John Gill Commentary Ezekiel 3

Moreover he said to me
The same glorious Person who has been speaking all along in the preceding chapter; and who was seen by the prophet on a sapphire throne, and described in (Ezekiel 1:26–28); the first fifteen verses of this chapter are by Junius and Tremellius made a part of the second: son of man, eat that you find ;
not anything, but what he found in the hand sent to him; therefore the Targum is,

``son of man, receive what is given you;'' which was the roll, as follows: eat this roll ;
not literally, but figuratively, as John is bidden to eat the little book, (Revelation 10:9Revelation 10:10); that is, read it, meditate upon the things contained therein; and digest them, that he might be able to impart them, and make them known to others: it is explained in (Ezekiel 3:10); by hearing and receiving the words of the prophecy; and so the Targum, ``receive what is written in this roll;'' this is to eat it; as great readers of books are called "helluones librorum", eaters of books, gluttons at them; read them greedily, deeply meditate upon what is in them, and thoroughly digest them; so it becomes all good men to eat the word, to mix it with faith, to receive it in the love of it, and constantly meditate on it, (Psalms 1:1Psalms 1:2); and especially ministers of the Gospel, (1 Thessalonians 4:15);

and go, speak to the house of Israel ;
or, as the Targum, ``go, and prophesy to the house of Israel;'' for by eating the roll, in the sense given, he was fit for it; and when ministers of the word have read, and thought of, and digested the truths of the Gospel themselves, then they are prepared to go and enter upon their work, and feed others with knowledge and understanding.

So I opened my mouth To take in the roll, and eat it; he was not disobedient to the heavenly vision; he did all that he could towards eating it, but was not sufficient of himself; and therefore it follows: and he caused me to eat that roll; he, the Lord, put it into his mouth, caused him to eat it, and tilled him with it, according to his promise, (Psalms 81:10).

The efficacy and sufficiency to think of good things, to meditate upon them, receive and digest them, are of God; it is he that makes men prophets, and able ministers. The Targum is, ``and I inclined my soul, and he taught me (or made me wise "with") what was written in this roll.''

And he said unto me, son of man, cause your belly to eat
Or "devour" ^F6, and consume; that is, concoct and digest; do not cast it out of your mouth, as soon as you have tasted of it; but let it go down into the stomach, and there digest it; and from thence into the belly, that so, upon the whole, virtue may be received, and nourishment come by it: and fill your bowels with this roll that I give you;

eat to satiety; so the Targum, ``son of man, you shall satiate your soul, and fill your belly, if you receive what is written in this roll, which I give you:'' this was sufficient to qualify the prophet for prophesying, and furnish him with materials enough; and these fit and proper for the discharge of his office; and so such who study the word of God with application become scribes well instructed in the kingdom of heaven; and being filled themselves, are able to bring forth things to the comfort and satisfaction of others.

then I ate [it], and it was in my mouth, as honey for sweetness;
that is, as the roll was spread before him, he looked into it, and read it, and meditated upon it, and laid it up in his memory, in order to deliver it out when commanded; and though it contained things very distressing, and which would occasion lamentation, and mourning, and woe; yet, considering that these were the will of God, and in righteous judgment to men, he could not but acquiesce in and approve of them.

All the words that come out of the mouth of God are as sweet as, honey, yes, sweeter than that, (Psalms 19:10) (119:103) ; and so the Targum interprets it of the words of the Lord, ``and I took it, and his words were in my mouth as sweet honey;''

and especially the Gospel, and the truths of it, are like honey; they are gathered by laborious ministers, as honey by the industrious bee, out of the various flowers of the Scriptures, with which being laden, they bring into the hive of the church, and dispose of for general usefulness; these are like honey for healthfulness, for nourishment, and for sweetness to the taste; that which makes the Gospel so are the exceeding great and precious promises in it: its doctrines of grace, and those of peace and reconciliation, of pardon, righteousness, eternal life and salvation, by Jesus Christ; and, above all, Christ himself, who is the sum and substance of it; and all its truths being quickening; comforting, and refreshing:

but the Gospel is only sweet when it is eaten; not merely heard, assented to, and superficially tasted of, but eaten and fed upon by faith; and so, it is sweet, not to unregenerate persons, whose taste is not changed; nor to nominal and notional professors, who have only a superficial taste of it; but to true believers in Christ, spiritual men, who judge and discern all things; see (Revelation 10:9Revelation 10:10) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F6: (lkat) "devoret, consumat", Vatablus.

And he said to me, son of man, go; After he had eaten the roll; for then was he qualified to prophesy:

get you to the house of Israel; to whom he was to prophesy:

and speak with my words to them: not with his own words; nor with the words of men, the enticing words of man's wisdom; but with the words of Christ; with the taught words of the Holy Ghost; with what is written in the roll; the words of this prophecy are meant.

So the Targum, "and you shall prophesy the words of my prophecy to them;"

In like manner John after he had eaten the little book, is told that he must prophesy before many people, nations, tongues, and kings, (Revelation 10:9–11); though Ezekiel was only sent to one nation, as follows:

For you are not sent to a people of a strange speech
"Deep of lip" ^F7 , or "speech"; difficult to be got at and understood: and of a hard language :
or "heavy of tongue" ^F8 of a barbarous and unknown language, whom he could not understand, nor they him; and so would have been barbarians to one another; and consequently it could not be thought his prophesying among them, could have been of any use. This may be considered, either by way of encouragement to the prophet to go on his errand to such a people; since as he could understand them, and they him he might hope to meet with success; or, however he could deliver his message so as to be understood: or as an aggravation of the impiety perverseness and stupidity of the Israelites; that though the prophet spoke to them in their own language, yet they would not hear nor receive his words: [but] to the house of Israel ;
who were a people of the same speech and language with the prophet; all spoke and understood the language of Canaan; nor were the things he delivered such as they were altogether strangers to being the same, for substance, which Moses, and the other prophets, had ever taught.

FOOTNOTES:

• F7: (hpv yqme) "profundi labii", Vatablus; "profundorum labio", Polanus, Cocceius; "profundi sermonis", Starkius.
• F8: (Nwvl ydbk) "graves linguae", Montanus; "gravium lingua", Polanus.