Reasoning Through the Bible
Taking a cue from Paul, Reasoning Through the Bible is an expository style walk through the Scriptures that tells you what the Bible says. Reviewing both Old and New Testament books, as well as topical subjects, we methodically teach verse by verse, even phrase by phrase.
We have completed many books of the Bible and offer free lesson plans for teachers. If you want to browse our entire library by book or topic, see our website www.ReasoningThroughTheBible.com.
We primarily do expository teaching but also include a good bit of theology and apologetics. Just like Paul on Mars Hill, Christianity must address both the ancient truths and the questions of the people today. Join Glenn and Steve every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday as they reason with you through the Bible.
Reasoning Through the Bible
S3 || Consuming God's Word for Ministry || Ezekiel 2:1-10 || Session 3 || Verse by Verse Bible Study
What does it mean to truly consume God's Word? In Ezekiel's remarkable commissioning narrative, we witness a prophet who literally eats a divine scroll as preparation for ministry.
After experiencing the overwhelming majesty of God's presence in chapter 1, Ezekiel finds himself face-down in worship. But before he can speak for God, something extraordinary must happen. The Spirit enters him, setting him on his feet and empowering him for the challenging task ahead. This powerful sequence reveals a timeless principle: no one can stand before God or perform His work without divine empowerment.
God doesn't sugarcoat Ezekiel's assignment. Repeatedly referring to Israel as "rebellious," "stubborn," and "obstinate," God prepares the prophet for significant resistance. Yet whether they listen or not, Ezekiel must faithfully deliver the divine message.
The most striking element comes when God extends a hand holding a scroll covered with "lamentations, mourning and woe." Ezekiel is commanded to eat it – a vivid metaphor for internalizing God's message before proclaiming it. This symbolic action connects directly to Revelation 10, where John experiences a similar prophetic meal, highlighting the continuity between these apocalyptic books.
For believers today, this passage offers profound insights about spiritual nourishment. Just as physical sustenance requires daily intake, our souls need regular feeding on Scripture. Through devotional reading, systematic study, memorization, or verse-by-verse exploration, we must internalize God's Word for it to transform us from within.
Join us as we explore how God prepares His messengers through the power of His Spirit and the nourishment of His Word. Whether you're facing your own "rebellious house" or simply seeking deeper spiritual sustenance, Ezekiel's commissioning offers timeless wisdom for every believer's journey.
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May God Bless you!! - Glenn and Steve
Today on Reasoning Through the Bible, we're going to see one of God's prophets that God puts him on a diet but it is a diet of the Word of God to prepare him for ministry. Hi, my name's Glenn. I'm here with Steve. Today we're going to see the prophet Ezekiel and God's going to give him a very special thing to eat. So we're going to have a great lesson today. If you have your copy of the Word of God, open it to Ezekiel, chapter 2. If you remember from last time, all of chapter 1 was God arriving. We saw the majestic and glorious things of heaven that arrive with God's throne. We saw some strange beings and we were filled with our senses with God. So that's really the message of chapter 1, is that God is more and greater than anything we can imagine. In chapter 1 of Ezekiel, god shows up and in chapter 2, god's going to give Ezekiel an assignment. We'll go ahead and dive in, steve, if you could read the first two verses of Ezekiel, chapter 2.
Speaker 2:Then he said to me Son of man, stand on your feet that I may speak with you. As he spoke to me, the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet and I heard him speaking to me.
Speaker 1:And we see here in the very first verse that God calls Ezekiel son of man. That phrase is used 85 or 90 times here in Ezekiel to refer to this prophet Ezekiel. Ezekiel is the only one in the Bible who's used this phrase son of man, other than Jesus using it on himself. The phrase is used a few other times. It's used in Daniel and a few other places. So here the term son of man is used in a different sense than in Daniel. Over in Daniel the term son of man is used to show that the Messiah is going to be God and it is used of that term. And that's where Jesus uses the term is connecting himself with the Messiah.
Speaker 1:Here in Ezekiel it's a common term, again used many times, of God referring to the prophet Ezekiel, showing that he is very human, and I think we can really take no more than that out of it. He is a son of man. Here it says in verse 1, stand on your feet that I may speak with you. It says then in verse 2, the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet. Steve, what position was Ezekiel in before and then after the Spirit entered?
Speaker 2:him when we finish chapter 1, he was prostate face down worshiping God Because, as you noted in the last session, in chapter 1, it was the God showing up and he's in a state of worship. Now, as we pick up in chapter 2, God is commanding him to stand up so that he could talk to him.
Speaker 1:We have here God standing him up and then, in verse 2, giving the Spirit to Ezekiel. So the first question that comes to my mind did Ezekiel have the power within him to do God's Word before he had the Spirit entered into him?
Speaker 2:to do God's Word before he had the Spirit entered into him. Well, we're going to see that this Spirit is also put into him many times throughout this book. Here, I think it's a sense that the awe that he had to worship God, what was just coming, the glory of God showing up as it did overwhelmed him. Now I think he does need this sustenance of the Holy Spirit in order to stand up and be at a place where he can listen to God at this particular time.
Speaker 1:God is calling Ezekiel into his ministry, into his service, and before he does this, he has to stand him up and empower him. Empower him to stand before God and empower him to go out and have the strength to proclaim a very difficult message. The first thing we have to have before we do ministry is to have the Spirit of God within us. Just like Ezekiel had to be put on his feet and empowered with the Holy Spirit, so do we. Without the Holy Spirit, we are but falling at the feet of the Lord in worship. But he can empower us and send us out to do ministry. Verse 2,. The Spirit raised him up and set him on his feet. Therefore, he is able to start work when he is standing before the Lord. The only way we can stand before God, the only way we can have the power to stand before an all-powerful, all-majestic, all-glorious God, is to have the Holy Spirit within us. Everywhere else we see in the Scripture, whenever a holy being appears, the prophets or the apostles will fall at their feet.
Speaker 2:And let me just add a little bit to what you're saying, glenn, because I agree with it. We're going to see Ezekiel being commanded to do a lot of different strenuous things and odd things, and he's going to need the Holy Spirit in order to do that. So it adds to what you're talking about being filled with the Holy Spirit in order to do that. So it adds to what you're talking about being filled with the Holy Spirit in order to do the things of God and it helps us. But Ezekiel's going to need it because we're going to see a lot of different strange things that God is going to command him to do to get a message across to his chosen people of Israel.
Speaker 1:We also have something going on here that our translation doesn't really communicate because of the language. In Hebrew the word for wind and the word for spirit are the same word. Here it says the spirit entered me and set me on my feet. Well, we also have back in chapter 1, god arrived in a whirlwind, and again same word a great wind, a great whirling spirit, a great powerful spirit is what God arrives in in chapter 1, a whirlwind. Here in chapter 2, the same word entered me and set me on my feet. So we have here a direct connection between the power that showed up when God showed up in chapter 1 and the power of the Spirit that enters Ezekiel here. Great lesson in us needing to be empowered before we do ministry. Just like Ezekiel was empowered before God sent him out, we must be empowered and sit on our feet before God can use us. God's Word will cause the Spirit to fill us, just like it did Ezekiel. We need the Spirit before we can go do ministry work.
Speaker 1:In the New Testament the Holy Spirit enters all believers. Here. In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit only entered in a specific time or a specific person. It would kind of come and go In the New Testament. All believers get the Holy Spirit. But what we have in our example in the New Testament, the Spirit will empower us at times. It is in us, in all believers, but it acts when the Holy Spirit wills. It empowers us.
Speaker 1:In the book of Acts, peter and the rest of the apostles got the Holy Spirit in chapter 2 in the day of Pentecost, and at that point they were filled with the Spirit. But then it says several times throughout the book that the Spirit would empower them, would fill them and give them the ability to stand up and do a great work, such as speak before the Sanhedrin. Peter was said to have been full of the Holy Spirit just before he gave a talk. That's what we have here a direct connection between the empowering of Ezekiel for ministry and the empowering of us also. So let's start at verse 3 and read down to verse 7 says this I am sending you to them, who are stubborn and obstinate children, and you shall say to them Thus says the Lord God.
Speaker 1:As for them, whether they listen or not, for they are a rebellious house, they will know that a prophet has been among them and you, son of man, neither fear them nor fear their words, though thistles and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions. Neither fear their words nor be dismayed at their presence, for they are a rebellious house. But you shall speak my words to them, whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious. Steve, what do you first think of when you hear that passage? What?
Speaker 2:I think of is that the people of Israel are rebellious against God, and that word rebellious is going to be used many more times throughout the book about the people of Israel, the nation of Israel. Here it is is that God is using Ezekiel as a prophet to communicate to them. So he is commissioning Ezekiel here and he's basically telling them don't worry about the pushback that you're going to get from the people. Let me also add to this, glenn, is that Ezekiel is a contemporary of Daniel, and Daniel is in the king's court. He's working with his three fellow friends. He's working with his three fellow friends and they're witnessing to Nebuchadnezzar through the dreams and vision that Nebuchadnezzar is having and that Daniel's having. We have that whole story there.
Speaker 2:Now, here is Ezekiel. He's going to be prophesying directly to the Israelites that are in exile and we're going to see a lot of strange things that Ezekiel is going to do, but Daniel is not having to go through any of these strange things no-transcript but he's not having to go through this. So we're seeing God just work in two different ways of communicating to his people through Ezekiel, even though they're in exile, and Daniel communicating who God is to Nebuchadnezzar and to the king's court. I just find that a little bit interesting that these are both going on at basically the same time.
Speaker 1:Verse 3, he describes the Jewish people as being rebellious. A rebellious people are people that refuse to obey the rules, that rebel against an authority, that violate the authority of the leader. That's a rebellious people. The people that rebel are rebelling against authority. That's what he's saying here. Then he uses another word in the next verse, verse 4. What word does God use to describe the?
Speaker 2:people. He calls them stubborn and obstinate. The word stubborn there you get the feeling of just a person that just puts their heels in and won't be dragged around. They're just going to be stubborn and not want to do what God is wanting them to do.
Speaker 1:So a rebellious, stubborn, obstinate people. These are people that know what is being asked of them to do but don't want to do it. They are rebelling against it. They're stubbornly refusing to do it. That's the picture here is that these people knew what God wanted them to do, they just didn't want to do it. They are refusing to obey God. Steve, in our day are people any better.
Speaker 2:No, we're still people, just like they are. They're being punished. That's why they're in captivity because of this stubbornness and being obstinate, not wanting to do God's law. That's why they're here now.
Speaker 1:God knows it, but he's going to remind them, even though they're in captivity today inside some churches that measure the Word of God by their own feelings, that measure the Word of God by their own sense of what they think ought to happen. I submit they are just as rebellious and just as stubborn and obstinate as these people in ancient Israel. These people in ancient Israel knew what God wanted of them. They knew God's Word. They just didn't agree with it. They didn't want to do it. And there's people like that today. They measure God by their own feelings and what they think ought to happen. Sometimes, even in ourselves and in our own lives, we find rebellious and stubbornness, and we should all learn that we have to submit to the Word of God and if not, then the same thing will happen to us as happened to the people in ancient Israel. In verse 6, he gives some instructions to Ezekiel about what he should act towards people that didn't want to listen to Ezekiel's message. What does he tell us there? Are we to worry about those who oppose God's word?
Speaker 2:No, and that's what he is telling. Ezekiel here is I am commissioning you to be a prophet to a rebellious people. By being a prophet, god is going to speak things to him that he wants to communicate to the people. God is actually encouraging him and preparing him. They're going to push back against you Whether or not they listen to you. You don't worry about it. You are going to be doing what I want you to do. You need to stay the course related to telling these people. While he's giving him this instruction here, he's really also encouraging him and he's also, I think, telling them. They're not going to be favorable to things that you're going to tell them, because it's actually going to be me telling them, and they're already rebellious, stubborn and obstinate. They're not necessarily going to accept the words that I have to give to you to give to them.
Speaker 1:In verse 4, god says that he is sending out Ezekiel and the first message is to tell them. Thus, says the Lord God. People say today well, where in the Bible does it say this is God's word? Well, right here in verse 4, god is directly saying to Ezekiel go out and tell them. Thus says the Lord God, this is God's Word. Ezekiel was giving us God's Word. Paul said he was giving us God's Word. Peter said he was giving us God's Word. We have repeatedly in the Bible God's Word. And Ezekiel was to go out and say thus says the Lord God, when he did he's supposed to give it to a stubborn and obstinate people that weren't wanting to listen. He says don't worry. God tells them, don't worry about whether or not they're going to listen. You do what I say and give out the Word. In verse 7, it gives us directly what is Ezekiel's job, what is Ezekiel's?
Speaker 2:job, steve. He is to go and tell them God's word. What God is telling him, go tell them, regardless of whether they listen or not. He's telling Ezekiel directly. You're going to tell them and keep telling them. You don't worry about whether they're going to listen or not.
Speaker 1:Do we have the same task?
Speaker 2:today we do have that task. We are to go out and make disciples, teaching people the things that Jesus Christ taught, telling them the gospel. We shouldn't worry about whether or not they listen to it or not, or push back or not. When they push back, they're pushing back against Jesus. They're not pushing back against us. Same thing here. God is actually telling Ezekiel, even though you're going to be with thistles and thorns, meaning that the words that you're going to be telling them are going to be like thistles and thorns to them. It's going to be prickly to them, things that they don't want to hear. Don't worry about it. You just continue to tell them, whether or not they listen to you or not, because when they push back, they're actually pushing back against God. They're not pushing back against you, ezekiel.
Speaker 1:It's the same thing with us. Our job today is to give out the Word of God. That's why we, in our ministry, do just that give out the Word of God, and we're here doing it whether or not anybody's listening. Some people push back and some people receive it. Our job, and all Christians' job, is to give out the Word of God, or support them that do, and then support worship to a very worthy God. That's Ezekiel's job way back thousands of years ago and it's our job today. Now, next, starting in verse 8, we have a very special food that God is going to give to Ezekiel. Steve, can you read verses 8, 9, and 10?
Speaker 2:Now you, son of man, listen to what I am speaking to you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I am speaking to you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you. Then I looked and behold, a hand was extended to me and, lo, a scroll was in it. When he spread it out before me, it was written on the front and back, and written on it were lamentations, mourning and woe In this in verse 8,.
Speaker 1:God tells Ezekiel the first thing he says do not be rebellious like that. People that you're going to talk to, steve, is it possible for even God's servants to be rebellious?
Speaker 2:Unfortunately it is. You know, he's encouraging Ezekiel in a very strong way and telling him you've got to go, do this and you will do this, and not to be discouraged. He doesn't use those words, but he's telling him that the people are rebellious, they're stubborn, they're obstinate. They might listen to you, they might not listen to you, but you are to stay the course and just tell them what it is that I'm going to tell you. I think when he says don't be rebellious, don't push back against some of the things that I'm fixing to have you do Now, ezekiel doesn't know what God is going to have him do yet.
Speaker 2:We do, because we've read a little bit further in the book, but Ezekiel doesn't know that yet. But what brings to my mind is Jonah. Jonah was rebellious. God wanted Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach repentance to the people of Nineveh. Jonah was rebellious, he didn't want to go. We have the whole story of Jonah which ultimately he ended up going to the people of Nineveh because God wanted him to go to the people of Nineveh, because God wanted him to go to the people of Nineveh. God is going to accomplish whatever goal he has and he doesn't want Ezekiel to have a rebellious spirit, much like we see with Jonah.
Speaker 1:Even the great apostle Paul tells us in the book of Romans, chapter 7, and he had this fight going on inside him between the Spirit of God and the old man that wanted to rebel. And I think that represents a lot of us. We, as Christians, want to follow God, but there's some of the old self still in us that wants to rebel, and I think, if we're honest with ourselves, that old self sneaks up more than we'd like. It's always a challenge to not be rebellious against God. When we wake up one day and find out that we have rebelled and we have sinned all sin is a rebellion against God's ways and God's person that we need to fall at his feet and beg forgiveness. The great news is he is loving and he will forgive us. Then, at the end of verse 8, he says Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you. Steve, have you ever really tasted the Word of God and I would ask that to all our listeners too have you ever really tasted the Word of God? What does it taste like?
Speaker 2:We're going to see how he describes it here in a little bit, but it is refreshing. It is sweet from the standpoint that it calms your soul and that it's very peaceful to me to study God's word because it puts me in contact with God. It brings me closer to a relationship. It's like reading letters between friends. You get to know people even though you're not next to each other. You're writing letters to each other and you're getting to know them Through God's Word. I feel like I am getting closer and closer to God by reading His Word because I'm understanding Him better. So that gives a good taste in my mouth. Symbolically, the Word of God is something that is very good and very sweet.
Speaker 1:The Word of God is indeed sweet. If we really taste the Word of God, we're going to learn how nourishing it is to our soul and how beneficial it is in our lives. We need the Word of God and we need to get it in us, and this picture here of Ezekiel eating the scroll is a picture of getting the Word of God inside us. That's the goal. Now I hope we're not actually chewing the paper or chewing whatever medium your copy of the Bible is on. That's not the point. The point is to get it into our minds and get it into our heart. If we do that, then it will change all of us. It'll change the way we walk, It'll change the way we walk, it'll change the way we talk and it'll change the way we live our lives, because God's Word is nourishment. Steve, how today can we really get the Word of God in us, really truly get it inside of us? What are some practical ways to do that?
Speaker 2:A practical way is to have a daily devotional, and that's what most people do. They'll have something which will give a scripture verse and maybe a little saying after it or devotion to start their day out or even just look at it during the day. That's a very practical way. I don't think it should stop there. I think that there should be deeper study of God's Word. Other people just read through God's Word. They make a commitment I'm going to read two or three chapters a day, or I'm going to read a book or something like that. I'm going to read through the Bible in a year. And others do deep Bible study. They go verse by verse, like we do through each of the books of the Bible. All of those, I think, are ways to get God's Word into us. Memorization is another way to take it with you so that you're not dependent on having to read it. There's several ways that we can do to get God's Word in us.
Speaker 1:Learning things and getting the Word of God in us takes time. It's not something you can do once and have one big meal and it's good for the rest of your life. It's not possible to take a small baby and give them one big, giant, healthy meal and then not feed them for the rest of their lives. No, you have to eat today, and tomorrow you're going to be hungry again and you have to eat every day to get nourishment inside you. It's the same way with the Word of God. If you're going to learn anything, if you're really going to learn to walk biblically, then you have to do it daily. It has to be an everyday thing. If an athlete wants to perform at their highest level, they have to eat the right kind of food and they have to do it every day for a long time and they have to use their muscles to train. Same thing with us. We have to take the Word of God. It's not going to happen to eat one big meal on Sunday and then have that last the whole rest of the week. You won't live very well like that. You have to have the Word of God in you daily and that will nourish you and build up your spiritual muscles. The good news is, with the Word of God in us, we don't have to wait until we're some kind of a scholar and we don't have to wait for something to come along to explain us. If we just take a little bit every day, it'll grow inside us and we'll have an increasing taste for the Word of God. We don't have to wait till we become expert. We don't have to wait till we become a scholar. We can learn with any amount of daily study and meditation.
Speaker 1:Now, this eating of the scroll he's going to tell us here that it's going to taste good. We see this in other places in the Scripture, specifically Revelation, chapter 10, verses 9 and 10 to John, he also eating a scroll. So that tells us that over in the book of Revelation. These aren't just random images in Revelation, they are tied back to all these things. Back here in the Old Testament there's an apocalyptic book called Ezekiel that ties. There's an apocalyptic book called Ezekiel that ties directly in with an apocalyptic book called Revelation. The same way with Zechariah and many of the other books, so that when we get to the book of Revelation we're going to find that it follows along very carefully with these Old Testament prophets. That's one of the reasons why we're studying him here today. The lesson here, though, is that if we get the Word of God in us, it's going to taste sweet. In this one, steve, at the end of verse 10, what was written on this scroll that was given?
Speaker 2:to Ezekiel. First thing is it's written on both the front and the back, and on it are lamentations, mourning and woe. He is not supposed to add anything to it. He already has a full scroll of information that he's going to send to the people, but it's sorrowful things. God is not happy with the people because they're rebellious and stubborn. He's not happy with them, so this is going to be something that's going to be communicated to them. Is these lamentations?
Speaker 1:Is it possible to have a section of God's Word that's admittedly not very pleasant, that is, lamentations, mourning and woe, but that still be a good word to us.
Speaker 2:Mourning and woe, but that still be a good word to us, it is because it's a wake-up call. When you find out that God is lamenting over our actions, it should shake us up and it should jar us to get back into a closer relationship with him. That, I think, is what God is trying to do with the people. He's going to use the actions that he tells Ezekiel to do as object lessons to shake the people up, to get them to talk about what's going on, so that they can wake up, so that they can repent, change their mind and to return back to a loving relationship with God.
Speaker 1:We've seen here in Ezekiel, chapter 1, that God is powerful and majestic and he spends the entire chapter 1 just arriving. And then in chapter 2, he prepares Ezekiel for ministry by filling him with the Holy Spirit, setting him on his feet and giving him the Word of God to be in him. And that's the same with us. We have to realize the majesty of God, we have to have the Holy Spirit within us and then get the Word of God in us and at that point we can be like Ezekiel to go out and do ministry. Well, God's still got some commissioning to do and we're going to see that in chapter 3 next time. Thank you so much for watching and listening, May.
Speaker 2:God bless you. Still got some commissioning to do and we're going to see that in chapter three next time. Thank you so much for watching and listening. May God bless you.
