Ezekiel 3:22

3:22-27 Let us own ourselves for ever indebted to the mediation of Christ, for the blessed intercourse between God and man; and a true believer will say, I am never less alone than when thus alone. When the Lord opened Ezekiel's mouth, he was to deliver his message boldly, to place life and death, the blessing and the curse, before the people, and leave them to their choice.

Ezekiel 3:22-27 . And the hand of the Lord was there upon me — Namely, at Tel-abib. I felt a divine power acting upon me as before: see on Ezekiel 1:3 . And he said, Arise, go forth into the plain — Withdraw from the multitude, and retire to a place more private, and fit for contemplation, and the reception of divine communications. Then I arose — As I was commanded; and the glory of the Lord stood there — The same glorious vision and representation of God’s majesty, which I had seen before, ( Ezekiel 1:28 ,) were manifested to me again. Then the spirit entered into me — The spirit, power, or influence of God came upon me in an extraordinary manner; and set me upon my feet — Raised me up after I had fallen on my face; and spake with me — This should be rendered, And he spake with me: for the verb ידבר is in the masculine gender. The spirit or power, which now entered into him, is distinguished from the divine glory, or Shechinah, which the prophet saw, as it is also very plainly Ezekiel 2:2 . And said, Go, shut thyself within thy house — From public view, and to receive further instructions. Or, as some think, symbolically to represent the siege of Jerusalem. Behold, they shall put bands upon thee — The LXX. read ιδου δεδονται επι σε δεσμοι , και δησουσι σε εν αυτοις , bands shall be put upon thee, and they shall bind thee with them. So also the Vulgate.

Some think this was done by the captive Jews at Tel- abib, and that they bound him as a criminal, and disturber of the peace, in order to the punishing of him. Others suppose his domestics bound him, as thinking him out of his right mind. But it is more probable, comparing this passage with chap. Ezekiel 4:8 , that the meaning is, as Bishop Newcome observes, that his friends or servants bound him by his order; namely, more fully to express the shutting up of the Jews in Jerusalem by the siege. And thou shalt not go out among them — Thou shalt not go abroad among the people, but continue thus shut up. And thou shalt be dumb — For some space of time I will withhold revelations from thee, and thou shalt say nothing to the people by way of admonition or reproof. For they are a rebellious house — They are an obstinate, refractory people, who will give no heed to thy words. But when I speak with thee — Or, when I have spoken to thee; that is, revealed to thee the knowledge of what is to come, or have communicated to thee what I intend to be declared to them; I will open thy mouth — Give thee the power of speaking such things to them as it is my pleasure should be set before them. He that heareth, let him hear — This is the last warning I shall give them, and they must take it as such, and either give heed to and obey what is said to them, and so avoid the impending evil; or neglect it at their peril, and take the consequence which shall follow.

Verse 22. - And the hand of the Lord was there upon me, etc. There is obviously an interval between the fact thus stated and the close of the message borne in on the prophet's soul. Psychologically, it seems probable that the effect of the message was to fill him with an overwhelming, crushing sense of the burden of his responsibility. How was he to begin so terrible a work? What were to be the nearer, and the remoter, issues of such a work? Apparently, at least, he does not then begin it by a spoken warning. He passes, at the Divine command borne in on his soul, from the crowd that had watched him during the seven days' silence, and betakes himself to the solitude of the "plain," as distinct from the "mound" where the exiles dwelt, and there the vision appears again in all points as he had seen it when he stood on the river's bank. Ezekiel 3:22

22 . the hand of the Lord ] A trance or ecstasy from the Lord. It is probable that the prophet’s retiring to the “valley” was merely transacted in vision. He felt himself transported away from the presence of men to some lonely retreat, and there the glory of the Lord seemed again to stand before him (cf. ch. Ezekiel 8:1-3 ). into the plain ] R.V. marg. the valley . This is scarcely a general term, meaning the plain country in opposition to Tel-Abib, where the exiles dwelt; some particular place in the neighbourhood called the “valley” is meant. According to Ezekiel 3:23 the place was not identical with the other by the river Chebar, where the Vision of God first appeared to the prophet. Cf. ch. Ezekiel 37:1 seq . Ch. Ezekiel 3:22-27 . The prophet abandons public exercise of his ministry The verses form the preface to ch. 4–24, all the prophecies that bear upon the fate of Jerusalem and its inhabitants, up to its fall. The prophet under the “hand” of God goes out into the “valley,” and the same Theophany appears to him as at the first by the river Chebar. He is in communication with the same great God, and all his actions are determined by his commands. According to the interpretation put upon ch. Ezekiel 1:1 to Ezekiel 3:21 above, he had exercised his office of watchman among the people, speaking to them publicly in the name of the Lord, for some time. Possibly the time was not very long, for this passage comes in under the same general date as all that preceded it.

His ministry had met with resistance, the people would not hear, as he had anticipated. A public ministry among them was fruitless; the burden of his preaching to them was distasteful. He warned them against their idolatries, from which they would not turn; and foretold the downfall of their city and country, a thing which they heard with an incredulous ear and would have none of. Therefore the prophet feels instructed of God to cease to be a public “reprover” ( Ezekiel 3:26 ) for a time. The people refuse to believe his words when he speaks of the downfall of their beloved city, they will be constrained to believe events when they happen; and then the prophet, his word being confirmed, will speak with boldness, his mouth will be opened, and he will be able to impress upon more ready listeners the lessons of God’s righteous providence. His silence meantime is not an absolute one, it is only a change of method; but this so-called silence continues till the actual destruction of the city. In ch. Ezekiel 24:27 , it is said, “in that day (when tidings come of the city’s fall) shall thy mouth be opened and thou shalt speak and be no more dumb, and they shall know that I am the Lord;” and in ch.

See Ezekiel 3:14 Ezekiel 1:3 . There; at Tel-abib. Go forth into the plain; withdraw from the multitude, and retire into the opener place. Likely it was some spacious level in that low country which lay between the rivers. Talk with thee; to comfort, encourage, direct, and communicate further of the Divine will and counsels to the prophet.