has determined to do through us. The power for the task comes from the one who assigns the task. The message comes from Him, the authority comes from Him, and the results are His responsibility. Ezekiel is being sent into a briar patch, to sit on scorpions. From a human perspective, this is a fool's errand. But from a divine perspective, it is a necessary testimony. The word of the Lord must be spoken, even if it is only to confirm the hardness of the hearers' hearts. This is the hard-edged realism of biblical ministry.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1 Then He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet that I may speak with you!”

God addresses Ezekiel as Son of man, a title used over ninety times in this book. It serves to emphasize Ezekiel's humanity, his creatureliness, especially in contrast to the divine glory he has just witnessed. He is a son of Adam, a man of dust. Yet this very man is the one God will speak to and through. The first command is to get up. "Stand on your feet." A man on his face cannot be a herald on the move. God honors the humility that brought Ezekiel to the ground, but He does not leave him there. There is work to be done. This is a call from adoration to action, from prostration to proclamation. God speaks to us so that we might stand, and He makes us stand so that He might speak to us further.

2 And as He spoke to me, the Spirit entered me and caused me to stand on my feet; and I heard Him speaking to me.

Ezekiel does not pull himself up by his own bootstraps. The power to obey the command comes with the command itself. As God's word comes to him, God's Spirit comes into him. It is the Spirit who does the work, who caused me to stand. This is a beautiful illustration of the relationship between the Word and the Spirit. The Word commands, and the Spirit enables. Without the Spirit, the commands of God would be a dead letter, leaving us helpless on the ground. But God never sends a man to do a task without also providing the power for that task. Once on his feet, empowered by the Spirit, Ezekiel is now in a position to properly hear the rest of his commission.

3 Then He said to me, “Son of man, I am sending you to the sons of Israel, to a rebellious people who have rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day.

Here is the mission. "I am sending you." The authority for the mission is located entirely in the sender. And who is the target audience? The sons of Israel. But God immediately defines them not by their covenant privilege but by their covenant rebellion. They are a rebellious people. The Hebrew here is potent, literally a "nation of rebels." This is not a recent problem. Their rebellion is generational: "they and their fathers." It is persistent: "to this very day." This is not a momentary lapse; it is a settled state of character. God is not sending Ezekiel to a misguided but well-intentioned flock. He is sending him into the heart of enemy territory, to a people whose entire history has been one of transgressing against the God who chose them.

4 I am sending you to them who are stiff-faced and strong-hearted children, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh.’

The description gets more intense. They are stiff-faced and strong-hearted. This means they are impudent, defiant, and obstinate. Their faces are set like flint against God, and their hearts are hard as stone. They will not show deference, and they will not be moved emotionally. And what is the message for this tough crowd? It is simple and unadorned: Thus says Lord Yahweh. Ezekiel is not to negotiate, not to poll the audience, not to soften the message. He is to be a direct conduit. His authority comes from this phrase. He is speaking the very words of the sovereign, covenant-keeping God. In a world of rebellion, the only answer is a direct, authoritative word from the throne.

5 As for them, whether they listen or whether they refuse, for they are a rebellious house, they will know that a prophet has been among them.

This is one of the most liberating verses in Scripture for any preacher. God defines the metric for success, and it has nothing to do with the audience's response. "Whether they listen or whether they refuse." God knows they are a rebellious house, and He fully anticipates their refusal. The point is not their conversion, but their confrontation. The non-negotiable outcome is this: they will know that a prophet has been among them. They will be left without excuse. When the judgment falls, as it is about to, no one in Israel will be able to say, "We were not warned." The prophet's presence and message will be a testimony against them. God's word never returns void; it either softens or it hardens, but it always accomplishes His purpose.

6 Now as for you, son of man, do not fear them and do not fear their words, though thistles and briers are with you and you sit on scorpions; neither fear their words nor be dismayed at their presence, for they are a rebellious house.

Because the audience is guaranteed to be hostile, the primary temptation for the prophet will be fear. So God commands him directly, twice: do not fear. Do not fear their persons, and do not fear their words. Their words will be sharp, cutting, and poisonous. God uses vivid imagery to describe the environment: Ezekiel will be living among "thistles and briers" and sitting on "scorpions." This is a world of constant pain, irritation, and danger. But the fear of man must be eclipsed by the fear of God. The reason he is not to fear them is the same reason the mission is so difficult: "for they are a rebellious house." Their rebellion is against God, not ultimately against Ezekiel. The prophet who has just seen the glory of chapter one has no business being dismayed by the scowls of mere men.

7 But you shall speak My words to them whether they listen or whether they refuse, for they are rebellious.

The commission is summarized and concluded. The prophet's duty is singular: "you shall speak My words to them." Not his own opinions, not his own insights, but God's words. And the condition for this speaking is unconditional. He is to speak regardless of the reception. "Whether they listen or whether they refuse." The reason is repeated one last time, like the tolling of a bell: "for they are rebellious." Their character does not alter the prophet's commission; it is the very reason for it. A faithful minister preaches the whole counsel of God to the people of God, whether they are in a season of revival or a season of rank rebellion.

Application

This passage is a stiff tonic for the modern church, which is often obsessed with results, metrics, and seeker-sensitivity. We are tempted to measure the success of a ministry by the size of the crowd, the warmth of the reception, or the number of positive comments on the livestream. God's commission to Ezekiel blows all of that out of the water. God sent His prophet on what any modern church-growth consultant would call a suicide mission, and He defined success as simple, dogged faithfulness.

The application for us is direct. First, true ministry begins when we have been flattened by a vision of the glory of God. Until we see Him as He is, we will be far too impressed with ourselves and far too intimidated by the world. Second, we must recognize that we cannot stand, speak, or serve in our own strength. We are utterly dependent on the Holy Spirit to empower us to do what God has called us to do. Third, our task is to speak His words, not our own. This means we must be men and women of the Book, committed to declaring "Thus says the Lord," even when it cuts against the grain of our rebellious culture.

Finally, we must settle it in our hearts that obedience is our metric, and the results are God's. We will be sent to people who are stiff-faced and strong-hearted. We will live among thistles and sit on scorpions. The command from our King is the same: Do not fear them. Speak my words. Whether they listen or refuse, they will know that the servants of the Most High God have been among them. And in the great day, that is the only commendation that will matter.