Charles Ellicott Commentary Ezekiel 3

It was in my mouth as honey for sweetness. —That is, the first impression made on him by his prophetic call was one of delight. Such it must always be to those whose high privilege it is to bear God’s message to others. He does not expressly add, as Saint John does (Revelation 10:10) after a similar first sensation, as soon as I had eaten it my belly was bitter; but it may easily be inferred from Ezekiel 3:14 that such was his experience also, when he went with his heavy message to a people unwilling to listen. (Jeremiah 20:7–18.)

To a people of a strange speech. — In Ezekiel 3:4-7 it is emphasized that Ezekiel’s immediate mission is to be, like that of his great Antitype, to the lost sheep of the house of Israel; and yet they would not pay him the attention that people far below them in spiritual privilege would have gladly given.

Similar facts are continually encountered in the Scriptures, whether in its histories, such as those of Naaman the Syrian, of the faith of the Syro-Phoenician woman (Matthew 15:21–28), and of the Roman centurion (Matthew 8:10–12), or in the express declarations of our Lord that the teaching and signs given in vain to Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum would have been more than sufficient for the conversion of Tyre, Sidon, or even Sodom (Matthew 11:21; Matthew 11:23; Matthew 12:41–42).

If it is asked, why then should so much of the Divine compassion be expended upon a nation that so generally refused to avail itself of its blessings? The answer must be that only in this way could even a few be raised at all above the very lowest spiritual plane, and that the raising of these few leads ultimately to the elevation of many.

As an accountable being, a person must be left free to neglect the offered grace; and, as in the case of the Israelites to whom Ezekiel was sent, there would always be many who choose to do so. The consequence of this neglect must be such a hardening of the heart as was then shown by these people, and everyone is warned by their example of the responsibility attached to the enjoyment of religious privilege.

But the same thing would have happened with any other nation. And so that God’s faithfulness would not fail and His purposes for humanity’s salvation would be accomplished, more grace must still be given. His people must still be pleaded with, so that at least a remnant of them might be led to repentance and be saved from the impending ruin. Theodoret calls attention to the contrast between the restriction of the grace of the Old Dispensation to a single people and the universal diffusion of the preaching of the Gospel.

All the house of Israel —means, of course, the people generally, as the word all is often used in Scripture and elsewhere. There were even then among them such saints as Jeremiah and Daniel.

Your face strong against their faces. —The word strong is the same here as that rendered impudent (marginal note: stiff) in Ezekiel 3:7. Of course, it must have a different shade of meaning in its application to the rebellious people and to the prophet. The main thought, however, is taken from the figure of horned animals in their contests, and God promises Ezekiel to make him, in the struggle, stronger than those who oppose him. The same thing is expressed by another figure in Ezekiel 3:9.

An adamant harder than flint. — Adamant is the diamond, as it is translated (Jeremiah 17:1). The people were as hard as flint, but as the diamond cuts flint, so Ezekiel’s words would, by Divine power, be made to cut through all their resistance. Armed with this strength, he need not fear their obduracy, however great.