A Very Lovely Song
21 In the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, one who had escaped out of Jerusalem came to me, saying, “The city has been defeated!” 22 Now Yahweh’s hand had been on me in the evening, before he who had escaped came; and he had opened my mouth until he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no longer mute. 23 Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, 24 “Son of man, those who inhabit the waste places in the land of Israel speak, saying, ‘Abraham was one, and he inherited the land; but we are many. The land is given us for inheritance.’ 25 Therefore tell them, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “You eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood. So should you possess the land? 26 You stand on your sword, you work abomination, and every one of you defiles his neighbor’s wife. So should you possess the land?”’ 27 “You shall tell them, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “As I live, surely those who are in the waste places will fall by the sword. I will give whoever is in the open field to the animals to be devoured, and those who are in the strongholds and in the caves will die of the pestilence. 28 I will make the land a desolation and an astonishment. The pride of her power will cease. The mountains of Israel will be desolate, so that no one will pass through. 29 Then they will know that I am Yahweh, when I have made the land a desolation and an astonishment because of all their abominations which they have committed.”’ 30 “As for you, son of man, the children of your people talk about you by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak to one another, everyone to his brother, saying, ‘Please come and hear what the word is that comes out from Yahweh.’ 31 They come to you as the people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but don’t do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goes after their gain. 32 Behold, you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they don’t do them. 33 “When this comes to pass—behold, it comes—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”
The fugitive arrives, the prophet's mouth is opened after years of silence, and his new audience comes to enjoy him.
The date is given and the sentence is short. In the twelfth year, in the tenth month, on the fifth day, a man who had escaped from Jerusalem arrives and says The city has been defeated! Everything Ezekiel had announced for twenty-two years is settled by three words from a stranger. And the verse before records that God had opened his mouth the previous evening, so the muteness lifted before the news came rather than after it.
What the survivors in the land are saying is quoted next, and it is an argument from arithmetic. Abraham was one, and he inherited the land; but we are many. The land is given us for inheritance. One man received the whole country; there are thousands of us; the property is ours. The reply does not engage the arithmetic. It lists what they are doing — eating with the blood, lifting their eyes to idols, shedding blood, defiling their neighbors' wives — and asks shall you possess the land? Inheritance in this book is never a numbers question.
Then the chapter turns to Ezekiel's own situation, and it is the most quietly devastating passage in the book. His reputation has changed. People now recommend him to each other: Please come and hear what the word is that comes out from Yahweh. They gather. They sit in front of him as God's people sit. They listen to everything.
And the verdict on that audience is exact: with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goes after their gain. The image given for what he has become is a compliment and an indictment in one sentence — you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument. A man who was ignored for two decades is now popular, and the popularity is a form of not listening. The chapter's last line brings back the standard from his call: when it comes to pass, then they will know that a prophet has been among them Ezekiel 2:5.
settled What this mark means