Eat This Scroll
1 He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.” 2 The Spirit entered into me when he spoke to me, and set me on my feet; and I heard him who spoke to me. 3 He said to me, “Son of man, I send you to the children of Israel, to a nation of rebels who have rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me even to this very day. 4 The children are impudent and stiff-hearted. I am sending you to them, and you shall tell them, ‘This is what the Lord Yahweh says.’ 5 They, whether they will hear, or whether they will refuse—for they are a rebellious house—yet they will know that there has been a prophet among them. 6 You, son of man, don’t be afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you, and you dwell among scorpions. Don’t be afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house. 7 You shall speak my words to them, whether they will hear or whether they will refuse; for they are most rebellious. 8 But you, son of man, hear what I tell you. Don’t be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth, and eat that which I give you.” 9 When I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me; and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. 10 He spread it before me. It was written within and without; and lamentations, mourning, and woe were written in it. Ezekiel 3 1 He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” 2 So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat the scroll. 3 He said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll that I give you and fill your belly and your bowels with it.” Then I ate it. It was as sweet as honey in my mouth. 4 He said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel, and speak my words to them. 5 For you are not sent to a people of a strange speech and of a hard language, but to the house of Israel— 6 not to many peoples of a strange speech and of a hard language, whose words you can’t understand. Surely, if I sent you to them, they would listen to you. 7 But the house of Israel will not listen to you, for they will not listen to me; for all the house of Israel are obstinate and hard-hearted. 8 Behold, I have made your face hard against their faces, and your forehead hard against their foreheads. 9 I have made your forehead as a diamond, harder than flint. Don’t be afraid of them, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house.” 10 Moreover he said to me, “Son of man, receive in your heart and hear with your ears all my words that I speak to you. 11 Go to them of the captivity, to the children of your people, and speak to them, and tell them, ‘This is what the Lord Yahweh says,’ whether they will hear, or whether they will refuse.” 12 Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great rushing, saying, “Blessed be Yahweh’s glory from his place.” 13 I heard the noise of the wings of the living creatures as they touched one another, and the noise of the wheels beside them, even the noise of a great rushing. 14 So the Spirit lifted me up, and took me away; and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; and Yahweh’s hand was strong on me. 15 Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel Aviv who lived by the river Chebar, and to where they lived; and I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days.
The commission redefines success as having spoken, and the scroll full of mourning tastes like honey to the man who has to swallow it.
The first word from the throne is not a message but a posture: Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you. A man on his face is lifted by the Spirit and set upright to be addressed. The title used is the one used ninety-five times in this book and by no other. He has just seen wheels full of eyes and a likeness on a sapphire throne, and he is addressed as a mortal. The contrast is set up on the first page and never relaxed.
The audience is described before the message is given, and described three times as rebellious. Then comes the clause that governs Ezekiel's entire career: whether they will hear, or whether they will refuse... yet they will know that there has been a prophet among them. Success is defined as the delivery, not the reception. That is a hard mercy for a man about to spend twenty years being ignored, and it is the only thing that makes the assignment survivable. What he is promised for protection is not safety but hardness. His forehead is made as a diamond, harder than flint — a strange gift to give a man, and exactly the one he needs.
The scroll is handed over already written, and two details make it. It is written within and without — on both sides, which was not the normal use of a scroll. There is more here than the roll was meant to hold. And its contents are itemized before he eats it: lamentations, mourning, and woe. He is told to fill his belly with it. Then the sentence nobody expects: It was as sweet as honey in my mouth.
Those two facts are left side by side without reconciliation, and they should be. The word of God is sweet to the man who receives it, because of whose word it is. Its content is grief, because of what it has to say. The immediate sequel proves both at once. He goes in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit, with the hand of Yahweh strong on him. He arrives at Tel-abib among the captives, and sits there for seven days, overwhelmed, saying nothing. A commission that tasted like honey produces a week of silence, and the book records that without embarrassment.
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